This might be a little too personal...

Weighed in at 280.2 lbs this morning. I was very happy to see that number since I forgot to weigh in yesterday. It's always scary after the weekends because I usually put a little weight back on (probably from lack of exercise). But I'm getting closer to my next goal of 275 lbs. I'm very happy with the weight loss, but I think I could do more to help reach my goal. I'm pretty much off red meat (which I miss very badly), but I still have a steak on Sundays as a reward for myself. I need to cut back on my sodium intake. Aaron told me to try different seasonings like Mrs. Dash, or lemon-pepper for some of my food, but I'm still seasoning my chicken with Tex-Joy steak seasoning (it's the best). I can probably cut some water retention by switching over. Also, my turkey hot dogs and turkey bacon are both high in sodium. I need to wane off those too. I'm sure my turkey lunch meat has a lot of sodium too, but I'm not giving that up too. Of course there's salt in my other food, but I think these are the biggest culprits. If I can handle it, I might try oatmeal for breakfast more often than turkey bacon and eggs. We'll see if that helps. Lately I've still been too tired to stick around for more than one class. I need to work on that too because it's all part of the training.

Speaking of training, I've been trying something new for the past 2 days at the gym. Not a new exercise, but some new protective equipment. This might be a little too personal for some, but I'll look at it as a public service announcement. For the past few years I've been wearing jock straps when I work out. I was never an athlete in school, so I wasn't familiar with how that equipment was supposed to work. All I know is I hurt myself a couple of times without it, and my doctor recommended that I wear one when I worked out. They're not hard to figure out, but they are way uncomfortable. I mean it really pushes your bits against your pieces, but I guess that's what it's supposed to do to protect you. There's an item on the market that does pretty much the same thing, but they're at least 3 times as expensive as jock straps. They're called compression shorts, and they perform basically the same task.

I tried 2 of the lesser expensive brands: Starter and Franklin. Yesterday I wore the Starters, and I'm really not sure how they're supposed to feel. I got the same size as the jock straps, but I had a hard time getting these undies around my thick thighs (mostly muscle of course). After a little effort, and a lot of adjustment, I got them on. They felt pretty good. It was nice to have some pressure around my legs and butt, but I wasn't sure if they offered as much support to my huevos as a jock strap. I wasn't being cradled like I was used to, but I still risked it and tried them at the gym. For the most part, I liked them. We did a lot of squats and lunges yesterday, and that's when I need support the most. It definitely didn't offer as much support as the jock straps during that exercise, but I think it offered enough support. Again, this may be a sizing issue, but I'm leaning more towards like than dislike for these shorts. I'll definitely give them another try.

Today I wore the Franklin brand. These were a little less snug than the Starters, and it came with a cup holder. Not the kind where you can put your drink, but kind where you put a protective cup to protect your groin from getting kicked or punched. I didn't wear the cup to work out because that kind of groin injury is rare for just a workout. Like I mentioned, these weren't as snug as the Starter brand, but they were the same size. We did squats again today, and I felt like these didn't offer the fellas as much support. I wonder if it's because it was designed with a protective cup in mind. The legs and butt compression felt comfortable, but I just don't think sack support was good enough. I'll try them one more time without the cup just to make sure , and then I'll try them again with the cup to see if my suspicions are correct. When I can afford it, I'd like to try some of the more expensive brands. In the meantime, I just have these 2 to work with. Tomorrow it's back to the harsh cradling of the old jock straps.