Leading up to race day I was a bundle of nerves. I had not been sleeping well all week, but Saturday night I slept like a baby and when I woke up on Sunday morning I was surprisingly calm. A sort of Zen state had taken over. Sure I was excited but the nerves really weren't there.
I worked a lot on being mentally prepared for the day. I think that helped.
We got to the race course and things started flying. We got our race day packets, got our numbers marked on our arms and our legs, got our race chips and set off to set up our transition area.
I am amazed how fast the two hours went between arriving at the race and the start time.
The whole day was kind of like that, a blur.
My Dad and Evan (my brother-in-law) and I were all in the last heat of the day, heat 17. So we got to see how everything worked while we waited for our start time. Once we got on to the beach to start the swim I was feeling pretty confident that I knew what to expect.
I decided to hang back a little in the swim so I didn't get freaked out by the surge of swimmers all starting at once. Turns out I may have been better off trying to jump out front. I was probably a better swimmer than half the people in my heat, so I ended up having to swim around a lot of people.
The swim is still a blur. I can't believe how well it went and how little I needed to rest. I got out of the water and I was feeling tired but pure adrenaline was pushing me to go, go, go. And I saw my family right there cheering me on which helped give me an extra bit of speed going up the beach.
It was a long barefoot run on blacktop to get to my changing station for the transition to the bike. Again this part is all a blur. I feel like I made my transition really well, but I couldn't tell you what I did good or bad. I was on auto pilot.
The bike was by far my favorite part of the race, and it shows in my time. I was flying. My average speed on the bike was almost 3mph faster than my workout average. I passed a ton of people too, which made me feel good.
We all had our heat numbers marked on the back of our leg so it became a fun game to see how many people I could pass from the most heats in front of me.
About a mile into the bike I meet up with a guy who seemed to have the same pace as I did. We spent the whole race jocking back and forth and had some fun banter going on. It was just one of the many ways I felt like I really belonged in this place.
The bike to run transition went a little less smooth. Through no fault of his own my brother-in-law knocked over the bike rack so all our stuff was lying on the ground. It threw me for a loop, but I recovered pretty fast and hit the road.
The run was by far my least favorite part of the race. My legs felt good but I was losing steam fast. It is amazing to me how far 2.5 miles can feel. There were three water stations on the run, and every time I hit one I thought to myself this has to be the turn around. And every time my will broke just a little more. But I kept on running. I was tempted to take a walk break a few times but I knew I could make it, and somehow I kept on going.
Turns out I wasn't going as slow as I thought either. My split times on the run are almost 30 seconds faster than I was doing in practice. Gotta love that adrenaline.
As I rounded the corner to come into the finish area, I started thinking,"I have to put on a good show", so I kicked it in to high gear and out and out sprinted for the last two or three hundred yards.
As I crossed the finish line I heard the announcer say my name and I got a little misty, but before I had a chance to get all emotional I was swept into the athletes area where my timing chip was removed and then I was herded to the food tent and all I could think about was getting some water in me. So while it was an extremely emotionally victory there was not a lot of time for the emotions to take hold.
All in all it was one of the best days of my life. And I am so happy I was able to share it with my Dad and Evan and Teresa and Judy and my wonderful wife and my adorable kids and all of my family.
This is an Accomplishment with a capital A. One to go in the books. Never in a million years would I have thought this is something I could accomplish...and accomplish well. Heck, never in a million years would I have thought this is something I'd want to accomplish.
Think about it. 1 year ago I couldn't run for more than 2 minutes with out fear of losing my lunch and know I am a triathlete. That is something you can never take away from me.
Although, to put all this self backslapping into perspective, there was a guy at the race who had lost 360 pounds and he completed the long course, which was more than double what I did and it sounded like he has become a tri regular. So I can't get to high and mighty, since there are a lot of people out there with more amazing stories than mine.
Then again...I do feel very proud!
Thanks again for all the cheers and support and encouragement. And thank you so much to all my loving family and my loving wife for being so amazing during this whole period. I know I can get a little obsessed so I really appreciate your patience and understanding.
Tony
Monday, July 21, 2008
Awesome!!!
There is no other way to describe the weekend. It was absolutely awesome. Everything I wanted and hoped it would be.
First the big news. I finished! But we all knew I was going to do that. I did way better than finish, I blew all of my expectations out of the water.
Here are the results:
Total Time: 1:04:30
Overall Place 148 / 388
Gender Place 99 / 180
Division Place 21 / 33
Swim time 8:39
Swim pace 1:58/100 Yards
Swim place 67
Bike time 27:11
Bike mph 19.9
Bike place 137
Run time 23:58
Run pace 9:36
Run place 226
I will follow up with a more detailed race wrap up with tons of pictures and video in a little while.
Tony
First the big news. I finished! But we all knew I was going to do that. I did way better than finish, I blew all of my expectations out of the water.
Here are the results:
Total Time: 1:04:30
Overall Place 148 / 388
Gender Place 99 / 180
Division Place 21 / 33
Swim time 8:39
Swim pace 1:58/100 Yards
Swim place 67
Bike time 27:11
Bike mph 19.9
Bike place 137
Run time 23:58
Run pace 9:36
Run place 226
I will follow up with a more detailed race wrap up with tons of pictures and video in a little while.
Tony
Friday, July 18, 2008
The Weigh-In Week 57
3 days and counting.
216.4!!! That's what it said on the scale this morning. A loss of 1.8 pounds.
Let me tell you about the power of sweating it out.
I made some good food decisions yesterday. It helped that the food at my all day "lock in" was pretty bad. We also went to an impromptu 2nd 90th birthday for my Grandma last night and grabbed McDonald's on the way. This may have been the biggest miracle of all. I ordered a 5 piece chicken select and no French fries. I don't think I have ever in my life gone to McDonald's and not ordered French fries.
Despite these good decisions I still ate more than I normally would on a Thursday and I figured I was headed for a tiny loss or a gain...and then I went for my late night 3.5 mile run with Teresa and Judy.
We hit the road about 9pm thinking the heat and humidity would be less after the sun went down. We were wrong. The run was great, but by the time we got done I think I sweated out 4 pounds of water.
And that is the power of sweating it out.
Regardless of how I got here it was really nice two see a good size loss on the scale this morning after two weeks of gains.
It's just one more reason to feel confident going into the race this weekend.
And I am feeling confident. Still a little nervous, but mostly confident.
Expect a full race report first thing Monday morning.
Have a great weekend everybody!
Tony
07/18 216.4 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
8.4 lbs. to go
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Guess How Much I Weigh Contest - Week 57
4 days and counting!
I am in an all day meeting today so I'll make this quick.
If I were to do my official weigh-in today I would have a nice little loss. Sadly I am eating breakfast and lunch at a Country Club today so I imagine the food will be on the "wedding dinner" side vs. the "looking to lose a few pounds and run a Triathlon in 4 days" side. So there are no guarantee for tomorrow's weigh in.
There are two things working in my favor though.
1. I am extremely motivated to eat well today.
2. I am doing a late night run with Teresa and Judy tonight after the girls go to bed. It will be my final workout before race day. The exercise should help with the weigh-in too.
Good luck guessing. I'll talk to you tomorrow.
I ate poorly on Sunday and Monday.
I ate better on Tuesday and Wednesday.
I haven't weighed myself since Monday morning and that weigh in was not all that encouraging... all though it did come after a huge late night dinner.
So my guess is as good as yours. I guess we'll all be surprised 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.
Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!
Tony
07/17 218.2 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
10.2 lbs. to go
I am in an all day meeting today so I'll make this quick.
If I were to do my official weigh-in today I would have a nice little loss. Sadly I am eating breakfast and lunch at a Country Club today so I imagine the food will be on the "wedding dinner" side vs. the "looking to lose a few pounds and run a Triathlon in 4 days" side. So there are no guarantee for tomorrow's weigh in.
There are two things working in my favor though.
1. I am extremely motivated to eat well today.
2. I am doing a late night run with Teresa and Judy tonight after the girls go to bed. It will be my final workout before race day. The exercise should help with the weigh-in too.
Good luck guessing. I'll talk to you tomorrow.
I ate poorly on Sunday and Monday.
I ate better on Tuesday and Wednesday.
I haven't weighed myself since Monday morning and that weigh in was not all that encouraging... all though it did come after a huge late night dinner.
So my guess is as good as yours. I guess we'll all be surprised tomorrow.
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
07/17 218.2 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
10.2 lbs. to go
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
5 Days and Counting
I just came back from my last brick before the race and I am feeling good. I did a 6.5 mile bike ride and a 2.5 mile run. I meant to go a little slower today but ended up keeping about the same pace that I have had lately. 25 Minutes for the run and a an average of 15.8 MPH for the bike.
A few of the people I work with have done this race before so they have been giving me all kinds of advice, as has my Dad, who has also done the race before.
I have to say I am equally nervous and excited at this point.
Tony
07/16 218.2 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
10.2 lbs. to go
A few of the people I work with have done this race before so they have been giving me all kinds of advice, as has my Dad, who has also done the race before.
I have to say I am equally nervous and excited at this point.
Tony
07/16 218.2 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
10.2 lbs. to go
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
7 Days and Counting
Just 7 more days until race day!!!!
I have set my goal. I want to finish in under 1 hour and 20 minutes. It is a totally doable goal...assuming I can figure out the transitions and the wind isn't too bad.
My secret goal is to finish in under 1 hour 10 minutes. That would be really pushing it based on my training times so far.
