60 Days, 30lbs - Day 8 304lbs

So I have good news and bad news. The good news, as you can tell from the title, is that I've lost three pounds. The bad news is that I ONLY lost three pounds! I was really hoping to lose at least 5 pounds a week. I guess I should be happy that I didn't gain weight - the pickles must be working for me.

The other good news is that I know why I only lost three pounds - I really didn't work out faithfully. I probably only legitimately worked out four of the seven days this week. The bad news is that I REALLY hate working out - even if Lady Gaga is helping me.

I think I also did a little cheating this week, too. I didn't eat terrible things, just sometimes more than I should have of the good things - take for example, those yummy chocolate rice cakes. I would also eat too many yogurts or grab too many sting cheeses to curb that hunger feeling.

Oh well, at least I lost weight rather than gain. At least when I stand on the scale, it actually registers a number as opposed to OL which I can only take to mean OH LORD (This guy is really heavy)! Or, you know, Over Limit. Whatever.

I had fun with my cousin today. We've been having game nights once a month, but that time for fun is almost over. She's graduating at the end of the month and then moving back to Idaho. I'm going to miss the game nights because they are such a joy! Hey, is there anyone out there (who lives near me) that loves playing board games? If you're too competitive, it's all good because so is my cousin. (Don't deny it, Jessica!) I am now taking applications. If you're cute and gay, that is a plus!!

60 Days, 30lbs - Day 4

The past couple mornings I again woke up at 4:30 but just couldn't drag myself out of bed to work out. To be fair, though, I did work out for 40 minutes last night while watching the Dancing with the Stars results show - reminding me once again why I hate results shows and why I should never work out while watching them. At one point after saying that the next results would be given after the commercial break, after announcing a safe couple that even deaf and blind people already knew were safe, Tom Bergeron said, "I know, I am a tease". Mr Host, I have another name for it!

This morning I was almost in an accident. Every morning I drive to Edmonds--about twenty minutes north of Seattle--and on the drive back, I take the carpool lane. Despite me being the only one on the bus, the law states that buses may lose the lane at all times. When I am in the lane, I rarely go above 55 MPH simply because it just isn't safe! When traffic is halted in the other lanes, the threat of last-minute, impatient drivers who swerve into the carpool lane to avoid the wait quadruples. That is what happened. I saw that traffic was stopped ahead so I slowed to around 45. When I was about 5 car lengths back from her, a stupid, stupid, STUPID driver swerved into the carpool lane in front of me--with only one click warning from her turn signal. I did three things at the same time: I hit the brakes, I hit the horn on my steering wheel, and I hit the air horn. If that didn't send a message, then nothing will. I avoided hitting her, but as I cursed her very existence all the way back to base, I wondered how satisfying it would have been to just hit her and get one more dipshit driver off the road--if only for a couple hours.

60 Days, 30lbs - Day 2

Last night before going to bed I made a deal with myself. I set my alarm clock for 5:00am as usual, but I decided that if I woke up before then, I would get up and try to get a workout in. I woke up this morning right at 4:30, so I got out of bed and got started on Richard Simmon's Blast and Tone.

I made this deal because I knew that if I go to SMC rehearsal tonight, then it would be more difficult to workout today because I really hate working out in the middle of the day - sweat being a major factor when you're a big guy like me. Sure, I can take a shower, but that means using more water and I'm already paying for part of my neighbor's water use. In our building, they take the total usage of water for all four apartments and divide it by 4, despite the fact that two people are living in the apartment across the hall from me.

The workout went well, actually. It kinda woke me up, too. I noticed that I was yawning less on my morning route, at least. I might consider getting up early for workouts more often. I'm not sure if I could get up at 4:00am to make the trek to the workout room for an elliptical machine workout, but who knows.

I know I said I wasn't going to weigh myself everyday, but I did weigh myself this morning. I had actually gained 1/2 a pound from yesterday, but my scale also tracks body fat and according to that reading, my body fat has gone down 5%. If that fat became muscle, I can live with that, even if it didn't lose me any pounds.

60 Days, 30lbs - Day 1 307lbs

I recently started watching Kirstie Alley's Big Life on A&E and she has inspired me. The show is about her efforts to lose weight along with her chubby buddy Jim and, I have a feeling, hawk her new weight loss supplement program. Still, I have been enjoying the show and there have been many times when I sighed while looking at myself in the mirror or groaned while bending over to tie my shoes or huffing and puffing up a hill or staircase. The other day I dropped my keys on the way home from work and I seriously began wondering if there was a window open I could climb through.

I weighed myself today and I'm at 307 pounds. Scary, isn't it?! Not nearly as scary as the "before" pictures I just took that I'll be posting to this blog.

I have decided that enough is enough! I am hoping to sing in the next Seattle Men's Chorus concert, the first of which is June 25th - two months from today, roughly 60 days. So I have set a goal for myself: I am going to lose at least 30 pounds in 60 days. That puts my goal weight (for this project) at 247 pounds.

I know I can do it because back in 2006 I lost 50 pounds. My brother Matt told me about the weight watchers point system and I applied it to my life. I worked out every day(ish) on the elliptical machine at the YMCA and occasionally threw in this Richard Simmon's workout video called Blast and Tone that is done with weights.

So I'm going to do it again. It's funny, but I almost typed in "try" but I had a Yoda moment: Do or do not. There is no try. *cough* GEEK! *cough*

So that's my goal and my plan. The reason I am going to blog this (and post hideous before pics) is because unlike Kirstie Alley, I do not have a chubby buddy. Nor do I have a personal trainer or millions of dollars to invest in a weight loss supplement. But I figure that if anyone reads this blog, they can help keep me in check and hold me accountable.

I checked Kirstie Alley's website and I can't even afford to purchase her diet supplement. I don't need it, though. I just need to eat less and exercise more. Thankfully I have 24 hour access to the workout room at my apartment complex which has my favorite workout tool, the elliptical machine. That machine is a serious treasure. If there was a fire, I would run over to the workout room and pull that thing to safety.

I'm also going to do that Richard Simmon's workout DVD I have, Blast and Tone. It is great because by using the weights, it helps you build some muscle and it also has a great (although brutal) abs section.

So that's my plan. Hopefully I can blog daily about my progress, though I think I'm going to limit weigh ins to once a week. I'll go crazy if I weigh myself daily. So if you are reading this, send me some encouragement, because I'll need it!

Oh, I just finished a workout on the elliptical machine for 40 minutes. That's why I look so terrible in the "before" pictures. Well, that and the flab hanging over the waist of my shorts. UGH! I look forward to that being gone!