TAKING BACK MY BODY FROM THE FAT DUDE WHO STOLE IT

Off to Strength Training I go...

2010-02-03T23:24:00.000-05:00

Although I don't think this will be the last day of this blog, I am proud to say that I hit my weight goal tonight. On October 7th of 2009, I weighed in at 211.6. Tonight, my weight is 173.7. That is about 38 pounds. Now, I get to start nomoreweakdude.blogspot.com. It will probably consist of the same type of thing where I weigh in, but it will be important for me to document not only what I eat, but also the strength exercises I will do. This journey is far from over. The fat dude is probably pretty angry that he has ben dispatched and he has a gallon on eggnog to try to fight back, but I say good riddance to him. In fact, my chin-up bar is practically calling out to me.

Food: two blueberry muffins, apple, Asian mandarin chicken salad with pecans and grilled chicken, Diet Coke, water, coffee, and a Killians

Exercise: We lowered a rim at school and a student and I had a dunk contest. He won, but I think I surprised some of the students. I know I surprised myself. I haven't been able to jump that high for qite a while. some chin-ups and crunches

Weight: 173.7

Until tomorrow?...

Ups and Downs

2010-02-02T21:42:00.000-05:00

This weight thing is tricky. Looking at the line graph on the Wii Fit for the last four days, I have gone down, then up, down, and up a bit today. If I keep the pattern, I should go down just enough to reach my goal. that would be awesome. I won't be discouraged if I come up a bit short because I know how it works, but it would be pretty neat to reach that elusive 174.6. I am using the Jedi mind trick to will my body into doing what it knows it should. Now, where is Yoda?

Food: honey bunches of Oats, apple, slice of cheeseburger pizza, water, coffee, two homemade beef tacos with tomatoes, cheese, red peppers, onions, and barbecue sauce in the ground beef. I thought they were really good. A bit of orange. A Killians and one Twizzler.

Exercise: When it was all said and done with the iPhone pushup app, I had done 115 pushups. Chinups also happened and crunches. My dog is looking a bit chunky again so I need to get him back out walking.

Weight: Up .4

Until tomorrow...

Will Wednesday be the day?

2010-02-01T23:37:00.000-05:00

It is kind of amazing to watch the line graph go down on the Wii Fit. It also never gets old. I realize that as I become very, very, VERY close to my goal, that eventually, my body will find its ideal weight. I won't change my eating habits, but I am getting stronger. I really look forward to being strong and in a healthy weight. I don't think I have ever been both at the same time.

Food: cinnamon roll, slice of cheeseburger Five Star pizza, apple, spaghetti with salad and two crescent rolls, water, and coffee

Exercise: chinups. The kids wanted to see how many I could do with them each hanging on my legs. With Matthew hanging on, I made it halfway to the bar. I was able to finish three chinups with Lily hanging on. Brutal.

Weight: Down .7 to have me at 174.8. That is .2 from my original goal. Fun stuff.

Until tomorrow...

Playgrounds are fun

2010-01-30T22:20:00.000-05:00

Today I took my kids to the playground. They have really become little monkeys. My daughter climbed the chain ladder to the top while my son liked to stay perched on top of the monkey bars. While they did some of that, I was able to squeeze in some chinups and crunches. I ran around with them a bit and then it was time to run more errands, but I really enjoyed the playground today with my children. Besides, the weather was perfect. We live in Florida.

Food: Honey Bunches of Oat cereal, apple walnut salad from Steak n Shake with raspberry vinagrette, a piece and a half of the wonderful alfredo bacon pizza, and a salad made with chopped cabbage, Ramen noodles, nuts, and a sauce which I should know the ingredients, bottle of Molson, coffee, and water

Exercise: chinups, playground time with the kids

Weight: Up .4 to have me at 175.5

Until tomorrow...

A dollar and 3 quarters

2010-01-28T23:27:00.000-05:00

That is my weight tonight. A dollar and 3 quarters. Officially, I still have to lose .4 pounds to reach what I set for myself about 3 and a half months ago. I also had a parent come and tell me that he is gong to give me some weights, demonstrate the proper form for lifting those weights, and a chart to remind me of the exercises. I am excited about the weights, but I love my new chin-up bar. It's a lot of fun.

Food: blueberry muffin, fettuccine noodles with the Thai peanut butter sauce and vegetables, alfredo chicken pizza with bacon, a couple of mints.vvI also had carrots and a good portion of pomegranate seeds. Also drank the normal coffee and water.

Exercise: lots of chin-ups

Weight: down .9

Until tomorrow...

Everything in perspective

2010-01-27T22:10:00.000-05:00

Today I visited one of the students of Trinity in the hospital. He had told me at lunch that his arm and left side of his face were numb. His mother came and took him to the hospital close to the school. A few hours later, he was taken to Arnold Palmer up in Orlando. The doctors are performing two MRIs to see what could have happened. When I visited the student, he was in good spirits and his numbness was gone. He still had a headache and was hooked to IVs and other wires, but his family was around him and he felt good. During these months of weight loss, I often lost sight of how there are so many out there who struggle with so many things that are so much bigger than pounds. I pray for the people of Haiti, and I pray for all of the students of Trinity, especially those who are going through difficult times with health, family, or finances.

Food: maple and brown sugar oatmeal, pasta with alfredo sauce and vegetables, strawberry shortcake, water, coffee, and a Yuengling

Exercise: I am moving up in my chin-up count. Tomorrow is the pushup-crunch day. Maybe even a walk for my dog, but Kool is not holding his breath.

Weight: Down 3.3 . That seems like a lot and I will likely gain a bit tomorrow, but that gets me within 1.3 pounds of my goal. I can probably lose 1.3 pounds in a week. My weight tonight is 175.9.

Until tomorrow...

At least my mom reads my blog

2010-01-26T22:03:00.000-05:00

My mom wrote on my Facebook wall today. She encouraged me to keep up with the blog. Thanks Mom! Anyway, yesterday's weigh-in was down .7 and today was another good day of weight loss. It will be interesting to see how things come out tomorrow for the Official Weigh-In Wednesday. Since last week wasn't especially newsworthy, I am hoping that my path on the straight and narrow this week will help me get back in line. Besides, Valentine's Day is closing in fast, and that is when I wanted to be at my target weight.

Food: two cranberry muffins, granola bar, fettuccine, turkey, and mixed vegetables in this really good sauce made with peanut butter, soy sauce, crushed red pepper, and Catalina Dressing (I substituted French). I also had one more of those cranberry muffins and a Yuengling.

Exercise: Played a little basketball at school and some chin-ups

Weight: Down .4

Until tomorrow...

Science Fair Success

2010-01-21T22:20:00.000-05:00

Today, Trinity Lutheran had a very successful Science Fair. One of our new teachers asked to make it a reality at the beginning of the year, and she made it happen. There were a lot of neat projects, and I was very impressed with the students' hard work. I served as a judge at the Science Fair. I think I made the students nervous. I am very proud of the whole event, the students, and the teachers.

Food: granola bar, piece of pepperoni pizza, rice soup with extra turkey, bowl of Cinnamon Life, and some butterscotch chips.

Exercise:

Weight: Up .7. Normal fluctuations will happen so tomorrow I should see my weight dip

Until tomorrow...

The Stubborn Five

2010-01-20T21:18:00.001-05:00

I am glad I am back on my game. I didn't really exercise today, but I did eat right (for the most part). I have come to the part of my weight loss that many people talk about; the last five pounds. It seems as if I have mentioned before that I am four away from my weight goal, or that I have six to go, and so forth. Wii Fit told me that I have 5.1 pounds to go. I would really love to be rid of those pounds by Valentine's Day. When Valentine's Day hits, I will chronicle my holiday weight goals and see how I did. That should be a lot of fun.

Food: granola bar, peanut butter and honey sandwich, carrot sticks, three slices of Pepperoni pizza (it seemed really good tonight), a few butterscotch chips, and two licorice sticks. I am not sure why I had the impluse to eat another piece of pizza and the sweet stuff. I did use the right word though; impulse. I am pretty sure I wasn't starving.

Exercise: It would probably go faster if I got more on the stick with this aspect.

Weight: 179.7. Down 2.6.

Until tomorrow...

Failed experiment

2010-01-19T20:19:00.000-05:00

I tried a little something different this week. I thought that I had the system down and that I would just weigh myself on Wednesdays. Big mistake. It is amazing what a daily dose of accountability will give you. THis was the first Official Weigh in Wednesday that I didn't lose weight. In fact, it jumped. A LOT! I know what I need to do and it is so easy. I got lazy. There is no getting around the fact that I veered off my plan and it cost me. Now I will spend the next week getting rid of the weight that I had just lost. That is aggravating, but the work is worth fitting into my size 32 jeans and medium shirts.

Food: Cinnamon Life, peanut butter and honey sandwich, apple, more Ciinamon Life, turkey manhattan with bread, mashed potatoes, turkey, and gravy. I drank my coffee and water and had little snacks here and there. Danger Will Robinson!

Exercise: My daughter was sick today and I didn't get up early enough to walk before my wife left.

Weight: Up 3.6. That number is correct. I almost swallowed my tongue, but my new clothes still fit and I will stick to my original plan of weighing and blogging EVERY day.

Until tomorrow...for sure...

Making it tough on myself

2010-01-15T22:10:00.000-05:00

Tonight was movie night with the kids. We popped popcorn, hoped that Nicolas Cage would find the National Treasure again, and even ate ice cream. I say I made it hard on myself because I ate a bit more than usual and even snacked yesterday. It is sometimes easy to get lulled into a false sense of security and to get lazy when you are close to your goal. I will get down to it and when you see my weight jump, you will understand the name of my title.

Food: granola bar, slice of cheese pizza, green beans, Starbucks Java Frapuccino ice cream, popcorn, grilled salmon, scalloped potatoes, salad with Asian dressing, a bit of wine, and now that I think of it, a LOT of water. Maybe with a good set of aerobics during the next few days, I can make it that I lose weight this week. We will call today a fluke.

Exercise: More chinups

Weight: Up 3.1. Not a typo. Last week, I went down 2.5 and found it all again in one day. I'm not worried, but I do need to get on the ball.

Until tomorrow...

My wife's birthday

2010-01-13T22:02:00.000-05:00

Today is my wife's birthday. The kids and I cooked waffles this morning, I bought lunch, and we ate at Chili's for dinner. We even had a little chocolate cake with java frapuccino ice cream. Today is official Weigh-in Wednesday, and the results please me. I really do think I can make my goal by the end of the month. I just cannot think of the last time that I was even close to 180, much less 175. I will keep at it. Besides, I like wearing medum shirts and size 32 jeans.

Food: waffle, banana, honey mustard salmon, vegetables, rice, Newcastle, Sam Adams, couple dinky pieces of cheese pizza (son's) and a bite of grilled chicken (daughter's). I then had a slice of chocolate cake with chocolate icing and the aforementioned ice cream.

Exercise: lot of pushups and chinups. I need some aerobic activity

Weight: Up .2 but down 2.4 for the week. My weight today is 178.8.

Until tomorrow...

Weigh-In Looming

2010-01-12T21:25:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow is the Official weigh-in Wednesday. I wonder how many of those I will have until I finally reach my goal.

Food: homemade granola bar, Spaghetti-Os with hot dogs, a few crackers with peanut butter, another granola bar, Southwestern salad made with lettuce, cheese, black beans, corn, salsa, blue cheese dressing, and tortilla chips

Exercise: more chinups

Weight: Down .2

Until tomorrow...

