Weigh-In Week 13

Keeping the streak alive.



236.4! That's what it said on the scale this morning. A loss of 2.6 lbs.

Like I said, it was going to be a surprise this morning. At least I was surprised. The last thing I said to Laura last night was, "I think I might have a gain this week." Then again, it has been well established that I have no clue what is going on with my body.

Here's the fun part. I can now say I have lost more than 50 lbs! Rock On! 51.6 lbs. to be exact.

My mom is the big winner this week, with a guess of 2.4. We only had 9 votes so no prize, but my Mom has been taking care of the girls while Nana Heather is off living the good life in New York this week so I'll probably do something nice for my Mom anyway.

Speaking of Nana Heather's adventures in New York, here is a Picture of Nana Heather and my sister at the Today Show this morning. Maybe you saw them on TV.



In case you can't pick their fuzzy faces out of the crowd or have no clue what Nana Heather and my sister look like, here is the annotated photo.


Here's a link to video of Nana Heather and Sister Sarah on TV this morning. They are on the left side of the screen, right over Daisy Fuentes' right shoulder.

Have a great weekend everybody!

Tony
9/7: 236.4 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
16.4 lbs. to go

Guess How Much I Weigh Contest - Week 13

Once again I have no clue what to expect this week. I didn't go too crazy over the long weekend, but I didn't watch what I was eating that closely either so my calories are up a little bit. I was very active over the weekend but I didn't put in nearly as many miles as I did last week. It will be a surprise tomorrow. Hopefully a good surprise but if I were a betting man I'd lean toward not too happy.

I have a lunch meeting today so no running. The meeting is catered. I will try and control myself .

Just a quick reminder the winner of the Guess How Much I Weigh Contest is the person who is closest to guessing my weight / weight loss for the week without going over, ala The Price Is Right. I am adding that to the rules rundown, but I wanted to point it out one more time.

Also my sister appears to be correct, my scale does only go up or down by even numbered 10ths of a pound. Although voting with odd numbers will still hold it's advantages.


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 September 3rd.
Walked / Ran: 13.2 miles

Calories Consumed: From Thursday morning through Wed. night I have consumed aprox. 14931 calories.

Calories Burned: From Thursday morning through Wed. night I have burned aprox. 28175 calories.

32% of my calories have come from fat.
10% of those calories came from Saturated Fats.

47% of my calories came from carbs.

18% of my calories came from protein.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!


Tony
9/6: 238 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
19 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.

Recipe Wednesday - Pumpkin Mousse

My Aunt Sue has really got into the spirit of healthy living. She has been coming up with some great recipes for all of your family gatherings over the past few months. Her latest is my new favorite. Low calorie pumpkin Mousse made in just 15 minutes! As someone said this weekend, It taste like pumpkin pie without the crust. This is going to be made a lot around our house as the leaves start to change and fall sets in. It just seems like the perfect fall dessert.

Ingredients:
1-1/2 Cups Cold Fat-Free Milk
1 Package (1 ounce) Sugar-Free Instant Butterscotch Pudding Mix
1/2 Cup Canned Pumpkin
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1/4 Teaspoon Ground Ginger
1/4 Teaspoon Ground Allspice
1 Cup Fat-Free Whipped Topping, Divided

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, whisk milk and pudding mix for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set.

2. Combine the pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger and allspice; fold into pudding.

3. Fold in 1/2 cup whipped topping.

4. Transfeer to individual serving sishes. Refregerate until serving. Garnish with remaning whipped topping.

Nutrition Facts:
2/3 cup mousse with 2 tablespoons whipped topping
Calories: 96, Trace Fat, Cholesterol: 2mg, Sodium: 360mg, Carbohydrates: 18g, Fiber: 1g, Protein: 4g

Recipe created by Patricia Sidloskas. Courtesy of Light and Tasty Magazine.

The End Of Summer

I am 33 years old and I still get the same sad, sinking filling in the pit of my stomach I used to get every Labor Day as a child. Summer is over. It doesn't matter that I am not returning to school, that it is supposed to be in the mid 90's for the next two days or that I'll be heading back to the cabin in two weeks. There is just something ingrained in me (and everybody else I'm sure) from childhood that causes my brain to acknowledge Labor Day as one of the saddest days of the year.


On a happier note I had a lovely holiday weekend with my family at my parents lake home and managed to accomplish one of my summer goals. I can slalom ski again... sort of.

I have been water skiing since I was 5 years old. I learned to slalom when I was 8. For a long time I was a darn good skier. Not as good as my dad, but I could kick up a roster tail that would make a peacock envious. My dad and I always had a little skiing rivalry going when I was growing up. My dad is a great skier and seeing him out there ripping it up always pushed me to do better.


Around 1998 or '99 my skiing started to lag a little. The boat we had was having trouble pulling me up as I got heavier, so I slacked off on the skiing. My dad got a new boat, a fancy competition ski boat , in 2001. It made it easier for me to get up so I started skiing a little bit more. Then, I discovered wake boarding and I pretty much abandoned skiing for the next 3 or 4 years. I would take a run or two ever summer just to prove I could still do it, but each year I got a little worse as I got heavier and more out of shape.

Around 2005 I was horrified to discover I could no longer get up on one ski. No matter how hard I tried I just couldn't pull myself out of the water. This was devastating to me. Water skiing used to be one of my great loves. It was something that my whole family bonded over, especially my dad and I. And my gluttony had ruined it.


Some of you may remember earlier this summer I set myself a goal of getting back up on one ski again. This weekend was my last opportunity and I am proud to report Mission Accomplished. My skiing was atrocious and my back hurts like hell, but I did get up and I did manage to take a few cuts. I may give it another go in two weeks, but my real hope is to be in good enough shape next summer to really dive back into skiing again. I miss it.




Tony
9/4: 239 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
19 lbs. to go

The Weigh-In Week 12

239 that's what it said on the scale this morning. A loss of .8 lbs.

I don't get this weight loss thing at all. This was the loss I was supposed to have last week after piging out all weekend. Not the loss I was supposed to have this week after logging nearly 20 miles. Strange!

I am way beyond complaining about small losses though. At this point any loss is a good thing! And if I did feel the slightest bit of disappointment all I'd have to do is look at the picture to know that I am doing just fine. Really I have been over due for a slow down for a few weeks now. Not that I will take it easy. This little loss fires me up to try for a bigger one next week.

