Happy Holidays Everyone!!!!

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and is looking forward to a Happy New Years Weekend! 

Just wanted to shoot out a quick update for all you restless readers out there.

We've been doing alot of traveling back and forth with family etc, and staying busy with the Holidays. My goal was to not even gain a single pound over the Holidays. So far mission accomplished! I'm sitting even at 39-40 pounds total loss. I've had lots of good workouts in, including my fastest 5k time yet!

Thanks to all the friends and family for the support over the Christmas Holiday! I'll be back with lots of pictures and updates etc. And of course back with Weigh-In Wednesday in a few days .

I hope you and yours have a great New Years Eve this weekend. Stay safe, and I'll check in with ya in a few days.

Weigh-In Wednesday...Week 11!

11 Weeks Completed 

77 Days Down 

Week 9 Weight -- 271.5

Today's weight -- 2-6-9! So that's another 2.5 pounds down this week.

Total Weight Loss to date = 25 pounds !!!

Oh yeah broke the 60's this week! Bye bye 90's, 80's, and 70's!

Before Pic with my brother Pat in Brussels ... 

Week 11 ... Front View

Week 11 ... Side View

We've had alot going on this week, so I'll keep this brief. I'm really going to try and post more often this next week coming up. Anyways, this week was actually quite a surprise. I thought I was getting a plateau effect because I kept seeing a flux of 270-272.5 all week long. So today, when I did my official weigh-in I was pretty excited about the loss for week. 

I've been incorporating some jogging and running into my workouts. Some days I'll do biking for about 10-15 minutes first to get my heart rate going. I'm working out at least 5 days a week, and most weeks I can get at least some form of exercise in every single day. 

FOOD:

Some people have messaged me, asking about my meals I plan for during the day. So....

Here's a picture of typical lunch I have during the  week. Special K Protein Meal Bar, Low-Fat String Cheese, and a piece of fruit. 

I really will have more posts this week, so keep checking in. Thanks to all again for your love and support. TWENTY-FIVE POUNDS! WOO HOO!!!

“Decide what you want, decide what you are willing to exchange for it. Establish your priorities and go to work.” ~H. L. Hunt

Weigh-In Wednesday...Week 7!

49 Days Down. 

7 Weeks Completed 


And I'm officially in the 70's!

This week felt like a great one. I really stuck to my game all week long for the most part. I had a couple snack slip-ups after scheduled snack times, and I had a little slice of apple pie on Labor day lol. But other than that I really feel like I had a great week. I got tons of exercise in over the long weekend. Including a couple of great long bike treks on Saturday and Monday mornings. 

I even saw a weight as low as 277 over the weekend. WOW. However, as they say, your body can catch up with you and fluctuate. Who knows maybe it was alot of water weight one day? 

Anyways, I step on the scale tonight for my weigh-in and I see... 

Week 6 Weight -- 280
Today's weight -- 2-7-9 !So that's another 1 pound down this week.

Total Weight Loss to date = 15 pounds

At first I must admit I was kind of frustrated because I felt like my weight should have been lower this week. But, the more I thought about the big picture, the better I felt. I still have gone over my 2 pounds a week goal. I can't really complain at all. 15 pounds in 7 weeks is not too shabby, and I'm just going to keep at it. Slowly but surely ... 

Check out this picture of me at our friend Melody's wedding last fall. Pictured is my wife Jaimie and our good friends Katelynn and Alex. 

Quite the difference right? 

In other news ...

Our big project this weekend was doing our office/library room in our house. 

So we went to IKEA. And filled up Laura and Dan's Van lol

Room Before ... 

And room after! 

We have lots more pics on Facebook too. 

Thanks everyone for checking in with me this week and keeping me accountable. I feel like this is a critical time just because I'm almost to that two month mark and the newness of this has kind of worn off. Now it's a marathon and I just have to stay the course. My goal is to be about 30 pounds down by the time I see my family in the beginning of November. 

I'll check back in before the weekend and let you know how the week is going. So far so good! 

“First we form habits; then they form us. Conquer your bad habits or they will conquer you.” ~Robert Gilbert

Weigh-In Wednesday ... Week 6 !!!

