I buttoned my jacket in spite of chain restaurants making it difficult

First off, excuse the Fallout Boy- or Panic! at the Disco-esque blog title, but I hit a very important milestone twice in the last week (actually, I hit two milestones, but I will take them one at a time). I buttoned not one, but two of my suit jackets this week. This feat has not been accomplished in well over a year, and here is the photographic proof:

Technically this is a sports coat, and I also realized this outfit makes me look like a college professor. I do not think I will wear this ensemble again; that is, I will not unless I get some leather patches sewn onto my elbows.

The other important milestone is that I dropped a zero. Here are the stats:

• March 4 - 239.6
• February 19 - 241.2
• January 2 (start date) - 256.0

I am well on my way to my goal weight of 180, but the challenge of doing so by December 31, 2012, will only increase as time goes on. I am on pace today, but as anyone who has tried to lose weight knows it only gets tougher the more pounds you shed. I am hoping for at least two more months of 8 pounds/month, and then I will be scraping to get a pound a week.

The other day I came across a really interesting article that supports a stat I heard a while back that the average American underestimates their caloric intake by 98% when eating out (I couldn't find a source link, but I heard it while watching the Today Show). To put this in perspective, simply double the amount of calories you are eating in that Ruby Tuesday's cheeseburger and that is roughly how many you are eating.

MSNBC.com recently published a very interesting article on what food providers (be it processors, grocery stores, or restaurants) do to hide the real caloric intake of their foods. There is a very strong trend (and has been for a very long time, as showcased with the Pop Tarts example) to not clearly reflect how many calories are being consumed in a package by using the deceptive phrase "serving size."

The biggest culprit in the article is Uno Chicago Grill's personal pan pizza. While Uno is no stranger to making lists of bad foods (and here; and here; and here), calling a 2,310 calorie option "personal" is deceitful at best. I can at least understand splitting a P.F. Chang's dish two ways, but who has ever split a personal pizza in half?

Finally, I would like to leave you with a motivational thought on why it is important to go to the gym. During my Sunday afternoon trip, potential Baltimore Ravens cheerleaders were auditioning for the 2012 season. You never know who you will run into while at the gym.