The Weigh-In Week 29

Oh if only those of you who voted could have been right!

223.6!!! That's what it said on the scale this morning. A gain of 7.4 pounds!!!!!!

I regret nothing. Sure it may take an extra few weeks to get to my 214 goal...but I enjoyed the heck out of my holiday.

I also weighed in in the middle of the day instead of the morning. That has to make a difference. Probably not 7.4 pounds worth through.

I'll be back on New Years Eve or New Years Day to check in with a begging of the year weigh-in.

Have a great weekend.

Tony
12/28: 223.6lbs
Goal: 220 lbs. ACCOMPLISHED
NEW GOAL: 214
lots of lbs. to go

Guess How Much I Weigh Contest - Week 29

Let's be honest. I am going to have a gain this week. There is no doubt about it. I made no attempt to eat healthy over the last 5 days. I stuffed myself full of every holiday delight I could get my hands on... and I am fine with that. I can feel it in my soul that I am going to have no trouble getting back on track next week. I feel satiated again. I ate so much that I have no desire to stuff myself anymore.

Not much on the exercise front either. Although I did hit the gym with my lovely wife last Sunday and I did go for a 3 and a half mile run in a snow storm yesterday. That should count for two workouts.

So, like I said there will be a gain. I can pretty much gurantee that I will not make it to 214 by the new year... although I will weigh in on New Years Eve and New Years Day and post the weigh ins so we all know where we are starting the New Year. As for tommorrow's weigh in, I'm just hopping to keep it under 220.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. Talk to you tomorrow.

Step right up, step right up.
Guess how much I weigh and win a fabulous prize.

To Recap:
Every Thursday I give you my stats for the week and you guess what you think the scale will say on Friday morning. The winner is the first person who guesses my weight / weight loss for the week without going over or the person who is closest without going over. Go ahead and click on comments at the bottom of this post and leave your guess.

I will post the winner when I post my weight on Fri. morning. If we get ten or more guesses I will have a prize for the winner.

For this week and this week only, votes for a gain will count....and I won't hold it against you...well not to much anyway.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!


Tony
12/21: 216.2lbs
Goal: 220 lbs. ACCOMPLISHED
NEW GOAL: 214
2.2 lbs. to go

p.s. Don't forget you can subscribe to the e-mail edition of Guess How Much I Weigh . Simply enter your e-mail address in the space to the right.

The Wife Weighs In...Week 13

Happy holidays, GHMIW fans!

So a very quick update from me, as I am trying to get things wrapped up before 11 full days off of work! Hurray!

This week was a very good week. After small gains and losses over the last few weeks, my hard work paid off with a nice loss. What super motivation for me to stick to my plans over vacation and get my backside to the gym.

My biggest success this week was achieving my number one non-scale goal. I no longer have to shop for pants in the plus-size department. When I started this journey, I was just moving out of my size 22 post-pregnancy jeans. I am now able to walk into any women's clothing store and put on a size 16. And, I am not far from a size 14. For years, I have dreamed of being able to do just that. Again, what fantastic motivation. Merry Christmas to me.

May your holidays be merry and bright...joy to the world!
Laura

My update:
12/14/2007: 192.4 pounds (a gain of 0.8 pounds)
12/21/2007: 189.4 pounds (a loss of 3 pounds)
Total loss: 39.0 pounds
New mini-goal: 182 pounds by February 1
6 weeks and 7.4 pounds to go...1.2 pounds a week

P.S. My New Year's resolution is to get a new profile picture.

The Weigh-In Week 28

216.2! That's what it said on the scale this morning. A loss of 1 pound!

I followed through on my plan yesterday and it paid off. I sampled small portions of each of the Crockpot offerings and did not go back for seconds. Then I went down to the gym and got on the treadmill. Amazingly I was able to finish another 5K...even with all that slow cooked meat sloshing around in my tummy.

Only 8 votes so no prize again this week, but our big winner would have been Cousin Ali. Nicely Done Ali! Enjoy your warm Christmas down in Texas.

After today I am on vacation until after the first of the year so there won't be regular updates for the next week and a half... although there will be one final Guess How Much I Weigh Contest and Weigh-In next week. Be sure to check back next Friday and see if I make my goal of being overweight for the New Year.

Have a warm, wonderful happy holiday!

Here is my gift to you. Side by side video comparison of yours truly. For real fun, pause the top video at 15 seconds and the bottom video at 10 Seconds and compare.






Tony
12/21: 216.2lbs
Goal: 220 lbs. ACCOMPLISHED
NEW GOAL: 214
2.2 lbs. to go

Guess How Much I Weigh Contest - Week 28

Sorry for the late post. I have been busy making Crockpot Apple Crisp for a company Crockpot Off. Yup you read that right. We are having a Crockpot cooking competition at work today to see who can make the best Crockpot recipe.

As you can imagine I am in a quandary. I would like to post another loss tomorrow. I would also like to fully enjoy the fruits of my co-workers labors. The smell of slow cooked meat is already permeating the office. It's siren scents calling to me like the Merwomen of ancient legend. Really good smelling merwomen

I brought a healthy lunch today, but I have a feeling I will abandoned it for the hidden Crockpot treasures.

Here is the plan. Modestly sample each of the entries. Go run 4 miles on the treadmill. Avoid leftovers.

We will see how I do.

There is one thing working in my favor. Many of the Crockpot entires are soup or chili based . I don't eat soup or chili. Which cuts down dramatically the number of things I will be tempted to sample.

Step right up, step right up.
Guess how much I weigh and win a fabulous prize.

To Recap:
Every Thursday I give you my stats for the week and you guess what you think the scale will say on Friday morning. The winner is the first person who guesses my weight / weight loss for the week without going over or the person who is closest without going over. Go ahead and click on comments at the bottom of this post and leave your guess.

I will post the winner when I post my weight on Fri. morning. If we get ten or more guesses I will have a prize for the winner.

No stats again this week. Holiday prep kind of got in the way of calorie counting. I think I'll be taking the rest of the year off from tracking calories and then back at it in the New Year.

I did good this week, until yesterday. Not that I did that bad yesterday. I skipped my workout yesterday to have lunch with a friend I haven't seen in a few months. I had a large put sensible lunch. Unfortunately I was caught unawares by a Birthday party celebration later in the day and partook of greasy fried food that was totally unnecessary but oh so yummy.

Skipping the workout or downing the fried foods in themselves weren't so bad. It was doing it on the same day that has me a little worried.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!


Tony
12/18: 217.2lbs
Goal: 220 lbs. ACCOMPLISHED
NEW GOAL: 214
3.2 lbs. to go

p.s. Don't forget you can subscribe to the e-mail edition of Guess How Much I Weigh . Simply enter your e-mail address in the space to the right.

Who The Heck Is That?

It is amazing how fast I have forgotten who I used to be.

I stumbled across this video today while looking at some footage of the girls from this summer. I was shocked!!!

Sure I've been looking at photos of my former self but they don't quite capture the "grandeur" of the man I used to be.

Watching this I realize just how much I have changed and not just my physical appearance. I even move differently now that I don't have 5 feet of belly in front of me.

In this video I look and walk like my lovely wife did when she was 8-months pregnant.




What a difference 6 months and a few hundred miles can make.

Tony
12/18: 217.2lbs
Goal: 220 lbs. ACCOMPLISHED
NEW GOAL: 214
3.2 lbs. to go

Shopping = Exercise

This is the first weekend in a long time where I weigh the same on Monday morning as I did on the previous Friday morning. Normal I gain a pound or so over the weekend.

I mentioned this before but weekends always turn into free for alls. The lack of structure gets me every time. Not that I eat horrible. I just don't watch what I eat closely. This weekend was no exception. I had lunch out on Saturday and Sunday. Enjoyed a few snacks. Had a candy bar. Nothing off the rails. No binges, just a little more than my weekday calories.

