The Weigh-In Week 68

218.6! That's what it said on the scale this morning. A loss of 1.8 pounds.

Week one of the new Weight Loss Challenge down.

I get the feeling you guys may be as feed up with this whole yo-yoing weight thing as I am....or maybe your hust getting bored....and really who could blame you.

Only two votes this week. Teresa came the closest with a vote of 1.2.

Hopefully things will be a little more exciting in the next few weeks with some big losses.

Have a great weekend everybody.


Tony
10/17 218.6 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
10.6 2 go

Guess How Much I Weigh Contest - Week 68

I feel like I am starting over...for many reasons.

1. Weight: I was above 220 pounds for the first time in months. An my weight has been staying on the high side more and more these days. I have had this goal of getting to 208 for more than 6 months now and I have made no real progress. Basically, when it comes to weight I am right where I was last December, almost a year ago. Granted that means I have maintained my weight loss for a year now, but I feel like I am really ready to start making progress again.

2. Workouts: I majorly changed up my workouts this week for the first time since last March and between the fumbling of figuring things out, the sore muscles and the butt kicking run, I feel like I am at the begging again. Which is good, because it means I am making progress.

Here's what I figured out about my strength training: My routine is pretty solid, but I have gotten lazy. In doing some research I realized that I am doing the right exercises but My weights were way too low. I found a few good articles on how to determine how much weight I should be using, and in some cases I was under by 30 pounds or more. After getting to the right weights on Tues. I could really feel a difference. The first time I have a good sore from lifting in months.

As for running I did some hardcore interval training yesterday and it really kicked my butt. I manged to do 3.6 miles at a and average of 9:30 a mile but I had to walk a lot more than I have had to in months. So interval training is definitely going to become a more permanent part of my workouts. At least once a week, and probably twice a week most weeks.

HERE'S THE IMPORTANT PART:
The Weight Loss challenge I set for myself a few weeks ago was really good motivation. So I am going to do it again...but bigger and better. This time around I am guaranteeing 4 WEEKS of WEIGHT LOSS...in a row. Starting with tomorrows weigh-in.
If I fail to lose weight in any of those weeks I will suffer the consequences for that week.

The Consequences:
1. I will have to cook dinner every night for a week.
2. No TV for that week from Friday to Friday (excluding the Girls Bedtime Movie)
3. I have to replace one meal everyday for that week with a salad.
4. The following weeks weighing photo will be a picture of my shirtless belly.

4 weeks, 4 Consequences.
All inspired by your suggestions from the last challenge.

The goal here is to be at 208 by Christmas and to be at a new low (under 213) by Thanksgiving.


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
10/16 220.4 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
Lots to go

Race Report

As promised a little more detail on the big 10K race this weekend.

It was crazy hot for this late in the year, so our 10:30 start ended up being almost to late. I think it was in the mid 70's by the time we finished the race.

My plan was to try and keep up with my dad for as long as I could. That plan didn't last too long. Within the first half mile my dad was about a quarter mile ahead of me and by 1.5 miles he was out of site.

And I wasn't moving any to slow. I finished my first mile in 8:12. Way faster then I had planed or wanted to. My goal for the race was to average a 9 minute mile pace.

I had no clue I was going so fast (for me)... I just got caught up in the flow of the race. Unfortunately at that pace my leg muscles got really tight and didn't loosen up until somewhere in the 4th mile.

I gradually slowed my pace. I think mile two was around 8:45 and mile 3 was right at 9. I finished the first three miles in under 27 minutes!

And then we hit the hills. They weren't to bad at first. In fact by mile 5 I was thinking I might be able to finish in 55 minutes, something that seemed unconceivable to me when I started.

The last mile killed all those dreams. That last mile was all most all uphill... at least that's what it felt like. I think my last mile was a 10:30 mile or slower.

And by the time I crossed the finish line I was hurting. As you can see from this picture here.



So I finished in 57:03. 3 minutes faster then I thought I would. It ended up being a 9:14 per mile pace. I am ecstatic at how well the race went.

Once again the weather was perfect, the atmosphere was great, the other runners were fun and supportive and the scenery was superb. We were running through the woods on paved trails and it was the peak of fall leaf season, so there was plenty to look at during the race.

The only downer on the day was my daughter Maggie getting stung by a bee. That's why she's not in this cute photo. She recovered like a champ though. After 20 minutes of crying on mom's shoulder and a chocolate bar, she was full recovered and ready to run her own race...which she says she won!


I am starting to figure somethings out with the new workout routine. More on that later.

Tony

A New Beginning

The race went great!

Once again we could not have asked for a more beautiful day.

I'll give a full race report later in the week when I have more time and some pictures loaded up.

The good news is, I met my goal of finishing in under 1 hour.

My official time was 57:12...although my watch said 57:03.

I finished 266 out of 605 racers.

My dad finished in 53:45 and my brother-in-law finished in 50:46. Evan was just 19 people short of cracking the top 100!


So now I find myself in a weird place.

I have been in training for one event or another for nearly a year now. I started my hardcore 5K training last January and moved from that to Triathlon training and from that to 10K training.

I am going to hold off for a little while on choosing my next "life goal". I want to concentrate on trying to get back on track to getting to 208 pounds, which is the only goal on my original list that I have left to reach.

As part of that I am trying to figure out what my new workout routine should be. Sadly I am completly lost when it comes to the non-running training.

The strength routine I have been following came from a triathlon training book from the early 80's and I don't think it is working for me anymore.

I have pretty much plateaued for the last few months. Mostly do to my lack of understanding and a lack of pushing myself.

I want to find a good all around work out that includes running cardio, fitness, strength and sculpting.

I think I am starting to figure out the basics but I also think I have a lot of trial and error ahead of me as well.

I have considered hiring a personal training to help design a workout for me, but where is the challenge in that...besides those people cost money!!!

For now the search continues.

As always, advice is appreciated.

Tony