The Weigh-In Week 38

Let me start with a huge congratulations to my lovely wife!!!!! While I was pigging out due to a stressful week, she managed an incredibly loss. And trust me, she had just as much if not more crazzines this week than I did!!! Way to go sweetie you are looking hot!!!



219!!! A gain of a whole heck of a lot.

But did you notice the asterisk. I know this is cheating and rationalizing and all that but I really don't weigh 219.

Ok, I did weigh 219 when I step on the scale this morning, but for the rest of this week I have weighed 217.

Last night I was at a board meeting surrounded by salty snacks of which I helped myself to plenty. So that is the asterisk. I blame the 219 on late night salty snacks. It should be gone tomorrow, or the next day.

But even without this mornings tainted weigh-in I still would have had a gain this week.

So let's get to the real issue. I am a pretty even keel guy. I don't get stressed out much, and when I do get stressed I do my best to keep it calm on the outside... the whole duck under the water thing.

I have been a little overwhelmed these last two weeks. To be honest, there is a lot of it I love. I love preforming under pressure, I love how it makes the work exciting... I don't love missing my family or letting the stress drive me to eat however.

Last week I was genuinely stress eating, it was an unconscious falter.

This week I have been using stress as an excuse to allow myself to pig out... and I knew I was doing it. Every one of those snacks was a conscious decision "justified" by my "oh so stressful week"!

Well next week looks like it is going to be just as crazy as the past two, but I am retiring the "stress eating" excuse. I am getting back on track next week, crazy week or not! No ifs, ends or buts about it.

The good news in all this gluttony is my exercise. In the past workouts would have been the first thing to go when I was tight on time. But not now.

My workouts have been my one constant over the last two weeks. That is a huge accomplishment for me and one I am very proud of.

Ok I got deadlines people, so until next week, have a great weekend.

Tony
2/29: 219lbs
NEW GOAL: 214
5 pounds to go

The Wife Weighs In...Week 21

Happy Leap Day, GHMIW fans!

This month has been ridiculous. I feel as though I am just running in circles. Work has been so busy and we've had extra commitments and I have just felt like we haven't had a moment to take a breath. Yuck.

Between Tony's business trip, a co-worker being out with pneumonia, and our family working hard to avoid contracting the stomach flu, this has not been my most focused week. I did not get to the gym even one time...not even for yoga on Monday! Boo!

But, I had a very good loss this week. Hurray! I finally broke through the plateau. That gives me great motivation to stay on track next week, so that I might be able to continue the momentum.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Until next week,
Laura (a.k.a. Elle Tee Jay)

2/22/08: 187.0 pounds
2/29/08: 184.2 pounds (a loss of 2.8 pounds)
Total loss: 44.2 pounds (only 0.8 pounds to a 45-pound total loss!)
Next goal: 182.0 pounds (2.2 pounds to go)

P.S. Laura's shortest...update...ever.

Guess How Much I Weigh Contest - Week 38

How the heck is it Thursday already!!!!!!

One more week of blind guessing. Sorry. I am hoping to have more time for you all next week. Just because I'm ignoring you doesn't mean I don't care for you.

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 February 25th.


Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!


Tony
2/28: 216lbs
NEW GOAL: 214
2 pounds 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.

Still here...

and still dedictaed.

Sorry for the prolonged abscence the last two weeks. I know when some one dissapears for any lengthg of time from thier weight loss blog, the tendency is to think they have giving up and reverted back to thier previous life. While I have had a few slips the last few weeks I am still here and still as dedicated as ever.

Life has simply gotten in the way of blogging. And honestly when I get this busy this blog has to be the first thing I cut back on.

The lastest interruption has been a last minute trip to Chicago... in the middle of the cities 30th snowstorm of the year.

I'll be back home tomorrow and hopefully we be able to resume regular up dates in a day or two.

I hope all is well with all of you.

Talk to you soon...I promise!

Tony

The Wife Weighs In...Week 20

Happy Friday, GHMIW fans!

So, I had a small gain this week.

It was absolutely to be expected. I ate horribly from Friday through Sunday afternoon. I had Chipotle for lunch on Friday, worked (very) late that night and had deep-fried appetizers and a bloody mary or two with a co-worker afterwards. On Saturday, I had swedish meatballs and mashed potatoes for lunch at Ikea and pizza for dinner.

Then, there was the blow-out at a Sunday brunch family gathering...egg bakes, cheesey potatoes (one of my biggest "red flag" foods), Tony's grandmother's homemade doughnuts, and some sort of wonderfully sticky and gooey french toast in a pan.

Yum.

Come to think of it...I'm surprised I didn't have a bigger gain.

I kicked it back into gear on Monday. Yoga on Monday night and cardio on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Unfortunately, I slept through my alarm both this morning and Wednesday morning. The extra sleep was nice, but I really could have used those extra workouts.

You see, I really need to break through this plateau. For the last seven weeks, I have been trapped in a three-pound range. 189.4 at the top, and last week's 186.4 at the bottom. Given all the success I've had over the last year (almost), I find it frustrating that I'm having so much trouble sucking it up and doing what I need to do to power through this plateau. Grrr.

Maybe I'm stuck in a rut created by the winter blahs. Maybe I need to remember the words of support I got from Laura N a couple of weeks ago: "Hang in there... spring is around the corner, when all things bloom and become new, including our ability to lose more weight." I can only hope.

On a positive note...at least I'm not gaining the ten pounds I have traditionally put on each winter.

So, in the words of Scarlett O'Hara, "Tomorrow is another day." I hope to be able to keep it together throughout the weekend so that I'm not starting my week off at a disadvantage. Wish me luck!

Until next week!
Laura (a.k.a. Elle Tee Jay)

2/15/08: 186.4 pounds
2/22/08: 187.0 pounds (a gain of 0.6 pounds)
Total loss: 41.4 pounds
Next goal: 182.0 pounds (5.0 pounds to go)

The (Brief) Weigh-In Week 37

216. That's what it said on the scale this morning. a gain of 1.4 pounds.

This was expected considering the week I have had and the stress eating I was doing.

I fill ya all in later or maybe tomorrow. Pictures too I promise.

Tony

Guess How Much I Weigh Contest - Week 37

It's random guessing time!!!!

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 February 18th.


Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!


Tony
2/21: 214.6lbs
NEW GOAL: 214
.6 pounds 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.

Did You Miss Me?

This week is looking a tad bit crazy for me so the odds are good you won't be hearing from me much.

I'll post the contest on Thurs without tracking and do my best to get the weigh-in up in a timely manner on Fri.

If the weigh in is not up on Fri. I'll get it up on Saturday.

Have good week. Try not to miss me too much.

Tony

The Wife Weighs In...Week 20

Happy Friday, GHMIW fans!

What a week! I can’t believe it’s Friday already.

I need to be perfectly honest…I have been ravenous all week. My stomach has been growling from morning until night. In fact, I could eat my desk right now. I’ve been tracking my WW Points (thought I’d try something new) and having a heck of a time staying within my daily allotment. Goal for next week: fill up on more veggies.