Still cold in Florida

2010-01-11T23:12:00.000-05:00

The last two weeks have been unseasonably cold for us Southerners. It is supposed to be in the 70s by Friday, but w e are not used to the 30 degree weather we have been treated to so far this new year. It will be a welcome relief when the warmenr weather decides to come back. The cold weather has also been an easy excuse to stay in the warm covers and not walk my dog in the morning. I really just need to say "no snooze" on my way to sleep tonight and maybe I will get up when I need to walk my dog.

Food: apple caramel pecan crunch cereal, piece of cheese pizza, small orange, pasta mixed with a lot of vegetables and alfredo sauce, popcorn with some olive oil

Exercise: some chinups

Weight: Down 1.3

Until tomorrow...

Yes, I did have licorice

2010-01-08T21:36:00.000-05:00

Tonight was weird when it comes to my diet. I missed breakfast which is rare, and then I had a wonderful lunch of salad and a small piece of cheese pizza. Then, the wheels fell off. My staff went to Garibaldi's which is a nice Mexican restaurant. It started with the obligatory tortilla chips which seem to magically reappear, and then Dos Equis was two for one. Then I "had" to get a small beef enchilada and eat two jalapeno poppers. That probably would have been more than enough, but when I got home, I had to eat some popcorn with the family during a movie, and I had a serving of Red Vines. Whew! I need a walk, some pushups, crunches, and some chinups, but it's cold, I'm tired, and all of that can wait until tomorrow when I eat right. I'm allowed a day off but it's still way too close to Christmas to be this loose in my eating. Hmmm. Anyway, it was a fun time at Garibaldi's.

Food: all of the above

Exercise: My dog looks kind of sad

Weight: Static

Until tomorrow...

Official Weigh-In Wednesday

2010-01-06T22:12:00.000-05:00

I think I am back in the groove...kind of. I am eating right, doing a lot of chinups, pushups, and crunches, but the bed was entirely too warm this cold morning to go for a walk. It's supposed to be just as cold morning, but I'll see if I can pull myself from the comfortable sheets and blankets. If I keep after this, I can be pretty close to my weight goal by the end of this month. Fun stuff.

Food: apple pecan caramel crunch cereal like yesterday, leftovers from last night (pasta with shrimp and vegetables), and tonight's dinner was chicken over rice with a sauce that had brown sugar, soy sauce, carrots, green and red peppers, and pineapple. It was tasty.

Exercise: abovementioned pushups, chinups, and crunches

Weight: Up .7. This has me currently at 181.2. I have "officially" lost 30.4 pounds. I expect to be under 180 by next week and in two to three weeks, be at my projected goal. We'll see what happens after that.

Until tomorrow...

Almost back in the saddle

2010-01-05T21:37:00.000-05:00

I haven't quite gotten back into the rhythm yet. Exhibit A being that I did not write a post yesterday. I thought about it, but that is as far as I got. Tonight I actually had follow through. I should have been more motivated to write last night. I went down 1.5. Since it is Official Weigh-In Wednesday tomorrow, it should be rather interesting. Today was another good day of eating well and making good choices. The Wii Fit told me I have 6 more pounds to lose in order to make my goal. That's pretty exciting. I wonder though sometimes if my goal should be around 171 instead of 176, but that is me getting caught up in the numbers game. I know that if I continue to eat right and exercise, my body will find the right weight.

Food: I tried this new apple caramel crunch cereal from Post Selects this morning. Then I had another piece of cheese pizza from Five Star and then tonight, my wife and I made a dish that consisted of shrimp, Italian dressing, onions, mushrooms, and artichokes over fettucine. It was great and I am looking forward to having it for lunch tomorrow.

Exercise: Reps on my chin up bar and yesterday I walked the dog and did the 100 pushups app, but no walk today for my dog. Tomorrow, no problem.

Weight: Down 2. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Until tomorrow...

New Year, still plenty of work to be done

2010-01-03T20:20:00.000-05:00

I just arrived back in to Florida this afternoon. I had spent the last week in Minnesota, and it thanked me by lowering the temperature to 21 below zero this morning on my way to the airport. Christmas and New Years was fun in all ways. I didn't exercise a whole lot and I had some sugar cream pie and fruitcake. That being said, I am back and I plan on meeting my weight goal by the end of the month. It is going to take some serious commitment, but I am willing.

Food: oat and peanut butter fiber bar, BK Veggie burger, apple fries, Five Star Pizza's buffalo chicken roll and a slice of cheese and a slice of pepperoni. I also had coffee and although some water, not quite enough.

Exercise: 100 pushup drill (new iPhone app), reps on my new pull-up/chin-up bar. I will take my dog for a walk tomorrow. We had a dogsitter for the last week.

Weight: Up 3.3 to have me at 184. Keep in mind that my weight goal is 174.6. About nine pounds in about three and a half weeks. Time to start sweating!

Until tomorrow...

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve?!?

2009-12-23T22:13:00.000-05:00

It is hard to believe that it will be Christmas Eve tomorrow. It also seems like a long time ago that I started this blog. The blog number tells me different. Today is blog #71. Since I have missed either two or three days, I haven't even hit the three month mark yet. Time flies when you're having fun, right? And we are having fun.

Speaking of fun, if you read this and don't comment (no one ever does), be sure to check out http://www.despair.com/. It is one of my favorite places to check out. I especially love the eagle poster with the caption :Leadership. The saying under the caption is awesome. I'll let you check it out yourself. Have fun.

Food: Oatmeal Squares cereal, two big slices of cheese pizza courtesy of Five Star, a Yuengling beer, and then another large slice of pizza on my way out the door for a few errands.

Exercise: Running errands?

Weight: Down 1.5 to have me at a total weight loss of 3.3 pounds for the week and a combined weight loss of 33pouds so far after 10 weeks. My current weight is 178.6.

Until tomorrow...

Cold Snap

2009-12-22T22:05:00.000-05:00

This morning, I had to wear a hooded sweatshirt (hood up), a jean jacket (buttoned) and gloves along with the normal workout attire when I walked the dog. It was cold (relatively). My dad would probably disagree since it was about 40 degrees this morning in Florida and he called a little while ago to tell me how his thermometer read eleven below on his back porch in Minnesota. There are degrees of cold and those extra degrees are big reasons why I live in Florida. I am all for a winter wonderland and a white Christmas, but I prefer to watch it from inside the house under a very large blanket drinking a huge amount of coffee.

It is still hard to believe that Christmas is in three days.

I still have not had an eggnog shake from McDonalds this season. That makes me feel a bit grinchy. :)

Food: good amount of dried fruit, two spanakopita that my wife made, and the killarney chopped salad from Beef O' Brady's with grilled chicken, blue cheese, honey mustard, and various other good stuff. I also had my normal water with a little more coffee than normal.

Exercise: walked the dog this morning

Weight: Up .4.

Official Weigh-In Wednesday tomorrow.

Until tomorrow...

Am I really in the 170s?

2009-12-21T21:53:00.000-05:00

Today, it was a ghost town at my school. The office staff was all there, but that is it. No students and only teachers in and out quickly to pick up various items. This allowed me to get a lot done that I needed to concentrate on in my office. It is amazing how you can just tackle a task when you're not getting interrupted with an emergency or issue. I have mre to do tomorrow, and I am confident that I will be productive again.

And then, I am taking off Wednesday and will be off for Christmas vacation. Is it really Christmas on Friday?

Food: Not hungry today. Not sure why. I had an apple and a Southwestern grilled chicken salad from McDonalds'.

Exercise: Actually took the dog for a walk today.

Weight: Down .4 to hit 179.7.

Until tomorrow...

I need an app for my blog

2009-12-20T21:15:00.000-05:00

Last weekend, my wife and I joined the rest of America and bought iPhones for each of us. It's fun to download the free apps and even check my e-mail and facebook accounts on the move. I can even check to see what's on woot and my kids can open a present on the advent calendar app each morning.

I was thinking it would be neat to have an app for my blog or the Wii Fit. The Wii Fit could beam my weight information to the blog and kind of attach itself to whatever I post. I could even post to my blog if I was unable to get to a computer.

I say this because I won't have a Wii Fit when I go to Minnesota next Monday. I won't have it for about six days. This will be a grand experiment. I will go a week without weighing myself daily. Should be fun. Speaking of fun, the Vikings are playing right now. Better go.

Food: Quaker Oats cereal, and then coffee and water, and three pizza slices spaced throughout the day.

Exercise: I actually walked my daughter to Walgreen's which was a very good walk.

Weight: Down 2.7 which pushes me past 30. Fun stuff.

Until tomorrow...

Uff Da

2009-12-19T23:17:00.000-05:00

Last night, I went to another Christmas party. There were loud card games, interesting Karaoke performances, funny conversations, and plenty to eat and drink. I also let myself have a free pass at the party. If I wanted to try something, I ate it. If I liked it, I had a little extra. I don't think I went overboard, but it was definitely more than I am used to eating. It tasted really good and in the long run, it didn't derail me and I am still fine. I do need to quit being lazy in the morning and take my poor dog for a walk.

Here's to fun Christmas parties!

Food today: bowl of Rice Cex, peant butter and honey sandwich, assorted dried fruit, two pieces of roast, some mashed potatoes, and brocooli salad with raisins, sunflower seeds, and some kind of dressing. I also had my normal coffee and water.

Exercise: I am off my game here, no doubt.

Weight: Up 1.1 which is kind of funny because I mentioned to my wife yesterday that after every Wednesday my weight seems to go up. Hmm.

Until tomorrow...

7.1 to go

2009-12-17T22:45:00.000-05:00

That's what the Wii Fit told me tonight. It said I have only 7.1 more pounds to lose until I reach my goal. That doesn't sound so bad. It is only one of my goals. Once I reach the weight loss goal, I then start to build muscle. I've never really done that, so I am very excited to get started. Hopefully, I will be able to reach my weight loss goal by early to mid January and then I can get cracking on actually seeing my muscles rather than knowing I occasionally use them.

Tomorrow is the last for students and teachers before the Christmas break. It is what I like to call, "The day where teachers might have plans to do some teaching, but the children's minds are nowhere near the school."

Should be fun.

Food: Quaker Oatmeal squares cereal, slice of cheese pizza from last night, bowl of corn, piece of fried chicken, raspberries, pineapple, coffee, and water

Exercise: My poor dog must think I hate him

Weight: Down .2

Until tomorrow...

I can taste 30

2009-12-16T22:46:00.001-05:00

So very close tonight. I will write all about it in the weight section.

Tonight I am going to talk about my great kids. During the last two nights, my son and daughter sang their hearts out at our school's Christmas programs. They were simply wonderful. Not only was everybody decked out in the red dresses and ties, but there was such a feeling of happiness and more importantly, hope.

If this season should teach us anything, it should be hope in the future. If your kids are as great as mine, I have great hope for the future.

That's right, my kids are great!

Food: skipped breakfast, turkey on a jumbo bun sandwich, orange wedges, coffee, water, very large slice of cheese pizza, and a buffalo chicken roll

Exercise: We all accidentally slept in until about 6:45 which made for a hectic morning and no walk for the dog.

Weight: I was down another 2.4 pounds this week which for the entire time I have been writing this blog, I have lost 29.7 pounds. So close to 30. I am excited for the next Official Weigh-In Wednesday to see if can surpass the 30 mark. I started at 211.6. My current weight is 181.9.

