Guess How Much I Weigh: 6/10/07

Friday, June 15, 2007

Results Not Typical

Isn't that what they say in the tiny type on all those ads for shady investments , "Results Not Typical". That pretty much describes this mornings weigh-in, in a good way.

Drum Roll Please ............

272.4 lbs. That's what the scale said this morning.

Which means I lost 7.6 pounds this week. A dramatic start for sure , but lets not get ahead of ourselves. I think my body is in shock at the moment. The weekend before I weighed in last Monday was kind of a binge weekend, so I am sure that the dramatic weight loss has a lot to do with putting my body through some significant nutritional changes. Things well most likely right size next week.

I am well aware that this is not typical of what I can expect in the weeks to come. And, while I am excited, I am also reluctant to rejoice too much, for fear of seting myself up for a major let down next week when I only loose 1 or 2 pounds. Honestly the real celebration will come in 3 months when I am still going strong. These first few weeks, while not easy, are kind of the honeymoon period. My will is strong, my head is clear. It's once temptation starts to work it's magic that I need to worry. If I can make it another 3 months, then we will party.

Now for the contest winner!
No one guessed right on the money, but my mom was closest with 4 lbs. Congratulations Mom!

If I can get ten people to guess next week I will offer a prize to the first person to guess the closest. Guessing will open at 12:01am Thurs. morning.

Thanks for hanging out this week.

Tony
6/15: 272

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Thursday, June 14, 2007

Guess How Much I Weigh Contest

Here is the fun and excitement I promised you. I hope you're not too disappointed.

I thought it would be fun to let you guy guess how much I weigh. It is the name of the blog after all. I am taking this very seriously and I know that weight loss is just one part of living a healthy life... but let's face it, it's an exciting part and it's a tangible result, good or bad. Besides, after all this hard work we deserve a little fun.

Every Thurs. I will give you my stats for the week and you can guess what you think the scale will say on Fri. morning. Go ahead and click on comments at the bottom of this post and leave your guess.

I will post the winners when I post my weight on Fri. Morning.

Stats for the week of June 11th.

Walked: 5.4 miles (including the walk I hope to get in today)

Calories Consumed: From Monday morning through 10am today I have consumed aprox. 6052 calories.

Calories Burned: From Monday morning through Wed. night I have burned aprox. 12300 calories.

These stats come from a site called FitDay. It's what I am using to log my eating and exercise. I'll tell you more about it later.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!

If I can find some free time later today I'll give you the run down on my lovely night out with my lovely wife.

Tony
6/14: 280 lbs.

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

I Do Think That Song Was About Me

I am vain. I am a vain person trapped in a fat mans body. I know it's a funny thing for an overweight middle aged man with no fashion sense and suspect grooming to say, but it's true.

I am just a couple of days into this new healthier lifestyle and already I am imagining myself 70 lbs. lighter. It is a trap I get caught up in every time. I want instant results. It was the same thing when I tried to learn to play guitar. I learned the D, C and A minor chords and one rhythm and that was it. Instead of learning to really play the guitar I played a bunch of three chord songs with no rhythm and pretended to play the guitar.

In the past, every time I start trying to lose weight I have fallen into the same trap. I look at my stomach in the mirror every morning to see if it looks flatter. I start weighing myself everyday. I get so caught up in the results that I stop focusing on the journey. The major draw back of which is all this dreaming of the future makes it hard to deal with the setbacks when the inevitable come.

One thing I am going to try very hard to do this time is only weigh in on Fridays. The other six days of the week I will lock the scale in the closet and give my wife the key. Hopefully this will offset some of the daily ups and downs and help me concentrate more on living a healthy life style and less on just losing the weight.

Be sure to tune in tomorrow. I have something fun and exciting planned.

Same fat time, same fat channel.

Tony
6/13: 280 lbs.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Confession

So I lied to you yesterday. I said that I did a two mile walk. The truth is I only walked 1.8 miles. I said 2 miles because it sounded better to walk 2 miles in 25 minutes vs. less than 2 miles in almost a half hour. It is going take me some time to get used to this whole honesty thing.

As a peace offering here is some LadySmith Black Mambazo for your enjoyment. We got the 25th Anniversary Sesame Street DVD for our girls this weekend which features LadySmith Black Mambazo and it renewed my love of dulcet African chants.

The Slump Continues

The hitting slump is still in full effect. I was 1 for 3 at the plate last night. Fouled out twice, but that second up... that was a thing of beauty. Blasted a shot right down the 3rd base line and stretched it in to a double. It helped that the other team bobbled the ball, but it was still a good hit. Sadly we lost the game by 3 runs. Still, it was a beautiful night for ball.

Our team motto has always been, "Win or Lose The Beer Taste The Same." As you can image with a motto like that, there is a lot of revelry off the field. Last night was no exception. We were celebrating a birthday last night and the spread was magnificent. Snickers cake, brownies, Boston cream pie and almond lemon bars. I was so tempted, but then I saw my sister, who also plays on the team, sitting there with a giant bag of cut up oranges.

My sister had a baby 6 months ago and is on her own quest to get back to a healthy lifestyle. Seeing her there with that big bag of oranges was the encouragement I needed to skip the dessert buffet.

See, she knew what to expect and prepared herself by bringing along a healthy snack to keep herself from being tempted by all the sweets. It was a good lesson. Thanks Sis.

Now if my sister can figure out how to fix my swing we'd be golden. As my dad keeps telling me, I'm swinging way too fast. I need to slow down and have some patience.

I guess what is true in the batters box is true in life as well. I have to keep reminding myself it's a journey not a race.

Tony
6/12: 280 lbs.

Monday, June 11, 2007

Off To A Good Start

I cranked up the NPR and did a 2 mile walk over lunch. I passed an old lady in sandals and two guys in polo shirts and loafers... so that seems like a good pace. Although, a lady who looked like she was 6 months pregnant did blow past me.

I have a softball game tonight. Hopefully I'll get out of my hitting slump so I can get some exercise running around the bases.

Tony

6/11: 280

It's Time To Let The World Know

So here's the deal. I am 33 years old. I am married to my soul mate. I have two beautiful twin girls. I have a great job, a perfect house, a loving family and lots of friends. It's pretty much the perfect life. I have every thing I could every want, except one very important thing, self-control; at least when it comes to food.

Here is the big reveal. I am 5'11 and as of this morning I weigh 280 pounds.

Well that's a weight off my chest. (Pun intended)

I have struggled with my weight ever since graduating from college, but over the last two years things have really gotten out of hand. While my wife was pregnant with our twin girls I sort of adopted her diet. A diet that was fine for a women who was eating for three, not so fine for someone eating for one.

The weight gain didn't end with the sympathy pregnancy weight though. During the first 4 months of being new parents we ate pretty much straight starch. And with no sleep and no exercise the pounds just kept piling on.

As of this past January I had reached 288 pounds. Suddenly I was starring down the barrel of 300 and it scarred the heck out of me.

So, last January I made a decision to change my lifestyle. I started watching what I was eating and a made a real effort at portion control. Things went great for a while. By mid March I had dropped down to 274 and was starting to feel better. And then I fell off the wagon. I couldn't tell you when or why. I think I had a busy week and so I hit McDonalds one day, and since I had already eaten McDonalds yesterday I might as well have an Ice Cream Sandwich and a candy bar with lunch today.

Before I knew it, I was back to my old eating habits... and worse.

Lately I have been noticing my clothes aren't fitting so well again and my back has been really sore and my feet have been killing me. My softball game, which was never great to begin with, has pretty much disappeared. And this weekend I found the final straw.

I spent Saturday at the community pool with my daughters. We live in a part of town where the community pool still attracts a lot of beautiful people. And as I sat there with my little girls looking around at all the slim housewives and good looking dads I had a vision of my 7 year girls being embarrassed to go swimming with Dad because of his big tummy and saggy swim suit.

So I made a new promise to myself to get in shape. The promise was full of resolve and I was convinced this was going to be the time. But then I started thinking to myself. How will this be any different than every other time that I have lost ten pounds only to gain 20 back three months later?

The answer hopefully is going to be accountability. In the past I have tried to hide my weight and my weight problems. Sure it's obvious just by looking at me that I am grossly overweight. But I have never admitted just how much I actually weigh. The number is simply too embarrassing.

Same with my diets. I love to tell people when I am doing good and losing weight. But I never talk about my failures or about the times I eat 5 king size candy bars in one day.

So that's what this blog is for. There is nothing original in the idea. Thousands of people have done the same thing.

In a moment I will press this little orange button that says publish and my secret will be out. Then I will hopefully have the courage to send an e-mail to all of you my friends and family with a link to this post. If I do it, it will be the first step in coming to real terms with my weight problem.

The plan is to use this space as a journal to keep track of what I am eating, how much I am exercising and what happens to my weight. I will weigh in every Fri. and post the results.

I have no clue if anyone will follow this blog or not. I am not looking for encouragement or advice, although those things are most assuredly welcome. My hope is that knowing someone could be watching my ups and downs will help to keep me honest about what I am eating and how I am living my life.

Here is my one request, if I stop blogging someone or everyone give me a little nudge to get my butt in gear and keep going.

And I promise, future posts will be a lot shorter.

Tony
6/11: 280 lbs.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

The Great Clothing Giveaway

I am giving these clothes away for free because I know how tough it is to restock your closet as you are losing weight. Unfortunately I can't afford to pay the shipping to send this stuff all over the country. So if you want something I ask that you pay the cost of shipping and the cost of the box to ship it in.

Payments will be handled through Paypal.

I wish I could ship it out on my dime, but I'm a poor father of two who has recently paid a fortune to restock both my and my wives closets.

Here is how it works:
1. Browse the items below. Click on a picture to see a larger image. The giveaway will last for two weeks, or until all the items are gone.

2. If you find something you like claim it in the comments section.
(i.e. I'll take item number 22.)
First come first serve. You are welcome to as many items as you want.

3. Email me at arj143 at msn dot com. Tell me what item or items you want and give me your address.

4. I will send you a reply back with the shipping cost. You can choose your shipping options. You can bow out of the agreement at any time.

5. Once you have agreed to pay the shipping cost, I will send you a bill through Paypal. No refunds once the transaction is complete.

6. I will ship all of the items the weekend of April 5th.

THE GREAT CLOTHING GIVEAWAY