I do have two regrets at a smaller loss this week.

1. I wanted to show off for all the new friends that have started reading this week. I've discovered some amazing new people this week doing amazingly well on their own healthy living journeys. Thank you all for sharing your stories. Come back next week new readers and I'll really show you something.

2. I was really looking forward to being able to stop saying "I have lost nearly 50 lbs." and start saying "I have lost more than 50 lbs." Hopefully next week.

I do have one bit of showing off. This week's loss makes 12 straight weeks of loss with an average weekly loss of 2.8 lbs. We have made the 3 month hurdle! Whoppie!!!

The glory this week belongs to my lovely wife . She blew passed her 10% goal this week with a huge 3 lb loss. That puts her over by 1.8 lbs. Way to go sweetheart. I am very proud of you!

Here is how determined my lovely wife was to make it this week. Last night after the girls went to bed she headed out for a two mile walk in the pitch black of night. My little trooper!

Congrats also to fellow Fatblogger John for making his initial goal of losing 25 lbs. Way to go John!


We had a record number of votes this week but no but no winner. Fat Bloke Thin was closest with a guess of 1.3, but as I have said before we play by the Price Is Right rules. The winner is the person who is closest without going over. I will be adding that rule to the contest instructions next week and from here on out. Sorry if there was any confusion.

Have a great holiday weekend everybody. I'll be back on Tuesday.


Tony
8/31: 239 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
19 lbs. to go

Guess How Much I Weigh Contest - Week 12

Wow! We have made it to the magical 3 month mark. Or we will have tomorrow morning and I don' anticipate going on a crazy buffet binge tonight, so the odds are good we'll make it.

I have said from the beginning, if I can make three months and still be going strong this new lifestyle has a good chance of succeeding. I know 3 months does not a lifetime make, but I've never made it this far before so it's a big step in the right direction.

Before we get to the contest a little update.

I got my old cholesterol results last night. They were not what I expected. The last time I had my cholesterol checked was 2003 and my results were slightly better then, than they were this time.

2003:
Total: 177
HDL: 30
LDL: 82
Triglycerides: 325

2006:
Total: 176
HDL: 27
LDL: 118
Triglycerides: 154

The more I think about it, it makes sense that my 2006 results are similar to my 2003 results. In 2003, I probably weighed around 260 so I wasn't yet at my heaviest. Even though I have been working out and losing weight, I am sure you don't just fix your cholesterol overnight. It has me wondering what my cholesterol was when I was at 280. Scary!

Here's the other fun thing. I broke 3 miles on my walk/run yesterday for the first time. 3.1 miles in 35 Minuets!!! 10 of it was running.

I ran the first 4-1/2
Walked 2
Ran 2
Walked 2
Ran 1-1/2
Then walked for awhile and added two more 1 minute runs towards the end.

I've been thinking a lot about my running, but I'll get into that next 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. 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 August 27th.
Walked / Ran: 17.9 miles

Calories Consumed: From Thursday morning through Wed. night I have consumed aprox. 14035 calories.

Calories Burned: From Thursday morning through Wed. night I have burned aprox. 28210 calories.

33% of my calories have come from fat.
11% of those calories came from Saturated Fats.

42% of my calories came from carbs.

23% of my calories came from protein.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!


Tony
8/30: 239.8 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
19.8 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.

The Purge - Part 2: Even Purgier

As promised, here is the triumphant shirt. The first is from December 23, 2006. The second is from last night. I'm a little speechless to tell you the truth.


The great 07 purge is complete. I am left with :
4 pair of pants,
1 pair of jeans,
3 pair of dress shorts,
and enough sweaters to last until hell freezes over, which works out nice since I'll have plenty of sweaters to wear.

I have plenty of shirts left, but I might need to get a pair of transitional jeans and maybe a pair of casual shorts to get me through September. I have a few loads of laundry to do so maybe there is something hiding in there that I forgot about.


My lovely wife has pointed out another upside to revamping my wardrobe as a skinner person. It will be a lot easier to shop the Target clearance rack now!

As you know the Target clearance rack is my favorite place to shop in the whole wide world. I am also looking forward to fitting in to some cooler clothes from some of the skate / surf inspired shops. Clothes that I know I am top old to wear, but I am going to wear anyway!


Here's a shot of the "too big to wear" pile. Also know as the Mama Cass Mumu Mountain. Sorry, I like alliteration a lot. The photo doesn't do it justice. That pile is huge. Over half of my clothes are in there!


Tony
8/29: 239.8 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
19.8 lbs. to go

Recipe Wednesday

This seems way advanced, but It also seems really good and I do love good Barbecued Pork. Plus the recipe comes from the Mayo Clinic so it's almost like medicine, right?

I have no clue when I will find the time to make this . If not this weekend, I will do my best to get it made in the next two weeks.

Jamaican Barbecued Pork Tenderloin

Ingredients
2 teaspoons firmly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pork tenderloin, about 1 pound, trimmed of visible fat
2 teaspoons white vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons dark honey
1 teaspoon tomato paste

Directions

1. In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, allspice, cinnamon, ginger, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne, cloves, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and the black pepper. Rub the spice mixture over the pork and let stand for 15 minutes.

2. In another small bowl, combine the vinegar, honey, tomato paste and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Whisk to blend. Set aside.

3. Prepare a hot fire in a charcoal grill or heat a gas grill or broiler (grill) to medium-high or 400 F. Away from the heat source, lightly coat the grill rack or broiler pan with cooking spray. Position the cooking rack 4 to 6 inches from the heat source.

4. Place the pork on the grill rack or broiler pan. Grill or broil at medium-high heat, turning several times, until browned on all sides, 3 to 4 minutes total. Remove to a cooler part of the grill or reduce the heat and continue cooking for 14 to 16 minutes. Baste with the vinegar-honey glaze and continue cooking until the pork is slightly pink inside and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part reads 160 F, 3 to 4 minutes longer. Transfer to a cutting board and let cool for 5 minutes before slicing.

To serve, slice the pork tenderloin crosswise into 16 pieces and arrange on a warmed serving platter, or divide the slices among individual plates.

