Guess How Much I Weigh

Friday April 8th, 2011

2011-04-08T13:57:00.002-05:00

So another couple of weeks have passed. Sorry about that. I've been in non-stop meetings for what feels like forever. Which caused me to miss a lot of days at the gym the past two weeks. Which in turn had me worried about stepping on the scale this morning.

But all the worry was for not.

I weighed in at 262.8 this morning. A loss of 1.4 pounds. Not spectacular, but not a gain either. Which I am extremely happy about. Getting ever closer to 15 pounds down. Just 2.8 to go.

You for sure won't hear from me next week.

So see you in two.

Tony

Weigh In

2011-03-18T10:04:00.002-05:00

264.2. That's what it said on the scale this morning. A loss of 2.4 pounds.

And that makes 11 pounds lost so far.

11 pounds in a month and a half? I'll take that. Things were a little back and forth at the beginning but 11 pounds is a good, start.

Now I just have to keep it up.

I start week 5 of the couch to 5K program today and I'm really hopping my legs hold up. On the plus side, I might be able to run outside today.

On a related note:
Check out this amazing thing my friend Scott is doing at the Mall of America. For the next 30-days he will be living in a glass house while he tries to live life as healthy as possible. Talk about living your weight loss journey in the public eye. I wish him tons of luck!

http://www.do-groove.com/thehumandoing/

See you next week.
Tony

Mega Weigh-In

2011-03-16T11:10:00.002-05:00

So I've missed a few weigh ins. Ok more than a few. But just because I didn't post the results here, it doesn't mean that I've been avoiding the scale...or the gym.

I now present the first ever "Guess How Much I Weigh" Mega Weigh-In. One month of weigh ins in one scale crushing post.

Friday February 18th: 268.2

Friday February 25th: 267.6

Friday March 4th: 268.2

Friday March 11th: 266.8

As you can see it's been an up and down month, but the last two weeks things have been really coming together. This weekend I even weighed less on Monday then I did on Friday. That almost never happens.

The big news is I am back to running. I'm starting slow and trying out a couch to 5K program this time around. So far it's going well. I'm just finishing up week 3.

What I have noticed is running seems to be the miracle cure for weight loss, at least for me. I'm sure there are a lot of other factors, but as soon as I got serious about running again, the pounds have been sliding off...and staying off. And this week is shaping up to be a good one too. I have a feeling I'll be able to breeze past the 10-pounds lost milestone this Friday.

Tune in in two days to see if I make it.

Tony

Weigh-In

2011-02-14T22:13:00.002-06:00

267.2. A loss of .6 pounds. That was my weigh-in last Friday. Not bad considering I had a big steak dinner on Thursday night.

Onward and downward.

Tony

Weigh-In

2011-02-04T17:41:00.002-06:00

267.8. That's what it said on the scale this morning. A loss of 4 pounds.

It's been well over a year since I've written. I didn't abandon my weight loss efforts, but things definitely got away from me. I have no big answers and no excuses. I just let my focus wain and fell back into some bad habits.

The good news is I didn't readopt all my old habits. I've still been getting to the gym, and ... well I guess that's the one big positive.

But now I'm back. I've been working hard for the last 3 weeks and I've managed to drop nearly 10 pounds. And that is just the beginning.

My life is a lot busier than it was 2-years ago, so my posting will be less frequent, but my weigh ins will continue... and so will my weight loss.

See you next Friday.

Weigh-In

2009-09-18T10:40:00.002-05:00

234.6! That's what it said on the scale. A 1 pound gain from my weigh-in two weeks ago. Not bad considering I have had almost no time to workout in the last two weeks.

I'm preforming in a play right now and it's sucking up nearly all my free time. The show runs for two more weekends and then I can get back to concentrating on me.

Sadly I had to breakdown and do a little clothes shopping last week. I was down to only one pair of shorts and two pair of dress pants.

I took a chance with the thrift shop down the block and had great success. I may buy all my clothes there from now on. Cheap stuff and an endless variety. Oh and I'm recycling too.

Have a great weekend.

Tony

Weigh-In

2009-09-04T06:59:00.004-05:00

I was dreading stepping on the scale this morning.

I've been sick all week and combined with a busy work schedule I managed to only get to the gym once.

Ready for a miracle.

I managed to lose weight again this week.

242.6!!!! A .4 pound loss.

I'm going to seriously kick this cold this weekend and hit the running trail hard next week.

Have a great long weekend.
Tony

Weigh In

2009-08-28T09:29:00.003-05:00

243. That is what it said on the scale this morning.

Here is the small measure of comfort I take form this mornings weigh-in. On Monday, I weighed 245. So a 2 pound loss for the week. I'm moving in the right direction.

I made it to the gym everyday this week. I ran twice. Wednesday 2-mile run felt really good. I'm going to continue to take the running slow and increase my mileage by a small amount each week until I work back up to 3-miles. Then I'll start working on adding speed.

Now I have to keep it up next week.

Tony

What Happened to All My Clothes?

2009-08-25T11:32:00.003-05:00

At the moment, the worst part of this weight gain has been my reduced wardrobe. Last summer I bought all new clothes when I was 20 pounds lighter than I am now. As you can imagine none of those clothes fit very well right now. A few weeks ago I actually took all the too tight clothes and set them aside.

What's left is a sorry sight. I have a few new shirts that I bought in the past month, mostly baggy golf shirts, and a few pieces of 3 to 4 year old clothes that are pretty ratty but still fit.

As for pants I have 2 pair of shorts and 2 pair of dress pants, that's it. If I can't lose 10 pounds before fall, I am in trouble.

What really sucks is I am going to end up skipping an entire summer with all the clothes I bought last year, because by the time I can get back into them, it will be too cold to wear them.

Don't be surprised if you see my wandering around in a tank top this winter, just so I can feel like I've got some use out of them.

Yesterday was a good day. I went for a nice slow two mile run (22 minutes) and then spent 25 minutes on the exercise bike. My legs are a little sore but not bad enough to keep my from a longer tempo run tomorrow.

Tony

Another Month Goes By

2009-08-24T17:17:00.004-05:00

Nearly a month and a half this time.

I've been waiting until I had some good news or something profound to say to start writing again. I'm starting to think not writing maybe the reason I have no good news.

The fact is I am still in a pretty bad spot. I'm not gaining, but I'm not losing. I'm stuck right around 240.... and honestly I haven't been working very hard at jump starting things.

I've been working hard at making a lot of excuses, but not losing weight.

The good news is I am still making it to the gym an average of 4 days a week. And I went for my first run today in over a month.

My running has been sidetracked by shin splints which hit me hard during my last two Triathlons of the season.

So once again I feel like I am starting over in so many ways.

Just writing this post feels like a major step.

So here's the deal. At a minimum I promise to post a weigh-in every Friday...for now. We'll see how that goes for a while before I start making more promises.

Thanks for sticking around...for those of you who are still around.

And thanks to Jeff for the motivation.

See you Friday...if not before.

Tony

And Now For My Next Trick.....

2009-07-16T09:22:00.002-05:00

So did you like my disepering act?

Sorry I haven't been around. I can't believe it's been a whole month.

Is anybody still stopping by or have you giving up on me yet?

I'm doing well and I have not abandoned this project yet. I just needed a little time off while I focused my creative energies elsewhere. I am taking some small steps back into the world of theater and that is taking up a lot of my life at the moment.

I have also got a little off track with the weight loss. I've gained back about 20 pounds over the last 6-months. That means I'm still nearly 50 pounds down from where I started, but a 20 pound gain is pretty disturbing.

I think I have figured out what I need to do to turn things around. I'll talk more about it soon.

I'm going to try my hardest to keep up with regular updates. So hopefully I'll see you soon.

Tony

The Weigh-In Week 96

2009-06-12T10:29:00.002-05:00

235! That's what it said on the scale this morning. A loss of 3.4 pounds.

Rock On!!!

Now this is what I'm talking about.

It feels good to finally see some real progress after a few months of stagnation. And I'm going to keep on going too! I really want to be as close to 220 as I can for my next race at the end of July.

Have a great weekend everybody.

Tony
6/12: 235 lbs.
New Goal: 220
15 pounds to go

Guess How Much I Weigh Conest - Week 96

2009-06-11T09:41:00.002-05:00

I was a little worried about this week. I haven't had much opportunity to work out this week. I took a rest day on Monday, I lifted on Tuesday and I took a short bike ride to get the kids from school yesterday and that's it. Nothing to intense. I'm hopping to get a run in to day as well.

So I was pleasantly surprised when I stepped on the scale this morning. This could be another great week for me. I'll leave it at that and let you guess until tomorrow.

Step right up, step right up.
Guess how much I weigh and win a fabulous prize.

To Recap:
Every Thursday I give you my stats for the week and you guess what you think the scale will say on Friday morning. The winner is the first person who guesses my weight / weight loss for the week without going over or the person who is closest without going over. Go ahead and click on comments at the bottom of this post and leave your guess.

I will post the winner when I post my weight on Fri. morning. If we get ten or more guesses I will have a prize for the winner.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!

Tony
6/11 238.4 lbs
NEW GOAL: 220
18.4 to go

Buffalo Triathalon Wrap Up

2009-06-09T11:21:00.006-05:00

This past Sunday I finished my 3rd Triathlon, the first of 3 triathlons I'm doing this summer.

Saturday night I went to sleep thinking Sunday was going to be miserable. The weather was predicated to be in the very low 50's and rainy. Not great weather for jumping out of a cold lake and hopping on a bike wet.

Turns out it was only slightly miserable. It was mid 50's and just kind of drizzly. In the long run the weather was kind of fun...except the stupid wind...but I'll get to that in a minute.

The crummy weather kind of inspired even more commeradery then usual in the racers. I can't tell you the number of times someone out on the course would shout encouragement at me. Just random people who knew exactly what I was going through. And there were still a ton of spectators there to cheer everyone on.

The Results:

overall place: 645 out of 878
division place: 79 out of 90
gender place: 438 out of 541
time: 1:38:47
swim: 8:04
transition 1: 4:41
bike: 52:17
transition 2: 2:48
run: 31:00

I am just a little disappointed in my results. I really wanted to come in under an hour and a half. My bike and my transitions are what killed me. The bike had a lot of up hill sections that just happened to be into the wind. The combo kind of sapped a lot of my energy.

I'm really happy with my swim though. I shaved nearly a minute off my time from my first race last year. Unfortunately I spent so much energy on the swim that I was really dragging coming out of the water.

So I'm considering this my warm up race for the season, and I'm putting all my efforts into beating last years time for my next race at the end of July.

This was a great race for swag too! We got a t-shirt, a visor, a metal water bottle, a plastic bike water bottle, a full meal, and a medal when we crossed the finish line.

Finished Another One

2009-06-08T15:37:00.002-05:00

The Buffalo Triathlon on Sunday went great, despite the cold and the rain.

I'll get to a full race wrap up tomorrow or Wed. when I have more time and can post some pictures.

Tony

The Weigh-In Week 95

2009-06-05T09:25:00.002-05:00

238.4 That's what it said on the scale this morning. A loss of 1.8 pounds.

A good start to getting back on track.

It's supposed to be mid 50's and rainy for Sunday's Tri. Whoppie!

Full Triathlon wrap up on Monday.

Have a great weekend everybody.

Tony
6/05 238.4 lbs
NEW GOAL: 220
19.4 to go

Guess How Much I Weigh - Week 95

2009-06-04T14:25:00.002-05:00

So here is the number I was to embarrassed to admit to last week, 240.

We will not be seen that number again.

Been a great week this week, although my scale had dead batteries all week so the weigh in will be a surprise tomorrow. I'm expecting good things.

