19th week weigh in

Weight today 231

Total weight loss to date 39#'s

I've started averaging 1# loss per week lately and if that holds for next week I'll have lost 40#'s in 20 weeks for a flat average of 2#'s per week.

Slow and relatively steady has been the trend so far.

I think it's cool that in July I'll be in the 220's. That's not something you normally hear people say but if earlier this year they weighed 270 and it's just now mid year then the perspective is different. The idea that I'll be around 210 and possibly looking at the 200-single digits for Thanksgiving this year is pretty outstanding actually. That will put me at ~70#'s weight loss inside a calender year that did not even start in January. Not bad.

There that was my mental check but there is another side....

I'm not feeling as mentally "changed" as I'd like to.

I'm really trying to feel more like my body has changed to and is changing towards, more healthy, fit and in shape. I feel it physically...I'm getting stronger everyday. That isn't an issue but I'm finding that my mental self image does not mirror the scale. When you loose 20#'s it does not auto-transfer to the brain and make the correction.

I think I'm going to have to collect some "proofs of improved fitness" to the game as evidence for my brain to evaluate when it provides my self image.

Hmmm, Angie was telling me yesterday about the closest 14ers to Durango Co. and we are planning on riding that Durango Silverton RR in a few months.....I think it's time to put the research and planning to my 14er project......

18th week weigh in

Weight today 232

Total weight loss to date 38#'s

I should see the 220's and a 40+# weight loss for 4th of July weekend. Sweet!

The hardest part of this for me remains to be the mental game. Developing patience and accepting weeks without weight loss, or working very hard for minimal progress can be frustrating but that's the way it goes.

It's hard to keep "defocusing" on the time line you WANT and accept that the realistic time line to loose a significant amount of weight is much longer than you would like it to be....a year, a year and a half, two years....? Could be. ;)

The thing I keep trying to remember is that a year or two goes by anyway and I'm also going to want to be fit then. The race to loose weight fast is a mental trap and unless you have impending serious health risks that require it, averaging that 1-2#'s per week with intermittent periods of no weight loss is what experts suggest to be the best approach. It's hard to deal with because we all want instant results and particularly if we are working hard we want to get "paid" NOW!

Even at a pace of 5#'s per month that is 60#'s weight loss in a year...100#'s in a little over 1.5.

It's a mental battle but we have to fight it to avoid the pitfalls that await with quick weight loss gimmicks, tricks, and unhealthy schemes that only offer temporary results at best.

Chin ups are hard!

I got a chinning bar and (as I expected) can not do 1 pull up.

I've been working at it for a few days now and can get the bar just below my eyes...I can do 2 eye ups. :)

I'm working at that and controlled declines, I bet I will be able to do 2-3 chin ups in about a week or so. Slow and steady right?

The good news is that I'm building up quite a nice home gym with the various dumbbells, kettlebell, bar, sandbag, TRX knock off, swiss ball...I've got several options beyond all the bodyweight stuff, yoga and other workout dvd's, before I even touch my full Olympic weight set and bench. Not too shabby.

Next is some sort of cardio machine like a tread mill, elliptical, or what Angie wants a tread climber, (pretty much a combo of a treadmill and elliptical). Until then I have plenty of low tech cardio options that are kicking my butt on a regular basis anyway.

I expect to have dropped some weight on Friday's weigh in and I'm feeling really good....strong....no complaints right now.

Kettlebell

I have not had this overpriced hunk of iron long enough to know it's full potential but straight away it seems to be a very nice addition to a workout toolkit.

When I first saw kettlebells and swings I thought it was just idiots using horrible form doing useless swinging. I can get an 80# dumbbell and use poor form to swing it up into something that looks like a curl but so what? I was misunderstanding what the swing is all about. It works your back, trunk,...cardio...it's sort of a beast to be honest. I had fashioned a makeshift kettlebell that was "OK" but the real thing is of course better and I'm glad my buddy Shaun goaded me into buying it. :) The thing is that these marketing guys know when they have a hot product and I know that in 2 years these things should cost 50% less than they do now. Oh well, waiting for the price to go down $20-$30 isn't really worth it for all the workouts I would not be able to do while waiting.

Damn supply and demand... I picked this thing up when it was still in the shipping crate (they had to enter it into their system before they could turn around and sell it to me), the guy told me they sell them about as fast as they can order more.

I have not ventured into the more complicated lifts as the cornerstone basic swing is enough to keep me busy for a while.

More on the kettlebell will follow I'm sure... ;)

17th week weigh in

This week held at 234.

No weight loss....ask me if I care.

I don't.

I've had enough weeks now to know that this happens and that I am doing my thing so there is nothing else to be done right now. If it turns to a trend I'll know it's time to change something up but for now everything is as it should be.

My nutrition is solid and my exercise is solid, I'm fine with a static week.

I'll post up tomorrow on my new toy an official kettlebell. :)

16th weigh in

Week 16

Weight 234

Total weight loss to date 36# avg loss of 2.25#'s per week.

Cool!

This pushes me over the hump of the high 230's and sets the 220's right in my line of sight. It's really exciting to me that I'll be weighing 220 something soon after weighing 270+ just a few months ago...man it's a trip.

What is really wild is how at some point I am going to drop below 200 and weigh in the 100's. Not having a 2 in front of my weight will be like going back in time to when I was 21 years old.

My mood is good right now because my food and exercise are pretty much in check at this time. What I have now is pretty much second nature to me at this point so I'm happy to continue on monitoring my progress and make any needed adjustments whenever they might be needed. But for now I'm sort of set on autopilot.

234....I don't see any reason I will not be at/below 230 for 4th of July and be able to represent 40#'s of fat loss at that time. If I make 237.5 it will be 45#'s or 50% of my total goal....if that does not happen by the 4th it's still going to happen in July and the 50% mark will be a super cool milestone.


John F

2 35's

Today's daily weigh in was 235. I have ironically lost exactly 35#'s at the 235 mark making 2(35)'s.

Trippy. :)