I had a great training weekend. My day and I did a 16 mile bike on Saturday. Dad managed to pick a course that was almost completly up hill. Tough on the legs but good for the training.
Then, on Sunday I did another brick. 10 miles on the bike and a 2.8 mile run. And I felt the best I have felt so far. I am gaining more and more confidence.
On Sunday's bike ride I ran into my Tri Training partners Teresa and Judy completly by coincidence. That was a fun surprise. We are going to try and schedule one last group run on Thursday night as a final motivational kick in the shorts.
Today is a rest day.
Tomorrow I am in the gym.
Wedensady I will do my last brick.(Probaly a short one so I don't wear out)
Thursday I will try a low intensity run with Teresa nad Judy.
Friday and Saturday are rest days.
The wind was a killer on both Saturday and Sunday. It made me realize the wind will be a huge factor in the time I put up on Sunday.
On my Sunday bike ride it took me 24 minutes to go 4.6 miles against the wind. The same distance heading home took me only 13 minutes.
Tony
07/11 218.2 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
10.2 lbs. to go
I have set my goal. I want to finish in under 1 hour and 20 minutes. It is a totally doable goal...assuming I can figure out the transitions and the wind isn't too bad.
My secret goal is to finish in under 1 hour 10 minutes. That would be really pushing it based on my training times so far.
I had a great training weekend. My day and I did a 16 mile bike on Saturday. Dad managed to pick a course that was almost completly up hill. Tough on the legs but good for the training.
Then, on Sunday I did another brick. 10 miles on the bike and a 2.8 mile run. And I felt the best I have felt so far. I am gaining more and more confidence.
On Sunday's bike ride I ran into my Tri Training partners Teresa and Judy completly by coincidence. That was a fun surprise. We are going to try and schedule one last group run on Thursday night as a final motivational kick in the shorts.
Today is a rest day.
Tomorrow I am in the gym.
Wedensady I will do my last brick.(Probaly a short one so I don't wear out)
Thursday I will try a low intensity run with Teresa nad Judy.
Friday and Saturday are rest days.
The wind was a killer on both Saturday and Sunday. It made me realize the wind will be a huge factor in the time I put up on Sunday.
On my Sunday bike ride it took me 24 minutes to go 4.6 miles against the wind. The same distance heading home took me only 13 minutes.
Tony
07/11 218.2 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
10.2 lbs. to go
Friday, July 11, 2008
THe Weigh-In Week 56
218.2. That is what it said on the scale this morning. A gain of 1.2 pounds.
Not a good way to start my final week of Tri training.
I think it is time to start tracking calories once again. And that is just what I am going to do.
Next week is going to be tough. I am fortunate to be able to work out on my lunch break at work...normally. Unfortunately next week I am in a series of all day meetings so no lunch break workouts on Monday, Wednesday or Thursday and a lot less control over my food than I would like. I will have to get in my workouts after the girls go to bed each night next week and hopefully the looming Triathlon will motivate me to be really good at the lunch buffets.
It's supposed to hit 95 today, so I think I may be running inside on the treadmill for the first time in months. Not exactly happy about it, but I'd rather be bored on the treadmill then dead of heat exhaustion on the trail.
Have a great weekend everybody.
Tony
07/11 218.2 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
10.2 lbs. to go
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Guess How Much I Weigh Contest - Week 56
I have no clue this week.
I worked out like mad over the weekend.
I ate poorly on Sunday and Monday.
I ate better on Tuesday and Wednesday.
I haven't weighed myself since Monday morning and that weigh in was not all that encouraging... all though it did come after a huge late night dinner.
So my guess is as good as yours. I guess we'll all be surprised 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.
Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!
Tony
07/10 217 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
9 lbs. to go
I worked out like mad over the weekend.
I ate poorly on Sunday and Monday.
I ate better on Tuesday and Wednesday.
I haven't weighed myself since Monday morning and that weigh in was not all that encouraging... all though it did come after a huge late night dinner.
So my guess is as good as yours. I guess we'll all be surprised tomorrow.
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
07/10 217 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
9 lbs. to go
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Mega Brick
Now I am starting to gain a little confidence that I will actually be able to finish this race.
I just got back from doing my brick and today I manged to ride 9 miles then get off the bike and run a full 5k. That's right I ran 3.1 miles after biking for 9 miles.
My legs hurt now.
Honestly I wasn't trying to run that far, but I didn't know exactly where the 2.5 mile mark was and by the time I figured I had to have done 2.5 miles I was feeling so good I just decided to keep on going.
I didn't set any speed records, (36 minutes on the bike and 30 minutes on the run) but I am jumping for joy that I managed to complete the whole thing for the second time.
Or I would be jumping for joy if my legs hadn't turned to jelly shortly after I got out of the shower.
Only 11 more days to go!
Tony
07/09 217 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
9 lbs. to go
I just got back from doing my brick and today I manged to ride 9 miles then get off the bike and run a full 5k. That's right I ran 3.1 miles after biking for 9 miles.
My legs hurt now.
Honestly I wasn't trying to run that far, but I didn't know exactly where the 2.5 mile mark was and by the time I figured I had to have done 2.5 miles I was feeling so good I just decided to keep on going.
I didn't set any speed records, (36 minutes on the bike and 30 minutes on the run) but I am jumping for joy that I managed to complete the whole thing for the second time.
Or I would be jumping for joy if my legs hadn't turned to jelly shortly after I got out of the shower.
Only 11 more days to go!
Tony
07/09 217 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
9 lbs. to go
Monday, July 7, 2008
THe Weigh-In Week 55
I hurt....everywhere.
But first on to important business.
The Weigh-In.
217. That is what it said on the scale on Friday morning. A gain of .2 pounds.
A miracle if ever there was one. I do have to qualify this weigh-in. I used my parents scale which only measures by whole numbers. So who knows where in the range of 217 I actually ended up. Still, it was a gain of less then one pound on a week that I thought was going to be a total write off.
Now to my hurt.
We played hard this weekend as scheduled... maybe even harder than scheduled.
Every muscle in my body is aching.
We skied, we wake boarded, we swam, we biked, we ran. We did it all.
Saturday was the big day for Tri training though. I managed to get all three events in in one day.
We started the morning with a 12 mile bike ride. Then immediately did a 2 mile run (with a little walking). Then we went to a carnival. (Where my brave little girls went on their first Farris Wheel ride...which they loved.) Then my sister and I went for a 1.5 mile run and a 1.5 mile walk. Then I went for a quarter mile swim.
I also got in a 4 mile run on Friday (with just a little walking towards the end) and a .5 mile swim on Sunday.
All-in-all a great training weekend.
And don't worry, there was plenty of playing going on too! We hardly left the water all day Friday and Sunday.
Hope you all had an amazing weekend too.
Less then 2 weeks to the Tri!
Tony
07/07 217 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
9 lbs. to go
But first on to important business.
The Weigh-In.
217. That is what it said on the scale on Friday morning. A gain of .2 pounds.
A miracle if ever there was one. I do have to qualify this weigh-in. I used my parents scale which only measures by whole numbers. So who knows where in the range of 217 I actually ended up. Still, it was a gain of less then one pound on a week that I thought was going to be a total write off.
Now to my hurt.
We played hard this weekend as scheduled... maybe even harder than scheduled.
Every muscle in my body is aching.
We skied, we wake boarded, we swam, we biked, we ran. We did it all.
Saturday was the big day for Tri training though. I managed to get all three events in in one day.
We started the morning with a 12 mile bike ride. Then immediately did a 2 mile run (with a little walking). Then we went to a carnival. (Where my brave little girls went on their first Farris Wheel ride...which they loved.) Then my sister and I went for a 1.5 mile run and a 1.5 mile walk. Then I went for a quarter mile swim.
I also got in a 4 mile run on Friday (with just a little walking towards the end) and a .5 mile swim on Sunday.
All-in-all a great training weekend.
And don't worry, there was plenty of playing going on too! We hardly left the water all day Friday and Sunday.
Hope you all had an amazing weekend too.
Less then 2 weeks to the Tri!
Tony
07/07 217 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
9 lbs. to go
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Guess How Much I Weigh Contest - Week 55
The contest must go on!
Guess away.
If the weigh-in does not get posted tomorrow, it will get posted on Monday.
Have a happy holiday weekend everybody!
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
07/03 216.8 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
8.8 lbs. to go
Guess away.
If the weigh-in does not get posted tomorrow, it will get posted on Monday.
Have a happy holiday weekend everybody!
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
07/03 216.8 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
8.8 lbs. to go
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Write Off
This week is quickly becoming a write off week. I compounded a day with no exercise yesterday by eating like a mad man. I didn't even realize I was doing it until I went to bed last night with a horrible upset stomach.
My body is no longer able to eat like that. It wasn't even that horrible, compared to the days of Old. Chipotle for lunch and a big dinner and a few snacks. But it was enough to most likely post another gain this week... well, combined with some heavy eating at the company party on Friday...You know what, lets just chalk this week up to a holiday week and recommit ourselves to the goal starting next Monday.
Actually, with the Triathlon looming, I can't afford to write off the rest of the week. So let's do it this way. Let's consider this past weekend and the early part of this week the Holiday weekend and then I can spend the Holiday weekend working hard and playing hard.
That should work.
I hope to get in some runs, bikes and swimming over the long weekend. Probably not all back to back.