I've been training hard this week for the Tri on Sunday. I've managed to shave at least a two minutes off my bike / runs every time I have gone out this week. Which means yesterday's bike/run was over 4 minutes faster then my bike run last Thursday. That's git me feeling good.

A big congrats to my lovely wife and our friend Sarah for running in the first ever Minneapolis Marathon 5K last Sunday!

Step right up, step right up.
Guess how much I weigh and win a fabulous prize.

To Recap:
Every Thursday I give you my stats for the week and you guess what you think the scale will say on Friday morning. The winner is the first person who guesses my weight / weight loss for the week without going over or the person who is closest without going over. Go ahead and click on comments at the bottom of this post and leave your guess.

I will post the winner when I post my weight on Fri. morning. If we get ten or more guesses I will have a prize for the winner.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!

Tony

6/04 240 lbs
NEW GOAL: 220
20 to go

Still Working At It

2009-05-27T16:33:00.002-05:00

Hey it's me. Remember me? So I've been gone for a few weeks. It may feel like I have abounded this space and my attempts to continue my weight loss journey but I haven't.

I'm still slugging away. I'm hitting the gym or the trail 5 days a week. I'm still training for my 3 triathlons this summer. The first of which is coming way to soon on June 7th.

I just haven't had a lot of time to keep up here. We've had some drastic changes this past month with the girls heading off to pre-school and I am exhausted. Add to that the weight gain of been seeing over the last few months and I am not in much of a writing mood.

But things are getting back on track. And I have to say it is kind of amazing to me that despite all the craziness I never once thought about abandoning my workouts. Two years ago those would have been the first thing to go when things got busy.

I am going to take one more week off from the weigh-in contest. I want one more week to get my weight back to something I'm not completly embarrassed by before I start things up again.

I promise I'll keep in touch.

Tony

Another Week Off

2009-05-11T15:14:00.002-05:00

I'm taking another week off from posting this week. A confluence of events is going to make free time extremely rare this week. The girls started pre-school today, the same week as my wife is in the middle of her once a year do-or-die fund raiser, silent auction, cabaret extravaganza at the theater she manages.

And if that wasn't enough I'm Emceeing this years Cabaret event, so I'll be in rehearsals all week.

Despite all that I'm feeling good. I had a great run today. Probably the best run I've had in more than a month. I'm determined to keep up the good living this week.

Until next week,

Tony

The Weigh-In Week 94

2009-05-08T13:12:00.001-05:00

236. That's what it said on the scale this morning. A loss of 1 pound.

Moving in the right direction again.

Tony

Guess How Much I Weigh Contest- Week 94

2009-05-07T10:53:00.002-05:00

I just typed 17 pounds to go at the bottom of this entry. That made me a little depressed. But just a little.

I've had a good week, so I am hoping that shows up on the scale tomorrow morning.

Oh and I totally forgot to welcome my wife back to the site after too long an absence. Welcome back sweetie.

Funny thing is, it's been a week since she posted an neither one of us has talked about it in real life. We are kind of ships passing in the night for the next two weeks with our crazy busy schedules.

Step right up, step right up.
Guess how much I weigh and win a fabulous prize.

To Recap:
Every Thursday I give you my stats for the week and you guess what you think the scale will say on Friday morning. The winner is the first person who guesses my weight / weight loss for the week without going over or the person who is closest without going over. Go ahead and click on comments at the bottom of this post and leave your guess.

I will post the winner when I post my weight on Fri. morning. If we get ten or more guesses I will have a prize for the winner.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!

Tony
5/6 237 lbs
NEW GOAL: 220
17 to go

Joy And Pain

2009-05-06T15:54:00.002-05:00

I love summer...now that it's finally here...at least for 4 days.

I finally got my first real bike ride in today.

Joy: 12 mile bike ride along the Mississippi River
Pain: My legs

Still, it felt good to be back on the bike. Just got to build back up to it. You know what they say, riding a bike is just like riding a bike.

We also had our first Softball game of the season on Monday. What a perfect night for a game. No rain, no bugs, plenty of sun and we won...much to the surprise of our opponents.

I'm in the mood people, I'm in the mood!

Now let's hope I can manage a good weigh in this week and get some momentum going.

Tony

Maggie and Ellie's Race Day Wrap Up

2009-05-04T15:33:00.004-05:00

Saturday's race was a lot of fun...slow but fun. I came in just under 30 minutes. Way off my normal pace. But I've been running way slow for the last couple of weeks. I blame allergies and my inability to breath, but it's more likely some extra weight and my inability to power through.

I ran with my friend Teressa and we stuck together for the whole race. It was nice and motivating to have someone to chat with. In all honesty I probably would have been even slower if I wasn't trying to be all macho and show-offy for the ladies.

Maggie and Ellie had a blast with their first ever "Big Race". That's what they like to call any race we do.

Ellie was a rocket. She took off like a shot and made a bee line for the finish. Maggie took a slightly more leisurely approach and explored the course as she went. In fact I don't think she crossed the finish line. She was too distracted by the balloons right next to the finish.

This perfectly demonstrates the differences between my two beautiful girls.

In the end both girls declared themselves the winners of The Big Race.

All in all a great day for a run and a fun family outing.

The Wife Weighs-In...A Fresh Start

2009-05-01T11:51:00.003-05:00

Happy Friday, GHMIW fans!

In the interest of helping my beloved husband build some weight loss momentum and, more importantly, in the interest of getting my own weight loss train back on track, I thought it was time for me to report in...somthing I haven't done in seven months! (I can't believe it's been that long.)

Work has been busy for me. In addition, I have more outside commitments than I have had for a long time. I've been exhausted for about eight months. The sudden onslaught of numerous early morning meetings late last summer put an abrupt halt to my morning workouts. I've been almost workout free since September.

Now, with summer quickly approaching, I need to shake off the extra weight and get everything toned back up. Now is the time to get things back in order.

So, I've declared my intentions. Now comes the hard part...execution.

Laura (a.k.a. Elle Tee Jay)

P.S. I packed up all my winter clothes last night because I was sick of looking at them in my closet. Wouldn't it be fantastic if they were all too big by the time next autumn rolls around?

9/26/08: 185.2 (my last GHMIW weigh-in)
5/01/09: 190.6 (gain of 5.4 pounds)
Total loss of 37.8 pounds, up 7.6 pounds from 8/8/08 low of 183.0
5.4 pounds to next mini-goal of 185.2

The Weigh-In Week 93

2009-05-01T09:25:00.001-05:00

237! Grrrr.

Either a gain of 8 pounds from the last time I posted or a loss of 1.5 pounds from this Monday.

I'll take the second option.

Look for Maggie and Ellie's race report on Monday. There race will be much more interesting then mine, I'm sure.

Have a great weekend.

Tony

Guess How Much I Weigh Contest- Week 93

2009-04-30T11:29:00.003-05:00

So I am back and getting back on track.

Here's the bad news. I started this week at 238.5. After two weeks of doing nothing but sitting in restaurants and drinking way too much I am not surprised.

The good news. That number has dropped nicely since the beginning of the week.

The other bad news. I have a low key 5K that I am running this weekend and I am so not ready. I've been sick for the better part of a week and running has been a real chore...it's tough to pick up speed when you can barely breath. So I have no clue how well I'll be able to keep up on Saturday.

The other good news. Saturday's race is just a fun run for me, I'm not looking to break any records...and my girls are running in a kids fun run on Saturday too! They even get there own race shirts. They are very excited. Maggie is convinced she will be the winner.

Triathlon training was supposed to start this week, and I guess it kind of did. I've taken a couple of short bike rides, but I haven't hit the pool yet. Hopefully now that I am feeling better, that will come next week.

So go ahead and take some wild guesses at what I'll weigh tomorrow.

Tony

Buried

2009-04-23T09:03:00.002-05:00

I'm back but I'm still buried, so I'm going to make this a two week break.

See you next Monday.

Tony

The Weigh-In Week 92

2009-04-13T09:35:00.002-05:00

229. A gain of .8.

Sorry I missed the weigh in on Friday. I was out the door by 7am and didn't get home until well after 8pm. And then it was go, go, go all weekend.

I'm taking the rest of this week off, so there will be no weigh-in on Friday. Laura and I are taking a much deserved vacation! Woo-Hoo!

When the vacation is over, Tri training starts hard core!

Have a great week everybody and I'll talk to you next week.

Tony

Guess How Much I Weigh Contest Week 92

2009-04-09T06:24:00.002-05:00

I'm still counting calories. Unfortunately I don't have time to add them up right now. So it's back to blind guessing. I'm in the exact same situation I was in last week. I've had a pretty good week, but I'm in another all day offsite meeting today so no workout today or tomorrow.

Step right up, step right up.
Guess how much I weigh and win a fabulous prize.

To Recap:
Every Thursday I give you my stats for the week and you guess what you think the scale will say on Friday morning. The winner is the first person who guesses my weight / weight loss for the week without going over or the person who is closest without going over. Go ahead and click on comments at the bottom of this post and leave your guess.

I will post the winner when I post my weight on Fri. morning. If we get ten or more guesses I will have a prize for the winner.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!

Tony
4/9 228.2 lbs
NEW GOAL: 220
8.2 to go

The Weigh-In Week 91

2009-04-03T07:35:00.001-05:00

228.2! That's what it said on the scale this morning. A loss of 1.4 pounds!

Dang! This calorie counting works. Or maybe it's just a symbol of my new commitment. Either way I couldn't be happier. I was really worried about this mornings weigh in, especially after a day of no exercise and eating off routine. But I did really good yesterday. I didn't snack at all and had a sensible breakfast and lunch.

It's going to be tough to keep this momentum going. I'm out of the office a lot next week, which is going to make working out tough, then it's Easter and then Laura and I are taking a little mini vacation. But I am determined to stay on task and to continue tracking my calories. I think that is going to be in important routine over the next few weeks when all my other routines go out the window.

Looks like my sister would have been the winner this week. Nice job sis.

Have a great weekend everybody.

Tony
4/3 228.2 lbs
NEW GOAL: 220
8.2 to go

Guess How Much I Weigh Contest - Week 91

2009-04-01T20:15:00.003-05:00

It's guessing time!!!

Lets just assume that I was right about my scale being wrong last week and say for guessing purposes that last weeks weight should have been 2 pounds higher. Plan your guesses accordingly.

Oh and I am at an all day off-site creative blowout tomorrow which means no workout. =(

Here's something I bet you never thought you'd see again, stats!

Stats for the week of March 30th.

Calories Consumed: From Friday morning through Wednesday. night I have consumed aprox. 14629 calories.

Calories Burned: From Monday morning through Wednesday night I have burned aprox. 23690 calories.

Step right up, step right up.
Guess how much I weigh and win a fabulous prize.

To Recap:
Every Thursday I give you my stats for the week and you guess what you think the scale will say on Friday morning. The winner is the first person who guesses my weight / weight loss for the week without going over or the person who is closest without going over. Go ahead and click on comments at the bottom of this post and leave your guess.

I will post the winner when I post my weight on Fri. morning. If we get ten or more guesses I will have a prize for the winner.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!

Tony
4/1 229.6 lbs
NEW GOAL: 220
9.6 to go

Peaks and Valley's

2009-03-31T11:02:00.003-05:00

Today's Calorie Report:
From Friday to Monday I consumed 10,390 calories and burned 15,487 calories.
A net loss of 5,097 Calories.
And yet I am still up 1.8 from Friday.

I have another explanation, my Friday weigh-in may have been wrong. When I first stepped on the scale Friday morning it showed a number a few pounds higher then what it said after I took a shower. Since I don't always trust our scale, I like to step on it at least twice...or until I get a number I like. I wonder if the scale needs new batteries?

