The first weigh-in

The group reconvened last evening for its first weigh-in. Turnout was surprisingly good given the awful weather conditions and slick roads. I arrived early, having navigated the highway quicker than expected, and talked briefly with a couple of the coaches.

As other people filtered in, we started lining up at the scales. My understanding of this deal was for our weights to remain private, but the first woman hopped up and immediately announced she had lost just more than three pounds -- which may not seem like much until you realize she's 4'7".

Two guys then took their turns, one losing two pounds and the other somewhere around seven. Then it was me.

All week I have felt like I wasn't losing anything, mostly because I haven't been hungry. There hasn't been the gnawing urge to go get a soda of a coffee. I'll chalk that up to packing away as close to 200 grams of protein a day I can.

So I had girded myself for a disappointing week. I'd even brought some change to pay a fine if I'd actually gained a pound of two. I mean, I had been eating pretzels at night, and what about that trip to the sushi place on Friday?

Weight, Week 1: 373.6 pounds
Weight, Week 2: 364.4 pounds

I lost 9.2 pounds, the second-largest amount in the group. The fellow who beat me was charted as losing 14 pounds, but even he thought that was bunk -- he's a bit over six feet and maybe 40 pounds overweight, and thought they weighed him improperly last week.

Still, I'm very happy. I celebrated with cottage cheese and turkey last night when I got home (if you can call that celebrating) and this morning it was a triple/triple shake with a few strawberries. I'm full again.

I'll post more about the meeting later today.