It's been a while

So as most of you know I was on a whirlwind tour of this nation's finest cities, namely Austin, Las Vegas and Orlando. Fine, maybe not the finest but they did all involve shmoozing with customers and eating at some really nice restaurants. My goal was to maintain my weight. The result:

Date	Weight	Change	Change From Start
07/03/08	210.2 lbs	-1.4 lbs	-62.4 lbs

Yup, I ended up losing another 1.4lbs after all this time. I have 3 goals for the next 5 weeks, two are attainable, one might be a stretch.

1) get under 210 and be in the single digits (easy)
2) get to 202.6 and hit the 70lb mark (doable)
3) get under the 200lb mark and be in the 100's (stretch)

Why 5 weeks? Well, it's when I go to WI on vacation. Still plan on continuing my efforts there, but I would just like to have achieved the milestone if possible.

I did find a weight watchers location in WI near where I will be staying, so I have an extra week to achieve all 3 goals before Adam, Tracy and Charlotte arrive.

Wish me luck!

Holding Steady

Life has been VERY busy. I was in Las Vegas last week, Austin earlier this week, and will be in Orlando all next week. Lot of eating out, taking customers out, etc. Last week I held my weight steady, lost 0.2 lbs. Couldn't weigh in yesterday, and will try to find a place in Orlando next week.

My goal really is to not gain after all this is over. Puts me behind schedule a little bit, but it's really hard to goal for anything else. Wish me luck, how many Ruths Chris dinners can you have without gaining weight?

Quick Update

While the home scale is not exactly the same as the WW scale, it gave me a nice surprise today when it registered 209.6. Even though it's not perfectly accurate, there's no way it would have said that back in January!

Good news heading into this week, I'm interviewing for a new job within the company so I got a lot going on.

Sorry Adam....

but you'll have to wait for that KLC CD. Maybe next time. Here's the info:

Your current weight: 211.8 lbs
Weight change since your last recorded weight: -2.2 lbs
Total weight change to date: -60.8 lbs

Passed that 60 lb mark. Of course I tried my best to save Adam from his album, so I starved the whole day. I ended up buying a mini bundt cake, and that was pretty much my meal for the day. Also had some turkey chili, just so I wouldn't get sick. I'll laugh if I lose weight tomorrow after eating cake tonight! ;-) Next goal is to get under 210. Man that would be sooooooooooo cool.

MADE IT to the pool

Finally went swimming again, and guess what, no customer from hell today either!!!! Now this is good news for my pocketbook too, because my magnanimous gesture (and no hidden motivation either) to buy my friend Adam the Kristi Lee Cook album met with the follow response:

" oh if that things comes in the mail, I'm going to break it with my size 13 foot. then drive over it with the MINI. Lots of times. burn it and send the cooled blob back to you"

So by going for my swim there will be less of a chance that he will have to go through ALL that effort and I'll be able to save a few bucks! ;-)

Quick Challenge

To inspire me to hit the 60 lb mark for next week, I've set up a challenge. If I don't make it, I will buy Adam this!

Whew!

This was a close one. Again, yet another week without exercise, another week with my customer from hell, another week of celebrating yet another something. And while this may be my worst weekly loss, it's still almost a pound and it's in the right direction. Today was another hard day, my customer is a casino and we had to have lunch at their buffet. But I don't have to go back for at least a week, so back to exercise and normal eating routines!

Oh yeah, 1.4 lbs to go for 60 lbs!!!!! ;-)

Weight Tracking Summary

Your current weight: 214 lbs
Weight change since your last recorded weight: -0.8 lbs
Total weight change to date: -58.6 lbs

Another Good Week

I wanted to get to my 60lb loss in 3 weeks, was hoping to just chill out and relax on the weight loss thing. I haven't been able to exercise now for 2 very long weeks, because I've been stuck at the nexus of all evil, one of my customers. Apparently negative stress has it's weight loss advantages. Probably bad for the heart and blood pressure though! ;-)

But now after this week, 60lbs is within reach. I don't mind if I don't make it, but I hate to miss it by just a few ounces!

Anyway, nothing much since last week, except I got through my birthday unscathed and still had a lot of fun.

Today's Weight: 214.8
Weekly Weight Change: -2.8 lbs
Total Weight Change: -57.8 lbs

Birthday Wishes

So lucky me, seriously, that my birthday landed on a weigh in day. The reason is that I'm quite sure dinner had more calories that I'm allowed in 2 days. It was a seared Ahi with a wasabi cream sauce, fried wontons and rice. It was accompanied by 2 beers and since it was my birthday, a piece of decadent chocolate cake. But hey, it IS my birthday, right? And it was AFTER my weigh in, and I got all week to lose it!!! Sara made me promise I wouldn't count points today and just have fun, which is exactly what I did.