Enough about the minutia. Here's the really scary stuff!

This is a chart of my weight over the last two years. Keep in mind the range is much smaller on the second chart. But still, that line has been going the wrong way for too long.

Tony
3/31 229.6 lbs
NEW GOAL: 220
9.6 to go

Not Adding Up

2009-03-30T11:08:00.003-05:00

So I tracked my calories all weekend and somethings not adding up...or adding up too much.

According to the numbers I should have lost a pound over the weekend...instead I gained a pound and a half.

Hmmm.... two possible reasons.

1. I ate dinner at 10pm last night after fiddling with the shower for almost 3 hours. Tried to install all new fixtures and was half way through before I realized the new stuff didn't fit the old pipes. Instead of calling a plumber I put all the old stuff back... so now we have a shower that looks exactly the same, only really, really clean.

2. I probably didn't catch every thing I ate all weekend in my tracking. Although I can't imagine I'd be off by nearly 6,000 calories over just 2 days.

I'll be really interested to see what the scale says tomorrow.

And before you say anything, I know in the short term there is a lot more to what the scale says besides calories in and calories out, but I have to find some way to make counting calories interesting, at least in the beginning until it becomes routine again.

Tony
3/30 229.6 lbs
NEW GOAL: 220
9.6 to go

The Weigh-In Week 90

2009-03-27T09:14:00.002-05:00

229.6! That's what it said on the scale this morning! A loss of nothing....also a gain of nothing.

I have no clue how it happened. Maybe counting calories has the effect of magically making them disappear. Or maybe I willed the scale to show me a good number so hard that it was forced to do my bidding.

I was up as high as 232 this week and the numbers were not coming down no matter what.

Now that I think about it we had a lot of heavy pasta dinners this week, that may have been part of the high weigh-ins.

Any which way I'm a lot happier this morning than I expected to be.

I am going to continue counting calories for a while. I need to start stringing some losses together and get my positive attitude and momentum back.

Have a great weekend everybody.

Tony
3/27 229.6 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
9.6 to go

Guess Howe Much I Weigh Contest - Week

2009-03-26T07:18:00.002-05:00

This week has been udder chaos. We have been trying to re-grout our shower, and what was supposed to be a half day project has now stretched into almost two weeks!

And I can't believe I'm saying this I am going to have another gain this week.

I didn't even want to post today because I realize what a broken record I'm starting to sound like.

Heck even typing the phrase broken record makes me sound like a broken record since I've used it about 50 times in the last year.

I have no clue what happened this week. I ate kind of bad over the weekend, but no worse then some other recent weekends, and I was really good during the week. I got all my workouts in and was great about watching what I eat.

And yet, I can't lose anything this week. I am extremely disappointing to report that I will almost assuredly post a weight over 230 tomorrow.

The thing that scares me the most is not that weight, it's not knowing how I got here this week. And that not knowing has driven me back to calorie counting.

I need to really figure out what's going on, and that is the only way it's going to happen.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
Step right up, step right up.
Guess how much I weigh and win a fabulous prize.

To Recap:
Every Thursday I give you my stats for the week and you guess what you think the scale will say on Friday morning. The winner is the first person who guesses my weight / weight loss for the week without going over or the person who is closest without going over. Go ahead and click on comments at the bottom of this post and leave your guess.

I will post the winner when I post my weight on Fri. morning. If we get ten or more guesses I will have a prize for the winner.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!

Tony
3/20 229.6 lbs
NEW GOAL:

The Weigh-In Week 89

2009-03-20T13:22:00.002-05:00

229.6! Less then a 1 pound gain but way to dangerously close to 230.

Next week, healthy eating and full on work outs. My prediction, 226.6!

Let's make it happen!

Have a great weekend everybody.

Tony
3/20 229.6 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
9.6 to go

Guess How Much I weigh Contest - Week 89

2009-03-19T10:54:00.002-05:00

It's been another bad week. I have eaten out at least one meal everyday since last Friday and only made it to the gym one day this week. I've spent most of the week locked away in dark rooms with nothing to do but snack.

Despite all that there may be a glimmer of hope that I don't have a gain this week or at least a loss of 1 pound or less....but it's pretty small.

I can feel myself reaching a breaking point again...but a breaking point for the good. I feel like I'm at a point where I've allowed myself to overindulge to the point where I don't get any satisfaction from it at all. It's happened before and it seems each time I naturally get myself back on track without to much struggle.

As spring quickly approaches and my tri training starts, I feel like things are going to get considerable better.

I've also realized that non of my summer clothes fit, so that's major motivation to get back on track!

Step right up, step right up.
Guess how much I weigh and win a fabulous prize.

To Recap:
Every Thursday I give you my stats for the week and you guess what you think the scale will say on Friday morning. The winner is the first person who guesses my weight / weight loss for the week without going over or the person who is closest without going over. Go ahead and click on comments at the bottom of this post and leave your guess.

I will post the winner when I post my weight on Fri. morning. If we get ten or more guesses I will have a prize for the winner.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!

Tony

3/19 228.8 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
8.8 to go

Race Wrap Up...Finally

2009-03-18T12:27:00.003-05:00

Sorry for the delay. I haven't been in front of a computer for more than 2 minutes at a time since last Friday.

What a beautiful day for a race! It was sunny and in the mid-40's when we started the St.Patties Irish Scamper 5K last Saturday. The pictures might make it look cold since we were bundled up against a cold wind, but I was roasting by the time I crossed the finish line.

I'm really happy with the race. I didn't beat last years time, but I wasn't expecting too.

Here are the stats:
Time: 27:30
Pace: 8:51
Rank: 100 /159 Men
29/48 Men 30-39

I was 25 seconds slower then last years race and just 1:07 seconds of my fastest ever race.

I was feeling like I could beat last years time, until I hit the final hill on the course. That hill just sapped every last ounce of reserve that I had.

Still it was a fun day. After the race we had lunch in town then hung out for the parade which the girls loved. Then home for a delicious dinner of Irish Potato Cakes and homemade beer. What more could you want?

Tony

P.S. I just realized that second picture makes it look like I am walking. I wasn't! I was still holding an 8:30 pace at that point which was near the half way mark.

The Weigh-In Week 88

2009-03-13T09:30:00.002-05:00

228.8! That's what it said on the scale this morning. A gain of 2 pounds.

Nothing to do but start fresh today and look at the bright side.

What bright side you ask?

Despite the weight gain, I really did have a good week this week. Starting with a great day of skiing with the girls last Sunday. I also got a ton of stuff done around the house this week and made some huge strides in the gym...pun intended.

I feel like my running is finally back to a good place. I did a four mile run yesterday at 38 minutes and then tacked on another .98ths of a mile between a combo of walking and running. That is the most miles I have put up since my 10K last October.

I've also started a new workout routine using a new site called FitClick. It's nothing revolutionary, just a way to change things up on a regular basis instead of doing the same exercises over and over. So far I'm really happy with the way it's going.

So while I am disappointed with the gain, I very happy with my life in general.

And these days that seems like a pretty bright bright side to me.

Have a great weekend everybody. St. Patty's day race results will be up on Tuesday. I'm at an all day thing on Monday and probably won't have access to the blog before then.

Tony

3/13 228.8 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
8.8 to go

Guess How Much I Weigh Contest- Week 88

2009-03-12T09:36:00.002-05:00

Not a Good week this week. I'm not sure what happened. I just gave in to every food crave I had all week long. Which is kind of a bummer because other then food, this was a great week.

The good news is, despite turning into a snack attack monster this week I hit the gym hardcore. I had a great run on Tuesday which has given me more confidence for my 5K race on Saturday.

Saturday's St. Patty's day race is kind of like the one year anniversary of my running. It was the first 5K every did and amazingly one of the fastest. I have no illusions about beating last years time of 26:50. I've been slowing down all winter. I'm think I'll probably finish somewhere around 27:30 or 28 minutes. It's the first race of the season though, so I'm not to worried about the time. It's just something fun to do with my dad at this point.

I'm hope the hard work in the gym will off set a little of my dietary indiscretion and keep this weeks gain under 2 pounds.

Step right up, step right up.
Guess how much I weigh and win a fabulous prize.

To Recap:
Every Thursday I give you my stats for the week and you guess what you think the scale will say on Friday morning. The winner is the first person who guesses my weight / weight loss for the week without going over or the person who is closest without going over. Go ahead and click on comments at the bottom of this post and leave your guess.

I will post the winner when I post my weight on Fri. morning. If we get ten or more guesses I will have a prize for the winner.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!

Tony

3/12 226.8 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
6.8 to go

Little Ski Bunnies

2009-03-09T10:38:00.005-05:00

Ever since we first found out Laura was pregnant, one of my fatherhood dreams has been getting my kids out on the slopes...and having them fall in love with skiing.

I am proud to say that both things happened yesterday.

We hit the slopes a little after ten and didn't leave the ski hill until 2 (with a long, long break for lunch) and the girls were begging to keep going when we told them it was time to leave. We had so much fun. This is one of my all time favorite father moments so far.

And this may just be a proud daddy talking but I think my girls are naturals.

I know there is not much winter left but I'm really, tempted to take an afternoon off and hit the slopes one more time before the snow melts.

Here's some video. The order is Ellie, Maggie, Ellie, Ellie and then Maggie bombing the hill.

The snowboarder that Ellie and I run into in the first clip was very nice and understanding.

Hope you all had as much fun as we did this weekend.

Tony

The Weigh-In Week 87

2009-03-06T08:42:00.003-06:00

226.8 A gain of 1.6 pounds. =(

Like I said not the most exciting way to end my 5 week challenge. 5 weeks ago I had dreams of getting to 220. Now I'm hopping to just get under 225 some time soon.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still working towards 220 and below. I just need to start thinking baby steps again.

Laura finally decide on my "Vegetable". I have eaten broccoli with dinner for the last two nights. Turns out it tastes just like cauliflower...who knew. Not my favorite food in all the world, but definitely something I can eat.

Next week is all about getting ready for the 1st 5K of the year, which is a week from Saturday.

Have a great weekend everybody. I this weather holds, will be taking the girls for their first trip to the ski hill. I am very excited.

Tony
3/6 226.8 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
6.8 to go

Guess How Much I Weigh Contest - Week 87

2009-03-05T10:38:00.004-06:00

Ughhh!

Sorry I haven't been around this week. It's been a busy week...but mostly I just couldn't get myself motivated at all this week. And I mean to do anything. I have just been a slug all week. Except for Monday when I had one of my best runs of the year. Unfortunately I wasn't able to follow that up with a run yesterday. Oh and I did do my Cardio on Tuesday night so I guess that wasn't to slug like either.

Unfortunately I have a strong feeling this 5 week challenge is going to end on a bummer.

Stay tuned to see tomorrow.

Step right up, step right up.
Guess how much I weigh and win a fabulous prize.

To Recap:
Every Thursday I give you my stats for the week and you guess what you think the scale will say on Friday morning. The winner is the first person who guesses my weight / weight loss for the week without going over or the person who is closest without going over. Go ahead and click on comments at the bottom of this post and leave your guess.

I will post the winner when I post my weight on Fri. morning. If we get ten or more guesses I will have a prize for the winner.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!

Tony

3/5 225.8 lbs
NEW GOAL: 220
5.2 to go

The Weigh-In Week 86

2009-02-27T10:01:00.003-06:00

225.8! That's what it said on the scale this morning. A loss of .4 pounds.

Not a huge loss but a loss none the less. A loss made all the more impressive by the fact that I weighed in at 231 on Monday morning.

See what I mean about needing to get the weekend under control. All of my energy this week went into making up for weekend eating. If that effort had gone into keeping the momentum going, I'd be half way to 220 by now.

