Movie-time!

I walked down to the Farmer's Market with Teresa and Jeremy today. It's getting late in the season and there are only a couple of weeks left for it. The vegetables and fruit are somewhat dwindling though. I did pick up a nice green pepper, some more kick-butt salsa and some homemade pasta. The pasta will work nice to make a little side dish for some meals.

Then, Jeremy and Kavan came over for Wii Bowling night although we wound up just watching a movie. It was a good evening though and we had some fun.

Thursday should be fun. We get to have an additional casual day at work and they're having the Seafoam 880 at lunch along with a cookout. The Seafoam 880 is where teams of 4 ride a small child's bike around the Horace Mann plaza. It sounds dumb but ohmygosh, it's hilarious and fun to watch. I could never do it and am a little jealous of those who can ride those bikes. It should be a good time and supposed to be a nice day weather-wise.

T-Minus: 4 days

Messed Up Workday But A Good Day

Today was a kind of messed up workday. Just a lot of TX Property. I try not to bore you all with mundane details of work but I only mention this because the day went by very quickly with some meetings/phone calls but I don't feel like I got much accomplished. I have a lot of work coming up here though and that's been one of those things that has caused me to eat poorly so this will be a pretty big test for me coming up. I'm dealing with everything well though and trying to keep it all in perspective especially considering how important this is to me.

Tried on some clothes tonight and am wearing a smaller pair of pants to work tomorrow which makes me pretty proud. Shirts still aren't working out the best but they're getting better and I feel like in maybe another month or so I'm going to really be able to move down a size and feel comfortable. I'm excited about the pants thing though which is excellent. I think I'm going to be able to retire 3 bigger pairs of pants which will join a pair of jeans that I moved down from a couple of weeks ago.

I did a measurement of my waist tonight as well and I'm down about 6 inches. I'm going to do my first official measurements next Sunday morning which will be 12 weeks since my first measurement. I will post an update on those after I've done them next week.

T-Minus: 5 days

I Went Out Walking...

...with a Bible and a gun. Wait, that's a U2/Johnny Cash song. Where did that come from? Anyways, thanks to everyone for the congrats on the weight loss. It makes me feel good to know people are out there reading and caring about my success. I know a couple of people have said that I have inspired them to try to lose some weight too and eat better and I hope that I can support them the way you have all supported me. It's more appreciated than I could really put into words.

I did go walking today with someone who enjoys being mentioned in the blog so here is your moment......TERESA!!! All I can say when she asks me to go for a walk is "Yes Drill Sergeant!" She knows what that means, she's funny. We went for a walk that was about 1.4 miles. It was a beautiful day out there and it was a nice trek around downtown Springfield. It's been a good day and I hope I sleep well tonight.

T-Minus: 6 days

Monday Morning Weigh-In #10

I've lost over 50 pounds...woo-hoo!!! It was good standing on the scale this morning. I am down 3.8 pounds for this past week bringing my total lost to 51.2 pounds. It's very exciting for me. I thought I might have a good week and I sure did. 3.8 pounds lost makes me very happy. It is exciting to have lost more than 50 pounds in 10 weeks.

9 Points

Sunday has been pretty good to me so far. I slept pretty well last night to start it off. Did a few things around here this morning and had some chili for lunch. That's still some good chili. The Cowboys won to avoid going 0-3....thank GOD! Three of my fantasy teams have already won for the week and then there's the one in the league with my brother. The Sunday night game is just starting and I need 9 points from Shonn Greene to beat Mike. So I'm rooting hard for this because it'll make me avoid going 0-3 in a league where I've scored alot of points so far.

I know, I know, someone talking about fantasy football isn't very exciting. Well, it's my blog and deal with it! HAHA! Just kidding. I made a homemade tomato soup recipe that my friends Jason and Sarah sent me. I thought it would make more but it was pretty good. Made 2 bowls so I froze one for later. It was tasty though. Just a little bit ago I rode the exercise bike for 30 minutes and went a distance of 7.8 miles. I feel pretty good though so that's nice.