Nutritional Analysis(per serving)
Serving size: 4 pork tenderloin slices
Calories 180, Monounsaturated fat 3 g, Protein 24 g, Cholesterol 75 mg, Carbohydrate 6 g, Sodium 508 mg, Total fat 6 g, Fiber 1 g, Saturated fat 2 g

Recipe from the Mayo Clinic.

Tony
8/29: 239.8 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
19.8 lbs. to go

The Purge - Part 1

My lovely wife and I dove into our scariest project of the summer last night, my closet. Technically it's the guest room, but everyone simply refers to it as my walk-in closet.

I have to admit I am a bit of a clothes horse. It's not so much that I buy a lot of clothes, I just never throw them out. Here was a typical conversation from last night:

ME: "Maybe I should get rid of this, I've had it for a while."
LAURA: "You had that when we met!"

My lovely wife and I have been together 12 years!

Heck, I'm still wearing clothes I bought in high school. I was into the baggy grunge flannels back then. 4 years before grunge went national I would like to point out!

I have also collected a lot of clothes in the last three years. When you're going up a size every 6 to 8 months it's hard not to accumulate.

The purge was long overdue.

The main criteria for getting rid of clothes was size. Everything with a XXXL went without even trying it on. A lot of the XXL stuff went as well. I was really surprised at how much stuff ended up in the to go pile. There are clothes that that I haven't worn in years because they were too tight that are now to big to wear. I missed them going up and coming down.

Last night was the first time in this whole process that I have felt like a person who has lost nearly 50 lbs. Seeing my old clothes looking like a Mama Cass mumu on me, clothes that used to be tight just 9 months ago, made me really see my body in a new way.

While this was mostly a joyous occasion, there are some things that I will be really sad to see go. I had just received a lot of really nice clothes for Christmas this past year, which I hardly had the chance to wear and now they are 3 sizes to big for me. It made the whole experience a little bitter sweet.

Tonight I tackle pants and sweaters. I have a feeling the purge has only just begun.

The most triumphant moment of the evening:

- One of my favorite shirts is a western / rock star shirt my lovely wife gave me for Christmas 3 years ago. I have never been able to wear it properly, even when she gave it to me. Last night I buttoned it up for the first time.

Here's me in the shirt this past Christmas weighing 288. I'll take a new picture tonight to compare and contrast.

Tony
8/28: 239.8 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
19.8 lbs. to go

Kicking It with Cholesterol

I finally got the results of my Cholesterol check back last week. I have been waiting to post my results until I could compare them to the results from a test I had done a few years ago. Unfortunately, I have changed doctors and clinics a few times since then and it has taken me a week just to track down where I had the test done. The results are locked away in a musty old basement somewhere and should arrive in a week or two. When they do we'll have a fun compare and contrast.

Some of you may be wondering why at 33 I've already had two cholesterol checks. I have a history of high cholesterol in my family that puts me at a higher risk for heart problems. Coupled with my obesity and lack of exercise, I would say I am a prime candidate for early cholesterol checks.

Here are my most current results.

Total Cholesterol: 176
Triglycerides: 154
Cholesterol/HDL Ratio: 6.5
HDL Cholesterol: 27
LDL Cholesterol: 118

Those of you who know a thing or two about cholesterol can stop reading right here and judge for yourself. For the rest of you, here is your Cholesterol Primer.


HDL:
High-density lipoprotein, or HDL, is known as “good” cholesterol because high levels of HDL seem to protect against heart attack. Low levels of HDL also increase the risk of heart disease. Medical experts think that HDL tends to carry cholesterol away from the arteries and back to the liver, where it's passed from the body.

HDL is my biggest problem. My HDL levels should be between 40 and 60. Mine are currently at 27. That's way low!

LDL:
Low-density lipoprotein, or LDL, is known as “bad” cholesterol. When too much LDL (bad) cholesterol circulates in the blood, it can slowly build up in the inner walls of the arteries that feed the heart and brain. Together with other substances, it can form plaque, a thick, hard deposit that can narrow the arteries and make them less flexible. This condition is known as atherosclerosis. If a clot forms and blocks a narrowed artery, heart attack or stroke can result.

My LDL is considered Near Optimal/ Above Optimal. While my LDL is a little high, it would seem that I have not (as of yet) manifested the hereditary high LDL cholesterol that runs in my family.


According to the American Hart Association my risk of having a cardiac event in the next 10 years is less than 1%. Yeah for me!

The best thing for me to to get my HDL up is to keep doing exactly what I am doing.. Working out and losing weight. Those are the two biggest factors in controlling HDL Cholesterol. I have also started taking a daily vitamin supplement and a daily fish oil supplement. My doctor said the fish oil might be a good idea since I never eat sea food.

Now if only I can remember to take the pills. I started on Saturday, forgot to take them yesterday and this morning! I'll have to figure out a system.

Tony
8/27: 239.8 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
19.8 lbs. to go

Weigh-In Week 11

OK so obviously I don't get this whole thing!



239.8! That's what it said on the scale this morning. A loss of 2.6 lbs. And the streak continues!

That makes 11 straight weeks of loss. Over the past 2 months my average weekly loss has been 3.24 lb.

I have to say I am shocked. My lovely wife and I had a quick chat about it this morning and she made some really good points. She pointed out that if I were doing Weight Watchers, my extra "Duluth" calories would most likely be within my allowable flex points for the week.

She also said I need to be careful not to become overly obsessed about food or I run the risk of developing a habit that could be as unhealthy as my overeating.

Maybe seeing that a few extra calories hasn't destroyed my efforts will help me to loosen up.

The more I thought about it this morning, I started to realize that part of my manic behavior this week may stem from the fact that I am approaching the three month mark. That being the mark where I have abanded every other effort I have made to start a healthy lifestyle. My lovely wife assured me that neither she or the rest of you will let that happen.

And now the moment you've all been waiting for...the big winner.

This weeks winner is Nana Heather with a guess of 2.2 lbs. For being so optimistic in the face of my own doubt, Heather wins a loaf of Low Cal, Low Fat Banana bread.

Thanks to all of you for being so optimistic this week and for all your comments and encourgment. As always I don't know that I could do this without you.

I have fallen behind on prize distribution.

Nate, you will hopefully get your Flat Bread this weekend. I just have to figure out where it is sold.

Em, Your prize will be sent out today or tomorrow.

Heather, Your bread will be ready for pick-up no later than Tues.

Have a great weekend everybody.