I assumed that I would bounce up to 218 or 219 on the scale this morning, just like every other Monday morning. I was pleasantly surprised to see 217.4 instead.

My only conclusion? Christmas shopping is good exercise.

On second thought chasing 2, almost two-year olds through store after store trying to keeping them from tearing everything off the shelf is where the exercise really comes in.

Tony
12/17: 217.2lbs
Goal: 220 lbs. ACCOMPLISHED
NEW GOAL: 214
3.2 lbs. to go

The Wife Weighs In...Week 12

Good morning, GHMIW fans!

This week has been a good week. I feel like it's been the beginning of the next phase of my healthy living journey. I've really grown to love my time at the gym in the morning. Granted, I haven't gotten my strength training program off the ground, but the treadmill and I are becoming best friends.

I've spent over four hours on the treadmill over the last seven days and approximately 45 minutes of that time was spent running. That's right, I have been RUNNING! It's been no more than 10 minutes at a time but, trust me, bragging about running is not something I ever thought I would do.

Tony and I took the day off from work yesterday to get some Christmas shopping done. While out, we went to Banana Republic, a store in which I would normally never set foot. Here's why...

When a woman who wears a size 20 steps into a store like that, the sales associates take one look at her, assess her size, and conclude that she doesn't belong there and is not worth their time. Those of you who have never been plus-sized may think I am making it up or imagining things, but I have seen it happen time and again.

So, back to Banana Republic. Tony was looking at sweaters and a male associate was pointing out all the "promo items" in the men's section (apparently, Banana Republic does not have "sales," only "promos"). After he finished giving Tony his spiel, he looked at me and said, "And I can give you the run-down on the promos in the women's section if you venture over there."

This associate had looked at me, assessed my size, and concluded that I belonged there! I have to be honest, after he walked away and Tony went to the fitting room, I actually almost teared up.

On to my update...when I stepped on the scale yesterday morning, I was set up to have a sizable loss today. But, I went caroling last night with my music group (for those of you who don't know, I sing at our church's contemporary Mass every Sunday night) and we all went out for a little socializing afterwards. The caroling itself wasn't a problem, but the beer and the salty popcorn and the appetizers at 8:00 p.m. was a problem. So, I had a slight gain...but it's okay. It was worth it.

Have a great weekend!

Laura

My update:

12/07/2007: 191.6 pounds

12/14/2007: 192.4 pounds (a gain of 0.8 pounds)

Total loss: 36.0 pounds

New mini-goal: 182 pounds by February 1

7 weeks and 10.4 pounds to go

(YIKES! Challenging, but not insurmountable...I'll reassess next week)

The Weigh-In Week 27

What is up with that cheesy smile?

217.2! That's what it said on the scale this morning. A loss of 1.2 pounds!!!

214 here I come.

Here is my feel good story from yesterday.

My lovely wife and I took the day off to try and get all of our Christmas shopping done in one day. A task we almost succeed at.

We took a few minutes out of power shopping for others to do a little power shopping for ourselves at Banana Republic. Banana Republic is a store I have been in maybe once in my life . That trip lasted all of 3 minutes. I left once I realized the only thing in the place that would fit me was a $90 cashmere scarf.

This trip was a different story. I browsed around for a few minutes before a sales person approached. Being unaccustomed to the ways and fits of the "Republic", I asked the salesman about their sizing. I believe my exact words were, "Are your sweaters slim fitting?"

The salesman took a moment to size me up and then uttered these magic words.

"You look like you'd wear a large."

not. "Ha, Why would you want to know?"
-or- "They're too slim for you!"
-or- "You wouldn't even fit in to our Double XL"

Simply, "You look like a large."

And it was casual and nonchalant, not incredulous or surprised.

I was so overwhelmed at the world of choice now open to me that I left the store without purchasing anything. I am having to readjust my whole fashion world view. This is going to take sometime. But fear not Banana Republic I will return... and soon, there is this slim fitting red zip up sweater that I have my eye on. Size large please.

This weeks winner is Teresa. Teresa nailed it with the first guess of the day. Nicely done Teresa. Only 9 votes this week. Nearly their for a prize ...but not nearly enough.

How about this for this weeks prize, you all win my thanks and gratitude for helping me get through a big week. Pretty good prize, huh?

Have a great weekend everybody.

Tony
12/14: 217.2lbs
Goal: 220 lbs. ACCOMPLISHED
NEW GOAL: 214
3.2 lbs. to go

Guess How Much I Weigh Contest - Week 27

I feel good about this week! What could have been a disastrous let down after last weeks triumph is shaping up to be another victory.

I successfully avoided the mounds of holiday temptations at the office this week. In fact the last 3 days have been some of my lowest calorie days in a month. On top of that I worked my butt of in the gym these last 3 days. I didn't make another 5k today but I did kick the speed up a half mile an hour and still made 1.5 miles before my legs gave out.

Regardless of what the scale says I am proud of the way this week has gone. No resting on my laurels for me.

Thanks for all the congrats and encouragement this week. It continues to do wonders for keeping me on track.

Check out the awesome congrats vid my buddy Scott sent me. Does that sentence make me sound like a 14 year old?


Step right up, step right up.
Guess how much I weigh and win a fabulous prize.

To Recap:
Every Thursday I give you my stats for the week and you guess what you think the scale will say on Friday morning. The winner is the first person who guesses my weight / weight loss for the week without going over or the person who is closest without going over. Go ahead and click on comments at the bottom of this post and leave your guess.

I will post the winner when I post my weight on Fri. morning. If we get ten or more guesses I will have a prize for the winner.

Stats for the week of December 10th.
Walked / Ran: 11.5 miles

Calories Consumed: From Thursday morning through Wednesday. night I have consumed aprox. 13937 calories.

Calories Burned: From Thursday morning through Wednesday night I have burned aprox. 26397 calories.

38% of my calories have come from fat.
12% of those calories came from Saturated Fats.

46% of my calories came from carbs.

16% of my calories came from protein.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!

Tony
12/13: 218.4lbs
Goal: 220 lbs. ACCOMPLISHED
NEW GOAL: 214
4.4 lbs. to go

p.s. Don't forget you can subscribe to the e-mail edition of Guess How Much I Weigh . Simply enter your e-mail address in the space to the right.

Another Milestone

Ha-Ha! Get it ? It's a pun. "Milestone" and this post is about me running.

Sorry you don't know what this post is about yet do you?

I RAN FOR 3.1 MILES YESTERDAY.

I know I am shouting. I'd do it from the roof top if they hadn't barred the door after that unfortunate naked bird watching incident this summer.

I made my first ever 5K yesterday. Way ahead of schedule. I guess I am trying to cram all the victories in before the end of the year.

I still can't believe it. I ran for 34 minutes straight...without even stopping once. It may not seem like a big deal, but to me it's like I've accomplished the impossible dream. This is my Everest.

Now I have to build up to running 5K consistently and work on upping the speed a little. All in good time.

Another nice thing happened yesterday. A friend gave me a gift to celebrate reaching my goal. I hope she knows what a wonderful gift it was. It was the perfect thing at the perfect time.

I am on a precipice here. This week is going to be a busy one, full of lots of temptations. All ready our office is stuffed to the rafters with holiday gifts from clients and vendors. All most all of them involve popcorn or chocolate or both. Plus I am going to have to go out of my way to get 3 of my workouts in this week, a situation that would make it very easy for me to skip working out all together.

But thanks to a simple act of kindness I'm not worried anymore about getting through the week. It was a reaffirmation of what I have worked so hard to accomplish and it made me realize how much I don't want to disappoint all the friends that have come along for this ride... and how much I don't want to disappoint myself.

That simple act of kindness was the inspiration I needed to push through to 3.1 miles yesterday and to push away handfuls of popcorn and chocolate and cookies.

I plan to be a very good boy this week. I want next Friday to be as happy as this past Friday was. Heck I want the rest of my life to that happy!

