FatBloggers.net A little push to lose the tush.

**Cross-published on I Reject Your Reality& The (Pendleton) East Oregonian

Back in January I was asked to participate in a 12-week weightloss challenge pitting 6 people against each other to see who could move their body fat % the most. The six was made up of three from the local paper and three from the gym. At the end; one from the paper and two from the gym went the distance.

During the period from February 4 to April 27 I met with a personal trainer twice a week, went to the gym 4 more times on my own including one wicked cycle/aerobics class and I followed the WeightWatchers eating plan.

My goal from the get-go was to get a swift kick in the butt. I had floundered a bit through the winter, and I didn’t want to be another body on the New Years Resolution trash heap. Whether I win this thing or not, I hit that goal.

Anton, A drum roll please…

Weight
21.1 lbs. LOST

Body Fat % 
2% LOST

Inches
10.5 in. LOST (Waist -4″, Abdomen -3″, Hips -2.5″, Arms -0.5″/each)

**GOOD LUCK ROBERTA & JUSTIN!

My Personal Trainer said something last week that kinda irked me. She said, “As hard as you’re working, you should be losing alot more weight than you are”.

Since I began taking this weight loss thing seriously; I have always wanted the scale to move faster than it is, and it has been a tough job to keep going when the scale isn’t moving. Its that pesky American/Infomercial mentality… Lose 50 lbs in 5 days with this pill/drink/gadget/etc.!

All of us Weight Warriors, the ones that aren’t in the newspaper or posting their progress (or lack thereof) on a blog, look at the BIG PICTURE! What did you weigh ONE year ago (or ONE month)? I weighed 369 lbs on April 6, 2007… take the victories you have and celebrate them! NOT at Dairy Queen or with a pint of Ben & Jerry’s, but you can go to the store and try on some new clothes (you don’t have to buy them). Trust me, it will make you feel like a MILLION BUCKS!

Right now, I am wearing a new pair of size 46 pants, that is a FAR CRY from the 58’s I was wearing when I started. And my Doctor is saying that I am doing just fine. Slow and steady will keep it off in the long run. Take a look at the results below; 13 lbs (divided by) 9 weeks = 1.4 lbs/week… not bad.

Let us not forget, that I have lost 88 lbs since I began this project in December 2006!

Anton, A drum roll please…

Week 0 - 317.2 lbs. (02/04/08)
Week 1 - 312.9 lbs.
Week 2 - 311.7 lbs.
Week 3 - 308.0 lbs.
Week 4 - N/A
Week 5 - 307.3 lbs.
Week 6 - 305.1 lbs.
Week 7 - N/A
Week 8 - 306.9 lbs.
Week 9 - 304.4 lbs. (04/07/08)

Total Loss - 12.8 lbs.

**Cross-published on I Reject Your Reality… & The (Pendleton) East Oregonian

I went out of town to visit the in-laws over Spring Break and missed 2 of my personal trainer sessions and therefore last weeks weigh-in. I did try to work in some exercise while in Ontario, including going to the gym I used to belong to when I lived there. I won’t say which one, but let’s just say that it hasn’t made any forward movement in the last 5 years.

Since being back home, I have made it to the RAC 3 times. I guess with all the Cadbury mini-eggs around, it could have been much worse. I really wanted to break 300 by the end of March.

Oh well… It will be soon… very soon!

Anton, A drum roll please…

Week 0 - 317.2 lbs. (02/04/08)
Week 1 - 312.9 lbs.
Week 2 - 311.7 lbs.
Week 3 - 308.0 lbs.
Week 4 - N/A
Week 5 - 307.3 lbs.
Week 6 - 305.1 lbs.
Week 7 - N/A
Week 8 - 306.9 lbs. (03/31/08)

Total Loss - 11.0 lbs.

Pain is weakness leaving the body.

**Cross-published on I Reject Your Reality… & The (Pendleton) East Oregonian

Here we are at Week 6, the Half-way point of this little competition. After the Week 4 check-in, I was trailing Justin in the # of pounds lost. From what I hear, he is really going after it. A little bird told me that he is running a 2-mile road course. (WOW) There is a possibility that his PT was just telling me this while trying to convince me to sign up for the RAC’s half-marathon in May… I don’t think I am there yet. And Roberta is tearing it up on the racquetball court, I get the impression that she is an animal on the court.