Tony
8/24: 239.8 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
19.8 lbs. to go

Guess How Much I Weigh Contest - Week 11

Here is the quick recap on the week.

Went to Duluth. Ate kind of bad. Didn't exercise. Came home. Ate good. Exersciesed.

I broke down on Monday and weighed myself. At my last official weigh-in on Friday I was at 242.4. By Monday I was back up to 245.4. I have not weighed myself since.

We will stick with the official weigh-in weight of 242.4. All guesses as to loss or gain should be based on how much my weight will change from 242.4.

And yes it is OK to guess that I will have a gain this week. I will not consider it rude or demoralizing.

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. 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 August 6th.
Walked / Ran: 4.6 miles

Calories Consumed: From Thursday morning through Wed. night I have consumed aprox. 17514 Calories.

Last week I consumed 12166 calories.

Calories Burned: From Thursday morning through Wed. night I have burned aprox. 27454 Calories.

Last week I burned 27860 calories.

35% of my calories have come from fat.
11% of those calories came from Saturated Fats.

43% of my calories came from carbs.

19% of my calories came from protein.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!


Tony
8/23: 242.4 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
22.4 lbs. to go

Recipe Wednesday

I am starting to get back on track. I had a good workout yesterday and ate well. But, I am still having some serious cravings and this week is causing me to second guess every food choice I make.

I had gotten to a place where I was past the whole debating with myself before eating, now it’s back to a democratic convention in my head. Should I have that Slim-a-Bear bar? If I do will I feel bad. It’s 100 calories for goodness sake.

For the record I did have the Slim-a-Bear bar last night and it was delicious and I don’t feel the least bit guilty about it.

Here’s what I think is really happening. As much as I have been a big talker about not fearing a weight gain this week, I am starting to realize there may be some false bravado involved. All of the internal struggle stems from the fact that deep down I really want to pull out a loss this week.

This is making the extra cravings even worse. Normally I would satisfy my cravings with a healthy snack alternative, Fruit, Slim-A-Bear bar, Wheat Thins, etc. Now, I debate about the extra calories and delay even the healthy snack. Which makes me hungry and makes it even harder to resist the cravings. Ahh the vicious cycle.

The good news is, now that I have figured this out I can hopefully get over myself and settle back down.

I’m going to do what I can to avoid a gain this week or to keep the gain to a minimum. But, if I do have a gain this week I’ll step off the scale, put on my white t-shirt like a man and use the gain as motivation for next week.

Recipe Wednesday
Low Fat, Low Cal Banana Bread

Ingredients:
1 mashed banana
1 Tablespoon of Melted Butter or Margarine
1 teaspoon of Rum Extract
1 cup of Splenda
Dash of Salt
1 teaspoon of baking powder
1 large egg
2 Tablespoons of Skimmed Milk
3/4 cup of White Flour


1. Preheat oven to 350° and spray two mini-baking pans with non-stick cooking spray.

2. Place the following ingredients in a medium-sized mixing bowl and gently mix by hand until smooth

3. Add Flour

4. Cook about 20 minutes - or until golden brown.

The Whole recipe is only 500 calories!

This recipe comes from Diet Bites. Click on the link to head over there for some recipe alternatives.

Tony
8/22: 242.4 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
22.4 lbs. to go

Going To Bed Hungry

So getting back on track is proving harder than I expected. I am hungry. Last night i had a very sensible dinner,chicken, salad and stake fries , and I went to bed hungry for the first time in 2 months.

And now the guy in the next office over just walked in with a greasy Egg McMuffin like sandwich. I don't even like Egg McMuffin sandwiches and it's still making my stomach beg like a little puppy at that dinner table.

It's like I am going through detox. Not that I know what detox is like. My body got a taste of all the things I used to crave, Ice Cream, pizza, grease, and it wants more. Hopefully things will settle down as my body gets used to eating fewer calories again. In the meantime I guess I need to fall back on some old tricks. Some fruit for a mid morning snack, chewing gum and drinking lots of water.

I did do my strength training for the first time in a week last night. It hurt but I felt good once I was done.

I stayed home with the girls yesterday and got about half my walk in. Today, I forgot to bring my running clothes to work and was thinking about not going out for my walk. But I can't afford to take another day off. So I am going to head out on my lunch break in my jeans and t-shirt. It might be rainy and muggy and I will spend the rest of the day a social outcast in yucky, sweaty jeans, but it is a sacrifice that I must make. Both for my health and my mental dedication.

Tony
8/20: 242.4 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
22.4 lbs. to go

The First Big Bump In The Road

Up until now this whole thing has been pretty smooth sailing. This week turned out to be the first major gale. I am not sure how it happened but I went a little off the rails this weekend. (Sorry for mixing my metaphors.)

I take that back, I do know how it happened. Sometime on Friday afternoon, I made the decision to stop worrying about my calories and enjoy myself for the weekend. A rational decision after 11 weeks of counting every little calorie. I was on vacation after all. Unfortunately, giving myself permission to stop counting calories some how translated into giving myself permission to stop working out and to stop watching what I eat.

The point is I ended up gaining back the three pounds that I lost last week. And it is looking very likely that I am going to have my first gain in 11 weeks.

I am not so worried about how much I ate this weekend. In the grand scheme of things it wasn't horrible. I didn't sneak snacks or eat any more than everyone else. I even made a few smart decisions (Turkey brats instead of regular, etc.)

I'm not even that worried about the possibility of a gain.. beyond being disappointed at breaking my 11 week streak.

I had a great weekend with my family and I didn't let the weight gain ruin it!

Here are the two things that really worry me.

1. After feeding my body at something approaching my old rate of calorie consumption, my body is seriously joensing for more, more, more. I am having cravings like I haven't had for nearly two months now. I hope that getting back on routine this week will help settle things down, but it was a challenge not to break down and snack for snacking sake. In fact, I made a solo trip to the grocery on Sunday and I was moments away from buying myself a candy bar. I have no clue where I summoned the willpower to resist but I did. Although, I did dig into a bag of chips that I had bought for the barbecue on the way home. A bad sign that I couldn't wait the 10 minutes for lunch to be ready.

2. It was way to easy to not go out for my run on Saturday and Sunday. Sure the weather was lousy, but I had plenty of opportunities to get out and walk and I didn't take them. Instead I sat around watching TV all day.

