Day 91: Mmmmm, Birthday Cake.....

Update: 216.0 lbs, 42.2 lbs so far, 38 lb Goal Reached Day 74. - 7.8 lbs to NEW 50 lb goal.

Crazy day today...got an early morning bike loop in, then birthday party at the carousel, then graduation party for friends both with a lot of great food at them, so I've been trying to be really good...and for the most part have been doing ok. Anyway, didn't have a ton to say, but had a really positive weigh in this morning, so just wanted to make sure and record the update.

Toyed with the idea of seeing Spiderman 3 at the drive in, but we're missing one of the chitlins, so we'll probably just wait until they are all back under the wings.

Hasta!

Day 90: Join Me

Update: 216.6 lbs, 41.6 lbs so far, 38 lb Goal Reached Day 74. - 8.4 lbs to NEW 50 lb goal.

This week I told our mid high buddies the story of Danny Wallace, a comedian and writer for the BBC, who out of boredom posted a classified ad that simply said 'Join Me.' He asked people to join his cause by sending in a passport photo of themselves -- not really expecting much to happen.

However, the unexpected happened when in just a few weeks over 4000 people had indeed joined him. The crazy thing was, for a good period of time, they had no idea just what they joined at all! Finally he started getting emails asking their fearless leader what they had lined themselves up with, but even Wallace had no idea what the cause was. Ultimately, he figured he'd better have them do something (or I guess he feared he'd lose his loyal followers..ha!) so he send out the edict that all 'joinees' would perform one random act of kindness the following Friday. Today, Wallace's 'Karma Army' has over 12,000 members who all have pledged to continue on the practice of random kindness to strangers.

I felt a bit like one of the 'joinees' when I started this whole crazy calorie cutback 90 days ago. I'd tried losing weight before, but have always had limited success. As I've mentioned, it's way to easy to just slide back out of the program at any time. Way back in my first post when I essentially joined Kyle Potts army, I didn't fully know what to expect this time out. (Kyle, I promise I'm not stalking you with these references....) If you've been reading, you know I had hoped to replicate what he had done by losing 50 lbs in 3 months, and as of today - 90 days into it - I'm in at just under 42 lbs, so I didn't quite hit it, but it certainly wasn't for lack of trying. I have been vigilant to the cause, faithful to my effort and loyal to my goal.

But the unexpecteds have come out of the cutback. I dreaded the thought of having to get out and exercise again. Now I can say 'I like to move it, move it!' In fact, I forgot a long lost love for riding the bike I had 16 years ago, and have since picked up another, and spent my favorite times of exercise on it. I also didn't expect to get beyond seeing the short term goal and really looking at the long term picture, but I have. YES, I want to hit that 50 lb goal because I think it will be an amazing accomplishment, but I can be patient about it. (Of course you know that means a rant is coming in the next few says when the weight isn't coming off.....don't say I didn't give you fair warning.) I also didn't expect for anyone else to hop on the bandwagon, but a few have - and in fact, we've lost over 62 lbs in our home alone combined...and if you know my wife, you know she never has looked like she needed to. Lastly, I didn't expect to still be successful with the effort for a solid 90 days. It has gone by quickly.

Well, I could go on, but I won't. I wanted to have a big 50 lbs in 3 months post today, but it's still a ways off...probably by 120 days, but who knows. Hopefully I won't freak out too much about it. I'm pleased to be where I am, and happy to look forward from here.

Hasta, homies.

Day 89: Mmmmm.....Salsa....

Update: 216.8 lbs, 41.4 lbs so far, 38 lb Goal Reached Day 74. - 8.6 lbs to NEW 50 lb goal.

This week has just been eating up my time like crazy! I'm behind on stuff, and really need to get my booty shaking to get it all done! That being said, short post today.

I love salsa, particularly my mother's secret recipe (email me, and I'll give it to you.) But usually most kinds are pretty decent. How funny then that when I was at the bike shop this week, the frame that the dealer pointed me to was made by a company called Salsa. At first I thought he was kidding, and then thought, 'hey, is this because I'm brown dude?'

Even better than the bike being made by Salsa was the fact that the model was called 'La Raza' - for those of you not up to speed on your 'mexican' (as some like to call it) La Raza means 'the race' - typically meaning the hispanic race, as in Viva La Raza, or essentially, long live the race, or better yet, Brown Power.


I don't know if I could go around town, as a big brown guy, riding on a bike that screams out 'La Raza!' - but I sure did like this bike...well, I liked many bikes, but most of them cost more than my first few cars all put together!

That's it for me, gotta get to an early meeting!

Hasta La Raza!

Day 88: Wacky Ride In The Rain

Update: 217.2 lbs, 41.0 lbs so far, 38 lb Goal Reached Day 74. - 10 lbs to NEW 50 lb goal.

First off, Blake had the best rendition of a Bon Jovi tune last night, and it was the least Bon Jovi-esque of all the efforts. I was thinking that Melinda had it wrapped up, but my favorite beat boxer from up north may be getting a foothold in. Shake-n-Blake!