Until tomorrow...

Busy Nights This Week

2009-12-15T22:31:00.000-05:00

Last night, I really was unable to weigh myself and get on the blog. My friend who owns Five Star Pizza called me up and wanted to know if I could fix his caller ID system that had crashed. I said I would and six hours later, it finally worked at the stroke of midnight.

Tonight, the Pre-K through fourth grade students had their Christmas program. The 5th through 8th grade students have their concert tomorrow night, and then I have Church Council on Thursday.

The Christmas programs are one of the highlights of my school year. That being said, I will try to be more consistent like Jim Collins wants me to. Better yet, Yoda said, "Do or do not. There is no try."

Food: bull's eye, a vendor said she would bring lunch and didn't so I had to scrounge. Ended up with a gingerbread cookie, a piece of fudge, another little cookie, and finally tonight, the same salad with honey mustard and blue cheese that I always get from Beef O'Brady's. I alo had water and coffee.

Exercise: Due to being up really late last night, I didn't get up to walk the dog and I have been going nonstop today. Other words; nope.

Weight: Down .4 to put me at minus 1.1 so far this week with Official Weight-In Wednesday tomorrow.

Until tomorrow...

Jim Collins would not be happy

2009-12-13T22:32:00.000-05:00

I have a sign on the wall in my office that says, "The signature of mediocrity is chronic inconsistency." THis was said by Jim Collins who wrote the book, Good to Great. It basicallt says that if you want to do something excellently, you have to keep at it relentlessly and consistently. That being said, I have missed two days out of four writing in this blog and getting on the Wii Fit. I can't rest on my laurels and get lazy. I am too close to my weight loss goal and besides, there is so much more work to do once I hit the weight loss goal. Then I can start building muscle mass. It will be fun.

Speaking of fun, my wife and I got iPhones today. I need an app for my blog. :)

Food: Wheat thins for breakfast (in a hurry), spagheeti squash with turkey sausage and tomato sauce, coffee, water, two bowls of Quaker Oatmeal Squares cereal, and one little Red Vine

Exercise: cut the grass and yesterday I walked in the Kissimmee Parade of Lights (our driver went a little quick and us walkers ended up speed walking during the float)

Weight: Down 2.9 to have me at 183.6. Again, we wait for Wednesday.

Until tomorrow...

I wore 32 waist jeans tonight

2009-12-12T00:44:00.000-05:00

After nine weeks, I was able to wear my size 32 jeans to my staff Christmas party tonight. It felt great. Since though it is almost 1 in the morning, I am just going to record my eating and weight tonight. It's really late and I am really tired.

Food: biscuit, two sausage lins, slice of cheese pizza, corn, a lot of really good ham, a bean salad, and some frsh fruit. I also has water and coffee.

Weight. Up 2.2 which I attribute to really late eating and my normal fluctuation. We'll see tomorrow.

Until tomorrow...

I love the Muppet Christmas Carol

2009-12-09T21:07:00.000-05:00

Tonight, I watched the Muppet Christmas Carol. I really do like the movie a lot. One of my favorite parts is when Tiny Tim played by Kermit's nephew, Robin, sings "Bless Us All."

Here are the lyrics:

Robin: Life is full of sweet surprises, every day's a gift
The sun comes up and I can feel it lift my sprit
It fills me up with laughter, it fills me up with song
I look into the eyes of love and know that I belong
Bless us all, who gather here
Piggy: The loving family I hold dear
Kermit: No place on Earth, compares with home
And every path will bring me back from where I roam

All: Bless us all, that as we live
We always comfort and forgive
We have so much that we can share

Robin: With those in need we see around us everywhere
RobPig: Let us always love each other
Robin: Lead us toward the light
RobPig: Let us hear the voice of reason
Robin: Singing in the night

Kermit: Let us run from anger
Piggy: And catch when we fall
Robin: Teach us in our dreams and please, yes, please
All: Bless us one and all

Robin: Bless us all with playful years
With noisy games and joyous tears
All: We reach for you, and we stand tall
Kermit: And in our prayers and dreams we ask you bless us all
Robin: We reach for you, and we stand tall
And in our prayers and dreams we ask you bless us all

Wouldn't life be great if we counted our blessings regularly and realized how blessed we are? God is good.

Food: Grape nuts with vanilla yogurt, forgot lunch, two and a half good sized pieces of Five Star's cheese pizza, a buffalo chicken roll, coffee, water, and four little Red Vines

Exercise: I had to chase after my dog after he decided to roam aroun a bit

Weight (Official Weigh-in Wednesday): Down 2.2 which has me at a weight loss of 2.4 this week. Total pounds so far after 9 weeks is 27.3.

Until tomorrow...

The Christmas shows are rollin'

2009-12-08T22:38:00.000-05:00

This evening, I watched Mickey's Christmas Carol with the kids. So far, we have watched Rudolph, the Grinch, Charlie Brown, The Santa Clause, and A Christmas Story with Ralphie. I know we've watched other programs, but I can't recall them right now. Watching these movies are great traditions. Only a matter of time until it's time for Ernest Saves Christmas.

Hopefully, I will start a tradition of being in shape and next year, I can eep the tradition by staying in shape.

Food: Grape Nuts with vanilla yogurt, Italian sausage, Cheez-Its, salad from Beef O'Brady's with bleu cheese, honey mustard dressing, coffee, and lots of water

Exercise: walked to Beef O'Brady's with the family

Weight: Static

Official weigh-in tomorrow

Until tomorrow...

Physics is complicated

2009-12-07T22:02:00.001-05:00

Tonight on The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon tries to teach physics to Penny. He attempts to go over 2,600 years worth of information and Penny just struggles with it.

I can actually compare this with my weight loss journey. Before I started on my trip, I didn't really know exactly what it would take to make me consistent. I had consistently struggled with yo-yo dieting and I could never make the weight loss stick. Hopefully now through this Wii Fit and blogging thing, I know what I need to do. Eat right and exercise.

Besides, I didn't understand much of anything Sheldon said on the show tonight.

Food: Grape nuts, ham sandwich, apple, Red Lobster cheddar bay biscuit, shrimp chef salad with honey mustard dressing, coffee, tons and tons of water

Exercise: Tomorrow for sure

Weight: Up 1.1

Until tomorrow...

Up and Down the Scale

2009-12-06T20:31:00.000-05:00

Yesterday for some reason, I didn't make it to the blog. I just feel asleep and didn't get to it. I made it to the Wii Fit and it told me I had gone up .2, but then I didn't write about it. Today was the biggest one day weight drop in the past 8 weeks. I didn't eat differently. In face, I thought I had eaten a bit more. Once again, I will be interested to see the results on Wednesday.

Time to go watch the Vikings-Cardinals game

Food: grape nuts, peanut butter and honey sandwich, pineapple, Wheat Thins, some Triscuits, one of my daughter's california rolls, four little Red Vines, coffee, some water, another bowl of grape nuts with some egg nog

Exercise: I wasn't feeling on my A game so I didn't do much of anything in the way of exercise today

Weight: Down 3.1

Interesting

Until tomorrow...

The beard is gone

2009-12-04T21:07:00.000-05:00

Today, I went to see the dermatologist. He said we're going to keep up the status quo to let the cream run its course. Since he wants to see how the cream really works, he said I should shave my beard. He also suggested buying a Braun shaver as it is much more genlte on your face. I am going to give it a shot and see what happens. I don't know if I look younger, but it is weird to see my face again.

Food: Grape Nuts, couple pieces of pizza, big Target soft pretzel, some big ravioli, bread, Diet Coke, not much water, and two little Red vines

Exercise: poured rain all day and I didn't do Wii Fit

Weight: After seeing my day of no exercise and tons of carbs, it's no surprise I went up .6. Time to go down tomorrow.

Until tomorrow...

Skin can take a while to heal

2009-12-03T20:26:00.001-05:00

During this journey of two months now, I have also been dealing with a reoccurence of a skin disorder I have had since middle school. It is called Dariers Disease and is characterized by scaly red skin that can pus. Not only does it not look really good, but it is actually quite painful. I have had it for a long time, but the severity of the latest episode caught me by surprise. It went after the front of my neck and my chest, making it almost unbearable to turn my head. In other words, pretty brutal, but I shouldn't complain. I have so many other blessings. All that being said, I have a return trip to the dermatologist tomorrow to show him the progress of the medication. It's been slow, but I have seen some progress. I will be interested to hear his take.

At least the rash gave me an excuse to grow my beard.

Food: Rice Krispies, peanut butter and honey sandwich, apple, a dish made with rice, spaghetti sauce, and ham, a good helping of peas, and some garlic bread. I also had plenty of water and a travel mug of coffee. I even snuck a couple handfuls of pretzels at about 8:00 which broke my rule of no eating after 7:00 p.m.

Exercise: walked the dog in the morning and then took a walk with the family this evening

Weight: Up .9 which seems to be status quo

Until tomorrow...

Weigh-In Wednesday Wishes

2009-12-02T20:52:00.001-05:00

Today, during our school's chapel service, the Pastor was talking about the wish books that he used to look at such as the J.C. Penney's catalog or the Sears and Roebuck book. I remember those as well. I loved looking at the "new" G.I. Joe toys that were coming out at Christmas. He then brought out different newspaper ads which got the students excited. Especially when the Toys R Us ad was mentioned.

He then contrasted the wish book with the Bible, which he called the promise book.

During this Advent time as we prepare for the birth of Jesus, it is great to know that God keeps His promises.

Speaking of wishes, I wish that eggnog didn't have a gazillion calories because I could drink a gazillion glasses.

Food: Rice Krispies with pomegranate seeds, ham and mustard sandwich, apple, water, coffee (Dunkin Donuts blend), chicken, rice, and bean burrito, frozen raspberries, and corn

Exercise: walked the dog

Weight: Down .7 to have this week's weight loss at two pounds. The grand total after eight weeks is 24.9 pounds which is approximately three pounds a week.

I know I have been changing the template of this blog around lately. I do it because it's fun.

Until tomorrow...

Sleeveless in December

2009-12-01T21:22:00.001-05:00

Today while we were driving home from work, my wife made the comment,"It's the beginning of December, and I am not wearing sleeves." That's my best paraphrase, but the idea is that for us Hoosiers growing up in Indiana winters, it is extremely weird to know that students will be wearing shorts and polo shirts to school tomorrow here in Kissimmee, Florida. I will admit that my blood has gotten a bit thin since moving south, but I also don't have to warm up my car forty-five minutes before going anywhere. I know, that was an exaggeration. I meant to say forty minutes.

This all lends itself nicely to a bit of a paradigm change. Christmas lights on palm trees? I'm dreaming of a Green Christmas?

I had to go through another paradigm shift with my weight, eating habits, and exercise. I used to be extremely streaky. I would work out for four days straight, eat great, and then blow it all immediately by falling into old habits. I have had to create new habits. 5:00 isn't so bad when you're prepared. I honestly don't miss the ice cream, especially since I have found it is okay to have some now and again. I have stepped into the "staying the course" mentality. It would be foolish to stop now and think things will continue to go well.

My paradigms have changed. Change is good.

Food: Rice chex with pomegranate seeds, peanut butter and honey sandwich, apple, water, coffee, a great salad from Beef O'Brady's that had honey mustard dressing, bleu cheese, bacon, and other ingredients I can't remember. I ate every bite.

