End Of February Report - Number Crunching Time

Weigh In: 325
Five Day Average: 325.1
Calorie Count: Pending

I usually update on Mondays, and I will also change the blog this week on Monday, but now that we've reached the end of February, I thought I'd crunch some numbers.

First off, I fell short of February's goal of 15 pounds lost, only losing 5. I'm OK with that though, because it happened because of a killer plateau that I have recently broken through. So, as long as I'm in the right direction again, I'm surviving.

It's nice to note that in the past 2 days my 5-day average has dipped over a full pound, so I'm happy about that as well.

Another number that I want to start paying attention to is my Body Mass Index (BMI). Basically, it's a number that represents your body weight's distribution, and the higher the number, the worse that it is. It takes your weight, height and age into consideration. According to my height/age, I should be between 20-25. I went back and measured, and this is something that I like to see as well. It's not where I want it to be, but it's going in the right direction:

November 22 (Day One) - 43.1
December 3 - 42.5
January 2 - 42.0
January 31 - 40.2
February 28 - 39.6

So, it's the first time that I've seen under '40', so that's a benchmark in itself. I've still got 14.6 points to go to get to the 'healthy' stage, and over the past 3 months (including December when I fell hard off of the wagon), I've lost 3.5 points. That means, if I keep this rate up, in 12 1/2 months I'll be right where I want to be, in the healthy range of BMI.

Long story made short - I'm getting somewhere. It's hard to see sometimes, but when you break the numbers up on the long term, you see that it's starting to pay off.

Until next time!

Bump, Set, Spike (Part Two)

Weigh In: 324.5
Calorie Count: 2003

I got a pretty good amount of workout in today. I did 40 minutes of cardio on the Elyptical this morning, and then played 1 1/2 hours of volleyball tonight. I'm starting to notice that when I'm doing my non-gym activities, I'm moving a lot quicker, and my stamina is MUCH better. Usually, I play 45 minutes and feel pretty wiped out after it. The last time I talked about this, I did 45 and felt pretty strong. 1 1/2 hours tonight, and I could have gone another 1 1/2 hours. Felt great.. not to mention I had a pretty damn good set of games ;)

One thing I really like is the stats that Calorie-count.com offers. For example, this is what I went for today -

Total Calories Taken In - 2003
Total Burned Calories - 5438


I think the burned calories may be a little high, but either way, I'm going strong. Also, this graph at the top really spells it out. I'm pretty happy with the way it's going this week.

Also, another positive. One of the things that frustrates me the most at work is when we have 'team meetings' and the company buys lunch. A great gesture.. but it's *ALWAYS* freaking pizza. This time, tomorrow I'm having Jimmy John's - a lettuce wrap that's good for about 350 calories or so. I'm ok with that.

So, cutting it short. Long day, and I'm beat. Until next time!

Booyah

Weigh In: 324 (lowest yet!)
Calorie Count: 2,183

I had to read that number on the scale a few times when I was in the gym. On the scale, off the scale, get back on. 324's the lowest I've seen, and the 2nd lowest has been 327.

Point blank, I'm sold on calorie counting right now. For the past 3 months, I've stuck to a 'just eat what makes sense' approach, counting calories in my head. I had a pretty good idea that I was sticking to around 2000 a day, but when it came down to it and I actually took the counting approach seriously, I saw that my estimates were WAY low.

Long story made short, I started paying attention to SPECIFICALLY what was going in, and my eyes were opened. Also, I've been utilizing calorie-count.com for many different things, including extra motivation through their forums and journals, and so many other tools on the site. Definitely worth checking out.

So, forgive me if I do some cartwheels today. I feel pretty damn good right about now.

I may come short of my February goal of 315, but that's ok. I'm going to hit it soon, regardless of the calender. My five day average dips to 326.66. As the title says - Booyah.

Calories A-Countin'

Not a major post, but just a small note.

I went back into the last four day's worth of posts and added the "Calorie Count" to them. I want to keep track of this on a daily basis so I can analyze it, and compare it to my hopeful weight-loss in the future.

We'll see how that works. Big weigh-in tomorrow!

Donate!

Weigh In: None
Calorie Count: 2439

I've got mixed feelings today. I'm a bit irritated that I can't go to the gym today, but I gave blood this morning. I asked one of the nurses specifically before I gave if I could workout on the same day as giving blood, and I was told to 'wait 4-5 hours', and I should be ok. So, I pop up onto the table, let them stab me and suck my lifeblood out, and then when I'm sitting up I mentioned that I'm going to rest until I go workout tonight, and this lady was ADAMANTLY against it, almost to the point of rude.

So, no gym today. I read somewhere that giving blood boosts the metabolism because the body is working harder to replace the missing blood, but I don't know if that's true or a big pile of steaming something, so I'll just go with it.

Calorie-wise, I wish I was able to weigh in today. I'm interested to see if the 2 pounds I dropped yesterday were staying away or just another tease of a fluxuation.

Tomorrow's the official "Blog Name Change" weigh-in, so wish me luck.

The Eating-Out Trap

Weigh In: 327 (lowest yet!)
Calorie Count: 2057

The good news is, when I weighed in today, I got a fantastic number for me. I reached a new low, and dropped 2 pounds from my current day. That should help a little bit, if I can keep it up for the next two days until my official weigh-in on Monday.

