Back again, 15 pounds lighter

Wow, I knew it had been a couple weeks since my last post, but I just looked and realized July 7th was actually my last update. Things have been pretty crazy busy since then, at home and at work.

I am proud to say that since that last update, I've lost another 15 pounds, passing a couple significant milestones in the process. Way back when I started this thing at the beginning of April, I kind of hand August 1st as a goal in my mind to be under 300. Well, weigh-in was August 4th that week, and I came in at 297.

Another milestone that I honestly never thought too much about getting to, mostly because it seemed so ridiculous, was a total weight loss of 50 pounds. Well, official weigh-in isn't until Wednesday, but after weighing in at 293 last week, I "unofficially" weighed in under 292 mid-week.

I really wasn't sure if I'd be getting to some of these numbers, as my brother got married last weekend and of course I had to enjoy in the merriment, which meant lots of calories. And a couple weeks before that was his bachelor party, which meant many calories (especially the liquid kind). Still, with some hard work and a little bit of luck, I actually managed to lose a couple pounds both of those weeks.

So with 50 pounds down, I guess it's time to start thinking about some more goals. 280 is one number I had thought about quite a bit early on, and it's certainly within reach, and probably within the next month or so. 223 is a number I would love to get to, which would mean a total weight loss of 119 pounds. That may be close to a year down the road, but it would be almost too crazy to even think about.

I'm too busy to get too wrapped up in a lot of this long-term stuff, so I'm just going to concentrate on hitting the 2-3 pounds per week, mix in the occasional 5 pound week and see where I can go.

10% Off

It's official, I've passed the 10% of my starting body weight lost after this week's weigh-in. I didn't lose quite as much as I'd hoped, but the 1 1/2 pounds lost in the last week pushed me over the edge and into double-digit percent territory.

All in all it wasn't a bad week, but I was hoping for maybe another pound or two of loss. At 307.2, I'm getting really close to a couple other milestones: under 300 pounds and 50 pounds total weight loss. I had kind of a "back of the mind" goal to be under 300 by the end of July, and I am in a very good position to accomplish that.

I've started doing some exercise stuff at home in addition to the 2-3 times per week walks I've been doing for a while. I taped a stretching/yoga-type workout on FitTV (thanks Digital Cable) and have done that several times and also downloaded a workout system on my phone called FitDeck. It essentially has a bunch of exercises on cards and you "shuffle" the deck and do whatever is on the cards. Exercises include a number of sit-up and push-up variations, leg raises, squats, lunges, and more. It is the "Bodyweight" series, meaning no weights or equipment is required. To be honest, some of the stuff is difficult for me and it does provide a decent workout.

I've partnered the two things together a few times where I do the stretching stuff and then during commercial breaks I do a few of the FitDeck exercises. Seems to be a good mix and I've worked up a solid sweat. According to the Livestrong program I burn roughly 400-500 calories doing a 30-minute combined workout of the stretching stuff and the Bodyweight exercises.

It's nice to have something to do in lieu of just walking. I was going to try P90X at one point, but I'm not sure I'm in good enough shape yet to do that plus it requires some equipment that I don't have and/or won't be able to use. For instance, there's a lot of pull-up stuff I think and there's no way our doorframes would support a pullup bar with me hanging on it. I may try to do some of the cardio or bodyweight stuff from the P90X program at some point down the road though.

So all in all, a nice milestone to reach, could have been a little better on the weight loss, but still pointing the arrow on the weight chart down, which is a good thing.

30 for 30

After not providing an update last week, I've got some good news to report this week. After a few setbacks early and a strong comeback late, I'm happy to report I lost 7 pounds in the past two weeks.

With these 7 pounds, I'm now down a total of 34 pounds since I began back on March 30th. That also pushes me over 30 pounds lost as of my 30th birthday last week. 30 for 30 baby!

I'm looking forward to what's in store for my next 30 years!

Another 5....with a catch

I apologize for the late entry following last week's weigh-in. It was a pretty busy, yet fun and relaxing few days. Nice to settle down a little bit in the summer and enjoy things a little more.

After checking in with a 5 pound weight loss last week (ok, actually almost two weeks ago now), I sported another "5" this week. Unfortunately there was a decimal point in front of the number, as I lost just 0.5 pounds. All in all not too bad. I didn't do much exercise really and while I didn't totally blow my diet, I didn't kill myself for it either. Still stayed under 2000 calories every day.

We'll see how this week goes, but I have been more active (including two walks of over 3 miles; might not seem like much for some people, but that's a good trek for me) this week so hopefully I can drop at least a couple.

Ho hum, another 5 pounds

Wednesday morning's weigh-in saw a 5-pound loss from the week before, bringing my total weight loss to 26 pounds since March 30.

It's all about the calories baby!

Then again, with a few more cocktails this week, I'm kind of just hoping for breaking even at next Wednesday's weigh-in. Maybe I'll surprise myself though and lose a few.

Victory is mine!

In a late breaking story, From the Hip with Travis has confirmed what Travis already knew last Saturday: Travis has officially lost 20 pounds since beginning his weight loss program on April 1.

I actually cheated last Saturday because I was kind of anxious to see where I stood, so weighed myself that morning. I came in two pounds lighter than last Wednesday, meaning I had hit the 20 pound mark. Since "official" weigh-ins are on Tuesday night/Wednesday mornings, I had to wait until that time to confirm it. I actually weighed myself Sunday night and Tuesday morning to see if I was still on pace, and sure enough, each registered under the required number.

When Wednesday's official weigh-in rolled around I was actually down another pound, making for a total 8-week weight loss of 21 pounds.

So what next? Well, besides continuing the same program I have been (my next goal is another 20 pounds to get under 300), it is of course to collect on the reward bet I made (unknowingly for her) with my wife. Here is the object of my affection: LG Blu Ray Player

Almost there

I cheated a bit and weighed myself Sunday night because I really wanted to see how close I was to my 20 pound goal. Sunday night I was down two pounds from the previous weigh-in (Wednesday morning), and maintained that two pound loss at the official weigh-in this morning.

That leaves me just two pounds away from my 20-pound goal!! I should it hit it over the weekend, and it will be hard to resist the temptation to weigh myself every couple days. Maybe I'll try Sunday, but it won't be official until the weigh-in on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning.