The Weigh-In Week 18

227.2! That's what it said on the scale this morning. A loss of 1.4. And week three of the new "Streak"!

I had a dyslexic moment this morning thus the messed up t-shirt. Now we are off to breakfast to celebrate. I know I shouldn't celebrate a weight loss with food but the circus isn't in town and I can't afford a '67 Mustang just yet... so Perkins will have to do.

Our big winner this week is Evan!!! Evan has consistently been the most concise guesser,rarely more than a number and his name. So we will keep his congratulations concise as well. Evan will win something nice from Duluth. I don't know what it is yet, but I'll know it when I see it.

Have a great weekend everybody.

Tony
10/12: 227.2 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
7.2 lbs. to go

Guess How Much I Weigh Conest - Week 18

I am heading to Duluth tonight and I am swamped at work, so lets make this quick.

I will bring the scale to Duluth and post the weigh-in tomorrow morning.

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 October 7th.
Walked / Ran: 12 miles

Calories Consumed: From Thursday morning through Wed. night I have consumed aprox. 14609 calories.

Calories Burned: From Thursday morning through Wed. night I have burned aprox. 27216 calories.

30% of my calories have come from fat.
11% of those calories came from Saturated Fats.

48% of my calories came from carbs.

21% of my calories came from protein.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!



Tony
10/11: 228.6 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
8.6 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.

"Diet Foods" I'm Digging - Recipe Wensday

On Sunday, after buying my new "Butt Hugger Jeans", my lovely wife and I took the girls to the '50's Grill for lunch. The '50's Grill is everything the name implies. Waitresses in poodle skirts and bobby socks, a juke box at the front door, huge burgers and amazing malts.

I was feeling good after having dropped another pant size and was planing on treating myself to a big juicy burger and a heaping plate of '5o's fries. Then I noticed a Bison Burger on the menu. I have no clue what compelled me to order it.

Maybe it was a subconscious sense of guilt for having already ordered a big 'ol butterscotch malt or maybe it was my tummy rebelling against all that fat and grease. Whatever the reason I ordered the Bison Burger with Barbecue Sauce and loved it!

I think Bison meat may just replace Turkey Burgers on my list of healthier substitutes.

It got me thinking about some of the other "Diet Foods" that I have been enjoying lately. So I decided to replace Recipe Wensday with a run down of some of my favorite healthier alternatives.

I know that not all these foods would be considered healthy... but trust me the foods I would be eating instead are way worse than anything on this list. Best of all, most of the things on this list taste as good or better than the things they are replacing.

1. Klondike Slim a Bear 100 Calorie Bar
Like many of the things on this list, my lovely wife deserves all the credit for discovering these yummy little treats!



2. Weight Watchers GIANT Chocolate Cookies & Cream Bar:
These babies taste just as good as any Ice Cream bar you'll find. And they are filling and oh so satisfying. These and the Slim a Bear have easily replaced the giant cereal bowl full of ice cream that I would eat nearly every night before bed.


3. Weight Watchers Snack Cakes
I was amazed at how moist and full of flavor these little snack cakes are. They are small, but they are a great way to curb a chocolate craving.




4. Flat Out Bread:
This has become a staple at our house. Flat Out Pizzas, Flat Out Buffalo Chicken Wraps, Flat Out Quesadillas. You name it, it can be made from Flat Out!









5. Natural Cheeto's:
These aren't really a low calorie alternative, but they are lighter than the full fat potato chips and they have a great flavor that I have come to love.











6.Edy's Loaded Frozen Dairy Dessert:
I have not tried this yet and I have no clue how it can be considered a low calorie substitute but I can't wait to find out. According to Hungry Girl it deserves to be on this list.








7. Goldfish Crackers:
These are my go to snack. When I have a craving that fruit or gum just won't kill,I grab a handful of cheesy goodness and put my tummy at ease. 52 Fish to a serving means I feel like I am getting a substantial snack.


What are your favorite "diet foods". Leave a comment and let me know. I'm always looking for new things to substitute.

Tony
10/10: 228.6 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
8.6 lbs. to go

My 5k Plan or How I Learned To Run 5,000 Miles

Wait a minute. 5K doesn't stand for 5,000 miles. Well then I can do this thing no problem.

Yup I'm joining the ranks of the 5k hopefuls.

Seems like everybody is jumping on the Couch to 5k bandwagon lately, including me. It's easy to see why. For those of us on a healthy lifestyle journey, being able to run 3.1 miles is a symbol that we are doing more than just losing weight. For me it will be proof that I have truly changed my life around.

I decided a while ago that one of my goals was going to be to run a 5k with my dad someday. I didn't make it public because I wasn't sure how realistic of a goal it was. Once I finally brought the idea up to my Dad it turns out he had been thinking the same thing. He asked me to run the Maple Lake St. Patrick's Day race with him. Maple Lake is a small little town in Western Minnesota where my parents have their retirement home. It's a enclave of Irish pride!

As I have said before, my dad is kind of an exercise nut. For some reason it is not a gene that I inherited from him. Although, looking at it now, I am starting to realize just how much of our bonding moments growing up centered around some kind of physical activity. My Dad and I have always enjoyed doing things together like snow skiing, water skiing, softball. Things I am glad we can share again and the kind of things I hope to share with my daughters.


I have decide to finally announce my 5k plans because something major happened yesterday.

I ran a mile... for the first time in my life!

Even in high school when they made us run a mile I had to walk at least a quarter of the way.

This is a major break through for me. And gives me hope that I may actually be able to do this. I ran the mile yesterday in just under 9 minutes. And I managed to finish my 3 mile outing in 32 minutes. Almost 5 minutes off my previous best time. Now my goal is to continue building up my stamina until I can run the whole 3 miles.

Until yesterday, I had very little faith that I would be able to work up to a three mile run by March. Now I know it will be a challenge, but one that I have at least even odds of being able to accomplish.


I have been thinking lately about why I decided to try this. I am doing it because I want to share the bonding experience with my Dad. I am doing it because I want him to be proud of me. I know he already is proud of me, but I want to prove to him that I can do this. And I am doing it for myself. To prove to me that I can do this. Here's hoping I am right.

Tony
10/9: 228.6 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
8.6 lbs. to go

The Continuing Saga Of My Pants

My lovely wife and I finally made it back to Steve and Barry's to return the "Saggy Bottom" pants. After finding the one pair of jeans in the entire store that fit my body type, i.e. Jeans for people with no butt, it was determined that part of my problem came from wearing jeans that are too big.

My wife convinced me to try on a pair of 36 jeans. I was skeptical, but she was right. The 36's fit great. I should know better than to doubt my wife when it comes to clothing. She also convinced me that the pants I normally wear are too short. Turns out when you have no butt your pants tend to fall down around your hips a lot, which lead me years ago to start buying shorter pants. Now that I have pants that actually fit, I have moved from a 30 length to a 32.

It was a weekend full of change! The exciting thing is I have now officially dropped 5 pant sizes, from a 44 to a 36! That had me feeling pretty good....good enough that I allowed myself a butterscotch malt at the 50's Grill after our shopping outing. But we'll talk about that tomorrow.

Tony
10/8: 228.6 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
8.6 lbs. to go

p.s. In searching for a picture of a pile of pants, I discovered a new slang term!

ACCORDING TO THE BBC:
Pile Of Pants:
noun, slang, official term of rejection.
Relatively new non-swearing slang term, meaning a load of rubbish or, indeed, knickers. Pants in this sense (NB not trousers as in the US; in the UK pants means underwear) only became slang in the 1990s (according to slang lexicographer Jonathon Green). Became official term of rejection even more recently. Popular with students and DJs.

Use it and pretend you are super hip!