I thought I was beyond this point. I thought it would be harder to back slide than it turned out to be. And that is what really scares me.

If I am someone who is truly addicted to food, then my vigilance will need to be a life time thing. It is not something I will be cured of after I get to my goal weight. I had started to think that I was invincible to food. I got cocky and now food has put me back in my place.

So we start over, get back on routine and hopefully take heart in the lesson learned: I have a long way to go!

Tony
8/20: 242.4 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
22.4 lbs. to go

p.s. While I did gain back 3 lbs. over the weekend, I am not changing my sign-off weight. Friday is the official weigh-in and I promise not to weigh myself again until then.

Weigh-In Week 10

Greetings from chilly Duluth. After two months of hot, hot, hot and heavy humidity, the chilly weather up here is a blessing. As are these pictures!




242.4! That's what it said on the scale this morning. A loss of 3 lbs. exactly.

This was another surprising week for me. My guess would have been around 1.4 lbs. Honestly, I thought ya all were crazy with those high guesses. Looks like you know me better than I know myself.

In even bigger and better news... or maybe I should say smaller and svelter news, my Lovely Wife lost 5.5 lbs. this week. If there was a Weight Watchers meeting any where in the Northland that met on Friday mornings she would have blown past her ten percent. Now she'll have to wait until next week to win her accolades and collect her precious key chain. Way to go sweetie, I am very proud of you!

Our big winner this week was Em! Congratulations Em. Em is a fellow blogger and kindred spirit on her own healthy lifestyle journey and doing very well! She lost 1.2 lbs this week! Double congrats Em.

For being such a good guesser and such a big loser I'll be sending you a little something to help on your journey, a copy of this months Cooking Light magazine, with lots of delicious semi-low calorie recipes for you and your husband to enjoy.

Have a great weekend everybody. I think we are headed to the zoo today to enjoy the nice fall weather.

Tony
8/17: 242.4 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
22.4 lbs. to go

Guess How Much I Weigh Contest - Week 10

This was a transition week for me. I eased back into my afternoon walk/run workout and settled into my every other day strength workout.

Here is how my non-cardio workouts are shaping up.

Daily:
15 -20 Push-ups
40 Crunches

Every Other Day:
15 Squats
30 Calf Rasies
20-30 Lunges
2 Sets Chest Press with 25 lbs. Dumbbells
1 Set Flys with 25 Lbs. Dumbbells
2 Sets Bicep Curls with 25 lbs. Dumbbells
1 Set Upright Rows with 10 lbs. Dumbbells
1 set Lateral Rasies with 10 lbs. Dumbbells

Once again I have no clue how this week will turn out. I ate less than I did last week and worked out more, but I can't imagine having two big losses two weeks in a row.

My Lovely Wife and I are taking the girls to Duluth tonight. I 'll try to remember to bring my weights along but who knows if I'll find the time to use them. I will for sure bring my running shoes and use those though.

I have one more trip to see Doctor D today so no workout and we will probably eat on the road tonight. We will try and keep it healthy but it is road food. All things to factor into your guess.

The scale is already packed in the car, so I will be sure to update with tomorrows weigh in.

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. 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 August 6th.
Walked / Ran: 7.9 miles

Calories Consumed: From Thursday morning through Wed. night I have consumed aprox. 12166 calories.

Calories Burned: From Thursday morning through Wed. night I have burned aprox. 27860 calories.

31% of my calories have come from fat.
11% of those calories came from Saturated Fats.

50% of my calories came from carbs.

19% of my calories came from protein.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!


Tony
8/16: 245.4 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
25.4 lbs. to go

Pan Apple Chciken

I forgot to mention last night was a double recipe Wednesday. My lovely wife slaved away over the hot stove to make Pan Apple Chicken, and I do mean slaved. Pan Apple Chicken is a pain in the butt to make. I need to start reading these recipes a little more closely.

This recipe was so dangerous, my lovely wife injured herself not once, but twice. First when the apple corer got her finger and second when she accidentally got Jalapeño juice in her eye. And yet she carried on and finished with a flurry. That's why I love her.

It was worth the work though...especially since I didn't do any of it. My Lovely Wife did such a great job that I broke down and had two helpings.

Turns out Pan Apple Chicken isn't so much about the apple though. It's really more of a Mediterranean dish that gets most of it's flavor from the currents and peppers. Still very good... just not what I expected. And watch out for some of those apple slices, they can carry a real kick.

I highly recommend Pan Apple Chicken... but I suggest you save it for a Saturday night or pay my lovely wife to come over and cook it for you.

Tony
8/15: 245.4 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
25.4 lbs. to go

Recipe Wednesday

I made this last night. It's my mom's prize for winning last weeks contest. I haven't tasted it yet, but it sure is a messy recipe to make. Or I'm just a messy cook.

It's not the lightest dessert in the world, but it sure beats a real Peanut Butter pie when it comes to calories and fat.

By the way Nate, I haven't forgotten you. Your Flat Out will arrive eventually.


Frozen Peanut Butter Pie


Ingredients

1 2/3 cups chocolate graham cracker crumbs (about 8 1/2 cookie sheets)
7 tablespoons sugar, divided
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
Cooking spray
1 1/4 cups fat-free milk
2/3 cup reduced-fat crunchy peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup (4 ounces) fat-free cream cheese, softened
1 (8-ounce) container frozen fat-free whipped topping, thawed
3 tablespoons finely chopped salted, dry-roasted peanuts
1/4 cup shaved milk chocolate (about 1 ounce)
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.

1. Combine crumbs, 3 tablespoons sugar, and egg whites; toss with a fork until moist. Lightly coat hands with cooking spray and press crumbs into bottom and up sides of a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate coated with cooking spray. Prick crust with a fork before baking. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes. Remove from oven; cool on a wire rack.

2. Combine milk and remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook 2 minutes or until sugar dissolves, stirring constantly; transfer mixture to a bowl. Add peanut butter and vanilla, stirring with a whisk until combined. Cover and chill 30 minutes.

3. Place cream cheese in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Add milk mixture, beating on low speed until combined. Fold in whipped topping; pour mixture into prepared pie crust. Filling may be thin after mixing but will harden in the freezer.

4. Freeze, uncovered, 8 hours or overnight or until hard. Sprinkle with peanuts and shaved chocolate. Transfer pie to refrigerator 30 minutes before slicing.