Yesssssssssssir, it's Weigh-In Wednesday Week 6! 


That's 6 Weeks .... 42 Days. 


My big goal this week was to see a 7 on the scale this week. I came pretty darn close. This is kind of a weird angle picture lol , but it will do. 

Week 5 Weight -- 283.2
Today's weight -- 2-8-0 !So that's another 3.2  pounds down this week.

Total Weight Loss to date = 14 pounds




I actually saw a weight as low as 279.8 this week, but I'll settle for 280 since that's what I got today :-)


It's been a great week. I'm really enjoying biking and it's helping me keep my workout routine fresh. 


It's all in your head ... 
I've noticed that almost everyone gets really excited when I tell them what I'm doing or show them the blog. However, I've also found it amusing when people kind of give me that sarcastic "ohhhhh that's great , but I know you'll never stick with it" look. I even had someone tell me "Don't be surprised if all of the sudden you just can't lose weight anymore, some people are just meant to be big."  LOL. Nice. Keep it up. I like the challenge. 


That is what has made this such an exciting 6 weeks. I've had alot of moments early on where I doubted myself because of past results...It's all in your head... keep going
And now this week I've thought of several occasions where it was much easier for me to pass up something I know I shouldn't have...Stay focused ... keep going. 


Thanks to every single person out there supporting me. I love all the continued messages. Also,  welcome to all you new readers that are just seeing the blog for the first time.  


Family Matters... 
Dad, this blog is dedicated to you this week. Thanks for this awesome encouraging email! Since you couldn't figure out how to post it online, I'll help ...  You also get to be the quote of the day. 


"Haven't figured out how to select a profile to comment on your blog. So I'll use email.

You have always had great determination and effort to succeed when you set a goal. I remember a guy with a goal to be a starter on bball team when the raw talent was not as good as some others. But his determination and will translated into dedicated effort. I can still hear the early morning sound of a bball bouncing on the driveway pavement and hitting the backboard while I was still in bed. This occurred morning after morning, week after week, as he got up early and practiced before he went to school.

This guy did indeed become a starter on the bball team. Not only a starter, but one of the best 3 point shooters on the team. He also became one of the best rebounders even though he was routinely matched against much taller players. Rebounding, more than any other aspect of bball, is characterized by sheer determination and effort.

I now see this same guy undertaking an even bigger challenge. I also see this same determination and effort ramped up to meet the challenge. In other words, I see a repeat performance with a certain repeat success. But this time with even greater, life changing results.

Keep It Up!!  The results are already looking good!!

DAD"

Things I'm Loving in Week 4 :-)

Been a great week so far.

Just a couple days till the week 4 weigh-in and I am enjoying this journey more & more. I'm excited for the 2nd visit to the Bodyfit cardio class at J Park Tae Kwon Do. Should be fun.


What will be even more fun is when Jaimie comes with me on Thursday. 


Here are some cool blogs I found online of guys that have done what I want to do. Really interesting stuff:


http://www.jayloss.com/
http://www.andrewisgettingfit.com/
http://formerlyfatrunningguy.blogspot.com/




Foods, etc. I really like these days:
Special K Protein Snack Bars
Craisins -- Especially the Cherry Flavor
Quakes Sweet Chili Rice Cake Snacks
Tuna , Tuna, Tuna
Pita Bread
Vitafusion Fiber Gummies

Macintosh Apple Cherry Sobe LifeWater (thanks to Jon for introducing me to this in Michigan)


ONE FOOD I HATE lol and will never buy again: 

Fiber One Brownies - I usually LOVE Fiber One stuff. But this one truly tastes like mud. Yuck. 


So far so good this week. I'm excited for weigh-in Wednesday. Really looking to meet my goal of 9-10 pounds total weight loss in the first month. 


Once again thanks for all you encouraging friends and followers out there. I am really, genuinely moved when I hear that someone else is inspired to start doing this ( You know who you are! GOOD LUCK!!!)


“There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.” ~Colin Powell

Killer Cardio

Happy Friday Night!


Quick update. 

I went to this Bodyfit Cardio class with my friend Alex at a Tae Kwon Do Mixed Martial Arts center near my house on Thursday night.  It brought back good memories being in a Tae Kwon Do dojo, and it reminded me of when me and brother Pat used to tear it up in our Blue stripe and Blue belts respectively. 