We had dinner at a restaurant along the water on the other side of San Diego bay. We drove there, but just as we were leaving a water taxi pulled up to drop some people off. Lily and I decided to take a ride and took the water taxi back across the bay and Sara picked us up in the car on the other side. It was a really nice night.

So as a present to myself apparently, I also had good news on the weigh in side of things:

Today's Weight: 217.6 lbs
Weekly Loss: 2.2 lbs
Total Loss: 55 lbs

55, I love that, nice even numbers. So the next goal of course is 60 lbs, but I'm going to give myself a break and budget 3 weeks for that. I have not exercised in over a week and a half. I have been living in the 95th circle of hell during that time at a customer, my worst one ever. It's early morning and late nights every single day. But between that, burning off this dinner, and the fact that the lighter I am the harder it is to lose weight, I think 3 weeks is an ok number.

So after 60 I'm knocking on the door of being under 210. And when I do that, wow, you know how HUGE being under 200 would be. It would be my singular focus. I think I'll cry. But those are my goals, I feel like it's so close, I had given up ever being in this position again.

It's taught me a lot to go through this, AGAIN. The first time was easy, but I let myself go and I was too proud to go back and seek help at weight watchers before it got out of hand. That won't happen again. I'm not saying that I won't struggle, just that I won't be too proud to go back to WW. And then of course, the fact that it's never too late, and you can do it again, even if it is hard. Looking back, it's only been 5 months and I've lost 55 lbs. I'm a new person, and that really wasn't too long. In fact, I've been enjoying the benefits since the first week.

Either way, time to enjoy the rest of my birthday.

New Goals Achieved

I forgot to write about this before, but I had a hidden goal that I wasn't sure I'd make. Or at least, I thought I might make it at the nose. I weigh in on Thursday, and next Thursday is my birthday. Well, I wanted to be in the "teens" (21x lbs) by my birthday. I thought perhaps that I'd have a chance by next week, but I barely scraped by this week.

Current Weight: 219.8 lbs
Weekly Loss: 2.8 lbs
Total Loss: 52.8 lbs

New Goal: 210 lbs by fathers day. Another VERY aggressive goal, but if I'm even close I'll be REALLY happy, that'll put me in good shape for being under 200 lbs by WI. I do know that these big weekly weight losses will taper down, but I'm not complaining now.

It could be harder

So being on jury duty the last week opened my eyes to how lucky I am to have my job. I really enjoy what I do, but that's not it. It's the flexibility. My 9-5 job at jury duty, then taking care of Lily when I got home until she went down around 8pm, left me with little time and even less energy to work out. Usually when I've gone to the pool or for a run it's been in the middle of the day, between appointments or just during a down time.

Lucky me!

Before & After

BEFORE

AFTER










30 more pounds to go, but will I LOOK LIKE THIS?











well, as long as I DON'T LOOK like this I guess!

Pictures to come

It just doesn't get any closer. In reality, I probably didn't make it because I ate less than normal today before weigh in to stack the deck in my favor, but either way I made it!

Today's Weight: 222.6 lbs
Weekly Loss: 2.6 lbs
Total Loss: 50.0 lbs

With jury duty I can't post during the day, but I'll post my promised before/after pics as soon as I can!

Making it hard on myself

I lost 2.4 pounds today, which is great. But I've set myself up for a hard week, here's why.

Weight: 225.2
Weeks Change: -2.4
Total Change: -47.4

So I like whole numbers. I like achieving specific milestones. What I did to myself of course is put the 50lb loss mark just within reach. 2.6 more pounds and I'm there. But that's the top end of a good week. I don't want to miss it by less than 1/2 a pound. I'd hate that. So welcome to hell week. Maybe I'll have to climb on that bike after all! ;-)

Charts and Progress

I don't weigh in until tomorrow, and I'm hoping for a few more pounds (keeping my fingers crossed), but I'm came across something that I thought was kinda cool. When you sign up for the "monthly pass" at weight watchers, you get access to their website too. You create a profile, enter your weights every week, but for me what I love is access to all the recipe's. It's nice to have healthy alternatives to cooking.