I'm noticing that counting calories really opens my eyes. I'm starting to get obsessed about it the way I am about writing blogs and working out. It's surprising to me how much I was 'assuming' wrongly when I wasn't doing this.

Today was a hands-on approach on how NOT to eat.

I only ate two meals today. It wasn't a matter of not wanting to, or doing it intentionally, but I ran out of the door to workout this morning around 9:30, and then I was running all day. We stopped in for breakfast, where I had egg whites w/ mushrooms and dry rye toast, so all was clear. I wasn't hungry, and didn't have time to eat until dinner time. I know.. cardinal sin #1 .. skipping meals.

So, went out to dinner tonight with my wife, and went to Sweet Lorraine's. Amazing place. The only problem is, I can't find their menus on any of the 'nutritional guide' sites, so I ate as healthy as possible (ok, I had a few small nibbles of cheesecake, but less than 3 ounces). I come home, and I do a recipe search for Pecan Crusted Chicken. Blew my mind that just the chicken alone was over 800 calories. I'm assuming that number, as I just found a similar recipe on a website for the same meal.. but I did the best I could.

Long story made short - I came in somewhere 'near' 2057 calories for the day. Chances are, it's higher than that, but I did my best to be generous when guessing the calorie content of dinner, so I'm thinking I did pretty well. Either way, if I am off, I can't be over 2500 I can't imagine.. so I did ok, the meal-skipping thing nonwithstanding.

So, another day in the books. Sunday's meals will be better spread out and flat out smarter. This whole calorie counting thing is pretty educational.

Until next time!

The Count is On

Weigh In: 329
Calorie Count: 1760

Yesterday started a new era in the whole Fourth and 79 chain. I started counting calories. Now, I'm not sure I can get to the root of why I hate doing this so much, but as I mentioned, I think it's got to do with how I connect it to my past failures.

But I found a great program to help me with this. Calorie-count.com has a great function, similar to FitDay, but it also has a blog, forum, and a easier setup (at least to me). So, instead of just counting the minutes on the Elyptical, I'll be counting what I shovel down my throat.

In the first two days of doing this, I've noticed a few things. First off, I think I found one of my problems. I'm taking in way too many calories - more than I would have guessed when I was just 'eating right'. Those suckers add up, and they add up quick. Granted, this is something that any calorie counter can tell you in a moment's notice, but as a non-CC, it surprised me.

So, the last two days I've been trying to adjust to this Calorie Counting life. I have to retrain myself to eat enough, yet not too much, and to get those calories in healthy ways.

Yesterday, I consumed 2286 calories. Today, only 1760. That's kind of eye-opening, because now it's the other extreme. I ate plenty today, but because I'm calorie-paranoid now, I need to make sure I get somewhere in the middle of that.

So, a new chapter opens. And it includes counting these little calories. I'm hoping this may be a key to my weight issues I've been having in February. Only time will tell.

Taking a Mental Beating

Weigh In: Pending/Not Available
Calorie Count: 2286

For the last month, I've been trying to 'go with the flow' when it comes to my weigh-ins, and the fact that I've progressed a whopping 2-3 pounds this month. It's incredibly frustrating. But, I suck it up, keep going, and just do what I need to do. So I step on the scale today, and it reads 332.

Three hundred, thirty-freaking-two.

So, I stepped off the scale, and stepped up again. Same thing. A third time, same thing.

So, I stepped off the scale again, set it to zero, and I noticed something. If you are familiar with a doctor's scale with the little blocks that you slide, when you set it to zero, you're not really setting it at zero. When you move it all the way to the left, depending on the scale, the block can not reach any further than about 3 pounds. When I did this, the scale was balancing, if even saying less-than balanced.

The scale was un-calibrated, if that's a word. Instead of beating myself up over a stupid number, I'm going to skip the official weigh in today, because I don't know how much to subtract from the 332. I want to keep it as accurate as possible.

So, part of me is relieved, but there's a bigger part of me that this really set a fire under.

I've done great with my working out. I've been in the gym most days, challenging myself, and really doing what I've needed to do in the workout. On the other hand, one of things that I've found to be the most successful is my non-reliance on any sort of 'diet'. Eating right, and being smart about it was the line of thinking. If I'm being truly honest with myself, it's been sliding lately. Erin makes incredibly healthy dinners, so I've been slowly mixing the sour cream back on, the small amounts of cheese, the extra bowl of cereal, the extra fruit cup... and they're adding up.

So I'm going to start doing what I swore I wouldn't do. I'm going to count the calories. I hate it, and this is going to be the part that really sucks. But after January was such a success.. February, quite frankly, has tested my limits. If it wasn't for reporting into the blog, it would have been a cannonball right off the wagon. I'm getting frustrated, I'm tired, and honestly, I'm tired of the whole thing. I need to see results where it counts the most to me, and right or wrong, that's the scale.

This should be interesting. I think I'm going to start utilizing Fit Day again, which I haven't touched in months. If I'm going to get anywhere, I have to put the extra effort in.

Rubbed Out

Weigh In: 329

I always try to not get frustrated about the daily weight, but sometimes I want to cut and arm off.. anything it takes to drop a few pounds. I just need to keep trucking away - change some stuff up, and just be consistent, and it'll happen. Can't fight the frustration though.