Exercise: walked the dog and walked around Wal-Mart with my daughter

Weight: Up .9 which is not surprising since I dropped 2.6 yesterday.

Until tomorrow...

I shouldn't skip lunch...ever

2009-11-30T22:14:00.000-05:00

Today for breakfast, my wife fixed creme brulee french toast with egg nog and other assorted mouth watering tastes. It tasted as good as it sounds. I ate my two pieces and then I finished up my daughter's piece. This kept me reasonably hunger free all morning. As usual, I conducted lunch duty and before I knew it, I had skipped lunch. By the time dinner came around, I was really hungry...and we ordered Five Star Pizza. We picked up a large cheese pizza and if you have read my blog with any kind of consistency, you know we also picked up buffalo chicken rolls. I ended up eating two and a half slices of pizza and a roll and a half.

I already packed a lunch for tomorrow with a PB and J and an apple. I also think I need to get some vegetables.

Food: creme brulee french toast made with egg nog and other sucrose heavy ingredients, two and a half slices of Five Star cheese pizza, one a half buffalo chicken rolls, mug of coffee, and a lot of water. I also a had a bottle of beer with the pizza.

Exercise: walked the dog (We went a little quicker this morning.)

Weight: Down 2.6. This is really strange. I am not too sure what to make of it, but we'll see what it reads on Wednesday.)

Until tomorrow...

Tomorrow is a school day?

2009-11-29T21:34:00.000-05:00

School has not been in session for nine days. For some reason, the public school district gives the teachers and students a full week off for Thanksgiving. To follow suit and to stay consistent with them, I elected to do the same for our parochial school. It is hard to believe that the students will be coming back to school with a Spring Break worth of off-scheduledness (Is that a word?) and be expected to learn. Good thing we have great teachers at our school.

Tomorrow will also mean that I'll get back on my schedule. I have found it is nice to get in a routine, even if that routine has me up at 5 a.m. It's all worth it.

Food: Rice Chex with pomegranate seeds, ham, lima beans, pineapple, more pomegranate seeds, crescent roll, coffee, water, more ham, turkey, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole

Exercise: I watched the Vikings beat the Bears while lying on my bed

Weight: Static

Until tomorrow...

The leg lamp is back!

2009-11-28T21:53:00.002-05:00

Today, my family and I hung garland, put up the trees, lights, and ornaments and basically decked out our house for the festive season that is now upon us. One of the decorations we have is a leg lamp which was designed from the movie "A Christmas Story." The leg lamp is a "major prize" and just a really fun part of the movie. My wife always tells me how hideous it is, but yet, she continually lets me display it. I think she actually loves it, but then again, who couldn't?

This is another month where it is easy for food to take over. There are so many goodies (egg nog!) and it would be so easy to fall off the wagon. That is not going to happen and frankly, I would love to lose six more pounds by Christmas. That would have me at 183. I can do it!

Food: rice Chex cereal, three small pieces of Five Star's cheese pizza, some pineapple and pomegranate seed as I was preparing them, Chiptle BBQ snack wrap with crunchy chicken and a honey mustard grilled chicken snack wrap, both from McDonald's, a lot of water and no coffee. I think this is the second straight day without coffee. On cue, a tiny headache reared its head as I am typing this sentence.

Exercise: walked a bit with the family and decorated a lot

Weight: Down .4

Until tomorrow...

Pumpkin pie and eggnog

2009-11-27T22:25:00.001-05:00

Today as a treat, I had a piece of pumpkin pie and a half cup of eggnog. I also made sure I had some turkey, cranberry relish, some meatballs, and other assorted food from yesterday. I didn't overdo anything, but the pie and nog were particularly gratifying. It could be that I enjoy consuming both of them so much and that I couldn't have alot, but every drink and bite of those two was perfect. I obviously can't have those every day and even eat like I did today, but I am going to have a half cup of eggnog for breakfast.

I may have to stop after that.

Food: ham and turkey for breakfast, some meatballs, green beans, cranberry relish, and that meat and fruit stuffing from yesterday, the pumpkin pie and eggnog, and some small pieces of supreme pizza for dinner. I also didn't have coffee today, but I forgot to put in last night that I had some coffee at night. I also think I omitted meatballs last night, and I had at least six.

Exercise: cleaned the garage, cut the grass

Weight: Down .2

Until tomorrow...

Thanksgiving food is really good

2009-11-26T22:48:00.001-05:00

Today I ate well. I ate a good sized plate and actually had a piece of sugar cream pie. I didn't go crazy, but I did consume more calories than I have for a while. It was nice to visit our friends today and they were nice enough to let us crash their family party. All in all, it was a great day, and I have much to be thankful for in my life. I have a great wife, terrific kids, a job that keeps me on my toes, and improving health due to this blog and other decisions.

Food: bull's eye, which is a piece of toast with an egg in the middle. And now for the feast: lots of pineapple, lots of celery, a few corn chips to try the homemade dip with avocado, onion, lime juice, and pomegranate, turkey, ham, green bean cassserole, stuffing made of meat and fruit, yams with a cinnamon/sugar crust, cranberry relish, a piece of sugar cream pie, coffee, and not nearly enough water. I think I am forgetting one more piece of food, but I really can't recall.

Exercise: My dog is about to start picketing my alarm clock

Weight: Up 1.1 but that is normal on non-holiday dates, so I will keep up the good fight for Official Weigh-In Wednesday.

Until tomorrow...

First place in softball

2009-11-25T23:51:00.000-05:00

Tonight, my church's softball team played in a first place playoff game. the opposing team scored two quick runs, and I thought we would have a fight on our hands. Eventually, we settled down and ended up winning 25 to 10. We will all get a t-shirt commemorating our victorious season. Next Friday, I will hopefully blog about us winning the tournament. It is a single elimination playoff between the top four teams in the league.

Today was a good day, except for the part where I didn't walk my dog this morning. I exercised, but I need my dog to exercise as well.

Food: Oatmeal squares cereal, empanada, bean burrito, salad with low-fat Asian dressing, jalapeno peppers, nacho chips with some kind of really good dip my wife made, some assorted pieces of cheese pizza, coffee, and not as much water as I needed, but I had some

Exercise: The aforementioned softball game

Weight: Down 1.1 to put the week's total weight loss at 2.2 and the last 7 weeks' total weight loss at 22.8.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and I have been told that I need to loosen up my eating a bit. We'll see.

Until tomorrow...

Elf, Twilight, and Batman

2009-11-24T21:28:00.000-05:00

Tonight, three different genres entered our house. I traded an old DVD for the movie Elf, my wife rented Twilight from Redbox and is rereading the book, and my son traded for an older Batman Nintendo game. Then there is my daughter who loves everything pink and glittery. We have such an eclectic household and everyone likes completely different things.

Body types are pretty much all different as well. Suffice it to say, I am the one in the house who struggles the most with the day in/day out weight thing. I need to exercise, watch what I eat, and make sure I constantly keep my eye on the prize. Little by little it's coming off, but there are times when I look at Batman, Buddy from Elf, and Edward from Twilight and wonder if they ever had to worry about their weight.

I know my wife wouldn't mind me having the physique of Jacob from New Moon.

Food: Oatmeal Squares cereal, vegetable soup, coffee, water, taco salad with nacho chips, cheese, meat, reduced sour cream, hot sauce, lettuce, and half of a bottle of beer

Exercise: I can't complain if I don't exercise...Nothing really aerobic for any stretch of time

Weight: Down 2 pounds

Tomorrow is Official Weigh-In Wednesday. Should be interesting.

Until tomorrow...

Two more days until official weigh-in and I'm up .9

2009-11-23T21:28:00.000-05:00

This is weird. I am pretty sure it has something to do with the Prednisone I'm on, but I walked the dog and worked out on the Wii Fit and I'm up a pound. I was fairly active, ate right, and did not fall off the wagon and I'm up a pound. Could have something to do with going to Beef O' Brady's last night as well. I will be interested to see what happens on Wednesday. Good thing I have a softball game.

Food: Oatmeal Squares cereal, couple of rolls with ham and turkey, broccoli and carrots, bratwurst in bun, salad with low-fat dressing, coffee, water, and a Wernergruner beer.

Exercise: walked the dog and Wii Fit exercises

Weight: Up 1.1 (Urgh)

Until tomorrow...

Time to up the exercise ante

2009-11-22T21:35:00.000-05:00

I think I have hit a plateau and it is weird. I know I still have at least 15 pounds to go and it's not coming off by just eating right. I need to add more exercise to the daily walk with the dog. I still seem to get a little bit of exercise each day but it's pretty meager. Time to air up the bike and get crankin'.

Or it could be the prednisone I'm on for the next two weeks, but I am determined for there to be no excuses.

I would love to be at 185 or lower by Christmas. That would be great and then I have a month and a half to drop the last ten.

Food: Oatmeal Squares cereal, philly cheesesteak from Beef O' Brady's, pineapple cole slaw, vegetable soup and two biscuits, coffee, and water

Exercise: My poor dog did not get walked this morning

Weight: Static

Until tomorrow...

A full day

2009-11-21T22:21:00.000-05:00

Today was nice, relaxing, and fun. This morning, my family went over to one of our friends' community garage sale. Then, we went up to Orlando where my wife and sister-in-law went to see New Moon while I swam with the kids. Later, we ate sushi and Cold Stone Creamery. All in all, very nice.

My brother said it best on one of his facebook status updates:
A weekend ahead with no plans...there used to be a time when I thought that was lame...now I can't believe my good fortune.

There is always something, but it is sometimes nice for that something to be relatively unplanned.

Food: Oatmeal Squares cereal, apple, egg sandwich, apple, two eel sushi, and an avocado roll followed up with Sinless Sweet Cream from Cold Stone Creamery

Exercise: I walked quite a bit today

Weight: Down .2 I seem to have hit a bit of a plateau. I need to keep pushing.

Until tomorrow...

Turnabout is fair play

2009-11-20T23:59:00.000-05:00

Last week, our softball team got beaten by a score of 20-0. It was humiliating since we were in first place. Well, tonight we had to play that same team again in order to force a first place playoff with another team. We must have had our heart set on revenge because we ended up winning tonight by a score of 36-7. It was unbelievable. We had 17 runs in the first inning. It was a lot of fun. We all went back to my buddy Brian's pizza place (Five Star Pizza) and had some drinks and good food. I actually was good and just picked up some buffalo chicken rolls for my wife. Like I've said, she loves those things.

Today was a good day.

Food: Honey bunches of oats with strawberries, slice and a half of cheese pizza, smal bag of sliced apples, steak, cheesy potatoes, corn, water, coffee, and a can of Coors Light

Exercise: walked the dog and played softball

Weight: Static

Until tomorrow...

Early Thanksgiving Dinner

2009-11-19T22:14:00.000-05:00

Tonight for dinner, we had some turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and asparagus. It was kind of a foretaste of next Thursday, so I need to start strategizing. My family and I are going over to our friends' house for Thanksgiving. She is from Wisconsin and he is from Puerto Rico. We were there last year as well and there was absolutely no end to the food. I know it's been said that you can enjoy yourself for a day and not worry about calories. That doesn't really work for me. I don't mind the .2 to 2 pound fluctuations on different given days. A big jump in weight might do more damage and I would rather just eat sensibly. I am pretty sure though that a small piece of pumpkin pie has my name on it.

Exercise: walked the dog

Food: bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats with Strawberries, peanut butter and honey sandwich, banana, a couple scoops of a turkey, stuffing, mashed potato casserole with asparagus and cranberry on the side. I also drank water and had my cup of coffee.

