February 21, 2023

Jerry Loses His Dad Bod: Week 6



Jerry is now six weeks into his "Operation: Lose Dad Bod" goal. When I mentioned to him just now that this is week six, he was shocked. He said I might as well not even do this series on my blog because he's not making any progress. It's entirely up to him whether he wants to do it or not, but he said he'll give it another week or two; if he isn't seeing better progress, he thinks it will be a waste of space on my blog. (I disagree)

He just told me that this is a "completely reevaluate how I'm going about this" week, which he is going to write about below. He looked so serious when he was typing--and it's pretty long!


He actually did really great this week. The scale has been going down, but very slowly. I can understand his frustration, because I've been through it countless times; he's doing everything right but not seeing the progress he feels he should. I don't want to speak for him on all this, so I'll just let him take over.

As an update from last week, Jerry hasn't throw up at all ever since! Like I said, it's so weird how there really isn't any rhyme or reason for when/why it happens. I appreciate all the suggestions/ideas via comments and email. 

Anyway, here is Jerry... 




Down from 190.8 last week


Captain's log, star date 2.21.2023.

It's week 6 of my journey and I feel like I'm spinning my wheels in the mud here. I'm trying to lose the 'Dad Bod', and maybe even see my chin one day soon, and I'm feeling pretty good with my eating but I'm not seeing the results I was expecting. I used to lose the weight pretty easily when I gained a little bit but that's just not the case. So, I think I need to re-evaluate how I'm going about this.

Here are some of my bad habits. I'm sure everyone would agree that they're terrible:

1. I shy away from fruits and vegetables, unless they're mixed in the meal.

2. I eat way too fast. Katie has been nagging pointing out that I eat remarkably fast. 

3. I snack too much. Pretzels are my go to. I used to have hummus with them. That transitioned to mustard. And, now it's evolved into spritzing olive oil on them and adding some sort of seasoning to it. I'm also sure that I eat, at least, 3 servings of them. Not good. 

4. I try to eat within a certain window and tend to eat 2 smaller meals at the same time as opposed to spreading them out. 

5. I don't exercise. I make it a point to stay active at work, but other than that, I haven't been exercising.

See? Pretty bad. Now, I can pinpoint all the problems with all of the bad habits: 

1. Fruit is pretty delicious. I love bananas and cuties. I could probably expand my love of fruit to other fruits if I would just do it. With the vegetables, I have never been the kind of guy to just eat veggies just because. I don't think I even ate a salad until I met Katie and we went to Red Lobster where I enjoyed a caesar salad. Now, I love salads. So, I need to incorporate more into my daily diet just for the nutritional value. And, just to be a responsible aging adult, I should take my multivitamins.

2. I know I need to slow down with my eating. I understand the benefits mentally and digestively of eating slower. However, I've always had this mental thing where I have to eat and drink things at the temperature they're supposed to be consumed. So, I can't let hot foods cool and vice versa. It's stupid, I need to work on that. 

3. I really should measure out how much I eat. Or, just put it in a smaller bowl or whatever. Maybe both. I don't really think that there is anything wrong with what I choose to have as a snack, it's more of how much I have.

4. Intermittent fasting is easy and a lot of people do it without defining it or being conscious of it. Essentially, it's eating within a window and nothing outside of that window. For me, defining it and putting a time on it mentally makes me feel like I have to eat my entire meal quickly. Oddly enough, though, I eat better when I'm at work than at home. With work, I'm limited to what I bring with me for lunch whereas at home I can have whatever I want and even go to the store if I want something different.

5. Exercise is something that should be a priority. Working nights can make things a little difficult but it's no excuse. That doesn't stop me from using it as one, though. LOL. I can, however, use a lack of space as a reason. I have always enjoyed HIIT (high intensity interval training) because I feel great after using my body to it's full ability and it never gets easier. With HIIT you're always pushing for more and more reps in the same amount of time, you don't just do 10 of something and you're done. You keep going until either you can't go anymore or the time is up. I've never been big into running, it's just so boring to me. But, I need to figure something out. 