Contest and weigh-in will happen as scheduled...although the weigh -in post may have to wait until Monday...unless someone brings a computer to the cabin.
Tony
07/02 216.8 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
8.8 lbs. to go
My body is no longer able to eat like that. It wasn't even that horrible, compared to the days of Old. Chipotle for lunch and a big dinner and a few snacks. But it was enough to most likely post another gain this week... well, combined with some heavy eating at the company party on Friday...You know what, lets just chalk this week up to a holiday week and recommit ourselves to the goal starting next Monday.
Actually, with the Triathlon looming, I can't afford to write off the rest of the week. So let's do it this way. Let's consider this past weekend and the early part of this week the Holiday weekend and then I can spend the Holiday weekend working hard and playing hard.
That should work.
I hope to get in some runs, bikes and swimming over the long weekend. Probably not all back to back.
Contest and weigh-in will happen as scheduled...although the weigh -in post may have to wait until Monday...unless someone brings a computer to the cabin.
Tony
07/02 216.8 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
8.8 lbs. to go
Monday, June 30, 2008
Celebration Time
"What are we celebrating", you might ask?
"Good question", I might reply.
Then again you might not ask, so how 'bout I just tell you.
Two big milestones, that is what we are celebrating.
Milestone Number 1:
My tri buddy Teresa, (Remember Teresa? She's the reason we are doing this crazy Triathlon in the first place) called on Saturday night to see if I wanted to squeeze in a workout on Sunday morning and my lovely wife was kind enough to give up our quiet Sunday at home. So first thing Sunday I hopped on my bike and headed over to Teresa's. Including my 4.5 mile bike ride to Teresa's, I did a 15 mile bike ride and then we hopped of the bikes and went for a 2.7 Mile run.
That's right. I finally got my Triathlon length back-to-back out of the way... plus a few miles.
So now we know I can finish the race. Thanks Teresa and Judy for the great workout.
Milestone Number 2:
This afternoon I stretched my run to 4.07 Miles in 37:30! That is my farthest run so far.
I'm feeling pretty good...pretty sore...but pretty good too!
Hope you all had as amazing a weekend as we did.
Tony
06/30 216.8 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
8.8 lbs. to go
"Good question", I might reply.
Then again you might not ask, so how 'bout I just tell you.
Two big milestones, that is what we are celebrating.
Milestone Number 1:
My tri buddy Teresa, (Remember Teresa? She's the reason we are doing this crazy Triathlon in the first place) called on Saturday night to see if I wanted to squeeze in a workout on Sunday morning and my lovely wife was kind enough to give up our quiet Sunday at home. So first thing Sunday I hopped on my bike and headed over to Teresa's. Including my 4.5 mile bike ride to Teresa's, I did a 15 mile bike ride and then we hopped of the bikes and went for a 2.7 Mile run.
That's right. I finally got my Triathlon length back-to-back out of the way... plus a few miles.
So now we know I can finish the race. Thanks Teresa and Judy for the great workout.
Milestone Number 2:
This afternoon I stretched my run to 4.07 Miles in 37:30! That is my farthest run so far.
I'm feeling pretty good...pretty sore...but pretty good too!
Hope you all had as amazing a weekend as we did.
Tony
06/30 216.8 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
8.8 lbs. to go
Friday, June 27, 2008
THe Weigh-In Week 54
216.8! That is what it said on the scale this morning. A loss of .8!
Not bad considering the BBQ last night. In the end I was a lot more worried about the wine I drank last night , then the food I ate. I filled up on fruit instead of chips...it helped that there was a pretty limited supply of bad food. We were at a priests house after all.
Our winner this week would have been Teresa, had there been 10 guesses.
Have a great weekend everybody.
Tony
06/27 216.8 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
8.8 lbs. to go
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Guess How Much I Weigh Contest - Week 54
If I were to post my weight today I would be posting a nice loss for the week... unfortunately I have to wait until tomorrow to post my weight, which puts everything up in the air.
I have a B.B.Q Potluck tonight and as we all know Potlucks are one of the members of the Food Axis of Evils. I will do my best to control myself, but late night eating and a big meal are not always conducive to a good weigh-in.
Plus, I am a little worried that this mornings low weigh-in was partially due to all the water weight I lost during my workout yesterday.
Holy cow was that hot. I am sad to report I didn't make my full work out. Well, I did make the full workout but I had to stop and walk for 3 minutes half way through the run...and I only did 2 miles, not 2.5... but the 2.5 is something I am working up to.
Did I mention it was really freakin' hot?
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
06/26 217.6 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
9.6 lbs. to go
p.s. Don't forget you can subscribe to the e-mail edition of Guess How Much I Weigh . Simply enter your e-mail address in the space to the right.
I have a B.B.Q Potluck tonight and as we all know Potlucks are one of the members of the Food Axis of Evils. I will do my best to control myself, but late night eating and a big meal are not always conducive to a good weigh-in.
Plus, I am a little worried that this mornings low weigh-in was partially due to all the water weight I lost during my workout yesterday.
Holy cow was that hot. I am sad to report I didn't make my full work out. Well, I did make the full workout but I had to stop and walk for 3 minutes half way through the run...and I only did 2 miles, not 2.5... but the 2.5 is something I am working up to.
Did I mention it was really freakin' hot?
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
06/26 217.6 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
9.6 lbs. to go
p.s. Don't forget you can subscribe to the e-mail edition of Guess How Much I Weigh . Simply enter your e-mail address in the space to the right.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Mixed Bag
This has been a mixed week so far...as far as healthy living goes. Without really thinking about it I have been eating horribly this week, but I have been so active that the exercise seems to be offsetting the eating...so far.
Today is going to be another challenge. I am doing my second brick (bike and run back-to-back) over lunch today. Checking the weather this morning I noticed it is supposed to be 87 today.
Not that I am complaining. After whining for so long about not having summer I would never complain about an 87 degree day... but it is going to make todays workout challenging.
Just have to remember to hydrate.
Tony
06/25 217.6 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
9.6 lbs. to go
P.S.
Ellie got her stitches out yesterday and her cut looks great. I think it is going to heal up real nice.
Today is going to be another challenge. I am doing my second brick (bike and run back-to-back) over lunch today. Checking the weather this morning I noticed it is supposed to be 87 today.
Not that I am complaining. After whining for so long about not having summer I would never complain about an 87 degree day... but it is going to make todays workout challenging.
Just have to remember to hydrate.
Tony
06/25 217.6 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
9.6 lbs. to go
P.S.
Ellie got her stitches out yesterday and her cut looks great. I think it is going to heal up real nice.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Awesome Weekend
What a great weekend. The second one in a row by my calculations.
The weather was perfect all weekend long. We played in the water, got behind the boat and had the chance to catch up with some old high school friends. Just what a real summer weekend should be.
I spent a good part of the weekend water skiing. I now I have said it before, but I love being able to water ski again. I felt this weekend that I was really getting back into the grove behind the boat. I was able to go for some nice long sets and I even tried a few one handed turns. They may not have been pretty, but they were one handed.
It's funny how your standards change when your passion is reignited. The water was kind of choppy this weekend. A few years ago I probably would have passed and waited for calmer water, but this weekend I hopped in without a seconds hesitation and had the best runs of the summer.
I also went for a swim in the lake with my Dad and my brother-in-law in training for the triathlon. The good news is I will be able to make the distance on the day of the race. The bad news is, it's going to take me a lot longer than I thought.
Everyone has told me that swimming in a lake is way different than swimming in a pool, and I was prepared for the waves and the wind and the cold. What I wasn't prepared for was the claustrophobia. When you put your face in the water you cant see a thing and that freaked me out a little bit. I swam the first 5 minutes of our 15 minutes swim with my face out of the water the whole time.
Hopefully I'll have a few more practice swims in the lake before race day.
Tony
06/23 217.6 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
9.6 lbs. to go
The weather was perfect all weekend long. We played in the water, got behind the boat and had the chance to catch up with some old high school friends. Just what a real summer weekend should be.
I spent a good part of the weekend water skiing. I now I have said it before, but I love being able to water ski again. I felt this weekend that I was really getting back into the grove behind the boat. I was able to go for some nice long sets and I even tried a few one handed turns. They may not have been pretty, but they were one handed.
It's funny how your standards change when your passion is reignited. The water was kind of choppy this weekend. A few years ago I probably would have passed and waited for calmer water, but this weekend I hopped in without a seconds hesitation and had the best runs of the summer.
I also went for a swim in the lake with my Dad and my brother-in-law in training for the triathlon. The good news is I will be able to make the distance on the day of the race. The bad news is, it's going to take me a lot longer than I thought.
Everyone has told me that swimming in a lake is way different than swimming in a pool, and I was prepared for the waves and the wind and the cold. What I wasn't prepared for was the claustrophobia. When you put your face in the water you cant see a thing and that freaked me out a little bit. I swam the first 5 minutes of our 15 minutes swim with my face out of the water the whole time.
Hopefully I'll have a few more practice swims in the lake before race day.
Tony
06/23 217.6 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
9.6 lbs. to go
Friday, June 20, 2008
THe Weigh-In Week 53
217.6. That's what it said on the scale this morning. A gain of 1.2 pound.
Not bad, considering. Honestly I thought it would be much worse.
Now something much more up beat.
Ellie is doing great. She hardly even acknowledges her scar, so it must not be hurting much. I see Maggie looking at it every once and awhile, but she never says anything about it so I guess she's fine with it too.
