5 POUNDS THIS WEEK HELLO 230s

It was a great weigh in tonight. So far I am continuing to lose weight in this new phase of the weight loss process. I am eating a little more but still trying to have some meal replacements and lots of fruits veggies and water. I ran and biked a lot this week and have a lot of activity planned for this weekend also. I am really hoping to be at my goal weight of 220 by the triathlon on May 5th.

One of the real cool things about this process has been the time I get to spend with God while running. This week I have been really blessed with some great insights that I hope to post more on later, but this is all for tonight. Just wanted to update the weigh in.

Big Weekend

What I am about to tell you would have sounded impossible to me just 6 months ago.

On Saturday morning I got up and met some friends downtown at a coffee shop with the owner of the local bike shop and some people that I just met Saturday in all there were about 20 of us that went out for a bike ride. I thought we were going for about 20 miles and ended up going about 40 MILES! What a way to start the day, it was pretty awsome and something that I would have been imtimitated to even think about trying to do just a few months ago. One of the people we rode with was a friend I had not seen in a long time from high school, I shook his and hand and he said "What happened Shump? Now it looks like shrunk Shump" I really hope that does not catch on, but the thought was nice. On Sunday afternoon I had my long run in preperation for the 1/2 marathon coming up in April. I ran 7 MILES on Sunday afternoon. It was a little hot and windy, but I made it through and actually felt pretty good. I slept very very well last night.

I felt more alive and satisfied all weekend and I have to believe that it is partly because of the activity and the hanging out with some like minded people. Airestotle said that true happieness is not contentment, but flourishing. No one is more content than a baby, but who wants to be a baby their whole life. He said that true happieness happens when the spiritual, physical, and mental aspects of our lives are flourishing. I have to belive that the physical part is really big for me, I just enjoyed the weekend more, little things like flying a kite with Kim and the girls seemed more exciting, what some would consider mundane did not seem mundane and I have the mindset that is achieved through a healthy lifestlye helps bleed over into other aspects of life. Or maybe it was that funny smelling greenish smoke we rode through coming out of a house on North Main, whatever the case it was a good weekend.

Couple new pics

I am not sure who that chick is I am with LOL, we have both changed a lot. Here are a couple of new ones. One is from the cruise we took back in 2003 I think and the other is me today at around 240 pounds.




BEFORE

Today

Amazing Week

I am not sure how it happened. I ate too much last weekend. I had Wendey's on Thursday night (burger) I had Strawberry's on Friday night (pork steak) and I had Fajitas on Saturday night. In between I had some brownie batter and a piece of red velvet cake. Yesterday I weighed and lost 4.6 pounds for the week!! I have a theory, it's called GUILT. I worked my rear off Sunday through Thursday and biked around 40 miles this week swam about 1000 yards and ran 20 miles or so and took in about 600 calories a day for Sunday through yesterday. I can say that after my run yesterday this weeks style of dieting is not good for working out. I was zonked. I am going to have to quit having a "free weekend" and then try and make up for it during the week because I am not fueling my workouts well enough. So this week I did have a little of Kim's poppyseed chicken last night, but back on the straight and narrow today and the rest of the weekend,so that my guilt does not get in the way of me eating properly for my workout schedule.

By the way the weight is now 241.4 and I plan on being in the 230's at this time next week!!

Quick Post

It is rare that I post this close to the weigh in for the week, which will come in a few short hours, but I was excited and had to share with someone, so I picked you. After a week that has seen me do some serious overeating on occastion, mostly last weekend, I have been afraid that I would gain or not lose at all this week. But I have righted the ship and if my scales are correct I should lose a little. But whatever the case my be, I am posting this so I can look back and not be dissapointed with a subpar weigh in today.
Over lunch I went to the mall and bought a new pair of shorts from American Eagle, a little trendy for my tast but hey I liked the cool plaid shorts what can I say. Anyway I tried on the 38s and they WERE TOO BIG! I have just purchased my first pair of 36s. I don't know if they run big, I don't care it says 36 and I am excited about that, wait it gets better. You can't buy a new pair of shorts and not have a shirt to go with it,but I did not want to look like I came out of an American Eagle catalog so I went down to Dillards to buy a t-shirt to go with the shorts. My wife has not signed off on my color combo, so you may never see me in this outfit, but the story remains the same. This morning I was looking through my closet for a shirt and I found a 4XL that is XXXXL, I think I am going to keep it as a reminder, but just a few minutes ago I bought not a XXXL, not an XXL, NOT EVEN AN XL! I just bought a LARGE shirt to go with my 36 pants.
Sorry for dragging this little shopping experiance out, but it's a big deal to me, these are goals that are being realized and that is pretty cool. I hope to be in the 230's by my birthday and close to that big 220 by the triathlon on May 5. I will report the numbers tonight or in the morning for this week.