As it is the 1/2 way point, Mikki told me that next week there will be a bodyfat analysis to get a true measure of this competition. I guess I’ll have to take it easy on the chocolate bunnies and jelly beans.

After all, it’s the bodyfat percentage that earns one of us a dinner at Hamley’s.

Anton, A drumroll please…

Week 0 - 317.2 lbs. (02/04/08)
Week 1 - 312.9 lbs.
Week 2 - 311.7 lbs.
Week 3 - 308.0 lbs.
Week 4 - N/A
Week 5 - 307.3 lbs.
Week 6 - 305.1 lbs.

Total Loss - 12.1 lbs.

Pain is weakness leaving the body.

**Cross-published on I Reject Your Reality… & The (Pendleton) East Oregonian

You could have probably guessed by my lack of posting here that life has been pretty hectic. But then again, who’s isn’t?I continue to plug along with my various sources of accountability and motivation on this life project. Mikki, my Personal Trainer for this particular project, has been ruthless but also encouraging. She makes sure to tell me when I’m making improvements as well as spurring me to try new things and to never give up. Apparently, during our session today I made a face while executing the 145th leg press that showed determination/pain that she interpreted as a not nice thought. It really wasn’t. It was the look of forcing another chunk of weakness out of my body.

There really wasn’t an official weigh-in last week due to the aforementioned hectic life. But that’s ok, because I think that it was UP and we are moving right along (grin).

Anton, A drumroll if you please…

Week 0 - 317.2 lbs.
Week 1 - 312.9 lbs.
Week 2 - 311.7 lbs.
Week 3 - 308.0 lbs.
Week 4 - N/A
Week 5 - 307.3 lbs.

Total Loss - 9.9 lbs.

Pain is weakness leaving the body.

**Cross-published on I Reject Your Reality… & The (Pendleton) East Oregonian

I feel like CRAP!

I haven’t been eating right, I haven’t been blogging, I haven’t been to the gym but once since last Wednesday, but it is still weigh-in day for the warriors. So off I go to the RAC, with a dose of Tylenol Daytime Cough & Cold in my system.

The first thing Mikki says, “Geez John. You look like crap”. Thanks, I feel like I look. I told her that everything in me said to stay home, sit in front of the TV and sniffle. I know that you are thinking the same thing. When you don’t feel like working out, don’t, stay at home and when it passes, then go back to the gym. Wrong! Mikki says that you should do what you can to get your heart rate elevated. Getting that blood pumping actually increases the immune systems of your body. But, before I got by blood pumping… I stepped on the scale.

Anton, A drumroll if you please…

Week 0 - 317.2 lbs.
Week 1 - 312.9 lbs.
Week 2 - 311.7 lbs.
Week 3 - 308.0 lbs.

Total Loss - 9.2 lbs.

Pain is weakness leaving the body.

–Mikki McGirr, Personal Trainer

**Cross-published on I Reject Your Reality & The (Pendleton) East Oregonian

Mikki has me on 4 different workout routines, 3 or them are what I would call traditional, the 4th is based on resistance bands. I was telling her this afternoon that I’m not a fan of the ‘rubber bands’ because I felt like I had ‘failed’ at every exercise. Plus, I am your average 6′2″ 300+ lbs uncoordinated oaf and the rubber bands don’t account for that. She agreed, but encouraged me to keep trying.

That is the last thing I want to do, give up. I have come far, just about half-way to my ultimate goal. So I appreciate her encouragement.

Today, with the beginning of Week 2, I was back on Workout #1. There was a whole lot about the workout that is challenging, but according to Mikki, I showed gains in strength in all areas of the routine.

It’s Monday, that’s weigh-in day for me…

Week 0 - 317.2 lbs.
Week 1 - 312.9 lbs.
Week 2 - 311.7 lbs.

Total Loss - 5.5 lbs.

Pain is weakness leaving the body.