So tonight I did something that I've never done in my life before. Erin got me a massage appointment for tonight, so I went to the masseuse, dropped to the skivvies and got a lotion rubdown from some chick. Of course, it kind of disappointed me when it was this 5'1 (maybe), 85 pound (maybe) old woman who didn't speak but maybe 4 words in English.. and here I am wondering.. "how the hell is this woman going to be able to do this?"

Well, she figured it out. I don't know if once I put my face down into the massage table about 6 huge men showed up and beat the crap out of me, or if this woman eats her spinach, because she broke me down like the Kentucky Derby did to Barbaro. (insert Peta phone calls here)

So, you can't beat that. Felt pretty good. She kept telling me to drink tons of water after the massage though, but I'm not sure why that is. She said she 'loosened some things up', but who knows. You pros probably could break that down for me.

So, 2 days til the weekend. I could REALLY used one of those. Until next time!

Full Steam Ahead

Weigh In: 328.0

Pretty non-eventful day, but one I feel pretty good about. I've been working hard, keeping my head on straight, and I'm hoping to see some big bursts here pretty soon.

Today was Fat Tuesday. It was a pretty symbolic day for me.

I always made the joke that today was "my" holiday. I've always said that in the past. A 'day dedicated to the fat guys like me'. Today, it came to me as motivational. I'm tired of being the "fat" guy, and I am pretty tired of not being proud of who I look at in the mirror. In fact, I'm tired of not being happy with who I am, period.

I'm always trying to find extra motivation here and there. In the long run, I want my wife to have a healthy husband. That's been my drive since the beginning. That's my long term goal. But what about the short term? What about those shallow, selfish goals?

I want to look good when the shirt comes off. I want to have the muscles on my body that I'm proud of. I want to not only be physically healthy, but I want to be someone that I look at in the mirror, and say to myself.. "hell, yes".

So maybe it's selfish, and maybe that's not the 'right' motivation.. but I'm going to use it. Everything else still stands.. healthy lifestyle, longer life, feeling better.. it's all important. But I need to be able to admit to you guys, and to myself.. that my looks mean something to me to.

Frankly, I'm tired of being the fat guy.

Fat Tuesday - time to give it a different meaning in my life.

Bend, But Don't Break

Weigh In - 329.5
Five Day Average - 329.0

Went up a pound today on the scale, but it didn't bother me too much. I've got one concern that has been in the back of my head for a while, but I've been trying to keep it on the back burner.

I'm starting to feel some weakness in my right shoulder. A few days ago, maybe almost a week ago, I had some pretty intense pain in the right shoulder after doing my workout, but I chalked it up to growing pains. Over the past week, the shoulder has been burning a bit, and when I'm in the gym, I'm definitely favoring it. Today I did just a half hour of cardio on the Elyptical, and I could feel the burning in the shoulder as I ran. It's not a major pain, but it's something I'm conscious of at all times. Tends to run down to the elbow a bit, and since my job has me typing 8 hours a day, I notice it, even as I type this blog. I'm going to be extra careful with it, but I'll keep the blog updated if it gets worse. I'm hoping otherwise, obviously.

As for the scale, it went up a pound today, but as we say, we don't look at the daily weigh-in as anything but data collection. Today's new "Five Day Average" is an even 329. That's 1.4 pounds lost this week, and the second week where I'm just under 2 pounds for the week. It looks like my glory-filled 3 or 4 pound loss weeks may be over, and I may be settling into the 1.5/2 pound loss category. I'm definitely OK with that. Of course, I'd like to see more (who wouldn't), but as long as it's still going in the right direction, I'm going that way.

Not to mention that although this blog started at 350, remember in November when I started this that I wasn't able to get an accurate weight (too big for the scale.. ouch), and I estimated about 354, so there's a mystery 3-4 pounds in there that I'm not counting either. Regardless, starting with a 350, I've now lost 21 pounds. I feel pretty good about that.. but yes, I want more.

So, a new week starts. Let's see what I can do with the last 9 days of February. I've fallen short of the Under 300 by 30 campaign, but I can live with that.

Until next time!

Feeling A Bit Sore Today

Weigh In: 328.5

Third day in a row that I came in at 328.5. Part of me is pretty excited, since it seems as if I may have broken through the 330 barrier. There's a part of me that is afraid that tomorrow will be the day it returns to 330, but it hasn't happened yet, so we'll keep thinking positive. Tomorrow is the official 'change the blog name' day, and barring a disaster, it's coming down. The last four weigh-ins have been 330, 328.5, 328.5 and 328.5. With an average of 330.4 last Monday, it might look good tomorrow.

Today was really tough to get into the gym. Yesterday I did my full weight training workout, and my legs are killing me. It's the GOOD pain, where you know the muscles are regenerating, but especially my squats.. the backs of my upper legs are giving me that constant reminder. Good pain, but enough to get you mentally unprepared for another workout.

So, I hit 45 minutes on the Hill setting on the Elyptical, and then busted out 2 sets of 50 on the jump-rope, non-stop - followed up with 2 sets of 25 on the killer ab crunches (the ones where my feet are straight in the air and I'm holding a medicine ball while doing the crunch). Good pain.

Also.. I just wanted to mention one thing. No one has commented on this yet, so I'm assuming that's a result of the weekend, but I called out the FAT Coalition yesterday. After re-reading it, and after my wife confirming it, it came off like I was being a bit of an ass. Hopefully you guys can read through this, and see that my whole purpose is to keep us all on task. I've seen our posting/comments numbers drop lately, and my goal is to keep us strong. I know that I need you guys for MY success to work, and perhaps I'm being a bit selfish, but my intentions are good.