Tony
12/11: 218.4lbs
Goal: 220 lbs. ACCOMPLISHED
NEW GOAL: 214
4.4 lbs. to go

Cookie In Hand

This weekend I narrated a Christmas concert at my church. Afterward, there was a very nice candlight reception with punch and fancy Christmas cookies. There were a lot of people there that I hadn't seen in a while , so a lot of folks were shocked at the new, slimmer me.

It felt good to have a night of compliments and gushing after reaching my first goal. It kind of brought everything full circle.

Except... every single time someone came up to compliment me on the weight loss, I had just taken a bite of Christmas cookie.

Which lead to this exchange.

Complimenter: "Wow you look great. How did you do it.?"

Me: (With mouth full of cookie) "Watched what I ate and exercised."

I can't imagine the answer was to convincing as cookie crumbs flew from my mouth.

Sadly I kind of over did it on the cookies that night. But I redeemed myself with just two small cookies after Sundays performance.

I guess that's not really redeeming myself is it? I probably should have skipped the cookies all together. Just more proof that reaching the goal is only half the battle.

Tony
12/10: 218.4lbs
Goal: 220 lbs. ACCOMPLISHED
NEW GOAL: 214
4.4 lbs. to go

The Wife Weighs In...Week 11

Good morning, GHWIW fans!

First of all, a huge WAY TO GO(!) to my loving (and very handsome) husband, who reached his big goal this week. I am so proud of you, sweetie! Your determination has been a true inspiration to me and a lot of other people. While I think you look fantastic, I am most excited by the change in how you feel about yourself. I think you are amazing, and I love you so very much. MWAH! (That's a big kiss, by the way.)

My update is nowhere near as exciting. I had a small loss this week, but I am perfectly okay with it. I'm starting to get a little lazy...not logging everything I'm eating and allowing myself to make some really bad choices. Not good.

When I first got really serious about losing weight, I was ever-vigilant. I counted every point of every bite of food. Now? Meh...not so much. So, starting this week, I plan to crack down and raise the "alert level" a little.

Thanks to the U.S. Department of Health Plan Security, there is an easy to understand Advisory System to follow, shown here. Over the past couple of weeks, I have been operating under a threat level of BLUE.

The fact that there has been credible information warning of an imminent and specific threat to my health plan (namely the entire holiday season), paired with heightened food-related activity among friends and family and the upward trend of high-caloric propaganda in the media, the department's strategic threat perspective is that we are in a period of increased risk. Due to these factors I feel it is my duty to raise the health plan threat level to RED.

All GHMIW fans should continue to be vigilant, take increased notice of their surroundings, and report suspicious foods or activities to local authorities immediately.

Stay on the alert, and have a fantastic weekend!
Laura

My update:
11/30/2007: 192.2 pounds
12/07/2007: 191.6 pounds (a loss of 0.6 pounds)
Total loss: 36.8 pounds
New mini-goal: 182 pounds by February 1
8 weeks and 9.6 pounds to go (YIKES! That's 1.2 pounds a week!)

The Weigh-In Week 26

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!!!!!!!!!!



218.4!!!! That is what it said on the scale this morning!!! A loss of 5lbs.

This one is no flu fluke! I hereby declare Goal #1 Accomplished.

It feels like this has been a long time coming ,but really a year to lose 70 lbs. is not that long. And honestly, the last 62 of it only took me 26 weeks! I'm not bragging...in fact, I still can't figure out why I didn't do this ten years ago. I guess it's all about the proper motivation.

And I'm not done yet. 220 was an arbitrary goal. I choose it at random before I knew what my real goals were going to be. Over the last 26 weeks I have a much better understanding of those goals.

NEW GOAL #1:
214 by January 1st. A loss of 4.4 lbs. This is a pretty ambitious goal considering the holiday feasting and if I don't make it I'm not going to beat myself up. To make the goal I will have to lose 1.2 lbs a week.

At 214 my BMI will be 29.8 which would move me out of the Obese classification and into Moderately Overweight. It would be nice to start the new year Overweight.


NEW GOAL #2:
199 by May 29th 2008...my 34th birthday. I'm not sure if I will ever make it under 200lbs, but why not shoot for the moon huh? To achieve this goal I will have to lose .78 lbs. A week.

At this point I'm not really doing anything extra to lose weight. I am simply trying to live healthier. Hopefully the way I am eating and exercising now is the same way I will be living years from now. I may cut back on the workouts eventually as life gets more hectic with the girls, but I hope to still keep working out 3 to 4 days a week.

For now I am just letting my body do it's thing and find its own equilibrium. If that happens to be 210 instead of 190 I am just fine with that.

Which brings us to...

GOAL FOR LIFE:
Stay Healthy, Look Healthy!

I'd like to tone my body and put on more muscle and I will be able to run a 5k before this is through....but my biggest goal of all is to be healthy, at whatever weight I net out.

Only seven votes this week so no big winner. The closest was my Cousin Ali, who has been a huge supporter from the very beginning. Her guess of 3.4 may have seemed crazy high to the rest of you, but I say it was crazy like a fox! Way to goal Ali.

And thank you again for all of the support and encouragement you have all given me. If I've said it once I've said it... I couldn't do this without you all.

Have a fantastic weekend everybody!

Tony
12/7: 218.4lbs
Goal: 220 lbs. ACCOMPLISHED
NEW GOAL: 214
4.4 lbs. to go

P.S. That first picture is me doing the "Rocky" move...not me trying to show off my muscles!

Guess How Much I Weigh Conest - Week 26

I would like to take a quick moment to clear up somethings I said yesterday. If you read the comments on the post "Nancy Makin..." you may have noticed my lovely wife and I seem to have a difference of opinion . Don't worry we are not feuding...just having a very civil discourse.

Honestly Laura makes some very good points and her comment gives me the chance to clarify what I was trying to say yesterday but didn't quite get right.

First and foremost I was 100% wrong to lump Weight Watchers in with other fad diets.

Yesterday I wrote, "She did exactly what we all should be doing. She came to terms with her problem and found the willpower to overcome it."

What I meant to say was: "Wouldn't it be great if we all had this kind of willpower. To be able to overcome our problem with sheer will and determination."

In no way did I mean to imply any of us should try to do this on our own. We need our support groups, whether they be family, friends, your Weight Watchers meeting or an Internet community of like minded souls. The support is integral to the process.

What scares me and really ticks me off are the hundreds of thousands of "get skinny with no effort" schemes out there that people are sinking millions of dollars into, because they are so desperate to make a change without having to deal with their real issues. Fad diets, miracle pills, celebrity trainers that sound more like television evangelists; these things piss me off. They are get rich quick schemes that prey on the insecurities of our vulnerable self image and self worth and they are not what we need to make a difference in our lives.

"Find contentment and value in yourself." If you really need some book to tell you what to do, write that on a blank piece of paper, fold it in half and call it your new diet bible.

Thank you to my lovely wife for encouraging me to clear up my muddied thoughts.

Now on to the contest. I am very excited. This has been a good week!

Step right up, step right up.
Guess how much I weigh and win a fabulous prize.

To Recap:
Every Thursday I give you my stats for the week and you guess what you think the scale will say on Friday morning. The winner is the first person who guesses my weight / weight loss for the week without going over or the person who is closest without going over. Go ahead and click on comments at the bottom of this post and leave your guess.

I will post the winner when I post my weight on Fri. morning. If we get ten or more guesses I will have a prize for the winner.

Stats for the week of December 3rd.
Walked / Ran: 10.7 miles

Calories Consumed: From Thursday morning through Wed. night I have consumed aprox. 14567 calories.

Calories Burned: From Thursday morning through Wed. night I have burned aprox. 26936 calories.

30% of my calories have come from fat.
9% of those calories came from Saturated Fats.

49% of my calories came from carbs.

19% of my calories came from protein.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!

Tony
12/6: 223.4 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
3.4 lbs. to go

p.s. Don't forget you can subscribe to the e-mail edition of Guess How Much I Weigh . Simply enter your e-mail address in the space to the right.