We will get the stitches out early next week and hopefully by next Friday it will be a distant memory.
Here's the fun news from the week. OK, maybe not so much fun as grueling physical endurance news. I noticed yesterday that the triathlon was only 1 month and 1 day away, That makes today the month mark.
With only 1 month to go the tri seems suddenly real. So, yesterday I decide to try something new in my training. I did what they call in the triathlon world a "brick". I assume they call it that because that is how your legs feel when you are done.
A brick is two legs of the triathlon done back to back. Yesterday I biked 9 miles then hoped off the bike and ran for 1.8 miles. A little short of the 2.5 I will need for the race, but I am very proud of it for my first back to back attempt. Even better, when I got back and calculated my time, I managed to keep a pace of 8:30 minute miles as I was running. I almost never run that fast. I still can't believe that I did it after getting off a bike!
I think I will be making bricks a regular part of my work outs for these last few weeks leading up to the tri.
It's supposed to be sunny and 80 all weekend. Finally summer has officially arrived!!!!!
No winner this week. Everyone voted for a loss...as you should have. Your continued optimism gives me something to strive for next week.
Have a great weekend everybody.
Tony
06/20 217.6 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
9.6 lbs. to go
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Guess How Much I Weigh Contest - Week 53
What started out as set up for a great week of weight loss has kind of falling into a bit of chaos.
My lovely wife and I had dinner out at one of the best steak houses in the city on Tues. to celebrate our 8-year anniversary. It was an amazing meal!!!! But, not exactly the kind of meal you eat when you are looking for a nice week of weight loss.
The meal wouldn't have been a problem...but then we had an interesting day on Wed.
When I was a little kid I was kind of accident prone.. At least that's how I look at it. My parents would more likely say that I was a little hellion who had the ability to find every dangerous thing in the world to climb on , jump off or run through. Need less to say, I spent my fair share of time in hospitals when I was a kid....by not fault of my excellent and highly qualified parents.
Turns out my daughter Ellie is doing a great job of following in her Dads footprints.
She fell and hit her head on our patio yesterday afternoon, requiring a trip to the emergency room and two layers of stitches to close up the extremely deep gash in her forehead.
To her credit little Ellie was amazing at the hospital, she didn't cry or scream while they stitched her up. In fact she spent most of the time entertaining the ER docs with her eclectic song stylings.
To her moms credit, Laura also did not scream or cry or faint or throw up.
Anyway, our sumptuous anniversary meal was followed by a day of stress eating and very little exercise.
Fortunately Ellie will be just fine. She will most likely end up with a small scar on her forehead, but considering how things could have gone we'll take a scar and count our blessings.
And that will be my excuse if I end up posting a gain this week.
It's also my excuse for not logging food this week.
I'll start again 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. 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
06/19 216.4 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
8.4 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.
My lovely wife and I had dinner out at one of the best steak houses in the city on Tues. to celebrate our 8-year anniversary. It was an amazing meal!!!! But, not exactly the kind of meal you eat when you are looking for a nice week of weight loss.
The meal wouldn't have been a problem...but then we had an interesting day on Wed.
When I was a little kid I was kind of accident prone.. At least that's how I look at it. My parents would more likely say that I was a little hellion who had the ability to find every dangerous thing in the world to climb on , jump off or run through. Need less to say, I spent my fair share of time in hospitals when I was a kid....by not fault of my excellent and highly qualified parents.
Turns out my daughter Ellie is doing a great job of following in her Dads footprints.
She fell and hit her head on our patio yesterday afternoon, requiring a trip to the emergency room and two layers of stitches to close up the extremely deep gash in her forehead.
To her credit little Ellie was amazing at the hospital, she didn't cry or scream while they stitched her up. In fact she spent most of the time entertaining the ER docs with her eclectic song stylings.
To her moms credit, Laura also did not scream or cry or faint or throw up.
Anyway, our sumptuous anniversary meal was followed by a day of stress eating and very little exercise.
Fortunately Ellie will be just fine. She will most likely end up with a small scar on her forehead, but considering how things could have gone we'll take a scar and count our blessings.
And that will be my excuse if I end up posting a gain this week.
It's also my excuse for not logging food this week.
I'll start again next week.
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
06/19 216.4 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
8.4 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.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Biking To Work
I biked into work this morning, What a great way to start the day.
I live in the suburbs and work in the city and even now that I am "slim, trim and in shape", biking to work has always seemed like such a daunting task.
"There is now way I can bike that far, it will take me hours."
Turns out it's only 10 miles and it only took me 40 minutes. I guess there is just something mental about the feeling that the 'burbs are so far away from the city.
So now I am one of those guys who can bike to work. How cool is that?
And man did I pick the perfect morning for my first ride to work. It was gorgeous and sunny with just a slight breeze.
Now I am full of vim and vigor end ready to get things done.
Tony
06/18 216.4 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
8.4 lbs. to go
P.S. I don't really know what Vim and Vigor mean and I am too busy to look it up, but it's sounds like the kind of thing people who bike to work would say so I am sticking with it.
I live in the suburbs and work in the city and even now that I am "slim, trim and in shape", biking to work has always seemed like such a daunting task.
"There is now way I can bike that far, it will take me hours."
Turns out it's only 10 miles and it only took me 40 minutes. I guess there is just something mental about the feeling that the 'burbs are so far away from the city.
So now I am one of those guys who can bike to work. How cool is that?
And man did I pick the perfect morning for my first ride to work. It was gorgeous and sunny with just a slight breeze.
Now I am full of vim and vigor end ready to get things done.
Tony
06/18 216.4 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
8.4 lbs. to go
P.S. I don't really know what Vim and Vigor mean and I am too busy to look it up, but it's sounds like the kind of thing people who bike to work would say so I am sticking with it.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Best Weekend Ever!
What a great weekend.
I spent fathers day weekend being a good father. Laura and I spent the whole weekend finishing the girls play set.
Ta-Dah!
It was a royal pain in the hiney getting this thing built....but watching those girls rushing to get back up to that slide one more time, seeing the pure joy in their eyes when we told them it was finally ready, that made all the hassle worth it.
The hard work paid off in another way too.
This is the first weekend in months were I am ending the weekend weighing less then when I started the weekend. Only .2 pounds less, but still, it's a good starting point for a nice loss this week. Fingers crossed.
Hope you all had as great a weekend as we did.
Tony
06/16 216.4 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
8.4 lbs. to go
I spent fathers day weekend being a good father. Laura and I spent the whole weekend finishing the girls play set.
Ta-Dah!
It was a royal pain in the hiney getting this thing built....but watching those girls rushing to get back up to that slide one more time, seeing the pure joy in their eyes when we told them it was finally ready, that made all the hassle worth it.
The hard work paid off in another way too.
This is the first weekend in months were I am ending the weekend weighing less then when I started the weekend. Only .2 pounds less, but still, it's a good starting point for a nice loss this week. Fingers crossed.
Hope you all had as great a weekend as we did.
Tony
06/16 216.4 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
8.4 lbs. to go
Friday, June 13, 2008
The 1 Year Anniversary Weigh-In (Week 52)
216.4! That is what it said on the scale this morning. A loss of 3.6 pounds!
I'd say that is a good way to end a great year.
Once again our big winner is my Dad! Way to go Dad. Good guessing.
A quick recap on the year.
I started this journey on June 10th 2007. On that day I weighed 280. 1 year later I have lost 63.6 pounds.
My heaviest weight ever was 288. From that I have lost 71.6 pounds.
I am only 3.6 pounds above my lowest weight of 213.
In the past year I have started running.
For the first time in my life I can run more than three miles.
I completed a 5k race in under 27 minutes.
I swam a mile.
I have taken up biking.
I have started strength training.
I have developed muscles.
The clothes in my closet have shrunk from XXL to L.
I can waterski again.
My back no longer hurts.
I have stopped snoring.
I have stopped wheezing when I walk up stairs.
And...I have made some amazing friends.
I am really proud of the things I have been able to accomplish this year. Like I have said all along, I could have never done it with out the support and encouragement of my friends and family. You guys have been the support that I needed, the courage I never had and the conscience I have been searching for.
From the bottom of my heart, Thank YOU!
This journey is far from over. I still have a lot of goals I want to accomplish before I rest.
The triathlon is coming up.
I am still trying to get to 208.
I want to take my running to the next level.
I want to work on toning my body.
So please stick around, because really, this is just the beginning.
Here is the treat I promised you yesterday. At least I think it's a treat. Click on the pic to see every weigh-in photo from this year, all in one image.
1 year down, 70 more to go!
Tony
06/12: 216.4 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
8.4 lbs. to go
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Guess How Much I Weigh Contest - Week 52
This is it! The big one year anniversary edition of the Guess How Much I Weigh Contest.
This has been a good week. Despite eating a little too much in Duluth over the weekend and a few questionable choices during the week, it's looking like I should have a good loss this week. I have been working out like a mad man. I managed to get in a good ride and a good run over the weekend and I am finally starting to stretch my runs past 3.1 miles. On Monday I almost made it 4 miles in 36 minutes.
A year ago, if someone had told me I would be running almost 4 miles by now, I would have wet my pants laughing. It has been an amazing year full of some amazing accomplishments.
No matter what the scale says tomorrow, I will be celebrating a year that I am very, very proud of.
Over the weekend my Brother-in- Law and His Wife gave me a belated birthday present, work out clothes. Which is the same thing my wife gave me for my birthday. As I was putting away laundry this morning I realized that I now have more workout clothes than any other type of clothes in my closet, with the exception of t-shirts. That in itself is a pretty major accomplishment.