So, there's my public apology ;)

Important Weigh-In tomorrow. Until next time!

Use Your Tools

Weigh In: 328.5

Today was a pretty good day. I worked out at 9am this morning, and did the full weights workout. I felt like I was running out of gas, but I fought through it, literally yelling at myself as I went. I finished it, but I know damn well that if I had to lift another pound, I wouldn't have been able to do it. I peaked at the right time.

Food wise, I did well also. I did go to Mongolian BBQ tonight, but I had a big helping of grilled chicken and shrimp - high protein and healthy - so I did pretty good. I could have skipped the cheese on the salad, but my calorie count (approximate) was too low, as I know that I didn't eat the required amount today. So, pretty close to perfect.

The 328 train is at the station, and I'm ready to race towards 300. I know I won't hit it before March 31, but that's ok. The reality is, I'm going to hit it.

What I'm going to say now is directly pointed at the FAT Coalition. I say these things because I know how important it is to stick together as a team, so please take it for what it's worth.

I think as a team, we're slacking.

The Coalition is based on support for each other, and accountability. Some of us are posting 2, maybe 3 times a week, and that's not going to cut it. I don't mean that as a bad thing, but I'm concerned that the struggles that we are facing need to be examined on a day in, day out basis. I may be only to speak for myself, but I have a feeling I'm not alone in this.. but I make sure to post every single day. It's not because I want to hear myself type, but I know that I have to be accountable to you guys. If I don't type something, then you don't get to read it. We don't get to share these things the way the Coalition is intended, and we don't use the shoulders that we have to lean on.

Now, I know that time is important. I know that things happen. But I also know that there's a team here, and I look around and see 1.. maybe 2 replies, to people's posts. Replies are support, and they just need to be there.

If you're only posting 2 days a week, are you giving the weight-loss thing 100%? The answer may be yes, and I may be speaking out of turn, but what I'm worried about is seeing some of us falling off the wagon, and making our weight loss not our #1 priority. Life is tough, and trying to maintain a healthy weight-loss may be even tougher. But we all joined this coalition to get support, and give support.

I hope this isn't coming off like I'm a complete ass. I'm just trying to make sure that we are careful not to let this thing fade. The post replies have been getting to be less and less lately, and so has posting frequency. Are we just getting used to our diets and not needing the crutch of the blogs anymore, or are we forgetting about the tools that we have in our toolboxes?

If it's the first one, then I'm out of line. If it's the second one though, we need each other more than we're giving ourselves credit for.

I'm not going anywhere until we ALL hit our goals. Whether you need the support or not, I do. I can't do this without you guys.

A Crack In The Glass?

Weigh In: 330 .. er, I mean.. 328.5?

All things happen for a reason, right? This morning was probably the most UNMOTIVATED I've been in a long time. I woke up, and was ready to go to the gym. I found everything non-productive that I could possibly do, to NOT go. I checked the blogs, I checked my email, I watched the Beauty and the Geek Finale (awesome guilty pleasure show, btw), I went back and checked email... after waking up at 7:30, by 10am.. I hadn't gone to the gym. I finally talked myself into it, and drug myself there. They say that 'getting to the gym is half the battle', but today, it was more like 95%. What happened next got Rob his groove back.

If someone told me that the secret to losing weight was breaking your diet, I would have punched them in the face. But, that's exactly what happened.. and if it wasn't, I'm still giving it credit.

After the 'cheat' meal two days ago, I skipped a workout and then did almost no workout yesterday, and then I went to the gym this morning and stepped on the scale. I actually went below the 330 barrier for the first time, and I was stunned. I wasn't expecting it, and I guess I just got used to seeing the 330 or higher. It was a good feeling.

I'm not going to get too high on it, because we've seen this many times before. We all know what it's like to be high on a number, and then see it go right back up the next day. But, looking at the five-day average, the average is EXACTLY 300.0, and the highest number (331.5) is coming off tomorrow, so I'm still headed in the right direction.

As usual, I'm analyzing the numbers. Since I weigh in officially on Monday, I need the 4 days before Monday to do the 5-day average. That would take me from Monday, back to Thursday's weigh. So far, I've got a 330 and a 328.5 to work with, and if I can continue in that downward trend, I may be pretty proud of myself on Monday.

Nothing's in the books yet, but hopefully I've turned the page on this rather long and frustrating chapter of the weight loss journey.

Time will tell.

It's Almost Friday

Weigh In: 330 (ugh)

Another day in the books. Not much to report today. I was dreading stepping on the scale today because of last night's meal, but I got a pretty predictable number. If you had to guess, chances are you'd all be right.

This number has to eventually go down, but we'll just keep working on it.

I don't have much to report today except that this has been a long week, and I'm ready for the weekend. I'm ready to be able to actually go to the gym, spend a few hours in there, and just get done what I need to get done. I haven't lifted in a few good days because of short gym time, but I've gotten some cardio in there.

Not a very motivating blog today, but I want to get something in EVERY day, so here she is.

One thing I noticed this morning.. after that meal last night, I felt kind of heavy. Not like 'fat', but more like concrete. I didn't want to move, and I didn't feel very active today. I wonder if that's purely a mental block.. something I assumed would happen so my brain did it, or if my body is reacting to the meal.

