Step 6,513,486

I kept forgetting to update the blog this week. I can make excuses about why this happened. I can make more excuses about why I didn't workout any until 10:00PM last night. I can make even more excuses why I didn't get many steps in, but those are all just excuses and have no place on the road to health. What I will do is to try and do better moving forward. I don't think tomorrow's weigh-in will look favorably upon me. I'll take my lumps and keep stepping.

I was confronted with my addiction to food this week. Chass confronted me about snacking out of foods that she bought for August. She packs his lunch for school each day and usually puts a small treat in with his food. I have been grazing on those snacks almost subconciously. She called me at work to ask if I had eaten some small chocolate crackers. I told her that I didn't remember eating them which was the truth, but I obviously had eaten them. That was a stark reminder of how food affects me. It is almost like the background to how I live my life. It is not the most important thing to me, but it is always a part of my day to day life whether I think about it or not. I will never be successful with my weight-loss until I can overcome the addiction to food.

Tuesday's Steps: 12,007
Wednesday's Steps: 11,875
Thursday's Steps: 8,008
Friday's Steps: 11,291
Yesterday's Steps: 7,761

Step 6,452,539 (356.4 LBS)

I was down again this week. The total was 1.6 pounds. I'm happy with it. I didn't get to exercise much this past week, and I still lost weight. I have now lost three weeks in a row and am feeling the momentum. I am proud of the contestants in my Biggest Loser competition. Most of us are engaged in the process and are updating our losses each week. Even if I don't win, I'll be happy with a big loss by the group.

Now, I need to get moving this week. I was pretty much a rock yesterday. I watched football from my couch from 3:00PM until bedtime last night. It was the first day that I hadn't left my house except to walk the dogs in months. I really needed to relax this past weekend. It's now time to get back to work.

Yesterday's Steps: 5,627

Step 6,446,112

This has been a weekend of short periods of activity followed by long periods of sleep. I got up and went to work for a few hours yesterday morning before coming home and taking a three hour nap. Chass and I didn't really get back out of the house until after 7:00PM. I didn't get many steps in due to all the lounging. This morning, we slept in before getting up to start on a myriad of housework. I plan on hanging out to watch the NFL games later. I may try some walking in place to while watching the game ti increase my activity level. I may also try to flip my workout schedule again and go this afternoon before the games start. Maybe it'll be easier to workout if I am not sacrificing so much sleep to do it.

Friday's Steps: 11,357
Yesterday's Steps: 8,837

Step 6,418,205

My steps are way down. I really need to get on the treadmill at the gym tomorrow morning when I go to lift weights. I usually am short on time in the morning. To be honest, I'd rather sleep than hit the treadmill, but I know what I have to do. I've been doing well eating this week and look forward to Monday. It'll still be a few weeks before I get down to my lowest recent weight of 329. Once I get below that, I'll start to see another change in my clothing. I've got several shirts and pairs of pants on deck that I've never been able to wear. It is even more motivation to keep on course.

Yesterday's Steps: 9,041

Step 6,409,164 (358 LBS)

The Biggest Loser competition continues to motivate me toward my goals. I was down another two pounds this week. It hasn't been too hard to get back in the right direction. I have been eating better and moving more. I went to the gym this morning. I also went on Monday, but the auto door lock was disabled and no one could get in. This happens time to time and is pretty annoying when you think about getting up and getting ready at 5AM only to drive to town for nothing. I have been busy at work on the computer which hasn't given me much opportunity to walk around the store. That should be changing at the end of next week. The weather is also warming up a bit so I should be able to get outside to walk.

Sunday's Steps: 8,116
Monday's Steps: 8,371
Yesterday's Steps: 8,792

Step 6,383,885

I had to work yesterday which leads me on most days to have more steps than if I just hang out at the house. After work, Chass and I went to Lexington to have dinner and pick up a few things. I walked around several stores until my knees hurt from walking on the concrete. Even though I've lost weight and wear good shoes, my knees are no match for concrete floors. When I was heavier and had to work on those floors, my feet would swell and ache for days afterward. My knees would be sore to the point that I would just have to lay down. Now my knees get sore for an hour or so but soon start to feel better. I look forward to how I will feel when I drop some more weight.

Yesterday's Steps: 10,625

Step 6,373,260

I'm heading into my first weekend of the Biggest Loser competition. I had my "slide" meal last night when we took Chass' nieces to CiCi's buffet. I have to work for a few hours today then head to Lexington for a date night. Tomorrow begins tax season for me. It is going to be tough for me this weekend to break from the habits I've been forming the last few months. I hope to get back to the gym next week. I have a plan of attack if I can just get past the rush period at work.

Thursday's Steps: 8,780
Yesterday's Steps: 9,381

Step 6,355,099

Short post today.

I'm in the middle of the rush period at work. I am going in early and staying late. I will update more this weekend. I am having a good week eating but not working out. I've been short on time and energy after and before work. I hope to go Sunday to the gym.

Tuesday's Steps: 8,397
Wednesday's Steps: 8,088

Step 6,338,614 (360 LBS)

I had my weigh-in yesterday, and it went well for the first time in a few weeks. I was down 2.2 pounds. More importantly, I knew I was going to be down because of the way my week had went. I spent last week trying to get my head straight so that I could go into my Biggest Loser competition with some momentum. I have amassed a group of twenty friends weighing in at over 5,000 pounds all vying for the $1,000 prize. My hope is that I can stay motivated by this carrot for the entire year and long enough to get to where I have instilled some permanent changes in my life. If everyone in the contest gives it their best shot and loses weight, then no matter who wins, each person will be better off. The $50 entrance fee will look like a bargain for the health they have gained.