I can finally stop wearing the 3XL sleeveless t-shirts that have been the staple of my workout wear.
I am hoping to have a fun little year end wrap up 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.
Stats for the week of June 9th.
Calories Consumed: From Monday morning through Wed. night I have consumed aprox. 16836 calories.
Calories Burned: From Monday morning through Wed. night I have burned aprox. 22698 calories.
37% of my calories were from Fat
13% of those were from Saturated Fat
45% of my calories were from Carbs
16% of my calories were from Protein
Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!
Tony
06/12: 220 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
12 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.
This has been a good week. Despite eating a little too much in Duluth over the weekend and a few questionable choices during the week, it's looking like I should have a good loss this week. I have been working out like a mad man. I managed to get in a good ride and a good run over the weekend and I am finally starting to stretch my runs past 3.1 miles. On Monday I almost made it 4 miles in 36 minutes.
A year ago, if someone had told me I would be running almost 4 miles by now, I would have wet my pants laughing. It has been an amazing year full of some amazing accomplishments.
No matter what the scale says tomorrow, I will be celebrating a year that I am very, very proud of.
Over the weekend my Brother-in- Law and His Wife gave me a belated birthday present, work out clothes. Which is the same thing my wife gave me for my birthday. As I was putting away laundry this morning I realized that I now have more workout clothes than any other type of clothes in my closet, with the exception of t-shirts. That in itself is a pretty major accomplishment.
I can finally stop wearing the 3XL sleeveless t-shirts that have been the staple of my workout wear.
I am hoping to have a fun little year end wrap up tomorrow.
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.
Calories Consumed: From Monday morning through Wed. night I have consumed aprox. 16836 calories.
Calories Burned: From Monday morning through Wed. night I have burned aprox. 22698 calories.
37% of my calories were from Fat
13% of those were from Saturated Fat
45% of my calories were from Carbs
16% of my calories were from Protein
Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!
Tony
06/12: 220 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
12 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.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Continuing The Journey
Let's continue our little trip down memory lane.
These pictures start in October of '07 and end with a picture from last weekend.
April 2007 Side By Side with June 2008.
If you ask me, it's been a darn good year.
Tony
06/11: 220 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
12 lbs. to go
These pictures start in October of '07 and end with a picture from last weekend.
April 2007 Side By Side with June 2008.
If you ask me, it's been a darn good year.
Tony
06/11: 220 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
12 lbs. to go
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Welcome To The One Year Anniversary Celebration
Let's start with a little trip down memory lane. These pictures start in April of 2007 and go through September of 2007.
Tomorrow we'll take a look at the end of '07 and the beginning of '08.
Tomorrow we'll take a look at the end of '07 and the beginning of '08.
Friday, June 6, 2008
The Wife Weighs In...Week 31
Happy Friday, all!
Quick update for me (very quick). Another crazy week! I'm feeling a little more in control of my schedule, but the week disappeared before I'd even had the chance to realize it had started. No gym again this week. Yuck!
Small loss (very small)...but with no workouts and hormonal water weight, I'm not doing too badly.
I think my darling husband and I may be brainstorming revitalization strategies on our car trip to Duluth this weekend.
'Til next week!
My update:
5/30/08: 185.0
6/06/08: 184.8 (a loss of 0.2 pounds this week)
Total loss of 43.6 pounds, 1.6 pounds over low of 183.2, 2.8 pounds from next mini-goal of 182.0
Quick update for me (very quick). Another crazy week! I'm feeling a little more in control of my schedule, but the week disappeared before I'd even had the chance to realize it had started. No gym again this week. Yuck!
Small loss (very small)...but with no workouts and hormonal water weight, I'm not doing too badly.
I think my darling husband and I may be brainstorming revitalization strategies on our car trip to Duluth this weekend.
'Til next week!
My update:
5/30/08: 185.0
6/06/08: 184.8 (a loss of 0.2 pounds this week)
Total loss of 43.6 pounds, 1.6 pounds over low of 183.2, 2.8 pounds from next mini-goal of 182.0
THe Weigh-In Week 51
220!!!! That is what it said on the scale this morning.
Embarrassed
Disappointed
Dishaeratened
Furious
By sadly not surprised.
I made a lot of bad choices this week, compounded by a horrible day of eating yesterday. No need to dwell. I must do better this week. I for real will start tracking my calories today...and I will be tracking through the weekend for once.
No way am I going into the 1 year anniversary week like this!
Tony
06/6: 220 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
12 lbs. to go
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Guess How Much I Weigh Contest - Week 51
Somewhere this week things took a turn for the worse. I got crazy busy again and stopped counting calories. I also worked like a mad man hauling dirt and rock and building and digging. I think this translated to my mind and / or stomach as free reign to eat whatever I wanted. With all that exercise I must be able to eat more calories right? Wrong!
Long story short I think I am going to have a little gain. Which I was fine with until I realized that next week is the one year anniversary of this journey. So now I am a little ticked at myself for losing track this week. In honor of next weeks anniversary, I am going to spend the next week being on my best behavior. And I am back to calorie counting starting today.
I have an early morning meeting tomorrow so results may be posted a little late.
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.
You can check out my food journal for the last few days here.
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
06/5: 215 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
7 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.
Long story short I think I am going to have a little gain. Which I was fine with until I realized that next week is the one year anniversary of this journey. So now I am a little ticked at myself for losing track this week. In honor of next weeks anniversary, I am going to spend the next week being on my best behavior. And I am back to calorie counting starting today.
I have an early morning meeting tomorrow so results may be posted a little late.
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.
You can check out my food journal for the last few days here.
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
06/5: 215 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
7 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.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Checking In
Busy. Busy. Busy. This seems to be my mantra lately. Swamped at work and swamped at home. But we are getting closer to having the play set done. Once that is finished I hope to have a little breathing room.
Here is a quick revival of Recipe Wednesday.
Over at Hungry Girl (my newest obsession) they have posted a low calorie replacement for a Dairy Queen Mud Pie Blizzard. I can not wait to try this.
Check out the recipe here.
And here is one I can testify to. I made these Yum Yum Brownie Muffins on Monday for our softball BBQ and they were a big hit.
Catch the recipe here.
Tony
06/4: 215 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
7 lbs. to go
Here is a quick revival of Recipe Wednesday.
Over at Hungry Girl (my newest obsession) they have posted a low calorie replacement for a Dairy Queen Mud Pie Blizzard. I can not wait to try this.
Check out the recipe here.
And here is one I can testify to. I made these Yum Yum Brownie Muffins on Monday for our softball BBQ and they were a big hit.
Catch the recipe here.
Tony
06/4: 215 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
7 lbs. to go
Monday, June 2, 2008
What Did You Do This Weekend?
I survived this:
And built this:
With a lot of help from my father-in-law and my parents.
Late Saturday afternoon, we were hit with a major hail storm. It was like a torrential down pour with no rain, just hail. It was insane. Two weeks in a row I have lived through two of the wildest hail events I have ever seen
The storm destroyed all of your garden areas, but didn't really do any other damage. Which is very lucky. It sounds like a lot of people in the area are going to need some serious repair work... and the hail caused a ton of car accidents.
The rest of the weekend was spent building a place for the girls play set. In other words it was spent digging and hauling and hammering and then digging and hauling some more. I am exhausted today. .. and I can barely lift my arms. Good exercise, right?
Despite all the hard work, it was a fun project and I think it turned out great. And we had our first gorgeous summer weekend so I didn't mind spending it outside working. Just a few more truck loads of rock and mulch and the area will be done.
Here's a few more storm pics.
Tony
05/30: 215 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
7 lbs. to go
And built this:
With a lot of help from my father-in-law and my parents.
Late Saturday afternoon, we were hit with a major hail storm. It was like a torrential down pour with no rain, just hail. It was insane. Two weeks in a row I have lived through two of the wildest hail events I have ever seen
The storm destroyed all of your garden areas, but didn't really do any other damage. Which is very lucky. It sounds like a lot of people in the area are going to need some serious repair work... and the hail caused a ton of car accidents.
The rest of the weekend was spent building a place for the girls play set. In other words it was spent digging and hauling and hammering and then digging and hauling some more. I am exhausted today. .. and I can barely lift my arms. Good exercise, right?
Despite all the hard work, it was a fun project and I think it turned out great. And we had our first gorgeous summer weekend so I didn't mind spending it outside working. Just a few more truck loads of rock and mulch and the area will be done.
Here's a few more storm pics.
Tony
05/30: 215 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
7 lbs. to go
Friday, May 30, 2008
The Wife Weighs In...Week 30
Happy Friday, GHMIW fans!
So, things are looking a little sunnier this week. Both literally and figuratively. I've been working from home like a busy little bee, trying to get ahead of my at-work to-do list. I've gotten some big projects checked off, which has made me feel a little less overwhelmed, which has helped me to keep a better eye on what I'm eating.
I've also been less likely to "stress-eat." If you aren't familiar with "stress-eating," it's when you are so overwhelmed by what you need to accomplish, and how little time have, that you drive to Chipotle for a delicious burrito...because you've got so much on your plate that you don't even know where to start, because it will help you delay getting started, and because its general yumminess will just make you happy (and not completely stressed out) for a short period of time before you go back into full anxiety attack mode. More or less.
