Week 47 Weigh-In

Last Week's Weight: 269.6 lbs.
Today's Weight: 268.6 lbs. (-1)
Total Lost: 111.4 lbs.

Fat Ratio: 26.4% (-0.2)
Lean Mass: 197.7 lbs. (-0.2)
Fat Mass: 70.9 lbs. (-0.8)
Waist: 50.25 inches (-0.25)

I have discovered that my resolve is slipping a little when it comes to making wise food choices. I can't wait until this next week is over. I have not gone overboard, but still ate a few treats just because they were there. I think I said it before. Will-power is overrated. It's better to place myself in situations where my will is not tested.

With that being said, I made Christmas cookies yesterday: Snickerdoodles, chocolate crinkles, peanut butter blossoms, and gingerbread. Starting off, I was pretty good. I didn't snitch any dough from my first batch. When I was placing them on the cooling rack, one cookie broke, so I ate a piece. It was awful! I forgot the sugar!!! I took the rest of the dough and added in half sugar, half splenda. These tasted better, but on the next batches I tasted the dough to make sure I hadn't forgotten some ingredient...well, that's my story and I am sticking to it.

For some reason, the cookies didn't turn out quite right this year. I am not sure if it was the splenda, or old baking powder and soda. I should have bought fresh. Oh well. The kids will have fun today decorating the gingerbread.

Exercise has been very good this last week. I cross country skied a few more times, and I hope to get out some more this week. I took my two oldest ice skating. I continue to run and lift weights. I don't know if this makes sense, but I feel my muscles. I have more awareness of them especially in my upper body and arms. I don't look like I feel. I look doughy, but I feel muscular. I am not quite sure why. Maybe it's just a natural result of less fat on the muscles.

I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!

"Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance."--Samuel Johnson

Living Fit Is My #1 Job!

Week 46 Weigh-In

Last Week's Weight: 267.6 lbs.
Today's Weight: 269.6 lbs. (+2)
Total Lost: 110.4 lbs.

Fat Ratio: 26.6% (-0.3)
Lean Mass: 197.9 lbs. (+2.3)
Fat Mass: 71.7 lbs. (-0.3)
Waist: 50.5 inches (-0.0)

If I were certain about my fat ratio, I could say that my gain was water weight or something. Since I can't, I won't. It doesn't matter. I ate healthy. I exercised regularly. It's just a temporary dip. No reason to go crazy. But it still sucks!!!!

Saturday, I went cross country skiing. So, I achieved another one of my fitness goals. Woohoo! I hope to get back out again this week.

Note: Those aren't my toes. It's a stock photo. I wouldn't be caught dead with purple polish. I always use red! ;-)

"It is not work that kills men, it is worry. Work is healthy; you can hardly put more on a man than he can bear. But worry is rust upon the blade. It is not movement that destroys the machinery, but friction." -- Henry Ward Beecher

Living Fit Is My #1 Job!

Week 45 Weigh-In

Busy, busy, bee is me. Just a quick post to update.

Last Week's Weight: 270.2 lbs.
Today's Weight: 267.6 lbs. (-2.6)
Total Lost: 112.4 lbs.

Fat Ratio: 26.9% (-0.0)
Lean Mass: 195.6 lbs. (-1.9)
Fat Mass: 72 lbs. (-0.2)
Waist: 50.5 inches (-0.0)

The race was cold but went well except, my wife accidentally packed my lawn mowing shoes instead of my running shoes, lol. I finished the 8k race with a pace 10:36 which is 39 seconds faster than the last race so I was quite happy with that. My daughter finished the 5k race and did well. She was excited that she finished ahead of two 10 year old girls, a 9 year old boy, and seven adults. She was the youngest at 8 years old. In addition, they had about 20 massage tables set up and were giving free massages. Woohoo. That was nice. Our next race will be in April.

Since I reached the 10 lb. mark, here are my pictures.



"The fact is, that to do anything in the world worth doing, we must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in and scramble through as well as we can." -- Robert Cushing

Living Fit Is My #1 Job!

Interview & Pre-Race

I had an interview for a position near my father's house yesterday. I did as well as I could. I have come away from interviews quite upset with how I did, but not this time. I did all I could. Now it's up to them to determine if I am the best person for the position. Unfortunately, I won't find out until some time after the first of the year.