Down another 2+

I weighed in last night at 245.6. I am pumped up about losing over 2 pounds again this week and looking forward to seeing the 230s soon. It is exciting to see the numbers continue to come down and the training for the 1/2 marathon going well. This brings the total in the last few months to over 110 pounds lost!! If you have time to check out my friends' who are losing weight and encourage them you can see their blogs at www.debbiecook.blogspot.com and tobysweightloss@blogspot.com

Today has been super busy and a lot going on, but I have had a lot of thoughts about this journey and some great runs this week. I hope I have time to post more later.

Great Weekend

On Saturday morning I biked 20 miles with some friends and then sat around and drank coffee at a coffee shop downtown. It was a great way to start off the day. I had a wonderful ride and it was really the first time out since I have lost so much weight, the hills seemed much easier. Then on Sunday I ran 6 miles. I ran the big loop around Craighead lake twice in 1 hour and 1 minute and a few seconds. I felt really really good about that time, I felt pretty tired afterwards, but I kinda pushed myslef and I like that.
Eating has been going great and I hope to edge down another couple of pounds this week. I will let you know Friday morning.

Don't forget to get an update at debbiecook.blogspot.com on Debbie's second week of the program.

UNDER 250!!

Mark it down, I no longer have to move the big weight over to the 250 on the medical scales. I weighed in at 248.4 this week. I am really really excited about that. For those of you who have been following along at home for the last year plus you may remeber I had some goals and prizes for myself when I reached certain goals. Let's take a trip down memory land
1) When I got under 350 I bought myslef a brand new pair of running shoes (Brooks Beast) still the brand I use,if they would like to contact my agent about an endoresement deal. I will run the Nashville 1/2 in Brooks Beast
2) When I made it under 300 I bought myslef a handy dandy new Specialized road bike. The very one I hope to take a little ride on early tomorrow morning.
3) I said when I got under 250 I was going to get me one of those cool Ironman scales that calculate body fat and BMI and all that good stuff. I am currently looking into that. But I have heard they are kind of a gimmick when it come to telling you anything but weight, and my current scale does a good job of that, so if I were to reward this new milestone with something else what should it be? I could use a new sports whatch/heart rate monitor, but I am not sure.
4) When I get to goal I said I was going to get a motorcycle, I am looking at the possability of making that a 4 door Jeep, but it may have to wait a while if I get to 220 anytime real soon.

It is cool to look back at some goals that were achieved. That has really been part of the key to success for this whole deal. I have taken some small wins and they have just snow balled and picked up momentum until all of a sudden I am looking at just 23 pound to goal!

My running has gone well this week and I have 6 miles on Sunday.

Thanks for all the support.

PICTURES AT LAST

At long last I am publishing pictures. I have not really wanted to until it was all over becasue most of the time you think of pics as before and after. After would mean it was over and I am still on the journey, so let's look at this pics as a progress report. I know in the pictures where I am larger, the one in the plaid shirt and the one as Shrek at Halloween were around 2 years ago or so at around 370 - 380 pounds, the one with the sat dish is after I had started losing weight and the one with Kiley and me is from yesterday at around 250 pounds.

I am not going to comment a lot here, but let the pics speak for themselves, but I do want to make one observation. I was larger and now I am a little smaller, no that is not really my comment. What has occured to me most is that I never really thought I was that large until I have gotten this small, does that make sense? In other words I did not picture myslef near as large as I was, even when I saw pictures of myslef, until I had something else to compare to, like the picture from yesterday. I don't think you ever realize you are addicted to something while you are in the middle of that wilderness, sometimes you have to take it from friends, family, or doctors even if you don't see it, and realize you will see it and wonder why it took so long.

Great Long Run Today

I feel like I have done a good job of staying on program this weekend and I had a great 5 mile run today. It was a little on the chilly side, but still a great day to be outside. I ran the outside loop at Craighead Lake(3 miles) and the inside loop around the lake (2.4 miles) in 55 minutes and a few seconds. This is a really big deal to me and I was really pumped about it. My pace is really picking up and I am getting more and more excited about Nashville. It at all possible I would like to be under 235 by the race (April 28) I should enter the 240s this week.
I hope to post some pictures soon, but I have realized that I have just not been in many pictures over the last couple of years and with two small children around, when I have a few minutes the first thing I do is not look for pictures, but I will try to get some before and along the way pics up soon.
Please continue to keep my friend Debbie in your thoughts and prayers as she is just starting this weight loss journey and I know how difficult it is in the first few weeks of this program. I know she will do GREAT!