I got to the gym four times this week. Yoga on Monday night, personal training session on Tuesday, cardio on Wednesday and this morning. I stayed home yesterday morning so that I could be with my darling husband and beautiful little girls on Valentine’s Day morning. We surprised them with books and special placemats and heart-shaped waffles with raspberries and whipped cream. They loved it and, from what I hear, they requested that breakfast as a “snack” all day long.

I enjoyed my training session with Stef, who is very positive and supportive. We didn’t get through the entire work-out in the one-hour session, so another session will be in order. My quads are still a little sore this morning from the lunges. When I saw Stef this morning I told her that I can still feel the fatigue in my muscles when I move my foot from the gas pedal to the brake pedal. She was a little surprised and said I may want to decrease the number of lunges next time. Oh, thank goodness.

I am starting to see some new muscle definition in my arms, shoulders, and calves. It is also very easy to tell which clavicle I broke playing touch football in eight grade. I haven’t seen collarbones in quite a while…how nice.

‘Til next Friday!
Laura (a.k.a. Elle Tee Jay)

2/08/2008: 186.8 pounds
2/15/2008: 186.4 pounds (a loss of 0.4 pounds)
Total pounds lost: 42.0 pounds
Next goal: 182.0 pounds (4.4 pounds to go)

The Weigh-In Week 36

214.6! That's what it said on the scale this morning. A loss of .6

So close once again!!!

I am extremely happy with this small loss. Not so much because the loss is small, but I am under 215 for the first time in well over a decade. And being under 215 means I am no longer OBESE.

I know I said I needed to get to 214, but technically I just needed to get under 215.

A body mass index of 30 is considered Obese. A BMI between 25 to 29.9 is considered Overweight. I am at 29.9.

So I am excited, but I'm saving the celebration until I get under 214 since that was the original goal.

Once again Teresa is our big winner this week. Will not exactly big since there were only 9 votes, but definitely a winner. No prize but Teresa does win big congratulations! With an exclamation point even!


Have a great weekend everybody.

Tony
2/15: 214.6lbs
NEW GOAL: 214
.6 pounds to go

p.s.

I almost forgot....

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!!

Share the love, not the chocolates!

Guess How Much I Weigh Contest - Week 36

As always it's going to be touch and go for tomorrow's 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. 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 February 11th.

Calories Consumed: From Friday morning through Wednesday. night I have consumed aprox. 13440 calories.

Calories Burned: From Friday morning through Wednesday night I have burned aprox. 22794 calories.

36% of my calories have come from fat.
13% 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
2/14: 215.2lbs
NEW GOAL: 214
1.2 pounds 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.

Body Fat

This whole time I have been basing my success at getting healthy on what the scale says and how far I can run.

As you can imagine I am pretty happy with both those indicators.

Last week I finally got around to taking some measurements and figuring out my body fat.

Now I am wishing I had been taking measurements all along. I had really good intentions of keeping track, honestly I did. But when you come home every night to two smiling balls of energy yelling "Daddy's home, daddy's home", you tend to forget those less important things until it's too late.

So according to this website, I have 24% body fat.

They say the average American male is at 22% body fat, top athletes are at 3 to 10% body fat and the healthy normal range for me should be 15%.

I know I shouldn't be surprised that I am so far above the healthy percentage, but I still am.

Having watched the numbers on the scale go down overtime, I have context for that success. This number is still arbitrary to me and because of that it feels really high. I

t makes me wonder what my body fat would have been at my heaviest.

The Perfect Weekend

Despite temps that dipped south of 30 degrees (when you count the wind chill) I had a nearly perfect weekend.

We carted the family up to my parents lake place for a little hibernation. Although we didn't hibernate nearly as much as the weather would have permitted.

It was a weekend full of good fun, good food and a lot of video games.

Best of all it was a very active weekend with some huge milestones.

My father and my brother-in-law and I went for a run on Saturday morning...when the wind chill was a measly 5 above. This was the first time I have run with my father in more than 6 months. Not only did I mange to keep up and finish another outdoor 5K, I did it faster than ever before.

We did 4.3 miles in 42 minutes. I had to take a 4 minute walk break at around 3.5 miles. Other than that I ran the whole way. My normal runs are around 3.9 miles in 45 minutes. A huge improvement. It helps that I was cold and motivated to show off in front of my dad.

We also packed up the whole family and hit the pool on Saturday. Again, a great way to stay active and I just love how much my little girls love the water. Oh, the hot tub felt pretty good after that run too.

As for the video games... there was no sitting around mashing buttons. We were Wii-ing it baby. Maybe not a great workout but still something active.

Turns out the only Wii game I am any good at is Tennis. My lovely wife and my sister kicked my butt at Boxing. My wife kicked my butt at Cow Racing. (Yes cow racing is an actually game.) My mother kicked everybody's butt at bowling.

Heck even my 80-year old grandma kicked my butt at bowling.

Maybe the best part of the weekend was the food. My lovely wife and sister and mother made some delicious meals this weekend that, while not being "diet" healthy, were made with our healthy lifestyles in mind. It made it so much easier to eat good this weekend knowing that everyone else was trying to do the same thing.

And we ate well too. Turns out it's not that hard to make great tasting meals that are also better for you meals. Says the guy who did no cooking this weekend.

I did gain 2.8 pounds over the weekend but according to my wife most of that is due to the sodium in the Chicken we had for dinner last night. I am betting the gain is gone by tomorrow.

214 here I come!

Tony
2/11: 215.2lbs
NEW GOAL: 214
1.2 pounds to go.

The Wife Weighs In...Week 19

Happy Friday, GHMIW fans!

I feel as though I have some renewed momentum today. What a relief.

I have been on a weight loss plateau since the Christmas...up a little, down a little, and not really going anywhere. After almost six weeks of standing still, I started to panic a little...this is how things usually begin to unravel. My fear was that the little ups and downs were going to start becoming a series of little ups and ups, then a series of big ups. I needed to get things back on track...and fast.

Inspired by my darling husband's stand-off over the last couple of weeks, I decided to take a stand of my own. For me, it began yesterday. I logged each and every crumb and morsel that passed my lips yesterday, something I haven't done for a long time.

In addition, I made a bold move yesterday morning at the gym. Some of you may remember the horrible experience I had with a personal trainer when I joined the club. Since then, I've wanted to talk to a different trainer about designing a new weight program for me, but I've been fearful, thinking that it might be another disaster.

I started talking to one of the club's female trainers yesterday morning (I'll call her "Stef"...'cause that's her name) and before I knew it, she was apologizing for the last trainer's behavior, running me through a new assessment, and setting me up with an appointment to work with her next Tuesday morning.

Stef is friendly, positive, and supportive. She understands that I am a mother of two with a full-time job and not a lot of extra time to spend at the gym. Plus, she doesn't care that I can only afford to work with her once every three to six months. I can't wait for next week's session and am hopeful that starting a new strength training program will help build on the momentum I'm feeling this week.

I had a good loss this week and am at my lowest weight since beginning this journey. (Hurray!)

