So, the other day at the market, I decided to break out of my diet cola rut. I saw a bottle of Diet Orange Crush in the impulse cooler by the checkstand and added it to my cart.

I’ve always liked orange soda, but not so much its diet variant. Still, every few years I try it yet again to see if they’ve improved it. This recent bottle of Diet Orange Crush was amazing. It tasted almost non-diet. I couldn’t believe it.

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Just a quickie… I finally cheated today (first time in over a week and a half) at lunch. I went to a burger place I’d been wanting to try. Ate about 80% of the single-patty cheeseburger, about 40-50% of the fries, about 2/3 of a small Dier Pepsi, and I was full. Still had an urge to nibble, but I was feeling sated and a little full, so I resisted. The fullness sensation increased over the next few minutes, so I was glad I stopped when I did.

Used to be I could power down a double-patty burger, and the fries, and a large drink, and maybe a “taster” order of onion rings on the side. I might feel full afterward, but I left no fry behind.

I’m becoming a total portion wimp. How am I going to cheat right if I don’t pig out??? How will I regain everything I’ve lost once I reach my goal weight if I’m eating sensibly even when I’m eating junk? The last time I lost over 50 pounds, I gained it all back by not only eating food that was bad for me, but by eating huge portions of both good and bad foods. I was a professional bottomless pit.

What’s happening to me???

So, according to the doctor’s scale, it’s 17 pounds lost since my last visit. Probably would have been in the 19 range, but I woke up early this morning due to the baby and couldn’t get back to sleep, so I’d not only had breakfast, but a snack and a few glasses of liquid before I headed over to the doctor.

The more important part of it all were my numbers. Cholesterol way down, blood sugar way down, blood pressure down, resting pulse rate down. Everything that needed to come down was down. Just 4 weeks of dieting and a small incremental increase in my exercise level have had a huge impact. And honestly, though many of these numbers relate to things where the impact is more of a longer term consideration, it felt awesome to see them come down into healthy ranges.

On top of that, I’ve lost another belt notch. I’m currently wearing my belt on the last hole. Another 7-8 pounds and this belt may need to be replaced. As for pants, I’m still wearing my 44 and 46 inch waist jeans, but both sizes are getting loose.

I’ve got a couple of pairs of 42s in the closet that I just couldn’t throw out. I’m thinking it’ll be time to try them on when this belt gets loose. The eventual goal is to get down to a comfortable 36, maybe a 34. I haven’t worn a 34 inch waist in over 20 years and haven’t worn a 36 inch waist in over 15.

Onward and downward…

Wow, four weeks down, 19.5 pounds lost, just over 80 to go. If I could keep up this kind of monthly pace, I’d be done before the 4th of July. Of course, if I kept up this kind of pace, it would probably mean I have a tapeworm.

I didn’t exercise as much this week, because of not-so-wonderful weather. On the other hand, I didn’t cheat… yes, no cheats all week. I had opportunities to cheat and I allow myself one weekly cheat, but I didn’t take it.

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