–Mikki McGirr, Personal Trainer

**Cross-published on I Reject Your Reality… & The (Pendleton) East Oregonian

Just for a little clarification, I am posting results for 3 fitness/weightloss programs that I am following.

• Weight Watchers - Tuesday nights
• Total Transformation - Sundays
• Weight Warriors - Monday

So if you see differing numbers, it is only because I am using the numbers from a specific scale in each circumstance. Consistency, people! That will get you through any challenge. Just like the tortoise… slow and steady wins the race!

When I entered this challenge, the #1 thing I needed was a swift kick in the pants. So far, it has been. My Personal Trainer is great; she’s challenging, she’s encouraging and best of all she is good at pushing me hard enough to make me sore the next day, but not too much.

One of the things that you read in some of the good fitness magazines is that if you go out and kill yourself in the gym, the chances of being successful is slim. All those people you saw at the gym the first 2 weeks of the year… they jumped in too hard and it hurt, they could barely get out of bed or lift their arms. So they decided that it wasn’t worth it. If it’s done right, it is very much worth it. And the pain feels GOOD!

My PT says… Pain is weakness leaving the body. 

OK… Anton, a drum roll please…

Week 0 - 317.2 lbs.

Week 1 - 312.9 lbs.

TOTAL LOST - 4.3 lbs!

According to my scale at home, I have already lost 2 lbs since Tuesday. I owe part of that to my personal trainer, Mikki. I get 2 sessions per week as a part of the Weight Warriors challenge. Let me tell you, she is wonderfully brutal. She has me doing exercises that I had never tried before. Guys, I did ‘assisted’ pull-ups! I’ve NEVER been able to do one, so I hadn’t tried the assisted version. Another exercise that I was shocked I could perform, triceps push-ups. Ooh, both burn GOOD!

Here is what Mikki wrote about me in her blog:

We began on Monday, the beginning of the beginning. John did awesome, he put out the effort to meet each and every challenge I gave him. Each rep and set was tough but he stuck with it, soreness and all. John has a visual goal, so we are using heavier weights and less reps. We begin with 15 minutes of a cardio warm-up, next is the strength training session followed by an additional 30 minutes of cardio. He was instructed to add another day in between to round out a 3 day strength training week as well as 45-60 minutes of cardio on the off days, totalling 6 days per week. This schedule is not for the weak at heart, but John is ready to rock and roll.

The reason I haven’t been going anywhere recently, according to Men’s Health magazine, was that my body was bored. With Mikki cracking the whip… my body isn’t bored anymore!

A few weeks back the owner/manager of my gym, The Roundup Athletic Club, told me about this challenge between folks from the gym and staffers at the local paper, the East Oregonian.

The challenge will last for 12-weeks (Feb. 4 - Apr. 28) with weekly personal trainer time and a ‘micro-fit’ (a computerized evaluation of your body composition and overall health). The papers’ involvement in this would be a 12-week feature in the paper and online, where we all (participants and trainers) will write a blog.

When I told The Wife about this, she asked if I was ready for all of Pendleton and Umatilla County to know the details of my weight loss journey. I reminded her that I had been posting the ups and downs of that struggle and others here and on I Reject Your Reality…. She replied, “Yeah, but how many of those people actually know you?”

Good Point…

For all the locals that are looking at this for the first time… welcome.

Pictured at right are 5 of 6 Pendleton participants (L to R), Wendy DelPaz (EO General Manager), Dave Sager (EO Deputy Managing Editor), Justin Chartrey (EO Sports Writer), Yours Truly and (seated) Roberta Lavadour (Executive Dir. Pendleton Center for the Arts), not pictured Breana Anderson (BMCC Student). See how sad and grumpy we all look? This is our ‘before’ picture. 12-weeks from now we will be happy and buff!

I never asked, because I’m in this thing for the intangibles, but one of the other participants asked, is there was a prize for the winner loser? The answer was rather unclear during the meetings, until I read it in the Sunday paper. The winner loser will get a $200 dinner for 4 at the Hamley Steakhouse! How appropriate! For the record… I LOVE Hamley’s!

Cross-published on I Reject Your Reality…