I had to laugh when I weighed myself today.

I had to weigh myself three times before I accepted the results, because the highest weight recorded (yes, the heaviest weight) was 244.5. I'm going to call that this week's weight, for a loss of 2.5 pounds-but I had to laugh when I weighed myself. This can't last, and I definitely do not recommend it as a weight loss strategy.

You see, this week I got hit by a really nasty cold that settled into my chest and throat. I was hacking all week long - really loud, painful coughs - and I was coughing up mucus by the bucket loads.

However, the dog still needed to be walked (90 minutes a day, on average), and the only time I could breathe was when I was doing moderate aerobic exercise. So, I rode the bike about an hour each day.

Did I mention that I couldn't smell food? And could barely taste it? And that chocolate, one of my trigger foods, was unappealing because one bite made the mucus flow like a mudslide?

There was no effort involved in eating less this week. It was easy, really. But I hardly think I could recommend this "method" to anyone else. "Yeah, you just cough until you can't stand up, and oh yeah, make sure you wake up two dozen times a night with a blocked airway..."

In any case, I won't be surprised if I plateau now that my breath is coming back, or even if some of the weight comes back, but for now...244.5.

Yeah! (Hack hack!)

Greg