Yield: 10 servings (serving size: 1 wedge)

Nutritional Information
CALORIES 259(30% from fat); FAT 8.7g (sat 1.9g,mono 3.8g,poly 2g); PROTEIN 9.4g; CHOLESTEROL 2mg; CALCIUM 136mg; SODIUM 249mg; FIBER 1.6g; IRON 0.6mg; CARBOHYDRATE 35.5g

Recipe courtesy of Cooking Light August 2007
Provided by Laura Antworth, Matthews, North Carolina

Lunch with Shaun White

For my afternoon workout today, I biked a few miles into downtown to meet up with my sister for a demo by Shaun White, Kevin Robinson and a few other Target sponsored X-games athletes. It was very cool to see these guys flying through the air in person.

As many of you know, I have been a huge fan of action sports for a long time. I always say the X-games are like my Super Bowl. So this was an amazing experience for me.

Maybe next summer, if I can really get myself in shape, I might have to try skating a half pipe. I'm sure my lovely wife is cringing at the thought!

Here are some pics from my afternoon adventure. Click on an image to see get the big picture.

Matt Hoffman


Kevin Robinson






Shaun White






Some Other Guy


Tony
8/14: 245.4 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
25.4 lbs. to go

Do You Think I'm Sexy?

I found this in my Men's Health Magazine.

"A fat belly makes you a bigger man - and less of a man, says a new study in the Journal Of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. When researchers studied 584 men for almost 20 years they found that a 4-point increase in body mass index accelerates your natural decline in testosterone by 10 years. This corresponds to a gain of 30 lbs. for a 5'10 man. "
-Men's Health August 2007, pg. 50

I am 5'11' and still 60lbs. overweight. Which means I have the testosterone of a 55 year old man. Add the extra 40 lbs. I was carrying in January and I had the testosterone of a 70 Year old man.

Hmmmm, I wonder if you get the testosterone back as you lose the weight or if it is gone for ever like youth and innocence and my copy of the first Wallflowers CD that mysteriously disappeared. The one before the band sold out and became crappy.


According to Wikipedia,
"Testosterone is a steroid hormone from the androgen group. It is the principal male sex hormone and an anabolic steroid. Testosterone plays key roles in health and well-being. Examples include enhanced libido, energy, immune function, and protection against osteoporosis."

Tony
8/14: 245.4 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
25.4 lbs. to go

A-OK!

Dr. D gave me the all clear on Friday. My leg is looking good so I can get back to working out. I went out on Saturday for a slow walk and a short run. It felt good on Saturday but I was feeling it on Sunday. I skipped Sunday and went to the pool instead. Does floating along the lazy river at the local pool count as exercise? Isn't that how they train race horses?

Yes this was the pool that helped start this whole "baring my soul and losing weight" thing. The original site of my flash forward to being a fat embarrassment to my teenage daughters.

I'd like to say it was a triumphant return, but I think triumphant might be a little strong. While I was much less self conscious about hanging at the pool, I was still one of, if not the heaviest guy there.

Here is the difference this time around. I am very proud of what I have accomplished so far so I looked around at all the other people and saw it as just more motivation to keep up the good work.

My wonderful Mother-In-Law was in town this weekend, and she was kind enough to babysit on Saturday night so My Lovely wife and I could have a date night night. The first one in many months. We saw the Movie Stardust. Both My Lovely Wife and I are huge fans of Neil Gamien fans and had read the book the movie is based on a while ago.

The movie does not disappoint. As my lovely wife said on the way home, this could be the Princess Bride of this generation. Personally, I think it is much better than Princess Bride. Except....If you go, leave immediately after the movie is over. Do not stay for the credits!!!!

The song they play over the end credits is the worst love theme form any movie since the power trio of Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting took cheesy movie love songs to new heights with All For Love

It is so disassociated from the tone of the movie that you will think they accidentally spliced the wrong ending on. Honestly it could potentially ruin the movie for you. So get out of your seat, cover your ears and flee as fast as you can as soon as the end credits start to roll.

Tony
8/13: 245.4 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
25.4 lbs. to go

Side by Side

Just because it's fun!

Weigh-In Week 9

245.4!!!! That's what it said on the scale this morning. That's a loss of 4.8 lbs! It's a miracle.

Is anyone starting to see a pattern here. Big loss, little loss. Big loss.... you get the picture.

Here is my theory. It seems that any radical change in normal activity has the effect of kicking my metabolism in the patootie. (Can you say patootie on the internet?) So not running this week may have actually helped give my body a little jump start. It could also be that I ate better knowing that I wasn't going to get as much exercise this week.

Whatever the reason I am finally under 250! I can't tell you the last time I weighed less than 250. I know for sure that I have been over 250 since 2003 and probably back even further than that.

And here I am on the chart!!! Whoopie!


The big winner this week is my Mom. This is Mom's second win. Congratulations Mom! For being the most optimistic of the optimist this week you have won yourself a peanut butter pie. I found this great recipe for a low cal frozen peanut butter pie. Now I have an excuse to make it.

Have a great weekend everybody!

Tony
8/10: 245.4 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
25.4 lbs. to go

p.s. Don't forget you can now subscribe to this blog via e-mail.

Guess How Much I Weigh Conest - Week 9

It's amazing to me how much I miss working out. I never thought I would be one of those guys, guys like my dad who need their fitness routine like a caffeine addict needs his coffee. But I've got to tell you, I am dragging this week. Hopefully Dr. D will give me the all clear tomorrow so I can get back to it.

I did borrow some weights from my Sister and Brother-in-Law and I have been doing about 20 mins. of upper body workouts this week. Hopefully that will help.

I have no clue what to expect tomorrow. I really hope I have at least a small loss so I can keep the streak alive. Minus the Ice Cream Sandwich, I ate pretty well this week. As always, only the scale will tell.


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. 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 August 6th.
Walked / Ran: 6.83 miles (before Sunday)

Calories Consumed: From Thursday morning through Wed. night I have consumed aprox. 12348 calories.

Calories Burned: From Thursday morning through Wed. night I have burned aprox. 27909 calories.

34% of my calories have come from fat.
10% of those calories came from Saturated Fats.

49% of my calories came from carbs.

17% of my calories came from protein.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!