I hope to have a couple pound weight loss tomorrow, I'd be very happy with that. That would be a really great way to start the week out for me. I'm just doing everything I can and I'm feeling like things are going well. I'm very hopeful for the next few weeks and maybe some of the big changes I'll be making with the gym and trying to exercise more.

T-Minus: 7 days

Stroll Down Memory Lane

I went and saw some more soccer today. This time it was my buddy Ryan play a game. It was over on the fields across from UIS so I took a drive past the old apartment. It used to be 145 University Court West...now, it is some address at Bluebell Court. Bluebell Court??!!!! You've gotta be kidding me! I don't really want to go in there but it would be fun. There is a ton of new stuff out at UIS that looks pretty nice. I don't drive over that way much so driving past there is sort of fun.

Not much of a day otherwise. I'm hoping that football tomorrow goes well so I can quit saying "I hate football." Looking forward to some chili too.

T-Minus: 8 days

Holy Crap! How Long Is This Day??!!!

It was an extremely long day at work today. I mean, it felt LONG! It's one of those days that you would look at the clock to see what time it was, do work for what felt like an hour and then look at the clock and it was 5 minutes later. Holy crappin' crap! It was just a really long day...why can't my days off feel this long???!!!

Right now I'm clearing off some stuff from the DVR. Lots of premieres this week so just a few things to watch. Not sure what all I'm doing this weekend...probably not much. Gonna ride the exercise bike some and going to go for a walk tomorrow...at least I'm planning on it. Might go watch some more kid's soccer tomorrow but not 100% sure of that. I sure hope we can have some great weather all weekend, that would be really nice and could lead to me getting some good sleep each night.

T-Minus: 9 days.

Not Much To Say

I had a fairly boring day today. I got some good work done at work and stayed a little late. After that I went to see my friend Kari's daughter Lauren play soccer in Rochester. She always gets a big smile on her face when she sees me...such a cutie! Had 2 extra lean burgers for dinner and then watched a couple of season premieres...Big Bang Theory, Community and The Office.

Other than that, it wasn't a very big day but it's been a good week. There are a few things this week I would probably do a little bit differently looking back on it now but it's been a good week. I like the weather cooler so I'm happy it's cooled back off at the end of the week again. It's Fall and I like having my windows open, I sleep better.

T-Minus: 10 days

Hump Day and a Decision

I have to apologize for no post last night. Had a tiring day on Tuesday so I didn't feel like posting. Tuesday was our 3rd quarter Recognition Committee outing which was a community service-type outing. A group of us went to the Habitat for Humanity build sites here in Springfield and did some good, old-fashioned manual labor. Did some digging, pulled up some concrete forms, shovelled some rocks. After doing that, I was just tired and felt like only laying around soooooo....no post.

Anyways, today was a pretty good day like yesterday but I'm ready for the week to be over. Eating has been good but I need to do some more exercise but yesterday was good for me. Need to ride the bike some more and get out for a walk this weekend.

I need to start doing more and I know it. I think my body has gotten used to the 2,000-calorie/day eating so it's become a little bit harder to take off some weight without adding in more exercise so that's what is next. I'm working on getting up earlier in the morning and on October 4th, I'm heading back to the gym. It's going to be slow going at first to get myself into some type of decent workout shape but I'm determined to go.

Sooooo, for those of you that work with me on Monday, October 4th ask me how the gym was and for those of you who are faithful readers, send it along in an email or a comment. Help keep me accountable. I'm not going to let you down and I'm NOT going to let myself down.

No Connection, No Post

Most nights I post something to this blog to keep everyone informed on how things are progressing and how I'm feeling. I planned on putting together a post last night but I mysteriously lost my Internet connection for most of the evening. It's been a loooooooong time since that happened to me and it took me by surprise. It was a real pain in the butt.

I really didn't have a whole lot to say about yesterday though. I did have a nice weight loss in the morning but that was about it for the day. Had a bunch of meetings at work in the morning...just kinda tiring but I got some good things done. Today we have a Recognition Committee Philanthropic Event. Some people will be going to Ronald McDonald House to clean and do things around there, some are going to the Habitat for Humanity Restore to clean, restock shelves, etc and some are going to two Habitat for Humanity build sites to do some yard work, some general cleanup and things like that. I'm going to the HfH build sites and hope to have a good time. It's going to be warm out there so we'll just have to see how it goes.