Today, I have to go to my sister's house to meet with a contractor. My father owns her house which makes me the trustee. It's considered a rental property even though family lives in it, so the city requires an inspection every three years. This contractor will take care of the last bit of work which needs to be done. I have until the end of the month to complete the list he gave. Did I mention that the house is a 3 hour drive from mine. UGH!!!!

Anyhow, it's not too far from my father's house which is much closer to the race my daughter and I will run in tomorrow. So we are taking the kids out of school early today and heading down. All I have to say is that running in the winter is cold, cold, cold.

On the way back, we plan to stop in Frankenmuth and shop at Bronners which is an enormous store for Christmas decorations. The kids always love going through there. Hopefully, we will have time to get a stocking personalized for our baby. It's been a tradition with all our kids to get one there. I have to get to work at 5 PM tomorrow, so we are on a bit of a schedule.

I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Living Fit Is My #1 Job!

Week 44 Weigh-In

Last Week's Weight: 274.6 lbs.
Today's Weight: 270.2 lbs. (-4.4)
Total Lost: 109.8 lbs.

Fat Ratio: 26.9% (-0.0)
Lean Mass: 197.5 lbs. (-3.2)
Fat Mass: 72.7 lbs. (-1.2)
Waist: 50.5 inches (-0.0)

Wow, I haven't lost that much in a week in a long time. I weigh every day. About Wednesday last week, I noticed that I had lost a lot, so I figured it would fluctuate back up by today. There was a little bit of fluctuation, but not much. I will take it, and hope that it doesn't pop back up this week. Interestingly, I did less cardio last week than I had been doing. I am not sure how that fits into this loss. I guess it just goes to show you that weight loss is a complex interaction between several systems in our body...

...hehe, that sounded almost like I knew what I was talking about rather than the truth that I just made that up on the spot.

Anyhow, this means that I am OBESE! Woohoo! When I started I was almost "Super-"obese, but was "Morbidly-"obese. Then I was "Severly-"obese. Now, I am just plain old obese with no qualifiers now that my BMI in under 35. My next BMI goal is to get under 30 which will just make me fat rather than obese. So here's to my next goal of becoming fat!

Concerning the exercise, this is my week to take a break from weight training. After every 6 weeks of weight training, I take a week off. This coming Saturday is our next race. I will be running the 8k portion and my daughter will run the 5k. The challenge of running in the winter and the snow had me worried. However, the city has cleared the new bike path off every time it has snowed. I am guessing they are doing that to keep the snowmobilers off rather than to provide a place for me to run, but I will take it anyhow. Still, I can't wait until the weather gets warmer (in about 5 months, Ugh!).

A quick update on the job front. A while back I posted about some of my father who has Alzheimer's Disease. I live about 3 hours away from my brother and sister, and my father's house. My father also owns the house my sister lives in. Guess who was left in charge of everything by my parents. I did of course even though I am the youngest of my dads five children.

So I have spent a lot of time traveling back and forth over the past 15 months. This has put a lot of strain on my family and my work. I was trying to find work in my field close enough to my dad's house that my family could move in there and dad could stay in his home. I had a prospect that didn't turn out, so I looked to changing my career.

For this I had a very promising lead that could be quite lucrative. I knew that the job was mine for the taking. I had gone through 2 interviews and was scheduled for the final interview. After much consideration, I just could not bring myself to leave my current profession. After 8+ years of schooling, internships, and 13 years working in the field, I just couldn't leave it to become a financial advisor. My heart just isn't in the financial field. It's one of those fields that if you work hard and put in the hours, the benefits are sure to follow. I realized that I just don't have the enthusiasm for that field of work. I would think differently if I didn't already have a job, but I do.

So, in the meantime, I have been traveling back and forth 2-4 times a month. My father has been moving back and forth between my house and my sisters. I finally talked my sister and brothers into letting me put him into an assisted living place near me. In fact, he moves in today. This should provide him some stability and give him much more to do than he has at my house.

However, I received a phone call on Saturday from the place that was my original prospect to work in my field near my father's house. I have an interview next week. I know that this place has narrowed the candidates down to 4 of which I am one. They are not on a speedy schedule so I don't expect to find out if I get the position until after the first of the year.

Just when I was settled with the idea of staying put, I am back to worrying about moving again. I hope this all works out and we get to move, but things will continue to be hectic until I know one way or the other.

"Don't waste your life in doubts and fears: spend yourself on the work before you, well assured that the right performance of this hour's duties will be the best preparation for the hours or ages that follow it."--Ralph Waldo Emerson

Living Fit Is My #1 Job!