I Won An Award

I have no clue what this means or how prestigious it is, but it is my first Blogging Award. So we should celebrate.

Thanks to whom ever nominated the blog!

If you are new to the site, start here to see what it's all about.

Then go here to see the pictures.

Nancy Makin Loses 530 Pounds

I know Nancy Makin 's story has been all over the media this week. And it should be! It is an amazing thing that this woman was able to accomplish.

If you have been living under a rock, Nancy Makin is a woman who lost 530 pounds. She started at 703 lbs and over the course of 3 years got down to 170.

There are two things that I really appreciate about this story.

First. This woman was able to do this own her own. She didn't need Weight Watchers or Atkins Or South Beach or a $1000 an hour trainer. She did exactly what we all should be doing. She came to terms with her problem and found the willpower to overcome it.

"I achieved this on my own, in a natural way, with no surgical procedures having been performed. No particular 'diet' plan was followed; no pills, potions or ab-crunching exercises played a part in my recovery," she wrote in a congratulatory letter to herself."

Being overweight is not a problem money can solve. Even with surgery, if you don't get to the real root of your weight issues, the weight will never stay off.

I know that weight watchers and other groups like it have made a real difference in a lot of peoples lives. But in my mind what you are paying for is motivation and if you can find that yourself instead of having to pay someone to do it for you, more power to you!

Which brings me to the other thing I really appreciate about this woman's story. Weight was never her problem.

"I've heard so many times, I said it myself, if I could only lose 40 or 50 pounds, I'd be so much happier. I've found on this journey that the opposite is true."

"Unless you focus on what's going on inside and start to feel better about yourself you won't be able to stop the cycle. The key is to find contentment and value in yourself by reaching out and doing something not for you, and the weight will come off as a side effect."

I really like that . "Find contentment and value in yourself." It can be a lot harder than you think to do it, but it is the crucial first step. For me it has made all the difference in the world. It's why I can say with confidence this is not a diet this time around. It's a whole new life!

Tony
12/5: 223.4 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
3.4 lbs. to go

Memories...Misty, Watercolored Memories

It was all Christmas all the time at the Johnson house this weekend.

We had a visit with Santa, got our Christmas tree, decorated the house and woke up to a winter wonderland on Sunday morning. It was the kind of magical weekend that memories are made of. Naturally I was in a nostalgic mood.

I love Christmas. This month leading up to the holidays is my favorite time of year. I love the music, the lights, the hustle and bustle, the shopping, the crowded malls, the hunt for the perfect gift. I love it all. But mostly I love the time spent with my family and the memories of all those Christmas' past.

Give me a second to wipe the tear from my eye.


So like I said I was in a nostalgic kind of mood this weekend. My lovely wife and I have been talking a lot about how this will be the girls real first Christmas... at least the first one they will understand. Which got me thinking about the first Christmas I remembered.

As I was thinking about it, I was overwhelmed with memories of my Dad with a mustache. When I was growing up my dad was a dead ringer for Tom Selleck, only like 30 times less cheesy. Even though my Dad hasn't had a mustache for more than 20-years, all of my Childhood memories feature my dad wearing the "Selleck". Those first impressions of our parents are hard to change... and I wouldn't want to.

This gave me another thing to be thankful for this holiday season. My girls Christmas memories will not feature a father with a tummy like a bowl full of jelly. If I can continue to make this healthy lifestyle work (and I will) my girls will never know the fat guy that I was for most of my life. To them I will just be Dad, good, old silly dad.

That is about the greatest gift I could ask for this holiday season.

Now I'm getting misty again.

Tony
12/3: 223.4 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
3.4 lbs. to go

The Wife Weighs In...Week 10

Good morning, GHMIW fans!

There are certain food items around which I am simply not to be trusted.

I've always known that pizza and cheese bread are red flag foods. Put a good pizza in front of me and I will continue eating until not a crumb is left. You know how you can give a cat a bowl of food and it will eat what it needs but leave the rest for later, but a dog (given free access to food) will eat and eat and eat until it explodes? That's me and a good pizza.

Well, I discovered a new "danger item" this week.

One of the guys around work (one who is very proud of his Scottish heritage) makes traditional homemade shortbread cookies every year. He gave me half a dozen on Monday and, oh my Lord, are they fantastic. I had one on Monday and intended to take the rest home. But, I kept forgetting them in my office. I think I have two left. They just keep calling me back.

Yes, I should have brought them home! Yes, I should have gotten rid of them! But, I just couldn't. I love them and, I think, they might just love me back...just a little. They could never take the place of my adorable and loving husband (for an example...let's be honest...Tony is a much better cuddler), but the shortbread cookies and I have shared an amazing experience this week...one that I know needs to come to an end before it gets out of control. So, to that end, I am confessing my sins to you, GHMIW fans, in the hope of absolution.

Whew...I feel so much better.

Thanksgiving weekend in Iowa was fantastic...chaotic, but fantastic. We enjoyed a lot of good food and a great time with family. I enjoyed everything I wanted to, but tried to keep it in moderation. I even got a 3-mile walk in with my brother on Thanksgiving morning. I hit the gym first thing on Monday morning and was able to get another two visits in this week. Hurray!

The gym thing has been going relatively well. I haven't been doing a lot of strength training yet (I know...I need to get on it) but have been spending an hour a day on the treadmill. I have been amazed at how quickly I have been able to increase my speed! I hope to get the rest of it going next week, so that I can tone up while my weight continues to go down.

I feel as though I am getting back on track...just need to start journaling what I'm eating again. I've noticed that the new, size-16 pants I purchased in September are starting to feel a little loose. That feels good.

Have fantastic weekend!
Laura

My update:
11/16/2007: 193.8 pounds
11/30/2007: 192.2 pounds (a loss of 1.6 pounds)
Total loss: 36.2 pounds
New mini-goal: 182 pounds by February 1
9 weeks and 10.2 pounds to go!

P.S. Thanks to everyone who was so supportive in my fight against the evil personal trainer. It really helped to convince me that I wasn't crazy and he was out of line.

P.P.S. I really think it's time for a new profile picture.

The Weigh-In Week 25

223.4. That is what it said on the scale this morning. A gain of 2.4.

I guess there are two ways to look at this week. I could be happy that I lost more than half of the weight I gained over the Thanksgiving holiday or I could lament the fact that I have had my biggest gain since this whole thing started.

I haven't made up my mind yet.

I guess I am disappointed to still be in this up and down hovering pattern so close to my goal . It's been a month sicne I hit 220.6!!! At the same time that goal is just a number. The real goal is to live a healthy life and I think I am doing that pretty well.

So screw the scale. As long as I continue to exercise and eat better, then I am doing what I need to do. The numbers will come when they come.

Granted I will keep weighing in each week.

Tony
11/30: 223.4 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
3.4 lbs. to go

Guess How Much I Weigh Conest - Week 25

I am feeling back on track. Last night was another late night at work and we ordered in pizza, and I did have a candy bar on the way home but other than that I have been a very good boy. The real good news is I have been tracking calories religiously since Monday morning.

I am thinking that I will probably still have a gain this week, from last Wednesdays weigh-in...but, it won't be anywhere near the 5 pounds I reported on Monday.


Step right up, step right up.
Guess how much I weigh and win a fabulous prize.

To Recap:
Every Thursday I give you my stats for the week and you guess what you think the scale will say on Friday morning. The winner is the first person who guesses my weight / weight loss for the week without going over or the person who is closest without going over. Go ahead and click on comments at the bottom of this post and leave your guess.

I will post the winner when I post my weight on Fri. morning. If we get ten or more guesses I will have a prize for the winner.

Stats for the week of November 26th.
Walked / Ran: 10.7 miles

Calories Consumed: From Monday morning through Wed. night I have consumed aprox. 5760 calories.