Monday Morning Weigh-In #9

After coming up with a 0 pound weight loss/gain last week, I hoped to lose a few pounds this week and come up with a nice number. Well......I weighed in this morning and I was down 2.8 pounds for the week to bring my total weight loss up to 47.4 pounds in 9 weeks. I'm very happy with the number this week and need it to continue. Like I've said, losing about 3 pounds a week is what I'm looking for and if I can stay consistent and keep that up, it would be a great thing.

Seriously??!!!

All in all today was a good eating day. Had my normal Sunday breakfast and then a bowl of chili for lunch and topped it off with a NY strip steak with a small baked potato with salsa for dinner. For a little after dinner treat, I had a small scoop of orange sherbet and lime sherbet. Very tasty and extremely refreshing.

But, my Cowboys suck. Totally, totally suck. They lost today to the Chicago Bears. And you know what? The Bears deserved to win and beat the heck of Dallas. Congrats to the Bears and to Ben Wagens, to whom I now owe a lunch. I can't believe that I'm starting out this year losing the little game bets I make with some friends. My luck has been pretty horrible. I might as well just give Stephanie Fuller money for the bet we've already made on the Cowboys-Colts game later this year. Jeez!

I rode the exercise bike today while watching the game so I'm glad I accomplished that. Other than what's happened with football, I've had a nice day and a good day with my eating. I'm still working hard and keeping my head up. I'm really hoping for a good week weight loss tomorrow morning. Keep your fingers crossed that I pull a good number tomorrow. I know I'm working hard for it and I hope it shows in the numbers in the morning.

The Big Bang Theory

Earlier today while running some other errands, I picked up the third season of 'The Big Bang Theory'. I love this show. Even though I watched these episodes while they were on first-run, I've been watching them again. This show just never fails to crack me up. By the way, did you know that Kaley Cuoco, Penny from the show, loves me? It's true, here's a picture to prove it:



Anyways, today was a good day. Slept in a little bit after poker from last night. I didn't play the best in the first game but finished 4th in the second game. It's kind of sad to be excited to lose LESS money than I have the last few months.

I hope that Dallas can win tomorrow and I'm going to be riding the exercise bike while that game is on. Need to do some additional work and get a few pounds off this week. I didn't like not being down any weight last week so I need to be down a few. I'll be happy with just 2-3 pounds so it's not like I'm wanting alot. Here's hoping for a good time on Monday morning.

Poker Tonight

I've got poker tonight. I didn't post last night because I fell asleep pretty early. We have poker tonight and I hopoe I can win some cash. I've hardly won anything this year and am way behind for the year. I'm not sure what the weekend is going to hold but I hope it's a good one. Well, I at least hope that the Dallas Cowboys can beat the Chicago Bears. If they don't, I don't think I'll hear the end of it from ALOT of people.

My eating has been good this week so I don't want to people to worry that my posting has been a little haphazard. Just haven't had a whole lot interesting to say, had a headache some nights, been tired, and fallen asleep a little early a few nights. It's been a pretty good week though. I need to figure out something for dinner tonight before poker but I'll come up with something good....NO FAST FOOD! I haven't eaten fast food in almost 9 weeks now which is good. I have gone to Subway but I don't think that really counts as fast food. Gonna keep up this streak, it's a good one!

Thursday Morning Note

No post last night. I went to bed a little early last night. I had a bad headache and just didn't have a whole lot to say anyways. Just needed some sleep and to get rid of the pounding that was going on in my head.

Yesterday was a nice day though in some respects. Walked down to the Farmer's Market with Jeremy and later did 1 1/2 laps around the building with Teresa. As we were walking around, the sprinklers turned on which was kind of funny. We didn't get sprayed but it somewhat startled both of us.

What Day Is It?

