Richard Ha writes:

Goal: lose one pound per week for 39 weeks
Starting weight on 5/23: 214.6 lbs.
End goal: 175 lbs.
This week’s target weight: 209.6 lbs.
Today’s actual weight: 206.0 lbs. 6/25/06
I am 3.5 lbs. ahead of schedule
This week I lost 1.5 lbs.
Weight loss since 5/23: 8.6 lbs.

Resting heart rate 5/23: 65 beats per minute
Today’s resting heart rate 59 beats per minute.*
* This goes down as one gets into better shape. Lance Armstrong is said to be at 32 beats per minute. My lowest was 52 beats per minute many years ago.

My resting heart rate today is two beats per minute higher than last week. I’m guessing it is because I am only cruising at 70% of max. I haven’t done higher heart rate interval training since leaving Hawaii.

It’s interesting–I’m starting to pay attention to what I’m eating since I’ve set this one pound per week weight loss goal. I’m trying more salads and sandwiches. Somewhere along the line my stomach shrank some and I’m starting to request a doggy bag for the other half of the sandwich. What’s up? 

We just got strawberry cheesecake from Juniors on 45th. So I’m not deprived or starving.

We caught the subway and walked around at Columbus Circle off 59th street.  CNN’s New York studios are in the Time Warner building. We took a tour and found out that Lou Dobbs, Nancy Grace, Anderson Cooper, Paula Zahn and Larry King’s show are broadcast from there. Imagine, all that and a Hamakua Springs Country Farms bumper sticker, too.

We saw them setting up a red carpet and so we hung around to see who would show up. It turned out that the Gracie Awards were being given out that evening. The Gracie “Allen” award honors programming for, about and by women in electronic media.

People were being interviewed on the red carpet. Julie Chen of the Early Morning show was interviewed on TV, Susan Lucci came over to chat with the people and many journalism personalities walked by.

I asked Larry King what the dress code at the White House is nowadays. I think he said that it’s now coat and tie. Short pants optional.

Now that I’m on this weight loss program, I notice how convenient it is to combine and buy salads and main dishes by the pound. One can custom make a meal according to one’s whims. I saw this at the gourmet food store Eli’s on the upper east side as well as the Whole Foods at the shops at Columbus Circle.

We can kind of do this now at work. There is a good selection of fresh produce growing on the farm. We have several different types of colored lettuces, different types and sizes of tomatoes, Japanese cucumbers for the crunch, as well as apple bananas for the potassium. And we’re adding to that all the time. All we need is dressing and some precooked chicken or meat to make a good nutritious meal that’s low in calories.