FINALLY!!!!!

Today's Weigh in 188.8 (NEW LOW)

My goal was to be under 190 by my daughter's birthday, which is January 19. Uhhh..it didn't happen. That's for a lot of reasons, and is totally my fault, but admitting where the fault lies does do a whole lot to change the fact. Oh well, I'm there now, and my rate of weight loss seems to be increasing not that I'm back to blogging. Oddly enough, it seems to work that way for other people, too.
Yesterday was the Race for the Cure. I ran with Tuck, and the two of us finished at 33:11, which is ten minutes and eleven seconds off of my time last year. It's also the first time I've run a five k without stopping off of a treadmill, and that fact alone is awesome. When we crossed that finish line still running, I wanted to jump up and down and yell, but I decided to go suck down some water instead. Thank God they had some there, too because I was parched.
My eating has been less than stellar the last few months but it's been improving again now that I'm blogging again, mainly because I don't want to have to continuously post that "Nothing's happening again today" blog that seems to be so popular around here lately. It's just not me to go on and write about my frustrations I guess. So now that I'm posting again, it's time to get Un-Frustrated. It helps that I just did an assignment for a fitness class that I'm taking and I've burned over five thousand calories exercising between now and last Monday, but the bottom line is too much snacking can still equal out to over five thousand calories in a week. Think about it, that only like 720 calories a day. So, no more snacking. I'm going to get to my goal. WHO IS WITH ME!?!?!?!?!?!

Just a quick one

Today's weigh in: 192.0

I wanted to do a post today to get me back in the habit, but I'm not really in the mood for this. May 23rd is not a good day for me. For anyone who wonders why just take a look at my other blog to find out why. Better give it a little while though, I'm going there next to do the other blog, so wait until at least 11:00 PM EST Friday night to take a look or there probably won't be anything there.

The kick to the pickle is that I should be in a phenomenal mood today because I turned in my application for graduation at school and my step brother is graduating from Marine Corps Boot Camp today. I got a graduation announcement from my cousin Josh today too. His high school graduation is next Saturday but that's enough to make me feel like ten years older, so maybe it balances the other two out.

Weight's down today, too and my previous "new low" was 191.8 so I should be looking a new low sometime soon if I keep my head over the holiday weekend. That's good too. Anyway, that's all I've got for right now. I'll talk to you all soon.

Back from the dead

Today's weigh in: 192.8

Sorry I've been gone so long guys. Life is freaking nuts right now, and I just haven't had time to sneeze without falling behind lately. As a matter of fact, I'm supposed to be doing homework right this very second, but I just felt like posting since I haven't done it in forever. I'm going to try to get to all of your pages ASAP, but be patient with me. If they don't send me home from work early again tomorrow, it might take me awhile. So how is everybody?

I never really should've decided to wait after posting my hundred pounds lost blog. I decided to leave it up for awhile so that everyone would see it and ended up getting out of the habit of posting totally. I feel like a bum, but what's done is done and it's time to move forward.

Ok, so it's been forever since my last post and my weight hasn't gone down much, but I'm down another pants size, and I'm starting to see a bit of muscle added in my arms so maybe that makes up for part of it. The weight workouts are starting to feel really good though, and the amount of weight on my bar, although small to start with, is over twice what it was when I started. Maybe that's not that big of a deal, but it sure feels good to say. Eating has been pretty decent for the most part too, and I'm thinking that if my waist keeps shrinking I'm probably doing something right even if my freaking number won't fall like I want it to. Who knows? I do know this much though: A smaller gut is a good thing.

That's about all I have time for guys, but thanks for stopping by. I'll be by all of your pages when I can. And somebody please check my blog roll and see if we've added anyone while I was out. Thanks.

FINALLY!!!!

BROUGHT TO YOU LIVE FROM JUST INSIDE THE GATES OF ONE-DERLAND!!!


Any math majors out there? No? I'll keep it simple then:

298.4 Original Weight
- Today's weigh in: 198.2 (NEW LOW!!!!!!)
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!!!!!!!!!!!100.2 Pounds Lost!!!!!!!!!!!

You may all fall on your knees and worship me now. I'll wait.

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Ok...so that was a little out of hand, but I'm immensely proud of myself today. I think I've earned it because that's the result of a lot of hard work right there. Don't ever let anyone tell you that they've lost that kind of weight and did it without effort. It's not all bad though. I look better, I feel better, I'm healthier and I can talk trash to the guy on the bowflex commercial now.

