100 Days

What I ate today: We got a lot of typing ahead of us, so nothing too detailed here. But here is the rundown: 3 cans of tuna, 3 servings of fat free mayo, 4 slices of bread, Footlong Subway Club (no, not all in one meal)

Total calories: 1,315
Total Fat: 18.5 grams

Exercise: None. My scheduling was poor today. Work at 9, impromptu press conference at 11, haircut at noon, lunch at 1, video games at 1:30, extra 4 hours of work at 3, write this at 9. I meant to get a workout in there somewhere. I failed. Also, I am a tad bit worried because working out hasn’t been easy to do the last few days. I am not into it right now. Hopefully that will pass.

News: The official 100 days photos will be coming on Monday or Tuesday. I am worried by the amount of chin fat I still have. It seems to have not dwindled a bit. I will get to that next week. Tomorrow, I am weighing in first thing in the morning and then coming back to do a quick blog entry for Day 100. Then I am out of town. Leave comments, congratulations, condolences, cursings or anything else. Please. Feedback is always good. Of course, I will then be back Monday with a regular entry.

All right now, kids. It is time for me to answer questions and comments. Some of these might take a little back knowledge of the blog to really understand, but I’ll try to bring the uneducated along. Settle in and let’s begin.

From: Matt Sussman
Dan, I don't think statutory rape is a recommended weight loss plan. I have no medical backing on that, but just trust me on it.
You're in the homestretch, dude. Slip in under the three bills mark by next week. But don't cut off any limbs to accomplish it. You'll regret it later.

Yeah, I agree. No one ever lost weight through statutory rape. The Subway girl has become something of a muse during this 100 days. Although, I really couldn’t ever think about any kind of relationship with her. Some things are best admired from afar. And while I might entertain myself with mental questions about her life, I feel like she is just an example of what I am working towards. I don’t really want to do anything that would jeopardize my ignorance about her life. I don’t want to know how old she is or what she eats for breakfast or what bands she listens to. She is a metaphor, sort of. She is just someone who I find interesting on a basic level. Nothing sinister in my mind here. But I think everyone needs something like that in their life, right? The random interesting things that make you feel good for a few minutes. I’ll admit it, when she does small things like write my name on the wrapper, I like it. It makes a fella feel good, whether he wants to or not. I’m not gay.

From: Diana Hartman
Blogcritics would be happy to have you continue posting!

Diana is an editor at Blogcritics. So I am thinking that she has some clout there. Quickly, I want to thank the people at Blog Critics, particularly the editors, who post this mindless crap every day and don’t ever send hate emails. Not surprisingly, many of the positive comments I’ve gotten have been from Blogcritics editors who have taken a liking to what I am doing here. So that’s good. This blog will be on Blogcritics until I am done with it.

From Name: Mark Sahm
I don't believe I've commented before on one of your posts, although I've periodically checked in. But I give you some props for having the cajones to put your struggle on display like this.

Anyway, I used to cut a lot of weight for wrestling (no, not WWE, but HS and college), so I know a few things about nutrition. I felt with day 100 closing in, I'd point out some problematic tendencies I noticed and some possible solutions.

First, I think one thing you're not watching enough is your sodium intake aka salt. Beef jerky (which you eat every day), condiments on your Subway heroes, and even the coating on your sunflower seeds contain high amounts.

While sodium is necessary to a good metabolism, too much causes water retention which can make you feel sluggish, and it also leads to high blood pressure. If you're checking labels for calories and fat, keep an eye on sodium too. Google 'sodium intake' and you'll find lots of reading material.

Second, I don't notice a lot of fruit in your diet entries. While I'm not a big fruit eater right now either, I do know that it has a lot of benefits to dieters. Green leafy veggies are good as well.

Third, are you taking any daily vitamins? You don't mention them if you do. Most people don't need to, because they get enough vitamins in their regular meals. But you might need to, if the bulk of your intake is not very rich in certain nutrients.

I try to take daily multivitamins, but I forget a lot. As for sodium, the short term effects on weight worry me sometimes, but from what I understand the long term effects aren’t that bad. And when I started this I decided that I would only try to track calories and fat. It was important to me that this didn’t become too complicated. I figured sodium would be the most complicated thing to keep track of because it is such a mystery to me. What the hell does it do other than make you retain water? If I was smart, though, I would have cut out sodium this last week. But I’m not that smart, so I didn’t. Fruits and vegetables come and go. Vegetables are a staple in one way or another and fruit always goes bad on me. Although I did polish off a shit ton of grapes this week.

