Stumbles...

Stayed the same weight-wise this week.  All things considered, that's not bad.

I have been slacking on the workouts because my energy has been bonked by no rest and poor eating choices. 

Work sucks, every day is like a case study in how to bankrupt a company.  I wont go into details, but it's ugly.

My son has croup, so nobody is sleeping now.

Rough week.  Local sports team success can only float you so far.

I am back on track today, "Crossing the Abyss" (reference Body for Life, Bill Phillips).  Don't get your hopes up, Bubba, I'm coming back strong next week!

WOO HOO!

THE TIGERS ARE IN THE WORLD SERIES!!!

And we were at the game to see them win the ALCS last night!  Since we were partying with 43,000 other people last night, the Nutrition plan went out the window, but who cares!  This kind of party doesn't some around often...

I'm off to nurse a hangover and watch the Lions do their thing.  Hopefully some of the Tigers will rub off on them and they can get their first win this year.

PS, we welcome the support of all A's fans, you'e good people.  (Yankees fans will need to be pre-screened...)

Have a good weekend!

On the shoulders of giants

First, it was a great week and a fun wekend.  My wife is down below the goal she set for this week's weigh-in, and I am Steady-Eddy at another 2 down!

The Tigers won games 3 and 4, securing their spot in the AL Championship Series.  And by "won" I mean POUNDED THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS out of the over-hyped, overpaid, so-called "greatest lineup in the history of baseball" Yankees!  Good times.

We took the kids swimming on Saturday and I wasn't even the least embarrassed to take off my shirt.  Deal with it world, it will look even better in a few months...

Sunday we went to the Mega March for the Animals, a Michigan Humane Society fundraiser.  It was very successful, pulling in over 3,000 participants and about $200,000.

This event is what something my father started 17 years ago has evolved into.  He has been with the Humane Society for over 40 years now, and back in 1989 he started a small walkathon called the "Mutt March".  It was very successful and quickly became a twice a year event, raking in big bucks.  I've spent many a weekend working at these events, and they are a lot of fun and a lot of work.

A couple of years ago, some corporate types in the upper-upper ranks decided to start making changes.  At first, they didn't work out so well.  The latest iteration was to combine the two annual events into one and have it downtown.  Some people are ticked off, thinking that this is taking credit away from the man who started the whole thing, but my father is not upset. 

Neither am I.  In fact, I am proud to think that such a successful event would not have been possible had my dad not had the idea and initiative to create this thing so many years ago.  He has worked hard to keep it going and improving every year, and his success led to others having even grander ideas.  He is passing the torch on now, and seems at peace with it.

I will borrow a quote from Isaac Newton to express what should have been said by those who coordinated this weekend's event:

"If I have seen farther than others, it is because I was standing on the shoulders of giants."

So, to the MHS, congratulations on very successful event, and here's hoping for many, many more.  Move forward with honor, and remember those 'giants' who have brought you to where you are today...

Got them Tigers by the tail...

And felt the bite of the other end today!

Just a quick word to celebrate the Tigers winning game 2 over the cheating, overpaid suck*** Yankees. 

TAKE THAT YOU BRONX BUMS!

Time to go workout and watch Earl and The Office... and maybe the replay of the game - hehehe

Better days

I re-read my post from Tuesday and realized it came off as pretty negative.  I guess I was still feeling dumb about the nutritional slips last week.  The truth is that things have been going pretty well, all things considered.

It seems that 20 lbs was the magic number for other people to start noticing the weight loss.  I got a ton of comments from people all of a sudden last week.  That was a nice surprise.

The funny thing is that my wife has lost more than I have, it is VERY noticable, but people aren't making any comments to her.  She is getting a bit frustrated thinking that I am lying or exagerating to her about the changes I see in her.  I have tried to chalk it up to the fear that most people seem to have about mentioning a woman's weight in ANY context, even a complimentary one.  Some people have said things to her like "did you get a haircut?" or "is that a new outfit?".  I think this is their way of letting her know they see a difference, opening the door for her to talk about weight loss, if she wants to.

But what do I know...

Still going...

Just maybe not going strong...

 It was a rough week last week with problems at work, long hours plus got sick for a day.  Used lots of excuses to go off plan and skipped some workouts.  We took a family trip to the Apple Orchard Sunday and neither my wife nor I could resist a pumpkin donut.  We had no guilt about it, but we physically felt like crap the rest of the day, after the sugar buzz crashed.

It is just not worth it, even for what used to be our favorite treats; the price is too high.

I am not proud of last week, but I managed to still lose two pounds.  The wife and I both committed to going back to 100% this week, so far so good...

Good day!

Today is a good day!  I hit the official 20 lb mark and am 13 lbs away from my Halloween goal of 245!  This is the first time I have weighed in at less than 260 in about 8 stinking years!  (too many exclamation points?  Oh well, I'm excited.)

Thanks to everyone for your kind words of inspiration, it does feel good to be kicking this stuff out in writing...

I hope everyone is having a good week!

The beginning

Well, I've never blog'd before, but I have been told it can be cathartic, even if nobody else ever reads it.

I am a 33 year old father of two.  I have been overweght for most of my life, but I think it has really hit me in the last couple of years how much it is affecting my life.  I feel like I have been depressed for more than a year, and while the weight was a big part of it, several other factors have been building up.  I won't bitch about the usual stuff that everyone faces (job, economy, world peace, etc.) but the big thing that has hit in the last year is that my son was diagnosed with developmental delays. 

He just turned two and has been in the Michigan Early On program (wonderful people, by the way) now since May.  He is improving, but still pretty far behind the curve in a lot of areas.  This has shaken me to my core.  God and I are having a bit of a disagreement over what we believe to be acceptable challenges for my family to deal with.

Now I know that a LOT of other people out there are faced with much more challenging, tragic and difficult situations regarding their children.  I honestly feel guilty sometimes about being so upset about my son's lot in life when I know that others face so much more.  That being the case, it doesn't lessen the pain of watching my son suffer with something that he had no choice or control over.  I can't help it, I'm human and this is my kid.

So, after several months of hating God, life, the universe and everything, I decided to take control of something.  My wife and I started on Nutrisystem on 8-14-06.  As of today, I am down 18 lbs and she is down over 20.  This has made a huge difference in my outlook.  I'm still cranky as heck most days, but now I am working out to relieve stress instead of snacking or doing something equally self-destructive.

So this is where it begins, I guess.  After almost 6 weeks of eating right and excercising, I'm calling it a habit; maybe my only good one.  Going forward, I am working on a positive outlook.  My goals are to get to my goal weight, spend every minute I can being with my family, get a better job (or at least, learn to like the one I have again) and to get back on speaking terms with God.

I expect it to be a long road, but I suspect it will be worth it.