Tony
8/9: 250.2 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
30.2 lbs. to go

The Ice Cream Sandwich

On Sunday night after my leg wound was cleaned, I was required to travel to three different Walgreen's to fill my prescriptions. The last one was a 20 minute drive from my house.

I arrived there at 11pm, tired, frustrated and in pain. All I could think about on the long, lonely drive to the pharmacist was how much I wanted an Ice Cream Sandwich...that and how much it hurt to drive with my leg and how much it sucked that the late night guy at the Walgreen's pharmacy didn't seem to know fiddly. But mostly I wanted an Ice Cream Sandwich. And not just any Ice Cream Sandwich, I wanted the behemoth 500 Calorie monstrosity know as the Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie Sandwich (pictured above.)

I am sad to say I gave in to my urges.

The ice cream sandwich in itself was not the bad thing. It was my reason for having the ice cream sandwich that was the bad thing. I am beginning to realize that one of my food triggers is stress (the other big one is boredom.)

I will have ice cream sandwiches in my life, but I should eat them sparingly and only at times when I can make a rational decision to enjoy the Ice Cream Sandwich because I want an ice cream sandwich. I will do my best to not grab an Ice Cream Sandwich out of emotional vulnerability at the end of a day of already elevated eating.

Here is another sign of my growth. Normally I would have hidden the Ice Cream Sandwich wrapper and tossed it in a gas station garbage the next day to conceal the evidence. On Sunday night the first thing I did was run home to my lovely wife and confess my dalliance. Then I confessed to my mom the next day and now I confess you.

Tony
8/8: 250.2 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
30.2 lbs. to go

Recipe Wednesday

Apple Pan Chicken

INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
3 apples - peeled, cored and sliced
3 tablespoons dried currants
3 tablespoons pine nuts (optional)
1/3 cup apple juice
1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat.
2. Saute onions and garlic until soft and translucent. Move the onions to the side, and brown chicken breasts 4 minutes on each side.
3. Top chicken with apples, currants and pine nuts. Pour in apple juice. Season with thyme, parsley, jalapeno, salt and pepper.
4. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, or until apples are cooked and chicken is no longer pink.

Servings Per Recipe: 4

NUTRITION INFORMATION
Calories: 301, Total Fat: 8.7g, Cholesterol: 68mg, Sodium: 661mg, Total Carbs: 27.3g, Dietary Fiber: 4.4g, Protein: 29.8g

Recipe Courtesy of All Recipes.com

p.s. The photo is not of Apple Pan Chicken. Don't be confused!

Tony
8/8: 250.2 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
30.2 lbs. to go

The Whole Story

We have a good family friend who is a renowned reconstructive surgeon and wound specialist. Let's call him Doctor D. On Sunday night I ran into Dr. D's wife and daughter at church. They both took one look at my leg and said, "That looks infected. You should come over to the house and let Dr. D clean that."

This sounded like an extremely painful idea, so I hemmed and hawed for a little while, but in the end when the wife and daughter of a renowned reconstructive surgeon and wound specialist tell you your leg looks infected it's best to listen.

So at 9pm on Sunday night in the middle of Dr. D's kitchen, while his kids cleaned the dishes and entertained me with bubbles, I had my wound cleaned and disinfected. I should probably mention that all of Dr. D's kids are over the age of 22.

This probably sounds a lot worse than it was. Dr. D put some numbing cream on my leg which kept the pain to a minimum and he was remarkably gentle, considering he was using a scalpel and a tongue depressor to scrap away all the scabbing, dead skin and dirt.

He put me on antibiotics and some heavy pain killers and sent me home. Don't worry I didn't take the pain killers until I got home.

Yesterday my leg was doing much better. Unfortunately my tummy was not so happy. I had a bad reaction to the pain killers and was stuck on the couch for most of the day. Luckily I had 12 hours of X-Games coverage on Tivo to keep me company. and a wonderful wife to make me breakfast in bed.

My mother was kind enough to play chauffeur for my follow up trip to Dr. D yesterday afternoon. This time we went to his office.

So the good news is I will be just fine. I have a follow up with Dr. D on Friday, but the healing from Sunday night to Monday afternoon was already starting to look good. I am not to worried about my leg taking a turn for the worse as long as I take care of it.

The bad news is, no strenuous exercise for the rest of this week. Which means no running, no power walking and no strength training of the lower body.

This is going to be a big test for me. In the past this is the kind of thing that would derail me for good. I am determined to not let that happen. I will continue to eat well this week. I will do my crunches and I will try to add some low stress upper body work out to at least keep a minimum of exercise going.

I'll be bummed if I don't get down under 250 this week but like we've been saying all along, it's a marathon, not a sprint... this week may just be a bump in the trail.

Thank you very much to Dr. D and the whole D family for taking such great care of me and keeping my leg from falling off.

Tony
8/7: 250.2 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
30.2 lbs. to go

Good News, Bad News

Here's the good news.

My doctors appointment on Friday went very well. One might even use the words anti-climactic. I guess that's only one word. I have excellent blood pressure and an excellent resting heart rate. I have to go back in a week for a cholesterol check. I was hopping to scan back through my records to see how much I weighed in the past years. Unfortunately the only weight they had for me was from June of 2006 when I weigh 282 lbs. There records went back ten years. Which means I haven't had a physical since I was 22. oops.

Here's the bad news.

The wound on my leg from last Monday night appears to be infected. Shouldn't be a big deal, but I am having it checked out today. Right now I am on antibiotics and pain killers that are making it very hard for me to type. I'll update with the whole sorted tale later tonight or tomorrow when my head stops swimming and my tummy stops rolling.

For now it's back to bed.

Tony
8/6: 250.2 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
30.2 lbs. to go

Weigh-In Week 8

250.2! That's what it said on the scale this morning. A loss of 1.6lbs.

Missed it by that much!

The celebration will have to be postponed until next week.

Surprisingly I am not too disappointed. I learned my lesson a few weeks ago. Any loss is a good loss and 8 straight weeks of loss is amazing.

My lovely wife and a few other people have said now that I am putting on muscle it will effect my rate of loss. I want that to be true, but I'm not sure that I put on that much muscle this week. Although, I can do 15 push ups now. It was only 12 last weekend.

If I was looking for an excuse for a smaller loss this week,(which I am not) I'd say it is the 4 pounds of scab I have on my leg. Sorry that was gross.