Goals going forward... try to work on all of these. I'm not going to be perfect, and there is no failure. There is progress though and that's what I'm going for. 

Medically... I know some people voiced some concerns about my throwing up/regurgitation last week. I'm fine. It happens from time to time. It started a couple of years ago and I went to specialists to try to figure out what was going on. They ran tests and just told me I may have GERD and gave me Prilosec. Well, it never helped and I don't think that's what I have so I've given up until it becomes more serious. I'm tired of the constant guessing games these doctors or specialists play. I will tell you that I do take my health seriously. If I don't feel right I do seek help.

As far as my extracurricular activities last week... had a blast. The kids always enjoy the local wrestling shows when we go, although they won't watch the shows on TV with me. I've been a fan since I was 6 years old and I watch wrestling 4 times a week.

As far as 'Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania' is concerned, we loved it. The kids and I have a long standing tradition of seeing Marvel and Star Wars projects together. Even the shows on Disney+, they're all us. I won't go into detail about the nerd stuff because I imagine most readers don't want to read about Marvel and Star Wars.

Thanks for reading. 😘



Well, he definitely sounds more positive after writing the post and making a plan. I think he's making great progress, even if the scale is moving super slowly. While exercise has never played a major part in my weight loss/gain (meaning my weight doesn’t correlate with whether I’m exercising or not), I think it's different for Jerry. When he's been successful at losing weight, he's usually exercising in addition to making changes to his diet. So maybe he'll see more noticeable progress from adding the exercise. Regardless, he's been putting in the work!

8 comments:

  1. I would like to raise my hand as a reader that would love to hear Jerry's Ant-Man thoughts! Lol. I personally loved it. I thought it was different and really did a great job of setting up Kang. Plus I loved seeing Scott interact with his older daughter. I really think the reviews are being too harsh honestly. It was a great, entertaining movie! Now I can't wait for Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3!

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  2. I always think of it as a science experiment. You can get down or figure out what isn't working and try something else. Sounds like Jerry's on the right track! As a recommendation from a person who loves HIIT but has limited space, a kettlebell is an awesome choice! Good luck to both you guys.

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  3. Go Jerry! And I do think writing about things is a way to process them positively. It gets all the thoughts bouncing around out of your head and onto the page. It's even better when you read them aloud, although here, we're all reading them!

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  4. I don't know how you can say that exercise has never played a big part in your weight loss, your blog is literally called "Runs for Cookies"! When you first lost all the weight you were running just about every day! Also, Jerry, it's "star date" not start date.

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    Replies
    1. That was my fault--I thought he made a typo by forgetting a "t"--next time I'll ask! (And I lost the first 60 pounds without any exercise. I've lost a lot of weight while running, but I've also gained a lot of weight as a runner. I've lost weight without running. My weight typically correlates with my diet, regardless of exercise.)

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    2. I can definitely support that exercise doesn't drop weight. 90% of weight loss occurs in the kitchen. Dieting is what makes you lose weight. Exercise helps your weight take up less space.

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  5. Hi! To Jerry - we've all been there with a plateau of weight loss. I don't guess any docs have ever talked to you about a hiatal hernia? My husband had one for years before we got married - very similar sounding to your symptoms. I wouldn't call what he used to do "throwing up," it was more like just pieces of undigested food (especially apples which he still doesn't like) would come back up in like, whole pieces. They diagnosed it with an endoscopy and a swallow test. He had surgery (laproscopic) and got it all fixed! Apologies if this is something y'all have already investigated but I just wanted to mention in case it helps!

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  6. I like Jerry's goals. I share #2. I think if I slowed down, I would realize I am getting full. It is a bad habit of eating so fast. I have been like this since I was a kid. I am grateful he is sharing his journey.

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I used to publish ALL comments (even the mean ones) but I recently chose not to publish those. I always welcome constructive comments/criticism, but there is no need for unnecessary rudeness/hate. But please--I love reading what you have to say! (This comment form is super finicky, so I apologize if you're unable to comment)

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