I may have broken through the plateau, but I am not resting on my laurels. This is only the first step in the turn-around. I will probably relax a bit (but not a lot) over the weekend, as I will be spending it at the cabin with Tony's family. However, the stand-off will be back in full effect on Monday.

Until next Friday,
Laura (a.k.a. Elle Tee Jay)

2/01/2008: 188.4
2/08/2008: 186.8 (a loss of 1.6 pounds)
Total pounds lost: 41.6
Next goal: 182.0 pounds

The Weigh-In Week 35

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

And, a new low for me!

Finally I have dropped below my pre-holiday low of 216.2.!!! As you can probably tell from the exclamation points I am ecstatic. It took seven weeks, but I am finally back on track!

I wish I had more time to revel but I am swamped today. So one more quick pat on the back...(pat, pat)...and we'll move on.

The goal this weekend is to eat sensible and get a workout in with my Dad. Hopefully I can avoid starting Monday with a big gain. If I can manage that, I think I have a good chance of hitting my 214 goal next Friday.

Obesity I'm coming for you!!!

The guesses were tight this week. No one nailed it on the head, but Cousin Angie was closest with 1.5. See, sometimes those odd numbered guesses do pay off.

Only 8 votes this week, so no prize. Which works out OK since I am still trying to find a recipe for my Dad's Banana Cream Pie. If anybody knows a good lower cal recipe, please send it my way.

Correction. Alan from Texas squeezed two guesses in right under the wire; one for himself and one for my cousin Geoff. That puts us at ten and makes Uncle Alan the big winner with a dead on guess of 1.6.

Uncle Al requested a nice family portrait of the skinny Johnson clan, so that shall be his prize. We'll take some pictures this weekend and send you one next week. Congratulations!!!

I'm looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend with the family.

Hope you all have a good weekend too. If you're in Minnesota don't forget to bundle up.I hear it's going to be so cold on Saturday night that any exposed skin will shrivel up and fall off in just 20 seconds.

Tony
2/08: 215.2lbs
NEW GOAL: 214
1.2 pounds to go.

Guess How Much I Weigh Contest - Week 35

The numbers might not look so good this week but I think if I can stay strong today that I can still pull out a loss tomorrow.

I didn't bother trying to recap the gluttony from the weekend. Just know that I ate wy more than I should have. I did step it up in the gym this week. Well kind of... I went from running my 5ks at 5.5 mph to running them at 5.7 mph. I have completed 4 5ks in a row since last Wed.

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 February 4th.

Calories Consumed: From Monday morning through Wednesday. night I have consumed aprox. 7392 calories.

Calories Burned: From Monday morning through Wednesday night I have burned aprox. 11730 calories.

32% of my calories have come from fat.
11% of those calories came from Saturated Fats.

52% of my calories came from carbs.

16% of my calories came from protein.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!


Tony
2/07: 216.8lbs
NEW GOAL: 214
2.8 pounds 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...Keeping It Off

In last week’s post, I promised a post about strategies for weight loss maintenance. First of all, looking at my track record, maintenance of weight loss has never been my strong suit. I have always been great at losing the weight, but keeping it off has been another story. That said...

I was out for cocktails one night last fall with Tony’s sister (a.k.a. Sister Sarah), Nana Heather, and a good friend of theirs who has been very successful at maintenance after a big loss. Her advice? You can relax a little once you reach your goal, but if the number on the scale goes up ten pounds, you’d better get back on that weight loss horse and ride it hard.

Well, maybe she didn’t put it exactly like that, but you get the idea.

Interestingly enough (or maybe not...your choice), I am taking part in a weight loss maintenance study conducted by our former heath insurance provider’s research foundation and the Obesity Prevention Center at the University of Minnesota. The study was for healthy adults who had lost at least 10% of their body weight in the previous year, and is being used to test two different “Keep It Off” programs.

As part of my program, I report my weight weekly and speak with a personal coach every other week. Also, as part of the program, I was given a course book based on lessons learned from the National Weight Control Registry, a research study tracking “over 5,000 individuals who have lost significant amounts of weight and kept it off for long periods of time.” (NWCR Website)

What has been interesting to me about these maintenance strategies is that they are the same as the weight loss strategies. Every chapter in my course book could be the outline for a Weight Watchers meeting: Physical Activity, Menu Planning, Overcoming Barriers, etc.

The “Keep It Off” strategies for successful weight-loss maintenance? Here we go:

1. Be physically active; take part in 60 to 90 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity each day.
2. Write down your weight, physical activity, and eating on a regular basis, preferably daily.
3. Eat a diet that is moderate in calories and allows you to maintain your weight.
4. Eat breakfast every day.
5. Enlist social support to help you eat healthfully, be active, and maintain your weight.
6. Don’t let lapses turn into full “relapses”—restart your weight-loss plan if you gain two to five pounds.
7. Appreciate the progress you’ve made, even if you haven’t achieved your “dream” weight.

This has led me to a grand epiphany. The strategies for weight loss maintenance are the very same strategies used to lose the weight in the first place. In order to be successful, one must make a complete lifestyle change. Forever. Period.

That’s what makes maintenance so difficult. When you have been significantly overweight for a long period of time, you believe that once you lose the weight, the struggle will be over.

Guess again.

Eventually, I came to the realization that there is no reward at the end of the journey. Or, more correctly, there is no “end” at the end of the journey. At the risk of sounding trite, the reward is truly in the journey itself.

So, as a response, I am learning to enjoy the struggle. And that, in a nutshell, is my strategy for weight loss maintenance.

At least I sound like I know what I'm talking about, right?

Ash Wednesday

It's ash Wednesday. A day of abstinence and fasting for us Catholics to kick off the lenten season.

I think I have done a good job of getting my snacking under control these last two weeks, but I can guarantee you that I am going to have cravings all day today. Simply because I am told I must fast, it will be a struggle.

When it's my choice no problem. When it's somebody else's choice, bring on the cravings.

I suppose that's the repentance part of the day. If we're not conscious of the sacrifice then the sacrifice doesn't mean much does it.

So bring on the cravings. For today and today only I welcome them as a chance to reflect and repent and to give thanks for all the gifts I have been given.

Tony
2/05: 216.8lbs
NEW GOAL: 214
2.8 pounds to go.

The Wife Weighs In...Week 18

Happy Friday (ur, Tuesday), GHMIW fans!

As Tony mentioned in the comments to Friday’s post, I was home with our girls on Friday, which made it difficult for me to post my update. In addition, because I was home with the girls on Friday, I spent a lot of time getting caught up yesterday, which made it difficult for me to post an update.

So, I thought I’d post a quick update today.

Last week was not great. My eating wasn’t actually all that bad, but I had terrible cravings all week long. I gave in and made some very tasty Weight Watchers chocolate chip cookies, which helped.

I had a small gain that I am attributing to general lethargy, a lack of motivation, sub-zero temperatures, and hormonal water retention. I didn’t break through that plateau, but c’est la vie. This is a new week.

