35. That’s a full 5 weeks on this diet. I still have awhile to go before I even reach the halfway point, but every time I put up a new number it kind of surprises me that I made it that long.

Lack of sleep caught up to me this afternoon… I just passed out for 3 or 4 hours and won’t up maybe 30 minutes ago and realized I needed to take Akima out for a walk… and also write this post. If it had just been the latter, I probably would have just stayed in bed and done 2 posts tomorrow (one in the morning, one in the evening) – because really, I’d rather have stayed asleep. I fear I may have screwed up my sleep cycle a bit.

Because I was so tired when I was writing my post yesterday, I skipped over a couple things I had intended to write down. One of them occurred just before the end of my run. In the very final stretch of my run, I got a driveby “Run, Forrest, run!”. Now, I typically assume anyone yelling things out of their car at runners is probably a teenager… and so, I feel a bit confused about it. I mean, this is a movie that came out in the early 90’s, and we have some kid who maybe wasn’t even alive then quoting it at a runner? I mean, I appreciated it and all, but I’m not sure I’m really deserving… Forrest ran much further than I did. Plus he had a longer beard than I do presently… and was in better shape. But hey, it’s something to aspire to.

The other thing happened a few minutes later as I was walking back to my apartment. Some group of girls was crossing paths with me (keep in mind that this is ~10PM on Market Street – in case you aren’t familiar, there’s plenty of bars and the like – So I’m assuming they had been drinking). One of them addressed me and said that they were going to call me “Patrick” from now on. I really didn’t know how to respond to being told such a thing by someone I am fairly certain I’ve never seen in my life. In hindsight, I kind of wish that I had asked why. But, in the split second of opportunity I had, I just said something like “Oh, ok. That works I guess.” So now I just have to wonder what inspired that comment – and why someone would want to call me Patrick.

Oops, this is a little bit past midnight. Oh well.

I’m super tired, so this is gonna be just a short one – only because it’s obligatory to post something 😉

Diet is still ongoing, doing just fine… nothing of interest to report.

Run today was pretty good, I think just slightly less good than the previous one. I know I had to walk just a bit earlier than I did last time, but my running app crashed on me so I don’t actually know what the pace was or anything like that.

No interesting fact for you about 34 because I’m too tired to look it up. Sorry.

33. Another Friday of resisting bagels. Did you know that to count to 33fro, 1would take you about 16 seconds? Go on, try it.

Hey guess what! The scale put me at 198.5 this morning! Finally, a number below 200! I’m pretty sure I know the reason why, but I think I’ll leave that unsaid.

Tomorrow will be another run, first week with a 3rd run… hoping it goes well!

Next up, 34.

I almost forgot I needed to post! Day 32 is at an end. Ummm… I don’t have anything particularly interesting to say about the number 32. It directly proceeds after 31, and it precedes 33. It’s the only number that does that. And according to some website I found it is used 11 times in the Bible.

Same old same old with the diet… the exciting news for me is on today’s run, #6. I took a solid 3 minutes off my previous fastest time, and came pretty close to completing the 3 miles without any walking (when I started walking my running app indicated I had gone 2.79 miles). And my legs were way less tired afterward than in previous runs. Even on Monday’s run, I was pretty exhausted afterward in a way that wasn’t true today. So I think I hit a significant breakthrough there. Since I’m adding in a 3rd run this week, we’ll see how things go on Saturday.

It’s worth noting tonight’s weather conditions were ideal… it wasn’t humid… it was pretty cool, high 60’s. That’s good running weather. I think Saturday will be similar (if I do it at night, might be warmer if I do it during the day). Next week looks like it’ll be a hot one, so it’s always possible there could be a regression if that turns out to be the case, but even so, this was good progress… my pace was faster by about a minute per mile, and that’s significant.

Tomorrow will be 33! See you then.

31! The first of a new set of 30 days.

Let’s see, something about 31…  Did you know that there are 31 days in the month of August? Woah. That’ll blow your mind.

We’re not going to talk about the scale for awhile. Why? Because it’s an asshole, that’s why.

Looking forward to tomorrow’s run… weather looks like it’s going to be amazing.

That’s it – See you on 32!

Ok, so here we are at the end of day THIRTY. The first part of the diet trilogy is at en end. But before we get to that, I do believe I owe you an interesting factoid about the number 30. And so here you go:

“While the number 30 has many significations, its most fundamental significance is the fact that it is the number of the circle, or cycle. The circle, it will be noted, is the geometric expression of absolute completion and infinity. It symbolizes the continuous, yet fixed, nature of life, energy and matter along the timeline. It is the shape of every planet(*) in the solar system and the fittest representation of all time cycles as the clock itself (being in the shape of a circle) testifies.”
*Except the earth. The earth is clearly flat. Oh wait, maybe it’s a flat circle. Never mind then.

So there you have it. Completion and infinity. Seems appropriate.