I was too busy digging out from last night's snow storm to get a picture this morning.

I have changed my goal. For a long time now my goal has been to get to 208. And for a long time I have been ignoring the fact that I am not at 213 anymore. It's time to change my thinking a little bit. I know it's a step backward but I need start thinking in temrs of short term goals for awhile. So my new goal is to get back to 220. After that it will be 215. And so on and so forth.

Congrats to my Mom for guessing this weeks weight.

Tony
2/26 225.8 lbs
NEW GOAL: 220
5.8 to go

Guess How Much I Weigh Contest - Week 86

2009-02-26T09:28:00.002-06:00

Good week this week...unfortunately it's coming after a bad weekend. So once again it's all comes down to Thursday. I'm just about even with last week now. I plan to lift weights this afternoon and then do some Cardio with the TV tonight after the girls go to bed. Hopefully that will be the thing to push me over.

So what am I going to do about these weekends? Well Lent has arrived so that will help a little, what with the whole forced fasting of Fridays. (Say that 10 times fast). I am also going to try and watch what I eat a little better this weekend and get in at least one cardio session at home. The goal is to gain no more than 1 pound over the weekend.

Speaking of lent, I was reminded of two things at the Ash Wednesday service yesterday.

1. It is so much easier to kneel in the pews at church when you don't have 4-feet of stomach pushing you off balance. I went to church right after working out and even after 4.6 miles on the treadmill, I was able to kneel on a kneeler and be almost comfortable for the first time in my life.

2. Yesterday was also a day of fasting, and it got me remembering all those years where I would stay up until midnight on a Lenten Friday just so I could pig out. Glad those days are behind me.

Step right up, step right up.
Guess how much I weigh and win a fabulous prize.

To Recap:
Every Thursday I give you my stats for the week and you guess what you think the scale will say on Friday morning. The winner is the first person who guesses my weight / weight loss for the week without going over or the person who is closest without going over. Go ahead and click on comments at the bottom of this post and leave your guess.

I will post the winner when I post my weight on Fri. morning. If we get ten or more guesses I will have a prize for the winner.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!

Tony
2/26 226.4 lbs
NEW GOAL: 220
6.4 to go

Another Good Run

2009-02-23T12:59:00.002-06:00

I just got back from my run and realized that today's outing was my longest distance since last October. This both makes me happy and sad. Happy that I'm building stamina and speed again. Sad that I let my distances fall off so fast after last years 10K race.

Last year I was doing up to 9 mile runs. Today I am barely making 4. Part of that is timing and the fact that I'm not distance training right now and part of it is not pushing myself.

This just proves it's always good to have something to be working towards. I'm really glad that race season is fast approaching, I'm feeling the need for the extra motivation.

The extra mileage today was extra good considering how un-good I was over the weekend.

4.8 miles, if you were wondering. Not all running. Although the running was around a 9:30 pace.

Tony

The Weigh In Week 85

2009-02-20T10:53:00.004-06:00

226.2!!!! A loss of 1.4 pounds. Yeah Baby!

I went out to dinner last night with my extended family and had a Turkey burger and a side salad. At the time I was not all that enthusiastic about the choice but obviously it was the right decision.

I grab the wrong memory stick from the camera this morning, so photo's will have to wait.

Andrew is this weeks big winner with a Guess of 1.3! Hopefully you can keep those winning ways going during your Half Marathon this weekend Andrew.

Tony
2/20 226.2 lbs
NEW GOAL: 220
6.2 to go

Guess How Much I weigh Contest - Week 85

2009-02-19T10:11:00.002-06:00

As of now I am even for the week. Still hanging at the same weight I was last week. As always it all depends on what happens today.

I had such high hopes for this week, and I have been so good... but maybe not good enough to over come some bad decisions I made over the weekend.

Step right up, step right up.
Guess how much I weigh and win a fabulous prize.

To Recap:
Every Thursday I give you my stats for the week and you guess what you think the scale will say on Friday morning. The winner is the first person who guesses my weight / weight loss for the week without going over or the person who is closest without going over. Go ahead and click on comments at the bottom of this post and leave your guess.

I will post the winner when I post my weight on Fri. morning. If we get ten or more guesses I will have a prize for the winner.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!

Tony
2/19 227.6 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
Lots to go

Rematch

2009-02-18T13:07:00.003-06:00

I challenged Bob Harper to a Cardio rematch last night....and while Bob still kicked my fanny, the score was much less of a blowout then our previous meeting.

More importantly, I can walk today without wincing in pain which is a great improvement over last Friday's day after side effects.

Time permitting, I'm going to continue with the cardio workouts a few days a week until I figure out if there is some benefit or not. I'm still keeping up with my running and strength training, hopefully adding cardio will help me take things up a notch.

Tony

The Suspense...Oh The Suspense

2009-02-17T16:53:00.002-06:00

So Laura has yet to decide what my "punishment" food will be this week. I'm feeling a little bad that she's stressing a little about the whole thing. Sweet, lovable wife that she is, she's trying to come up with something that will be a positive experience for me, instead of trying to gross me out. Busy, overworked mother that she is, she doesn't have a lot of time to think about it. I'll let you know what she comes up with.

I'm having some deja vu this week and it worries me a little. This week is starting to look all most identical to last week. The names and locations may have changed but everything else feels the same.

Like last week I am starting out in a really good spot. I'm already down from last Friday's weigh-in. But the week is starting to book up and I'm a little worried about my ability to commit the week.

(time passes)

I'm a little less worried now. I just realized that all of last weeks distractions were unexpected, last minute things (being sick, a last minute all day meeting). Because I started the week so well and wasn't expecting these distractions, I was kind of lax at the beginning of the week.

This week I know what to expect and I am being super vigilant on the front end, to make up for the things I have coming up toward the end of the week.

Does any of that make any sense?

Whether it does or not, I'm feeling better about the week, so thanks for talking me through it.

You know, you make a mighty good therapist.

Tony
2/17 227.6 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
Lots to go

The Weigh In Week 84

2009-02-13T09:28:00.003-06:00

227.6. That's what it said on the scale this morning. A loss of 0! Also a gain of 0.

By the rules I set for myself I have failed only half the challenge this week. I didn't have a gain, so I can continue to watch TV. Since I didn't lose a pound, I am at the mercy of my loving wife and her merciless fruits and vegetables for the next week.

I'm a little ticked at this weigh-in. I did pretty good yesterday. I did not graze at all and I drank a ton of water...which may be part of my problem.

I did go home and do Buns of Steal last night.

Not actual buns of steal. I found The Biggest Loser Cardio Workout On Demand on Exercise TV so I tried that. And, it kicked my butt. That Bob Harper is one mean dude. And this was just cardio level 1...and I wasn't using hand weights. I'm still sore this morning. I probably should have stretched before I started.

Oh, and I apologize to anyone who may have been driving down our street last night around 8:30 pm and peeked into our window. I'm sure it was not a pretty sight.

Here's the real bummer. Yesterday morning I was at 226.4. I had dreams of getting close to 225 this morning. Dreams that were shattered.

I'm toying with the idea of keeping up with some of this cardio workout. I have a Biggest Loser DVD from a promotional thing we did over at Fatbloggers last year. It's still in the cellophane wrap. I may have to bust it out this week for an extra kick to make sure I have a good loss next Friday.

Have a great weekend everybody. And happy valentines day...tomorrow.

Tony
2/13 227.6 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
Lots to go

Guess How Much I Weigh Contest Week 84

2009-02-12T08:23:00.002-06:00

More drama!

It's going to be a tight squeeze for tomorrow's weigh-in. As it stands right now I am down more than a pound but barely. If this had been a normal week I'd be guaranteeing a good loss for tomorrow. Unfortunately this is no normal week....is there every such a thing?

Since I was sick this week I skipped my strength training on Tuesday and now I've been pulled into a last minute all day off-site session today, which means no strength training today either.

The good news is fear of Laura and her vegetables will keep me on the straight and narrow in this room full of candy and doughnuts and snacks galore, but I am worried that might not be enough with no work out today.

I am seriously considering pulling out some of Laura’s Bun’s Of Steal videos after the kids go to bed tonight…. Laura doesn’t actually have buns of steal .... well she dose have nice buns, but she doesn’t have the Buns of Steal videos.

Have I dug myself out yet?

Seriously though, our cable on demand has some workouts available and I am honestly considering trying out some cardio in the living room.

Wish me luck.

Step right up, step right up.
Guess how much I weigh and win a fabulous prize.

To Recap:
Every Thursday I give you my stats for the week and you guess what you think the scale will say on Friday morning. The winner is the first person who guesses my weight / weight loss for the week without going over or the person who is closest without going over. Go ahead and click on comments at the bottom of this post and leave your guess.

I will post the winner when I post my weight on Fri. morning. If we get ten or more guesses I will have a prize for the winner.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!

Tony
2/12 227.6 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
Lots to go

Sicky McSickerson

2009-02-11T09:03:00.002-06:00

Ughhh.

I caught a bug from somebody this weekend. It isn't the flu. I went and got checked.

Whatever it is, it's filling my head with cobwebs and my muscles with aches.

I kmow it's mild compared to all of you out there stuck in bed for days on end...but it's sapping my motivation something fierce.

I'll be hitting the treadmill later today. I hope I can make it through my run.

On a positive note, I seem to be on track with Week 2 of the challenge.

I did my best to eat resonablly this weekend and got a nice run in with my Dad on Sunday morning.

And we had a blast running around on the frozen lake with the girls. I even got to see the inside of an Ice House for the first time ever.

All in all a fabulous weekend at the lake.

Tony

The Weigh-In Week 83

2009-02-06T11:29:00.003-06:00

227.6! That's what it said on the scale this morning. A loss of 2 pounds!

No broccoli this week!

1 week down. 4 more to go!

Instead of typing more, I'm going running. It's 30 outside and I brought cold weather running gear so I'm hitting the trail.

This weeks winner was my mom.

Thanks again for all the encouragement these last couple of weeks. Keep it coming!
Tony
2/05 227.6 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
19.4 to go

Guess How Much I weigh Contest - Week 83

2009-02-05T09:14:00.003-06:00

I'm feeling good about this week.

For the first time in a long time I have started making some very conscious decisions to make healthier choices. Instead of trying to eat less this week, I really tried to eat better. A lot of that was due to some good support and encouragement from my lovely wife.

I have somewhat reliable calorie data for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I averaged 1,911 calories a day for those 3 days and burned on average 4,140 calories a day.

Although, I am going to guess that I am probably off by 200 calories a day. I wasn't great about logging every little thing I ate...but I got most of it.

So let's say 2,100 calories a day.

That would make the total for those 3 days 6,120 extra calories burned. Not bad considering I ate out on Monday and Wednesday night.

I had some good runs this week too. I had another good long run on Monday and did some speed work on Wednesday.

All and all I'm feeling better than I have felt all year.

The weather is supposed to be nice this weekend so hopefully we get time to enjoy some family fun outside, which will help propel me into next with a good start.

Step right up, step right up.
Guess how much I weigh and win a fabulous prize.

To Recap:
Every Thursday I give you my stats for the week and you guess what you think the scale will say on Friday morning. The winner is the first person who guesses my weight / weight loss for the week without going over or the person who is closest without going over. Go ahead and click on comments at the bottom of this post and leave your guess.

I will post the winner when I post my weight on Fri. morning. If we get ten or more guesses I will have a prize for the winner.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!

Tony
2/05 229.6 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
Lots to go

Keeping Up With The Calories

2009-02-02T13:52:00.002-06:00

You would all be so proud of me. I logged my food...until noon on Friday. That's like a whole 4 hours. I got both breakfast and lunch!

