Thursday, April 28, 2011

Early Thursday Morning

Well everyone, we've finally gotten to the day of the NFL Draft. Huzzah! But first I have to get through my day at work. It's been a stressful week. Just lots of things to do and lots of agent complaints...some of them operator error while others are genuine concerns that Kerri and I have tried to solve as best we can. One of the fixes should have gone in last night which is good news. We have a conference call today about some things in MN that I'm not really looking forward to. It'll go fine but I'm always nervous for that stuff.

I had a doctor's appt earlier this week and then I fasted that night and went in on Tuesday to have some blood drawn for a cholesterol test and things like that. I didn't notice until later last night that the doctor's office called and left me a voicemail that they had my results. Soooooo, I'll be calling them today to get my numbers and let you know how it came out. Last time I had my cholesterol checked it was pretty good, hopefully it'll be the same way this time.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Monday Morning Weigh-In #40

It was a pretty nice week again. I had some nice workouts, exercise bike rides, and walks with a little jogging mixed in. My next goal is 125 lost...I know, it's only 6 pounds from my last goal but every 25 pounds is a little victory. I moved a little closer to that goal with my weigh-in this morning. I lost 2.4 pounds this week to bring my total to 122.8 pounds. A real great weigh-in after some bigger sized loss weeks. I'm just trying to keep steady and keep it going.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Happy Easter and Some Sunday Morning Measurements

First off, Happy Easter to everyone!

Anyways, I was supposed to do some measurements last week but totally forgot. I've been trying to do them every 6 weeks buuuuuut, this will have to be 7 weeks. Soooo, here we go:

Waist: Lost 1 1/2 inches; 17 inches total
Neck: Lost 1/4 inch; 2 1/2 inches total
Chest: Lost 1 1/2 inches; 11 3/4 inches total
Hips: Lost 1 1/2 inches; 14 1/2 inches total
Left Thigh: Lost 1 inch; 6 1/2 inches total
Right Thigh: Lost 1/2 inch; 5 inches total
Left Calf: Lost 1/2 inch; Lost 1 1/2 inches total
Right Calf: Stayed the same; Lost 2 inches total

Those are some pretty good results overall. I've been able to get into some smaller pants and smaller shirts which has been very cool. Just keep on shrinking!

I had to do a bunch of stuff for work this weekend which was kind of a drag but I got some good things done and am ready to hand a project off tomorrow which will be a good feeling. I did make time these last 2 days for some exercise though.

Today, I actually ran! I took the Vibrams out on the Wabash Trail and did a total of 2.08 miles in about 32 minutes which isn't too bad. BUT, of that 2.08 miles, I ran 0.51 of it!! Yep, actually ran! I'm as surprised as y'all!!! Now, my running wasn't a "Continuous" run, it actually came in 3 stretches....0.25, 0.10 and 0.15....but it felt great to accomplish that. Just a little more progress every day is what I need. I've ridden the exercise bike a few times this weekend as well and go into this new week feeling really good and positive.

I think my weight loss for the week might be a little low but after the past few weeks and big losses, that's almost to be expected. I'm trying to keep kicking things up a notch...small notches, but a notch nonetheless...to keep my body adjusting and losing weight. It's been working well so far and will hopefully continue.

Friday, April 22, 2011

A Couple of Days Later

Just laying here right now but done some stuff tonight around the apartment. Need to get this stuff done since I have some work to do tomorrow and Sunday. I have to get a couple of things done for Monday so got to do some work at home. Just gonna be a long weekend but with it raining like it is, should be fine.

So after walking in the Vibrams on Monday, it took until Thursday until my calves felt normal again. Just tight and felt weird. It wasn't really a 'hurt' feeling, just strange. I need to do some more walking in them to get used to them and start to feel normal wearing them.