Down 2

The weight is still coming off, not quite as fast, but hey I am not complaining. My running and swimming is going great and I am 1.7 pounds from the 240s. I will see them this week. My next major goal after that is 235, becasue that is when the BMI chart will tell my I am no longer obese. I know you are thinking that chart is wacked, but the doctor said that will be big sucuess and he said I could even stop there if I wanted to, but 220 sounds so much better. I will post more later. Thanks for caring.

Fruits, Vegetables, Lean Meats..oh my

I am really enjoying adding real food back into the diet. It is more challenging to control portion sizes, but this is going to be my real world so I better get used to it. I want to continue to lose weight, so I am still trying to limit my calories under what I would need to maintaine weight. The workouts are going well and I am really looking forward to the 1/2 marathon in April and the triathlon in May. The next weigh in is Thursday. I hope to report a loss of a couple of pounds, really what I am hoping for is about 3 pounds and be in the 240s!!

IT IS OFFICIAL I HAVE LOST OVER 100 POUNDS

101.7 to be exact. They actually hugged me at the weight loss center last night. I am pumped up about this milestone to say the least. If you count when I started this blog I have lost 128 pounds since August of 2005. Kim has told me recently that she never realized how big I was, but now that she goes back and looks at pictures compared to now, she is amazed. I am hoping to get some pics up of this whole journey very soon. I just stink at getting all that technology to work together, ok, I don't really, I just stink at getting the time to make it happen. I have bought another pair of 38 jeans because my 42 just got too big, so now I have two pair of jeans that fit. I think when it is all said and done I might be in 36s, who knows.

The workouts are going well and the long run this weekend is 5 miles, and I will do that on Sunday. I am close enough to the the 240s that I really want to have a good week and see those new numbers next week. There is something about not having to put the big sliding bar on 250 when you weigh on medical scales. I think I am just a week away from letting it stay on the 200!!

Thanks again for all the support, and encouragement, Kim and Carolyn, Greg and my Dad, and Dave and some chic from New York that made comments for awhile I have never met, and my mom who has done this along side me and been very successful herself. I am so blessed to have such a support group, and these are just the ones that come to mind from looking over the comments, there have been many more that have encouraged and I am very appreciative. It cannot be overlooked how big a part that plays and that is why I am asking you to help a couple of my Friend's

My friend Debbie is starting this same journey very soon on the same program and will have a blog and I will let you know the address as soon as I do. I know she can do it, but it is never easy, so be sure and look for way to encourage her. Also my friend Damon is about to go to Germany for back surgery and is going to blog at damonwright.blogspot.com he could use your support too. Be sure and check it out. It has been a long painful journey for him and hopefully he will fin relief very soon.

Thanks

I am in lust

Having lost a lot of weight and about 35 pounds from my goal I am pumped and I have always said that I wanted a motorcycle when I reached my goal. I think more level heads and that fact that I am the father of young children have prevailed and I will probably not go through with it.

But I do have a need to have what is left of my hair in the wind and some of the good things about a motorcycle, but in the safety of a four door jeep for the whole family. I think part of it is that I have always had big cars and trucks because I have always been big, but now that I am not as big for my next car I want to get something a little less big and a little more fun, so here is what i am in lust with!

It may be a while, but I love me some Jeep.

Thanks Debbie!

I was kindly reminded last night at house church by my good friend Debbie that I have not updated the blog in over a week. This would not be a big deal if I had not told all you faithful readers that I would keep you updated on the 1/2 marathon training. So here is your update.....I have been running a whole lot.

Really I have made all my workouts including 5 miles on Monday and a great swim workout yesterday with by buddy Von, a student at ASU. It was really tough to make up the workouts from this weekend while in Gatlinburg at the only Hampton Inn in the country without a workout facility and 4 inches on snow on the ground, but I have been able to make up those missed workouts.

I weighed this morning and it looks like I will have only lost a couple if any pounds over the last two weeks when I weigh in tomorrow. But with big celebrations at Upper Crust and Texas de Brazil, and a weekend in Gatlinburg all in that time period I have to say I feel like not gaining any weight is a victory. I don't want you to think that means I am happy where I am, I still will lose the last 35 pounds or so, but after 12 hard hard weeks I have enjoyed adding fruits and vegetables and the occasional indulgence.

