Weight: 223. Eating Healthy Pays Off: The tale of Ghrelin, Leptin, and Cholecystokinin.

I'm checking in because I haven't in quite some time and some of you who come across this blog may wonder 'Did he stick to his goal? Did he reach it? What ever happened to Paul losing it?'

I have been health conscious and weight minded in my goals. I have dropped down to 214, then I have ballooned up to 231, and right now I am 223. Since the last blog, I have changed jobs and have been able to work out in a gym that's in the building where I work. (The gym membership started this week.)

My wife and I decided to start Jillian again, but I have only worked out with Jillian once this week. Else, I've been at the gym 3-4x.Jillian at night, gym during lunch or early before work. That's the plan.

I've been eating extremely healthy all week and have been taking food recipe's from Jillian's book  I mentioned in prior blogs. Her recipe books work like this: They are tasty and though the first day you may be hungry because your body is adjusting to what you SHOULD be eating, on the second day you feel fuller and HEALTHIER! It has almost immediate effects. It's odd how gross a greasy burger can make you feel compared to her Chicken Salad... (which has no actual salad in it.)

I'm going to try and lose the other 25 pounds now. I'm focused and I want to do my best in this new position; which means looking great and feeling awesome. If I am not feeling as good as I can, then I'm not giving my life every possible chance to do great. 

Plus, studies show that people who are physically fit are perceived as smarter and they earn a greater respect than those who are not. Interesting, I'd like that please.

I picked out the body I want and I am going to the gym's health consultants to get there & figure out a custom plan to get me the body shape/size/athleticism that I want. Here are my stats.

I currently have about 59 lbs of fat on me. My BMI is about 28%. My oxygen absorption rate is at 30. I guess for professional athletes it runs about 60. After that day I swam as many laps underwater as possible. That makes sense to me that when I go scuba diving I come up with less air than everyone else. I'll blame it on bad pneumonia from a few years ago.

I have to work out a little extra today. My wife and I drank last night & I couldn't help myself to over-eating some Marketday cheese sticks & chicken nuggets. (sigh.)

MY WEAKNESS: I have a great weakness. Late night eating & eating while drinking. When I have a few glasses of booze, I'm suddenly starving and my hunger disappears. I blame Cholecystokinin. I think this bugger shuts off when I'm drinking and doesn't tell me I'm full. In fact, Ghrelin jumps in on the action too & tells me to eat something because I'm hungry. This influences Galanin, his half cousin and chief minion, who tells my fat cells to fill up before bedtime. SINCE i PIGOUT @ night sometimes, Galanin is influence. Perhaps because I told Galanin so often to not make anything at night, that's why I can drop weight quicker when I stop eating at night. (just a thought.) I have no scientific proof of that.

Conclusion:
So this week i will work out & eat better. Maybe I'll get down to 120 this week & 115 the next. That would be SUPERB.