But it does seem obvious to me that being social and doing things that social people do has a very negative effect on this endeavor. In order to be successful, I must stay in. That’s not as bad as it sounds since I rather enjoy spending time alone. It only gets lonely on the weekend nights when other people my age are out drinking and doing stupid things. I have averted that loneliness by assuring myself that soon I will be doing stupid things. I just have to kind of hang out for a while before I emerge into the land of stupidity.

So with that decision 100 percent made Tuesday afternoon, I had one more social send off. I went and met a friend down in San Francisco, and we lived it up with food and beers and other unhealthy diversions. It was a great night, and affirmed my affinity for doing stupid things. But it won’t be hard saying goodbye to that life for the next few months. I am looking forward to building up that savings account number, and doing things I want to do on my own terms. I will be seeing movies by myself. I will be working out as much as I can stomach. I will be thinking about life and all that other good stuff.

Just so you know, I woke up around 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning, and was at the gym by 11. I lifted and did 30 minutes of ellipticising, all while wondering how long it will actually take to get down to 260. My guess is that if I stick with it, it should take about two weeks. But we’ll see about that.

So Tuesday’s night of debauchery wasn’t a lapse in judgment. Instead, it was a ceremonial farewell to something I know I have to sacrifice. I felt good about the whole night, and I felt even better about Wednesday.

I know I am not in the home stretch quite yet. We’ll save those words for the final 20 pounds. But I know the mentality I must have to finish strong, and I believe I am already within that mindset.