Laura (a.k.a. Elle Tee Jay)

1/25/2008: 187.8

2/01/2008: 188.4 (a gain of 0.6 pounds)
Total loss: 40.0 pounds
Next goal: 182.0 pounds

Kind Of An Anniversery

Last week marked the one year anniversary of my first stuttering steps on this healthy lifestyle journey.

In February of 2007 I started tracking my calories and watching what I was eating. As most of you know I started at 288 pounds.

This is the photo that inspired me to want to change.

I saw this photo and I was so embarrassed for myself that I made a decision to do something about it. I jumped in without a plan. It was a diet, not a lifestyle change. And, it worked for a little while.

I lasted about two months and got down to 274. A respectable loss to be sure. Alas it was not to be sustained. By April I was off the diet and eating worse than ever. By June I was back up to 280.

June is when my weight loss journey really started. June is when I started this blog. Shortly there after I set some realistic goals and put together a healthy eating and exercise plan.

June is also when I discovered my real motivation. For the first time, I wanted to lose weight to be healthy for myself and my family. It was less about vanity this time around and more about living a quality life and being there for my daughters.

And this time it worked.

So here are the 3 things I have learned this year that have made all the difference.

1. You have to find the right motivation.
Maybe vanity is the right motivation for you. Maybe it's a doctor telling you you will die if you don't get in shape. The motivation needs to be more than "I want to lose some weight." Take the time to figure out why you want to lose that weight and that motivation well get you through the tough times.

2. You have to find something or someone to hold you accountable.
Maybe it's Weight Watchers. Maybe it's a spouse or a friend. For me it was this blog. You can not do this alone. You will need support and encouragement.

3. You have to exercise.
Without exercise you're simply dieting. Exercise changes everything.! Just start walking a half hour a day, everyday. Walk as fast as you can. Once your comfortable build up to more strenuous exercise. Eventually you will learn to love it.

Tony
2/05: 216.8lbs
NEW GOAL: 214
2.8 pounds to go.

Weekends Are Killing Me

I know this has been a common theme from the very beginning, but I have got to figure out a way to get my weekend eating under control.

I am so good during the week and then once my daily routines go away so do my healthy habits.

It's not like I'm going crazy every weekend. But there always seem to be two or three key moments where I do something stupid that causes the scale to jump 3 pounds on Monday morning.

This weekend we were in Duluth. We had a lovely weekend. We even got out to see a movie with some friends. Two movies in one week. What is going on here?!!!

Laura and I split a medium popcorn. A movie just isn't a movie without the popcorn. But then for some reason I finished off an entire box of Dots that we had bought for our friend. It makes no sense. I wasn't hungry. I'd just had a big thing of popcorn and a nice dinner.

They were there. That is the only reason I ate them. They were there.

It amazes me how Monday though Friday I can be so good and not feel hungry, but on Sunday afternoon I can eat a brunch with more calories than any entire week day worth of eating and still feel starved.

So now that I am feeling back on track with my week day eating. The next step is to get the weekends under control.

I need to find a balance between having a little freedom and going totally hog wild.


I did do one good thing this weekend. I got up on Sunday morning and went for a run down by Lake Superior. It was so beautiful. A winter run down by the lake is one of the most peaceful things you'll ever experience.

I was supposed to go cross country skiing with my father-in-law but the rental place rented me to left boots. Always check before you leave the store. I am pretty proud of myself for channeling my frustration into a run instead of plopping down on the couch in front of the TV.

Tony
2/04: 216.8lbs
NEW GOAL: 214
2.8 pounds to go.

The Weigh-In Week 34

216.8!!! That's what it said on the scale this morning. A loss of .6

I have to admit I am a little disappointed this morning. I really, really wanted to get back to that pre-holiday low today. I am disappointed because I really thought I was back on track. I ate well this week, I didn't snack, I had a full week of workouts. So I am bummed that I missed 216.

The reality is it's getting a lot harder to come up with big losses. I know that is an inevitable part of the dramatic losses I have already accomplished. I need to make some mental adjustments now. To shift into a new gear and celebrate every little loss as if it were a big loss, because at this point it kind of is. This last 16 pounds could easily take as long as the first 70 to come off, if it comes off at all.

In many ways I am past the point where weight loss should be my main focus. Right now I need to concentrate on living healthy and if the weight continues to come off, that's just an extra bonus.
I have to keep reminding myself of that.

Although I really do want to hit that 214 before race day!

I made this to help me feel better.

It worked!

Everybody was over this week, although my lovely wife was closest with a guess of .8 lbs.

Hopefully we will all have better luck next week.

Have a great weekend everybody.

Tony
1/31: 216.8lbs
NEW GOAL: 214
2.8 pounds to go.

Guess How Much I Weigh Contest - Week 34

Once again I completly spaced this being Friday. We finally have a full week of stats to report!!!! Woo-Hoo!!

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 January 28th.

Calories Consumed: From Thursday morning through Wednesday. night I have consumed aprox. 16415 calories.

Calories Burned: From Thursday morning through Wednesday night I have burned aprox. 26075 calories.

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

53% of my calories came from carbs.

16% of my calories came from protein.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!


Tony
1/31: 217.4lbs
NEW GOAL: 214
3.4 pounds 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.

Standoff Week 2 - Hour 84

I am starting to get a little worried about tomorrows weigh-in. With the exception of Tuesday night I have been holding strong to this standoff and I thought I was winning the battle, but the scale seems to have a different opinion. Not all hope is lost . Knowing the way my body works I could still post a good size loss tomorrow. I just thought I would be a little farther along today.

I did eat late last night. I made a pie for my dad. His prize from last week. It was a new recipe from weight watchers so I figured I should try it out. Unfortunately I had to wait until 11pm for the pie to be ready to eat. Double unfortunately, the pie was awful. Actually awful is to light a word. It was horrendus. This was an affront to all pie kind.

Sorry Dad. You'll have to wait a little longer for your pie until I can find a better recipe. These two pies are heading for the trash can and they can't get there soon enough.

There is some good news though.

I finished another 5K run yesterday!!! After Monday's run I was convinced it was going to be a week before I could work back up to the 5K. Guess I just needed a little faith. It felt good to be back in stride. Pun intended.

Here's the stats:
Total Calories For Yesterday: 1924
Total Calories Burned: 4032
Net Calories: -2108

Tony
1/31: 217.4lbs
NEW GOAL: 214
3.4 pounds to go.

Standoff Week 2 - Hour 60

We had a lovely date night last night despite the frigid temps. -35!!!! Yikes.

I don't think I did too much damage to the standoff. We went to California Pizza Kitchen where I had a BBQ Pizza and a beer. Then we split a large popcorn (with just an itsy-bitsy spritz of butter topping) and a large Cherry Coke at the movie.

Total Calories For Yesterday: 2941
Total Calories Burned: 3808
Net Calories: -867

Ok so looking at those numbers I may have done a little more damage than I thought...but who cares. We had a great night out and with some extra effort in the gym I should still be on track this week.