OK so reboot on the calorie counting. I started up again today. Anyone want to place bets on how long I last this time?

On a side note my calorie counting site, Fitday.com has revamped their set up and I really like what they have done with the place.

Here is the really proud moment of the weekend. I took all my frustration and ticked-offedness and used it to fuel an awesome run of Friday afternoon. Not mid-June awesome but awesome by recent standards.

I did 4-miles at a decent clip. It's the first time I have run a straight 4 miles in probably more than 2 months. It felt good! All told, I did nearly 4.8 miles on Friday. And I managed another 4.6 today. Didn't quite make 4-miles running today though. My legs kind of gave out just short. I blame all the sitting in theater seats I did this weekend.

Not the best weekend for eating unfortunately. I'm buckling down for the rest of the week. Don't want to be eating broccoli on Saturday!

Tony
2/02 229.6 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
Lots to go

The Weigh-In Week 82

2009-01-30T09:25:00.002-06:00

229.6. That's what it said on the scale this morning. A loss of .4 pounds.

Thank you for all the encouragement. The good news is my spirits are still high...sadly so is my weight.

So here's the deal. This has to stop now! Time for a new challenge. It's a five week challenge this time.

Here are the rules.

1. I desperately need new jeans. I can not buy new jeans until I hit 220. (That's not really a rule, more of a statement.)

2. If I have a gain in any one of these 5 weeks, no TV for the entire week. Sadly this seems to be the best motivator I have found so far.

3. If I lose less then a pound in a week Laura gets to make me eat a food that I claim to hate. This is a big one since I am deathly afraid of most vegetables, fruits, seafood and non meat and potatoes dishes in general.

As of today I am back to logging food. I hate logging food, but I need something, anything to keep me on track.

This weeks winner was my Dad with a guess of .4.

Have a great weekend everybody.

Tony
1/30 229.6 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
Lots to go

Guess How Much I Weigh Contest - Week 82

2009-01-29T11:02:00.002-06:00

I'm going to be honest with you. I am a little scared right now. Things feel like they are falling a part. I am not going to let that happen.

As you can tell I have managed to lose control of my weight. This week was supposed to be about getting back on track, but things aren't shaping up that way. Instead I am going to be lucky if I can get back under 230 for tomorrow. 230!!!! That is unbelievable to me. It was not that long ago that I was convinced I would never see 220 again and now suddenly I am back at 230.

And it's effecting my running as well. I am still getting in my miles, but my endurance has seriously suffered. Last summer I was doing 8 mile runs, now I can barely get to 3 miles without needing a walk break.

I know I have said this a lot over the last year but it is time for a re-commitment. I can not and will not let myself waste everything I have accomplished.

The one shining light in all this is I know I have changed. Even in the face of failure I have continued to work out and I have avoided binging. The old me is long gone for sure. Problem is the new me has not taken strong enough root yet, leaving me in a bit a of a limbo world. Time to plant myself firm and get to some positive growth again...or positive loss as the case may be.

More on a plan of action tomorrow.

Step right up, step right up.
Guess how much I weigh and win a fabulous prize.

To Recap:
Every Thursday I give you my stats for the week and you guess what you think the scale will say on Friday morning. The winner is the first person who guesses my weight / weight loss for the week without going over or the person who is closest without going over. Go ahead and click on comments at the bottom of this post and leave your guess.

I will post the winner when I post my weight on Fri. morning. If we get ten or more guesses I will have a prize for the winner.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!

Tony
230
NEW GOAL: 208
Lots to go

The Weigh In Week 81

2009-01-23T10:16:00.002-06:00

230!

Enough said.

Actually not enough but I have to catch up after being gone all week so more will have to wait.

Needless to say I am not a happy camper. An extra hard run is in my future in about 2 hours!!!!

Tony

Guess How Much I Weigh Contest Week 81

2009-01-22T18:29:00.002-06:00

Sorry this is so late. I've been traveling all day. I would have done it before I left but I just spent 4 days in a "luxury" hotel that charged $10 a day for internet access. How ridiculous is that? You'd think for what they charge for a room they could spring for a little wi-fi.

Step right up, step right up.
Guess how much I weigh and win a fabulous prize.

To Recap:
Every Thursday I give you my stats for the week and you guess what you think the scale will say on Friday morning. The winner is the first person who guesses my weight / weight loss for the week without going over or the person who is closest without going over. Go ahead and click on comments at the bottom of this post and leave your guess.

I will post the winner when I post my weight on Fri. morning. If we get ten or more guesses I will have a prize for the winner.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!

Tony
225
NEW GOAL: 208
Lots to go

The Weigh-In Week 80

2009-01-16T09:17:00.002-06:00

225! That's what it said on the scale this morning. A loss of 1.8.

What a difference a couple of pounds can make.

Comparing this weeks weigh-in pictures to last weeks I feel like my face looks much thinner. Could just be the added stubble. Because everybody knows besides making you look cool stubble makes you look thin.

I am a little disappointed I didn't hit a 2 pound loss this week. I was down 2 pounds yesterday but I bounced back a little this morning. The good news is I tightened my belt another notch yesterday. Not quite back to the notch I was on at 215, but getting closer.

Next week is going to be a challenge. I am heading to a 4 day conference out of town next week so I'll be way off routine. The one bright side is I'm heading to warmer climates so I should be able to get some nice outdoor runs in while I am gone. And it looks like the hotel has an awesome fitness center, so that should help.

Looks like my Dad is this weeks winner with an on the nose guess. I think my dad had the exact number last week too. I wonder if he's cheating.

Have a great weekend everybody. Rumor has it we are going to get above -30 some time this weekend. I might breakout the shorts.

Tony
225
NEW GOAL: 208
Lots to go

Guess How Much I Weigh Contest Week 80

2009-01-15T10:39:00.003-06:00

OK, now we are talking.

This has been a great week. I'm feeling good, I'm eating good, I have hit the gym every day this week and the scale is being my friend. I don't want to say anymore and risk jinxing tomorrows weigh-in.

Oh and my beard is almost back!!!

Step right up, step right up.
Guess how much I weigh and win a fabulous prize.

To Recap:
Every Thursday I give you my stats for the week and you guess what you think the scale will say on Friday morning. The winner is the first person who guesses my weight / weight loss for the week without going over or the person who is closest without going over. Go ahead and click on comments at the bottom of this post and leave your guess.

I will post the winner when I post my weight on Fri. morning. If we get ten or more guesses I will have a prize for the winner.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!

Tony
1/15 226.8 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
Lots to go

A Late Night Snack

2009-01-13T11:14:00.003-06:00

I made a good decision last night. It's sad when making one good decision is headline worthy.

I've been having trouble getting over the late evening snacking habit I developed over the holidays. Once again last night I was hit with a snack craving despite a substantial and delicious dinner of chicken and Gnocchi.

By some divine intervention I was struck with an inspiration right before I reached for a cookie. My craving miraculously turned from cookies to apples and Carmel. My wife had recently bought some small, fat free caramel dipper cups for the girls and it turned out to be just the yummy snack I needed... made all the sweeter by the knowledge that I had made a healthier decision.

I feel like this is going to be a good week for me.

Tony

Starting the Week Off Right

2009-01-12T15:30:00.003-06:00

Over the last year it has been rare for me to weigh less on Monday morning then I did on Friday morning. I am sure it is the same for most people. You spend all week being good and then you break away from your weekly routine and all bets are off.

I am happy to say that by some miracle I am starting this week .6 pounds lighter then I ended last week.

I'd like to say this is due to some great master plan of mine. Honestly, I am a little baffled... but I'll take it.

It's an encouraging way to start the week and it has me motivated to keep up the goodness this week.

Speaking of motivated. You may have noticed from last weeks photo that I shaved my beard. You may also have noticed that I look like a total dork without facial hair.

My daughter has spent the last week starting at my face and telling me I look funny.

Message heard Ellie. The beard is on it's way back.

Somebody remind me next January not to shave my beard into a silly looking mustache thus forcing me to shave myself clean so I look like a 14 year old.

Tony

The Weigh-In Week 79

2009-01-09T07:40:00.003-06:00

226.8! A loss of 1.2 pounds.

Got to run to a meeting.

More later.

The Weigh-In Week 79

2009-01-08T10:31:00.002-06:00

Getting back under 220 may not be as easy as I had thought. Normally when I get back to a good workout routine after having gone "crazy" for a while the pounds just melt away for the first week. That doesn't seem to be happening this week. So far I am down less than 1 pound for the week. I'll do my best to maximize that loss for tomorrow's weigh-in, but I think I need to mentally prepare for the long haul this time around.

Step right up, step right up.
Guess how much I weigh and win a fabulous prize.

To Recap:
Every Thursday I give you my stats for the week and you guess what you think the scale will say on Friday morning. The winner is the first person who guesses my weight / weight loss for the week without going over or the person who is closest without going over. Go ahead and click on comments at the bottom of this post and leave your guess.

I will post the winner when I post my weight on Fri. morning. If we get ten or more guesses I will have a prize for the winner.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!

Tony
1/8 228 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
Lots to go

Feels Like Starting Over

2009-01-07T15:23:00.002-06:00

I am sore today.

I lifted weights for the first time in nearly 3 weeks yesterday and today I am feeling it. It made for a rough run on the treadmill this afternoon.

Since I was forced to watch a repeat of a Big 10 basketball game while running today (somebody beat me to the TV remote) I had lots of time to think and reflect.

Here's the conclusion I have come to...I am a little lost right now.

I don't have any new goals. I'm not even sure what I want my new goals to be.

I know I want to get my weight back on track. So I guess that is goal number 1.

I know I want to do more races and more Tri's this year. Although right now my motivation is to use them as workout incentives more than to try and be faster.

I had toyed with the idea of trying a half marathon this year, but I'm starting to think that is not in the works for the near future.

I am really proud of the amazing things I have done in the last two years.

Year one was all about dropping the weight.
Year to was all about becoming an athlete.
So what is year 3 going to be about?

At what point does it stop being about striving for huge accomplishments and just become a way of life?

The one thing I know for sure I want to focus on in the near future is my weight. I need to get things back on track. I want to make a serious effort to get to my new goal of 208.

Towards that end I have followed my friend Andrew and joined a weight loss competition / support group over at the blog Running Hoosier.

I figure I can use all the extra motivation I can get. Plus I think we weigh in on Mondays which will give me some added incentive to be good over the week ends.

Tony

The Weigh-In Week 78

2009-01-05T10:53:00.002-06:00

Sorry this is so late. My computer crashed on New Years Eve and we finally got it back up and running this morning.

Not that there was a lot of good news to report.

228! That's what it said on the scale on Friday morning. Another big gain. Time to reverse the trend.

I'm back at work after two weeks vacation and ready to get back to my routine.

I'm heading to the treadmill in an hour!

Tony

Guess How Much I Weigh Contest Week 78

2009-01-01T08:44:00.002-06:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!

Today's big news...besides a bright and shine New Year...I made 500 miles for the year yesterday. 501.68 to be exact.

I'll refelct more on what this past year was all about next week. For now it's on to the guessing.

I had a good week this week...until last night. The scale at the gym yesterday said 223. I doubt that's what it will say tomorrow.

Step right up, step right up.
Guess how much I weigh and win a fabulous prize.

To Recap:
Every Thursday I give you my stats for the week and you guess what you think the scale will say on Friday morning. The winner is the first person who guesses my weight / weight loss for the week without going over or the person who is closest without going over. Go ahead and click on comments at the bottom of this post and leave your guess.

I will post the winner when I post my weight on Fri. morning. If we get ten or more guesses I will have a prize for the winner.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!