It's been a long week and going to be a short weekend. I need to get in some exercising this weekend as well. I went through some items in my closet and set a few items up for donation since they are too big now. It feels really good to be moving into smaller clothes and getting things that really fit me correctly. It's a pretty sweet feeling to put on a pair of smaller pants or a smaller shirt. Good times, good times.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Walking in the Vibrams

Tonight, I went out for my first walk in the Vibram Five Fingers shoes. Oh whoops, I don't think I ever mentioned that I had bought a pair on here. Last Wednesday I believe, I picked up a pair of Vibrams..."toe" shoes. These are shoes that have pockets for each of your individual toes and somewhat fit like gloves over your feet. For one thing, they are very comfortable. I had been pretty busy over the last few days of last week and this weekend....it was also pretty cold this weekend. Today I decided I'd walk around the apartments, about a 1.12 mile walk, in them. It is a much different experience than walking in normal shoes but was pretty cool. They work your calves and Achilles quite a bit. My Achilles were a little sore but I felt good after the walk. It should be fun once the weather warms up and I'm able to wear these more for longer walks and things. Needless to say, I'm really enjoying the Vibrams.

Monday Morning Weigh-In #39

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!! If you can't tell by those first two words, my goal for this past week was completed....WOO-HOO!!!! I lost a total of 6 pounds last week to bring my overall total to 120.4 pounds. That means I'm past the 119 pound mark I've been striving to pass. It's such a great feeling and I'm so happy with this. I keep telling myself that now it's just on to the next goal but this is pretty sweet. I'm finally down into another weight bracket that most people wouldn't be too happy to be in but I'm overjoyed at the moment. It's another set of 100 pounds to lose but I love the fact that it's the start of another 100. There is still a long way to go but today is a little day of celebration for me....no extra food for the celebration of course, but a day of feeling proud and excited for the things in front of me but especially for those things behind me.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Been Busy

This week has been pretty busy. Stressful at work, poker on Friday and Trivia last night. Poker didn't go that well.....finished as 'Bubble Boy' in the first game and kinda crappy in the second game. I could never seem to get any run of cards so finishing as well as I did wasn't too bad.

Trivia was fun. It was put on that Chatham Glenwood H.S. to benefit their mock trial team which won Nationals and is going for a bigger competition in Phoenix, AZ. The leader of it was Zane Carmean, my friend Caryn's son. He did a great job and it was a lot of fun. My team wound up winning and for once, we donated our winnings back to the cause. We don't normally do that but it felt right this time since it was for some high school kids and I know what a great kid Zane is. I hope they go and kick some butt! Good luck to them all!

I have some errands to run today and a few things to do. Need to work out a little bit to get to my weight loss goal for the week....I'm sooooooooo close right now. Anyways, I'm enjoying my new Vibram Five Fingers shoes and having a nice weekend.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Detemined to Eclipse a Goal

I'm determined this week to lose more than the 4.6 pounds it'll take to get me to my next goal of 119 total lost. It's very important to me to keep on the straight and narrow this week and not eat too much. I'm not eating any less than normal but I need to kick some butt to get there. Now, I'm not going to be crushed if I don't get there but I'm going to do what I can to be there. I just want to overcome this hurdle so I can move on to the next one.

I haven't totally determined which one my next goal will be. It might be 144 pounds or, an extra 25 pounds. I think that's what it is going to be and I'm going to start tackling things at some 25-pound increments. I'm keeping pace with my New Year's Resolution to lose 100 pounds in 2011 and that's a strong positive feeling for me. I just need to keep it up and keep on chugging along. I'm fighting hard and feeling good.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Monday Morning Weigh-In #38

I figured that after last week I would wind up a little bit above my last weigh-in. NOPE! Okay, okay, my weight loss wasn't all that impressive but it was 0.4 pounds to bring my total lost to 114.4. It's not alot but it's something! I still ate pretty well last week even though I couldn't work out. I'm totally happy though with being down even a little bit. Every little bit helps and every little bit counts towards the total. It's time to start a new week and I'm hoping to make it a good one.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Last Few Days

First of all, my back has gotten back to normal which is very good. It took a few days but by Friday all was pretty good with it and I've been riding the exercise bike again. I think I'll about flatline for the week on the weigh-in tomorrow or be up a little bit but that's okay. I just wasn't able to work out enough last week and my body just seemed to go into a recuperation mode with the back problems.

Second, the weather has been fabulous! We're supposed to get some severe storms tonight but we'll see how that goes. On Saturday night I made 2 lean pork loin chops out on my little charcoal grill. They were really good. Paired them up with some steamed asparagus and some cottage cheese with cut up strawberries. It was a really good dinner.