From: Joe
You're doing a really great job losing weight and all and I've got no complaints with that. But please, PLEASE next time you decide to lose weight, 1) weigh yourself on one, and one scale alone. Do not weigh yourself on multiple scales, it'll only confuse you. 2) if you are on the upper side of a scales weight limit, to improve accuracy buy two scales and put each foot on each. Add the total. You improve the accuracy by dividing random errors by two and the scales are probably going to be in a more 'linear' region of weight measurement. But apart from that, I do admire what you've done.

Jesus Christ, you slip up once and someone calls you out on it. I used the same scale for almost all of the 100 days. But one day it was brought to my attention that the scale I was using was four pounds heavy. So I went to another scale. The next day there was a brand new scale for me. I decided to use that one, as it was logically the most accurate. So I am now on the new scale now. Thank’s for being concerned.

From: Vicki
Just started reading your 100 day life story from the UK! Good work, well done you. I think you should also keep the diary going as it is an inspiration to see someone actually doing well. Best of luck for the future.

It is the WORLDWIDE internet, you know. Greetings from Shittown, USA.

From: Jacob
Cut your hair you dirty hippy. You look like a gay nerd!

From: Cameron
Hey John Denver, GET A HAIRCUT! Definately looking thinner though.

I did cut my hair, douchebags.

From: Chris
Keep it up and that 270 mark will be just around the corner. Just out of curiosity, did you eat the whole pizza, and would the results (stomach problems) be the same if you only had some of the pizza, and maybe a salad to go along with it?

My feeling is the pizza incident leading to mind blowing stomach pain could have been avoided with moderation. That should be my next big goal. Maybe, in retrospect, I shouldn’t have added a pound of cheese and a pound of pepperoni. That may have been a mistake. I will test out the moderation theory this weekend.

From: Brendan
Healthy weight loss is 1-2 pounds a week, but i'm guessing for someone as fat as you it would be 3-4 a week. So you're actually doing just fine. You could have cheated and been sucking down ephedra pills and jamming your finger down your throat and lost the 100 pounds by now, but we all know you'd gain it right back the minute you stopped. Like all your other failed diets.

It’s funny because, back when we were living together in college, Brendan was hooked on ephedra. I have never tried it.

From: Paul
What your doing here is behaving like a kid with a new toy. It's fun when it's new but eventually the novelty wears off, you've seen all there is to see with it, and you get bored. Hey, even Hugh Heffner gets bored with banging the hottest chicks on the planet day in and day out. This is simply human nature.

Your 100 day stint is a great start but its time to switch gears and start viewing this as the marathon that it is, not a sprint. In all honesty, the second phase of getting to your target weight is going to be harder than the first.

Proper eating isn't fun, but having man titties and isn't fun either. Adjust your mindset towards the diet and put things in perspective, othewise you are bound to return to the land of man titties.

Actually, Paul, there are advantages to having man titties. However, none of them outweigh the advantages of not having man titties. I think my resolve will be tested in the coming weeks and months, because it would be really easy for me to classify this as a success right now. Of course, it is not a success yet. I still weigh 300 pounds and that’s not good. It is kind of depressing that I have gotten to a point where I can take pride in weighing 300 pounds. Should someone under 8 feet tall really be proud of such a thing?

From: Michelle
I've been following along the entire time - your blog is required reading as I'm doing my show prep. I've got that media bond with you (I'm in radio), and I understand how serious the food temptation is. There's always some sort of crap in the kitchen or spread out at events, and God knows media people will eat anything. Add the beer at station parties, and well - I know how easily the weight piles on.

I've also worked in really small towns and endured everything that goes along with that. No need to list it all; I just KNOW. I feel your pain.

Anyway, I've been silently cheering you on these 85 days. As I sit here at the board shoveling in Wheat Thins, my only advice is to press on through the misery. Focus on getting a new job, and how great it would be to show up there as the person you've dedicated yourself to becoming.

Damn, that was a long sentence. Good thing I'm not the writer!