Either way, tomorrow's Friday, and it's heavy workout time. It's 300 or bust.

Until next time.

15 Days and Counting

Weigh In: 330 (could it be anything else?)

Today's one of those days where you just suck it up and trust the trainer. I've been talking to Josh, and he thought that today would be a good day to have a 'cheat' meal, and then see if we can't restart this metabolism. So, I weight in this morning, got my 330, and then had a steak at Mountain Jacks with Peppercorn sauce, a salad with honey mustard and cheese, two rolls with cinnamon butter, and half of a caramel ice cream sundae.

To be honest, I'm a bit nervous about that. Everything that I've been trained to do in terms of weight loss was to avoid that kind of meal in the past. But, the past also signifies about 30 failed attempts at weight loss, so I'm giving this a whirl. Josh has been 100% right on each and every single time, so I'm hoping this works too.

It's strange. I used to look forward to the days that I 'cheated', so they were pretty frequent. Ever since the Coalition, I've been pretty strong about my health, and I never once have been on a 'diet'. My rule of thumb: eat SMART. It's worked pretty well so far up until this horrible plateau, so we're going to go with the Josh way.

I am ready to get off this 330 number. It's becoming pretty obvious that the whole "Under 300 by 30" thing isn't going to happen, but that's ok. As long as I'm headed in the right direction. It pisses me off that I've been locked at this number since January 31, but there's nothing I can do about that. That, as the rest of the failures, are in the past.

I feel like I'm toting around a bowling ball in my gut, and it made me feel crappy afterwards.. but, I can't lie.

That steak was damn good.

Back to work at the gym tomorrow, bright and early.

In Neutral

No Weigh In Today.

So, I took the advice of you guys, and took a day off today. I was going to work out this morning, but then I realized I had a DVR'ed "Heroes" to watch, so I did that. And then, it was work all day. Then, I was going to head to the gym, but I decided to take it easy, since I was going to be playing volleyball in a few hours anyway.

Then, when I got home, volleyball was canceled, so I didn't do that either. Thought about going for a jog or heading to the gym, but by that time, it was 8:30ish, so I decided that I've earned a day. Also, I just got done snowblowing, so I guess that counts. Not much, but a day of rest is a day of rest.

Other than that, it was a pretty typical day. It's strange.. I don't think I would have ever had my mind trained to think that working out "Only 6 times in a week" is slacking. I feel like I should have been in the gym. I used to give my excuses to myself on why I skipped, and today I'm completely the opposite. Part of the lifestyle transformation, I suppose.

Also, I want to throw a shoutout to Maggie over at work. She came over to my desk today, gave me a high-five, and told me that even though she doesn't post comments very much, I was doing a good job. Made my day. So, Maggie.. I know you read this, I appreciate it.

Another day, another dollar. Until next time.

Time To Vent

Weigh In: 331.5
Five Day Average: 330.4

Sometimes when you want something so much, you look at it as if your eyes are a pair of binoculars. You focus as hard as you can. When that happens, you may be great at seeing the details, but you fail to see the big picture.

Exhibit A: I think it's been maybe a week and a half - maybe two weeks - since I skipped a day in the gym. I've worked my ass off, and can't think of a time in my life that I've worked this hard to live a healthy lifestyle. It's working great. I've been eating right, working out daily, my weight-training is improving, I'm moving to new cardio techniques, my trainer is the freaking man, and I've been doing great.

The problem is with the scale.

On January 31st I hit 330.5 for the first time. Not the 'average', but I got a result on the scale. It was my "lowest yet!". So, I march into February feeling confidant that I could repeat my 15 pound weight-loss goal this month.

Twelve days later, I've been staring at the same number. For the past four days, my weigh-ins have been 330, 330, 330.5, and 330. Pretty damn consistant. So, all I have to do is step on the scale today, and keep it going. I step up, and 331.5 stares me in the face. Now, with the five-day average, my average still drops, down to 330.4. That's down 1.3 pounds from this time last week, and we say that a 1.5 average is still pretty good, and is a healthy weight loss. I've been pretty happy about the way things are going, and I'm starting to understand the "slowly but surely" approach.

But, if I'm being honest, this kind of pisses me off. I know it's only a pound, and I know everything that we've been saying, doing and acting on, and I know that over-reacting to a single pound is foolish. I completely understand that.

But how damn long am I going to be over the 330 point? It's like my body is saying, "screw you, I LIKE being fat".

So, the fight continues. Josh and I are going to look at the food intake a bit closer, and we're going to change it around again. There's no possible way that I can continue in the gym 7 days a week, eat healthy, and not lose weight. It'll happen. I don't doubt that for a second.

But today, I vent. I'm pissed off about it, and when that happens, results follow.

Quick Report

Weigh In: 330 (again)

Short one tonight. Just wanted to report the weight, and the fact that I gained another 10 pounds on my bench. I feel like I'm getting stronger, which would add muscle, slowing down my weight loss.

That's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it.

The good news is, unless something horrible happens on the scale tomorrow morning, the number's going down. Knock on wood.

More tomorrow, but I wanted to at least report in. Until next time.