It's great. The guy comes out, he's built like Mr. Universe and he starts talking about "I worked out, I got bit and I lost six inches off of my waist." And I get to be like, "ONLY six inches? This guy's a bitch! I lost ten!"

So it's a celebration type day. I've finished all of the work for my beginning of the semester class and I'm just waiting to find out that I officially have my A that I'm expecting, and I'm finally over this freaking cold that's been bugging me for the last week.

Some of you out there may remember that I promised a new Beastie Boys parody when I hit the one hundred pound mark. So, without further ado, and sponsored by my skinny little ass, it sounds just like The New Style, but it's really The New Jim...

And on the cool check in

Center stage on the mic

and we're puttin' it on wax

It's the new Jim

4 and 3 and 2 and 1

When I'm on the mic the fat cells run

Down with Rob T and Fat C and its great

And I've lost more pounds than Picasso got Paint

Sometimes it was rough and sometimes e-z

And I'm not surprised I've got a small Belly

S-O-S-M-A-L-L

Sent all those pounds straight down to hell

I don't eat franks or pork and beans

They just don't fit in my routine

I get it I got it I know it's good

The weight I've lost you wish you could

Been 10 months in training

My whole life was straining

I was always whining and got sick of complaining

So I signed up at the college and I took some classes

Joined the Coalition and we shrank our asses

You thinking fuck it it just can't happen

And you're jealous of me because your gut just won't flatten.

KICK IT!!

KICK IT!!

(Instumental break)

Father to a lady, smaller by a ton

And in case you're unaware, I just lost a hun

I step into the party, the place is overpacked

Don't have to suck my gut in cause I'm wearing smaller sla-acks

Don't have cheeks like a beaver cause my calories are capped

You better keep your mouth shut because your gut is fat

You've got nothing to say because you weight is high

That's why your girlfriend thinks that I'm so fly!

I've toes that I can see, twin gunboats at my side

You probably feel envy cause you can't get out of bed

If I played guitar I'd be Jimmy Page

I could get girls of any age

I've gotta stop there. It gets into all kinds of steal your girlfriend smack, and that's not so good for a married man. I hope you enjoyed it though. How's everyone else doing?

Going well, getting excited

Today's weigh in: 201.8 (NEW LOW!!!!)

So one-derland ( as Rip put it) is approaching and I can't 'weight' to get there.( OH LORD THAT PUN WAS TERRIBLE!!!) I need to lose two more pounds to hit the onesies and three point four pounds to hit one hundred pounds lost. I'm almost there, I'm almost there, I'm almost there! I FREAKING RULE!!

Oh yeah, and I got a two hundred dollar bonus and a fifty cent raise at work. I won't actually see the cash for either until my next paycheck, but it's nice to know that it's coming. I'm pretty happy. I also have hockey tickets though, and we're leaving to see the Red Wings play the Ducks in like five minutes so I gotta run. Just don't forget this: If Wednesday is Prince Spaghetti day, then Sunday must be Weekend Warrior day. Rock it out today, guys!

Keeping on track..with everything except this blog

Today's weigh in: 202.2 (NEW LOW!!!)

Things are going pretty well lately. The weight is coming off slowly but surely, I've added some weight to my weight bar this week and I'm getting a A in my class, with three weeks and two major papers left. Work is going ok, and when we took our daughter to the doctor's office for her two year checkup, Doc told us that Riley's speaking and language comprehension are on par for a four year old. Now if it would just start warming up so that I can take my little monster out in her running stroller life would be perfect. Wifey even got an award at work that came with a five hundred dollar bonus. Go her!

Unfortunately, keeping up with all of this has left me short on time to blog. My time at night when I get home from work is usually taken up reading some story written by some guy who's been dead for centuries and then writing about it. It's actually not all bad, and I do love to read, but something's gotta give, and I'm down to the bare minimum amount of sleep that I can get by with as it is. So, I'm sorry if I'm not around as much as I should be, but I'm keeping things moving forward at least.

I try to keep up with everyone elses' blogs as much as I can, but that's not as much as I would like to. Trust me though, if you don't see a whole bunch of comments from me lately, it's nothing personal, I've just been busy. Speaking of busy though, I'd better go shovel this freaking snow. April can't get here soon enough!