It was 45 minutes of serious intensity and I loved. I've got to say that is probably the best workout I've had in a while. We jogged, did pushups, crunchs, jumping jacks, punching, kicking, resistance bands etc etc etc. 


Quite sore today though. I think I'm going to start going there on Tuesdays and Thursdays. 


Good things so far since the weigh-in on Wednesday. Weight is still going down and I'm feeling better every single day. 


Also had some killer sushi at Matoi Sushi in Tampa tonight. Go try it, it's great. Healthy and very very good. 


Looking forward to the weekend ahead. Got lots to do, and of course will fit the workouts in somewhere. Tonight I just kept it light and walked for a while down to the CVS and back. Had to restock up on the fiber gummies lol. 




Anyways, that's all for now and thanks for following. 


Good Night!

Chili-Fest, Improv, Ruby Tuesdays, Landscaping, and Cheddars.... Oh My

Happy Sunday evening everyone! 
I haven't blogged since Wednesday so we have some catching up to do. 


For one, I got on the scale today and I'm still going down :-). I won't reveal any numbers until weigh-in Wednesday, but I just hope I can keep up the trend. 


I've managed to really keep the exercise going almost every day and have been mixing it up to keep things fresh. I've done long walks, jogging, working outside, swimming, etc. This allows me to stay away from that trap of getting sick of something really quickly. 


I also feel like I'm really settling into this lifestyle change in my eating habits, portion side, etc. You really do have to pick your battles sometimes (more on that later), but the key here is preparation and expectation. New habits start to form and it is getting easier little by little. 


Anyways......This weekend was really great and really busy, and I managed to stay in control. For starters, I had a date night with my wife Jaimie on Friday. We ate at Ruby Tuesdays. I must admit that the bacon cheeseburger she ordered looked amazing.  I ordered two turkey mini's and the salad bar. My Sandwich did come with a few fries, and they were so good lol. However, I still was in control of my calories and since I knew I was going out to eat that night, made up for the fries in other ways. I tasted a little bite of that real hamburger. Wow. But hey, you have to make sacrifices right?


Saturday was going to be tricky, but I planned it out and made it work. I did some work outside in the morning and then hit the pool. I had a slim-fast for breakfast, some healthy snacks, and a small grilled chicken wrap with some fruit for lunch. 


Saturday evening we went over to meet with our good friends from the Improv team I do comedy with (check us out at http://strangersandfools.com/) at Matt and Sara's place. So , at this meeting of the minds we were going to have two different kinds of chili, chips and salsa, and then some awesome desserts like always. The chili was actually pretty healthy, but I knew I'd have some chips and salsa  (most likely more than some because I love chips and salsa). They were great. I was having a great time laughing with everyone. Hooray. But then .... Dustin's wife Shannon, broke out this awesome chocolate waffle dessert with ice cream. Also brownies made an appearance.  Man was it tempting. 

Here's how I survived lol. I cut off a teenie tiny piece of brownie. Ate it. And then drank a ton of water. Everyone around me was practically rolling in chocolaty goodness and I actually felt good. And full. And I didn't ruin my entire week of work.  DISCLAIMER:  I do not think the Improv team is a group of gluttonous maniacs. They just really like dessert. And three of the wives are pregnant lol. I love you all. 

Here they are... or here we are...  Left to right ( Me, Dustin, Matt, Steph, Chris)


I did eat some peanuts and Craisins when I got home while I was watching TV which was totally cheating, and I shouldn't have, but I moved on and I did extra exercise today to make up for it. 


Finally, today after church we went out to lunch with our friends Mark and Cristina to this great restaurant called Cheddar's. Really good. I got grilled Dijon chicken with mushrooms and rice. I passed on my favorite broccoli casserolle and switched it out for steamed broccoli and green beans. Not too shabby my friends. For dinner I just had a mini pita with some Syrian cheese and an apple. Score. 


All  in all it was a great weekend and things are still going well. 


More challenges to come this week, and hopefully more results. 

Thanks everyone! 


“This one step – choosing a goal and sticking to it – changes everything.” ~Scott Reed