I was pleasantly surprised on Wednesday – truly surprised. I was heading into East Lansing to see a friend play at a local brew pub. It’s a nicer place, so I could dress up a little bit.

I decided to try on some denim shorts that haven’t fit me since last year, after the massive weight gain of Fall/Winter 2009-2010 (we’re talking 30 pounds). Wednesday, the shorts fit, and they were even a little too loose. This would not normally be a problem because I could just throw on a belt, but the particular style of these shorts didn’t go too well with the tunic that I was wearing.

Hmmm…

Enter other, smaller, denim shorts. I was shocked. A couple of weeks ago, I couldn’t even zip these things up. Wednesday, I was wearing them out on the town. You have no idea how happy this made me.

I started my special diet on Sunday, May 9. It was the weekend after the Fort Custer Stampede, when I DNFed because I just wasn’t feeling it. I felt like crap. I looked like crap. I needed to do something about it.

On May 9, in the middle of the day, I started my new diet and headed out for an aggressive hill workout on the bike. It was a new beginning.

Now, almost two weeks later, I am feeling much better, my clothes are starting to fit, and I’m getting faster and stronger on the bike. My legs are starting to look good, again. Here are some simple stats:

• 8 pounds lost;
• 1.5 inches lost around the hips;
• 1.75 inches lost around the waist;
• Body fat is down 4.3%;
• 12 pounds of fat lost;
• 4 pounds of muscle gained.

This is with several cheat days scattered throughout. For example, I had a few evenings out with beer. That definitely throws things off balance, but I’ll explain that later.

For those of you who are curious, Weight Watchers was no longer working for me. I decided to try The Zone, which has produced excellent results, thus far.