100 Days

So it is 8:44 p.m. on Thursday night. I am all packed and ready to go to bed in an hour, get up at 5 a.m., drive two hours to the airport and fly to Detroit for my much deserved 10-day vacation.

We’ve got a big week planned. Needless to say, I am pretty pumped up.

We had a big day today, even without much diet success. I paid a few bills and got a snazzy new haircut.

I went to the gym and lifted. No cardio. During the morning, I was so jittery to start vacation that I decided to relax the rules of the diet today. So basically, I cut out cardio at the gym, had some bagels and got cheese on my Subway club. My theory behind it is that no matter what, I will look the same tomorrow as I do today. So nothing will really matter.

That’s why I was ok with weighing in at 281 today, a two-pound increase from Tuesday. (Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I think, that I got under 280 this week. That was actually a pretty big deal. But I didn’t make much of it because I pretty much know that the upcoming week of home cooked meals and ice cold beer will put me over that mark when I come back). So anyway, I wasn’t too upset with 281 because I had a pretty big breakfast today and drank some water and a diet Mountain Dew before weighing in. So figure the weight is more like 280.

And that is almost a perfect number. Coming back to Detroit, I weigh 90 pounds less than I did when I last left. There are people waiting for me who whispered to mutual friends about how Dan let himself go. Now, they all know what I am doing these days. And they have all seen the pictures. I won’t be surprising anyone, but I will accept congratulations and compliments with great pride.

I will walk off the plane and hug my mother and she might actually be able to get her arms around me. I will go to the bar tomorrow night, maybe see a pretty girl, and I might not have blown the whole deal upon eye contact. See, these are big things to me.

Looking at the newest pictures, which are posted below this, I am amazed. My face has almost disappeared (and yeah, that may have something to do with my supersweet haircut.) I compared these photos with the Thin Dan photo my friend sent a few months ago and the difference is amazingly minimal.

Honestly, I don’t even know what to say here. All along I have treated this diet like a game. It was in the forefront of my mind, but I tried not to take it TOO seriously. While it did invade my life, I always acted with a sense of mystery to the outcome. And now, 90 pounds later, I am almost overwhelmed at what I have done. Amazing. I can’t say for certain that I have improved my health, but I have taken a big step forward in living the life of a 20-something male.

And I am so proud of that.

Also, how can I put into words how much you readers mean to me? Every single one of you helped me out along the way, everyone who clicked on this site over the last five months (nearly 40,000 people to date) or read the post on Blog Critics has played a pivotal role in this entire process. You guys gave me support that I have never had before. You slapped me into shape, you congratulated me on tiny victories. I lost pounds for you. There is no doubt about that.

Of course, I am not done yet. As I said yesterday, when I return to Colorado, I will resume my quest. The new mark is 240 and I don’t care how long it takes to get there. We might be here for another year as I inch closer and closer. We might be here only another two months. But I know my work isn’t done, yet.

I hope you stay with me as I go somewhere I haven’t been since my freshman year of high school – sub 250. And I hope, somehow, that I stay with you.

Thank you.