Anyway, I noticed today a progress chart, basically a mapping of your weight loss (or gain) over time. It's the picture below and basically starts on January 17th. It's pretty cool. A friend of mine gave me some before/after pics this weekend after Lily's baptism, I had realized the noticeable difference. This chart is a nice reminder too. My weight loss is beginning to slow now that I'm thinner and also been so busy at work, but this stuff keeps me motivated.

Inspirations

First the details:

Today's Weight: 227.6
Week's Weight Change: -2.6
Total Loss: 45.0

So awesome, just 5 pounds away from the promised before/after pictures, hopefully two weeks from today, if not I'm sure 3 weeks. My mission to lose all this weight has inspired both Sara and Tracy from what I'm told. But today my boss told me he went for a run this morning specifically because of me. Apparently this ex-Marine is tired of being shown up by his civilian employee so he got his "fat ass up and out." Making my boss sweat, no matter how I achieve that, is VERY satisfying!

Plateau #2

I hate them. I'm in one. Granted I haven't been as fervent in working out the last week, done 3 out of 7 instead of 5 or 6 out of 7 days, but I've kept to my point limits. I know, just like last time that if I keep doing the right thing I'll be rewarded, but it's still frustrating. At least I'm stuck in the 220's and not the 240's, it's more palatable here!

Maybe I need to go to the sauna again!

My Wife and Friends ROCK!

weight: 230.2
week loss: 3.0 pounds
total loss: 42.4 pounds

Sara takes care of Lily extra time so I can work out, and she puts up with me continuously asking "did I eat too much today?" Adam got me to do this blog and is always so supportive regardless of all the teasing I do. Tracy keeps me pumped up like someone cheering you on during a race from the side of the road. Dan keeps track of me and is genuinely proud of me. Marci is just the nicest person on this planet, and I honestly believe that.

40lbs is huge and I get tired and get tempted at times to both settle for where I am or just indulge at the expense of the gains I've made. Still have more to go, but all of you have helped me SO much, thank you!

Oh so close!

Weighed in at 233.2, that's a loss of 3.4lbs this week!

My total so far??? 39.4lbs.! JUST SHY of 40lbs. No biggy, expect to cross that line next week.

Can I get into the 220's? Might be a stretch after almost 10 pounds in 2 weeks. We'll see, I'm a little tired too but I want to suck it up because in 2 weeks we have Lily's baptism. That involves family which always involves food!

I'd be happy with another 2+ lbs if I can get it though!

Tight jeans never fit so good

Last night I tried on a pair of shorts that had not fit for a long while, and guess what, they fit. Same with a pair of jeans this morning. Now they don't fit perfectly, but they DO FIT imperfectly, and it wasn't too long ago when they didn't fit at all. And of course the way I look at it, every day that passes they fit better.

I weigh in again tonight at WW, and I'll update you all on the results. I expect just a few pounds this week, not like the 5.6 from last week. But either way, I'm passing up the 230's pretty darn fast. I was 230.8 this morning on the home scale (a few extra lbs tonight at WW), which means that in the next few days I should see that scale start reading 22x.x, wow. I had almost given up on ever seeing those numbers again, I'm just so happy.

My workout routine is getting better too, my endurance is much much better. My mile swims are going by much faster and I don't stop for breaks either. Running is easier and my recent trip back to the gym on the elliptical was a lot easier than I remember it. Life is just good on this front.

The last few weeks have seen some great milestones for me. I've passed the 10% weight loss mark, passed 30lbs and next week I expect to be at 40lbs lost. I broke the 240's, have torn through the 230's and hopefully soon will be in the 220's. I am also below that 235 mark that had been my previous heaviest weight. So what's my new goal?

222. Why? Cause that'll mark the 50lb loss mark. Also my next goal after that will be to be in the teens and that's pretty easy sitting at 222! ;-) I will post before/after pics when I get to 50. Thanks to everyone for their support and encouragement, I quite seriously couldn't do it without you!

Slapping down the 240's

Missed yesterday's meeting because I was in Las Vegas, so went to another meeting location as a guest. May keep going back. Lost 5.6 lbs and now I'm at 236.6 on the WW scale, even lower at home. Awesome, been working very very hard the last 2 weeks, and my body was stubbornly holding on to the weight. Finally it gave it up!!!!

On another note, I'm at a customer that I really really don't like. They're sitting across the table from me, and they don't know about this blog. I really don't like them. I don't think they like me either, because within 4 inches of my left hand is a dozen fresh donuts. I brought my own orange.