Weight: Up .2

Until tomorrow...

Official Weigh-In Wednesday

2009-11-18T20:29:00.002-05:00

Check the post called "What happened to my posts." That is really the post for today.

Not official, but I hit 20 tonight

2009-11-18T12:22:00.000-05:00

Today was a good day in the weight department. After almost six weeks, I hit the 20 pounds weight loss mark. The way my weight fluctuates, I imagine I will hover just above it on Wednesday, but it was rather exciting to see 191.1 pounds today. I gave myself three months to hit my new goal of another 16 pounds of weight loss. That will have me at 175 and then I can begin the next phase of my very own "Body by Jake."

Food: banana, Tender Roast chicken sandwich from KFC, chicken stir fry, coffee, and water

Exercise: I slept through everything this morning

Weight: Down 1.8 which is a lot. That is the reason I think there will be changes by Wednesday.

Until tomorrow...

What happened to my posts?

2009-11-18T12:21:00.001-05:00

I know that I am late getting a blog in for yesterday, but I am not sure where my post for Monday is located. I will probably need to check the drafts and then publish it. It's all about hitting the 20 mark and how Wednesday may say the same or it may fluctuate.

Today has been goofy. I am on a new medication for a skin diroder I have had since middle school. It's called Darier's Disease and is brutal. I am taking Prednisone, Tylenol, Benadryl, and a topical ointment. I am perpetually tired from the Benadryl. It is my hope that the new combination works to clear up this nice little rash that has taken over my neck and chest.

Exercise: Nothing yet

Food: Honey Graham Oh's cereal, two turkey sandwiches, couple of apple slices, two chunks of cantaloupe, three chicken tenders, spinach salad with low-fat Asian dressing, and three apple slices, the obligatory water, and of course, my coffee

Weight: .2 to make this week's weight loss at 4.4 pounds. Since I started six weeks ago, I have lost a total of 20.6 pounds.

Until tomorrow...

Colts vs. Patriots tonight!

2009-11-15T21:35:00.000-05:00

I am excited to watch the NFL tonight as Indy plays New England. It should be a really good game.

Today was an interesting day. My son raced in a 5K and finished in 30.36 minutes. That is really good. I on the other hand did not have the opportunity to run. I needed to man the nursery at church so I will have to run in the next 5K which I think is on Thanksgiving.

Tonight our church had a dessert extravaganza. It was unbelievable but I only had coffee and water. I waited until my kids and I went to Target and got an Italian sausage. Keeping the eye on the prize means keeping the chocolate fudge in the pan for others to enjoy. My time will come.

Bring on the Patriots!

Food: two eggs, the second half of that great sandwich from Panera, two cups of coffee, water, Italian sausage in a bun

Exercise: well, it was going to be a 5K but it seemed to be that long of a walk from the parking lot to the start of the race

Weight: plus .2

Until tomorrow...

Pre-race jitters

2009-11-14T21:30:00.000-05:00

Last night, we had a doubleheader for softball. We won the first game and for some odd reason, got simply destroyed in the second game. Some of us went out after the game to talk and relax. I ended up getting home at 11:30 and by the time I got myself situated, I didn't weigh in until 12:15 this morning. The Wii Fit does not care that I came in after midnight and slated my weight for today. Oh well.

Today was fun as my family walked around the community's garage sale. It was really a good time. I then passed out on the couch for a fantastic nap. Then we went to Downtown Disney so the kids could build a Lego brick that will be used in the huge Buzz Lightyear Lego model. Just a fun day all around.

Tomorrow morning is the 5K. That will be the topic for tomorrow's blog. I am pretty sure it will be brutal.

That being said, the 20 pound threshold is so close I can taste it.

Food: slice of cheese pizza, fish filet, avocado, pineapple, potatoes fried in olive oil with onions, Oriental salad from Earl of Sandwich in Downtown Disney, coffee, and water

Exercise: so much walking at the garage sale and at Downtown Disney

Weight: Down 1.1. I don't know if I will hit the 20 pound mark on Wednesday due to the weight fluctuations through the week, but tonight, I am at 18.9. Hitting 20 will be fun because I will then get to set my next goal of 15.

Until tomorrow...

Florida was cold today (relatively)

2009-11-12T22:44:00.000-05:00

This morning, I actually needed to wear my Minnesota Twins hoodie as I walked the dog. I had the hood up and the sleeves pulled down to cover my hands. It's official. I have become soft. How can I call myself a Hoosier? How cold will Minnesota be at Christmas time? Time to start looking for the long underwear. Hopefully, by Christmas time, I will need to wear more clothing layers since some fat layers will be gone. The weather is a bit more agreeable than the 3 weeks straight of 95 degree weather, but it just kind of snuck up on all of us thin skinned Floridians.

I need to make sure my son and I are all set for the 5K we're running in on Sunday. I am sure it will be easy for him and the longest half hour of my life. Whose idea was this anyway?

Today was a good day on the dieat and exercise front.

Food: apple, egg from a McDonald's sausage, egg, and cheese McMuffin, baked chicken leg, loads of broccoli, high slice of cheese Five Star Pizza, buffalo chicken roll, water (eh) and my normal cup of coffee.

Weight: Down 1.5. Interesting.

I wonder what the temperatures will be tomorrow. Brrr...

Until tomorrow...

Safety Day

2009-11-11T21:36:00.001-05:00

Today was definitely all about safety. I brought in representatives from McGruff to talk to the students at my school about stranger danger and what to do in order to keep themselves safe. I then invited the students to the local Victory Martial Arts for a safety seminar this evening. It was a great one-two punch for the kids to learn about recognizing danger and then learning a few self defense techniques. I am glad that both of my children were able to attend. If you don't have a code word for your family, you need to get one.

Also, today was Official Weigh-In Wednesday. I'm not sure why I capitalize it, but I guess it makes me feel as if it is more important capitalized. The dot on the line graph keeps going down so that is a good thing. I know I have already hit my goal for Thanksgiving, but it would be pretty great to hit my goal for Christmas by Turkey Day.

Weight goals by holiday
Halloween: 10 (I was down 12.6)
Thanksgiving: 15-20 (I am down 16.2 as of today with two weeks until Thanksgiving)
Christmas: 20-25
Valentine's: 25-35

Food: apple, chicken salad sandwich with sweet pickles, buffalo chicken 6" sub at Subway with spinach, cucumbers, tomatoes, and their light ranch sauce. I also had strawberry yogurt and a large Diet Coke. I also drank a Diet Coke at school. The Diet Cokes were my caffeine for the day as I had no coffee.

Exercise: A lot of running around, but nothing aerobic

Weight: down 1.8 to take my weight to 195.3. I started at 211.5 so that makes the total so far 16.2 or an average of about 3 and a quarter pounds per week.

Until tomorrow...

The Perfect Season

2009-11-10T21:31:00.000-05:00

This afternoon, Trinity Lutheran's volleyball team finished a perfect season. They were 10-0. They made it interesting tonight by finishing it in 3 games and causing all of us to bite one or more fingernails. In the end though, they prevailed and everybody went wild.

I wish this weight loss thing was like a volleyball season. I lose a few pounds and then I'm done and everyone is cheering. The reality is that the game never ends and I always have to be (pardon the pun) on my game. It will be worth it though when I look back and realize that all the work has been worth it.

Food: apple, couple pieces of ham, pineapple, peas and carrots (awful) and then we went to Beef O' Brady's where I ordered a salad with bleu cheese crumbles, some bacon, croutons, onions, grilled chicken, and a honey mustard dressing. It was great. I also had a mug of coffee and a lot of water.

Exercise: walked the dog

Weight: neither up nor down. I'm a bit concerned about Official Weigh-In Wednesday since so far, I am up .7 from last Wednesday. Keep those fingers crossed.

Until tomorrow...

Oops...

2009-11-09T21:18:00.000-05:00

Well, I finally mised a day where I did not weigh in or write in this blog. My daughter had been battling a fever and cough, so I spent a moment lying next to her bed on the floor. That moment stretched to two in the morning, and I broke my streak.

Falling asleep on my daughter's floor could also be a way to mask the fact that I did not eat well yesterday. I snacked a lot and ate well past 7. I have subconsciously reprimanded myself and am back on the straight and narrow. I will be interested in what Wednesday brings because I have some catch up if I want to be in the negative department. Here's hoping.

Food: smoothie with raspberries, pineapple, protein powder, honey, mixed nuts, peanut butter and honey sandwich, Disney Princess graham cracker snacks, bowl of macaroni and cheese, Sprite Zero, mug of coffee, spaghetti noodles and sauce, two chicken tenders with two slices of mozzarella cheese (I guess my straight and narrow is the path I took to the fridge and pantry today as I stayed home with my recovering daughter).

Exercise: walked the dog, Wii Fit exercies (two rounds of advanced step, a little bit of ski jump, and a brutal ten minute run

Weight: Up .9

Until tomorrow...

It is hard not to be a stress eater

2009-11-07T22:26:00.000-05:00

All through my life, I think I've been a stress eater. A little bit here, a little bit there, and before I know it, I've had 3,000 calories. As I've started down this road, I find myself able to resist the grazing when I've had relatively stressful days, but I still want that Butterfinger at 10 at night or that large eggnog shake at McDonald's. I know it will get easier as I go, but when I have days that are a little rougher than others, I need to make sure I have apack of gum at the ready. I'm not quite ready for the emergency bag of carrots.

Food: all fruit popsicle with the kids, rice Krispies, cinnamon almonds, honey roasted mixed nuts, noodles with alfredo sauce, ham sandwich, bottle of Octoberfest Spaten

Exercise: My daughter has been under the weather and her sleeping patterns are a bit disrupted. I also didn't do much today. I really need to get up at 5 tomorrow morning.

Weight: Stayed static. Not up or down.

Until tomorrow...

My Wii Fit didn't register last night's weigh-in

2009-11-06T22:49:00.000-05:00

Tonight after my softball game, I stepped on the Wii balance board so Wii Fit could tell me how I did today. It said I lost .2 pounds and then chastised me for not doing more exercises in the program. Then, I went to the graph to look at my progress throughout last month and I noticed that there was nothing for yesterday. I know for a fact that I went on because the Wii Fit said I lost .4 pounds. What that means is that for the last two days, I have a net loss of .2. Oh well. I like how my weight fluctuates and then I hold my breath for the official weigh-in Wednesdays.

At least my softball team won tonight.

Food: two pancakes, two sausage, piece of cheese pizza, Sprite Zero, the following is dinner and in no partiular order. Chocolate from the fonde pot, apples, strawberries, white cheese chunks, Ritz, two slizes of ham, Americn cheese, apple fig bars, Yuengling and not much water

Exercise: My daighter was sick last night and I was up with her for a while. I didn't get up to walk the dog.

Weight: down .2

Until tomorrow...

The Taste of Osceola was more like a nibble of Osceola for me

2009-11-05T21:58:00.000-05:00

Tonight, I went to the Taste of Osceola for the third time. This is an event where various companies display their products, but it is mainly focused on restaurants and catering services. There is a ton of really good food, and this year was no exception. Trinity always gets a booth since we are always the only church and only parochial school who buys a booth. We have virtually no competition during this event. It was great. We received a lot of exposure and the lady in the next booth is going to check out the school for her 4-year-old. All in all, it was a good night even though I didn't get to try out a lot of the amazing food that was being given out.