Calories Burned: From Monday morning through Wed. night I have burned aprox. 11884 calories.

22% of my calories have come from fat.
7% of those calories came from Saturated Fats.

45% of my calories came from carbs.

33% of my calories came from protein.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!

Tony
11/29: 221 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
1 lbs. to go

p.s. Don't forget you can subscribe to the e-mail edition of Guess How Much I Weigh . Simply enter your e-mail address in the space to the right.

BRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!

This could be completely psychosomatic, but I am cold all the time now. A few people have said it's because of the weight loss. Less fat to insulate my body. That sounds a little goofy to me. I'm not a biologist but I always thought it's the skin that feels hot and cold. If the fat is under the skin how does it insulate.

On the other hand I am cold, cold, cold!!! Chilled to the bone as they say. And since the bone is under the fat maybe there is some truth to this missing insulation thing.

When I was going to school in Duluth I used to wander around our drafty apartment in shorts and a t-shirt in the middle of the twenty-below winters. It drove my roommate nuts. Last night I got home and even with the thermostat set at 71, I still had to put a sweater on.

If skinny does equal cold it's a small price to pay for living healthy I guess. I'll just have to add a few sweaters to my Christmas list.

On two completly unrelated notes:

I completed my first 2 mile run yesterday. I set the treadmill a little slower and and ran as far as I could. Around 1.5 miles I decide I could push it to 2! That is a huge, huge step for me!

I am quickly working away at my "Thanksgiving 5". There's even a slight chance that I might get a loss this week. It's a small chance, but a chance none the less. Keep your collective fingers crossed.

Tony
11/28: 221 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
1 lbs. to go

Just for Fun

I noticed a lot of overly simplified, "Here's How Much Your Thanksgiving Gorging Will Cost You" talk in the media over the last few days and I thought I would jump on the band wagon!

To gain that 5 pounds in 5 days I had to consume an extra 17,500 calories. That is above and beyond the normal 13,000 calories I would have consumed in that same time period. For a five day grand total of 30,500 calories! Whoaaaa!

By my rough calculations that is the equivalent of eating five 9-pound turkeys in 5 days!

On the flip side, I burn around 650 calories for every 45 minutes I spend on the Treadmill. It would take me 20 hours on the treadmill to work off those excess 17,500 calories.

Makes my legs sore just thinking about it!

Getting Back on Track

We had a lovely Holiday trip to Iowa for Thanksgiving , although I am very glad to be home sleeping in my own bed. Sadly the wonderful trip was not so wonderful on my waistline.

First the good things:
1. I worked out twice while on "vacation". I ran 3.1 miles on Thanksgiving and thanks to a little prodding from my sister-in-law and her dog, I posted my best time yet! I also got in some strength training on Saturday morning.

2. I didn't spend much time eating when no one else was eating. No binges, no sneaking midnight snacks, no hiding food.

3. Despite my best efforts, we avoided all the wonderful Ice Cream shops in Bettendorf, Iowa... and there are some amazing Ice Cream shops in Bettendorf, Iowa!

Now for the bad news!

I gained 5 pounds since my weigh-in last Wednesday. Some of this I am sure is simple day to day fluctuation, some of it is due to the fried chicken I had for dinner last night, but most of it is from throwing away the calorie counter and eating whatever I wanted for the last 5 days.

I wouldn't say that I went crazy and gorged myself at every meal, but I probably ate the most of everyone at the table at every meal. And I had a lot of seconds.

I am not ashamed or disappointed or upset. I gave myself a free pass for the week and I used it to my full advantage. Now it is time to get back on track! Today I start tracking calories again. And I will hit the gym with renewed vigor.

Here is the other positive. I had been back sliding on my snacking over the last few weeks. Now that I have satiated that craving, I feel a renewed energy for eating healthier again.

In some ways taking a week off may help me get back that passion that I felt when I first started this journey.

Not that I am trying to justify!

Tony
11/21: 221 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
1 lbs. to go

p.s This mornings weigh-in was not "an official weigh-in", thus no change to the sign off until Friday.

The Weigh-In Week 24

221! That is what it said on the scale this morning. A gain of .2 pounds.

I think the scale gnomes messed with the scale because they were ticked at me for cheating and moving the weigh-in!

Actually, I realized this weekend that I have allowed Friday and Saturday to become free-for-all days, where I eat whatever I want. Then, come Monday I workout like crazy and eat healthy and evreything evens out. I guess I just didn't have enough time to even out this week.

There's always next week...or the week after that.

Have a great Thanksgving everybody.

Tony
11/21: 221 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
1 lbs. to go

p.s. Sorry about the late post. I just couldn't get to the computer this morning.

Guess How Much I Weigh Conest - Week 24

Welcome to a Holiday Edition of Guess How Much I Weigh.

I don't want to worry about lugging the scale all over the place this week so I am officially making tomorrow my official weigh in day. Is that official enough for you?

It seemed unamerican to track calories during the week of Thanksgiving so I chose not to..

Ok, Ok, I'll be honest. I was lazy again this week. Next Monday I will start tracking again. I ask you all to hold me to that. Send me an e-mail on Monday bugging me about tracking, it will help motivate me.

Laura and I are taking a little vacation for the rest of the week and I have already made the decision to lighten up on my calorie counting. I'm not going to instantly go off the deep end here, but I am going to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner and Friday leftovers without feeling guilty.

I am also bring my running shoes along and I plan to put in some miles while on vacation. A plan I will stick to. My sister-and-law and I are even talking about getting a run in on Thanksgiving morning. I may also get a chance to do some strength training.

So who thinks I'll make my goal tomorrow? Right now I'm thinking the chance is about 50 -50.

Step right up, step right up.
Guess how much I weigh and win a fabulous prize.

To Recap:
Every Thursday I give you my stats for the week and you guess what you think the scale will say on Friday morning. The winner is the first person who guesses my weight / weight loss for the week without going over or the person who is closest without going over. Go ahead and click on comments at the bottom of this post and leave your guess.

I will post the winner when I post my weight on Wed. morning. If we get ten or more guesses I will have a prize for the winner.


Tony
11/20: 220.8 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
.8 lbs. to go

p.s. Don't forget you can subscribe to the e-mail edition of Guess How Much I Weigh. Simply enter your e-mail address in the space to the right.

New Suit. New Haircut. New Man!

Thanks to some quality veg time this weekend I am feeling like my old relaxed, mellow, Spicoli like self.

I spent a good portion of the weekend looking at myself in the mirror. We established long ago that I am an extremely vain person, so I apologize for nothing.

My lovely wife and I attended the wedding of a good friend on Saturday. Due to my crazy schedule last week I had to leave all of my prep work to the last minute. Which meant I had to pay an outrageous sum to get my haircut at a fancy salon. I felt crazy guilty about it until I got home and looked in the mirror. I have not had a new hair style in about 7 years, and that's only because my lovely wife finally convinced me to start putting "product in my hair". So I am sporting a new 'do I and I love it!

I am also sporting a new suit. I found this awesome suit that is just a smidgen to big for me on the clearance rack on Saturday afternoon. It was nothing short of a Thanksgiving miracle. This is one of my favorite things about weight loss, being able to shop anywhere, anytime and expect to find clothes that fit!

I have been reluctant to buy a new suit until I am done shrinking. I have never been much of a suit guy, but I finally broke down and bought the first suit I have owned since I was 11 last February. I wore the suit 4 times, then lost 60 pounds. When I went in a few weeks ago to see if the suit could be tailored, the salesman laughed so hard he was crying.

Thus my reluctance to buy a new suit until I know I will be able to wear it for awhile. But I couldn't pass this one up. In fact I am wearing the suit coat today...and I wore it yesterday... and Saturday. That is how much I love my new suit.

So I was felling pretty h-a-u-t-e, HOT!

See for yourself.



Losing weight has giving me the confidence to be more daring in what I wear! That could ultimately become a dangerous thing.