What I'm Entitled To

Today's weigh in: 204.6 (NEW LOW!!)

Hey, that's a new low!! After almost a month of going back and forth between 207 and 209 then finally getting down to a new low that was only .2 lb less than what it had been that feels pretty damn good. Go me. It took me longer than I wanted to get there, but by practicing what I preach, I got there. I added some new fitness goals for February to the right side of the page. I chose February 24 because it's the last Sunday of the month, and that's when I'll have time to test myself if I haven't hit my goals prior to that. That's not the point of today's blog though. This is:

I was at work yesterday, and one of the girls I work with brought in bags of food from McDonald's for herself and a bunch of other people. Nine months and ninety-four pounds into this thing, I still love the taste of fast food even though I don't eat it much anymore, maybe like once every two months or so when I don't really have an option, but just the smell got me thinking about how good a quarter pounder would taste. I mentioned this to one of my co-workers and he looked at me and said "Just go get yourself some on your lunch. With the amount of weight you've lost you're entitled to every once in awhile."

I hear this attitude a lot, and granted anyone who has the six or seven bucks for a freaking value meal has the right to buy one, but to me it's this type of attitude that holds so many people back when they attempt to do what I've done. Why go run a five k race and burn five hundred calories if you're going to eat a thousand calories worth of crap when you get done? Just skip the run and eat a sensible meal at that point, and you're probably better off. Then again, haven't I earned something through all of my hard work? What's in this for me? Sure, I'm thinner, but what comes along with it? I have given myself several new privileges. Here's what I'm entitled to.

I'm entitled to...

..take my shirt off in public without shame. That gut down there doesn't look anywhere near as bad as it used to.

...take myself seriously. I used to be the guy who talked a big game and did nothing. Now I do things when I feel the need to. Losing the amount of weight I have has taught me a lot about hard work and determination.

...continue doing what I do. I don't have to eat crap and go back to my old habits if I don't want to. I've learned what to do and how to get things done. I don't have to have a freaking double quarter pounder just because it smells good.

...get pissed off if I'm doing the right thing and results aren't going my way. I get frustrated sometimes when I hit a plateau like the one I just moved past and people keep telling me not to be mad about it. Look, thanks for the encouragement but, seriously, up yours. You expect a paycheck when you do your job at work right? My smaller gut and lower number are my paycheck. If it's not there, I get pissed off about it. Offering reassurance is good, but people who tell me not to get upset suck.

...and that's about all I'm entitled to. It seems like enough though, don't you think?

Trying to get unfrustrated

Today's weigh in: 206.0 (NEW LOW!!!)

So things haven't been going so well the last few weeks, and I haven't been on much. The good news is that things FINALLY seem to be going better. I was a 209 point something right before Christmas, which means that I've lost less than three pounds in the last month. It's maddening, but I think I understand why, at least partially.

I know I've mentioned here before that I have a skin condition, and that's why I don't post pictures of myself with my shirt off. I went to see a doctor last week about it, and he put me on Predizone for it, which is a steroid. Don't get me wrong, I'm not shooting beef roids into my butt to make my muscles bigger, this was an oral steroid prescribed by a physician, but I think it made me retain water or something. I took the last of the pills the gave me on Wednesday, and I've been down the last two days though, so maybe I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

I know I haven't been on as much as I should, but the semester is back in, I'm taking an accelerated class, and I just don't have a whole lot of time, especially since I've started doing alternating cardio/weight workouts in the morning before my walks. I'll get a blog in more often though, somehow.

While I was at the doctor's office, I asked him what he thought my ideal weight would be. He seems to think it's somewhere between one seventy and one eighty, which only leaves me about thirty more pounds to lose. That sounds like a lot until you realize that I've already lost over ninety, and then it feels a lot smaller. I'll get there, and if I can keep up a decent rate of loss, it shouldn't even take that long.

Gotta make this quick

Today's weigh in: 206.4 (NEW LOW!!!)

I'm pretty happy with my progress, but my goal for my daughter's birthday (200 lbs. by January 19, 2008) is not going to happen. That sucks. It marks my first missed weight loss goal since I started this thing on May 1. Otherwise though, I'm really happy.

