Woke up at 7:45, hit the alarm, and slept ’till 9, after going to sleep at about 3am. We had a bunch of people over for a night of food, Guitar Hero, and Karaoke Revolution. No better way to ring in the new year that laughing at your friends making fools of themselves. It was a really great night – the kind of thing we haven’t done in ages, and I wish we did more often.

I felt like I had a hangover, this morning, despite not having anything to drink the night before. So, while Ei-Nyung took the dog out for a quick walk, I stared at a wall, trying not to fall back asleep, or otherwise incapacitate myself. By about 10:15, I’d gotten my head together, and we went out to meet U, A&B for Dim Sum at Jade Villa, in Oakland Chinatown.

Oh – rewind a touch. The night before, K & I had made a wager – we’d both resolved to lose ~20lbs. this year, and motivation is a key factor in success. So, at first we’d agreed that the loser would get the winner a game, but Ei-Nyung and N thought that that was too lame a deal, so we agreed the loser would buy the winner a Wii. By the time one of us succeeds, they should be available, at least.

So, at Dim Sum, I tried not to eat ’till I was stupid, which is what I usually do, and ended up eating a much more controlled, happy amount of food. It was tasty, and I didn’t feel like I was going to explode after it was all over. After we got home, I started reading “The Hacker’s Diet,” at the recommendation of a friend of mine who’s been using it the last few months. The weird thing about it was that it wasn’t particularly surprising. I suppose that’s the thing that’s good about it. It’s not about some miracle no one’s ever heard of, or some quick, painless thing you can do to change everything magically. The main point is simple:

Eat fewer calories than you burn.

The things that I did find interesting were that a.) the writer tells you it’ll suck for a while, and b.) he explains that exercise, in terms of losing weight, isn’t the key. The key is to eat less.

The thing that was interesting for me was that I realized today that I have a really strong connection between exercise and fitness, because in high school, I was ripped, ate a ton, and exercised *all the time*. That association’s stuck, like some sort of muscle memory. So, I figure exercise + eat a ton = ripped, and that’s simply not the case, particularly because I’m no longer swimming for 3-4 hours a day, or riding my bike everywhere I go. And even if it was, at the rate I’m consuming calories, it wouldn’t make as much of a difference as eating a bit less would anyway.

That’s not to say I’m not exercising. At dim sum, S, called, and wanted to know if I wanted to go swimming. I had planned on hitting the Y later, but this was much, much better. It was a stunningly beautiful day – just about as perfect a day as one could get – and so I jumped at the chance to swim in an outdoor pool instead of the Y’s indoor one (S’s family still lives in Piedmont, and so he still has a membership at the pool). Ei-Nyung and Sean’s girlfriend H went running, while we went swimming, and all was well.

The rest of the afternoon was pretty laid back. Joe, Ei-Nyung and I watched a couple hours of the World’s Strongest Man competition, which was pretty hilarious, and awesome. Dinner consisted of some smoked salmon, cream cheese, crackers, and capers, along with some dumplings that Ei-Nyung cooked up. Quantities were much more reasonable than I’d normally consume, and though I feel hungry, it’s a good hungry, in the kind of way that lets you know that you actually haven’t overeaten.

After dinner, we walked to the Grand Lake, and caught a showing of “The Pursuit of Happyness”, whose titular misspelling really bothers me, but I suppose it’s part of the story, so there you go. I liked it – it’s a very “slice of life” sort of movie – I mean, there’s conflict and resolution and all that, but it doesn’t feel like that’s really the *point* of the movie. It’s just about this guy’s life, and what he goes through to try to make something of himself, and his relationship with his child. Touching, and sweet. Really well acted, too, both by Will Smith, and his kid, who plays his kid in the movie.

After that, took Mobius for a 1.2 mile walk – it’s pretty brisk out.

My starting weight at this morning’s weigh-in was 233.5 lbs, which puts my goal weight at 213.5, which would be the lowest my weight would be in about 3 years, and if I can “stick” it, and stabilize at that weight or less, that’d be the least I’d have weighed since meeting Ei-Nyung.

Wacky stuff. Good start to the year, though. It’s been a great day.