I have no idea why but today seemed like Wednesday all day. Maybe it was just wishful thinking on my part but that's how it felt. I'm very disappointed because now it'll feel like there is an extra day in the week. All in all it was a nice day though. The weather has been really nice and I've been getting through my days a lot easier than I was last week. Just trying to take it easy and relax a little bit to get my legs back under me because it felt like I was going a little astray. I feel like I'm on the right track again though and that is a good feeling that I got through the rough patch.

I woke up a little early this morning and I'm not sure why I was soooo awake. I decided I'd have a treat for a weekday breakfast and I made myself 2 fried eggs and 2 slices of toast. It was very tasty and I'm glad I was up to have it. It'll be back to cereal or oatmeal tomorrow morning though. Once in awhile during the week is nice but can't have that too much even though eggs pack alot of protein in them....lots of fat in the yolk so best in moderation.

A Good Day

Monday has really been pretty good to me. Nothing special but I haven't had any cravings or crazy things. It's just been a pretty normal day and evening and it's been kinda nice. Just watching some Monday Night Football and can't believe that one of my Fantasy Football teams is gonna lose because Joe Flacco and Shonn Greene just haven't done so well. Oh well, it's a long season and I'm going to win some championships this year.

I want to send a special shout out to my buddy Jason. He has now lost 117 pounds and considering how great he looked when I saw him in April at the Final Four, I can only imagine how fabulous he's looking now. He's worked hard for it and I'm envious. I'm working to get there but I'm proud of my buddy. I'm sure his wife and 2 daughters are just as proud of their husband/father. He's a great guy and one of the guys who's really helping me along and keeping my spirits up. Keep up your great work Jason, I'm rooting just as hard for you as you are for me. Great job!!!

Monday Morning Weigh-In #8

Well, two months end with a thud. I was the exact same weight as I was last week so I end 8 weeks at the same weight loss I had last week, 44.6 pounds. As I said last night, I am happy I didn't gain. I never ate badly this week but just ate some more than what my normal has been. I'm just glad to be able to move on to a new week and not have had last week really wind up hurting me in any way.

Football and Chili

The NFL Season really started today. Huzzah! It's been a fun day and right now the Cowboys are losing to the Redskins 3-0. Hopefully the Cowboys can kick some butt the rest of the game. I made chili earlier today as is the custom for me on Week 1 of the NFL season. I made a different type of chili today with different types of beans, ground turkey, lots of spices and it was all made in the crock pot. It was pretty good and have 3 servings in the freezer for the next few weeks.

I don't think this will be a good weight loss week. I was basically the same this morning as I was last Monday so if I am down, it might only be a pound or I might be up a little. It has been a rough week so I am very happy to get this week over and just move on from this week. I feel like my clothes are fitting better or, are looser than what they were so that's a good thing and something to be proud of.

It's been a difficult week but it's just about over and I feel like I'm going to have a very good week next week. I can just feel it. Soooo, whatever the scale tells me tomorrow I'll just be glad for what little I lose, what little I gain or if I stay the same....because whatever the result I could've been up alot more this week if I had given in to some cravings.

A Nice Piece of Fish

Tonight I had a nice salmon filet for dinner. I'd had it frozen in my freezer for a month and a half or so but I thawed it out and cooked it on the George Foreman...yes, I actually still make lots of things on the old Foreman Grill...and it tasted pretty good. Had it along with some corn on the cob and a little cottage cheese with some grapes in it.

I've had a pretty relaxing day today. Did a few things around here and ran a few errands in the morning. Unfortunately the Miami Hurricanes lost to Ohio State this afternoon. Just too many turnovers and when Miami did something good, they just let OSU do something good right away after it....very disappointing.

The first full day of the NFL season is tomorrow and I'm very excited about that. We've had some good weather and I'm feeling alot better than I did around the middle of this week so that's good. I know I'll have days like that and getting through them without any real damage is the key. I've come through stronger and am still on the right course, that's the important thing.

