This update is for the week of February 23rd to February 27th.

Weekend Update: It turned out to be a “long” weekend for me. I took my son for a haircut and McD’s on Saturday, and had a burger and salad. Additionally, we spent Saturday night and Sunday at my wife’s parent’s house, where I ate waay too much. Taco’s Saturday night, cereal/donuts Sunday morning, barbeque Sunday night (see previous entry) followed by pie.

Week In: Was unable to weight since I was not here… (scales at home are worthless)

Monday: Didn’t do bad, food wise… had a foot-long veggie sub. May have gone overboard with the dill pickle pringles and bowl of ice cream with strawberries and thin mint cookies. lol! Still, that was pretty much all I ate all day. Did not exercise. Tuesday: Did not exercise again. My foot is still sore, so on cold days that I’m not at work, I’m a bit at a loss. Had oatmeal for breakfast, Arby’s for lunch, and red beans and rice for dinner. I don’t think I went overboard, which is a good thing. But it’s just SO hard to avoid fast-food.

Did not exercise . My foot is still sore, so on cold days that I’m not at work, I’m a bit at a loss. Had oatmeal for breakfast, Arby’s for lunch, and red beans and rice for dinner. I don’t think I went overboard, which is a good thing. But it’s just SO hard to avoid fast-food.Wednesday: Oatmeal for breakfast. Worked out (weights) and weighed… 223.8! Somehow - I’m not sure how - I managed to drop 1.5lbs. Of course, that could’ve been water weight. Had yogurt for lunch, soup and sandwich for dinner. I’m hoping I’m still down on Friday, but the lifting probably pumped me back up after being off for four days. I REALLY need to lay off the fast food and chips/crackers. I did successfully avoid the donuts at home, though (and yes, I saw them)!

Thursday: Oatmeal for breakfast, no lunch, lasanga for dinner (thanks Cindy!). Lots going on at work, so did not work out.

Friday: Oatmeal/coffee for breakfast, sandwich/apple for lunch, hotwings/beer for dinner. Managed to work in my weights.

Week Out: 223.4

I managed to lose 2lbs since my last “official” weigh-in, so I’m on track. Hopefully I can sustain it through the weekend!

No, that was NOT my nickname in high school. It was what I ate WAAAY too much of at Emily’s parents house this afternoon. Pork barbeque, two kinds of tater salad, homemade mac-n-cheese, and two kinds of pie. I’m still full, and I ate over 6 hours ago and have sat the throne twice! I won’t be at work tomorrow, so I guess I’ll have to wait ’til Tuesday to see what kind of damage I did on the scales. And that’s not accounting for Saturday night’s taco dinner. Props to my mother and father in-law for such good meals this weekend. =)

Now it’s time to get serious. I just put $30 down on a tux rental and bought some new Wranglers. It would REALLY suck if neither fit me come May. I’m sticking to my 25lb goal, but I think I made it a tid-bit harder on myself this weekend. I DID get my hair cut, though, so that should account for at least a pound. lol! Maybe I’ll fast tomorrow to balance it out. Think I can make it through a whole day on nothing but Coke Zero?

This update is for the week of February 16th to February 20th.

Weekend Update: Overall I didn’t do bad… not as bad as some weekends. lol! We went to my parent’s house for lasagna dinner on Sunday, so I had more than my fill. No real exercise, as I’m still fighting my foot problems. It was a good “last meal” to get back on the right track, though. =)

Week In: 225.3

Monday: This week is, of course, my “rededication” week. Today I went down to the gym and did my usual M/W/F weights and light cardio workout. Had a light lunch and dinner. Put away the last of the strawberry pretzel “salad” my mom made on Sunday (at least, my share) and two “miniature” cupcakes, un-iced. The sugar in the redhots I got for Valentines Day is probably going to kill me for a week. LOL!

Tuesday: Hit the fitness center for 30 minutes on the bike. Did not eat so well today, though I didn’t eat a lot. Just not quality stuff. Avoided the cupcakes. =P

Wednesday: Had a big meeting today, so had the “turkey sandwich, chips, cookie” boxed lunch deal. Hit the weights per my normal M/W/F routine. Had to work late, so we ended up with pizza for dinner. That didn’t help… but still avoided the cupcakes! lol!

Thursday: Despite my best efforts, I’m still not doing as well as I’d like with my eating habits. I’m not snacking, but I’m having a hard time getting in good meals. Of course, given that it was free, I had a bigger lunch than usual yesterday. I almost did today, too. Someone had leftover pizza from meeting… lots of big ‘ol slices with everything. I was about to put a couple of slices on my plate, but decided instead to pass. That’s progress! lol! Instead, I had my usual “yogurt, fruit, and crackers” lunch. Went to the fitness center for some more time on the bike.

Friday: I lifted a few weights really fast just to keep the motion and burn steam, but I didn’t change clothes or break a sweat. I also had a crappy lunch… someone here had a birthday party and there was a ton of food in the break-room (sandwhiches, cheese/crackers, eggrolls, chips/dip, etc.). It was just a sucky day for many reasons, which I won’t get into right now.