Tony
1/21 225 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
Lots to go

The Weigh-In Week 77

2008-12-26T11:04:00.002-06:00

225! That's what it said on the scale this morning. A gain of .8. Not bad considering today was my first workout since last Thursday...oh and that whole two days of holiday feasting.

There are two caveats to the 225.

1. I weighed in on my in-laws scale again so I am sure there is a little discrepancy with weighing in on a different scale.

2. I weighed in after my run this morning. As always I sweated a lot on my run so I was probably a few quarters low in the water weight.

Are you impressed that I got up and went for a run outdoors the day after Christmas?

I am.

It was a beautiful day for a run and it felt so good to get out.

Last week I calculated my miles for the year and realized I was only 6 miles short of making 500 miles for the year.

I never set out to make any kind of mileage goal for the year but since I am so close to such a nice round number, I am going to make 500 happen.

After this mornings run I have only 2.4 miles to go.

I'll be back in a week for a New Years weigh in.

Hope everyone had a merry holiday.

Tony
12/26 225 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
Lots to go

P.S. Thanks Dad for being such a dedicated guesser.

Guess How Much I Weigh Contest - Week 77

2008-12-25T07:47:00.001-06:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!!!!!!

Step right up, step right up.
Guess how much I weigh and win a fabulous prize.

To Recap:
Every Thursday I give you my stats for the week and you guess what you think the scale will say on Friday morning. The winner is the first person who guesses my weight / weight loss for the week without going over or the person who is closest without going over. Go ahead and click on comments at the bottom of this post and leave your guess.

I will post the winner when I post my weight on Fri. morning. If we get ten or more guesses I will have a prize for the winner.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!

Tony
12/25 224.2 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
Lots to go

The Weigh-In Week 76

2008-12-19T07:46:00.003-06:00

224.2. That is what it said on the scale this morning. "Technically" a gain of 1.8 pounds.

I say "technically" because I feel that I am with in my rights to actually claim a .2 pound loss.

Hear me out.

By my calculations I ate approx. 2 to 2.5 pounds of rice last night. We went out to a Thai restaurant with a group of friends. I ordered Curry. I love Curry. There was lots of sauce. It required lots of rice.

When it comes to Curry I am a charter member of the clean plate club.

So let's say 2.5 pounds of rice. I probably digested a half pound of that. Which leaves 2 pounds of rice sitting in my tummy.

1.8 - 2 = -.2.

Ta-dah! A .2 pound loss for the week.

What?!!!? You're not buying it?

Come on its Christmas! Where's your generous holiday spirit.

Merry Christmas Everybody!
I hope you all have a happy and joyous holiday.
See you in a week!

Tony
12/19 224.2 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
Lots to go

Guess How Much I weigh Contest - Week 76

2008-12-18T09:18:00.003-06:00

I was planing on letting everyone know that I'm going on Holiday Hiatus until after the New Year, but I think it's pretty obvious that I have been on Holiday Hiatus for the last two weeks already. There will still be a contest and weigh-in each week, but don't expect any other updates until after January 3rd.

That leaves us with this weeks weigh-in. This has been a good week. As of right now I weigh exactly what I weighed last Friday. Considering how much holiday junk food has been shoved in front of my face this week, I think that's a pretty good accomplishment.

Normally I would guarantee a loss tomorrow morning. But, I have big plans tonight. Laura and I are heading out on the town with our "crew" for our annual holiday get together. Which means I won't be eating my normal reserved Thursday night meal. And thus the non-guarantee on tomorrow's weigh-in. I think a loss could still be possible but even if I have a small gain due to a rich and delicious meal out I know it will just be a little blip...gone by Saturday.

Plus I plan on kicking it extra hard on the treadmill this afternoon!

Step right up, step right up.
Guess how much I weigh and win a fabulous prize.

To Recap:
Every Thursday I give you my stats for the week and you guess what you think the scale will say on Friday morning. The winner is the first person who guesses my weight / weight loss for the week without going over or the person who is closest without going over. Go ahead and click on comments at the bottom of this post and leave your guess.

I will post the winner when I post my weight on Fri. morning. If we get ten or more guesses I will have a prize for the winner.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!

Tony
12/18 222.4 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
Lots to go

The Weigh-In Week 75

2008-12-12T09:17:00.003-06:00

It's a Christmas miracle!!!!

222.4!!! That's what it said on the scale this morning. A loss of 2.4!!!!

I am shocked. I didn't think I had much of a chance at a loss this week, let alone a nice big loss. This gives me renewed hope for getting...and staying under 220 for the holidays. This loss also motivates me to keep kicking it in to gear.

In anticipation of a gain I had planned on writing about how I was going to try and just minimize the damage until the new year and then kick it into high gear after January 1st. But now I saw screw that! I'm kicking it into high gear right now.

Have a great weekend everybody.
Tony
12/12 222.4 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
Lots to go

Guess How Much I weigh Contest - Week 75

2008-12-11T11:59:00.003-06:00

I am not going to lie to you, I am scared about this week.

Do to circumstances beyond my control I had to skip workouts on Friday and Monday. I haven't weighed myself since last Friday either. I think I was too scared to see the truth. I'm off for a run right now but it may be too little, too late. Guess we'll find out tomorrow morning.

Step right up, step right up.
Guess how much I weigh and win a fabulous prize.

To Recap:
Every Thursday I give you my stats for the week and you guess what you think the scale will say on Friday morning. The winner is the first person who guesses my weight / weight loss for the week without going over or the person who is closest without going over. Go ahead and click on comments at the bottom of this post and leave your guess.

I will post the winner when I post my weight on Fri. morning. If we get ten or more guesses I will have a prize for the winner.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!

Tony
12/11 224.8 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
Lots to go

Dyslexia wins again.

2008-12-05T12:15:00.002-06:00

My lovely wife has often suspected that I suffer from a mild case of dyslexia. Mostly because I am constantly inverting or screwing up numbers.

To lend further credence to my lovely wife's suspicions, check out this comment from some anonymous soul about this weeks weigh-in.

"124? Dude, that's not a gain - that's a huge loss (I mean, typo)."

So yeah, that should have said 224.8.

Funny thing is I typed wrong again just now.

Could just be a case of wishful typing.

The Weigh-In Week 74

2008-12-05T09:02:00.002-06:00

As predicted a gain.

124.8. That's what it said on the scale. A gain of 3.8 pounds. That holiday weight just didn't want to go away. Back on track this week. I can not end the year above 220. Which means, I have to get some insurance before the holidays. I'm going to try my darnedest to get under 220 for next week. A tall order I know...but I need the motivation.

Sorry about the lack of photos. I manged to lose our camera...or it was stolen, not sure which one yet. Either way it will have to be replaced.

I stopped on my way into work to offer a ride to an injured runner. He was an older guy limping along. It looked like he'd pulled something and he was going nowhere fast. I figured it would be good karma to offer a hand. I know I'd want someone to stop if I was far from home and the temp was hovering around 10 degrees.

Turns out the guy was only a few blocks from home and didn't need a ride...although he apparently needed someone to talk to. He took ten minutes to tell me his whole life story before telling me he was fine. Nice guy though and not a bad way to break up the boredom of the morning drive.

Have a great weekend everybody. Ours is packed with family fun, hope yours is to.

Tony
12/05 224.8 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
Lots to go

Guess How Much I weigh Contest - Week 74

2008-12-04T12:20:00.002-06:00

Excuse me, can someone fix this broken record player?

There will be a gain this week. Sorry to disappoint. You deserve better. I deserve better. I will do better next week.

Step right up, step right up.
Guess how much I weigh and win a fabulous prize.

To Recap:
Every Thursday I give you my stats for the week and you guess what you think the scale will say on Friday morning. The winner is the first person who guesses my weight / weight loss for the week without going over or the person who is closest without going over. Go ahead and click on comments at the bottom of this post and leave your guess.

I will post the winner when I post my weight on Fri. morning. If we get ten or more guesses I will have a prize for the winner.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!

Tony
12/04 221 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
Lots to go

The Weigh-In Week 73 and Race Report

2008-12-01T13:18:00.002-06:00

I got a little overwhelmed by leftover turkey and balck Friday super shopping and trips to see Santa and general holiday laziness and never quite got around to weighing in as I promised.

Sorry, but really I can't imagine there were too many people frantically hitting refresh Friday morning to see how my Gabble Gallop race went.

First the weigh in.

I forgot our scale at home so I weighed myself on my in-laws scales. Yes I said scales. One scale had me at 219 on Thursday morning. The other had me at 222. I'm going to make the official weigh in weight 221, since my mother-in-law thinks her digital scale is about 1 pound off from ours at home.

Bummer that I bumped back up over 220 again but sadly not unexpected. It's going to take a bit of a miracle to get back down under 220 this week. I just couldn't resist all those yummy pies!!!

As for the race, it was a ton of fun. Not my best race...in fact it may be my slowest time yet. But Laura and I had a great time getting up early and heading down to the lake. Laura ran into a bunch of people she knew, and I think she was a little proud to be one of those "crazy people who would get up and go for a run on Thanksgiving morning when it's only 22 degrees outside." I know I was pretty proud.

It sure helps a lot to have two awesome in-laws who are willing to take care of and bathe twin 2 year olds and cook a dinner for 12 at the same time, just so the kids can go be wild and crazy.

Here are the race results:

28:27.4 Was the official time

I finished 366 out 910

I was 299 out of 401 Men

I was 58 out of 97 Men 30-39

My pace was 9:10 per mile.

I think everybody's times were a little slow. It snowed like crazy from 5am to 9 am the morning of the race so by the time we started at 9:30 the roads were crazy slippery. I think being so careful not to fall wore me down faster and as I got tired I slowed down even more to avoid slipping, resulting in a slow last 1.1 miles.

In the long run (no pun intended) I was out to have fun, so mission accomplished.

Tony
12/01 221 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
Lots to go

Guess How Much I weigh Contest - Week 73

2008-11-26T10:20:00.002-06:00

I almost forgot.

I am expecting small up tick on the scale tomorrow due to a lack of workout and a big lunch today. Hopefully only temporary.

The weigh in and thanksgiving day race report will be up sometime on Thursday or Friday.

Have a wonderful, merry Thanksgiving everyone.

Step right up, step right up.
Guess how much I weigh and win a fabulous prize.

To Recap:
Every Thursday I give you my stats for the week and you guess what you think the scale will say on Friday morning. The winner is the first person who guesses my weight / weight loss for the week without going over or the person who is closest without going over. Go ahead and click on comments at the bottom of this post and leave your guess.

I will post the winner when I post my weight on Fri. morning. If we get ten or more guesses I will have a prize for the winner.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!

Tony
11/26 219.4 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
Lots to go

Quick Reminder

2008-11-25T13:04:00.001-06:00

The Guess How Much I Weigh contest will be tomorrow (Wed.) with a weigh-in on Thursday, Thanksgiving.

See you tomorrow.

Tony

The Weigh-In Week 72

2008-11-21T09:49:00.003-06:00

219.4!!! That's what it said on the scale this morning. A loss of 2.6!

Hurray. Back below 220 again and feeling good. This is going to be a tough week to stay on track but I am determined to keep this good streak going right on through the holidays.

I really want to reach Christmas with some progress from where I was last year.

You know what, that's kind of the wrong way to look at it. This whole thing was about getting healthy, not just losing weight and that has been what this year was about. And on that end I have made some huge changes.

So let's rephrase. I would really like to get down to or close to a new low by the end of the year, but if I don't I will celebrate all of the amazing athletic accomplishments I have had this year and feel no regret about the the year I have had.