The only thing hotter than me at the wedding was my lovely wife who was "turning heads and breaking hearts by the dozens" hot. She was finally getting her well deserved accolades for all the hard work she has put into her own healthy lifestyle. I couldn't have been prouder to have her on my arm while people gushed over how good she looked.


My old suit will be going up for sale on E-Bay after Thanksgiving. I think it is a size 52 R. If anyone is interested drop me a line.

Tony
11/19: 220.8 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
.8 lbs. to go

The Weigh-In Week 23

220.8!!!!! That is what it said on the scale this morning. A loss of 2.6 pounds.

Considering the week I have had it is genuine miracle. .. fingers crossed this one is not another fluke worm.

I will admit, I broke down and did a small bit of stress eating this week. It was a crazy, overwhelming week with lots of tight deadlines and late nights and responsibility, oh my. It was also a week where I manged to work out my stress in the gym instead of in the kitchen! A big, big step for me.

I just did 45 minutes and 3.7 miles on the treadmill and I feel like a new man. Still a brain fried man, but a different brain fried man then I was when I went into the gym.

Ok since I stopped making sense somewhere shortly after 220.8!!!!! I'll rap things up and come back renewed and refreshed on Monday.

I am moving next weeks official weigh in to Wednesday to see if I can't make my goal before Thanksgiving!!!! So look for a special holiday edition of Guess How Much I Weigh on Tuesday.

Cousin Angie was closest this week with a guess of 2.2. Nice job Angie. Sadly no prize though.

Have a great weekend everybody.

Tony
11/16: 220.8 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
.8 lbs. to go

The Wife Weighs In...Week 9

Good morning, GHMIW fans!

All right…let’s get it over with. Get a cup of coffee…it’s going to be a long one.

I am bitter. Here’s the story:

As reported last week, I visited our local gym/club/den of Satan for a tour of the facilities. After some general waffling (mmm…waffles) I went back Saturday morning to enroll/enlist/sign away a little piece of my soul. I avoided signing up for any extra programs, which was a big success for me. At that point, we set up an appointment for the first of two complimentary consultations with a personal trainer.

Sunday morning at 8:45, I left for the gym. I was bright and shiny, excited about the first day of the rest of my life, excited about the prospect of my new lifestyle, excited about the new body I was going to earn. I was like a little girl on her first day of school (maybe it was the pigtails). At 9:00, I sat down in front of a rather large 27-year old with a shaved head. I’ll call him "Jason" (‘cause that’s his name).

I told "Jason" that I had lost 35 pounds and that I had about 50 to go. I also told him that my ultimate goal is being able to wear more body-conscious clothing (okay, let's be honest...I told him I would like to have a body that could pull off slutty clothes if I so chose) and, while I am excited to reap the health benefits of exercise, my main motivation is pure vanity. He liked my honesty. I thought we were off to a good start.

This was an assessment session, so I got on the treadmill, did some (very few) push-ups, and some stretching. I also had my body fat measured. Let me say that I was not shocked when I found out that the results were not glowing. I haven’t exercised on a regular basis in over 10 years. It wasn’t an earth-shattering realization that I am not the picture of fitness. I know that I am a "before" (or possibly an "a little while later")…I was there because I want to be an "after."

Over the next 20 to 30 minutes, Jason told me (among other things) that my eating was "for sh*t," rolled his eyes when I mentioned Weight Watchers, and scoffed at my mention of a yoga class by telling me it was "really only glorified stretching." What was most annoying was that he really didn’t listen to anything I had to say. He would ask me a question, then start rolling his eyes and shaking his head before I’d even completed my answer, all the while watching what was going on in the rest of the gym instead of focusing on me and our conversation.

In that short amount of time, I went from being an intelligent, sassy, strong, confident woman who had made positive and successful changes in her life to being a stupid, lazy "fat chick" who had achieved nothing and had no idea what she was talking about. And, for a brief moment, he succeeded at making me see myself through his eyes.

We made an appointment for 8:00 Monday night. I met my neighbor Ali for yoga at 7:00…definitely not just glorified stretching. I loved it. By the time I sat down in front of Jason once again I had some sore muscles, but I had shaken off the negative stuff from the day before and was ready to get to work. It didn’t go well. The workout was tough (which I was fine with), but I didn’t have his full attention and he wasn’t supportive. I had hoped for an experience where I felt like I had a partner in the fight, but he was all about negative motivation. I felt as though he was trying to motivate me by making me feel bad about myself, like he was punishing me for being out of shape, instead of wanting to help me achieve something. It was really yucky.

When I told him that I couldn’t afford the more than $500 a month to work with him, he completely wrote me off. Obviously, my priorities weren’t in the right place and my goals weren't really all that important to me. When I asked him about planning a session every three months or so, in order to assess my progress and change up my program, his response was, "Well, I guess it would be better than nothing."

I left the gym feeling kind of embarrassed, kind of ashamed, and kind of like I should ask for my money back. All this from a gym whose sell line is… wait for it… FEEL GOOD INSIDE.

I went back Tuesday morning at 6:30 (very sore) for 45 minutes on the treadmill, and felt better. I went back Wednesday morning at 6:30 (still quite sore) for an hour on the treadmill, and felt even better. I decided to take sort of a "to hell with him" attitude about the whole thing and use it as additional motivation for my success. I went back to the gym on Thursday morning at 6:00 for cardio warm-up, strength training, and an additional 30 minutes on the treadmill, and felt pretty darn fantastic. My attitude about the club has turned around (okay, it's not really a "den of Satan"). I even ran into an acquaintance who works out early every morning...she was positive, supportive, and glad to see me.

This week marks some major successes. Joining a gym, overcoming the scourge that is "Jason" (who totally didn’t even have the decency to say "hello" when I greeted him with a cheery and smiling "good morning" on Wednesday...jerk), getting to the gym at an ungodly hour three days in a row, and finding out that I think am really going to enjoy this exercise thing. Hurray for me!

So, why am I so bitter? I gained 1.4 pounds.

This leaves me with 5 weeks to lose 8.8 pounds, including Thanksgiving. Therefore, I am readjusting my goal. My new goal is to reach 182 pounds by February 1. 182 pounds will move me from being obese to simply overweight…and won’t that be a happy thing?

Have a great weekend, all…and a happy Thanksgiving! No weigh-in for me next Friday, unless I decide to find a WW meeting in Davenport, Iowa. I know it’s a possibility, but is my actually making it there really all that likely?

Laura

11/09/2007: 192.4 pounds
11/09/2007: 193.8 pounds (a gain of 1.4 pounds)
Total loss: 34.6 pounds

New mini-goal: 182 pounds by February 1
11 weeks and 11.8 pounds to go!

P.S. Thanks to Angela for being so supportive about my wanting to give in to evil foods last week. I also had a lot of support from other friends and family (thanks, too!), who congratulated me for not giving in to my cravings. After reading that, I thought to myself, "The word 'cravings' seems a little off the mark. It’s not really about just wanting to enjoy some French fries…in fact, it’s not even really about the food at all." DING! What an epiphany.

P.P.S. I wonder how it’s going to be before Tony tells me to get my own darn blog and stop trying to take his over.

Guess How Much I Weigh Contest - Week 23

So instead of posting this way late, I will post it way early.

I have no clue how I did this week. I lost track of tracking again. Honestly my head is spinning this week. It's been even busier than I thought it was going to be. I think I have been pretty good though... except for last night. I put in a 13 hour day yesterday. Around hour 12 we ordered in pizza. I partook fully. Well three-quarters fully.

Go ahead and let the wild guessing begin!

The weigh-in will most likely be delayed on Friday. I am in meetings until sometime after lunch.

Step right up, step right up.
Guess how much I weigh and win a fabulous prize.

To Recap:
Every Thursday I give you my stats for the week and you guess what you think the scale will say on Friday morning. The winner is the first person who guesses my weight / weight loss for the week without going over or the person who is closest without going over. Go ahead and click on comments at the bottom of this post and leave your guess.