Anyway...I feel like my eating is more balanced this week...a lot more cooking at home, a lot less eating out and eating on the run. Tony has even packed lunches for me this week.
I had a couple nice, long walks over the weekend, but I've had trouble getting to the gym this week. I've been working late at the computer, I've been up late reading scripts, and (to top it off) I've got a cold (and both of the girls, too).
Strangely enough, all these things came together to get me to the gym for the first time in weeks. I had been up late writing our season brochure and reading scripts, and went to bed about 12:30 am. One of the girls woke up at 3:15, coughing and hacking. Tony got up to get her a glass of water (bless his soul), but she was still coughing. Because I couldn't fall back to sleep, I went see if I could help. Tony and I eventually got her settled in and got back to bed about 3:30, and that was the end of my night's sleep.
I laid in bed, tossing and turning, with work issues and to-do lists keeping me awake. So, I got up at 4:00, made some lists, and wrote down some ideas that were floating through my head. At 4:30, I realized that I wasn't actually going to get any more sleep, so I put my clothes on and went to the gym. I got there at 4:55, 5 minutes before the gym opened.
"So, this is what its like to be one of those people," I thought.
I had a great session on the treadmill yesterday morning. 4.25 miles in an hour, varying between walking at 3.8 mph and running at 4.8 mph, at an elevation of no less than 2%, sometimes as much as 7%. I felt great all day! But, boy am I paying for the lack of sleep today!
I know I say this every week, but I hope to get my workouts back on schedule next week. Once that happens, I am going to be unstoppable!
'Til next Friday! Have a good weekend!
My update:
5/23/08: 186.8
5/30/08: 185.0 (a loss of 1.8 pounds this week)
Total loss of 43.4 pounds, 1.8 pounds over low of 183.2, 3 pounds from next mini-goal of 182.0
P.S. Thanks to Nato for the props and Laura N for her never-ending words of encouragement!
So, things are looking a little sunnier this week. Both literally and figuratively. I've been working from home like a busy little bee, trying to get ahead of my at-work to-do list. I've gotten some big projects checked off, which has made me feel a little less overwhelmed, which has helped me to keep a better eye on what I'm eating.I've also been less likely to "stress-eat." If you aren't familiar with "stress-eating," it's when you are so overwhelmed by what you need to accomplish, and how little time have, that you drive to Chipotle for a delicious burrito...because you've got so much on your plate that you don't even know where to start, because it will help you delay getting started, and because its general yumminess will just make you happy (and not completely stressed out) for a short period of time before you go back into full anxiety attack mode. More or less.
Anyway...I feel like my eating is more balanced this week...a lot more cooking at home, a lot less eating out and eating on the run. Tony has even packed lunches for me this week.
I had a couple nice, long walks over the weekend, but I've had trouble getting to the gym this week. I've been working late at the computer, I've been up late reading scripts, and (to top it off) I've got a cold (and both of the girls, too).
Strangely enough, all these things came together to get me to the gym for the first time in weeks. I had been up late writing our season brochure and reading scripts, and went to bed about 12:30 am. One of the girls woke up at 3:15, coughing and hacking. Tony got up to get her a glass of water (bless his soul), but she was still coughing. Because I couldn't fall back to sleep, I went see if I could help. Tony and I eventually got her settled in and got back to bed about 3:30, and that was the end of my night's sleep.
I laid in bed, tossing and turning, with work issues and to-do lists keeping me awake. So, I got up at 4:00, made some lists, and wrote down some ideas that were floating through my head. At 4:30, I realized that I wasn't actually going to get any more sleep, so I put my clothes on and went to the gym. I got there at 4:55, 5 minutes before the gym opened.
"So, this is what its like to be one of those people," I thought.
I had a great session on the treadmill yesterday morning. 4.25 miles in an hour, varying between walking at 3.8 mph and running at 4.8 mph, at an elevation of no less than 2%, sometimes as much as 7%. I felt great all day! But, boy am I paying for the lack of sleep today!
I know I say this every week, but I hope to get my workouts back on schedule next week. Once that happens, I am going to be unstoppable!
'Til next Friday! Have a good weekend!
My update:
5/23/08: 186.8
5/30/08: 185.0 (a loss of 1.8 pounds this week)
Total loss of 43.4 pounds, 1.8 pounds over low of 183.2, 3 pounds from next mini-goal of 182.0
P.S. Thanks to Nato for the props and Laura N for her never-ending words of encouragement!
THe Weigh-In Week 50
215! That is what the scale said this morning! A loss of ....
Hey Deja vu! No loss. No gain. I weigh exactly the same as last Friday. It's a birthday miracle.
My lovely wife cooked up the most amazing steak dinner last night. That huge steak alone should have put me a pound up for the week. But oh man was it yummmmmmmmy!
This weeks winner is my Dad. Nice job Dad. Not too optimistic. Not too pessimistic. You managed to zero right in on the correct weight.
That makes three weeks without a gain. There may be something to this whole calorie counting thing!
Have a great weekend everybody.
Tony
05/30: 215 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
7 lbs. to go
Thursday, May 29, 2008
A Happy Birthday Suprise
I was getting dressed after my run today and without even noticing I tightened my belt one more hole then normal. And now my pants fit better.
I may not have hit a new weight low by my birthday, but I did achieve a new belt milestone.
Hurray.
I may not have hit a new weight low by my birthday, but I did achieve a new belt milestone.
Hurray.
Guess How Much I Weigh Contest - Week 50
So, here's the deal.
I ate a lot of food this weekend. I worked out a lot this weekend. This has left me nearly even with last weeks weigh in. OK, maybe a little over, but not much. If I was at my absolute best I could probably pull out a loss for this week. On any normal Thursday that is what I would do. But this is no normal Thursday. This is my birthday.
My birthday means pie at work and a big steak and potatoes dinner tonight. I have chosen not to forsake these things for the sake of the scale.
I just wanted to prepare you that there may be a gain tomorrow....but, if I do have a gain tomorrow, it will be a temporary blip that should be gone by the end of the weekend.
I have a very active weekend planned. Full of digging and hauling and building things. And I plan to eat right .
There is no way I am going to hit a new low by tomorrow. I don't know what I was thinking. Hitting a new low during a birthday week? So I am now determined to hit a new low by the one year anniversary in 2 weeks.
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.
You can check out my food journal for the last few days here.
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
05/29: 215 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
7 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.
I ate a lot of food this weekend. I worked out a lot this weekend. This has left me nearly even with last weeks weigh in. OK, maybe a little over, but not much. If I was at my absolute best I could probably pull out a loss for this week. On any normal Thursday that is what I would do. But this is no normal Thursday. This is my birthday.
My birthday means pie at work and a big steak and potatoes dinner tonight. I have chosen not to forsake these things for the sake of the scale.
I just wanted to prepare you that there may be a gain tomorrow....but, if I do have a gain tomorrow, it will be a temporary blip that should be gone by the end of the weekend.
I have a very active weekend planned. Full of digging and hauling and building things. And I plan to eat right .
There is no way I am going to hit a new low by tomorrow. I don't know what I was thinking. Hitting a new low during a birthday week? So I am now determined to hit a new low by the one year anniversary in 2 weeks.
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.
You can check out my food journal for the last few days here.
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
05/29: 215 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
7 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.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Back on The Water
It was a busy, busy holiday weekend full of ups and downs. The downs mostly involve the backyard play set we bought for the girls. What was supposed to be an easy afternoon of putting together a simple slide has turned into a major backyard landscaping project, complete with a new retaining wall. At least the digging will be good exercises.
The other down was my parents lake home getting pelleted by baseball size hail. Not fun. But at least the house is still standing.
The ups fortunately far outweighed the downs. Had my all time favorite birthday dinner on Saturday; Ribs, Cheesy Potatoes and corn on the cob. Saw Indiana Jones and The Crystal Skull and didn't hate it. Ran a lot. Went for a good aggressive bike ride with my dad.
Best of all I got back on the water.
Memorial weekend is always the unofficial, official start to summer for our family, and part of that tradition is getting in our first ski session of the summer, no matter how cold the water. It was tempting to break with tradition this year. The water was freezing, the air temp was below 70 and the wind was blowing strong. But we jumped in anyway. And let me tell you it felt good.
I managed to salmon ski toward the end of the summer last year, but it took a few tries to get up and I didn't really feel like I was skiing. On Sunday I popped right out of the water on the first try and by the end of my run I was starting to feel some of my old water skiing glory coming back. Not that I was every a great slalom skier, but I could hold my own.
It is such a great feeling to once again be able to do something I love so much. Something I had done all my life until my weight took it away from me. I am feeling the same way about softball. It's like rediscovering all these magical abilities I forgot I had.
It makes me very excited for this summer...assuming summer every gets here. This weeks forecast calls for another week of low 70's and rain. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!
At least it looks like I should have a nice bike ride on my lunch break today.
Tony
05/28: 215 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
7 lbs. to go
p.s I got the new Neil Diamond album , Home Before Dark, for my birthday and I am loving it. Check out some of the tracks here. This ain't your Mommas Diamond.
The other down was my parents lake home getting pelleted by baseball size hail. Not fun. But at least the house is still standing.
The ups fortunately far outweighed the downs. Had my all time favorite birthday dinner on Saturday; Ribs, Cheesy Potatoes and corn on the cob. Saw Indiana Jones and The Crystal Skull and didn't hate it. Ran a lot. Went for a good aggressive bike ride with my dad.
