Dropped Below 250 Pounds This Week! Weight Watchers, Tracking My Progress Update 8/9/11

I reached a big milestone this week. I dropped below 250 pounds! Woot!

I weighed in today at 247.2 pounds. I lost 3.2 pounds this week and have now lost 37.8 pounds since I started the program 19 weeks ago. I also exercised 5 of 7 days this past week, walking a total of 12.1 miles.

I really thought it wouldn't happen this week. I have stayed committed to the program for the whole 19 weeks and can honestly say I have not cheated myself. I have counted all of the points for the food I have eaten and not gone above my daily or weekly allotment.

I have also been diligent about tracking my exercise points.

But this past Saturday, while I was in Pittsburgh visiting my Dad and helping my daughter Mallory move in to her new place I fell of the wagon. Not completely, but it was about 4:30pm and I was starving. I was staying at my brother Tim's house and we broke out Tostitos and salsa.

Veteran Weight Watcher's members know that salsa is free, but the Tostitos...well let's just say I over indulged. After that we went to a very cool restaurant called the Double Wide Grill. I didn't completely overdo it there, but I did have Reuben egg rolls and fritters, which aren't exactly Weight Watchers friendly (lots of points!).

Tim and I ended up going to see Rise of the Planet of the Apes after dinner. No snacks there, but after the movie I was in the mood for ice cream. I ended up getting a non-fat frozen vanilla yogurt at a place called Razzy Fresh, which would have been OK, except that I decided to throw some mix-ins in. Jimmy's, brownie bites, etc.

Bottom line is that I didn't count the points on any of the stuff I ate Saturday afternoon/evening. But I will give myself credit. On Sunday I got right back on the program. Temptation is a bitch sometimes.

So one day of cheating after 133 days on the program. Am I disappointed in myself? Yes. But it did motivate me to keep going.

Yesterday my wife Tammy decided I needed to get some new clothes-as I am swimming in my work pants and some of my shirts are looking really baggy. Since I'm still a long way from my goal, we decided to go to Kohl's. I didn't want to spend a lot of money on clothes that might not fit me in 6 weeks, but it was nice to go into the men's department and find pants and shirts that weren't the largest sizes Kohl's offers. More motivation. Bought two pairs of pants and two dress shirts.

I'm now back on the program and ready to keep going!

Movie Review - Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

I was in Pittsburgh this weekend visiting my Dad and my daughter Mallory who is beginning graduate school at the University of Pittsburgh.

After dinner Saturday night, my brother Tim and I decided to go see Rise of the Planet of the Apes. The early reviews had been good, and as a fan of the original Planet of the Apes series I was looking forward to seeing the movie.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is excellent. The story revolves around a scientist named Will Rodman, played by James Franco, who is working on a cure for Alzheimer's Disease. As it turns out, he has a very personal motivation for doing the work, as his father, Charles Rodman, played by John Lithgow (and very well I might add) suffers from the disease.

The company that Will Rodman works at uses chimpanzees for their testing, and Will early in the movie ends up adopting a baby chimp his father names Caesar.

Caesar, through circumstances I won't reveal here, turns out to be very intelligent and the movie follows his growth into an adult, intertwining his life with Will Rodman's continued experiments with the Alzheimer's drug.

The screenplay is very well written. As this is meant to be a prequel to the Planet of the Apes, the plot line of how the apes become dominant, along with how humans will succumb to the apes is revealed. My brother Tim noticed subtle references to the original Planet of the Apes series, which provides clues to future events in the inevitable sequels to the current form of the movie.

I enjoyed the movie. I particularly liked the fact that even though there is violence, the injuries (and yes some deaths) are not gory. In addition, the movie makes a statement on how man can discriminate against other men (or in this case apes) whom they consider inferior and how there can be a price to pay for that.

My only criticism of the movie is that I felt the computer generated image of Caesar was a little unrealistic looking. I believe the intent of the creators was to have Caesar's features be more human than chimpanzee, but I was uncomfortable with it.

I also should add that Freida Pinto (of Slumdog Millionaire fame) looks great in this movie, playing Will Rodman's girlfriend, Caroline Aranha.

This is a great movie, well worth a visit to your local theater. I also was very pleased when the famous line from the original Planet of the Apes (1968) uttered by Charlton Heston's character, Colonel George Taylor was once again spoken in this movie. Do you know the line I'm talking about?

I will let you discover it for yourself in Rise of the Planet of the Apes.