By the way, I highly recomend the film Juno. One of the best written films I have seen in years. And I am not just saying that becasue the authour is a fellow Minnesotan.

I'm off to the treadmill.

Tony
1/30: 217.4lbs
NEW GOAL: 214
3.4 pounds to go.

Standoff Week 2 - Hour 33

The second week of this standoff is starting out as good as the first and the scale is reflecting that.

I ate well yesterday and got back on the treadmill.

That was a little painful. After nearly two weeks of not running, the treadmill kind of kicked my fanny. I was no where near running a 5K. I am really hoping I can get back up to a 5K by next Monday or Wednesday. Today is strength training.

Total Calories For Yesterday: 1798
Total Calories Burned: 4000
Net Calories: -2,202

For those of you keeping score here are my weekend totals.

Total Calories For Weekend: 5576
Total Weekend Calories Burned: 6930
Net Calories For Weekend: -1354

I will be taking a short break from the standoff for date night tonight.

That's right, my lovely wife and I are having a rare date night. We are going to dinner and seeing a movie. I think this will be the first time in over 3 months that we have had the chance to go out for dinner and a movie.I will be having popcorn tonight. I'll just run a little extra hard tomorrow.

Tony
1/29: 217.4lbs
NEW GOAL: 214
3.4 pounds to go.

Standoff - Week 2

After a weekend of relaxed restrictions, I am back in standoff mode.

I did ok this weekend but I could have done a lot, lot better. The scale was up 2 pounds from Friday this morning. Good motivation to hit the treadmill hard this afternoon.

The goal is to get to 216 or less by Friday. If I can make it I will be under my pre holiday low for the first time since the Christmas Gluttony. I'm think with a full week of workouts I should be able to make it.


Tony
1/28: 217.4lbs
NEW GOAL: 214
3.4 pounds to go.

The Wife Weighs In...Week 17

Happy Friday, GHMIW fans!

Like Tony, I’ve had a rough time getting back into the swing of things after the holidays. I’ve lost some of my drive and determination, and I’m hoping I can get it back soon. And, like my darling husband, while I don’t feel that the train is back on track, I do feel as though I have the potential to get it back on the rails this week…as long as no one feels the need to tempt me with Chipotle burritos (I’m not mentioning any names, but you know who you are).

I did okay this week, despite the delicious steak burrito bol (mmm...Chipotle). I had a loss, putting me right back where I was two weeks ago. I got myself to the gym three mornings this week and am hoping to go at least once this weekend, too. I am now walking at a rate of 4 miles an hour and running at 5. This morning, I ran for 15 of my 45 minutes (8 minutes, 5-minute walk, then 7 more minutes). For someone like me, who has never (I mean EVER) been a runner, that is huge.

This week, as Tony was blogging about getting back on track, Dona (who is on a healthy living journey with her husband) commented on how easy it is to pick up old habits and how much easier all of this is when you have a partner on whom to lean. Absolutely.

K also commented we have demonstrated that “a little stumble doesn’t have to turn into a crash and burn scenario.” I think that is what is so much different for me this time. There is a lot of old-fashioned determination involved but, moreover, it is all about the accountability.

Going back to the "partner thing"...for the first time in our (almost) 13 years together, Tony and I are keeping each other honest about what we’re eating. I will also admit, that accountability to this blog is also pretty motivating. While everyone has been so supportive (no matter what direction the numbers are moving), it’s downright embarrassing to post a gain. That’s a good thing for me.

K was also interested in a post about our strategies for weight loss maintenance. I would love to speak to that…tune in next week. (And, thanks for the kind words.)

The goal is to keep on keepin’ on this week. I’d really like to finally break through this 5-pound plateau I’ve been playing around with since just before Christmas. A 186 would look fantastic to me right now. Wish me luck!

'Til next week,

Laura (a.k.a. Elle Tee Jay)

1/18/2008: 189.4

1/25/2008: 187.8 (a loss of 1.6 pounds)

Total loss: 40.6 pounds

Next goal: 182.0 pounds

P.S. As of today, Tony and I have lost a combined total of 103.2 pounds! Yee-haw!

The Weigh-In Week 33

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

The standoff paid off! Considering the scale said 223 on Monday morning, I am extremely happy with this weigh-in.

So here's the plan. I am going to ease up a little for the weekend. No Dairy Queen or double decker ice cream sandwiches, but I am having lunch out tomorrow and breakfast out on Sunday. I'll do my best to play it cool but I'm not going to be in stand off mode. My lovely wife has some delicious and healthy dinners planed for the weekend so that should help too.

Then, on Monday it will be back to standoff mode for one more week. I am now 1.2 pounds above my lowest weight so far and 3.2 pounds above my next goal weight. My goal for next week is to get to at least 216, which will be a new low for me.

The bike was really good exercise this week and I think I may use it for some cross training, but starting Monday it's back to the treadmill and strength training.

Our winner this week is my Dad. Nice job Dad. I've got a super special prize for you. I have a couple of low-fat banana cream pie recipes that I would like to try and you get to be my guinea pig. I'll try and whip one up to get to you next week.

I'm not feeling 100% back on track but I do feel like the train is finally heading in the right direction.

Have a great weekend everybody.

Tony
1/25: 217.4lbs
NEW GOAL: 214
3.4 pounds to go.

Guess How Much I Weigh Contest - Week 33

My how time flies when you are spending all your time thinking about not eating. I completly forgot it is Thursday today... And you know what Thursday means!

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 those of you who have not been following the standoff this week, here are my stats from Monday through Wednesday. Sorry that's all I got. I can tell you that I had almost half a large pizza for dinner on Sunday night and a small DQ Blizzard on Sunday afternoon. I had lunch out on Saturday and had French fries, and last Friday night was our company holiday party at which I hit the buffet but didn't over do it too much. I only had one dessert!


Stats for the week of January 21st.

Calories Consumed: From Monday morning through Wednesday. night I have consumed aprox. 5426 calories.

Calories Burned: From Monday morning through Wednesday night I have burned aprox. 11612 calories.

25% of my calories have come from fat.
8% of those calories came from Saturated Fats.

52% of my calories came from carbs.

22% of my calories came from protein.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!


Tony
1/24: 219.2lbs
NEW GOAL: 214
5.2 pounds 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.

Standoff - Hour 81

We cleaned out or fridge at work this morning and had a buffet of every junk food breakfeast item you can think of. Toaster Strudel, Pop Tarts, Toaster Scramblers, Pancakes. If it can be cooked in a toaster and eating fro breakfast it was in the buffet.

Me, I had a bowl of cereal and a low fat blueberry muffin. The will power flows strong in this one.

At least so far.

Today is going to be a tough day. I forgot to pack a lunch this morning and I have a meeting right after work so I'll have to eat two meals out.

For lunch I will most likely grab a sandwich and an apple from the coffee shop in our building. The meeting is a church and a light pot luck supper is provided. I'm not sure if I'm going to eat there or grab Subway on the way.

Yesterday was another good day.