Third, I have to give a speech on Tuesday at Toastmasters. I know what I'm giving it on but I don't know if it'll really be any good. It's kinda goofy but we'll see. I read a whole book this weekend which hasn't happened in awhile. The book was "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis. It was all about the subprime mortgage crisis and was very interesting. I highly recommend it if you want to read about it and not be too confused. It is somewhat confusing at times but well worth the time.

Overall, the last few days have been pretty good. Fans going, windows open...just some nice weather. Also, the Masters was pretty awesome. I suck at golf..the few times I've tried to play...but I enjoy watching a few tournaments on tv and that's one of them. Lots of players in it until the end and just a bunch of fun to watch.

Well, I hope the last few have been good for you all and that the next week goes even better. I'm hopeful for a good week and making this into a really great April.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!

Starting on Monday, my back betrayed me. I began to feel a twinge in the late morning and by Monday night I was in some pain. I stayed home from work on Tuesday and kept using a heating pad while trying to loosen the whole thing up. I went to work today and it's feeling alright now...still not great, but alright....but I haven't been able to work out. I haven't been able to even walk or ride my exercise bike the last couple of days. I'm going to get back to it tomorrow though, I think I'll be good to go by then.

Anyways, on Monday I had my friend Alison take a pic of me to post on here. Now, these pics aren't exactly with the same type of clothes or vantage point or anything but I thought I'd put up a photo from April 4 this year and I believe a couple from April 3 last year.

Here is the older one:


Here is the newer one:


Soooooooooo......can you see any difference??? Let me know.....

Monday, April 4, 2011

Monday Morning Weigh-In #37

This week was truly good to me. I worked out hard, ate well and took really good care of myself. The scale was also very, very good to me. I lost another 8.2 pounds this week to bring my overall total to 114.0 pounds. I'm really humming along right now and just trying to do the best I can each and every day. It's not always easy but I'm working hard at it and I feel really good. It's been a good couple of weeks after a bad couple of weeks and for that I really am grateful.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Blog Post #200

Woo-hoo, this is blog post #200!!! I don't post everyday anymore but getting to two hundred posts is pretty important for me. It means that I've kept all of this up. I've had my slow periods and my "not-so-great" periods but on the whole, these 200 blog posts have been an extremely important tool for me. It's kept me accountable to all of you but also to myself. I've been complacent at times, I haven't had a bunch to say at times but it's always on my mind, as is staying active so I actually have something to report.

Today was just beautiful outside. It got up over 80 even with a little bit of wind. I did 2 laps around the apartments in the area which was a total of 2.35 miles and tonight did some time on the exercise bike. I got to 9.31 miles in 3o minutes on it which is a pretty good pace to keep up. I've had a really good weekend and think my weigh-in tomorrow should be pretty good. I love the warm weather and the possibilities it holds for me.

Soooooo Nice....Uh-Oh!

The weather is extremely nice out there today. We're already near 70 this morning but we're supposed to be in the path of some bad storms tonight. Well, that doesn't matter right now! I'm actually sitting here wearing some cargo shorts and contemplating going outside and doing something, anything, before the weather starts up. I went to the store to finish off some grocery shopping and ran into my friend Stephanie. It was nice to talk to her for a few minutes.

I made a pizza yesterday. Now, it wasn't a frozen pizza or ordering a pizza or anything like that. I bought some personal-sized thin pizza crusts and some lower cal fixins. I used this crust with a little pizza sauce, some thin fresh mozzarella slices, one circle of Canadian bacon cut up, some cut up mushrooms and one slice of diced up provolone cheese. Bake for about 10 minutes and holy crap was it yummy! This might be able to be a nice stand in for me ordering a pizza every once in awhile and be a much smaller, healthier option for me. It's actually pretty exciting to me that it came out so well and I enjoyed it so much.

This is blog post #199 so that means the next one will be #200 which is kinda cool. I figure I'll wind up doing another post tonight so that a "weigh-in" post is that #200. I actually planned on doing this post last night but it just slipped my mind. Things are going really well though and it's a very good time for me.