A Better Day

Today went better and more smoothly. I'm not sure what really set it off but it was a pretty difficult evening. BUT, I have some great friends who are very supportive that I appreciate and some great parents. Thanks for the email Mom, it meant alot! Love you and Dad both alot!

I'm not saying that today was some type of cakewalk but I never really felt like going over the deep end. It's definitely not a time to believe that things are going to be easy but I hope that things will now smooth out. This is gonna be a good weekend, I can feel it. I'm hopeful and holding strong and keeping my head up. I have no reason to hang my head in any shame because while things got bad, I still kept on course.

Hopefully tomorrow we'll be back to stupid jokes and stories about killing bugs and things. HAHA!

Just Struggling Right Now

I'm not sure why it's happening right now but I've been struggling the last couple of days. I still haven't "cracked" or anything and eaten horribly but I've really been tempted to and it's just been some rough sledding. I knew this would happen at some point but I felt so great at the beginning of the week that it's taken me completely by surprise that this going on right now.

I was actually on Papajohns.com tonight and thought about ordering a Large Thin Crust pizza with ham, pineapple and mushrooms with light sauce and light cheese. I didn't do it though. I just couldn't do that to myself but in some ways I really, really wanted to. Giving in would've been so easy. I know that while I was eating too much pizza I would've just hated myself but kept eating. I KNOW this is how I would've felt because it's happened before. I didn't do it though so that is a little victory.

I haven't been sleeping the best. Well, once I get to sleep I'm okay but falling asleep has been a bit of a pain in the ass. I thought I was past that since for a few weeks I was really sleeping great and falling asleep easily. This came after a short time of falling asleep trouble when I first cut the calories down.

Right now, I just feel like I'm fighting against myself and my "normal" nature and it's extremely difficult. I know if I can get past this though I'll be a stronger person for it and will also have more faith in myself and what I'm capable of. But, it is a real true test of faith and some intestinal fortitude to fight through this. I know I can't lose this fight and I'm not going to lose this fight. I'm worth it dammit....I'm worth the fight.

Wii Bowling

Had Wii Bowling Night for the first time in a few weeks tonight with Jeremy and Kavan. Although we didn't actually play any Wii bowling, we had a good time just sitting around talking about stuff. Was really nice to have an evening where I had actual people in the apartment to talk to. Every once in awhile I need that. Although we really didn't talk about my weight loss, it made the night easier and I had somewhat struggled the couple of nights before. Once again, not really eating a whole lot but wanting to eat more.

On another positive note, football starts tomorrow night!! YEA! I'm really excited for it and then a great weekend with NFL all day Sunday and on Saturday, Miami is at Ohio State so that should be fun. It's going to be an awesome football weekend with my real-life teams, my fantasy teams and my pick'em leagues. On to the championships!!!!

Not A Great Post

I just don't have a whole lot tonight. I had a bad trip to the dentist. Have to get a crown because the tooth around a big filling has started to chip away and then I have two very small cavities. Even after what's left of my insurance, I still will have to cover a little more than $600 so I'm not very excited about that. Just really wasn't a good day today on many fronts. My eating has still been good today although not 100% strong. Of course, the worst thing I ate was a couple of handfuls of Special K cereal so it's not like I've gone crazy. Just a struggling kind of day but still holding strong.

I Think I Have A Blister

It's been a really good day off. Didn't really get a "nap" but rested some while trying to fall asleep. Probably for the best that I didn't because it would be harder for me to get to sleep tonight. Earlier today I went for a walk around the Westchester subdivision. Round trip to my apartment was about 2.75 miles so that was pretty good. My legs were tired and a little sore but not going as far as I did on Saturday was probably a good idea. And yes, I think I have a blister forming on the bottom/side of my right foot.....that SUCKS!

Anyways, it's been a really good Labor Day Weekend and I'm very happy with my weight loss for this past week. I'm almost through 2 months and things are going along very well and I'm proud of my progress. There is still a long way to go and I'm keeping my eye on those goals but the best thing I'm really doing is keeping my eye on short-term goals and just getting to those. This way, I don't get discouraged because I'm not to 100 pounds lost yet or anything like that. One day at a time....one pound at a time. Looking at that way can be tough sometimes because we all want "problems" to be solved quickly but I didn't put all this weight on in one day, it's not all gonna come off in one day. Perspective is very important for me right now. I'm liking myself and respecting myself alot more right now and that's just as important as any individual pound that's lost.

