Weight Loss Bet

Started a new weight loss bet with 8 friends on Monday.  Weigh-in Monday evening was 306.6.  Ouch!  But I am happy to report that as of this morning (so a day and a half later) I'm at 296.  All I have to do is continue at this pace for 15 days and I can lose my whole 100 pounds!

Weights

So I worked out at my new gym for the first time Monday.  Did about 25 minutes on the machines and then 20 minutes of cardio.  I'm a little sore but not too much.  Last night was basketball so this morning I was back in the 260s, which I'm happy about.  Hopefully Friday will be even better.  It is a day of fasting, after all, so that should help...

Big step

I joined a gym today!  Cardio is one thing, but I really need to develop some muscle as well.  I've been getting the Fitness19 ads in the mail for a while, and I finally bit on one.  After a relatively steep $168 down it's only $10/month forever.  Given that it's also really close to my house, I hope I use it.  I plan on riding my bike there on nice days.

I've been running and playing basketball, but my weight hasn't dropped.  Which I attribute to all the eating.  Somebody could get insanely rich developing a safe, working appetite suppressant...

Back on the wagon -- for the 43rd time

Writing this blog is like going to confession.  It's the same thing every time.  But yesterday's 80 degree weather reminded me that pool season is almost upon us, so it's time to get serious again.  Unlike rich guys like Bill who have their own pool, I have to go to a public one where other humans will see me with my shirt off.  Since I own a mirror, that thought is serious motivation...

I'll weigh in Friday.  I'm hoping to somehow be lower than my last weigh in, so I can pretend the time off from blogging was not spent sitting around eating.  (And working a ton, unfortunately.)

Ash Wednesday post

When last I posted, things were going pretty well.  Since then, Girl Scout cookies have been delivered here by the semi truckload and friends have been dropping of meals nearly every day.  (Therese was pregnant but ended up losing the baby and had to have a D&C last Friday.)

I am determined to use Lent to get back on track, and obviously God's trying to help me b/c I woke up in the middle of the night with a nasty stomach bug that has my insides in turmoil.  I'm definitely not going to be gaining any weight today! 

Reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated

Sure, it's been since November that I've posted.  But I'm back!  (Thanks, Bill.)  Sadly, in the intervening time I've gained a bit.  I topped out near 280, but as of yesterday was back to 269.2.  So that's what I'll put down for this week and see how I do next week.  I've been playing basketball every Tuesday and racquetball most Fridays, and usually get in one job a week.  But the weather is getting nicer so I should be able to run more and start biking again.  Also tennis, maybe...

I've disable the automatic email notification on this thing, so now people can just visit if they want and ignore me otherwise.  Mostly it's b/c I'm kind of embarrassed at the backsliding.

Update

Sorry for the lack of posts (Bill); I just need to get back in the habit.  By last Friday I was down to 261.8, so down 5 pounds.  I'll weigh in tomorrow for this week, then try to avoid going buck wild later in the day.  There's a Nagle thanksgiving as well as a Griffin thanksgiving, but at least I'll have Friday off to recover.  I'll try to find someone to play racquetball with me on Friday.  Any volunteers??

Thanks to Bill, I'm pushing this:

Thanks to Bill and Peggy (and Therese), I'm trying to get back on the wagon.  I really appreciate all of you who have been supportive.  I'm finding out how easy it is to let your guard down and fall back into bad habits.

I got on the scale yesterday morning and weighed 266.8.  It's really hard to put into words how depressing that is.  I'm up more than 20 pounds from my low this summer.  I went back and looked at my records and the last time I weighed this much was ... Nov 12, 2009.  More than a year ago! 

Since I last checked in I've run a half marathon and done a 50 mile bike ride, but those were both in October and I haven't done much since then.  The weather is really pretty decent for running but I've just gotten out of the habit.  But with both Thanksgiving and Christmas coming, the next couple months are full of land mines, so I need to get back into the regular workout habit.  More importantly, I need to start watching what I eat as well.  Halloween certainly didn't help, but the kids are now out of all the cany that I like, so that temptation is dying down. 

At any rate, I plan on starting up the weekly weigh-ins again.  Those really did work, since they held me accountable.  If anyone out there ever wants to play racquetball, just let me know.  I'm available almost every night. 

I'll leave you with this photo, and the thought that goes through my head upon seeing it:  "How can a guy with that size belly bend over so far to grab the handlebars?"

OK, now I really am getting serious

So this weekend was kind of a cluster-f, as always.  Maggiano's on Saturday then Blaine's Smorgasbord of Smoked Meat on Sunday.  I got on the scale this morning and was back up to 260.8 from 254 on Friday.  But then I ran 7 miles today and was back down to 254.8.  Given that I ran the whole 7 without anything to drink, that's probably mostly water weight.  But I have hoops tomorrow night and then Therese and I are doing our longest bike ride yet (40ish miles) on Wednesday.  Then we have the half century on Sunday morning.  So maybe by NEXT Monday I'll be at a respectable weight again.  I sure hope.  It's been a while since I hit a new low.

Today's episode is titled "Tenerife Rd. Doesn't Cut Through," or...

... "How My Bike Ride Went From 28 Miles to 35."  Gmaps said our route was possible, but they were wrong.  At the end of Tenerife Rd we got to a private drive with lots of No Trespassing signs posted everywhere.  28 miles was already 6 more than I had ever ridden, but now we had to double back and the 28 became 34.  We were pretty low on water, but luckily Becky Hall lives right on Tenerife, so we filled up our bottles from her hose. We were both totally spent when we made it back to the car, but we did make it.  And we've got ten more days to build up to another 15 so we can do the 50 mile ride the 19th.

As for weigh-ins, I was "down" to 256 last Friday.  I'm down a couple more this week, but I'm still eating too much.  Must be residual cruise ship disease...