The "sphere"

An interesting section on Jynell's blog talks about a person's sphere of influence and it got me thinking about my journey and it's effect on other people around me:

• Since I started, my co-workers have constantly been asking for weight loss tips to help them on their road to weight management. I have even convinced 2 people to join the gym where I go (close to work). Luckily, in that case, I get a $50 credit with the gym for referrals.



• My neighbor and good friend has started going to the gym and has made a point of needing to lose weight. I think it is more of his wife harping on him to get his act together now that I have.



• My brother, who has always been slimmer than me, was actually heavier than me when I visited him in AZ in June. That apparently was a wake up call to him as well. When I say him for Thanksgiving, he was down some.



• Finally, my father in law has taken the weight loss plunge as well. He's actually lost a similar amount of weight as I have. We started at roughly the same time, so I can't really tie it into my influence per se, but I think we both keep it going as neither one of us wants to lose to the other (although we are not officially competing).

So there are the larger examples. Maybe all these things were happening around me and I just didn't realize it. I like to think that perhaps some of my drive and desire have rubbed off on other people and have helped us all be a little better about watching our waist lines.

Count me a convert

Here's something I've added to the old weight management routine...the Magic Bullet.

My wife actually wanted one to make baby food with, but I've been secretly eyeing up this product for a little while now. I was always intrigued by those silly TV commercials, but always cynical to the claims (I have a similar issue with those Total Body Gyms being hawked by Chuck Norris).

Well, the stars aligned with my parents visiting with coupons /gift cards, Macy's was having a sale, and voila...my wife and mom come home recently with a brand new Magic Bullet system for free (which sounds about right to me).

We've had this now for 2-3 months and I have to say it is worth the purchase. My wife uses it daily to make baby food and I use it every other day to make protein smoothies. Before I was paying $5-6 to buy one of these shakes at the gym. Now I can make these to my tastes for a fraction of the price.

The basic formula: Fill up one of the cups with 2/3 of the way with frozen fruit (or a frozen / fresh mixture of fruit), pour in milk (I use 1%) to basically fill in the gaps of the fruit, top with some non-fat yogurt, a squeeze of honey, and a scoop of protein powder. Screw on the blender attachment and let it blend for 1 minute...

I'll usually make one of these for my desert. Tastes delicious and the protein keeps my metabolism going strong as I head to bed.

No paid endorsement here...just thought I would pass along another tip along the journey...

Update: You can see the protein powders I have tried here and here. I prefer the taste of the EAS product better. The Designer Whey product appears to have more "other stuff" added to aid in weight loss, etc...

Have you seen these?

Please send me a comment on where I can buy them (except for Target stores, where I originally bought 2 strands and now I can not find on the shelves ANYWHERE!!!)

I am looking for a strand of white...Just one damn strand! This shouldn't be that hard! I've gone to multiple Target stores in my area and all they have is god awful blue....

Can you tell my frustration?

Is there anybody out there?

Well...I figure now that pretty much everyone has lost interest in this site, I should start posting again (but I make no promises!)

Here's the latest...

-> I am at 195 lbs. Still 9 lbs off my goal. I am neither happy nor sad about this.

-> My exercise plan has curtailed just a little. While I would regularly hit the gym 3x / week, I now make it there 2 -3x / week. My supplemental home workouts (pushups, bicycling) has pretty much ceased (it's too damn cold to go bicycling and....well, there's no excuse for the pushups really)

-> My food plan has also curtailed a bit as well. While a lot of the changes in diet are sticking, I will go off plan 1-2x / week and do something like go to Taco Bell or get a burger somewhere. Nothing terrible, mind you, but the April / May version of me was pretty strict in diet.

So what does all of this tell me? That my body has settled in to being comfortable around a 193 - 196 lbs weight range. As long as I do not go back to drinking sugary waters, eating fatty burgers / white bread, and putting in some moderate exercise, I should be OK to maintain this weight even if I jump off the wagon from time to time.

Am I OK with that? I'm not 100% sure. While I would like to achieve my goal of 50 lbs in 50 weeks, I have received tons of compliments and feel pretty darned good health wise with my new weight. While the silly government still labels me as "overweight", I certainly do not feel that way anymore. And as far as the "rewards" to myself are concerned, it looks like I will not be able to afford those rewards (will probably plow that $$$ into a home remodeling project).

On the other hand, I did set out with a specific goal in mind and I still can realistically achieve that goal. Losing 9 lbs by 3/10? I should be able to do that without any problem. Hrmmm...

Cholesterol Check

Today, my company had a "Workplace Wellness Day" and we all got the chance to take advantage of a host of free health related services. I got the flu shot, a free pedometer, and took a free blood screening to check blood sugar and cholesterol. The pic shows the device they used to read the results.