I moved my computer desk downstairs today with a bit of help from Tuck (thanks bro!) and I pulled a shirt off the top of it. It was an "I Love New York" shirt that my wife's brother sent me after they moved there, only I never thought that I would get it on, so I never hung it up. It's a large. I tried it on today just for shits and giggles, and it fits! Like really well. I should have taken a picture of it, but oh well. The main thing is that I got it on. I noticed that my pants were hanging a little low today, too which is both good and bad. Good because that means that I'm making progress. Bad because it means I'm going to have to go shopping for more pants soon. I don't like shopping for clothes. I actually got a pair of 34 waisted pants on the other day, too. They were really tight, and didn't feel very good. I took them right off, but I got them buttoned, and I could have worn them if I had needed to. Life is great when your waist is small. This just amazed me, because I started this thing in forty-four waisted pants, and those were just about as tight as the thirty fours were. I won't actually claim ten inches gone until I can wear thirty-fours comfortably, but I'm getting closer.

I go to the doctor tomorrow for two reasons: One, I have this nasty skin condition and I want to get rid of it. Now that my gut is shrinking, I want to be able to walk around with my shirt off and not feel embarrassed. I'm not quite that small yet, but give me another four to six months and I will be. Oddly enough, that coincides with beach season. Go me. I swear to God that I didn't plan it that way, but I'll take it.

Today was goal day, so here is the report: I give myself a C for results, but an A for effort.

Fifty jumping jacks without stopping: Way too easy. I did this like a week after I posted my goals.

Fifty Downhill Skiers without stopping: Pretty much the same thing as the jumping jacks. I did seventy-five of these the other day.

Five minutes of continuous running in place: Mission accomplished. I barely made it back up the stairs after this, though.

Two minutes of the lay on your back and do the bicycle exercise: Yeah, I did it. This left me in bad shape afterward. Thankfully, my daughter was sleeping, and I had a couple minutes to sit when I finally did this, because my legs were so tired I could barely walk.

Two minutes of continuous cross country skiers: I'm pretty sure I've been doing these wrong, but I met my goal. I'm just not going to do them anymore, because something about the way I'm doing them doesn't feel right, and I'm afraid I'm going to hurt myself.

42 pushups in two minutes: Try 21. DAMMIT!!!! Give me five more weeks of working out, and I should be there. This will be part of my goals for next month.

52 situps in two minutes: Fat chance. I did like 15. I'll get there, though. These should be easier to train for too, because they were when I was in the Army. Chalk these up for next months goals, too.

I'll get an official list of February workout goals together soon. I need to get to writing my paper for school, but first, one last thing.

I wish it would warm up around here. I got my jogging stroller for Christmas and I can't use the damned thing. I love the fact that I got it, but seeing it just sitting there SUCKS!!! Please God, let spring come early this year. I'm all for the greenhouse effect if it can get me out running that much sooner. So fire up your car, turn your heater up a few degrees, turn on every light in your house, burn down a forest, and I'll be back as soon as I can.

Hey...this place looks familiar

Today's weigh in: 207.4 (NEW LOW!!!)

So, I've been gone for a minute, but life is absolutely crazy at the moment, with my wife over my mother in law's every night taking care of her with her broken leg, and me taking care of everything here. It's been interesting to say the least. I'm going to make this quick because of that as well.

Things have been a bit frustrating on the weight loss front lately, but I'm starting back in the right direction now, so they SHOULD get better. I'm kinda thinking that I was dumb to put my goal for this month on my daughter's birthday too. I've never missed a weight loss goal, but I have to admit that with 7.4 pounds left to lose, and twelve days to do it, things don't look so good right now. I'll keep trying though, and if I do miss the damn goal, it won't be for lack of effort. But enough defeatism. Someone (I think it was Brian) was asking from some before and after pics. I don't really do the whole shirt off thing, and if you could see my skin condition you'd know why, but these should make the point pretty well

BEFORE

I'm the guy standing next to Tuck. This kind of gives you an idea of where my gut started out at. This was a few weeks before I started on my journey, I think.

This next pic is a bit wierd. Wifey is currently asleep and I just took it. I had to hold the camera way over my head because the flash was blotting me out in the mirror. This seems to have worked though. Enjoy:

AFTER

Hopefully, that shows everyone what they wanted to see. I think the difference is pretty obvious. I hope you enjoyed it. I'll talk to you all soon.