See Spot Run

Weigh In: 330

The workout was a bit different today. I was planning on doing an hour of cardio, so I thought I'd jump on the Elyptical and just give it a 60 minute dash. I felt strong about 30 minutes through, but after about 35, my body was spent. I know what my problem is. It's purely mental. See, before this Fourth and 100 thing, I used to work out solely by doing 30 minutes on the Elyptical, so that seems like the 'normal' thing to do. Once I get past 30 minutes, my body seems to be telling me "ok, we're done", and shuts itself down after 30. Purely mental, and it's a block I can't seem to get over.

So, if you can't beat it.. trick it.

I spent the next 25 minutes doing OTHER forms of cardio. I jumped on the treadmill and jogged for 6 minutes. I haven't been on an actual treadmill in years. It's amazing how much different it is. I took those 6 minutes and went at a pretty steady speed of 4.5mph. Not sure if that's fast or slow, but it seemed to be a pretty good jogging pack.

From there, I grabbed a set of jump ropes and did a few sets of 50. Lump that in with about 10 sets of 10-15 because my uncoordinated ass can't seem to get 50 in a row without slapping the back of my head with the jump rope, and my hour was up. I ended up doing my 50 ab crunches (with a 15 pound weight over my head and feet straight up.. not sure what to really call the actually crunch), and did some stretching and called it a day. Ended up with a 70 minute cardio workout, so I felt pretty good about it.

Just to note.. I've come in at 330 a few times now, and if things go right, the 332's are starting to be a distant memory. Not that they can't show their ugly face at any moment, but it may look good when it comes time for weigh-in on Monday. I may have just jinxed myself, but we'll see how that goes.

Until next time.

Getting Stronger

Weigh In: 330.5

We've talked recently about looking at the big picture instead of the small one that we're staring at each day. We always look at the scale instead of other results.. at least I do. I've been working on finding more positives instead of negatives, so I'm going to compare another measurable result -

In blue, it's my workout from January 26, the day I started using freeweights. In red, it's what I completed today:

Work Out - Freeweights
Circuit One
Squats - 3 sets, 15 reps. 85 pounds - 165 pounds
Flat Bench Press - 3 sets, 10 reps, 130 pounds - 135 pounds
Hammer Horizontal Row - 3 sets, 15 reps, 140 pounds - 160 pounds

Circuit Two
Lunges - 2 sets, 10 reps.
Barbell Curl - 2 sets, 10 reps. 65 pounds - 75 pounds
Tricep Extention - 2 sets, 15 reps, full stack (150 pounds) - 3 sets, full stack (150 pounds)

In only 2 weeks, it's starting to get easier. I'm trying to justify in my mind that my weight-loss freeze according to the scale is because I'm rushing much more muscle onto my body, and I think that's exactly what's happening. My upper body feels MUCH stronger, and I feel it in my arms, neck and chest.

Eventually, the weight's going to have to come off, and I'm willing to be patient until it happens. I'm starting to do the embarassing thing now with the scale.. sucking in when I step on it, holding my breath.. doing anything I can do to get the number down, when I know damn well that it doesn't work that way.

A mental war, right? As long as I win, I can deal with the rest.

I may write more later, but I wanted to get those numbers out there.

Weigh In: 330

Yup, I nudged myself off of the 332 mark, if only for a day. I worked out in the AM today, as opposed to later in the day like I've been doing lately. I want to be happy about, but I'll save the enthusiasm for when the 5-day average dips under 330. Small steps.

I've been reading everyone's blogs lately, and it seems like we're facing the same problems, just at different intervals. It took Becky a long time to finally reach the 100's, but she's finally made it there. Billy's struggling through a flatland plateau. Kev's facing the same. There's injuries, stress, and real life.

I think that's ok. It means we're normal, and what I like the most about this whole thing is this -

In the past, when I hit these struggles.. each and every one that we're all facing, I've tended to give up. I get frustrated, and head to the pizza shop, or off to McDonalds. It's how I've always done it. I was good at working out for a few months, but as the honeymoon ends, the weight goes back up.

We haven't done that. I don't know about you guys, but I'm feeling pretty confidant when I sit back and look at where we've come from. Carl did the math, and we've lost over 120 pounds as a team. We've been doing this at most since November. I started on November 22nd, and I wasn't even able to step on the scale and get an accurate number because the scale didn't go high enough to weigh myself. Less than 2 1/2 months later, we've assembled this group of folks who have different lives, different weight issues, yet one common link.

We want to get healthy.

So, while we're facing our struggles, let's look at the big picture. We're changing our lives, and we're doing it the right way.

Be proud of yourselves. I'm proud of myself, and of the FAT Coalition.

Guess The Number

Weigh In: 332 (again)

If you guess 332, you'd be correct. Third day in a row, and fourth out of five. Not quite sure WHY this wall just built itself up in front of me, but I plan on driving a tank right through it eventually. Not sure why I've locked in at 332, and I'm not sure when I'm going to break through it, but it will be broken. The body can only deny me the 320's for so long.

So that's the bad news. I'm incredibly frustrated over the scale reading even though I'm not supposed to look at it like that.

The good news is about everything else.

I wore a suit jacket today that I haven't been able to wear in over a year. The shoulders were snug, but that's only going to get worse with the weights that I've been lifting. The gut was MUCH looser, and that's what is great.

Also, a pair of pants that I wore the day I proposed to my wife (they were custom fit) were literally falling off of me. In fact, the belt that I've been wearing the past year was drawn to the TIGHTEST possible hole in the belt, and that didn't help it at all. I was one touchdown signal away from them being around my ankles. Another positive feeling.

