Weigh-In Wednesday Week 19!!!

19 Weeks Completed 

133 Days Down 

Starting Weight -- 294

Week 18 Weight -- 259

Today's weight -- 2-5-8! So that's another 1 pound down!

Total Weight Loss to date = 36 pounds !!!

First off, I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! 

Before Pic (this is actually my picture After 4 Weeks into this lifestyle change) 

After (look, I'm smiling this time!)

And from the side ... 

So. The questions I've been getting the most are ... "Did you totally ruin your diet over Thanksgiving?" "How much weight did you gain?"  "Was it miserable?"  LOL!  The answer is No , No, and No.  I had a great time and survived. Whew. 

I came in to Thanksgiving with a few goals: 

1) Don't Gain even one pound

2) Work Out every day, no matter what's going on

3) Enjoy the home cooking and meals with friends

Check, check, check.  

Jaimie and I flew home to the family up in West Virginia for the Thanksgiving Holiday. We had a great time. I'll walk you through the trip...

We got to see some great friends have a game night at our Friends Todd and Jess' house. This was also the first night we had a fire pit, which ended up happening alot on this trip. Jess made some awesome homemade BBQ's. I had one. It was delicious. 

On Thanksgiving Day we had a GREAT meal! We also got to spend with almost 20 family members. We have such a great family and it was so much fun seeing everyone. Here are a few pics of the yummy food etc.

 Jaimie and baby Coop

 Cool name plates

As for my workouts during the week. I managed to get out every single day. Wed-Thurs-Fri-Sat. The run on Thanksgiving morning really helped prepare me for the day of food ahead. Here are some pics of the awesome views I had around town while I was running. 

 View from our Backyard

 Ready to put the smack down on Pitt

 Celebratory Fire PITT 

Some of the lights we put up for Christmas

Anyways, it's getting late so I'm gonna wrap this up. This week I was able to recover from a flat week of maintenance during Thanksgiving, and lose another pound this week. Thanks to all for your constant love and support. It's been a great journey so far these past 4+ months, and I'm looking forward to meeting my New Years Goal.

Bye for now ..... 

“People with clear, written goals, accomplish far more in a shorter period of time than people without them could ever imagine.” ~Brian Tracy

Back in action ....

OK so I'm still alive and well in case you were wondering. 

Lot's of updates coming on Wednesday, as well as some pics from our Thanksgiving trip up to WV. 

We had good food with great family and friends. Anyways, much more to come on Wednesday, including a weigh-in for 11/30/11.

End of 4 Month -- Check In

Hey Everyone!


Just a quick check-in post as this is the 4-Month Anniversary of when I started this blog and my lifestyle change journey.


STARTING WEIGHT on 7/20/11 .... 294


WEIGHT AS OF 11/20/11 .... 259


TOTAL WEIGHT LOSS TO DATE .... 35 Pounds
Average pound loss per month ... 8.75 Pounds


On July 20th, I was ... 

1. 294 Pounds
2. Really determined to make a change
3. Unsure of real, lasting, progress
4. Counting the stack of shorts and pants I had, but never wore, because I couldn't button them. Actually I could barely even put them on. Button or no button lol. 

On November 20th , I AM ...

1. 259 Pounds
2. Really determined to make a change
3. Seeing, real, lasting progress 
4. Giving shorts and pants away that are much too big and buying new pants :-). As the theme of this blog suggests, I used to HATE buying myself pants. So did everyone else. Now I look forward to seeing what size I can get. 

So there ya go. Officially 4 Full Months in, with a total of 35 pounds lost so far.

Thanks all for your love and support :-)

More to come on Weigh-In Wednesday from Wild and Wonderful West Virginia!!!

“You cannot expect to achieve new goals or move beyond your present circumstances unless you change.” ~Les Brown

Weigh-In Wednesday Week 17!!!

Welcome to Weigh-In Wednesday. Week 17 Edition! A few posts back I commented on the kinda sorta "plateau" I felt like I was hitting in the mid-sixties. I was having so much trouble losing more than one pound in a week, and I just felt stuck trying to get over that magic "30" number. Part of that was slip-ups on my part I'm sure, but I still felt like it was a make it break it kind of time, where I was going to stay at around 30 pounds down, or be able to move past it and start having a 2+ pound loss week. 


This week felt like a great one all the way through. I started seeing better results on the scales and I was able to keep up my pace running and biking like never before. My food intake was also pretty solid. So......

17 Weeks Completed 

119 Days Down 

Starting Weight -- 294

Week 16 Weight -- 263.8

Today's weight -- 2-6-1! So that's another 2.8 pounds down!

Total Weight Loss to date = 33 pounds !!!

Back to being a loser. Almost 3 pounds lost just this week. SUCCESS! 

The first before pic, is me and my Dad at my wedding in June of 2010. The second pic is from about one week before I started this lifestyle change.  People keep telling me my face has really changed lol, so decide for yourselves. 

Before Pic... 

Before Pic ... Face Shot 

After 17 Weeks

And from the Side 

Like I was saying earlier, this was a very productive week, and hopefully I'll be able to replicate a similar result this week coming up. Next week's weigh-in Wednesday post will be coming to you from Wild and Wonderful West Virginia as we'll be heading up there to spend Thanksgiving with the family. 