No winner this week. Everybody was over. I do love your optimism though. My mom was closest with 1.8. Good guessing Mom!

Have a great weekend everybody! I'm off to the Doctors this afternoon for my first physical in nearly ten years. Hopefully I will have some fun things to report on Monday.

Tony
8/3: 250.2 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
30.2 lbs. to go

p.s. We made Diet Pepsi Pot Roast last night. It was great! The Pepsi seems to tenderize the meat more than just water would. Highly recommended. Thank you Heather for putting it all together.

Guess How Much I Weigh Conest - Week 8

Please take a minute this morning to say a prayer for those effected by the bridge collapse here in Minnesota.

As many of you know the 35W bridge is just a few blocks from my office. I walked down there this morning before work and said a short prayer. I know prayer is not location based but I felt a need to be as close as I could.

I walk past this bridge every day during my workout. I could not get close enough to see the collapsed bridge this morning. I can not begin to imagine what it will be like to take that walk for the first time once all the emergency crews and police tape have cleared out.

Fortunately no one in my life has been hurt in this tragic event. That could change in the next day or two... I pray that it doesn't.

Here are a few pictures of the media mess I found at the police tape this morning.










I contemplated canceling this weeks contest. It seemed a little petty, considering.

Here is what I have decided to do instead.


The contest will go on ,but in lue of a prize, I will be making a donation to the Minnesota Red Cross. It seems like the right thing to do.

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. 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.

Stats for the week of July 30th.
Walked / Ran: 10.9 miles

Calories Consumed: From Thursday morning through Wed. night I have consumed aprox. 12089 calories.

Calories Burned: From Thursday morning through Wed. night I have burned aprox. 28448 calories.

27% of my calories have come from fat.
7% of those calories came from Saturated Fats.

45% of my calories came from carbs.

21% of my calories came from protein.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!


Tony
8/2: 251.8 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
31.8 lbs. to go

Recipe Wednesday

I started my strength training last night.

14 Push Ups
40 Crunches (20 straight, 20 to the side)
4 Dips
20 Squats
40 Walking Lunges
30 Calf Raises

I am surprised at how good I feel this morning... minus the road rash on my leg of course, which feels like a thousand little elves with a thousand white hot needles poking into my leg every few minutes.

My feeling good may have something to do with my first every visit to the chiropractor yesterday. For a while now, I have been having some issues with my lower back. Every morning on my drive in, my back and lower legs get kind of numb and it takes me a while to walk it off. I assumed it was weight related. Turns out I have a tilted pelvis because of the way I sleep. Last night I slept with a body pillow and did some stretches this morning and now I am feeling great.

I also have a general check up on Friday. This will be my first check up since shortly after college. If I am going to get serious about my health I might as well get serious about all aspects of it.

Now on to...

Recipe WEDNESDAY

It's a crazy one this week. This recipe comes from this great book that Laura's Aunt Polly gave us called Fix It and Forget It Lightly. It's all low cal crock pot recipes and it's full of some good looking recipes that I am excited to try. I'll be making this one tomorrow night.

Pepsi Pot Roast

INGREDIENTS:
3-lb. pot roast
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
2 10-3/4 oz. cans of fat-free, low-sodium cream of mushroom soup
2 16-oz. bottles of diet soda

PREPARATION:
1. Place meat in slow cooker.
2. In large bowl mix soup, onion soup mix and cola. Pour over roast in cooker.
3. Cover. Cook on high 6 hours.

Per Serving:
Calories: 170, 7g total fat, (2g saturated fat, .5g trans fat), 70mg cholesterol, 430mg sodium, 4g total cabs, 0g fiber, 23g protien

Tony
8/1: 251.8 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
31.8 lbs. to go

Freinds Don't Let Freinds Play Softball

And this is why.




We were down by ten runs in the bottom of the 7th. After a rally inning we had scored 6. When I stepped up to the plate there were two outs with runners on first and second. With menace in my eyes I took a mighty swing and fouled it straight back. One more strike to go.

The wind up, the pitch... it's a beautiful line drive down the third base line. The runners were moving like the bogeyman himself was hot on their tail. The play at home was fumbled. I made the split second decision to try and stretch it to a triple. Unfortunately... it was the wrong decision. We lost by two runs and I was left crippled and bleeding in the dirt.

Believe me I know better. My slide was so far from the plate they could have built a three lane highway between me and the bag.

After the numbing effects of Bactine and Mich Golden Light kicked in I was feeling pretty good. But let me tell you, for about an hour and half there I was feeling the pain and it was not good!

The good news? My batting slump seems to be in full retreat. I was 5 for 6 at the plate last night. I'm back baby... just in time for the last game of the season.

I have my first ever chiropractic appointment this morning. I wonder if she can do anything for my leg?

Tony
7/31: 251.8 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
31.8 lbs. to go

Baby. Fat.

As I was looking through pictures from this weekend, I saw this photo and it got me kind of choked up. I am so happy to finally have pictures with my girls that I am not embarrassed of.

The thought of looking back at pictures like this in 20 years makes me cringe. I don't want this to be me. I don't want this to be the father my girls grow up with.


Pictures like this are the reason I can not fail this time. My girls are getting old enough to start forming memories that will last the rest of their life. When that happens, when they get to the point where they develop their first memory of their daddy, I want to be someone that I am proud to be. I want to be the father in that first picture, not the fat guy in this one.



Ok, now I am making myself cry. Not a good place to be for writing witty copy about coffee and sugary cereal. Time to move on.

Tony
7/30: 251.8 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
31.8 lbs. to go

Strength Training

Here is the new exercise I invented for Strength Training. I call it Baby Bench Press.

Thanks to a lot of help from my Dad, I have started to put together my strength training routine.

Daily Exercises:
Push Ups (Currently at 12 a day)
Stomach Crunches

Every Other Day Exercises:
Squats
Walking Lunges
Calf Raises
Dips

As I progress, I plan to add some medicine ball exercises and some free weight stuff.

I am continuing to walk every day (or almost every day) and I am adding more running to my route. 6 weeks ago I was doing 2.2 miles in 32 minutes. Now I am at 2.2 miles in 28 to 29 minutes. I figure about .5 miles of that is running.

Tony
7/30: 251.8 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
31.8 lbs. to go

P.S.
I promise to keep the topless photos to a minimum... at least until I'm looking a little buffer. I just couldn't resist this one.