I misprogrammed the bike during my workout so I ended up doing 55 minutes on the bike instead of 45. I went 11.77 Miles and burned 704 Calories.

Same old lunch and dinner. Sadly last night was the last of the Potato Hot Dish. Potato Hot Dish you will be missed.

Total Calories For Yesterday: 1928
Total Calories Burned: 4095
Net Calories: -2,167

Standoff - Hour 58

Sticking to my guns so far. And I have new inspiration to succeed this week. Watching the Biggest Loser last night I was reminded once again how glad I am to no longer have man boobs!

I had an apple before heading to the Chiropractors yesterday which saved me from doing something stupid at the gas station.

The chiropractor says I am free to exercise as I feel comfortable. My back is still hurting, so I think I will stick with the bike for today and tomorrow. I see the doc again on Friday. I plan to rest over the weekend and get back on the treadmill on Monday. The 5K is less than 2 months away.

Had a small lunch when I got back to the office. Turkey Sandwich and All Natural Cheeto's Puffs. Two sticks of cinnamint Gum in the afternoon and a heaping helping of my mother-in-laws hot dish and a salad for dinner.

Total Calories For Yesterday: 1857
Total Calories Burned: 3483
Net Calories: -1,626

I stayed home with the girls for an extra hour this morning so instead of my usual bowl of cereal, I had an English muffin with peanut butter, a Fiber One Bar and a glass of Orange Juice. A slightly bigger breakfast than normal, but it kept me from doughnuts and muffins on the drive in.

Standoff - Hour 33

So far my will power is holding strong.

Last night I had a generous portion of the potato hotdishmy wonderful mother-in-law made before leaving town. It was delicious, but I resisted seconds. I also resisted the leftover pizza in the fridge, the johnny cake on the counter and the ice cream in the freezer.

I was home alone with the girls last night, which is a dangerous situation when cravings strike. But I prevalied.

Total Calories For Yesterday: 1641
Total Calories Burned: 4034
Net Calories: -2,393

I have just finished my bowl of cereal and I am ready to start the day... right after I grab a piece of gum and a glass of water.

I am off to the chiropractor today over lunch so no gym. I'll eat lunch when I get back. To stop me from being tempted to stop and get lunch on the way back to work I will have an apple before I leave. See how I'm thinking ahead.

Tony

Standoff - Hour 14

So far taking a stand is going well.

I made it down to the gym and sent 45 minutes on the bike.
I did 10.2 miles on the hilly setting and burned 676 calories.
Speaking of burning...that's what my legs are doing right now.

Had one bowl of Organic Apple Cinnamon Low Fat Crisp cereal for breakfast.
A turkey sandwich, 1 serving of All Natural Cheeto's Puff's and half a pear for lunch.
Chewed to Sticks of Gum.

Total Calories as of 2:30pm: 739

Today Is The Day I Take A Stand

I am in a bad place right now!

I am not eating all that great.

I am rationalizing skipping my workouts

I am back up over 220 again.

and on Sunday I went to Dairy Queen for a small Kit Kat Blizzard...and didn't tell anyone about it until now.

My back is getting better, but not better enough that I feel comfortable getting back on the treadmill yet. I have another appointment with the chiropractor on Tuesday. I hope to get the full low down then.

Since I don't want to run this week I started thing about all the other things I could do with my lunch break besides working out. I could get my hair cut. Get a little shopping done. Go to the post office.

The slippery slope just keeps getting slipperier.

So today I take a stand.
This week I am going to be super strict with myself.
I will eat breakfast everyday.
That breakfast will be a bowl of cereal. Not a muffin, not a doughnut. Not something I eat in a car.
I will not eat snacks that are not fruits or vegetables.
I will bring my lunch everyday.
I will go to the gym and ride the bike any day that I am not going to the Chiropractor.
I will track my calories
I will report everything I do on this site everyday this week.

I will not fail!


Tony
1/21: 219.2lbs
NEW GOAL: 214
5.2 pounds to go.

The Weigh-In Week 32

219. That's what it said on the scale this morning. A gain of .2 lbs.

Not too bad considering all the reasons my lovely wife listed below.

Sadly I think next week is going to be a real test. I am having some back trouble this week. I spent an hour at the chiropractor this morning and it looks like this pain may not have a quick fix like I was hoping. Which means I may be sidelined from the gym next week.

I'll know more tomorrow... but right now I am a little worried. My momentum has all been the wrong way since the New Year and a week without the workouts has derailment written all over it.

I am going to have to work extra hard to be strong for the next few weeks.

For now let's focus on what really matters.

Is my wife hot or what?!!!!!!

I am so proud of how good you look sweetie and so proud of your determination. Getting up every morning to go to the gym at 5am is not something I could do and it amazes me every time you do it.

I never said this to you but it was really fun to see you feeling sassy on Saturday. It made me so happy to be out with you feeling so comfortable and happy. I don't want you to ever lose that again.

Tony
1/18: 219.2lbs
NEW GOAL: 214
5.2 pounds to go.

The Wife Weighs In...Week 16

Happy Friday, GHMIW fans!

Okay...let's be perfectly honest...I am bitter. I had a gain this week and I am not pleased.

Of course, it was to be expected. We had pizza with friends last Friday night. Then, on Saturday night, Tony and I had a lovely and indulgent dinner that included appetizers, a pasta entree, and champagne cocktails. Later, we had after-dinner cocktails and split a dessert. We went out for breakfast the next morning and had Chinese take-out this week. To top it off, I was only able to get to the gym twice because of all the other things we had going on.

Bitter...bitter...bitter...and angry.

Exhale.

You know, on the other hand, in the past, this would have left me feeling demoralized instead of angry. I suppose that's a good thing.

I guess it's a huge positive that it's left me feeling sort of motivated. Yeah...that's it. I'm feeling motivated to hit this thing head on in the upcoming week. I'm refusing to let this get the best of me. I am bound and determined not to let myself slip back into those 190's I so desperately want to leave behind. I am a misses' size 16 now and, as God is my witness, I WILL NEVER SHOP AT LANE BRYANT AGAIN!

Exhale.

That felt pretty good. I haven't had a Scarlett moment in a while.

As another positive, I really felt great on our date night. Tony took the picture posted before we left the house on Saturday. It felt so good to go out and not be one of the heaviest girls in the room. That's something I haven't experienced in years and it is something I will be holding on to for a while, in case I need to remind myself why I started this in the first place.

Have a good weekend!
Elle Tee Jay (a.k.a. Laura)

My update:
1/11/2008: 187.8 (a loss of 3.8 pounds)
1/18/2008: 189.4 (a gain of 1.6 pounds)
Total loss: 39.0 pounds
Next goal: 182.0 pounds

Late Weigh In

I may not get to post my weigh in until after lunch. Very busy day tomorrow.

Tony

Guess How Much I Weigh Contest - Week 32

Sorry for my absence this week. We've had some kind of doctors appointment every morning since Tues. Nothings going on. We just managed to schedule all of our checkups in the same week.

And work has been nuts. The post holiday panic has set in and everybody is trying to rush through all the work they neglected in December.