On to diet news. So that scale is one dirty son of a bitch. 200.1 it said this morning. 200.1. It couldn’t just weight me in at 0.2 pounds less to make me happy?

Well, maybe I can start off the 2nd set of 30 days below 200. Unless it decides to uptick again *grumbles*.

But yeah, I’m 1/3 of the way through this thing. Oh, and about that cheat day I’m allowed… I won’t be using it tomorrow. Really, I figure at this point, taking a cheat day is likely to just make things harder. And well, while I really wanted to eat one of those free sausage bagel sandwiches they had at work today… I was able to walk away from it without a problem – despite being really hungry at the time.

I’ve got this. I’m really going to enjoy the first beer I have after this is all over though, I can tell you that…

So the thing about 29 is this… it takes that many years for Saturn to orbit the sun. Unless, of course, you are on Saturn. Then it takes one year.

I worked from home again! Last week was the first time I got a weekly work from home day, and I didn’t find out until Tuesday, so I took it on Friday. But, for the most part, going forward, I plan to use it on Monday (or Tuesday in the event that Monday is a holiday). But, the great thing is, I can choose whatever day I want each week, so, a bit flexible. In any case, it’s really nice to be able to do.

The diet still goes well – though the scale still refuses to drop below 200. I’ve really been quite close for like a week now, but the stupid thing keeps fluctuating. I hope tomorrow, as that is day 30.

I also finished another run. This one was a bit problematic due to.. errr… biological needs… mid-run… so I had to find what was surely the most disgusting facility on the planet… which obviously meant a break mid-run… and.. well, yeah, it sort of throws everything off.

Anyway, as a result of the run, I’m super tired and just want to lay down and watch an episode of Stargate and then get my reading in.

See you tomorrow!

So today was the last day of week 4. 28 days in. That feels like a long time to have been doing this, but I’ve still got a long time yet to go. That said, I’m definitely seeing results, and so those results will help me to continue to push onward.

Let’s see…. 28. Did you know that 28 is the number of Hebrew letters in Genesis 1:1, the first verse of the Bible? Me neither, until just a few moments ago! How many English letters are there? Well, I’d imagine that would vary by whichever version you are using.

I forgot to give my thoughts on The Meg. So it was better than I thought it would be. It was also less… 3D-enhanced that I thought it would be. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s far from like… a GOOD movie, but it was pretty entertaining, and not from a “haha, this is really dumb” perspective like I was thinking it would be. It’s worth a watch if you’re looking for something to do.

I’m still zeroing in on that 200 mark. Tomorrow, maybe? I’m hoping to get there by day 30… so tomorrow would be nice. I’ll be adding in a third day of running this week. I’m thinking I’ll keep the current schedule but add in the other run on Saturday. Speaking of, it seems like tonight would have been a nice night for a run, based on what it felt like when I took the dog out on a walk – hopefully it will be just as nice tomorrow.

And that’s it! 29 tomorrow!

This one is coming in a little late… but maybe WordPress is set to something other than Eastern time and it will still count this as 8/18? Or maybe I can cheat and edit the post time somehow… hmmm.

Anyway, I haven’t gone to sleep yet, so as far as I’m concerned, it’s still today! However, I am way too tired to come up with another interesting 27 fact, so you’ll have to make do with the one I dropped yesterday.

Why is this post so late you ask? Well, after some 16 or 17 years or so of being a fan, I finally went and saw Dashboard Confessional live. It was good, glad I went. They played a surprising amount of older material, and only a couple songs from the latest album.

But, as a result, I’m super tired, and so I think this is going to be the end of the post.

Oh yeah, diet. Still going well. I really wanted to buy a beer tonight but I didn’t.

See you on 28!

Edit: I totally cheated to make it post for 8/18.

26. That’s how many seasons of “48 Hours” there have been. That’s way more than 48 hours. Someone should let them know their time is up.

I’m narrowing in on the completion of 30 days. But not quite yet! Thanks to working from home today, I didn’t have to resist the temptation of bagels and cream cheese and donuts. I do miss those things, very much.

The good news is, when I weighed myself this morning I seem to have gotten through the stall that had been happening. It was the lowest number I’ve seen so far – Still not quite past that first milestone I’m looking for, but I have renewed hope that I might get there by the end of this week… or if not then, perhaps the end of the first 30 days.

Tonight I will be going to see THE MEG. In 3D. Now, I don’t really care that much about 3D, but, since Sinemia let’s me see 3D without it counting as my one premium showing per month, I figure, why not? I don’t dislike 3D, I just don’t care enough to pay extra money for it. And anyway, The Meg seems like it could be a fun 3D movie. People making stupid decisions… giant shark… should be a good time. Anyway, I’m hitting up the late show, so when I get out it will be after midnight, hence I’m making a post now, because there will be no time after.

And so I guess you can look forward to my thoughts on it tomorrow. As well as what I can come up with for 27 (Did you know there’s been that many seasons of America’s Funniest Home Videos? Damn. Now I can’t use that tomorrow.)