Have a great weekend everybody.
Tony
11/21 219.4 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
A little less to go

Guess How Much I weigh Contest - Week 72

2008-11-20T10:39:00.002-06:00

This has been a good week. I finally feel like I am back on track for the first time in a month. I should be looking at a nice size loss this week (fingers crossed) and if all goes well today, I should be back under 220 by tomorrow morning (double fingers crossed).

I am going to work really hard to minimize any gains that may show up next week due to Thanksgiving. I'm doing the Thanksgiving morning run with my lovely wife and then I hope to get one or two more workouts in while we are off celebrating the Holiday. I really don't want to go 4 days with no workouts!

Also, due to the holiday, next weeks way in will be on Thursday morning. No way am I weighing the day after Thanksgiving.

Step right up, step right up.
Guess how much I weigh and win a fabulous prize.

To Recap:
Every Thursday I give you my stats for the week and you guess what you think the scale will say on Friday morning. The winner is the first person who guesses my weight / weight loss for the week without going over or the person who is closest without going over. Go ahead and click on comments at the bottom of this post and leave your guess.

I will post the winner when I post my weight on Fri. morning. If we get ten or more guesses I will have a prize for the winner.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!

Tony
11/20 222 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
Lots to go

Jonsing For Tri Season

2008-11-18T16:43:00.002-06:00

I have been getting to know a guy in my building who is a hardcore Iron Man triathlete. We seem to be working out in the gym at the same time a lot lately. Today we spent an hour trading training tips.

You may think that I did all the listening but this guy was asking me a bunch of questions about my weight lifting routine. I felt a little like a ten year old kid trying to explain to a big league all star how to hit a t-ball. None the less it had me feeling really good about the changes I have made in my life.

The fact that I can have a conversation about working out with a guy like that and not have him laugh in my face in the first 15 seconds says a lot abut how far my commitment to training has come.

Our conversation also got me jonesing for triathlon season...and it got me thinking about starting to do more cross training in the gym over the winter to be better prepared for my triathlons next summer.

I singed up for my Thanksgiving 5K this morning. I doubt I'll set a new PR during this race, but I am starting to fell like it could be a good race. I'm excited to have some goals again...even if just for a brief time.

Tony
11/18 222 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
Lots to go

The Weigh-In Week 71

2008-11-14T09:31:00.007-06:00

The punishment is over!!!!

Turns out the worst part about the punishment is the embarrassment of posting these pictures. I was very close to not posting them. There is something weird about voluntarily posting pictures of your bare belly. Believe me I get no exhibitionist thrill out of this.

222! Thats what it said on the scale this morning. A loss of 2 pounds.

Not quite the 4 I had hopped to lose...then again after gaining 2 pounds over the weekend, I did technically lose 4 pounds since Monday. Turns out spending the weekend raking leaves may be good exercise for the muscles but it doesn't burn as many calories as one might think.

Just have to make it through this week to avoid more consequences, and I am determined to make sure that happens!

Looking at these two pictures side by side does go along way towards making me feel better about posting bare belly pics. It's amazing what losing 40 pounds and hitting the gym for a year does for a guy. Just imagine what the picture on the left would have looked like when I was at my heaviest of 288. On second thought, don't imagine that...dear good please don't imagine that!

Even better. Here is a picture of 222 me superimposed over 262 me. Check out how much less space I take up now!

Looks like my sweet, wonderful, lovely wife and I are going to do some kind of run on Thanksgiving morning, so I've got something new to train for. Which is exactly the motivation I need right now.

Up until Wed. I was having a seriously hard time getting back into the swing of running. Things finally feel like the are starting to click though.

This week big winner would have been my dad. He nailed it right on the head with a guess of 2lbs.

Next week I am determined to be back under 220...and stay there for the rest of the year...or forever... which ever comes first.

Have a great weekend everybody.
Tony
11/14 222 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
Lots to go

Guess How Much I weigh Contest - Week 71

2008-11-13T08:48:00.002-06:00

Just a quick check in before I run to an all day off site meeting.

I should have a loss this week...as long as I can avoid the treats at the meeting. I don't think I am going to make my goal of losing 4 pounds though.

Not sure that I can take another week without TV, so wish me luck.

Does that sound desperate?

Step right up, step right up.
Guess how much I weigh and win a fabulous prize.

To Recap:
Every Thursday I give you my stats for the week and you guess what you think the scale will say on Friday morning. The winner is the first person who guesses my weight / weight loss for the week without going over or the person who is closest without going over. Go ahead and click on comments at the bottom of this post and leave your guess.

I will post the winner when I post my weight on Fri. morning. If we get ten or more guesses I will have a prize for the winner.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!

Tony
11/13 224 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
Lots to go

Guess Who's Crazy Busy

2008-11-11T13:44:00.002-06:00

This guy, that's who.

Sorry for my absence this week. I've got a lot on my plate and not enough time to...eat it. Umm I don't think that is right.

Any way... the punishment is going well so far.

I am greatly enjoying my salads. No really I am. Sure they aren't the healthiest salads on the planet but at least I'm eating salad.

Skipping TV hasn't been too bad, although I will be more than ready to catch up on this weeks shows by the time Friday rolls around.

I'm not doing so good with the cooking dinner though. I'm making the effort but the timing has been tough. And honestly I just kind of forgot on Saturday night. I'm cooking tomorrow night though...even though Laura ordered all the grocery's

Tony

The Weigh-In Week 70

2008-11-07T09:22:00.002-06:00

224! That's what it said on the scale this morning. A gain of 6-pounds.
(I thought a 224 picture would be too depressing.)

Told you I had been bad.

New effort starts today...as does my punishment. I'm really looking forward to my salad for lunch!

I'll be spending the weekend raking leaves in the freezing cold rain and snow. That has to be good for dropping a few pounds. I am shooting to lose 4 pounds this week. A guys gotta dream big.

I just went looking for a picture of the last time I weighed 224. Turns out I have never had a 224 weigh in. Here's the cool / scary part, the last time I weighed more than 223 was way back in October 2007...over a year ago. Good motivation to lose this gain and lose it quickly...and never get back here again.

Have a great weekend everybody.

Tony
11/06 224 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
Heck Of A Lot to go

Guess How Much I Weigh Contest - Week 70

2008-11-06T09:02:00.002-06:00

I managed to do a lot of self sabotaging over the last 2 weeks. I quit going to the gym and started eating way more than I should have. At first I convinced myself it was my right as part of the grieving process to let myself go...then I just got lazy and self indulgent.

So here's the deal. I am going to have a huge gain this week. I have stepped on the scale once in the past two weeks, and it was not good. I don't know how big this big gain is going to be but I know it's not going to be pretty.

I am ready to face the consequences. 3 weeks ago I made another promise to have 4 losses in a row. I did great on week one and took last week off. So tomorrow's weigh-in will officially be week two of the "4 Week Challenge". And I have every intention of taking my punishment like a man. This means:

1. I will have to cook dinner every night for the week.
2. No TV for the week from Friday to Friday (excluding the Girls Bedtime Movie)
3. I have to replace one meal everyday for that week with a salad.
4. The following weeks weigh-in photo will be a picture of my shirtless belly.

Man I forgot all about the salad for a week part. Oh that sucks!

But I have to be held accountable for my actions.

I continue to creep up heavier and heavier every time I fall of the wagon. That must stop.

And just to clarify, to have a successful week next week I only have to have a loss from this weeks weigh-in. I don't need to get back to the week one low... not that I would complain.

Step right up, step right up.
Guess how much I weigh and win a fabulous prize.

To Recap:
Every Thursday I give you my stats for the week and you guess what you think the scale will say on Friday morning. The winner is the first person who guesses my weight / weight loss for the week without going over or the person who is closest without going over. Go ahead and click on comments at the bottom of this post and leave your guess.

I will post the winner when I post my weight on Fri. morning. If we get ten or more guesses I will have a prize for the winner.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!

Tony
11/06 218 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
10 to go

A Eulogy For My Grandfather Ken Overholt

2008-11-03T16:14:00.006-06:00

My grandfather passed away on October 27th at the age of 89. The following is the eulogy I gave at his funeral. I am not posting this in search of sympathy or because I am proud of the these words (which I am).

I post it here for two reasons.

1. My grandfather was an extremely important part of my life and he was a huge supporter of my journey towards a healthier life. Over the last few years every time I saw him he would always greet me with, "Hi Ya Skinny!"

2. Due to the random nature of the Internet hopefully this page will be stumbled upon by someone searching for "Ken Overholt" allowing my Grandfathers memory to live on.

My Grandfather
A Remembrance

About ten years ago I met someone at a party who knew my Grandfather from way back in the day, back when Grandpa was still selling cars.

This man said to me, “Your Grandfather is the best salesman I have ever met. There is not a thing in the world he couldn’t sell and not a person on the planet he couldn’t sell it to”

I won’t lie to you that made me proud. Who doesn’t want their Grandfather to be famous? But being a famous salesman is not what made me most proud of him.

Because even back then I had figured out something fundamental about my grandfather. At his core, being a salesman was not what defined Ken Overholt.

A salesman was what my grandfather was… it was not who he was.

Who Ken Oveholt was, was a dreamer.

My grandfather looked at the world differently.

In his eyes every piece of junk had the potential to be something great.

This is the way he saw people too. In his eyes every person had the potential for greatness.

This is what made my Grandfather such a great salesman.

It’s the same thing that made such a great man.

He wasn’t selling things, he was selling happiness.

I believe that every car he sold, every machine, everything, was simply his way of trying to make people happy. He was doing his part to make their dreams come true.

For my grandfather being a salesman was never about making a sale, it was about giving people joy, the only way he knew how.

Ken Overholt was never Willy Loman, if anything he was Walt Disney.

Over the past week we have had the opportunity to gather together to grieve and rejoice, to share stories and to talk about what Grandpa meant to each of us.

Every single person at some point said the same thing; most of them had the chance to say it to Grandpa himself.

“Ken, This is what you gave to me."

"Ken, This is what you taught me.”

It was obvious to me that Grandpa’s dreams were infectious.

But I guess that has always been obvious to me.

I am so very fortunate to have had such a close relationship with my grandfather my whole life.

We worked together, we played together and he always encouraged me to follow my dreams.

All that time we spent together has had a major impact on my life.

It is one of the foundations of who I became as a person.

Because I too am a dreamer and a schemer.

And we all know my grandfather dreamed up a lot of schemes.

To Ken Overholt every musical instrument had the potential to make beautiful music…whether he knew how to play it or not.

Every car had the potential to be a vintage Oldsmobile convertible.

Every boat has the potential to take you some place you’ve always dreamed of going

And every lamp had the potential to shine bright… no matter how old or rusty it may be.

Thank you grandpa, thank you for teaching me to chase after my dreams. Thank you for teaching me to always see the potential instead of the limitations.

That is what my grandfather gave to me and I am eternally grateful.

Granpa Ken

2008-10-27T09:57:00.003-05:00

Hey guys,

I am going to take this week off.

Last week my Grandfather made the decision to discontinue dialysis which he has been on for the last few years due to kidney failure. He has been moved to hospice care and is surrounded by his loving family.

As you can imagine writing about my weight loss issues is the last thing on my mind. So, for the fist time since I started this blog there will be no Guess How Much I Weigh Contest this week.

My grandfather was an amazing man who lived a pretty amazing life. I was very fortune to have an extremely close relationship with him and he had a great influence on the way my life has turned out.

All of Grandpa's family spent this weekend together at his side, sharing stories. It was an uplifting experience and has helped immensely with coming to terms with this transition.

Please keep my Grandma in your prayers.

I'll see you next week.

The Weigh-In Week 69

2008-10-24T09:10:00.002-05:00

218! That's what it said on the scale this morning. A loss of .6!

A small loss this week, but considering how crazy the week was, I will take any loss I can get.

Have a great weekend everybody!