Week Out: I did not weigh in today. Just a guess, but I’m going to call this week a wash. I actually didn’t do bad this week. There is a lot of room for improvement, but I didn’t hog-out either. I found myself making good decisions (passing on pizza, cupcakes, etc.) and bad ones (eating eggrolls, etc.). My foot is feeling a little better, so I’m hopeful by next week I’ll be able to pick up the pace a bit. I’m out on Monday, so I’ll weigh-in on Tuesday next week.

Time for a little status update! As of my last post on this matter back in October, I had dropped my weight a total of 32lbs to 228 (12.5%). That was from my mid-June high of 260lbs. Following that post, I went on to win my weight challenge at work, having dropped a total of 29.6lbs from the beginning of the challenge (late June) to the end (Jan. 9th). Though I got as low as 223 before Christmas, my final weight was 226lbs for an 11.6% total reduction. Not bad!

I admit that since the challenge ended, I’ve “cut loose” a bit. I have NOT stopped exercising, which has held me generally steady, but my eating habits have gone a bit off course. Since January, my weight has fluctuated between 224 and 228. As of yesterday, I am at 225. I’m happy with that, but not satisfied. I am lifting more weights (currently benching 205), so that accounts for some weight-gain. But when I started this mission, I stated that my goals were to weigh 215 by Thanksgiving, 210 by the end of December, and 200 by the end of May. Unfortunately, I missed the first two goals, and that frustrates me. Granted, it’s hard to lose weight over the holidays. But I can do better. I’m not done.

So this post is my “reaffirmation” of my stated end-goal. I fully intend to hit 200 by May 31st. Starting at 225, that means I need to lose 25lbs in 105 days (starting yesterday). That’s roughly 8.5lbs per month. I can do that! Again, I am still excercising as much as I can (despite continued foot problems). And soon, I hope, the weather will break and I will be able to start riding horses again. That means my primary obstruction is my eating habits. I have “behaved myself” before, and I can do it again.

At this time, I plan to post an update each Friday to this site that outlines my weight beginning the week (”In”) and my weight exiting the week (”Out”). I’ll also update any highlights, such as days I’ve fallen off the wagon, or any other significant changes. Please check back, and pass the word! I need all the support I can get! =)

I’m starting to become frustrated with all this government stimulus talk on both the State and Federal levels. It seems to me that these packages “stimulate” everything but me. I’ll be honest… it’s not that I’m in dire straits right now. But times are harder right now for everyone. Things cost more money, and it seems everyone and his cousin has a finger in my paycheck for Federal taxes, State taxes, county taxes, city fees that are a tax even though they are called a fee… etc. The dollar certainly doesn’t go as far today as it did even 5 years ago. Heck, even the price of a stamp is going up (again!) by 2 cents in May.

So why am I annoyed by the stimulus packages? Because I keep reading about things that will have little or no bearing upon my current status. For example:

• Indiana’s stimulus gives “education grants to unemployed Hoosiers”. Well, I took out personal loans, got my education, and paid them back on my own dime. If these folks want an education, why shouldn’t they do the same?
• The Senate bill (Federal) would make the first $2,400 in unemployment benefits tax-free. Why not the first $2,400 in EMPLOYMENT benefits? Just because I’m not unemployed does not mean things aren’t tight. We ALL need a break right now.
• The Senate bill wants to provide a $15,000 tax break to FIRST-TIME homebuyers. But what about those of us who purchased our homes and have been faithfully making payments? Aren’t we the ones who have been keeping things afloat while many of those who bought in over their heads have languised on interest-only loans?
• The Senate wants to give tax credits to folks who purchase (new) American-made cars. So if a Honda is made in Indiana, does that qualify it as “American made”? Or would it only apply to cars made by the “Big 3″? A seperate amendment would let those who buy a car (assumedly any brand) in 2009 deduct the sales tax and loan interest payments… but who can afford a car right now?

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I’ve found a new hobby! And probably to the shock of my dad, it involves getting dirty! Of course, not in HIS sense of getting dirty. That would be me digging a ditch or a post-hole so I could build a barn or put a bird house on a pole or something. I’ve been often accused of not liking to get dirty, but that’s not true! I can tolerate “dirty work” if I enjoy what I’m doing (e.g. riding horses). But of course, THIS has nothing to do with work…

Like a few of my other hobbies over the years, I have to blame my friend Troy for this one. Prior to October 2008, riding a 4-wheeler is not something I had really thought much about. I’d ridden his a time or two around the farm, but I had never “gone 4-wheeling”. Not in the true sense of travelling somewhere to ride a marked trail. But it sounded fun! So when the opportunity came along last October to go on a 4-wheeling trip to West Virginia, I was game!

I’ve written before about how I am somewhat of a “hobby-jumper”. Perhaps it’s the appeal of and desire to try new things that causes my interests to drift. Of course, usually I stick with a hobby unless something gets in the way of it. For example, road cycling was fun until I was hit by a Jeep. I picked up mountain biking, but I crashed too much and was too unbalanced to stick with it for long (but I still ride the bike!). I enjoy playing guitar, but my fingertips crack badly and it hurts to play sometimes. I really love working with horses, but finances got in the way of that one for years. I’ve recently renewed that hobby, though, and hope to show cutting horses this year. And hey… I’m still driving and working on my truck!

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