Weight Be Gone

I don't really believe in New Year's Resolutions. Sometimes I might imagine one in my brain, but I'm not that into it. Because if you're ready to make a change, why shouldn't you just go for it right then, instead of waiting for the calendar to tell you it's time?

Recently I decided to get more serious about losing a little weight. Party because I want my pants to fit better, but also because I'm tired of the WiiFit telling me that I'm overweight. There's really no reason for me to carry around as much weight as I do. So I sketched out a plan at the beginning of October to lose 2 pounds a week until New Year's, which would get me down to what I feel is a reasonable weight for me.

My main problem with keeping my weight in check is overeating. That dinner was delicious, so I must have more of it. Or, we might as well not have leftovers, so I should finish this off. Also a lot of snacking, whether it is in the afternoon at work when I'm feeling sleepy or in the evenings after the kids go to bed.

I've usually given up fairly easy on weight-loss attempts because I don't like feeling hungry or don't want to spend a bunch of extra money on so-called "healthy" foods. So I decided that I would focus on just cutting out extra portions and unhealthy snacking and see where that got me. Also, I'm better at doing stuff if I make it like a game, so I decided to limit myself to 2,000 calories per day.

The first week went great. I kept track of what I was eating in a notebook and was conscious about every food choice I made. The results were good too - I dropped three pounds. The first couple of days were difficult, but it became easier as I got used to eating less. I also found that food actually tasted much better when I wasn't consuming so much. A small portion of vanilla ice cream at the end of the week was surprisingly delightful.

While playing the calorie game really helped me as far as keeping myself in check, I found that it is sometimes easier said than done. It's pretty easy when you're counting what's in a sandwich, or a glass of milk, or a stack of pancakes. But when it's some sort of homemade soup or casserole, it's much more difficult to figure out where you're at calorie-wise. At first, I just guessed, but then sort of gave up on keeping track of any of it. Still, I dropped two more pounds the second week.

I've tried to get back into the notebook thing, but haven't been able to. My birthday was at the end of the third week, which brought some extra treats and food along with it. I (gasp) gained a tiny bit of weight back.

Another trap is fresh-baked rolls. It's a well-known fact that these are not nearly as good the day after. So I haven't done well at stopping at one or two. To do otherwise would be a disservice to the rolls. Plus the kids were on fall break this last week and one of their activities was to make homemade donuts and donut holes. So to come home from work after a long day of restraining yourself and find a bunch of tasty treats on the counter, well, it wasn't good. The fourth week wrapped up with me losing the extra that I gained back in week three.

So my net loss for the four weeks is five pounds. Many of my pants do fit a little better, and I've found that I'm actually less tired lately. So progress has been made. I plan to keep it going, if for no other reason than to have the Wii praise me.

Zethro's Fall TV Preview Part IV

Parks and Recreation (Thursdays, NBC): I'm sorry to say, but as much as I love this show, we've probably seen the best it has to offer already (seasons 2 & 3). So it is probably doomed to follow the same arc as The Office - we're no longer in the zone where pretty much every episode is guaranteed to be great. We'll see many decent-to-good episodes, with a few brilliant ones sprinkled in. They've pretty much admitted that the golden years are over - a book was recently released on the fictional town of Pawnee, which is pretty much an admission that there isn't a whole lot of new material from here on out. But maybe if Rob Lowe fixed his hair. . .

Whitney (Thursdays, NBC): It actually looked funny from the vignette promos that ran all summer on NBC. It's about a girl named Whitney and her bearded live-in boyfriend, and the hilarity of their non-married life. But it's hard to make a whole show out of vignettes. We gave it a try, and although it is better than Outsourced (last season's NBC Thursday night stinker), we decided it wasn't worth a place on the regular viewing schedule. But maybe if they got rid of the laugh track. . .

Up All Night (Wednesdays, NBC): NBC's promos for their new fall shows, which ran constantly during America's Got Talent last summer, really worked on me. This is another one I tried based on the promo. It's the story of a couple, played by Will Arnett and Christina Applegate, and they have a baby, and so the show is about how the baby is causing all sorts of havoc for their lives. Plus Maya Rudolph is involved. I didn't expect to like it, and actually didn't like it after watching the pilot. It's kind of harsh to judge a show on the pilot episode, but them's the breaks. At least this couple is married.

Prime Suspect (Thursdays (?), NBC): A cop show set in NYC, with homicide detective Jane Timoney as the main character. I would compare her to Veronica Mars, if only Veronica were 25 years older and working in NYC. Jane tends to rub people the wrong way, but has a knack for solving crimes. So the show is kind of about not only solving the cases, but how she isn't necessarily well-liked by her coworkers. As one of them said, "You have the worst personality ever." We're not big cop show people, so I can't really judge this against any other cop shows, but we actually like it. Which is pretty much the kiss of death. We were into the cop show Life, which lasted two seasons before being canceled by NBC a couple of years ago. And then there was Veronica Mars, which more of a PI show than a cop show, but still - canceled after three seasons. And Prime Suspect is rumored to be in trouble. They're beginning to move it around to different nights, trying to get people to watch.

Hmmm. So that should be about it. There's probably another show that I tried, but I'm not thinking of it right now. I hope my perspectives on the 2011 TV season were helpful to you in some way.

Zethro's Fall TV Preview Part III

Modern Family (Wednesdays, ABC): I'm a little worried about ModFam this season. The well is starting to run dry on a few of their standard jokes - Claire is uptight, Phil is a little boy trapped in an adult body, Manny is an adult trapped in a kid body, Gloria is loud and hard to understand, etc. - we get all that. Even Cam, the standout character from the first season, is starting to feel a little stale. It will be interesting to see if they do anything to freshen it up. I don't think talking Lily is the answer, however.