So this has to be short.

No stats this week. Look at Mr. Commitment over here. 1 week of tracking and already off the wagon. I'll do my best to track this week.

This week was a mixed bag. I'm finally back on track in the gym and I stood strong on my Gluttony pledge...kind of. I cut out the impulse snacking this week, but I replaced a few breakfasts with doughnuts or muffins. 3 times this week in fact. A combination of running late due to doctors appointments and birthday celebrations at work.

It looks like it is coming down to today to decide whether I have a loss this week or not .

I'll do my best to behave. I had a good start to the morning. A banana and a Fiber One Bar and I am feeling very satisfied.

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
1/17: 219lbs
NEW GOAL: 214
5 pounds 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.

Goodbye Gluttony, Hello Little Gut

Hey Gluttony, come here I've got something to show you.



That's right I am showing gluttony the door.

To tell the truth, I wouldn't really call these last two week gluttonous. I have however been kind of weak willed when it comes to snacking. Every time I have a had a craving for something sweet, decadent or totally unnecessary in the last two weeks, I have given in. Fortuntley the cravings have been spaced out, not like the old days where I would stuff my face every two to three hours.

The damage has been minimal but it has been enough to raise some alarms. This is simply me being proactive and drying the slope before it becomes too slippery to climb back up.

So it is time to reassert my self control. I am going to try to start keeping some healthy snacks around the office (Fruit, Beef Jerky, etc.) and go back to craving replacement therapy. It worked very well for me when I was first starting out.

I'm not going to deny myself every last little sweet, but I will start saying no a little more often.

Tony
1/14: 219lbs
NEW GOAL: 214
5 pounds to go.

The Wife Weighs In...Week 15

Wow! Does it feel good to be past the holidays, or what? Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed every minute of the food, family, and friends, and having vacation time to spend with our little girls was wonderful. But, I love getting back to routine…back to a little structure, you know?

Admittedly, the re-entry into post-holiday life has been a little difficult, but it certainly feels great to be back to (and below) my pre-holiday low.


I hit a big milestone this week, finally clearing the 40-pound mark. Hurray! I attribute it to really watching my food intake, drinking LOTS of water, and hitting the treadmill and stair master.

I also went to a yoga class this week, which I really loved. I have to thank our neighbor (and friend) Ali for encouraging me to go. It’s difficult for me to skip out on bedtime to go to the gym, but I think this will really be worth it. Yoga seems to be a perfect fit for a high-strung girl like me.

Have a fantastic week, everyone!
Elle Tee Jay (a.k.a. Laura)

My update:
1/04/2008: 191.6
1/11/2008: 187.8 (a loss of 3.8 pounds)
Total loss: 40.6 pounds
Next goal: 182.0 pounds

The Weigh-In Week 31

219! That's what it said on the scale this morning. A loss of 1.4 pounds.

A good loss for the week despite my indiscretions.

My lovely wife and I have a weekend of fun activities planed, including our first "adult" night out in along time. So this weekend will be included as part of my transition week.

I am hoping to hit the gym good and hard next week with a healed toe and renewed determination. That 5K is just a little over 2 months away and a vacation requiring swim suits is not far beyond that. This is no time for slacking.

Speaking of slacking I found this during some spring cleaning this week.
It's an ad I did in 2000 for Excel Energy. It was my first national print ad. Honestly I think it was my only national print ad. I am a much better voice talent than I am a model. If you can't tell, that's me in the back.

When I first started acting professionally 10 years ago my agents told me I needed to either gain 50 pounds to get work as a character actor or lose 50 pounds to get work as a leading man. In the past 10 years I have managed to do both, yet neither seemed to help my acting career.

After weeks of not having to worry about coming up with a prize we finally have a big winner!!!!
Nato nailed the pound on the head...or should that be pounded the nail on the head? Either way he hit it right on the number with a guess of 1.4. Since it's been so long since I have had to give out a prize, I am feeling a little rusty with the whole clever gift thing. So, I shall fall back on an old favorite. Nate wins a package of Flat Out. If we can ever find some free time to get together, I'll even get my lovely wife to turn your flat out into a Flat Out pizza for ya.

Keep the votes coming in. It's good to know people are still watching and keeping me honest....although in the future, dog votes will not count. You know who you are you sneaky Texas dog. And I refuse to except the argument, "Dogs are people too." Because they are not!

Have a great weekend everybody.

Tony
1/11: 219lbs
NEW GOAL: 214
5 pounds to go.

Guess How Much I Weigh Contest - Week 31

At the beginning of this week it looked like it was going to be an easy transition back into living the healthy life from the gluttony of holiday living. Sadly I hit a few stumbles this week that are making that transition just a little less smooth.

One of those stumbles was a literal stumble. On Monday morning I stubbed my toe pretty bad. The official consensus between my lovely wife and I is that the toe is broken. It is looking much better this morning., though. I thinking skipping my run yesterday was a good choice, at least for the toe. Unfortuntly my run was replaced with a catered lunch of Chinesse and 4 hours of sitting on my butt in a meeting.

I was also hit with a case of the cravings this week... a few of which I gave into a lot easier than I expected. Nothing major. A Croissant here, half a chocolate bar there, a few extra creme cheese wantons way over yonder. Again, none of them that bad in themselves but all put together with a slow workout week they add up.

So I am offically calling this week the transition week from Gluttony to Goodness.

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 January 7th.

Calories Consumed: From Thursday morning through Wednesday. night I have consumed aprox. 16,051 calories.

Calories Burned: From Thursday morning through Wednesday night I have burned aprox. 25,599 calories.

33% of my calories have come from fat.
12% 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
1/10: 220.4lbs
NEW GOAL: 214
6.4 pounds 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 Thrill Of Victory, The Agony Of De Feet

I did it!!!!

I completed a 3.2 mile run outside in 32 minutes. That's without a treadmill or anything. Like actually running on the sidewalk and sometimes on the snow and sometimes on the ice and for a short few feet in the mud.

It felt great! Well it feels great now. At the time my legs were killing me. Which is surprising, considering it should have been my little toe on my left foot that was killing me.

Why my little toe on my left foot?

Because I think I broke the little toe on my left foot yesterday morning before I went out for my run. Strangely enough, it didn't hurt running. In fact it still doesn't hurt. It is however swollen and black and blue. I have it taped to" the little piggy that had none" right now.

According to Web MD and my lovely wife there isn't much I can do about a broken toe besides tapping it up. Hopefully this won't derail my workouts for the week.

Tony
1/8: 220.4lbs
NEW GOAL: 214
6.4 pounds to go.

Down Under 220...again

After having such success with the "Chasing Kids Around A Mall" exercise routine I decide to try a new kid based exercise this weekend, I call it the "Pulling Kids Around A Snow Filled Yard In A Sled And Building a Snowman with Seriously Heavy Wet Snow" exercise.

This one worked like a charm too. I managed to lose another pound and a half over the weekend to get me down under 220 again. This despite some generously large portions of my lovely wife's decadent Johnny Cake. Being under 220 has me feeling like I am really back on track.

