For those of you who didn't already know, last month I officially paid off my gigantic $17,000 credit card debt that I racked up during college. I didn't have a job the last year of college so I could focus on school, but I was still living like I did have a job. Combine that with the fact that I had to move to Nashville for 4 months to do my internship and BAM!, you've got yourself one hell of a debt.

So finally 6 years and about 28 large later, it's all but a painful memory. $400 bones a month is what it took, which doesn't absolutely destroy the pocketbook but it certainly puts a damper on doing all that stuff you want to do when you are a young twenty-something.

I'm also close to being "fat free" in a sense. The diet and exercise program (that I invented myself with no outside help thank you very much) that I put myself on back in March is working pretty damn well. After exactly two months I've dropped a grand total of 19 lbs of pure fat (I started at 171 and weighed in this morning at 152). Realistically, it's probably closer to about 22 lbs of fat that I've lost as I've put on at least 2 or 3 pounds of lean muscle in my upper body. I'm still about 4 lbs away from my goal of 148, but I've got three more weeks before I hit the beautiful sandy beaches of Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, so it shouldn't be a problem. These last few pounds seem to be the hardest though, that's for sure.

I'm going to eat and drink like a crazy starving pirate down there so I fully expect to put about 4 pounds back on the first week. Then of course I'll come home and eat all the food I missed for the past 3 months which will probably tack on another 4 lbs or so. After that, I'm planning on sticking to this lifestyle for a while. I won't keep my diet as strict, but some elements of it will no doubt stick around. I'll also continue to hit the gym at least a few times a week. I'd like to end up around 148 like I said above, but with more muscle and less fat than the 148 I'll be when I get on the plane in 3 weeks. There's significant room for improvement in that muscle to fat ratio still but I think it's an achievable goal.

Now if I could only quit smoking...

Labels: diet, financial, health

- these thoughts flowed through Jeff's fingers @ 2:21 PM