And then to add to that, I did my full weight workout tonight, and every single one of my weights are getting stronger. My bench has gone from 115 to 125, and if I had a spotter I would have gone further. My chest row went from 140 to 160. My squats have gone from 85 to 135. On my tricep extensions I'm now pressing 2 sets of 15 using the full stack of 150 pounds. It's all going well.

But my brain focuses on the scale. It's my weakness, the bottom line, and what my mind focuses on. I know all the good, yet I focus on the bad. How typical is that?

No matter. I'm getting stronger every day, and if that means I have to pick the locker room scale up over my head and throw it out the window one day, that's what it means.

Keep fighting. In the words of my new favorite motivational song, "No Easy Way Out" by Survivor...

There's no easy way out..
There's no shortcut home.

Race you to the bottom.

A Wise Man Once Said..

.. "when you hit the wall, BREAK THROUGH IT!"

That would be Kevin, by the way.

Weigh In: 332

I haven't been able to break the 330 barrier after almost a week of sniffing it, and I can't lie when I say it's been frustrating. But the line above keeps ringing in my ear. A few of us have been struggling with the number on the scale lately, but we keep fighting it. That's the only choice we've got, and I feel like the fight is being taken to us lately.

But you don't reach your goals by giving up, and it's not even something I'm considering. Most of the day is spent thinking about my next workout, or next athletic activity, so that beats the pants off of my former habit of wondering when and what the next meal is going to be.

Here's an added bonus today - I talked to Josh yesterday, and he asked me when I was going to be in for my next workout. I told him that I had a cardio day today, so he told me that he'd meet me at the gym and show me a few things. I figured that I'd come in, do my workout, and then he's give me a few tips and hints, and maybe a few new workout methods to try.

He essentially gave me an entire workout, and made me do it. I hurt like hell during, and it was only a cardio thing. Jumping rope and boxing. And, I can't even lie.

I LOVED it.

If you've learned one thing from reading this blog since November, it's that I love a challenge. Different boxing techniques.. it gives you a new perspective on HOW HARD 15 rounds in the ring must be. It's complete stamina awareness.

So, I'm still 332. It's frustrating.

But at least it's not 350, or 378, right?

By the way, volleyball tonight, so I get some more activity, and then back in the gym for the HARD workout tomorrow again.

Keep fighting the fight, folks. We're on the road to health.

Blogging Myself Blind

Weigh In: 332.00
Five Day Average: 331.7

I've been posting like a wildman lately, but I figured that I might as well get my miles in.

So today's my weigh-in. Unlucky for me, weigh-in day is the day following the Super Bowl, but I can't do much about that. My last Monday weigh-in I was looking at 332.8, so I only dropped 1.1 pounds this week, so I can't say that I'm too thrilled about that. However, it's down instead of up, and that's the overall goal.

By the way, if you click on the picture at the top or click here, you'll get the long term chart that Billy provided. I've been keeping track for a while, and this is something I recommend for everyone who tries to lose weight. For instance, today I feel like I haven't accomplished much since the past week I've lost a whopping 1.1 pounds, but if you look at the big picture, you see that I'm working in the right direction.

Also, my workouts are getting stronger, and even though the diet went to hell yesterday, I've been doing pretty well. It's getting easier, and I'm in the gym most days so I'm feeling pretty confident that a big drop week is in the horizon. I'm pretty doubtful that I'm going to keep up with my February 28th goal of 315, but I'm going to keep working at it regardless of the time frame.

Not much else to say, and you all probably have about 3-4 blogs to catch up on anyway, so I'll stop it here. Until next time.

Congratulations, Peyton Manning

Weigh In: 330.0 (Lowest Yet!)

Short blog, but I needed to get my post done for the day, so here we go:

We hosted a Super Bowl party tonight, and we had a blast. Tons of food. We had pizza, bean dips, cheeses and crackers as far as the eyes can see, and probably more calories came through our house tonight than at a Godiva Chocolate convention.

I could have done better. I could have done MUCH worse.

I had 1 1/2 pieces of pizza, some ham rollups, a few small cookies (but I enjoyed each bite), and a random smattering of other snacks and bites.

I can't look at you in the eye and say I did well tonight, but I think I did make some logical decisions. First off, I had about half of a light beer, and drank diet coke and water all night. I had the wheat thin-ish crackers, and as I mentioned.. only a bit more than one piece of pizza.

Up and down, but I'm not going to complain. I haven't had much of a 'cheat' meal in over a week, probably even two weeks.. so I'll take it, and just make sure that I follow it with a hard workout in the AM.

Also, as you may have noticed from the top of the blog, I was a solid 330.0 this morning when I weighed in. Lowest so far, and just two days after a 4 pound boost. It's up and down, and it's mentally draining to see it bounce up and down all the time, but that's part of the gig. One step back, two steps forward.. it'll get you to your goal eventually.

I noticed when I was at the gym today that I completely ran out of gas. It was a cardio day, and I fully planned on going a full hour on the Elyptical machine today. At the 28 minute point, my body just gave out, and I had NOTHING left. Almost fell off of the bike.

I hadn't eaten anything but a small half-bowl of cereal about 4 hours prior.

Take that as a lesson. Eat before you work out. You don't expect your car to be at top performance with no gas in the tank, so why should you expect your body to?