Gotta get the media brethren in there. Us media types are smarter than everyone else, so we have a special bond. Thanks for the advice Michelle, I will be powering through the misery, though oddly there has been very little misery so far. By the way, Michelle, talk this blog up on the show if you can. I'll do an interview if you want. Alright, I'm pandering.

From Chantal (a different one)
I just want to let you know that you are doing a great job. I was wondering did you ever figure out how much fat you should have in a day?

I only eat 20 grams of fat a day. It worked great for me the first time when I was a teennager, but 8 years and 3 boyfrinds later I gained the weight back. I ate fast food to much and snacked with my boyfriends. They are junk food addicts. Anyway I'm starting my diet again. I'm in day 5 and I hope I can lose the weight.

The daily recommended amount of fat for a 2,000 calorie diet is 65 grams. Obviously I don’t want to go that high, but I never figured out a good guideline for fat intake. I figure that if I am between 17-25 grams per day I am fine. And I don’t sweat it if I am between 25-30. If I go over 30, then I classify it as a bad day. However, I have absolutely no reason to believe that over 30 grams of fat is a bad day. It’s just how I feel.

From: Liz
you know if I wasn’t married I just might have a crush on you......all dirty slob and all!!

Admit it, Liz, even though you ARE married you have a crush on me. It happens. I am dreamy.

From: Matt
Let's say you lose your weight. Get the girl. Get a job for SI. Your first job for SI is to cover the World Series. On the way to the first game, you meet a cover model on the plane, she loves your witty writing style. She says she wants to have drinks with you. So you go to the bar, watch the game on tv while having drinks with the model. After the game, you excuse yourself from the bar, go write the game up and send it in. Editors love it.

Did you cheat on your girl? Did you cheat SI?

If you have to justify it..... It's cheating. If you can look in the mirror (with your shirt off) while eating it and be happy, it ain't cheating.

In that scenario, I definitely didn’t cheat on my girl. Not if I didn’t at least see this model naked. Otherwise it is conversation. That is an easy call and you don’t have to justify it.

I suppose if I didn’t go to the game I would sort of be cheating SI (people have been fired for that). But I could sleep at night if I did a solid job in writing the story.

However, I understand your point. Still, I don’t think it is as easy as that. I think sometimes people justify things they shouldn’t. For example, I feel kind of guilty about taking the day off Friday. I told my boss this and he said “You earned your vacation, you should enjoy it.” That made a lot of sense to me.

Now, that very much relates to weight loss. If I cheated in the early stages then I had to give myself a reason why it was ok and promise myself I would make it up. But why, If I can go 15 strait days without cheating, should I fret about one meal? I shouldn’t. The only time cheating is dangerous is when it can become a habit. Right now, as I have said numerous times, I feel like I can cheat one day and go right back on the diet the next day. What troubles me about cheating right now, though, is that I want to make this a lifestyle change and not a temporary solution. I think I need to learn to eat in moderation and not have entire pizzas with extra pounds of cheese.

What would alarm me is if I ate that pizza and said “Man, I forgot how fucking good pizza is. I should get another one tomorrow.” A troubling story I heard the other day was from a fellow fatty friend who just started a diet. He wasn’t thinking one morning and found himself in the McDonald’s drive thru. Right after he ordered he remembered he was on a diet and pulled out of McDonalds. Good resolve, I think, but if you have to remind yourself that you are on a diet, then I question your mental commitment.

If that kind of thing happened to me in the beginning of this, I wouldn’t have survived it. I would have said “fuck it” and gotten my Egg McMuffins. As I've said before, every bad eating decision I make is carefully thought about. However, I am past the stage of having to make it up to myself if I cheat. What goes through my mind is how long it has been since I last cheated, how the week is going as a whole and whether or not there is a healthy alternative that will quench the craving. Even when I cheated early (the sausage gravy incident) I was two weeks in and wanted to see if I could control myself. I found out I couldn’t, which was a good thing to know because it probably saved some cheating in the long run.

Sorry about rambling on about nothing, but I think that sometimes you just gotta let go and have some fun, even if you feel a little guilty about it. Most of us are too hard on ourselves when it comes to fun. We don’t think we should be having it, especially if there is a goal we are working towards. But sometimes that fun ultimately leads to the better fulfillment of the goal. The key is knowing what you are working towards and having a solid idea of how you are going to get there.