I’m back!

Ok, folks, no great excuses, but I’ve been a little lax on my goals. But that’s in the past, and it’s time to look forward! I just got back from the gym a little while ago, and it was good to be back. I’m weighing in at 206 now, which is a little more than my last weigh in, but not bad for taking some time off. I’ll plan to weigh in again next Thursday and I’m shooting for 204.

Thanks to many people who’ve continued to ask how things are going!

a little behind

Well, I won’t bore you with all the details, but obviously I’m a little behind in my posting. For those of you who hadn’t heard, one of my dogs ended up having a second surgery but seems to be recovering very well now, and the problems all seem to be resolved.

Now…on with the show.

Good news to report! I’ve continued my weight loss, although it does seem to be slowing a bit. I’ve lost at least one pound every week, and as of this past weekend was down to 204 from starting at 216. That’s 12 pounds in 6 weeks!

I have some pictures to post, but I need a few minutes to get them ready, cropped, etc…and I’ve had scarcely any free minutes lately. They’re coming, though!

Thanks for all the encouragement, and I promise to post more frequently!

Week Three

It’s official, my belt fits differently! Woohoo!

I weighed in on Saturday, and I’m down another 2 pounds!

That makes me 208 pounds, and down a total of 8 pounds from the start in just 3 weeks. Not bad, eh?

I’ve had several people give a glaring eye when I’m ordering food…thanks…and keep it up!

I’m going to make another shorter-term goal: While I’m on this roll I’m going to try to lose those last 8 pounds to 200 in the next 3 weeks.

My end goal is still 175 (Andy, I think the body fat calculation is off…it’s a machine that measures how fast electricity travels through my body, so not exactly the best way to measure body fat percentage!)

I’m on my way!

Week Two

I’ve had several people ask, so I’ll give a quick update on the stress of last week. My dog had surgery on Thursday, and my vet believes it may actually just be a ruptured salivary gland, although we are waiting on lab results to help shed some light on the situation.

So, for this week, first the bad news: this wasn’t the best week as far as eating or exercising. Take one Super Bowl party, add one Pacers game, and combine that with the need to take care of my dog after surgery, and I didn’t do as well as I’d hoped.

The good news: I still lost one pound! I’m now down to 210 as of Saturday (which will be my normal weigh-in day).

Starting weight: 216 pounds
Current weight: 210 pounds
total weight lost: 6 pounds
average per week: 3 pounds

I’m already starting this week out better with a great workout today, and I’m looking forward to keeping this going!

For those of you also working to lose weight or get in better shape, how’s it going? Can I help encourage you?

The first week…

Well, everyone, I wanted to give you all a quick update. I weighed in on Saturday, and I was down to 211 pounds! Yep, a whopping 5 pounds lost in the first week. How’d I do it?

better eating + working out + snow shoveling + stress = 5 pounds lost

I could probably attribute a good bit of it to the stress part, as my stomach was in literal knots from Wednesday afternoon on. I found out on Wednesday that one of my dogs may have cancer, and requires a good bit of testing to figure out what’s going on. I can tell I’ve actually put a pound or two back on since Saturday, which is probably normal for losing weight due to stress (and a Super Bowl party!), but at least I’m ahead of schedule, right?

Thanks for the many encouragements and questions on how I’m doing…keep it up as I try to keep going!

getting started…

Well, friends, family, and strangers, it’s time. Time to get back into good shape! This blog is going to track my progress as I’ve made a renewed commitment to eat better, exercise more, and get into better overall health! Journey with me…encourage me…and feel free to give me a scowl or a stern word if you see me eating a bunch of bad food!

Over the years my weight has pretty steadily increased. First it was throughout college, when I went from about 160 pounds up to 185 in the winter of my senior year. Then I went on a health kick and dropped all the way down to 155 by the time I graduated in June. Since that time, I’ve slowly and steadily put on weight. Well, it’s time to reverse the trend!!! I’m not 22 any more, so my metabolism has changed, but I’m still going to put a big goal out there. I want to lose 40 pounds! That sounds like a lot, doesn’t it?

Let’s look at it another way: My goal is to lose 1 pound a week.

That’s not so hard, right? Just do that 40 times, and I’m at my goal weight! I also want to improve my blood pressure, and just be in better general health, which should all happen as I eat better and exercise more.

At age 23, I was probably a bit too skinny, but I recently found an evaluation from my gym at the time.

Weight: 160
body fat percentage: 9.4%

now – start date of Saturday, January 24, 2009
age 31
weight: 216
body fat percentage: 19.4%
bp: 136/88

I’ve joined a new gym that should be much easier to get to.
I’ve switched to diet drinks.
I’ve started this blog.
I’m on my way…I’m going to lose 40 pounds! Well, maybe 41, because 175 sounds so much better than 176.

At my gym, there is a place to measure and record my key stats, so it’ll be easy for me to keep track and then put my info up here.

Wish me luck, and I’ll see you at 175!