30.6

after a very tough week, and still not breaking the 240's yet (my singular mission for this week), I did manage to lose 1.8 more pounds to total 30.6.

I've been especially tough the last two days exercising as well, yesterday a swam a mile and today did a 5k run, first time running in a long time. of course it was a staggered run/walk, but I did manage to run at least half of it so I was actually proud of myself. Hopefully I can break into the 230's soon and move psychologically.

But on the positive side, I've so far lost over one Lily, about 1/2 a Hurley (yellow lab), or a 1/3 Loki (black lab). That's cool.

oh oh, ne last thing for you Adam. After my swim yesterday, I indeed hit the sauna. And today I had almost lost 2lbs, you might be on to something.

arrggg

I officially hate the 40's. How long have I been in the 40's???? Yesterday morning I was so happy, weighed in at 240.0. Had a great day yesterday, even hit the gym hard. Today's weight? 241.1. It's been like this through my entire stretch in the 40's. Getting a bit irritated. Yes I know, just do the right thing and good things will happen. But my scale must provide me with positive feedback, our relationship is on thin ice right now!

10%

Weighed in today, past my 10% mark (which was 27.2 lbs) and I'm now at a total of 28.8 lbs lost. I'm actually very anxious to get to 30+ lbs lost, I feel like I've been in the 20's for so long. But I'm still very very happy. Normally, 1.2 lbs in a week would be a no-brainer, but tomorrow I'm going to Phoenix to hang out with friends from college to go to spring training baseball. There's lots of beer, fried foods, and more beer on hand so this may be a very challenging week. Wish me luck!

9.99%

Weighed in today at WW, and I am now at a total loss of 26.6 pounds. The "10%" milestone is just 0.7 pounds away, and obviously the 30 pound milestone is just 3.5 away. So all in all, it's going great. May I also say that this week was torture because the office was filled with girl scout cookies. I had even ordered some before I started this whole adventure. In total, 1 had only 2 thin mints, one on Saturday and one yesterday! I had to give away most of the boxes I ordered, it was the only way. still being in the 20's pound range of loss, I get frustrated. I know I know, it's a lot, but still. Funny enough, WW was giving these sheets to put your weight loss in perspective. At 25 pounds, I've lost the weight of 3 gallons of milk. I can't imagine moving around my daily life with that, when I get to my goal it'll be 9 gallons of milk!!!!!

Tracy, to answer your question from the last post I weigh in at the meetings, but I don't stay around for the lecture. I know the system, and am pretty self motivated right now, so I wouldn't really get anything out of staying. The big big deal for me is standing on the scale in front of someone who has my book and knows how much i weighed the week before. I'd be embarrassed to gain weight, and the accountability is the part that was lacking for me before.

Within Sight

Today's morning weight was within range of a goal I had yet to mention. In the back of my head 235.2 has been a very important number. This is my second time at weight watchers, and the first time went great. I even kept the weight off for a decent amount of time. Personal issues at home/work made me lose my focus and the big lesson I learned was to not be ashamed and go back to WW as quickly as possible. Instead, I kept telling myself I could do it alone and my weight ballooned.

Either way, 235.2 was my previous "heaviest weight". And I've struggled just to get back to where I started, and I've been sad that I've had to go through all this just to get to the first weight that started it all. BUT this morning I was at 245, just 10 pounds away. It's really got me focused because it just feels that once I pass 235, it's down hill. Still a long way to go, but somehow I'm in familiar territory again, a path I've already traveled.

So wish me luck! My near term goal is to lose 4 more pounds, that'll put me at the "You've lost 10% of your body weight" mark. My weekly weight loss is slowing down now, 2-3 pounds a week as opposed to the 4-5 from before. Natural as I'm losing real fat now, my weight is down, and start getting into a routine.

The cool part besides the reflection in the mirror looking better is of course some of my clothes are beginning to fit again, my standing heart rate is down to 60, and the blood pressure is down. I just feel better, period, and it's cool.

What does my plan consist of

One of my faithful readers, perhaps the only one, asked what my plan consisted of. Well, lets just say the weather is nothing like that of MN, so my routine has to be a bit different. ;-) Actually, given the fact that I can do nothing until the little one is in bed, my exercise time isn't until after 8pm. But my gym is right down the hall in my building.

That's a good thing when you're trying hard to lose weight, a very bad thing when you're lazy and trying to find excuses not to go. But either way, while at the gym I've been focusing most of my time on the elliptical machine. I do that because at this weight I still don't want to overburden my knees which already have a history of torn cartilage. And now that I look back on it, what a smart move. If I were to start running again today, as opposed to when I first started the diet 6 weeks ago, I would be starting with 20 less pounds on me. I'd like to lose another 30 before I run.

