Game Over: Tales of a Gamers Quest for Weight Loss

This will absolutely be my biggest trial yet! Im heading down to LA for work, leaving tomorrow. It is ALWAYS so hard to eat well on road trips. Ill blog frequently to let you know how I am doing. Wish me luck!

Well, Ive lost about 4 lbs or so in the last 3 weeks. Not really where I wanted to be, I was hoping to lose 2-3 a week, but considering the bad food week I had last week, Im not too worried. Next week I am traveling to LA for work, and Im going to do my best to keep the "bad food" to a minimum, but it can be very different when you are traveling.

I also wanted to personally thank everyone for all of your support through everything in the last few weeks. It has been very rough for me, but I am back on the train, and will be updating this often.

-Dwayne

Sorry all for the slow update this week. It has been a nightmare whirlwind of a week.

Things that happened this week:

I joined Weight Watchers (which rocks.)
I was super sick with bronchitis.
I played and top8d a Grand Prix Trial
My sister passed away (not unexpectedly, but still.)

Ill put up a good Weight Watchers post tomorrow, but just letting you all know that I haven't been hiding!

Stress. We all have it, everyday. Whether it is work stress, family stress, or personal stress, it is there, looming over you.

Me? I have plenty of stress in my life. Sure, life is good for the most part. I have a wonderful home, a very good job and a lovely fiance. No matter how good things are, there is always something hanging over it.

Im not going to go into a long woe-is-me paragraph about what in my life really stresses me. Most of it is personal, and those of you close enough to me know what is going on. Suffice to say, my job is safe, my love life is stable and secure, and I have a roof over my head each night.

For me, being stressed impacts my weight in a serious way. First off, when I am stressed, my natural reaction is to find comfort, and unfortunately, that is usually through food. Eating comfort food has always been my natural way to combat being stressed out.

On top of that, studies have shown that being stressed can slow down ones metabolism. Ive been prone to a slow metabolism anyways, so when I let stress get to me, it is just hurting a process that is already running slow.

Being stressed has a lot of other side effects in general, indirectly related to my weight. Being stressed is usually because I am very busy, and when I am very busy, I tend to eat fast food. Clearly fast food is very bad for my weight issues. On top of that, being busy and stressed causes me to have little time for exercise and physical work. All of this just adds up.

Those of you that know me know that on the outside, I am a pretty easy going guy. I can get intense occasionally, but I try and be laid back. Im going to do my best to not internalize my stress and find good outlets for it, like boxing or some other sport that will let me not only burn my stress, but burn my calories as well. So when I say to you, "Dont Stress!", Im only looking out for both of our best interests! Heres to a stress-free year!

Turning the corner. Getting over the hill. Achieving something that you feel you are close to, but cannot seem to get there.

I cant help but feel that my Magic game has come to that point where I am either going to turn the corner, or stay on the current path I am on.

Its not like I'm in a bad place. I top8 1-2 PTQs a season on average, and consistently do well in my local game. I do feel that the time has come for me to take that "next" step. To "Turn the corner" if you will.

The issue is, I'm not entirely sure the right path. I play 3-4 nights a week IRL, and most other nights on MODO or MWS. I'm active in the boards, and I read nearly every article I can get my hands on. I can generally do an accurate deck critique, and I can usually spot play mistakes when they are made and correct them.

Whats the next step? Playtest more? I'm not really sure.

Any thoughts from the gamers out there?

Temptations. And I dont mean the singing ones.

They are all around us. Lets go through my temptations for today.

First, our group was thanked for getting a project completed quickly with Donuts. Donuts are a bad temptation.

Next, every day at noon, one of the translators sets out a fishbowl full of mini candy bars. It is WAY too easy to just grab one as you walk past.

Then at lunch, going to Crossroads Mall, there is all sorts of Asian food, deep fried, and desserts.

Then my wonderful Fiance suggests pizza and dessert for a "date night at home". (To be fair, she is usually VERY good with diet, just a weak moment today)

Its just too easy to cave in to some or all of these temptations. I was pretty good today, and even managed to avoid "popcorn" Friday, where everyone gets popcorn freshly popped.


Its way too easy to just sit around, play games, and snack. Same at work, where you can just sit at your desk and munch all day, and no one notices.

My worst temptation? Asian food. By far, I have some sort of inhuman craving for Asian food. Thai, Teriyaki, Chinese, it doesn't really matter, Ill take it all. Someone last night was eating Phad Thai right next to my head. I was dying.

What is your worst temptation, and how do YOU resist?

So I put a little poll on the right that asked if you were happy with your current weight. So far, we have 7 responses, all of which are "No"!

I'm surprised that so far it is 100% "No". I had figured sure, maybe quite a few of you were unhappy, but not really 100%!

So I'm starting my quest, those of you that are unhappy, what are YOU doing to improve your weight? I'm interested because I need some inspiration on things that I can do.