Best of all I got back on the water.
Memorial weekend is always the unofficial, official start to summer for our family, and part of that tradition is getting in our first ski session of the summer, no matter how cold the water. It was tempting to break with tradition this year. The water was freezing, the air temp was below 70 and the wind was blowing strong. But we jumped in anyway. And let me tell you it felt good.
I managed to salmon ski toward the end of the summer last year, but it took a few tries to get up and I didn't really feel like I was skiing. On Sunday I popped right out of the water on the first try and by the end of my run I was starting to feel some of my old water skiing glory coming back. Not that I was every a great slalom skier, but I could hold my own.
It is such a great feeling to once again be able to do something I love so much. Something I had done all my life until my weight took it away from me. I am feeling the same way about softball. It's like rediscovering all these magical abilities I forgot I had.
It makes me very excited for this summer...assuming summer every gets here. This weeks forecast calls for another week of low 70's and rain. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!
At least it looks like I should have a nice bike ride on my lunch break today.
Tony
05/28: 215 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
7 lbs. to go
p.s I got the new Neil Diamond album , Home Before Dark, for my birthday and I am loving it. Check out some of the tracks here. This ain't your Mommas Diamond.
Friday, May 23, 2008
The Wife Weighs In...Week 29
Happy Friday, GHMIW fans!
Long time no blog, huh?
Here’s the update. Every spring, the non-profit community theater I manage holds its annual fundraising event. It’s a pretty big deal in my world and it’s a lot of work. I’ll spare you all the details, but I usually put in approximately 70 to 80 hours of work that week. There are a lot of volunteers around, which means there is a lot of food around. And, working that many hours doesn’t leave a lot of time or energy for going to the gym.
I’ve spent the last two weeks trying to recover from “Cabaret Week.” That includes lots of work (and homework) trying to get caught up with all the things that were shoved aside so that I could focus all my attention on the fundraiser. I’ve had late nights finalizing our next annual budget, a full day’s worth of fundraising seminars, and a board meeting. Work has been kicking my backside and I don’t see it letting up anytime soon as we prepare for a new artistic season and a new fiscal year.
In addition, Tony has started softball again which is great for him…terrible for me. Tony has been playing in the same Monday night softball league since before I met him 13 years ago...on the same team…with the same group of family and friends. It is a summer tradition for him and I think it’s wonderful and I would never think of asking him to give it up. But, Monday was my yoga night...something I looked forward to every week. With two little girls and a busy Daddy, it’s suddenly much more difficult for me to get to class.
You don’t even want to know how behind the house cleaning has gotten. And, it’s now cabin season, which means even less time at home to get things taken care of.
Honestly, I feel like every bit of structure I have spent the last year constructing piece by piece has all been destroyed in a couple of weeks and now I am left with the task of clearing the rubble and starting all over again. Sigh.
Now that I have that off my chest, what’s my point?
I’m exhausted. Period. I am going to be looking for some renewal and rejuvenation over the next week or so. Getting things back on track. Not just my eating and not just my workouts. I will also be putting my life back together and trying to get things back in balance.
Long time no blog, huh?Here’s the update. Every spring, the non-profit community theater I manage holds its annual fundraising event. It’s a pretty big deal in my world and it’s a lot of work. I’ll spare you all the details, but I usually put in approximately 70 to 80 hours of work that week. There are a lot of volunteers around, which means there is a lot of food around. And, working that many hours doesn’t leave a lot of time or energy for going to the gym.
I’ve spent the last two weeks trying to recover from “Cabaret Week.” That includes lots of work (and homework) trying to get caught up with all the things that were shoved aside so that I could focus all my attention on the fundraiser. I’ve had late nights finalizing our next annual budget, a full day’s worth of fundraising seminars, and a board meeting. Work has been kicking my backside and I don’t see it letting up anytime soon as we prepare for a new artistic season and a new fiscal year.
In addition, Tony has started softball again which is great for him…terrible for me. Tony has been playing in the same Monday night softball league since before I met him 13 years ago...on the same team…with the same group of family and friends. It is a summer tradition for him and I think it’s wonderful and I would never think of asking him to give it up. But, Monday was my yoga night...something I looked forward to every week. With two little girls and a busy Daddy, it’s suddenly much more difficult for me to get to class.
You don’t even want to know how behind the house cleaning has gotten. And, it’s now cabin season, which means even less time at home to get things taken care of.
Honestly, I feel like every bit of structure I have spent the last year constructing piece by piece has all been destroyed in a couple of weeks and now I am left with the task of clearing the rubble and starting all over again. Sigh.
Now that I have that off my chest, what’s my point?
I’m exhausted. Period. I am going to be looking for some renewal and rejuvenation over the next week or so. Getting things back on track. Not just my eating and not just my workouts. I will also be putting my life back together and trying to get things back in balance.
And, it is going to be really hard work.
‘Til next week (promise!)
‘Til next week (promise!)
My update:
5/02/08: 183.4
5/09/08: 185.8
5/16/08: 188.4
5/23/08: 186.8 (a loss of 1.6 pounds this week)
Total loss of 41.6 pounds, 3.6 pounds over all-time low of 183.2, 4.8 pounds from next mini-goal of 182.0
5/02/08: 183.4
5/09/08: 185.8
5/16/08: 188.4
5/23/08: 186.8 (a loss of 1.6 pounds this week)
Total loss of 41.6 pounds, 3.6 pounds over all-time low of 183.2, 4.8 pounds from next mini-goal of 182.0
The Weigh-In Week 49
215! That is what it said on the scale this morning. A loss of 1.8!
I'm extremely happy with this weigh-in. It proves I can eat healthy and lose weight without keeping a hard core workout schedule. Not that I have plans to back off on my work outs, but weeks like this are always a challenge. This inspires me to do my best on busy weeks, instead of writing them off.
My net goal was to try and reach 208 by my birthday, which is next Thursday. I doubt I am going to make that. At this stage, I don't think it would be to healthy for me to lose 7 pounds in one week...despite what we see on Biggest Loser. So, I am revising my goal to try and make it to 208 by the 4th of July.
Our big winner this week is my fellow FatBlogger Webcudgel. Nice Job Charles. Per usual, no prize this week, only 6 votes.
Just for the fun of it, here's a face off between the old me and the new me.
Have a great holiday weekend everybody. Keep your fingers crossed, it may actually get warmer than 80 here in Minnesota. Margarita's here I come.
Tony
05/23: 215 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
7 lbs. to go
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Guess How Much I Weigh Contest - Week 49
Just three more weeks to the Big Guess How Much I Weigh 1 Year Extravaganza!
This week has gone surprisingly well. I'm not sure if I'll manage a loss this week, but I know I won't have a big gain. Considering how few work outs I have had, not having a huge gain this week is a big accomplishment all in itself.
As things stand right now I am down from last weeks weigh in, so as long as yesterday's eating doesn't catch up with me and I play nice today I should pull out a loss.
Yesterday's Food Journal can be found here.
If you take a look at the journal, you may notice a Dairy Queen Snickers Blizzard buried half way through the day. This was not a slip or binge. This was part of my plan to treat myself to one really premium treat every once and awhile instead of giving in to lots of crummy, unsatisfying snacks.
The Blizzard was to celebrate the successful culmination of the project that has kept me running around like crazy for the last month and a half. And it was delicious!
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 May 19th.
Calories Consumed: From Monday morning through Wed. night I have consumed aprox. 7099 calories.
Calories Burned: From Monday morning through Wed. night I have burned aprox. 11437 calories.
Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!
Tony
05/22: 216.8 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
8.8 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.
This week has gone surprisingly well. I'm not sure if I'll manage a loss this week, but I know I won't have a big gain. Considering how few work outs I have had, not having a huge gain this week is a big accomplishment all in itself.
As things stand right now I am down from last weeks weigh in, so as long as yesterday's eating doesn't catch up with me and I play nice today I should pull out a loss.
Yesterday's Food Journal can be found here.
If you take a look at the journal, you may notice a Dairy Queen Snickers Blizzard buried half way through the day. This was not a slip or binge. This was part of my plan to treat myself to one really premium treat every once and awhile instead of giving in to lots of crummy, unsatisfying snacks.
The Blizzard was to celebrate the successful culmination of the project that has kept me running around like crazy for the last month and a half. And it was delicious!
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.
Calories Consumed: From Monday morning through Wed. night I have consumed aprox. 7099 calories.
Calories Burned: From Monday morning through Wed. night I have burned aprox. 11437 calories.
Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!
Tony
05/22: 216.8 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
8.8 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.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
So Far, So Good
I thought this was going to be a difficult week. My work schedule is making it nearly impossible for me to get workouts in this week. Which is always a dangerous situation. Luckily my work schedule is also making it difficult for me to stress eat. So that's good. My calories have been under control all week. In fact my calories are at a great place for me for not working out... they are a little under normal. And the scale seems to be holding pretty steady. All in all a good place to be considering what a disaster a busy stressful week could have been. And I know that week is not over, but I am still feeling pretty confidant.
Yesterday's Food Journal can be found here.
Quick softball update. We are 2 and 0 for the season. Another nail bitter on Monday night but we pulled it out in the last inning. So far no sign of last years batting slump. I have had a hit or walked every time I've been up to the plate.After I made a couple of crazy catches in the outfield on Monday one of my teammates trotted over and said, "No way the old Tony could have caught those." He was so right.
Now for something completely different.