All in all an excellent weekend. I did a lot of living in the moment.

The beautiful weather continues here in Minnesota. It was 46 yesterday and should be near the same today so I am planing on taking my act to the road. I'm going to try running outside today. The paths look clear. My goal is to finish my first ever outdoor 5k. Wish me luck.

Tony
1/7: 220.4lbs
NEW GOAL: 214
6.4 pounds to go.

The Wife Weighs In...Week 14

Happy New Year, GHMIW fans!

What a great holiday! Lots of family, lots of friends, and lots of fun. All that good stuff made it a little difficult to come back to work.

I will admit there was some general food-related debauchery over the holidays. I ate what I wanted, when I wanted:

Birthday cake (celebrating the 2nd anniversary of our daughters' births), cheesy potatoes, my mom's homemade caramel rolls, Tony's mom's egg souffle, lots and lots of salty ham, pizza from a favorite take-out place in Duluth with my family, Christmas cookies, pasta bar for dinner at a favorite local restaurant with a big group of old friends, a gigantic sushi feast with a close friend from far away, buffalo chicken dip on New Year's Eve, and so many other yummy things.

I drank what I wanted, when I wanted:

Beer, wine, Colorado Bulldogs, champagne, martinis...even a Tom and Jerry, one gigantic mojito (some might have called it a small pitcher), and one Chocolate Cake shot (celebrating the 30th anniversary of my sister-in-law's birth).

I also got to the gym a few times, which felt really good. (Thanks for being my workout buddy, Katie!)

I gave myself full license to enjoy the food and drink of the holiday without limitation. I actually sort of wanted to see what would happen. In my past, if I’ve been tracking my weight, I’ve been “dieting.” If I’m not “dieting,” I’m not tracking my weight. I usually de-rail when I know I haven’t been eating like I should and then I’m afraid to step on the scale. Thus begins the ugly downward spiral.

So, I decided to tempt fate and see what would happen if I let myself off the hook. I wanted to see just what the damage would be. The actual number wasn’t that bad. I will admit that getting back into the swing of healthy eating is a little tougher than I thought it would be, but I’m ready to kick it back into gear.

I can’t imagine going back to where I was. In fact, I refuse to do so. I mean, really…I’ve already unsubscribed from the Lane Bryant e-mail list.

Have a great week, everyone!
Laura

My update:
12/21/2007: 189.4 pounds
01/04/2008: 191.6 (a gain of 2.2 pounds)
Total loss: 36.8 pounds
Next goal: 182.0 pounds

The Weigh-In Week 30

220.4! That's what it said on the scale this morning. A loss of 3.2 pounds.

I'd call that a great start to the New Year. I still have 4 pounds to go to get down to my pre-holiday low and 6 pounds to reach overweight status, but that will come quickly enough. I'll be hitting the gym good and hard all week next week and getting my eating back on track has not been tough at all.

This has been an amazing year for me, and again all I can ask myself is why did it take so long to do this. Sure it has been some work, but not nearly as much as I expected. In fact once I got into the groove of things I would say the whole thing has come pretty easy. I guess you just have to be at the right place in your life to make the change.

So lets look back at who I was a year ago.


One year ago I weighed 288 pounds.
I regularly consumed over 3500 calories a day.
I couldn't run more than 1 minute at a time.
I wore a XXL shirt.
I wore size 46 pants.




Today I weigh 220 pounds.
I eat less than 2000 calories a day on average.
I work out 5 days a week for 45 minutes.
I can run more than 34 minutes at a time.
I can run a 5k on a treadmill.
I wear a L shirt.
I wear size 36 pants.
I feel great.

I am really proud of what I have accomplished .and I am really excited to see what new accomplishments I will be able to achieve this year.

As always I thank all of you for the help and support and encouragement.


Only 5 votes this week. Had we had 10 our winner would have been Cousin Angie. Nice voting Angie.

Have a great weekend everybody.

Tony
1/4: 220.4lbs
NEW GOAL: 214
6.4 pounds to go.

Guess How Much I Weigh Contest - Week 30

The first contest of the New Year.

So the gluttony. Well there was gluttony and a lot of it. The week between Christmas and New Years kind of turned into a food free for all. Somehow I convinced myself that I had a free pass to be as bad as I wanted and I was bad.... but not nearly as bad as I was on a daily basis 30 weeks ago. I guess that is the silver lining. Even in my worst pig-out moments last week, I was still more restrained than I would have been on any given day prior to starting this Journey. Hopefully next Holiday season I will be at a place where the word gluttony is long forgotten.

The good news is after just one day of eating better and hitting the gym the pounds are already starting to come off. I think we are for sure looking at a loss from last Friday's weigh-in.

I had a little extra motivation on the treadmill yesterday. Towards the end of my run a guy got on the treadmill next to me and started up a conversation. Turns out he is a triathlete who competed in this year Iron Man Championships in Kona, Hawaii and he knows my friend Anthony who also competed at Kona this year. This guy was cruising away at 9 or 10 miles an hour on the treadmill carrying on a conversation like we were sitting on a bench in the park. I on the other hand was huffing and puffing away. But I did run an extra 4 minutes because I was to embarrassed to stop running in front of him. It was a nice little kick in the pants to get me back in the swing of things.

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.

I started tracking calories yesterday...but one day of stats won't do you much good. So, stats will return next week.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!


Tony
1/3: 223.6lbs
NEW GOAL: 214
lots of 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.

Living For The Moment

I had a sort of epiphany on my way in to work today. I think it is the exact same epiphany I had on January 2nd last year.

I spend way to much of my life waiting for things to happen. I have not been living in the moment much lately.

The last few days were spent hanging around the house with my three girls with no real plan or purpose... something I used to love to do. But this time I was going stir crazy. I wanted to do things, to get out of the house and play. Go to the pool, go to a movie, do something.

What I realized on the my drive in this morning is what a wonderful day we ended up having just hanging around the house doing nothing. If I had been living in the moment I would have recognized it at the time.

My healthy journey is the one area of my life where I feel like I have really been living in the moment. Keeping this daily journal has forced me to appreciate the journey as much as the destination. Sure I have been pushing towards a goal, but along the way I have really enjoyed myself.

I've never been one for New Years resolutions, but if I were going to make one this year it would be to live life in the moment. To appreciate these golden times as they are happening. We'll see how I do.

As for the gluttony that was the last two weeks. We'll talk about that tomorrow. I can't wait to get back on the treadmill today... although I will take my time and enjoy these precious hours before then.

Tony
1/2: 223.6lbs
Goal: 220 lbs. ACCOMPLISHED
NEW GOAL: 214
lots of lbs. to go

Happy New Year

It seems almost criminal to weigh in the day after New Years Eve, but I promised I would. So the unofficial start to the New Year weight is 224.2!

Not a bad gain considering what I ate and drank last night. Buffalo Chicken Cheese Dip...Yum,Yum,Yum!!!!

The first official weigh-in of the New Year will be Friday. I'll be back tomorrow.

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

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.