I will post the winner when I post my weight on Fri. morning. If we get ten or more guesses I will have a prize for the winner.


Tony
11/14: 223.4 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
3.4 lbs. to go

p.s. Don't forget you can subscribe to the e-mail edition of Guess How Much I Weigh. Simply enter your e-mail address in the space to the right.

Crazy Busy

Just a quick check in. I have a crazy busy week this week so you might not hear from me as much.... and the Guess How Much I Weigh contest may be posted late on Thurs. I am taking Thursday morning to record a series of children's books for an educational company here in town. More on that later.

Here is the exciting news from the weekend. After two days of hardcore yard work, I stepped on the scale this morning and saw some very good looking numbers. I am going to do my best to stay off the scale for the rest of the week. I also promised myself that I will try to eat well and exercise this week despite the insane schedule. Hopefully we will all have something to celebrate on Friday morning.

And Tonight will be the third day in a row that my lovely wife makes it to the gym! Way to good sweetie!!! I am very proud of you!

Tony
11/12: 223.4 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
3.4 lbs. to go

The Wife Weighs In...Week 8

Good morning, weight loss fans!

I had a surprisingly good week this week. You know, one of those weeks where you don't think you did all that well but are pleasantly surprised when you step on the scale?

Despite a good loss, I felt as though I was dangerously close to veering way off-path. I didn't have a binge or anything like that, but I felt that familiar exhaustion creeping up on me...that feeling of just being overwhelmed. I was overhelmed by a couple of big projects at work, by my outside commitments, and by the things I know I need to do at home. My greatest desire this week was to take solace in foods I know I shouldn't be eating, foods I haven't eaten in months...cookies, chips, french fries...anything sweet, salty, greasy, or full of fat would have done the trick.

This was not a desire for a quick splurge, which is something I can handle. This was something much bigger and much deeper. Fortunately, I was able to rein things in, but it was a very scary feeling. It was a huge reminder that in order for me to reach my goal and keep the weight off, I am going to have to ever-vigilant. For me, heading off-track can happen in the blink of an eye.

On a positive note, I am pleased that I was able to identify that feeling and keep myself from taking the first step down the slippery slope. I had an 8th straight week of loss, and shaved another point off my BMI...down to 31.

As an additional success, I actually visited the local gym and got the tour. I plan to call later today to schedule a time to register. This is a HUGE step! So, by next week, I should be a woman with a gym membership and at least a few workouts under my belt. Wish me luck!

Have a fantastic weekend!

Laura

11/02/2007: 194.6 pounds
11/09/2007: 192.4 pounds (a loss of 2.2 pounds)

Total loss: 36 pounds
Next mini-goal: 185 pounds by December 21

6 weeks and 7.4 pounds to go!

The Weigh-In 22

223.4 Lbs. That's what it said on the scale this morning. Both a loss of 2.2 and a gain of 2.6 depending on whether your glass is half full or half empty of water or a Brandy Manhattan.

I am extremely happy with this result. 2.2 is a great loss over the past two weeks, considering I didn't really watch what I was eating last week. I'm still in great shape to reach 220 in the near future.

Marathon not a sprint...marathon not a sprint....

No winner again this week, but Heather was the closest with a guess of 2 lbs even. Nicely done Heather, nicely done.

I am having crazy computer problems so I'll keep this short. Of course I have an insanely busy day. Busy day + bad computer = stressed out Tony... I look forward to taking that stress out on the treadmill in a few hours!

Tony
11/9: 223.4 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
3.4 lbs. to go

Guess How Much I Weigh Contest - Week 22

I am going to tell you right now, last week was a fluke brought on by a fluke worm.

I just looked up what a fluke worm is ...eewwwwww!

So it wasn't a fluke worm. That was just a clever play on words, but my giant loss last week was definitely the result of a stomach bug and lots of dehydration. My weight jumped back up on Sunday and has been bouncing around all week.

I knew this was going to happen so I am not disappointed. I am still way ahead of schedule to reach my goal. And just having 220 in sight is exciting. I don't know if I'll reach my goal by Thanksgiving, but if I were a betting man, I'd bet you a few bucks I'll make it by the second week in December.

So here is what we are going to do. We are going to throw out last weeks results and pretend like they never happened.

Your guesses this week should be based on how much my weight has changed from my weigh-in 2-weeks ago. 2-weeks ago I weighed in at 225.6.

This has been a great week for exercise... not such a great week for eating. No major binge sessions, but I did succumb to a candy bar on a hardware store run on Sunday and I did break down and have Chipoltle on Monday. Hopefully the new exercise routine will win the battle of the burrito.

Step right up, step right up.
Guess how much I weigh and win a fabulous prize.

To Recap:
Every Thursday I give you my stats for the week and you guess what you think the scale will say on Friday morning. The winner is the first person who guesses my weight / weight loss for the week without going over or the person who is closest without going over. Go ahead and click on comments at the bottom of this post and leave your guess.

I will post the winner when I post my weight on Fri. morning. If we get ten or more guesses I will have a prize for the winner.

REMEMBER: Your guess this week is based on how much my weight has changed from my weigh-in 2-weeks ago. 2-weeks ago I weighed in at 225.6.
FORGET 220.6 EVER HAPPENED!

Stats for the week of November 5th.
Walked / Ran: 9.52 miles

Calories Consumed: From Thursday morning through Wed. night I have consumed aprox. 18809 calories.

Calories Burned: From Thursday morning through Wed. night I have burned aprox. 26306 calories.

33% of my calories have come from fat.
9% of those calories came from Saturated Fats.

49% of my calories came from carbs.

16% of my calories came from protein.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!

Tony
11/8: 220.6 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
.6 lbs. to go

p.s. Don't forget you can subscribe to the e-mail edition of Guess How Much I Weigh . Simply enter your e-mail address in the space to the right.

My Couch To 5K Pointers

I moved in out of the cold this week and started running on a treadmill for the first time. It felt kind of like starting over. I had gotten to a point where I was finishing 3.1 miles in 32 minutes pretty consistently. My run on Monday was 36 minutes and I only made 3.02 miles. I had set the machine for 35 minutes and it shut off on me with less than a tenth of a mile to go.... I figured it was a sign to stop for the day. I'll set the machine for 40 minutes today just to be on the safe side.

Since it feels like I am starting over I thought I would share the wisdom I have gleamed so far from learning to run.

I have not been using a Couch to 5K plan but here is what has worked for me. Most of this is common sense, but maybe it will help some of you who are just starting down this road.

1. Start walking for the first week or two. Work your way up to a couple of miles at a really good pace. Once your legs stop cramping and hurting, add a little run. But keep it short. No more than two minutes at a time to begin with. Even :30 seconds. This is not something your body is used to doing.

If you can only do 1 or two minutes of running out of your half hour walk that is fine.

As you feel more comfortable running start to add more running. Run for a minute or two, then walk for 5 or ten minutes then run again.

Using this method I have worked up to 20 minutes of running during a 32 minute outing.


2. Try to stretch the first run as long as you can. In the first two months I worked up to a 5 minute run then a two minute walk and another 2 minute run to complete the first mile of my course. After that I would alternate walking and running as I felt comfortable.

Now I am able to run an 8:30 minute mile for the first mile... and every once and awhile I can stretch that first run to 12 minutes.

If you have a few days rest try to really push the first run. That is how I eventually made my mile.


3. Get good shoes! You will save yourself a lot of pain and suffering.

Tony
11/7: 220.6 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
.6 lbs. to go

Habits

Over the last few months I have developed two new habits. These have nothing to do with eating or exercise but they are directly related to the psychology of losing weight.

The first habit started shortly after I started wearing my wedding ring again. Five or six times a day I slide my wedding ring off my finger, just to feel how loose it is. It has gotten to the point were I do it subconsciously while I am talking to people or when I am sitting at my desk writing. I'll be deep in thought and suddenly realize that my ring is off and twirling around in my other hand.