I did however win a raffle and was able to bring home chocolate covered fruit for my wife and some buffalo macaroni and cheese. If I had a sense of smell that was worth anything, I am sure it smelled great in the Civic Center tonight.

Food: orange sticky roll, B.A. Burger from Krystal (yes, I actually went to Krystal and didn't get sliders. For those of you northeners, Krystal is southern White Castle and they add mustard to their sliders.) I also has some salad greens with a very small piece of meat, a touch of horseradish sauce, a huge fruit cup from Edible Arrangements, a small cup of horrible beer named City Select which is only supposed to have 55 calories (it also had no taste, but was free), my mug of coffee, and not as much water as I should have had.

Exercise: umm, maybe tomorrow.

Weight: Down .4

Until tomorrow...

My body is weird

2009-11-04T20:18:00.000-05:00

Today is Official Weigh-In Wednesday and I didn't treat it like a weigh in day. I didn't starve myself and I didn't go crazy with exercise. I had a good breakfast, good lunch, a little snack, and a good dinner. I did the same exercise as I usually do and really didn't exert myself too much. That said, the weight loss from yesterday to today is just a bit odd.

I rented the new G.I.Joe movie to watch tonight. I saw it in the theaters and enjoyed the non-stop action. The movie has gotten a lot of flak, but you know, I don't htink it was going for an Oscar. If you are reading my blog, I thought it would be fun to come up with a G.I.Joe codename for me. Some established G.I. Joe names are Duke, Snake Eyes, and Rip Cord. I'll try to come up with one for myself as well.

Here are the results for today which again are strange.

Food: yogurt with berries, half of a grilled cheese, chicken noodle soup with vegetables, three chicken tenders, spinach salad with asian dressing, cinnamon almonds, homemade macaroni and cheese, mug of coffee, and plenty of water. I thought I ate well and didn't starve myself in the least.

Exercise: walked the dog and did a step exercise on the Wii Fit for about five minutes

Weight: Down 2.4 to make it a new loss of 2.8 this week.

After four weeks, my weight has gone from 211.5 to 196.6. Like I've said, it's a good start.

Until tomorrow...

It's already been four weeks?!?

2009-11-03T22:00:00.002-05:00

It's amazing how quickly time goes by. It really does seem like yesterday that I started on this road. I know that as I go through this, there will be good weeks and other weeks that the weight doesn't come off as quickly as I think it should. I am going to keep after this. I like goals, and when Valentine's Day comes around, I want to be at my 25-35 mark. I am cautiously optimistic.

Food: two eggs, slice of cheese pizza, coffee, water, chicken stir fry

Exercise: walked the dog and did a lot of activities on the Wii Fit

Weight: Up .9

We'll see what happens tomorrow for the weigh-in. Should be interesting.

Until tomorrow...

Five Star's X-Large Pizza is ginormous

2009-11-02T20:43:00.000-05:00

My wife is in love with Five Star Pizza's buffalo chicken rolls. She will eat them for dinner, she will eat them for breakfast, she will eat them whenever she can. Imagine her delight when Five Star ran a special where we could get free buffalo chicken rolls with an x-large pizza. Those things are huge!

I ate three slices for dinner and was the fullest I could remember in a long, long time. I took a run with my son and I was still full two hours later. Oof! Needless to say, the buffalo chicken rolls are gone but the pizza lives on. It will be used as breakfast and lunch tomorrow for both my wife and me. It is really good pizza.

That is my small commercial for Five Star, but it is also my small confession that I ate a bit too much of a good thing.

Food: bowl of Rice Krispies, hot dog, big bowl of corn, lots of water, and three big slices of cheese pizza

Exercise: walked the dog and then ran with my son

Steps: Until I get a new pedometer, I am going to omit this part

Weight: Down another .4

Slowly but surely

Until tomorrow...

Brett Favre is a man of steel

2009-11-01T21:32:00.002-05:00

Today I watched the Minnesota Vikings play the Green Bay Packers. Like most years, Brett Favre was on the field. This year though, he was wearing the purple and gold of my Vikings and doing a great job. They are 7-1 going into their bye week, and their postseason chances look good.

Brett Favre is 40 years old. He's out there week after week, taking his lumps, competing against guys who are young enough to be his sons. I hope that when I am 40, I can take a look back and say that this period in my life was when the shift happened.

A few months ago, I had the opportunity to travel to Minnesota for a board of directors meeting for Daystar University. Daystar is a Christian university in Nairobi, Kenya. While I was in Minnesota, I stayed with my parents. One night, I perused through the family photo albums. Year after year, pictures of fluffy Jake stared back at me which chronicled many, many years. It was then that I knew I had to start taking things seriously.

I need to be consistent every day. I still want to eat good food, but I can't be stupid anymore. I want to be playing football when I'm 40 and older, and it all starts with my health. Speaking of that, today I did okay.

Food: flatbread roll with apple butter, small potato with fajita meat and gravy, cole slaw, scalloped pineapples, and two cheese quesadillas. I drank a lot of water and got back on my one coffee a day fix

Exercise: Slept in, moved furniture and other supplies in the church nursery

Steps: Where is my pedometer?

Weight: down .4

Until tomorrow...

Thriller Night

2009-10-31T22:12:00.000-04:00

...And though you to fight to stay alive
your body starts to shiver
for no mere mortal can resist
the evil of ...the Thriller

I always think of Vincent Price's evil laugh after he says those last four lines. That is how I think the fat dude sometimes responds when I keep after this weight loss stuff. I talked a while back about the 5 day jump. This time, it's the six day jump and I still have four days to lose weight, but it's when the 1 to 2 pounds weeks of weight loss threaten to lose your steam. I went up 1.1 but I attribute that to a late dinner.

Tonight we went over to my brother-in-law's place. We swam a bit and then took the kid's around Eric and Erin's neighborhood. My daughter literally power walked to each house. It was pretty impressive. Another Halloween down. Today is the the first major holiday of the weight loss schedule. Here are the holidays and how they correspond with my weight loss.

Halloween: (at least 10 down)
Thanksgiving: (at least 15-20 down)
Christmas (at least 20-25 down)
Valentine's Day (at least 25-35 down)

One down, three to go.

Food: English muffin with strawberry cream cheese, bowl of homemade macaroni and cheese, beef and broccoli with fried rice, 2 pancakes of mushu pork, one pork dumpling, small sinless sans fat sweet cream from Coldstone Creamery

Exercise: walked the dog and swam quite a bit today

Steps: weird day with the pedometer. I forgot it when I walked the dog and then remembered it when I went to school today to meet some painters and electricians. I ended up taking 4,450 steps just on Trinity's campus. Then I forgot to take it again when we went Trick or Treating. I don't know if I made it to 10,000 today, but I had to have been fairly close

Weight: The aforementioned 6th day gain at 1.1.

Until tomorrow...

The night the lights went out in Kissimmee

2009-10-30T22:54:00.001-04:00

I play on my church's softball team. During our game tonight, the lights in the ballpark and the surrounding neighborhood all went out. The lights went out around 7:35. The official word from the umpires was that our game would be postponed if the lights did not come on by 8:15. Sure enough, at 8:14, the lights kicked in, we finished the game, and suffered our first loss of the season. Our bats were not really there tonight. I did not help the team as I had two errors (one was a nasty bad hop) and went 0 for 3. I guess there is always next week. It's kind of bewildering how we go from scoring 27 runs by the 4th innning two weeks ago and tonight we only had 2 runs going into the 6th inning.

After the game, a lot of us went to our buddy Brian's pizza shop. It's called Five Star Pizza and is really excellent. My wife is in love with the buffalo chicken rolls. They're pretty awesome.

It was another pretty good day.

Food: peanut granola bar, Healthy Choice Steamers meal with chunks of chicken, broccoli, penne pasta, and marinara sauce, two small pieces of Red Baron Pizza, a plain spinach salad with carrot shavings and some pomegranate seeds. When we went to the pizza shop, another friend brought drinks and I had one cup of Coors Light.

Exercise: played the softball game and I owe my dog two laps tomorrow since I did not walk him today

Steps: My pedometer reset when I was moving something and I forgot to wear it to the game so I have no clue.

Weight: Down .4 to have me at 197.8.

Slowly but surely, the fat dude is losing ground.

Until tomorrow...

Ease on down, ease on down the road

2009-10-29T22:20:00.000-04:00

Tonight I went to a high school production of "The Wiz." It was performed by students at The Osceola County School for the Arts. We were invited to attend by our friend Tammie who helped in the pit orchestra by playing piano. Barring some microphone difficulties, the songs, dance numbers, and acting were all nicely done. It was a nice time out with the family.

As I was listening to "Ease on down the road" for the third time, it struck me that trying to get back in shape is a long road, and it's not something you ease on down. You can veer, fall off, or just plain stop. That was my profound moment of the day. Anyway, I also liked the song "Believe in yourself" which is another thing you need to do when you are finally taking control over something that has dominated you for so long.

Today was pretty successful.

Exercise: walked the dog and mowed the lawn and my neighbor's lawn

Food: bowl of rice krispies, big slice of cheese pizza, slab of roast, couple chunks of potato, carrots, spetzla(?) left from Octoberfest, and some cinnamon almonds (I love 'em).

Steps: 8, 604 Closer to the magic mark, but I needed to make another lap or two with the dog around the neighborhood

Weight: Down 1.1

Until tomorrow...

I slept right through my blog yesterday

2009-10-28T20:37:00.001-04:00

I really had great intentions. I weighed myself yesterday and found I was down .9 pounds. I was reasonably happy with that and then sat down to watch television. The NBA lulled me to sleep and before I knew it, the clock said one o'clock. I am in no shape to write a coherent anything at one in the morning. In fact, it's difficult to be coherent at 8:30 in the evening. Anyway, I didn't make it to the blog yesterday. It would have been fairly boring. I ate all right, lost some weight, my pedometer reset (surprise) and I walked the dog.

Tomorrow and Friday are lighter days at work. There is the potential of drama because parent/teacher conferences are on Friday, but that usually doesn't happen at my school. That is because the parents already know what to expect and the teachers do a great job at communicating.

Exercise: I got up late and didn't exercise this evening. I did watch my daughter go through a Tae Kwon Do class, though. She broke a board by kicking. There is not anything much cuter than a 4-year-old giving you the black belt stare. Good stuff.

Food: almond granola bar, fruit and grain bar, green beans, chicken broccoli cheese bake, and cinnamon almonds. I had a lot of water, but I haven't had coffee for about three days.

Steps: Only like 4,000. Could that be right?

Weight: Down 1.1 to have the official weight today at 199.3. That is a loss of 2.9 pounds this week. After three weeks, my total weight loss is 12.2 pounds. My BMI has gone from 31.35 to 29.52.

Taking a little at a time from the fat dude

Until tomorrow...

The revenge of Octoberfest

2009-10-26T21:24:00.000-04:00

Today was the revenge of Octoberfest. Every meal I had was made out of leftovers from last night's party. That's pretty good living. Today was a pretty boring day in that nothing stands out as extraordinary or earth shattering.

Food: apple streudel, bratwurst with sauerkraut, casserole made out of mashed potatoes, beef, and sauerkraut. That casserole was slightly addictive and awesome.

Exercise: walked the dog and my daughter and I took a stroller walk to Walgreens to check out redbox

Steps: I really need a new pedometer

Weight: up .2 which is really like staying steady. Official Weigh-in Wednesday is looming.