Tony
10/23 218 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
10 to go

Guess How Much I Weigh Contest - Week 69

2008-10-23T13:03:00.003-05:00

(ed. Note: It's Friday morning and I just realized this never got posted yesterday. I must have hit the wrong button)

Sorry I have been absent this week.

I was sick on Monday, Swamped making up for it on Tuesday and in meetings the last two days. Despite some heavy stuff going down this week I am still determined to keep to my goal.

I even managed to squeeze in 2 workouts on Tuesday to make up for my sick day.

Step right up, step right up.
Guess how much I weigh and win a fabulous prize.

To Recap:
Every Thursday I give you my stats for the week and you guess what you think the scale will say on Friday morning. The winner is the first person who guesses my weight / weight loss for the week without going over or the person who is closest without going over. Go ahead and click on comments at the bottom of this post and leave your guess.

I will post the winner when I post my weight on Fri. morning. If we get ten or more guesses I will have a prize for the winner.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!

Tony
10/23 218.6 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
10.6 to go

The Weigh-In Week 68

2008-10-17T09:09:00.003-05:00

218.6! That's what it said on the scale this morning. A loss of 1.8 pounds.

Week one of the new Weight Loss Challenge down.

I get the feeling you guys may be as feed up with this whole yo-yoing weight thing as I am....or maybe your hust getting bored....and really who could blame you.

Only two votes this week. Teresa came the closest with a vote of 1.2.

Hopefully things will be a little more exciting in the next few weeks with some big losses.

Have a great weekend everybody.

Tony
10/17 218.6 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
10.6 2 go

Guess How Much I Weigh Contest - Week 68

2008-10-16T10:11:00.004-05:00

I feel like I am starting over...for many reasons.

1. Weight: I was above 220 pounds for the first time in months. An my weight has been staying on the high side more and more these days. I have had this goal of getting to 208 for more than 6 months now and I have made no real progress. Basically, when it comes to weight I am right where I was last December, almost a year ago. Granted that means I have maintained my weight loss for a year now, but I feel like I am really ready to start making progress again.

2. Workouts: I majorly changed up my workouts this week for the first time since last March and between the fumbling of figuring things out, the sore muscles and the butt kicking run, I feel like I am at the begging again. Which is good, because it means I am making progress.

Here's what I figured out about my strength training: My routine is pretty solid, but I have gotten lazy. In doing some research I realized that I am doing the right exercises but My weights were way too low. I found a few good articles on how to determine how much weight I should be using, and in some cases I was under by 30 pounds or more. After getting to the right weights on Tues. I could really feel a difference. The first time I have a good sore from lifting in months.

As for running I did some hardcore interval training yesterday and it really kicked my butt. I manged to do 3.6 miles at a and average of 9:30 a mile but I had to walk a lot more than I have had to in months. So interval training is definitely going to become a more permanent part of my workouts. At least once a week, and probably twice a week most weeks.

HERE'S THE IMPORTANT PART:
The Weight Loss challenge I set for myself a few weeks ago was really good motivation. So I am going to do it again...but bigger and better. This time around I am guaranteeing 4 WEEKS of WEIGHT LOSS...in a row. Starting with tomorrows weigh-in.
If I fail to lose weight in any of those weeks I will suffer the consequences for that week.

The Consequences:
1. I will have to cook dinner every night for a week.
2. No TV for that week from Friday to Friday (excluding the Girls Bedtime Movie)
3. I have to replace one meal everyday for that week with a salad.
4. The following weeks weighing photo will be a picture of my shirtless belly.

4 weeks, 4 Consequences.
All inspired by your suggestions from the last challenge.

The goal here is to be at 208 by Christmas and to be at a new low (under 213) by Thanksgiving.

Step right up, step right up.
Guess how much I weigh and win a fabulous prize.

To Recap:
Every Thursday I give you my stats for the week and you guess what you think the scale will say on Friday morning. The winner is the first person who guesses my weight / weight loss for the week without going over or the person who is closest without going over. Go ahead and click on comments at the bottom of this post and leave your guess.

I will post the winner when I post my weight on Fri. morning. If we get ten or more guesses I will have a prize for the winner.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!

Tony
10/16 220.4 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
Lots to go

Race Report

2008-10-15T09:33:00.002-05:00

As promised a little more detail on the big 10K race this weekend.

It was crazy hot for this late in the year, so our 10:30 start ended up being almost to late. I think it was in the mid 70's by the time we finished the race.

My plan was to try and keep up with my dad for as long as I could. That plan didn't last too long. Within the first half mile my dad was about a quarter mile ahead of me and by 1.5 miles he was out of site.

And I wasn't moving any to slow. I finished my first mile in 8:12. Way faster then I had planed or wanted to. My goal for the race was to average a 9 minute mile pace.

I had no clue I was going so fast (for me)... I just got caught up in the flow of the race. Unfortunately at that pace my leg muscles got really tight and didn't loosen up until somewhere in the 4th mile.

I gradually slowed my pace. I think mile two was around 8:45 and mile 3 was right at 9. I finished the first three miles in under 27 minutes!

And then we hit the hills. They weren't to bad at first. In fact by mile 5 I was thinking I might be able to finish in 55 minutes, something that seemed unconceivable to me when I started.

The last mile killed all those dreams. That last mile was all most all uphill... at least that's what it felt like. I think my last mile was a 10:30 mile or slower.

And by the time I crossed the finish line I was hurting. As you can see from this picture here.

So I finished in 57:03. 3 minutes faster then I thought I would. It ended up being a 9:14 per mile pace. I am ecstatic at how well the race went.

Once again the weather was perfect, the atmosphere was great, the other runners were fun and supportive and the scenery was superb. We were running through the woods on paved trails and it was the peak of fall leaf season, so there was plenty to look at during the race.

The only downer on the day was my daughter Maggie getting stung by a bee. That's why she's not in this cute photo. She recovered like a champ though. After 20 minutes of crying on mom's shoulder and a chocolate bar, she was full recovered and ready to run her own race...which she says she won!

I am starting to figure somethings out with the new workout routine. More on that later.

Tony

A New Beginning

2008-10-13T10:24:00.002-05:00

The race went great!

Once again we could not have asked for a more beautiful day.

I'll give a full race report later in the week when I have more time and some pictures loaded up.

The good news is, I met my goal of finishing in under 1 hour.

My official time was 57:12...although my watch said 57:03.

I finished 266 out of 605 racers.

My dad finished in 53:45 and my brother-in-law finished in 50:46. Evan was just 19 people short of cracking the top 100!

So now I find myself in a weird place.

I have been in training for one event or another for nearly a year now. I started my hardcore 5K training last January and moved from that to Triathlon training and from that to 10K training.

I am going to hold off for a little while on choosing my next "life goal". I want to concentrate on trying to get back on track to getting to 208 pounds, which is the only goal on my original list that I have left to reach.

As part of that I am trying to figure out what my new workout routine should be. Sadly I am completly lost when it comes to the non-running training.

The strength routine I have been following came from a triathlon training book from the early 80's and I don't think it is working for me anymore.

I have pretty much plateaued for the last few months. Mostly do to my lack of understanding and a lack of pushing myself.

I want to find a good all around work out that includes running cardio, fitness, strength and sculpting.

I think I am starting to figure out the basics but I also think I have a lot of trial and error ahead of me as well.

I have considered hiring a personal training to help design a workout for me, but where is the challenge in that...besides those people cost money!!!

For now the search continues.

As always, advice is appreciated.

Tony

The Weigh-In

2008-10-10T08:26:00.002-05:00

220.4! That's what it said on the scale this morning! A gain of 3.6.

I Blame last nights happy hour. Honestly. On Thursday morning I was at 218.8. A good size gain, put down from the 219 I started the week at. So to have gained almost 2 lbs in 1 day seems a lot more like leftover beer weight then it does actually weight gain.

Which should make it easier to get rid of next week.

I have the big 10K race on Saturday. I am a little nervous since I have been so sedentary this week. I got a 6 mile run in on Sunday (in the freezing rain) and a 5 mile run in on Wednesday (in my parents sauna basement). Unfortunately neither run was stellar. They were both a struggle, which is not where I want to be the week of the race.

I am putting on a positive attitude though and I think I can reach my goal to finish in under an hour!

This is the last official event I have on my calender. So I have been thinking about how I am going to change my fitness routine after this and what I am going to do to keep myself motivated...but we'll talk about that next week.

Have a great weekend everybody. Wish me luck at the race.

Tony
10/10 220.4 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
Lots to go

Guess How Much I weigh Contest - Week 68

2008-10-09T06:58:00.002-05:00

This has been a long, intense week of classes, so forgive me if I am brief...or incoherent. All my thinking energy is used up.

On the food front I think things are going well, I have actually manged to lose some weight as the week has progressed. That has as much to do with all the sweating I did during my 5-mile run last night in my parents sweat box of a basement as it does with my good eating choices.

And I am making some good eating choices...for the most part. It helps that I am being presented with very reasonable options and that the snacks and things are kept off our tables and kind of hidden away. I have to make an effort to snack.

So my routine has been, eat breakfast at home to avoid the pastries, a light health-ish snack in the mid morning (carrots, cheese and crackers), one trip to the lunch buffet and one trip only, and then I allow myself a pick me up in the afternoon...usually a heavenly mix of cheese and caramel popcorn. Trust my, by 3pm I need some kind of sugar pick me up.

Like I said, I have amazingly lost some weight as the week has progressed...unfortunately, I have not lost anywhere near what I somehow gained over the weekend.

There was no way I was getting away without a gain this week. Mostly because of lack of exercise. Last nights run is the only workout I will manage to squeeze in this week. So the goal here is to be good and minimize the gain. So far, so good.

Step right up, step right up.
Guess how much I weigh and win a fabulous prize.

To Recap:
Every Thursday I give you my stats for the week and you guess what you think the scale will say on Friday morning. The winner is the first person who guesses my weight / weight loss for the week without going over or the person who is closest without going over. Go ahead and click on comments at the bottom of this post and leave your guess.

I will post the winner when I post my weight on Fri. morning. If we get ten or more guesses I will have a prize for the winner.

Let the guessing begin. Good Luck!

Tony
10/09 216.8 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
8.8 lbs. to go

The Weigh-In Week 67

2008-10-03T09:29:00.002-05:00

216.4! That's what it said on the scale this morning. A loss of .4 pounds.

Not a huge loss, but a loss none the less! Thus saving me from having to plan and cook all of our meals next week. Once again I say Phew.

Now in my defense I did plan and cook at least 2 meals this week. And I shopped for and planned tonights dinner. And I found a bunch of new recipes for us to try in the next few weeks, so no one can say I'm not doing my part.

You won't be hearing from me much next week. I am in a week long class, which is going to present a whole bunch of problems.

1. Apparently you are well fed at these classes. So I am going to have to exert some serious self control. One part of my plan is to eat at home every morning and skip the pre-class continental breakfast.

2. Since I workout on my lunch break, I am not going to get too many workouts in next week. Which is a bummer since I've finally got myself back into my workout routine at work.

3. Next Saturday is the big 10K race. I am going to have to squeeze in my final runs next week in the evenings after the girls go to bed.

Knowing all these challenges were coming next week was one of my main motivators for pushing hard to have two consecutive losses.

We'll see how next week goes, but I think I may try to get three consecutive weeks of loss starting the following week, as a good run up to Thanksgiving.

I am sad to say that this weeks winner would have been Laura with her guess of 0. I'm not sad that she would have been the winner. In my mind she's always a winner. I am sad that 0 is the closest to what I lost. But like I always say. A loss is a loss.

Have a great weekend everybody.

Tony
10/03 216.4 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
8.4 lbs. to go