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With my running days officially behind me, I’ve needed to come up with a good cardio workout that’s easy on my joints and that I can do outdoors for much of the year.  I do live in the Pacific Northwest, after all.  My next choice would be bicycling.  So, I decided to tune up my Diamondback Voyager I that I purchased back in 1999.  I rode that thing quite a bit the first few years I had it, but lately it’s just been sitting gathering cobwebs.  Funny how my disuse of that bike coincided with my weight gain.  Here’s a picture of my ride; it’s amazing I was able to find a picture of it on the net.  Same color and everything.  Anyway, I’ve taken it for a couple of spins now, and so far so good.  I’m using different muscles than I was running, but my CV endurance is definitely there as a result of my previous workouts. 

I’ll do this for the rest of the season, until the weather turns cruddy some time in October/November, then I’ll figure something else out.  Until then, though, this will help me keep my weight down as I turn to maintenance in the next few weeks.

Another great week for me. I lost 4 pounds which puts me at 265. The past three weeks have me on an incredible high, but I am starting to dread the plateau that I am sure is right around the corner.

This is the first time in the past 10 years that I have managed to keep up with eating healthy and exercising at the same time. I hope that by continuing the combination I can stave off the plateau for a while longer.

Have a great weekend everybody.

Tony
6/27: 265 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
45 lbs. to go

P.S.

If you are looking for a healthier alternative for grilling out this weekend, check out my recipe for Hawaiian Turkey Burgers and Grilled Yams. They were a big hit with my family on Wednesday night.

Well, it’s time to finally comes to grip with it all.  My bid for a comeback has fallen a bit short, so I’m officially done with Couch to 5k.  After taking a day off yesterday, I went out this morning to see how it would feel on the track.  I stretched out well and started out at quite an easy pace.  I wasn’t even to the end of Johnny Lang’s “Still Rainin’”, though, before all heck broke loose and the tendons in my right ankle were demanding that I stop…or else. 

But this isn’t totally unexpected, I suppose.  I’m 40, and even at my ideal weight, I’m still hovering just under 250 pounds.  My 6′5″ frame just isn’t made for this kind of thing.  And on the bright side, my running regimen has helped me drop some weight and get in better shape than I’ve been since college.  It’s just not a long term option for me.

So, it’s time to find another cardio workout.  I’m going to do some work on my bike and get that ready to go.  Biking should be a lot easier on my joints.  I can do that until well into the fall when the weather starts getting nasty, then we’ll figure it out from there. 

I should start expecting this. According to my tracking charts, I have an ‘up tick’ every 6-7 weeks.

I was hoping for a bit more positive news as we head out on vacation. Heading out to Montana for my best friends wedding… no gym, eating at restaurants and lots of driving. I will do my best to be back on track for my next weigh in on July 5th.

Undaunted.. I press on… Anton, a drum roll please…

Starting Weight (Dec. 22, 2006) – 392 lbs.
Starting BMI – 51.7
Weight Today (June 26, 2007) – 345.8 lbs.
Current BMI – 45.6

Weight Change This Week +3.2
Total Loss – 46.2 lbs.
NEXT Goal – 330 lbs. by Labor Day
(15.8 lbs to go!)

Cross-published on Rejected Reality

I’m down 1.6 pounds this week, for a grand total of 54.4 pounds lost since March 6.  I’m just 2.2 pounds away from my goal weight, so we’ll see if we get there next week.

Couch to 5k:  I’ve got some tendons in my 40-year-old ankle screaming out in protest from the beating that I’m giving them every other day.  They’re pretty tight for the first mile or so of my run, then loosen up reasonably for the rest of my run.  After I cool down, though, they’re hurting more than before.  I could go to the doctor, but I KNOW what he’s going to say about that one.  I’m considering whether or not I should even try this 5k in three weeks.  It’s a mountain I’d definitely like to get over.

Unrelated to this blog, but worth reporting anyway:  You probably know by now that the Oregon State Beavers claimed their second College World Series crown in a row on Sunday night, defeating the North Carolina Tarheels 9-3.  They trailed just one half of one inning the entire series.  If you’re not a Beaver fan by now, you sure need to be.  Somehow I don’t think Darwin Barney is going to need FatBloggers.net anytime soon, but just in case, it’s nice to know we’re standing by.  Ok, that’s the FatBloggers tie-in that justifies the mention.