When I do run, there is a nice path right along the bay that starts just a few blocks from home. It's a 5k circuit, and you can easily make it 10k if you go into Harbor Island. I'm usually ok with 5k though. Either way, it's flat, breezy, and pretty and has the necessary distance.

For now though, the elliptical is fine as the weight keeps coming off. I weigh in tonight but as of last week I passed the 20lb mark. YES! i have also started working on some abdominal stuff, but just a little bit after 45 minutes on the machine. Try to round it out to a 1 hour workout. It's taken this long to have the endurance back for that, i was really out of shape.

Again, number one focus is losing weight right now, i'll tone it up later.

24x

On the home scale, I was finally in the 240's. Reached the next decade so to speak. I always consider each such a huge accomplishment. The way my brain processes it is that I started at 270, and now I'm in the 240's. And that just sounds huge. Granted, I'm at the very tip top, but who cares! I weigh in at WW tonight, that scale will be in the low 250's, but that's a night time weight anyway.

So my next goal of course is crossing into the lower 240's, couple more weeks I hope!

6.6, 15.8 & 256.8

Thursday nights are weigh in nights for me at weight watchers. I had to miss last week because if a work function, but I'm happy to report that my loss for the last two weeks was 6.6. That makes a total of 15.8 pounds lost (in the first 4 weeks) and a new WW weight of 256.8.

Not bad. Still up there, but when I look at a start weight of 272.6, my current weight seems very accomplished.

Truth be told, under normal circumstances I may have been a half pound heavier than I weighed because I was starving myself in preparation for the big Valentines Day dinner I was making for Sara and I. On the other hand, it was the single worst meal I've ever made and I barely ate any of it, so I'm sure it averaged out ok.

More of the same, obviously can't wait to be in the 240's. Goal is to be there in 3 weeks, stretch goal is to be there in 2. We'll see, and wish me luck!

Faith Rewarded

I'm glad I wrote what I did yesterday, because there was a magic 1.6lb loss this morning. Which proves my point of course that just do the right thing, and over time it all balances out.

I may end up gaining a half pound tomorrow of course even by behaving today, but it does even out and I trend downward on a weekly basis. My weekly goals are to lose 2-3lbs/week. I should be able to keep that up given my current weight. When I'm down in the 215 range, I expect it to go down to 1-2lbs/week.

So quickly let me discuss how I motivate. I break down the weights in a series of decades. For example, I have my sights now on being the 240's, ignoring the 230's until I'm 10lbs away from that. And even in the decades I break it up in top half and bottom half. Meaning, today I weighed in at 255.8. I'm obsessed with being under 255 so I can be on the low side and feel like I'm going down hill. When I break 250 I'll be focussed on being under 245, then it will feel down hill to the 230's and so forth. These are the games I play in my head, it's my motivation.

So here are the details:

Starting Weight: 270
Goal Weight: 195
Current Weight: 255.8
********
Blog Weight Lost: 1.6 lbs
Total Weight Lost: 14.2 lbs

Tough Weekend

I've been able to do perfectly on my goals, 1500 calories in, 500 out per day. Unfortunately the scale hasn't responded. I've held the weight, but after trying so hard you want to see a nudge in the right direction. I know two things, just do the right thing and it'll come off. Second, the body just goes through up's and down's. In fact, just before I started this blog a few days ago I mysteriously lost a pound overnight, go figure!

Gorgeous day out, like every day here in San Diego! ;-) Think I'll take the dogs out for a hike!

Motivation

On a new quest to get back into shape, I really let myself go. With the encouragement of my friend Adam, I started this blog to keep myself accountable.

Currently, I'm on WeightWatchers and doing exercise in our gym in our building. I'd eventually like to get back to running 5k's and sport triathlons, unfortunately got take some of the stress off my knees before I do that.

So after 3 weeks I've already lost 12 pounds. I'll post my morning weights which differ slightly from the WW afternoon weight. The reason is that I only weigh in once a week at WW, and I'd like to keep this updated more often than that.

So here are the stats:

Goal Weight: 199 (I may go down to 192 later, but this would be great)
Current Weight: 257.4
Max Daily Calorie Intake Goal: 1500
Daily Calorie Exercise Goal: 500

So far today, I've had 600 calories and have yet to go to the gym. Wish me luck!