Until tomorrow...

Does Octoberfest make my rear look big?

2009-10-25T22:28:00.001-04:00

Tonight, my family had a very nice time over at some friends' house. We celebrated Octoberfest by having roast pork, bratwurst, hard pretzels, apple streudel, sauerkraut, cabbage, spinach salad, a couple of German beers, and a lot more desserts. Good food, friends, and fellowship. I even did the polka with my wife. It was fantastic.

Food: cinnamon waffle, Big and Tasty burger from McDonald's, piece of roast pork, bratwurst, spinach salad, cinnamon almonds, sauerkraut, two hard pretzels, cup of coffee, water, and one German beer

Exercise: I did the polka. Otherwise, better get up at 5 tomorrow morning.

Steps: I really need a cover as my pedometer reset again and again.

Weight: Armed with no exercise and a lot of salty food, I was up 1.8 which I guess is a net loss of 1.1 in the last two days.

Until tomorrow...

Trunk or Treat of awesomeness

2009-10-24T22:53:00.001-04:00

Tonight, Trinity Lutheran Church and School held its third annual Trunk or Treat. At 6:00, we met for hot dogs, chips, punch, and cookies. At 6:45, the candy givers went out to their cars and got ready to give candy from their trunks. The trunks have gotten more and more elaborate in set-up and theme. There were fog machines, CD players blasting Thriller and Monster Mash, and a lot of pumpkins. After the candy giving, we all settled in for an outdoor showing of "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown." The youth group have an inflatable screen and we used a projector to show the wonderful movie. It's not nice, but I love the part where Charlie Brown keeps getting rocks in his bag. There were 200+ at the event tonight with 23 cars decorated. We have expanded each year and I expect next year to be our best yet. Tonight though, was not too shabby.

Food: English muffin with strawberry cream cheese, 6 fish sticks and a pasta salad with cheese and tomatoes, a hot dog for dinner ( Everything was so busy that I literally forgot to grab anything else).

Exercise: walked the dog

Steps: It reset on me again. I hadn't checked it most of the day so I can't even make an educated guess.

Weight: Down 2.9. That's a lot and I figure it's due to me forgetting to eat much of a dinner. That does have me in the 100's though at 199.3.

Tomorrow will be a test as we visit our friends and we are celebrating Octoberfest the German way. (If I knew any German, I would put something here in that language. Since I don't, I'll just say),

Until tomorrow...

At least I'm consistent

2009-10-24T06:11:00.000-04:00

The Wii Fit has a nice feature where I can see my weight on a line graph as it progresses day to day. It allowed me to see an interesting fact. Every five days, my weight went slightly up. It would steadily go down for four days and then on the fifth day, up it goes. That's all right though. I will take four days of weight loss to one day of weight gain as long as they don't cancel each other out.

I should get under 200 pounds this week. It has been a long time since that has happened.

Food: bowl of rice Krispies, 10 pizza rolls, slice and a half of Red Baron Pizza, apple, and water.

Exercise: walked the dog

Steps: 5,500

Weight: up 1.3 to cancel out yesterday's weight loss

Trunk or Treat is tomorrow. I'll be interested to see what happens.

Until tomorrow...

Green Lantern and the Lady Musketeer

2009-10-22T21:31:00.000-04:00

Today my wife finished the kids' costumes for Halloween. Our school is not in session next Thursday and Friday so we are having the parade and parties tomorrow. Matthew will be going as Green Lantern and Lily is going as one of the Lady Musketeers from Barbie and the Three Musketeers. The costumes came out great. My wife does a fantastic job each year coming up with great ideas. I just need to figure out what my costume will be for tomorrow. Hmmm

Today was another good Wii Fit day. Steps were down, but last night, the Morrow household didn't get a lot of ZZZs due to a 4-year-old deciding she wanted to watch a Christmas movie at around midnight and she was wide awake. I didn't wake up early enough to walk the dog.

Food: a cinnamon waffle, 5 sweet and sour meatballs, green beans, a good large piece of roast, a small slice of potato, and a biscuit. Travel mug of coffee and water.

Exercise: not much

Steps: 4,300

Weight: down 1.3 to end up at 200.8 pounds.

Until tomorrow...

My daughter's cupcake was as big as her head

2009-10-21T20:41:00.001-04:00

After school today, we took another trip out to Downtown Disney. One of our good friends from college was in town, and we took the opportunity to visit with her and her family. After parting ways with our friend, we ate at a restaurant called The Earl of Sandwich. They have great food at very reasonable prices. In fact, for dessert, we ordered a cupcake which was very large with way more sprinkles than necessary. It is interesting that although I love sweets and could eat the cupcake myself, I did not feel compelled to sample it at all. My family on the other hand split it in thirds and really enjoyed the cupcake. I had my main course and was satisfied. It's weird how two weeks can change your eating impulses.

Today is the official weigh-in Wednesday so let's get to the good stuff.

Food: rice Krispies, four baked chicken strips, a lot of mixed vegetables, and a chinese chicken salad wrap that was loaded with lettuce, crunchy little wontons, some kind of great sauce, and grilled chicken. I also had my mug of coffee and a lot of water.

Exercise: walk with the dog and the strolling around Downtown Disney

Steps: pitiful. only about 5,700

Weight: down .7 to put the total weight loss since the beginning (two weeks ago) at 9.4 pounds.

I'm excited about the next official weigh-in Wednesday although I post my weight every day. Also, my Wii Fit told me today that I am no longer obese. I am now overweight. It's a really hopeful start.

Until tomorrow...

My son is a good runner...Me? not so much

2009-10-20T20:43:00.000-04:00

I ran a mile with my son this evening. It wasn't as bad as I anticipated, but I was amazed at how effortlessly he kept up with me and carried on a conversation with me. His conversations lately have been about hypothetical confrontations between comic book heroes. He also expects me to be able to understand and know about each character. For example, tonight as we were running, it went something like this:

Dad, if Darkseid teamed up with Black Adam, The General, Sinestro, and The Parasite, do you think they would be able to take the JLA?

Uh...*gasp*...maybe.

Dad, Do you think Thor could beat Superman? His powers are based in magic and Superman is vulnerable to magic.

Uh...*gasp*..perhaps

Dad, I was going to add Doomsday to the team but he has died too many times.

Uh...*gasp*...yeah

On and on it went with him asking a stream of questions with my answers of one syllable. It wasn't quite that bad, but I had a lot of fun talking it over as we ran. Today was a pretty good day as my school's volleyball team remained undefeated. Not too shabby.

Exercise: mile walk with the dog, refereed the volleyball game (doesn't count but I did climb the ladder at the net) and the aforementioned mile run with my son

Steps: Only says 6,500 but I actually jogged today.

Food: rice Krispies, apple, slice of spinach chicken feta pizza, baked potato, piece of baked salmon, pear half, loads of water, and the required mug of coffee

Weight: Down another 1.8 to have me at 202.8. The official weigh-in is tomorrow. On another note, if I lose any more weight (which I will) I should be in just the overweight division on the BMI scale. Inching toward healthy...

I'm off to study for my son's questions in the morning. I know Mom, I'll just be reading my comic books. Those that haven't been snatched up from half.com at least.

Until tomorrow...

Perfect weather in Florida

2009-10-19T21:30:00.001-04:00

My netbook's keyboard font goes crazy sometimes. It will be just fine, and then pow, some weird spaced out font comes in. I am not sure why or how it happens, but I may have to google it. It just did something strange again. I know you can't tell on the post, but on my netbook, weird. Oh well. Today was an absolutely perfect day in Kissimmee, weather-wise. My daughter and I both wore light jackets on our evening stroller walk and it was very nice.

Food: almond granola bar, spinach feta pizza slice, apple, Big & Tasty hamburger, side salad w/ low-fat Asian dressing, water, and coffee

Exercise: walked the dog and walked with Lily (stroller) to Walgreens

Steps: 9,000

Weight: down 2 pounds

Until tomorrow...

Lots of football, a little too many appetizers

2009-10-19T05:59:00.000-04:00

Sunday is football day. After church, I look forward to settling in for some good NFL action. This Sunday was a good day. The Vikings squeaked by (defensive meltdown) and are now 6-0. It's pretty awesome. That being said, I actually didn't watch football until after I cut the grass, edged he lawn, and then went over to my friend's place. My friend is part of the board of directors for H.O.M.E. which stands for Hepling Others Make the Difference. It helps get homeless mothers and their children back on their feet. H.O.M.E. had a function at my friend's place and there were a lot of appetizers. I didn't have a whole lot, but I did have more than I have been eating. I am pretty sure that since I had those close to the weigh-in that it had an effect. No worries. We'll see what happens on Wednesday.

Food: rice Krispies, apple, two bowls of honeynut squash soup, (I'll try to remember the appetizers here) some pasta, 4 slices of cheese, some crackers, some stuffed mushrooms, some vegetable bite sized things, a few meatballs, some fruit, water, and I actually had two cups of decaf

Exercise: cut my grass

Steps: reset and reset. I really need to get a pedometer with a cover

Weight: plus 1.1 to have me at 206.5. That is still 5 down from when I started but again, Wednesday is the official day

On a side note, it's gotten pretty chilly. It's about time.

Until tomorrow...

I need to learn a bit more Spanish

2009-10-17T23:32:00.000-04:00

My church rents out its large facility for receptions, parties, and other events. Today, I was the official chaperone of a Hispanic church''s president recognition dinner. The only English I heard was when they asked me for tablecloths, electrical extension cords, and other things. It would have been nice to understand something other than muchacho and Dios. I did a lot of walking as I tried to help them. All in all, I hink they had a nice time.

Food: bowl of Rice Krispies, apple, chicken and rice with almonds and Cream of mushroom, and chicken feta pizza, and carrots. Plenty of water as well.

Exercise: walked the dog and walked all over the school's campus today

Steps: Severus reset again bu I'm guessing it was around 9,000

Weight: up .4 but that's all right

Hasta manana...

I'm naming my pedometer, Severus

2009-10-16T21:19:00.000-04:00

I really don't get my pedometer. I walked my dog, walked around my campus, and played a softball game where we won 27-1. That being said, the pedometer only read 7,000 at the end of the day. Seriously? Anyway, I have named my pedometer after Snape from Harry Potter because I don't know if I can trust him. One day, he's at 11,500 with a few jaunts and after a game where I rounded the bases 4 times, it only registers 7,000. Oh well, we'll try again tomorrow.

Food: bowl of Frosted Mini-Wheats, apple, slice of chicken feta pizza, slice of veggie pizza, rice, almonds, chicken breast, some butternut squash that was doused in maple syrup and cinnamon, salad, and the chicken and rice had some Cream of mushroom soup baked in for goodness. I also had a lot of water and for the first time, I did not have my cup of coffee.

Exercise: walked the dog and played in a softball game.

Steps: The aforementioned 7,000

Weight: Down 1.8 pounds. That has me at 205 even.

Well, I'll give jogging another shot tomorrow. The registration form for next month's 5K was on the counter and I realized I don't have a whole lot of time. I really do need to get jogging and maybe Severus will register a few more steps.

Until tomorrow...

Must...keep...eyes...open...zzz

2009-10-15T22:47:00.000-04:00

I must admit. There are days when it is hard to write down my thoughts. Tonight it is due to the really long School Board meeting I returned from coupled with my daily 5:00 wake up time. I really just want to get in bed and go to sleep. Darn you, accountability.
A.D.D. Moment: I have been referred to http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/ and I cringe everytime I go. You should really check it out. I just want to know that if I get my picture taken at Wal-Mart, it's not going to be as brutal as some of the pictures on the website.

