Sunday, May 27, 2012

Day 40 - The End of Days

Sunday - The last day of Survivor Diet 2012.  This couldn't come soon enough. Due to poor planning on my part, I ended the SDC on Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend instead of Friday.  Oh well.  As a result I did not get to enjoy the food and drink that was available at the shore celebration with my family.  This included a rack of pork roast, a variety of alcoholic beverages and some chocolate dessert treats.  Instead, I brought a couple pieces of fluke that I had prepared a few days ago, a bag full of steamed crabs and another bag of romaine lettuce from the garden.  In actuality I think my meal was just as good (if not better) than what was prepared by others - with the exception of the pork roast - which was very difficult to pass on.

So day 40 came and went and later that night I was reflecting a bit on the successes and failures of this year's SDC.  If I had to sum it all up in a few words I would say it was somewhat of a failure, anticlimactic and a bit boring.  On the positive side, I lost about 15 pounds from when I started but my goal was 25.  On another positive note, my blood pressure is completely normal and my headaches have been virtually non-existent.  On another positive note, I fit into many of my size 34 pants (previously 36), I have lost one notch on my belt, I fit into most medium sized t-shirts (although large is still a better fit).  On another positive note, I have learned about raising bees and now have a thriving hive in my back yard - and although I didn't start this early enough to get any honey production from them this year - I'm optimistic for the future.  Plus, they will help pollinate the vegetable garden all summer.

Ok - why so bad then you might be thinking?  Well, once again I did this whole thing alone - nobody seems to have any interest in joining me so although I get a lot of support from others, it's not the same as having additional participants to share experiences and learn from.  I feel like I'm running out of new ideas and new foods to eat.  Doing the same thing year after year - salt from the ocean water, clams, backyard greens, trout, bluefish, striped bass, fluke, crabs, beans and rice.  Over and over and over - it gets monotonous.  That's why I introduced the chickens last year (didn't turn out so well because my neighbors made me give them away) and the bees this year.
Secondly, I feel a little defeated because I did cheat a bit this year.  And although I justified it by giving up several weekly rewards it still feels as if I only did the challenge half-assed and if you ask me, this year I was not up to the challenge.

Where do we go from here? Each year I try to reflect on the experiences I have gathered and try to come up with a plan for a way to live life better in the future.  After asking my 11 year old son, Ty what I should do he replied, "You need to continue this for another 3 weeks."  Other than not really wanting to, I didn't have a very good response for him - so I decided to do it.  I still have 10 pounds to drop and I'm going to do it - 3 more weeks.  The 2012 SDC Extension is now scheduled to end on Sunday, June 17th.  There you have it.

I don't think I'm going to blog every day but I'll try to fill in the blanks where I can and take pictures or video of things I eat and adventures I experience.  One thing to look forward to in the next month is an adventure for Giant Tuna up in Cape Cod.  Stay tuned. . .

4 comments:

  1. I found your blog a little late this year. It is now June 8th and you are already done. Goof for you for making it three years running. You have inspired me to try your challenge on my own. Next year I'll be looking for your blog again around April to see if I am up to the challenge. Thanks for the inspiration.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's that time again - starting April 22 this year. Feel free to join in and discover what it's like for yourself.

      Delete
  2. Hi Doug,
    I just finished watching the current season Survivor In Australia and thought to myself "wow these guys have lost a lot of weight in a short amount of time- I wonder if this can be transfered over to the real world?" Decided to Google and look what I found?? Might try the diet next month but really wanted to know- Did you do the extra 10 days and if so what was your total weight loss?
    Much respect for trying something different and putting it out there for the World to see

    Cheers
    Brett

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brett - Are you in this year? April 22 start date. Let me know - - - dpeterson@sportcow.com

      Delete