Rockin' 34

Weigh-In 222 lbs

Quick post, but I just wanted to note that I'm rockin' a pair of 34" waist jeans today.
That's right, 34. Now I know I'm doing well because I wore 36" jeans in HIGH SCHOOL.
When I started this I wore a tight 42".

I'm happy with that.

Happy Holidays

Weigh-In 224 lbs

Happy Holidays to everyone!

My Christmas went well. It was nice to hang out with the family. It was great getting my Christmas shopping mostly done a week early for once. It was nice to come out of it basically unscathed in the weight loss department.

That said, yesterday was probably my highest caloric intake day since I started this quest 5 or 6 months ago. It included a few cookies, a slice and a half of Pumpkin Pie, a bit of Chocolate Mousse, and a moderate amount of general snacking throughout the day. I tried to keep most of the snacking as healthy as possible though.

I know that sounds like a lot, but compared to other years it was nothing. I managed to run 4.5 miles and lift weights on Sunday night. I also went for a 2 mile walk/jog on Christmas day, mostly to check out my new Heart Monitor watch (thanks Dad!). I think it was important to keep some level of activity during this time. It also made me not feel as bad for taking the day to indulge on some snacks.

So in the overall scheme of things things are still going great. I'm still sitting below my January 1st 08 goal by 6 pounds.

This morning I went back to running my morning 5k on the treadmill. I threw in some bench presses as well. I'm still less than 10 pounds away from my original weight loss goal. There are still some parties and outings coming up, but won't there always be? I'm not worried about it.

Here's to a healthy, safe, goal filled and fun new years and 2008. I hope everyone else is having as good a time as I am!

-Brian

Holiday Party

weigh-in 223.6 lbs

I guess the low weight is sticking since this is the second day in a row at that number.

I had my department holiday lunch and then party/happy hour yesterday. I had turkey and some salad for lunch. Then I left the room because it was filled with about 15 different desserts people brought in. I figured it be best not to be around them...

At happy hour I had some Vodka and Diet Cokes, no food. I had another salad when I got home later last night. I wanted to keep it light since I probably had a lot of calories in those drinks.

Lots of comments about how I looked at the happy hour. I guess people lighten up a bit and find it easier to talk about such thing. All of the comments were positive though and I feel really good about it.

So all in all, not the healthiest day, but considering the circumstances I'm happy with what went down. There will be days like this so it's a good test.

I'm just over 8 pounds away from my goal. I think me running a 5k every morning and drinking a LOT of water throughout the day is really making the weight fall off. I've also lifted twice this week and aside from the drinks yesterday my diet has been really good. Maybe I'll be at 220 by the end of the year? We'll see. I'm in no rush really, it just happens that I'm going through another one of those phases where the weight is coming of quickly.

Hello!

Weigh-in 223.6 lbs

Weird low weigh in today eh?

I spent all my blog time redoing the layout to something that worked better than my old one.

So with that said, gotta go!

Compare

Weigh-in 225.2 lbs

I used all my spare time today to edit this new compare pic, so I really don't have time to post.

Here's the new pic with day 149 being today. I'll let the pic do the talking today.



I have some more update pics I'll be posting but I have to redo the layout of my blog first. So until then...later

A Record Broken

weight-in: 225 lbs



I had another unplanned milestone today. I broke my best time record for a 5k. I ran it in 27:45.

This wasnt planned. First I ran 11 intervals at 5 and 7.5 mph, but then after the last one I cranked it up to 8 mph, basically just to see if it was feasable to break my 5k record. I always have my prior best number in the back of my head.

Eventually I ran the last 45 second or so at 10 mph and I was yelling at the machine to make me go faster as I'm watching the time unfold.

I thought I was either going to pass out or launch off the treadmill!


The bad news is my back is kinda sore now. I'm not sure why but hopefully that goes away.


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The pic is another from the Firebird Festival Saturday night.

A Goal Met

Weigh-In: 225.4 lbs


I thought I'd share this picture from Saturday night. Every year my town has a festival where they build this three story tall Phoenix bird and burn it to the ground. It's supposed to symbolize a rebirth for this old, once shabby iron town. It was a rebirth of sorts for myself as well.

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As of today my weight loss goal is 10 pounds away. I'm excited to get there.

After a not very relaxing 3 day reprieve from the gym I decided this morning it was time to attack one of my goals. The one that has been staring me in the face for a while now was the sub 8 minute mile.

When I started running I didn't really even pace myself for a fast mile, but after the first minute I figured "what the heck" and I hiked the treadmill up to 8 miles an hour and kept it there. Eventually I was running at 10 mph and I was able to eek out a 7:44 mile.

Strike that one off the list!

In other news my friend and I are looking into purchasing an Olympic weight bar and weights so we can start doing squats and bench presses in his basement.

I have to say, when I see that huge bar sitting on the floor it's a bit daunting. This will really be a challenge for me to build upper body strength as I've never even been able to do a single pull-up in my entire life.

In a way I'm really looking forward to the challenge of it.