Food: bowl of grape nuts, apple, baked chicken leg and thigh (no skin), manicotti, 2 crescent rolls, some slices of tomato, mug of coffee, and the ever present water.

Exercise: I have not met my goal to jog yet. Maybe tomorrow. I pretty much just walked the dog and circulated during cafeteria duty.

Steps: Only 7,300 today. If I would have jogged today, I would have been much closer to 10,000.

Weight: Down .7 of a pound. I think that puts me at 206.8. My BMI will be under 30 here very soon. That is very exciting.

Until tomorrow...zzz.zzz.zzz...

The portions at Rainforest Cafe are GINORMOUS!

2009-10-14T21:37:00.000-04:00

I am part of the ELCA Schools Marketing Task Force. We have been meeting in order to create a packet of information and templates to provide to the schools and early childhood centers across the country. I say this just because after we met today, we went to Downtown Disney and ate at Rainforest Cafe. I decided to go with a Chinese Salad. I am pretty sure an entire field of lettuce gave up their leafy lives for me. Bite after bite and not a dent was made. I have lunch for my wife and me tomorrow. Wow, that was a lot of lettuce! I had a lot of vegetables (a LOT of vegetables today). Maybe I'll have some fruit tomorrow. I suppose grape nuts don't count.

Today also marks a week into this grand experiment. I know it is technically 8 days, but I am going to go with Wednesdays being the official weigh-in day.

Food: bowl of Grape Nuts, veggie sub from Firehouse Subs, and the aforementioned Chinese Salad from Rainforest Cafe. I also ate a couple bites from the herbed bread that was provided with the monstrous salad. I also had a lot of water and my normal mug of joe.

Exercise: mile walk with dog and a whole lot of walking at Downtown Disney, (I need to jog tomorrow)

Steps: Again, my pedometer was reset (probably when I was holding my daughter) but I had 5,000 by a little after lunch and I am sure the Downtown Disney jaunt added at least another 3,000. Ball park figure 8,000-9,000.

Weight: Down 1.3 lbs for a grand total of 4.1 pounds lost this first week. I start tomorrow at 207.4 which sounds better than 211.5. It's been a good beginning.

Until tomorrow...

Pedometer issues

2009-10-13T21:47:00.000-04:00

I have no idea how many steps I took today. I forgot to reset it this morning before I walked the dog. Then, at about lunch time, I found that it had been reset before I saw how many steps I had taken this morning. Then tonight, I checked it again and it read 500. (nice...) Anyway, I know I took about the average amount of steps but I don't know the exact total. I also need to start going way above my average (8,000) and hit 10 to 11,000 steps each day. This has to be a non-negotiable. Besides, I have a 5K to run with my son next month.

Food: bowl of grape nuts, piece of cheese pizza from last night, fresco bean burrito and fresco chicken fiesta burrito, mug of coffee, and water galore. When you see my weight, it's easy to see that the culprit is the pizza and burritos (even though the burritos were supposed to be "lighter". I need more fiber, vegetables, and fruit in my diet.

Steps: Beats me

Exercise: walked the dog, cafeteria duty :)

Weight: up 1.5 pounds to 208.7. That is still down three from the beginning so I can't complain and I have until tomorrow when the official every Wednesday weigh-in happens.

Goal for tomorrow: walk dog, jog a mile or two, take lots of steps, eat fruits and vegetables, party like its 1999

Until tomorrow...

The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire

2009-10-12T21:40:00.001-04:00

Today was interesting. While at lunch duty, one of the ballasts in our overhead lights malfunctioned creating nice plumes of smoke that emenated from the ceiling. The smell wasn't that great, either. The good part is that I got to ride in our school's lift or cherry picker up to the ceiling in order to investigate. It was a lot of fun. The different perspective on the students lining up for gym after lunch and the arrangement of items in our cafegymatorium was neat. A lot of times I'll get down because of my weight and then I take a different perspective. I have my health, a great family, a job I really like, super friends, and many other blessings. Besides, my weight will be gone and my health better than ever in only a few months.
Today was another positive step.

Food: bowl of grape nuts, turkey sub with lettuce, pickles, and tomato, large slice of cheese pizza and a pepperoni roll from Five Star Pizza., standard mug of coffee, lots of water

Exercise: mile walk with the dog

Steps: My pedometer must have bumped against something because it was reset at lunch. I do think I figured out the variable of my steps though. Every day at cefeteria duty, I am constantly circulating among the tables. Many steps. Today, there were about 8,000 as far as I can tell, but I think maybe a bit more.

Weight: Down another .9 pounds to put me at 207.2

I keep chipping away.

Until tomorrow...

Church with free donuts, snacks, and candy does not equal to leading me not into temptation

2009-10-11T22:03:00.001-04:00

Today was a better day as far as eating and exercise go. I don't understand my pedometer though. I walked my dog this morning and then walked to Walgreen's and back. Those two together should have been at least 4,500-5,000 steps. I also walked a lot at church for our ministry fair, so I thought I would have had a lot more than the 8,100 I ended the day with at 9:00 p.m. I may be pacing more for the last inning of the Twins, but I won't count those. They really need to score some runs.

Food: almond granola bar, small helping of meatless spaghetti, some yogurt with protein powder mixed in, teryaki chicken and vegetables stirfry and some white rice. I had my normal mug of coffee and a lot of powder.

Weight: Down 1.1 pounds from yesterday to end up at 208.1.

The Vikings and Colts looked good today and I need the Twins to score some runs in the bottom of the 9th.
I am a bit nervous as Alex Rodriguez is about to bat. Don't worry Mom, I won't bite my nails. I'm taking care of myself now.

Until tomorrow...

Does a darts game count as aerobic exercise?

2009-10-11T08:04:00.000-04:00

I am writing this morning because last night ended much too late. My buddy celebrated his 40th birthday and to commemorate the event, a small group of us went to B.B. King's restaurant at Pointe Orlando and then headed over to a local sports bar to play some darts and watch the end of the Florida and Florida State games. It was a lot of fun, but my eating was way out of line. You'll see what I mean when you see the list of food from the evening. All of that water weight came creeping back when I ate that fried, salty, and delicious food. The house band sang the blues as I helped myself to the appetizers. All in all, it was a fantastic evening, but it's a good thing I don't have friends who turn 40 every day. When I think about it though, it could be a lot more common occurence now as I tackle my late 30s. A.D.D. Moment: Last night during darts, my wife threw a bulls eye to seal the game for us. Cue the Sports Center music.

Here we go with the ugly stuff:

Food: bowl of grape nuts (good), a mix from the previous night's dinner which was small helpings of peas, pork, and cheesy mashed potatoes (not bad), and now...fried pickle chips, some shrimp on flat bread with sauce, fried shrimp (8 of them), corn bread muffin, one chicken wing, a taste of some catfish, cole slaw, one 16 oz. glass of B.B.'s home brew, a taste of my wife's gumbo, and a mug of Octoberfest at the sports bar. (Did I really eat all that?)

Exercise: mile walk with dog, mile walk/jog with my kids (my daughter wanted to go because she said she was getting healthy), and a mean game of darts

Steps: 8,400 which is a lot less than I thought it would be

Weight: 209.2 Yep, I found two of the five pounds I'd lost, but that's all right. I just want to see where it is after a week

Today is a new day full of exercise (already walked the dog this morning) and good eating decisions.

Until tomorrow...

Free conference food is dangerous

2009-10-09T22:24:00.002-04:00

I went to a conference on the McKay scholarship in Apopka today. It had some interesting information and they also had the customary bagels, fruit, cookies, soda, and even sticky buns. Normally, I would be all over that for seconds and maybe thirds. I don't know if anybody reads these posts, but the fact that I know I am writing them down each night and the fact that I thought of that while staring down a cinnamon bagel, it made me pause. Accountability is good. Since I am a guy, I knew I would see results quickly, but I will be interested to see what it looks like once I start losing more than water weight. I can't wait to boot the fat dude.

Today was another successful day.

Weight: 207 That's down another 1.8 from yesterday.

Food: bowl of cinnamon toast crunch, (here is the conference food) some kind of spinach vegetarian circle thingy, fruit cup with canteloupe, strawberries, and grapes, and mixed vegetables, a lot of pulled pork with good teriyaki sauce for dinner, brussel sprouts, some cheesy mashed potatoes, a mug of coffee, and a load of water.

Exercise: mile walk with dog and a softball game this evening. Our team is 4-0.

Steps: 10,455

Until tomorrow...

BMI?? More like BMI-YI-YI...

2009-10-08T20:26:00.001-04:00

I have short legs and a big head. So, when I am overweight, I look like a combination of Charlie Brown, an Oompa Loompa, and a Weeble Wobble. The Wii Fit thought it would be fun to call me a name as well...slightly obese. Those are always the words you never want to hear. Good news is on the horizon, though.

Here's the nitty gritty.

Food: bowl of Frosted Mini Wheats, small helping of goulash, side salad (no dressing), sugar free orange jello, 2 small pieces of cheese pizza, some celery, plenty of water, and a mug of black coffee.

Exercise: mile walk with the dog (a.m.), mile jog (a.m.), longer walk with the kids to Walgreens this evening

Steps: 11,407 at 8:00 p.m.

BMI: 30.92 (brutal)

Weight: 208.8 pounds which is 2.9 pounds less than yesterday. That is a lot of water weight.

This is fun. I wonder how many steps I will take at the softball game tomorrow. A.D.D. Moment: One time I was asked to go and pinch run for a player on our team. A good friend of mine remarked, "That's the first time I've seen a pinch runner who is slower than the one getting taken out." We had a good laugh with that one.

Laughing is good for you. Make it a great evening.
Until tomorrow. ..

The First Weigh-In or My Wii Fit is crying

2009-10-07T20:55:00.000-04:00

The first day is out of the way. I ate reasonably well. I had a bowl of raisin bran, 2 cups of coffee, a baked chicken leg, broccoli for both lunch and dinner, and finished it up with spaghetti and one meatball for dinner. I have not had enough water, so I will fix that now. Exercise wasn't bad either. I took the dog for about a mile walk this morning and then Lily and I took a stroller walk for quite a bit. All totaled, about 8,000 steps. Now the brutal part.

I just got finished with the Wii Fit. I weighed in at 211.5. The bar just kept going up and my little Wii guy kept doing- his impression of a pear.

I set a goal for weight loss. Two months from now, I need to be 20 pounds lighter. That will be step one. It equals out to be about 2.7 pounds a week.

Well, I think I will go and watch the rest of the Twins-Yankees game.

Until tomorrow. Taking a little from the fat dude each day...

The basic premise

2009-10-07T16:05:00.000-04:00

I tend to be a person who needs routines. If I get up at 5:00 a.m. for seven straight mornings, it will usually become a habit. I have decided I am going to do the same thing with this blog.
I want to get healthy again.
This is not just a weight loss thing. This is a healthy habit, life changing strategy.

Here's the plan.

1. Go through each day making good choices.
2. At the end of the day, jump on Wii Fit and weigh myself.
3. Blog and discuss eating choices, exercises followed through, my weight (ugh) and my general attitude toward the process

I would love to hear from people who are on this road with me, who have successfully navigated the road, or those who have veered off the path.

Join me if you would like. It will be fun.

I'll be back tonight.