Phat Alba…and that’s why I will never have sex again!

So, I see this headline in the Health section of Google news …

Biking and Brisk Walking Can Keep Pounds Off

and I really have to ask… How stupid are we?

The author of the article admits that it is a ‘No Duh’ moment, but goes on to say that the study was reinforcing the idea that you do not need to have a gym membership or buy some expensive work out machine or eat some special fiber packed, soy based, faux meat.

How spreading some of that grant money. I would be happy to do a study on marriage.

HEADLINE: Marriage can lead to arguments.

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The last few weeks have not been great for exercise. With only about three to four trips to the gym in the last three weeks, the thought of weight loss was far from my head.

Don’t get me wrong, I have been eating well. I say well, because I have had my fair share of beer and other fine adult beverages in the last few weeks, but overall, I would say my diet was well within the “WeightWatchers” guidelines for my size and age.

I stayed away from the scale intentionally as I didn’t like being stuck at the 230 mark. So when I hopped on the scale last week, I was sure the scale was not reading correctly. It showed I had lost five more pounds. This could not be right!

Of course it didn’t help that moving the scale from one side of the bathroom to the other resulted in a difference of about three pounds at times. Time to get a new scale of course.

Thinking that the scale I was using was defective, I decided it was necessary to use another scale. That scale as well showed a weight loss of four pounds. The scales are conspiring.

Knowing that I can know trust the scale at home, I will continue on my quest to hit 200 pounds, but I will be cautious of the readings I get from my scale.

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So when I started my “real” weight plan June 1, 2009, my goal was to lose thirty pounds in six months. I thought it was a lofty goal, but would be something I could do.

Here I am less then three months later and I did it. It hasn’t been easy by any means. It seems the last ten pounds has been stubborn, but I can say I did it the right way through exercise and good eating.

In June I was able to drop almost fifteen pounds by pretty much just eating better. I knew this was not going to be the only way to lose the weight so late June I started to get out and exercise as much as possible. The first twenty pounds came off so fast that it was almost a shock when I struggled to get the last ten pounds off. I had the encouragement of family to help me and remind me that this not something that just happens over night because I want it.

It hasn’t been an easy transition, but I wont say it has been hard either. I am not a workout junkie and I still enjoy my occasional Coors Light and Clamato and the rare but delicious Hi Ho Special. I just make it a point to eat healthier food and less of it.

Now that my goal is reached, I decided a month ago that I was going to add another goal. That is to lose thirty more pounds in a years time. I thought then it would be easy, but I am finding out the weight is harder to shed as I go on. That won’t stop me though, because even if I only lose another twenty pounds, I will still be fifty pounds lighter then when I started.

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Just back from the impromptu twenty year high school reunion and have to say, I have not laughed so hard in a long time.

We didn’t get to see all our classmates, but made the best with the group we had. It is just amazing to see just how great our whole class was.

Friday started off with me arriving late with my wife to the Kenmare Country Club. Our late dinner with my Grandma Florence put us behind a few minutes. Once we were out there my wife and I were greeted by everyone as if we were long lost relatives. Everyone was incredibly great to us.

Paul King and Carla Bartuska both arrived wearing the “Class of ’89″ shirts we graduated with. We laughed all through the night, as we reminisced about our past.

We moved on later in the evening to the “City Limits” for some adult beverages and Karaoke. Paul King and I belted out some tunes from Steve Miller Band, Bon Jovi, George Jones and AC/DC. Neither one of us remember “The Race Is On” being so fast, but perhaps it was the adult beverages that just made us slower.

Other then the smoky bar that both Kings family and mine were not used to, my wife and I had a fantastic time.

On Saturday we all got together at Tim and Melissa Harris home and had some great food and more laughs. We played some games and enjoyed sitting and catching up with one another.

Some of us decided to head out later in the evening with the intent of making it out to Mouse River park. We all met at “City Limits” but got a very late start for the park. Holly and Dean Brekhus drove us out as far as Tolley and we went into “Wes’s Bar” in Tolley for a drink. We ended up closing the place down and never did make it out to the park.

We went back to Kenmare and back to Harris’s for a fire, but ended up in the garage for a few more hours having fun.

Sunday was a day for sleeping in as we all missed church. We spent some time with my Grandma Florence and had a big lunch with my Aunt Dawn before heading back to Dilworth about 3:30 pm.

We had a great time over the weekend. I can’t thank my classmates enough for all their hard work. I enjoyed the company of all of them and with the talk of a 25 year reunion, I really hope we can get it done.

Thank you Kenmare class of 1989!

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Having basically binged for my birthday, I had to get back on track for eating. The problem was that I was going to be heading out of town with the family for a weekend camping north-east of Brainerd, MN. And to top it off, it was Fourth of July weekend. I could already imagine my pant button pressing into my belly.

Before the trip my wife and I decided to map out our meals. We knew that my in-laws were making dinner for us on Friday, so that left just Saturday and maybe all of Sunday for meals for us to plan. I first suggested that we have tacos in a bag as it would be easy to make, but knowing that we would be diving two or more times on Saturday, I then asked my wife about Spaghetti. I knew that if we made it with the whole grain noodles and no cheese, it would not be much for points. I also knew that after a two dives, it would be filling.

My wife agreed with me and Saturdays meal was set. We decided to do the rest of the shopping in Brainerd so we wouldn’t have to haul it in a cooler all the way from home.

Upon arriving in Brainerd, we went shopping for our meals. I found some great cherries, strawberries and plums for snacks. My kids call me a “fruit freak” because I have been eating so much of it lately. Wanting a replacement for chips, I found some “smart food” popcorn that was in individual servings and healthy to boot.

For lunches, I decided to get some Black Forrest ham and low fat provolone cheese. While cruising down the aisles, I found some good honey-Dijon mustard that was a good condiment to the sandwich.

Before we left, we picked up about 6-8 gallon jugs of water. Of course my in-laws thought I was crazy buying so much water, but we only left with one jug of water. I have gotten into the habit of drinking close to or more then one gallon of water every day.

The trip I can say was great. I had three nice dives with my son and in-laws and the weather could not have been better. We listened to the Twins on the radio (Friday night was the 16 inning marathon game) down by the water or around the camp fire all three days.

I packed up the family and we headed back to the in-laws lake cabin. We ended up eating some Turkey brats that evening for dinner. I am not a big fan of Turkey anything, but these were good and about 2-3 times healthier then regular brats.

I got home before 9:00 PM on Sunday and after unpacking everything, decided that I didn’t want to get on the scale until the morning (just in case what I thought was good eating, was all for naught).

Bright and early the next morning I got up and before hopping in the shower, I stepped on the scale. The results… well they were good. I was at 238.8 which is a weight I have not been at in several years. Here it is two days later and I was happy to see the scale is still trending down in my favor as I was sitting at 237.0. Of course I moved the scale to about three different parts of the floor to confirm that weight, fearing it was just a fluke. Thankfully it read the same thing every time.

So the saga continues and the goal for the end of July is to be at or under 230 pounds. I have already gotten three pounds down, but I know the next seven will take some hard work. I am helping a friend work on his new house so I won’t get a lot of time to exercise this week and I am fearing the weekend as it is my BIG baseball trip. I have already bought my snacks and will only need to make sure I watch what I eat and drink at the ballpark. I am going to eat as best I can while gone, as I don’t want to undo the hard work so far, but I also want to experience some different food and atmosphere. Here is to towing that line this weekend!

Peace, out!

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