Other news:  I was in WalMart today, and saw a display of Alli, which is the latest over-the-counter weight loss drug to hit the market.  Apparently, it’s quite popular right now.  I’ll just quote from Greg Todd to describe this stuff to you:

Have you heard about Alli, the latest craze in weight loss fads?  It’s pronounced like “ally”, and it’s apparently flying off the shelves all over America.  And that’s despite the side effects, which include powerful, loose stools.  And gas with “an oily discharge.”  The manufacturer even recommends that users wear dark pants and bring a change of clothes to work with them.  That’s nice.  Ewww – what’s that smell?  Did Jane just lose another pound?

Uh…no thanks.  I’ll just stick with my three pounds a week average at Weight Watchers.  I like to make it through the day with just one pair of pants.

A friend of mine competed in an Iron Man Triathlon over the weekend and finished 32nd over all. 5th in his age group! He has now qualified for the Koan Iron Man in Hawaii this spring.

His amazing feat and Rick’s last post, got me thinking about the number of calories burned during an Iron Man. So I did a little calculating. By my estimates, if I were to complete an Iron Man in under 11 hours, I would burn 13425 calories. I know there is no way I would be able to complete an Iron Man but hyopthetical speaking, 13425 calories in 10 hours? That is insane!

To put it into perspective, last week from Friday to Wednesday I only ate 11261 calories.

So next time you see a triathlete nearing the finish line, don’t give them a tiny paper cup filled with water, give them a ham and cheese hoagie with the works. They need it!

Speaking of Iorn Man, check out the Bad Plus version of Iorn Man sometime. You’ll be amazed at how well Black Sabbath translates to jazz.

Tony
6/26: 269 lbs.
Goal: 220 lbs.
49 lbs. to go

Cross published on Guess How Much I Weigh

Several weeks ago, I made a post on what it would take to lose a pound of fat. It seems that is a popular way to gauge the enormity of what all of us are doing here. This site calculates more information that you probably wanted to know about just what you have accomplished.

So far, I have lost a bit over 49 pounds. When I input that info, I find out that:

Cutting 171,500 calories would be like saying no to:

To burn 171,500 calories, it took:

All in all, a pretty impressive accomplishment.

Greetings all,

My name is Tony.

Here’s my quick bio:
I am 33 years old. I am married to my soul mate. I have two beautiful 18-month old daughters. I am a copywriter at an ad agency in Minneapolis, MN. I am 5′11 and as of this morning I weigh 269 pounds.

I have struggled with my weight ever since graduating from college, but over the last two years things have really gotten out of hand. While my wife was pregnant with our girls I sort of adopted her diet. A diet that was fine for a women who was eating for three, not so fine for someone eating for one. By January of this past year I was up to 288 pounds.

In the past six months I have yo-yo’d around. Eating healthy then binge eating then eating healthy again. I think I am finally ready to get serious. Part of getting serious has been telling my family and friends about my problem and asking for their help. That’s what brought me here as well.

Thank you Rick for inviting me to this site. I look forward to getting to know all of you better.

If anyone is intrested I am blogging daily about my ups and downs here. I am a writer though, so some of my post can get a little wordy.

Tony

Two weeks ago, I made the 10% benchmark.

Last week was a little lackluster.

This week… I kicked it in the butt!

Anton, a drum roll please…

Starting Weight (Dec. 22, 2006) – 392 lbs.
Weight Today (June 21, 2007) – 342.6 lbs.

Weight Lost This Week – 8.4 lbs.
Total Loss – 49.4 lbs.
NEXT Goal – 330 lbs. by Labor Day
(12.6 lbs to go!)

Cross-published on Rejected Reality

Pacific Northwest Summer Pita

Ingredients:

• Pita bread (2 oz. size)
• 2 oz. light cream cheese
• 1/4 cup finely chopped apple
• 2 oz. deli ham
• fresh green spinach leaves

Top pita bread with ingredients in order given.  Roll closed.  Or, open pita shell and serve open.  300 calories.  7 Weight Watchers points.  Add a Full Sail Amber for only 3 additional WW points.