I spent my workout pumping iron in the midst of a mental spank-fest. The scale, you see, is my friend. Not the kind of sycophantic friend that tells me look great even when I have a booger on my chin and spinach in my teeth but the kind of friend that smacks me upside the head when I mix prints with plaid and flat out tells me, "No, it's not the jeans that makes your ass look fat- it's your ass."

This morning my friend the scale reminded me that slacking-off doesn't shed pounds and brownies aren't health food. I'm grateful for the scale no matter how grim the news- it's an early warning device, letting me know what's happening before something a little less friendly chides in... the mirror.

#29 - Weigh In Regularly

Not necessarily every day but often enough to change course if what I'm doing isn't working.

#30 - I Ask Again, "Do These Pants Make My Ass Look Fat?"

No, eating too many brownies makes my ass look fat. True-dat! Note to Steve: "Cut back on the brownies."

#31 - Fast Food? Fuhgeddaboudit!

We Americans have the best fast food in the world- and that ain't just my patriotism showing. Empires and an obesity epidemic have been built on it and testify to its' world supremacy. Salute foreigners, we rock! Now I'm not saying that fast food barons of capitalism are to blame for making my ass measurable in axe handles (we all know that fast food doesn't make people fat; eating too much fast food makes people fat), what I'm saying is that for me, I'm better off staying away from it entirely.

#32 - Speed Kills Weight Loss

We all know that fast food is generally jammed full of fat, carbs, and Sodium. Wolfing it down like some kind of Velociraptor adds insult to the dietary injury. Eating slowly lets the body convince the brain that it's being fed. The result- I feel full even though I've eaten less. Who knows, it could have saved the dinosaurs.

#33 - Reducing Intake Is More Effective Than Increasing Activity In The Short Term

OK, decision time. I'm at the order counter of my favorite fast food place deciding whether or not to spring for the 59-cent super-size upgrade. What do I do? WHAT DO I DO?

Walk away! There's no way I going to do enough reps at the gym to balance out the equation. It's exponentially easier to exercise freedom of choice and avoid a 1,000 calorie mistake than try to work it off in the gym.

Down a solid 107 pounds as of this morning! I might not have made the discovery had the bleachers not been coated with a sheet of ice. Thanks for the boost Ma Nature!

What began as a nice run over to the track turned into a decent gym day today. I did a solid 30 minutes on the stair machine to make up for the frozen bleachers and then went on to a full circuit around the machines. Seeing the scale dipping lower gave me a little more pep than I usually have on a Saturday and the run back home was nice and dry.

What a great way to start the day!

Man! I really missed going to the gym over the last two weeks. The first thing I did was hop up on the scale to end this crappy phase of not knowing whether or not I was making any progress. I'm one of those guys who likes to monitor the effectiveness of all my actions. I don't like being surprised- I like making progress. I like making corrections in the short-term rather than trying to remember how what I did a month (or two weeks) ago may have affected my current circumstances.

Not that I'm knocking a 5 lb loss. I'll take one of those every week or two- no complaints.

And I had a few clues along the way; my watch and clothes where "mysteriously" getting bigger, and I am feeling pretty good. I'm wondering what the next two weeks will produce- now that I'm back at the gym and have access to a scale.

I've come to expect NO MORE THAN a one-pound drop when I weigh in on gym days. Today I was down TWO pounds and that much closer to my goal.

I really do not expect the rate of loss to continue due to my "magic equation" coming closer to equilibrium with each pound lost. I'll take this loss as a positive thing.

Today one of my sons went with us to the gym. He's just starting out with weights so I want to make sure to doesn't over-do it. He seemed to enjoy it and it's always good to spend time together. The only negative is that it effectively cuts my workout in half considering time spent in playing instructor- which is perfectly OK and certainly temporary. Once he gets used to a routine, I'll be back to a more consistent and strenuous workout. I'm just glad he wants to spend time with me.

We also shared a breakfast of protein smoothies- which he liked. We use the Magic Bullet, so each of us gets a smoothie that specially formulated and mixed directly in the mug we're going to drink it from- making it uber-convenient. It's one piece of "As Seen on TV" merchandise that I would recommend to anyone.