Having my wedding ring fit again was one of the first major symbolic victories of this journey. Sliding it on and off reassures me of how far I have come.

The other habit has a lot more to do with vanity. I find myself constantly running my had down my stomach to feel how flat it is. It's another habit that has become subconscious. I do it all the time when I am standing in line or waiting for someone. Hopefully it looks like I am just straightening my shirt and not fondling my bely button.

Just two more little ways losing weight is changing my life.

Tony
11/6: 220.6 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
.6 lbs. to go

The Wife Weighs In...Week 7

Good morning, weight loss fans!

I bit the bullet this week and retired my fall weigh-in outfit. I had been weighing in wearing a lightweight skirt and a tank top, but it's getting too darn cold for that! So, this week, I weighed in wearing jeans and a sweater (my winter uniform), an outfit I know weighs about 3 pounds.

Isn't it amazing what kind of games we play with the scale?

I figured I was safe because my first morning weigh-in would have set me up for a loss of almost 4 pounds. It remains to be seen how much of that loss has to do with the afore-mentioned possible stomach bug.

So, my loss was small this week, but that is perfectly okay with me. This week marks 7 straight weeks of loss. In addition, I didn't eat any of the girls' Halloween candy or any of our trick-or-treating leftovers. The even bigger success is that I'm not even interested. It doesn't even sound good to me...not even the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, which are my all-time favorite. That's a step forward.

So close to that next 5-pound marker!

One final note...because this has been consistent thread throughout my posts...no exercise yet again this week...unless you count trick-or-treating (which I really can't). This is my ongoing challenge and an obstacle that I need to conquer in order to get to the place I want to be. And, that's all I have to say about that.

Have a fantastic week, everyone!

Laura

10/26/2007: 195.4 pounds

11/02/2007: 194.6 pounds (a loss of 0.8 pounds)
Total loss: 33.8 pounds

Next mini-goal: 185 pounds by December 21
7 weeks and 9.6 pounds to go!

The Weigh-In Week 21

220.6!!!! That is what it said on the scale this morning!!! That's a loss of 5 pounds!!!!

Sadly there may be an asterisks attached to this amazing drop. Both my lovely wife and I seem to have picked up a stomach bug from our daughters this week. Some resulting physiological issues associated with said stomach bug may have contributed to this miraculous decline.

I guess we won't know for sure until next weeks weigh-in. If the number jumps back up the loss is tainted...but if it stays down...well woo-hoo for me.

There are a few other factors that may have contributed to this mornings scale sensation. Yesterday’s workout was a killer. An all new routine that targeted a whole lot of new muscles. I worked out earlier than usually which probably shocked my system a little as well. Plus last weeks weight gain was probably inflated based on a few days of bad eating vs. actual weight gain.

While I think the stomach bug may have contributed an extra pound or 2 to this week’s loss, I was probably on track to loss 2 to 3 pounds just from diet and exercise.

Which means I could very well be in sight of reaching my 220-pound goal next week!!! Once I reach 220 it is just another 6 pounds until I move out of the obese category and into to merely overweight!


No winner this week since we only had six votes. The closest to the mark was Teresa with a guess of 2.5 pounds.

Tony
11/2: 220.6 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
.6 lbs. to go

p.s. Sorry for the over abundance of exclamation points. Guess I'm a little excited!!!!!

Guess How Much I Weigh Conest - Week 21

Despite a massive haul by our little girls, not a single piece of Halloween candy made it past my lips last night. My will power was strong. It helps that my lovely wife and my parents were all there to stand guard.

I couldn't believe how quickly the girls figured out the whole Halloween racket. They don't even know what candy is, but by the second house they were demanding more of it. "Trick or Treat" quickly turned into "More Candy!" Keep in mind these little geniuses won't be two until December!

A couple of quick things.

This was another week where I got way behind on the calorie tracking. By Monday night I was already 3 days behind so I gave up trying and I am living free this week. Which means no stats again. With the exception of Sunday Night's bread debacle I have eaten well this week and worked out everyday but Monday.

I am starting a couple of new things on the exercise front this week.

First, I am changing my schedule. Instead of running 5 to 6 days a week I am cutting back to 3. I have reached a point where my legs are wearing out faster than my lungs, so I want to give my legs more rest time. On my off days I will be doing strength training and possibly some cardio cross training on an elliptical machine.

As of today I have joined the tiny little gym we have here at work. It's not much but it will suit my needs for awhile and should help make my strength training more effective. As the cold weather starts creeping in I am going to need the treadmills for running inside as well.

Step right up, step right up.
Guess how much I weigh and win a fabulous prize.

To Recap:
Every Thursday I give you my stats for the week and you guess what you think the scale will say on Friday morning. The winner is the first person who guesses my weight / weight loss for the week without going over or the person who is closest without going over. Go ahead and click on comments at the bottom of this post and leave your guess.

I will post the winner when I post my weight on Fri. morning. If we get ten or more guesses I will have a prize for the winner.


Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!

Tony
11/1: 225.6 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
5.6 lbs. to go

p.s. Don't forget you can subscribe to the e-mail edition of Guess How Much I Weigh . Simply enter your e-mail address in the space to the right.

Happy Halloween

My lovely wife bought our Halloween candy weeks ago and I still have no clue where she hid it. That is what I call a supportive wife. She told me in passing that she had purchased it and then without mention, she hid it away. I didn't even realize she had hid it until two days ago. To my credit I have yet to try and seek it out.

Thanks to my wife I have yet to indulge in a Halloween Candy pig out session. Let's hope that statement remains true when I step on the scale on Friday morning.

We are taking the girls out for their first night of Trick-or-Treating tonight. They are going to be the two cutest little princess' in the history of the world! Now if I can only convince the girls to demand a trick instead of a treat we should be golden.

Oh, we also need about 100 kids to stop by our house to ensure that all the candy gets gone. If you live in the neighborhood, stop by and take two or three.

Tony
10/31: 225.6 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
5.6 lbs. to go

Manifestations of Guilt

Yesterday morning I was feeling good about getting back on track after a not so good week. I looked in the mirror and thought to myself, "My face is looking thin. Yippee."

Last night we attended a Spaghetti Dinner at our church and I ate way, way too much garlic bread. This morning I looked in the mirror and thought to myself, "Man do my cheeks look puffy...I look like a chipmunk...or the state puff marshmallow man. Ughhh!"

Thus did guilt rear it's ugly head...literally. Sadly guilt's ugly head had my face on it.

Garlic Bread has officially been added to the Axis of Evil Foods.

Tony
10/29: 225.6 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
5.6 lbs. to go

The Wife Weighs In...Week 6

Today's update is going to be a quick one. It's very busy this time of year when you work in Anoka, Minnesota...the Halloween Capitol of the World. (It's also Garrison Keillor's hometown)

This afternoon, all the area schools close down for the "Big Parade of Little People." All the schools kids march down Main Street in their costumes with marching bands and the whole nine yards. In fact, there are three Halloween parades here every year. Busy, busy, busy.

I had a good loss this week. Hurray! I attribute much of this week's success to tracking my points and actually eating them. I had been short-changing myself by not eating my entire daily allotment. It always happens when I'm not tracking. In an effort to "be good," I eat much less than I should. It's amazing how much better everything runs when I'm fueling my machine!

I've been tracking my progress in my own little chart. It's so gratifying to watch those numbers go down.

I guess I've sort of started a streak of my own...six straight weeks of loss!

Exercise, however, continues to be my challenge. We'll see...this just might be my week. Thanks, again, for letting me butt in and thanks for all the kind words of support, everyone!

Have a spooktacular weekend!

Laura

10/19/2007: 197.8 pounds

10/26/2007: 195.4 pounds (a loss of 2.4 pounds)

Total loss: 33 pounds
Next mini-goal: 185 pounds by December 21

8 weeks and 10.4 pounds to go!