Take care.. and also, read the blog below this one if you haven't. A new member, Carl, joins the Coalition. Put him on your link page, and support him the way we support each other. He's one of ours now. Until next time!

Welcome the Newest FAT Coalition Member - Carl

http://returnto183.blogspot.com/

Carl sent me an email a few days ago telling me that he's been reading our blogs and keeping up with us for a while, and he wanted to know if he could be a part of the FAT Coalition.

I told him that we welcome ALL members, and encourage *ANYONE* who wants to join the fight for our health to join.

So, everyone welcome Carl, and support his efforts to return to his goal weight of 183!

Just Do It

Weigh In: 332
Workout: Full workout, same as detailed a few days ago. Don't have it in front of me, but it's the "Freeweight" workout.

In yesterday's blog, I was concerned about not being able to visualize how I'm going to be able to lose the weight, and I think some got the wrong impression.

I don't doubt that I'm going to succeed, but it's uncharted territory for me. I've always been someone that hides behind my weight - joking about it even - and for me to take a serious look at where I am and what I want to be.. it takes a realistic shot to my soul, and it's a major reality check for me. There's still something deep inside of me that is afraid to lose this weight, and I'm not sure what it is, or why it's there. It's almost like, am I going to be able to do this? What's different this time as opposed to all the other times that I've failed? What will I do when I get there?

Depending on the day, I've got a different answer for each one of those questions.

The good news is, as I've said before - a challenge motivates me. I can't even pretend to lie and say that going from 330.5 to 334 in ONE day didn't really, REALLY bother me. It threw every ounce of doubt right back into my face, and those questions resurfaced.

The good news is, the scale dropped back down to 332 today.

The whole process is mentally draining to me, but it's something that I want enough that I have no plans on stopping any time soon. In fact, the first thing I do every day is come downstairs and check this blog to see if anyone's replied. And then, probably 10-15 times a day, I do the same thing. Any posts or comments? Anyone else blog today? Anyone else reply? What else is going on in the FAT Coalition that I may be able to read about.

It's consuming me. I want this so bad. I have no idea what will happen once I get there, but I figure that it's a problem I'll worry about when I get there. In the meantime, just keep on me. I said it November 22 when I started, and it hasn't changed:

If it wasn't for the friends and family who read this blog and encourage me to continue the fight, I probably would have failed by now.

Hang in there with me.

Seeing Is Believing

Weigh In: 334

You'll notice that the weigh-in was a wee-bit higher than the last one, at 330.5. I can't really say that I was happy about that (obviously), but I wasn't really 'mad' either. It was one of those feelings where you were confused, because you had NO idea it was coming. Now, I should have known, and I shouldn't let it get to me, but I wouldn't be human if that was the case.

But, instead of being upset about it, I just remind myself that it's simply data collection, and that all I need to do is keep working out, keeping eating the way I have been, and it'll eventually come down.

Remember that "Inner Fat" thing we were talking about before? I need to readjust my thinking from the way it's been lately. When I hit 330.5, I was estatic. But but I start thinking to myself, I honestly can't see myself lower than 330. I mean, I can TALK about it, and I can talk about how "if I can keep up 10 pounds a month, I'll be blow 300 soon", but I just can't visualize sitting down and weighing less than 300. Hell, even 329 doesn't seem like it's something "I" can do.

Inner Fat - it's something much deeper than I've given it credit for. I should be sitting here THRILLED to death that I'm doing so well, but there's a part of me that just doesn't think I can do it. It hasn't really been around much, until I started thinking a bit deeper about my life, and what the weight loss would mean to.

Being 250 instead of 350 is a real life change. I haven't considered that. I keep thinking that "when I'm 250, I can walk around with no shirt on and not look like a complete ass". I think "I'll be healthier, so I won't be a walking health risk". I've got my shallow reasons, along with my main goal - to live the longest I can with my wife.

But the insecurity pops out once in a while, and it's been pretty consistent lately.

I guess I don't truly believe that I can be that skinny guy.

Seeing is believing, right? I guess I just have to go prove myself wrong.

A SUPER Transformation - FatManDo Style

http://www.shifthf.com/fatmando/index.php

I'll post more tonight, but I wanted to get this out there. The latest installment of my "other" blog, FatManDo. Let me know what you think?

And On The Seventh Day, He Rested

So, I started off February with a bang.

Ok, that's not entirely true. I skipped the gym today. I'm feeling pretty crappy about that, but I'm going to look at it from a realistic perspective. Out of the past 3 or 4 weeks, I think I've skipped the gym maybe 3 times. I've been going 6-7 days a week, and I'm going to count this as a day of rest. To be fair, since I did my freeweight workout yesterday, my body could probably use a day off.

I was planning on going after work today, but then I realized that I was teaching one of my music students tonight, so I just called it a night.

Before I started this whole crusade to drop the weight, skipping a day in the gym was no big deal. Hell, even on the 'best' of my dieting tracks, I probably went three.. maybe four times a week, tops. Today, I feel like I just stole my neighbor's dog and sold it to the gypsies for a bag of beef jerky. I feel guilty for not going to the gym tonight. It's strange.

But, back to work tomorrow. A long day, but it's going to start with a trip to the gym. Get the weigh-in done, run some good cardio and those crunches.. and be ready for another iron pumping workout on Saturday. Catch you on the other side of the pillow, I'm headed to bed.