Here are the results of the blood screen:

Blood Glucose = 80 mg / dl (Desirable Range = 60 -> 100)
Total Cholesterol = 177 mg / dl (Desirable Range < 200 )
HDL = 17 mg / dl (Desirable Range > 59)
Triglycerides = 76 mg / dl (Desirable Range < 150)

This is actually something I've been meaning to check. Before the weight loss regimen, I also scored some pretty bad cholesterol numbers. As you can see my total cholesterol and triglyceride levels are really down (you'd be especially proud if you saw the "before" numbers).

But the HDL, which has always been low for me, is still sticking in the low range. Anyone have any thoughts on ways to boost HDL? I don't want to resort to drugs (if there even is a drug for HDL).

Weigh In - Week 30!!!

Well...I've hit another milestone week...and I'm heading in the wrong direction folks...+1 this week brings me back to an even 40 lbs lost...I thought the "loop" road sign was appropriate as I am looping back from whence I came (a low of 191 a while back).

First...to celebrate the good...I did set an original goal to have lost 30 lbs by this time...and I hit that goal with room to spare (heck, if I hold this weight by my next milestone, I'll still be on track). That has to count for something, right?

But these last 10 weeks have sort of been a lost 10 weeks. Sure, I've kept the weight off, but I should be able to pull off at least 1 lb per week...I need to get back to it...

And the funny thing is that I stayed pretty much on point this week. I had one *very* bad day on Saturday (my college homecoming / 10 year reunion), but I got my 3 workouts done and my food choices were pretty solid...

As far as earning my 30 week milestone reward is concerned, I'm pretty much not going to partake in these rewards. Life with children has caused me to re-prioritize what I need to spend money on. I'm probably not going to get the laser eye surgery as well...

It's not a roadsign, but...

I've obviously been missing the weekly weight updates (will post one this upcoming Tuesday after Monday weigh in). But here is the excel chart I've been keeping. As you can see, doing very well against my original goal of 1 lb per week, but seriously missing now on the 2 lb per week...a 3 month plateau will do that to you, I guess...

Why do I have this "before" pic up?

Someone asked in comments, "Why do you keep this picture (->) as a permanent pic on the top right of your site?" Obviously paraphrasing, but that was the gist...

The obvious answer is...motivation! This answer has become even more apparent as I'm reaching my goal.

When I first started this quest, the results of my work were easily recognizable and it was easy to keep focused on doing the right things...And know I'm over 4/5's to my goal and everyone is telling me how great I look and my parents are essentially trying to make me gain weight...And perhaps I would be satisfied to sit back and say 40 lbs is enough of an accomplishment...And perhaps I would let myself go back to not exercising and hitting a McDonald's or Wendy's once or twice a week...And if I put back 10 of the 40 lbs then so what? I'm still down 30 lbs, right? I think you see where I'm going with this...

So, I keep the pic up to remind me of where I came from and where I could go back to if I don't keep my focus. As I've said from the beginning (check out one of my first posts), my goal is a lifestyle transformation, not just a quick weight loss to look better for a reunion or something (although I do have my 10 year college reunion this weekend....wait till they get a look of me! :)

Where's Jeff?

So...I've fallen off the face of the earth...

First...let me apologize to those who were regular viewers of the blog. I know what it's like to follow someone else's writings and to all of a sudden see a stop to everything...

I find that blog writing, like a weight loss program, requires a routine. The minute I'm thrown off that routine, it is very hard to get back on track. For me, the end of the routine really started with the Cape Cod trip. Once I stopped blog posting for a full week, it was very easy to find reasons to stop posting.

I appreciate the couple of comments from the dedicated among you to knock me out of my funk (esp. liked today's very simple comment of "WTF???" by Kim). WTF indeed...

While I haven't been posting weight, I'm content to report that I am hovering in the same area. When I came back from the cape, my weight bumped up to 194 and today stands at 195. While not great, my diet and exercise routine has been a mixed bag. Holding my weight at least tells me that the weight should stay off even if I have a slice or 2 of pepperoni pizza from time to time.

Of course, that is not what I set out to do...I set out to lose 50 lbs in 50 weeks! Right now, I am at 41 lbs in 30 weeks. While I am ahead of schedule, I still have some work to do...

So, I plan on re-engaging on this starting now. That includes stricter diet, more exercise, and more blogging...

To the small audience that still checks in...thanks for keeping on me...I won't let you down...

Weigh In - Week 25 & 26

Well, I finally got back to gym last night and the news wasn't great, but it could have been worse...

Only a 3 lbs gain from my last official weigh in...Of course, I was potentially less than 191 when I should have weighed in on 9/17 (remember I just started the vacation at that point). Still, I'm not too far off the 2 lb per week game plan at this point...

My body is finally getting back into rhythm and I hope to perhaps show a 1 lbs loss by Monday, but we will see...With all the crap that I've eaten over the past week and a half, I actually am somewhat happy that my body didn't do worse. Perhaps my body is getting used to the lower weight...