Some cool things from this week: 

Took Jaimie to see my friends over at Chainwheel Drive in Clearwater and picked her up a bike so she can ride with me. Great bikes over there. If you need one, check em out! We did an astonishing 15 miles on the bikes on Sunday afternoon. Nice work Jaimie, even if your legs were on fire afterwards.  

I am beginning to think I can survive on rice cakes, almonds, fresh fruit, dried fruit, and low-fat string cheese as my snacks. Gets the job done, and also tastes pretty great. 

My goal for this week coming up to get into the 50's bracket. Whew. I can do it. 

Thanksgiving will present a challenge I'm sure. But I'm just going to make sure I plan accordingly. You better believe I'm gonna enjoy that meal ;-). 

Thanks to all the people that have come up to me, messaged me , or called me with encouragement! I was helping out at the Outlet at Starkey Road tonight, and it was so cool to have so many of the students and leaders come up to me telling me they could really tell the difference. Special thanks out there to Justin, Erik, Luke, Will, Jacob, Bobby, Brian, etc etc etc. I also have some great supporters at work that have kept me accountable with food and helped me stay focused. Don, Sean, Erik, etc etc. Thanks for asking me "is that part of your diet." Excellent work. 

I love the support , and it's great to have that extra motivation!

My mom sent me this quote today and I'm going to use it for the post. 

"Success seems to be connected with action. Successful men keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don't quit." - Conrad Hilton

Weigh-In Wednesday Week 16!!!

It's Wednesday. So, by now you all know the drill. Let's review. My first blog was back on July 20. At that time I weighed in at 294 pounds. I finally decided to quit being complacent and DO SOMETHING. Since then, I've had ups and downs, and this has been one of the most fulfilling and rewarding experiences of my life. 

Today I reached a huge goal, and I am very proud to give you this week's official stats ...

16 Weeks Completed 

112 Days Down 

Starting Weight -- 294

Week 15 Weight -- 265

Today's weight -- 2-6-3.8! So that's another 1.2 pounds down!

Total Weight Loss to date = 30 pounds !!!

THIRTY POUNDS. Whew , that's a big goal accomplished. I'd like to drop another 15 by the New Year. I think it's possible :-)

Before Pic .... 

After...

And from the side ...

So, to celebrate this loss of 30 pounds, I was trying to think of some things that weigh 30 pounds, and I'm really drawing a blank here. 

Who's got some ideas? What things out there weigh 30 pounds lol???

Really happy with this big accomplishment today. It's been 16 weeks of very hard work, and this is the most weight I have ever lost. Even though I haven't hit the 2-pound a week mark alot this month, I've still consistently been losing. I can't weight to get into the 50's! 

More to come soon ...

Thank you thank you thank you to all who have continued with your great support and encouragement. 

“You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through.” ~Rosalynn Carter

Week 16 Weigh-In Coming Up Tonight ...

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

16 Weeks in and 112 days down. Not quite to the official 4 month yet, because I actually started on 7/20/11. The official four-month mark will be in about a week and a half, so I'll do a separate post then.

Anyways, stay tuned tonight for the Week 16 Update :-)

Plateau???

Short little post here.
I've had great workouts this week, but I seem to be stuck right around the minus 30 mark! However, noticing more and more difference in my clothes. I really feel like this is a crucial point in this cycle. Coming up on 4 months into this thing and still trudging along. Trying to get past the elusive minus 30 point slowly, but surely and still going at it every single day. Thanks everyone for all your support.

Weigh-In Wednesday Week 15!!!

15 Weeks Completed 

105 Days Down 

Starting Weight -- 294

Week 14 Weight -- 265.8

Today's weight -- 2-6-5! So that's another 0.8 pounds down!

Total Weight Loss to date = 29 pounds !!!


Not my best week so far, but still productive! My fantastic family was here for a visit, and Jaimie and I got to go enjoy the Hilton Grand Vacations Resort and Disney. 


For the before and after pics for Week 15, I've chosen a couple of pics from our Europe trip in June. These pics are from Amsterdam. You'll notice that I'm wearing the exact same clothes in both sets of pictures. Can you see the difference? 


Before Pic #1 - Amsterdam 

Before Pic #2 - Amsterdam 

Week 15 - From the Front 

And of course... From the Side 

And that's that. 

Progress was actually slower this week, and it looks like I came up just ONE POUND short of my 30 pounds lost by the end of October goal. You know what though, I'll take it. 29 pounds is more weight than I have ever lost in my life, and it really feels great. I think there were a few factors that played in to the slower paced loss. I had more special meals with family at restaurants, and definitely didn't watch things quite as strictly. To me, that's OK. I still had a loss, and after over 100 days it feels good to see some real progress. 

Now it's time to get back to it and have a 2-3 pound loss next week. I'd like to drop another 15 pounds by the New Year. Do-able?? I think so. 

As far as the Disney trip goes, I'll put some more pics up and give that it's own post sometime this weekend. Here are a few pics from the trip! 

More to come later! Thanks for all the support!!!

“Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.” ~Vincent Van Gogh