Last night I tried to get out on a ride before the rain came out. I'm contemplating an upgrade to more of a road/touring type of bike from my comfort bike, to get more efficiency from my ride, but that may not happen for a bit, so for now I'm still cranking out the miles on the big-guy's bike to keep burning calories. Anyway, I said I tried to get out before the rain, but didn't have a ton of success...I pretty much rode the entire way in the rain, which on it's own wasn't too bad, but it was the start of an interesting ride.

It was a poorly planned ride, but I grabbed my Garmin and iPod, threw on a windbreaker, and hit the road. The windbreaker was not really a rain coat, so I was wet clear through pretty early on. Then, about 3 miles in, the battery on the Garmin went out, so I didn't get to track my info for the night. At about 7 miles, while listening to the wistful sounds of David Wilcox, some knuckleheads blew by, pretty close to the side, screaming out the window. The manly side of me would like to say I'm an unshakeable rock, but it actually did give me a little jar. I keep the volume down on the iPod so I can still hear the road, and cars coming, etc, or else the screaming might not have been quite as loud as a Howard Dean Iowa rally. They sped up to about 70, and I looked down and figured it'd be pretty hard for me to catch up from 11.5 mph to go have a chat with them about manners and safety.

Shortly after the screaming muttonheads incident, right around mile 8, my iPod died, and I had to ride the last 2-3 miles actually listening to nature, and life around me. All in all, still glad to be out riding, and burning some of those sugar cookies off that jumped up on me the other night. Gonna be ugly weather for the next few, so it may have been the last ride for a couple days.

Hasta!

Day 87: Random Tuesday Thoughts

Update: 217.2 lbs, 41.0 lbs so far, 38 lb Goal Reached Day 74. - 10 lbs to NEW 50 lb goal.

Interviews all day. Not for me, but for an open position at our company. 4 or 5 have come and gone so far this week, and we've got probably about the same left to do...not the best way to spend the week if you ask me. So only random thoughts to follow for today's post.

When you're up at 1, and then 2, and then 4 in the morning, the homemade sugar cookies finally win out.

For some reason, all the really good episodes of Heroes get cut off on my dvr, and I have to watch the last few minutes online...usually with some stupid scary movie ad in the process!

I'm starting to get bored with lunch options around Keizer. Anything that sounds good is bad for me, and anything that is good for me sounds bad.

I'd love to be out riding right now instead of interviewing.

Hasta.

Day 86: I Was Just Being Average

Update: 217.0 lbs, 41.2 lbs so far, 38 lb Goal Reached Day 74. - 8.8 lbs to NEW 50 lb goal.

Huh. All this time I thought I had really been putting down the calories, and was embarrassed to say how many I'd consume in a day -- turns out, I was just being average. My numbers were high enough in the calorie take down, that I figured it was easy to see why I was putting on the pounds over the past 16 years, but it turns out...that's why everyone else is too!

According to The Diet Blog, the average daily caloric consumption for Americans in the year 2000 was 3817, which is up almost 1000 from 1961 when we consumed about 2800 calories a day. Add that together with the fact that so many conveniences and changes in the types of jobs we do have us moving less, and it's easy to see why so many of us are candidates to be the next Jenny Craig spokesperson. (Move over Kirstie, move over Valerie, comin' through....)

If you've been following along, you know a few basic math facts by now. About 3500 calories equals a pound of fat, either stored or burned, and each of us have an average daily number of calories we burn, based on size, age, gender, activity and a whole bunch of other things. Someone my age, size and activity level (before exercise) burns about 2400-2500 calories a day. In 1961, if I threw in just a half hour walk after dinner, I'd pretty much be able to maintain my weight. However, in the years 2000+, at 3800 calories, I'd be taking in enough calories to put on a couple pounds each month, without even thinking about it!

I've said it before, but it's so easy to fill up on $2 anymore, by driving through some place and getting a burger and fries for that much, or you can go the opposite extreme and visit Claimjumpers and have enough food to feed a volleyball team in one plate. I always appreciate sites like The Diet Blog, where you can see what some normal portioned sized meals look like. Not that everyone needs to eat 300-400 calorie meals, but it helps in getting some perspective.

Same thing is true with our weight. After dropping 40 lbs now, you'd think I'd just be happy as a pig in a poke, (are they really happy? and what is a poke?) but the reality is that I'm still considered OBESE! At 5'9" tall and 217 lbs, my BMI (body mass indes) is a 32. Anything over 30 is considered obese. IN FACT, this BMI calculator agress with my doctor, who once told me I should weigh in the 150-165 range to be average. So really, I guess I better plan to lose 100 lbs, and I'm not even half way there yet! Maybe I'll just be happy to hit 200 and see who loves the obese guys.

If you don't want to ruin your day with finding out that you may be overweight, or even OBESE like some of us, don't click this link and put in your stats. Ok, I warned you....

Hasta, Feliz Lunes.