I am kind of obsessed with Hungry Girl now. My love wife and I tried her Thick & Creamy Banana Caramel Smoothie the other night and it was amazing. We also shared them at the cabin this weekend and they got universal approval.
With any of these diet substitution foods I have learned to expect the worse but with these I was more than plenty surprised. The smoothies were delicious and filling.
So I have been surfing around her site looking for other good desert substitutions.
And I found a link to Prevention magazines Daily Calorie Calculator. According to them I need 3114 calories a day to maintain my current weight. So to lose a pound a week I should net out at 2600 calories a day...after exercise.
Seems way high to me, but at least it's a bench mark for me to judge by during this week of limited exercise.
Tony
05/21: 216.8 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
8.8 lbs. to go
Yesterday's Food Journal can be found here.
Quick softball update. We are 2 and 0 for the season. Another nail bitter on Monday night but we pulled it out in the last inning. So far no sign of last years batting slump. I have had a hit or walked every time I've been up to the plate.After I made a couple of crazy catches in the outfield on Monday one of my teammates trotted over and said, "No way the old Tony could have caught those." He was so right.
Now for something completely different.
I am kind of obsessed with Hungry Girl now. My love wife and I tried her Thick & Creamy Banana Caramel Smoothie the other night and it was amazing. We also shared them at the cabin this weekend and they got universal approval.
With any of these diet substitution foods I have learned to expect the worse but with these I was more than plenty surprised. The smoothies were delicious and filling.
So I have been surfing around her site looking for other good desert substitutions.
And I found a link to Prevention magazines Daily Calorie Calculator. According to them I need 3114 calories a day to maintain my current weight. So to lose a pound a week I should net out at 2600 calories a day...after exercise.
Seems way high to me, but at least it's a bench mark for me to judge by during this week of limited exercise.
Tony
05/21: 216.8 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
8.8 lbs. to go
Monday, May 19, 2008
False Bravado
Ok, so I may have been a little too enthusiastic when I promised that I would write down everything I ate over the weekend even when I was out of town. I have to be honest with you, I have no clue what I ate this weekend. I know there were some hamburgers and some hot dogs and some chips and some fruit... Ok let me rephrase that, I have no clue how much I ate this weekend.
I did pretty good. I know there was no binging or eating anything crazy. I am sure that I ate a little more than I should have but no where near as much as some weekends. It was just to hard to keep track with all the different eating schedules and pot lucks and no computer for immediate journaling. I guess next weekend I'll have to bring a note book.
It was a highly active weekend though, so that should help off set a little of my bad eating.
The sun was out, the boats are in the water, I had my wet suit on...It must be summer. Hallelujah!!!
Calorie counting is back on track today. You can follow along here if you would like. It's a fun game.
Tony
05/19: 216.8 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
8.8 lbs. to go
I did pretty good. I know there was no binging or eating anything crazy. I am sure that I ate a little more than I should have but no where near as much as some weekends. It was just to hard to keep track with all the different eating schedules and pot lucks and no computer for immediate journaling. I guess next weekend I'll have to bring a note book.
It was a highly active weekend though, so that should help off set a little of my bad eating.
The sun was out, the boats are in the water, I had my wet suit on...It must be summer. Hallelujah!!!
Calorie counting is back on track today. You can follow along here if you would like. It's a fun game.
Tony
05/19: 216.8 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
8.8 lbs. to go
Friday, May 16, 2008
The Weigh-In Week 48
216.8! That's what it said on the scale this morning. A loss of 3 pounds.
I am extremely happy... but this is not the be all end all of all this calorie counting. I know the real proof will come in 3 weeks. If I am still counting calories and still losing weight in 3 weeks, then I can call this return to basics a success. For now lets just call this a good start...a really good start.
Our winner this week for the second week in a roll is Andrew. Nice job Andrew, you're on a roll. And congrats once again on your amazing 5K race last weekend.
Andrew competed in his 3rd ever 5K last weekend and finished in 25:17... nearly 6 minutes better than his best time to date. An amazing feat...and one I am very jealous of.
Have a great weekend everybody.
Tony
05/16: 216.8 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
8.8 lbs. to go
P.S. Did you notice I am wearing shorts. There is a chance that summer may finally be arriving. Hurray!
It should be a nice weekend here in the Northland. Get out and enjoy it.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Guess How Much I Weigh Contest - Week 48
I achieved another milestone last night. I swam for 1 mile without stopping. I didn't have my watch with me so I don't know exactly how long it took. I do know it was between 30 and 40 minutes. Not the fastest swimmer in the world, but when you consider I couldn't even swim a quarter mile 4 weeks ago, I feel pretty good.
Yesterdays Food Journal Can be Found Here.
The Short Story:
Calories Consumed: 2284
Calories Burned: 4632
One good thing about counting calories again, no more guessing in the dark for the contest. The stats for the week are below.
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 May 11th.
Calories Consumed: From Friday morning through Wed. night I have consumed aprox. 16356 calories.
Calories Burned: From Friday morning through Wed. night I have burned aprox. 23676 calories.
39% of my calories have come from fat.
12% of those calories came from Saturated Fats.
44% of my calories came from carbs.
16% of my calories came from protein.
Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!
Tony
05/15: 219.8 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
11.8 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.
Yesterdays Food Journal Can be Found Here.
The Short Story:
Calories Consumed: 2284
Calories Burned: 4632
One good thing about counting calories again, no more guessing in the dark for the contest. The stats for the week are below.
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.
Calories Consumed: From Friday morning through Wed. night I have consumed aprox. 16356 calories.
Calories Burned: From Friday morning through Wed. night I have burned aprox. 23676 calories.
39% of my calories have come from fat.
12% of those calories came from Saturated Fats.
44% of my calories came from carbs.
16% of my calories came from protein.
Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!
Tony
05/15: 219.8 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
11.8 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.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Wednesday Calorie Check In
Tuesdays food journal can be found here.
The Shot Story:
Calories Consumed: 2275
Calories Burned: 3840
Tony
05/13: 219.8 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
11.8 lbs. to go
The Shot Story:
Calories Consumed: 2275
Calories Burned: 3840
Tony
05/13: 219.8 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
11.8 lbs. to go
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
1 and 0 on The Season
It was a nail bitter on the softball diamond last night but in the end we pulled it out and won by one run.
I don't think losing the weight has made me a better softball player but it sure felt like I was running the bases a lot faster this year then I did last year.
Turns out my fears of over indulging after the game last night were all for nothing. It's easy to lay off the snacks when nobody brings snacks.
Over all yesterdays calories were much better than the weekend.
Monday's Food Journal can be found here.
The Short Story:
Calories Consumed: 1834
Calories Burned: 4218
I just heard an interview with Hungry Girl, a food blogger turned entrepreneur turned diet institution. I have followed her story a little bit, but apparently she is huge now. I mean popular, not weight wise.
Anyway she has a new cookbook out today that I am tempted to buy. In the interview she made it sound like a great cook book with lots of full flavored substitutes for unhealthy dishes and restaurant food. If the recipes truly are great tasting and not just based on tiny portions, this may be a good way to get some of my calories back on track.
If anyone picks up her book this week, let me know. I am curious it if it would be compatible with my meat and potatoes, no veggies, no fish, now way, no how lifestyle.
Tony
05/13: 219.8 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
11.8 lbs. to go
I don't think losing the weight has made me a better softball player but it sure felt like I was running the bases a lot faster this year then I did last year.
Turns out my fears of over indulging after the game last night were all for nothing. It's easy to lay off the snacks when nobody brings snacks.
Over all yesterdays calories were much better than the weekend.
Monday's Food Journal can be found here.
The Short Story:
Calories Consumed: 1834
Calories Burned: 4218
I just heard an interview with Hungry Girl, a food blogger turned entrepreneur turned diet institution. I have followed her story a little bit, but apparently she is huge now. I mean popular, not weight wise.
Anyway she has a new cookbook out today that I am tempted to buy. In the interview she made it sound like a great cook book with lots of full flavored substitutes for unhealthy dishes and restaurant food. If the recipes truly are great tasting and not just based on tiny portions, this may be a good way to get some of my calories back on track.
If anyone picks up her book this week, let me know. I am curious it if it would be compatible with my meat and potatoes, no veggies, no fish, now way, no how lifestyle.
Tony
05/13: 219.8 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
11.8 lbs. to go
Monday, May 12, 2008
Weekend Wrap Up
Not so good with the calories this weekend. I guess the real push toward healthier eating starts today.
Sadly softball also starts today. Don't get me wrong, I am excited for the softball season to start. I can't wait to see what this new lean, mean machine can do out on the diamond. I will just have to be careful about overdoing the celebration after the game tonight.
Sunday's food journal can be seen here.
The Short Story:
Calories Consumed: 3757
Calories Burned: 3491
Ouch!
Tony
Sadly softball also starts today. Don't get me wrong, I am excited for the softball season to start. I can't wait to see what this new lean, mean machine can do out on the diamond. I will just have to be careful about overdoing the celebration after the game tonight.
Sunday's food journal can be seen here.
The Short Story:
Calories Consumed: 3757
Calories Burned: 3491
Ouch!
Tony
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Saturday's Calorie Count
It's getting worse before it gets better. Grrrrrrr. No one but me to blame.
Saturday's food journal can be seen here.
The Short Story:
Calories Consumed: 3090
Calories Burned: 3982
Saturday's food journal can be seen here.
The Short Story:
Calories Consumed: 3090
Calories Burned: 3982
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