Wow, that was kind of deep for me.

Monday Morning Weigh-In #7

What a great way to start off Labor Day!! I don't have to work and I lost another 4.6 pounds to bring my total weight loss in 7 weeks to 44.6 pounds!! I was kind of figuring I would only lose maybe 2-3 pounds tops but it came in much better. Very good week and a great start for a Monday morning.

A Little Fishy

Tonight for dinner I had a swordfish steak. It was really, really good. Other than that, I did have a pretty good day. My legs aren't killing me although they are a little stiff. I've tried to stretch out all day and it is helping. The weather was just beautiful out again and I did go out to a few places to run some errands.

I'm watching Mad Men....dang this is an excellent show. What an episode! I'm planning on going for a walk tomorrow. I might not walk the Wabash Trail the whole way but I am going to go out for another walk to stretch out my legs...I really need it.

Hopefully I've lost a couple of pounds when I weigh in tomorrow. I really want to get to 50 pounds lost but I know that is still a few weeks away. I'll be really happy when I get there.

The Wabash Trail

I'm really tired tonight. This afternoon I decided I'd go for a walk on a trail that isn't too far from me, the Wabash Trail. I'm trying to break in a pair of shoes as well so I wore those. I wasn't sure how far I was going to go but about halfway down the trail, I just decided I'd do the whole thing. That amounts to about 4 1/4 miles. My left foot is a little bit sore but other than that and a little stiffness, I'm not doing too badly. I hope to start doing this a couple of times a week while the weather is still good and this was a good start.

Otherwise, it was a really nice day. Great weather, windows open, some college football on and just a little more than a week to go until the first day of full football...I know there's a Thursday night game and while that will be great, Sunday is the day.

Got a couple of things I hope to do tomorrow but things are going really well for me right now and I'm feeling pretty fantastic.

No Post Last Night????

I got yelled at by my dad tonight. Well, maybe 'yelled at' is too harsh a term. I was asked why I did not post last night. To tell you the truth, for one night, I kinda forgot about the blog. I was watching football and listening to football through the computer. Go Cowboys! Anyways, it just slipped my mind to post and that's gonna happen from time to time.

I've had a good couple of days though. Walked quite a bit and ate well. I'm really happy it's a 3-day weekend and I don't have much to do. I've got many of my things done tonight and I'll hopefully be watching a buttload of college football tomorrow. I'll probably go for a walk tomorrow as well with the weather being so nice.

On a stupid note, I listened to a 2-part BS Report from Wednesday that was about 2 hours long on nothing but Beverly Hills 90210. It was a lot of fun and pretty great since Wednesday was 9-02-10....get it?? 90210 day...haha! Gosh my Friday nights are exciting!!!!

Pants!

Pants have always been a struggle for me. I know that might sound kinda dumb but pants just seem to be tight on me. I'm big with a large waist and fat thighs. Some pants have just never really fit me right. I've normally had to buy a little larger just b/c of my legs. Tonight I decided to be daring and try on some pants that have been hanging in my closet, un-worn, for quite awhile. At one point I fit into these but that's been probably 9 months ago or more. These are pants that are 2 sizes smaller than my current pants.....THEY FIT!!!! AND, they fit pretty comfortably. What a great feeling!

I don't want to steer you wrong, all of my pants are from a big and tall store and have the side extenders on them so they actually go out further from the listed size. But, I haven't been able to put these on and button them in awhile. I got up to a pretty large pant size that I'm not too proud of but I'm working my way down. I'm very excited by this and with a load of laundry this weekend, I'm going to start wearing these pants to work next week. It'll just be something extra that I can feel good about, just a tangible benefit and one step closer to being able to wear even more clothes that have just been folded up or hanging in my closet for months or years. One more step. I'm pretty proud and pretty happy tonight....pretty proud.