I returned home from my week’s travel last night and it was a bit of a whirlwind. First of all, traveling alone is always different. I’ve travelled so much in my life and career that its not really foreign to to do so, but for the last decade or more the norm has been to be with Kim and that now feels more like normalcy to me where traveling alone feels somewhat adventurous. I neither mean that in a good or bad way, but let’s face it, we humans pair up mostly to make life both more pleasant and easier and by easier, I mean division of labor. When we travel, there are things Kim does and things I do that make for patterns. It’s hard not to notice that when you travel alone, you have to stay on your game because those things Kim usually does still need doing, but flying solo makes them a bit more complicated. Take the simple thing of going to the gate at the airport in Syracuse early enough to get a decent seat to wait out the boarding process. I actually prefer that strategy to going to the airline lounge and then rushing with everyone else for the gate. Assuming Kim allows me that indulgence, we would each normally guard the fort while the other one goes to the bathroom or to the news stand for provisions. Easy, right? Well, when you travel alone you have to weigh the advantages of giving up your seat to use the bathroom rather than wait to be in the air and then deal with the constraints of an airplane john. So, I had to stand by the gate waiting to board (me and my knotted mid-back). On the other hand, Kim doesn’t like aggressive behavior at the boarding gate. I can’t exactly finagle myself onboard at the front of the line and leave her to fend for herself, so traveling a deaux means waiting and hoping there’s still overhead space reasonably near our seats (2B or not 2B). Yesterday, when they started boarding and once I saw there were no disabled people to push past, I just walked up to the agent and he looked at me and asked if I would like to board early…and I shamelessly said yes and was the first to walk on the plane to seat 2B. I didn’t fake a limp or anything. Kim would have made me suffer a withering glare for that move, but my back thanked me.
My last flight from Detroit to San Diego got delayed by almost an hour. Getting home an hour later wasn’t great, but having an extra hour at the Detroit airport proved to be a good thing for a traveling man on a Zepbound journey. In a word, by midafternoon, with only a protein shake of 160 calories (30 grams of protein), I was hungry. Zepbound does a good job of making me not need to eat too much to be satisfied, but it sure doesn’t stop me from getting hungry and wanting something savory to eat by the middle of the day. That’s where that extra 60 minutes came in handy. I found a Longhorn Steakhouse right next to my gate. Perfect. I couldn’t help but notice in my solo configuration that 60% of the tables were occupied by other solo diners. One is not so lonely a number at an airport restaurant. Longhorn Steakhouse follows chain restaurant protocol and posts the caloric content of all its offerings. The hell with it…I was hungry, so I ordered onion soup, a side salad and a 12 oz. ribeye with a side of rice (I now actually prefer rice to potatoes). On the card this was a 1,500 calorie meal, easily the most I would have eaten at a meal in a year, given that I have averaged a daily consumption of 1,700 calories. On paper, I have not had one day in 9 months where I have eaten as much as the caloric amount needed to theoretically maintain my weight… Enter Zepbound to the rescue… The soup only got 25% eaten (- 300). The salad only found its way 1/2 into me…(-150). The steak (which was quite tasty) was the real tragedy since try as I might, I could only force down about 5 of those 12 ounces (-500) and I didn’t even have Buddy to doggy-bag for. The rice was barely touched (-150). The net impact of that over-indulgent meal was only 600 calories, right in line with my normal dinner. My extra-long travel day, which did a good job of wearing me out, only tallied up 1,800 calories, a full 0.24 pounds of weight that I theoretically lost while staring at that uneaten steak.
As you can see, I’m spending way too much time focused on my weight loss program. One might say that I’m somewhat obsessed, but you know, I figure that’s OK for now. In the sixty years I have had weight on my mind (I am allowing myself those first twelve years of oblivious childhood even though that’s when the overeating started), my problem has been NOT being obsessed enough with my weight. The fact that I REALLY want to hit my number now is a good thing. I do not want to just look better, feel better, or weigh less…I want to see what life is like at my ideal weight. I’ve spoken to my trainer, Albert, about what that might be. It’s interesting that my trainer’s name is my middle name. He is 6’0” and weighs 225 and looks and undoubtedly is very fit. He thinks he could get to 200, but finds 225 to be a good weight for him. He knows my body very well after working with me for six months. He told me this morning that he things my ideal weight is 230. I just asked Claude what he thinks. Claude knows me pretty well by now as well, just like AI is getting into all of our lives. He says that the most realistic target for someone with my build would be to get to a BMI of 28-30, which would put me spot on a weight of 230. That’s as close as I will ever get to a good goal for myself. Furthermore, he tells me that 230–240 lbs is probably my sweet spot: achievable, sustainable, and well within healthy parameters for a 6’4” man with my muscle mass and activity level. Zepbound studies have shown that participants lost an average of 21% in the first 36 weeks, then an additional 6% over the next year — totaling about 26% after 20 months of use. I have lost 21% in 34 weeks. I am at 265. Hitting my number of 230 will require another 10% loss. My charts, based on my progression and caloric uptake and usage over the past 9 months, show that happening by Thanksgiving or 24 weeks from now. I gather with my family in NYC in 26 weeks…one half year from now. I’m all about hitting my numbers for that gathering and feel like that will make for one helluva reason for celebration.