One of the coolest things about this weight loss journey has been and continues to be how it has impacted the relationships I have with my friends and family. I am by no means saying that I am the inspiration to anyone who has decide to get healthier in the last 12 weeks, but I have found that when someone else is doing something it gets kind of contagious. That is how it started with me, I was looking at pictures of my cousin in a road race and thought, "man I have got to get back at it" Just yesterday my friend Russ Adcox read my blog and in his blog he went out and ran 3 miles www.russadcox.blogspot.com, and recommitted himself to some goals he had already set. I have gotten calls from men that go to church just to talk about weight loss, my dad has lost some weight(thanks to the succses of my mom), and my friend Debbie is starting the same program next week!! (GO DEBBIE!!) My friend Greg Brooks and I are still running, something we started together over a year ago and will go to Nashville together again. My wife and I are going to do a triathlon together, I get to workout with some of the college stud ens like Von. The fact that our friends Ryan and Angie are going to meet us for a triathon this summer, and firends Kevin and Jenny are going to go to Chattanooga to do a tri with us. I love getting in shape and losing weight, but as most of things that motivate me, the best part of this journey continues to be the relationships that have come from it and have been strenthened by it.

Quick Update

Like I have said I will not have an official weigh in till next Thursday, but things are going well and I think I have lost a couple of pounds this week on my scales. But the big news is that I bought a new pair of jeans today...they are size 38!!!( I started this at size 56) This pumps me up big time for some reason, there is something about being back in the 30's.

This weekend I am going to be out of town, but hope to continue on the 1/2 marathon plan on the hotel treadmill, I got 3 miles in yesterday and hope to swim this afternoon.

I will update again soon.

Reporting In

The last week has gone well. I have gotten in all my workouts and am staying on program. At this rate it looks like I will lose my 100th pound this week, but will not get an official weigh in till next Thursday because I will be out of town. Remember now that I am in maintanice my weigh-in day is Thursday.

My long run of 4 miles went great Sunday and I plan to run 3 today.

Workout

Yesterday was a beautiful day, it got up to 60 degrees. Kim and I ran a couple of miles and then I worked on some swim drills for a little while. Today the 1/2 marathon training plan call for a 3 mile run. Unfortunatly today is cold again, so on my way home from work I will stop off at the gym and knock it out.
The transition to maintance seems to be going well, no serious digestive problems with the veggies (or pizza on Monday) but I am trying to do the shakes only till Friday, we are going to eat at Texas de Brazil in Memphis! My next weigh in is supposed to be a week from tomorrow, but I just realized I will be out of town so it will be two weeks from tomrrow. I will keep you all up to date.

I Have Lost 97.6 Pounds in 12WEEKS!!

The first phase of the journey is over and it has been a great success. Kim invited our friend's to eat Pizza to celebrate and I want to thank them for coming and supporting me through the last 12 weeks. Thanks to Greg and Carolyn, Chris and Polly, Dan and Scarlett, and all their kids that came tonight. I still have 35 or so pounds to go, but it was great to have some real food again.

I also want to thank my cousins David and Cathy for their support on my blog and words of encouragement. They have meant a lot.

The most thanks go to Kim and Kiley and Robyn for putting up with me for the last 12 weeks. I know I have been a little on edge.

I cheated tonight with the Pizza, but I am back on shakes with some of the prepared foods from HMR and VEGETABLES starting tomorrow!! Then next week I get to add fruit. My weigh ins have been moved to Thursdays, so hopefully I will be able to report over 100 pounds lost. I will continue to update the 1/2 marathon and triathlon training daily or at least e couple times a week. I was supposed to run 3 today, but ran 5, so the training is off to a good start.

Today is the end of phase 1

Tonight I will weigh in and get my 12 week weight loss total. I am hoping I will be in the 250's, I can tell you it is going to be close. I will not be dissapointed if I come up a little short becasue I know that I am going to lose this last 40 pounds and if I come up one pound short today, it will come off next week. I am going to cheat tongight and have pizza. But I will not have an entire pizza like I would have 12 weeks ago, I may just have a couple of pieces, because I for sure want to stay on track and keep the numbers going down in the right direction.

Today starts the training program for the Nashville 1/2 marathon. So starting today I will update the blog with the workout for the day and how it went and all that good stuff. Today calls for running 3 miles, so that is what I will do this afternoon before I go weigh in tonight. I will try and get on tonight to post the final 12 week total.

Closer to 220 everyday!!