For privacy (and embarassment), I am not going to post the starting weights of the entrants. They have all been reported to me. My weight is easy to see. It is updated at the top of this blog each week. Stephen Vinson is in the contest with us. You can follow his progress at www.WhoAteMyBlog.com. I will update the contest each month to let my readers know the total weight lost by all entrants. Good luck to everyone in the contest. I hope you all are big losers.

Sunday's Steps: 10,999
Yesterday's Steps: 11,650

Step 6,315,965

My Biggest Loser competition starts today. I'm pretty excited about getting the final field in place to see who I'm competing against. It is going to be a tough contest since it will not end until the year is finished. That means that I can't slack off through the holidays like last year. I'll need to go full bore everyday.

I've been getting my steps in despite the bitterly cold weather. The highs in this part of the country have been in the mid-20's for the better part of a week. Snow covers the ground and will not melt in such low temps and with the constant cloud cover. I'm really just tired of the cold and snow. I don't like wearing snow boots everywhere I go. I just want to put some sneakers on.

I went up to Cincinnati yesterday for the Bengals playoff game. It was the first post season game that I had ever been to. I was bundled up more than any other point in my life with three shirts, two jackets, two pair of pants, a hat, knit cap, and two pair of gloves. The temperature started out in the 20's but dropped to the teens when the sun went down. The wind blowing off the Ohio River did not help matters at all. We parked in KY and decided to walk over the bridge into Cincinnati since we had some extra time. The snow had not been removed from the sidewalk on the bridge which made walking difficult. After the terrible, terrible game, I just couldn't walk back. My feet were very cold, and my knees were sore from standing the whole time. We walked just far enough to grab a bus back across.

So today I'm exhausted. I left home about 10:00AM yesterday and didn't get back until after midnight. I have to work for a bit this afternoon, but I also need to figure out how to get a workout in.

Thursday's Steps: 9,640
Friday's Steps: 11,941
Yesterday's Steps: 10,685

Step 6,283,699

I didn't make it to the gym yesterday morning. It's hard to get up at 5:00AM when you go tot bed after midnight. I somehow managed to still get some decent steps in for the day. I am doing well so far this week with the eating. The one slip up has been the inadvertent cheese stick delivery from Papa Johns. I still have a lot of trouble turning down free/cheap food that is placed in front of me when it is time for lunch.

I still can't help but thinking about food all the time. I'm always thinking about what to eat next. It is hard to make a good decision when I have spent a few hours thinking about how good a chocolate chip muffin from the local coffee shop would be. I get to the point when I need to make that choice, and all I have in my head is muffins and grease. I might need hypnotism.

Yesterday's Steps: 13,824

Step 6,269,875

I had another weigh in on Monday. I have now officially gained weight over the last twelve months instead of losing it. My own Biggest Loser challenge starts Sunday which couldn't be soon enough. Maybe some competition will keep me on the straight and narrow.

I have ramped up my exercising knowing that eating is the real issue. I went to the gym yesterday on my usual off day for some cardio. I was able to do twenty minutes on the treadmill at a pretty good incline then just three minutes on the elliptical before my knees finally threw in the towel. Last night I watched the Biggest Loser and walked in place while the show was on. I took breaks during the commercials. I hadn't done this earnestly in about a year. I want to get back to it. It really made an impact on my steps for the day.

Sunday's Steps: 10,284
Monday's Steps: 14,157
Yesterday's Steps: 20,570

Step 6,224,864

I've been trying to get my lifestyle back in order. I want to get my schedule set for working out. I am going to head back to the gym in the morning. I plan on adding some cardio to my routine. I have to do something to get my heart rate back up. I'll probably try doing ten minutes on the elliptical and twenty on the treadmill. I am looking forward to working out, eating better, and competing against my friends in our own Biggest Loser competition.

Friday's Steps: 5,828
Yesterday's Steps: 10,946

Step 6,208,090

I am hitting the reset button. Last year was not the best for me. My first weigh in of the year came on 01-06-09. I tipped the scales then at 359.8 lbs. That is the same weight that I ended the year on. I didn't discover that fact until thirty seconds ago when I finally looked to see what the damage was. Sine the goal of this blog and project is to lose weight, I will consider that a defeat at worst and a push at best. That was a productive year of my life that I wasted being fat once again. I walked 4.3 million steps last year but found out that eating is my problem. I started going to the gym only to find out that lifting weights is not the answer if I don't change the little things about how I go about my life. The truth of the matter is that I have a problem with food. That has to be addressed so that I can move forward.

Changes, both little and small, have to be made. I absolutely have to make better decisions. That is the bottom line. I can't be successful for the rest of my life unless I can make permanent changes in my life. I am going to have to work everyday to implement those changes. It starts over today.

One of the things I am doing to increase my motivation is to have a Biggest Loser contest. I am doing this with some of my friends. We are doing a weigh-in on 1/10/09 and then again on 12/31/09. The person that has lost the biggest percentage of their starting body weight will take home the prize. There is a small entry fee which goes into the pot for the prize. I am going to update everyone's progress each month to see how we are doing.

Here are the entrants to date:

Jared Maynard
Chassity Barker
Court Swift
Angela Swift
Jeff Marcum
Jen Wilke-Deaton
Leann Jones
Beth Baker Allen
Brad Baker
Paul Porter
Sean McClellan


My goals for the year, once again, are simple.

Lose 100 lbs
Walk 5,000,000 steps

I'll see you at the finish line.

Yesterday's Steps: 10,554
Last Year's Steps: 4,313,286