Community (Thursdays, NBC): I'm selling all my stock in this show. I didn't really like it to begin with, but sort of got sucked in after a couple of outstanding fisrt season episodes (the ones about chicken fingers and paintball), but now I'm back to square one. It's just not worth the investment when so many of the episodes are blah. Besides, season three of a show about community college? Shouldn't they all be done by now?

The Big Bang Theory (Thursdays, NBC): I keep wanting to sell my stock in this show, but keep getting lured back in by Shelden, for whom the joke well never seems to run dry. Jim Parsons is worth the Emmy and whatever money they pay him. And what does a show about nerds do to keep the laughs coming? Introduce more nerds. I enjoy any episode with Mayim Bialik (yes, that Mayim Bialik) as Amy Farrah Fowler, the female equivalent of Shelden.

The Office (Thursday, NBC): It doesn't completely make sense that Andy is the new regional manager. Michael at least made some sense, because although he could be a terrible boss, he was a great salesman. And everything that has been presented over the past couple of seasons has portrayed Andy as having one of the worst sales records in the office. But there is a lot that doesn't make sense with this show over the past four seasons - don't get me started, I could do an entire post on just this show and maybe I will sometime. But it's okay - it's a comedy. It's just supposed to make you laugh, not make you think, right?

I think I only have a couple more shows to do, so stay tuned for Part IV.

Zethro's Fall TV Preview Part II

The Biggest Loser (Tuesdays, NBC): E-liz would probably love it if I would get on board with this show. But I just haven't been able to do it. The melodrama of this show has just proven to be too much for me to handle. I can't handle the tears and the yelling and screaming. I can't handle that scale beep-beep-beeping for five minutes before it finally gives the weight. I can't handle breaking to commerical in the middle of a weigh-in. I can't handle that Alison Sweeney chick reciting "your current weight is. . ." with such gravity you'd think she was presenting the Best Picture Oscar. I can't handle that trainer guy Bob and his beard. I can't handle every episode being two hours long.

Survivor (Wednesday, CBS): I just keep coming back. I proclaimed before this season that I was going to take another hiatus from Survivor. But then I heard that not one, but two Mormons were going to be on this season. One of the Mormons is Dawn, who's in her forties and I think a BYU professor. The other Mormon is a guy, but I'm not even sure of his name because so far they've given him about 2.8 seconds of screen time. There is also this guy Brandon on this season who is a real piece of work. It's always amazing how the players get so offended about being voted off and the other Survivors not playing with integrity. Uh. . . this show has been on for like 12 years, guys. Get with the program. I still watch, maybe only because I can sit and make snide remarks about Jeff Probst.

Well, I'm already out of time for today so this will have to do for now. This may end up being a five-parter.

Zethro's Fall TV Preview Part I

Ah, fall is here. Kids are back in school, leaves are turning, and new shows to watch on the tube. The anticipation is great - until you realize that most of the new shows suck and aren't worth watching. You might be thinking, wow, this guy watches too much TV, and maybe that's true, but when you've got a baby who needs a lot of holding, what else are you going to do? Build an addition on the garage?

Here's my take on the Fall TV Season thus far:

The Amazing Race (Sundays, CBS): This used to be one of our main shows to watch, but then we stopped for a few years. E-liz has been wanting to start watching again the past couple of seasons, but we haven't, maybe because of the weird Sunday time slot, and maybe because I technically didn't want to. It's an okay show, but a little boring at times (here's one team riding in a cab, and here's another team riding in a cab, and here's yet another team riding in a cab) and sometimes seems a little rigged (they always make like there is a big crisis with one of the teams not being able to get a flight, but somehow they always all end up on the same plane). Plus, the host, Phil, kind of bugs me sometimes. By the way, we would be terrible if we ever went on this show.

Pan Am (Sundays, ABC): Speaking of planes and flights, E-liz looked at me with shock when I told her I had DVR'd the pilot episode of Pan Am, as if I had DVR'd professional wrestling or CSPAN. But now she professes to like the show, which is based around a group of stewardesses who see the world as employees of Pan Am Airlines. Of course, I'm all about nostalgia and enjoy the look in at a different era. So far, it's pretty tame content-wise, compared to say, Mad Men. It will be interesting to see how long they can keep it interesting - there's some serious potential to run out of plots and storylines pretty quick, and the sixties nostalgia won't keep it afloat forever.

NFL Football (Sundays & Mondays, CBS/FOX/NBC/ESPN): I wish I had more time to sit around and watch pro football, because I really do enjoy it. However, the way life is right now, there just isn't time. I always DVR the Broncos game, and sometimes it takes me two or three days to watch it, if I get through it at all. And that includes skipping through commercials and a lot of dead time between plays. Sigh. No big deal, since it appears the Broncos are on their way to another 4-12 season. At least Tim T. will keep us all interested.

The Playboy Club (was Mondays, NBC): I never watched it, although I did see roughly 2,572 promos while watching America's Got Talent last summer. My guess was that it was going to end up being canceled by Thanksgiving. I was wrong. It was canceled by Halloween, lasting just three episodes before NBC pulled the plug.

2 Broke Girls (Mondays, CBS): Technically, I only watched about two and a half minutes of this one night. It didn't look that compelling, although it seems to be getting good reviews.

So I had to include a couple of shows I don't watch so it actually seems like a Fall TV Preview, and not just a listing of what I watch.

Check back for Part II.