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...

Cape Cod 2007 Pics

Taken during a biking excursion through the dunes...

Taken at the Truro Vineyards with AJ

AJ and I at the beach...as you can see, he likes being as high up as possible.

Another fun pic at the beach...this was taken right outside the beachfront place where we were staying...nice view, no?

I'm back baby!

Well...it has been a while, hasn't it?

Did I say I was going to write on Monday? If you guys knew me, you'd know that I'm late to everything! Heck, I was close to 4 weeks late for my own birth (My mother was none too thrilled with that one).

Anyways, I'm not giving up the weight loss goal and I'm not giving up the blog...Here's the deal:

• As I forgot to mention, I had a family vacation scheduled from 9/15 to 9/22 to Cape Cod (North Truro, MA to be exact). Trip was at a nice beachfront motel with my wife, her family, our son, and I. Was an overall good trip. Totally misplanned my wardrobe with the weather (Hint: Do not plan on hitting the water this time of year). Pretty lazy time actually.
• I brought my mountain bike with the plan of doing a LOT of biking. Got to do a decent amount of biking, but the crowd I was with was, shall we say, not in biking shape. So the biking ended up being much more leisurely than I would have hoped. A fun time and all, but not really the cardiovascular workout I had hoped for. I did do 40 push ups in the room (for whatever that's worth).
• Of course, since it is vacation, my food choices were somewhat relaxed. I actually did OK from a breakfast standpoint. Rooms had kitchens and I had Kashi cereal most days. Lunches were a mixed bag and dinners were all out in restaurants (read: less than healthy). There was also a decent amount of drinking going on throughout the vacation. Lots of wine and beer from my standpoint. Helps when you have so much family in somewhat tight quarters. :)
• So, when you add all of that up, we got back on Saturday night (10+ hour road trip when you count in baby feedings, etc...ugh!) and I got on my home scale for an "unofficial" weigh-in, I was 4 lbs heavier then my last weigh in...not good...
• But wait...it gets better...Stupid me plans a business conference trip immediately when I get back. So after I arrive home at 8PM on Saturday night, I have to leave for Chicago by 5PM on Sunday! Not much time for rest or relaxation...
• So, I've been in Chicago for the past 2 days on a business trip and all of the lack of exercise options and bad food choices that you are presented with in a business conference. I was supposed to get back last night at 10:30PM. Of course, when you plan a trip between 2 airports with the worst track records from a delay / cancellation perspective, you expect to be delayed...and I was...I got in at 2:15AM last night and didn't hit the sheets until 3:30AM...my body is all out of whack today.

So that's my story of the last week and a half...I'll hopefully have some photo's of the trip up soon, but make no promises. Heck, I told you folks I would write on Monday and you were pretty tough on me for not doing that! :)

I'll be posting some more on the need to get things back on track after a week and a half off the wagon...BTW...I can see how travelling salespeople and consultants end up getting out of shape...it's very easy to lose control of your regimen when you're in unfamiliar places...

Maintain Radio Silence

I should have mentioned this before, but I am vacationing on Cape Cod this week and have no plans to actively blog...Didn't weigh in either (hard to weigh in when the scale is over 9 hours away!)

Anyways...I haven't decided to stop blogging...Expect to see something from me this upcoming Monday...

Hope everyone is working towards their weight loss goals...because I am not (more on that later)

Pictures, pictures, pictures

Been a while since I've posted some, no?


These pictures were taken on 8/26/07 when my mother and grandmother (Nana) visited. My fantasy football draft was today and I am wearing my Jets retro jersey (Go Al Toon!) and AJ is wearing his Yankees bib. A sports themed picture for sure.




Here I am playing with AJ. My hair is ruffled because he likes to pull on it.


And finally a pic of my Nana with AJ. A nice picture to be able to show him of his great grandmother someday. It's amazing to get a pic like this...

Weigh In - Week 24

Week 24...wow...writing that makes this seem like a pretty long time...two more weeks to the magical half year mark...

I think...I think...I think I'm through this plateau thing...another 1 lb loss. Two weeks of small progress.

Of course, the pessimist out there will say that I actually puked up 2 lbs and gained a lb back. To all of you who say that, I say...screw you! :) I'll take my lb and enjoy it. Perhaps that's the lesson to be learned here...a good vomiting / diarrhea illness does wonders for the 'ole weight loss goals...just kidding, of course...

So what did I do this week? On the exercise front, I did almost nothing. My only exercise consisted of a 2 hour bike ride on Sunday morning...which was awesome as always. Of course, as AJ gets older, carrying him around gets to be exercise in itself. I kid you not that my arms have felt a little burn after holding him for extended periods of time or after extending high into the air over and over and over and over again...stealth exercise...

On the food front, I never give you guys all the good stuff I eat, but only focus on the bad. In that vein, I went to an Irish festival on Saturday and split a fish & chips and a scone w/ strawberries and cream with my wife. Then I came back and watched the end of the PSU / ND game with the neighbors and had a scotch and a few beers. That was probably the worst of it. I ate hardly anything on Tuesday and Wednesday as I recovered as well.

So that's the story for this week. Here's to hoping I will be at my goal (only 5 lbs to go!) by my 10 year college reunion on 10/20.

Feeling Better!

I've actually felt better since yesterday...Guess I caught the 'ole 24 hour bug. After talking to a friend who hosted a party over the weekend, I think I know who gave me said bug...I figure I'm good for a 24 hour bug like this once a year, so I'm not too worried about it being anything else...Still sucks to go through the whole vomit, weakness all over thing...


I don't have a whole lot to post on this week, but still felt the guilty need to post something to keep things rolling on the site. Let's see what I can do in my favorite bullet form:

• Never had a chance to post on the personal trainer thing, so here goes. I took my 2nd "free" personal training session at my gym. I took the first one over a year ago and hadn't seen the need to do it again. Now with the plateau thing happening, I thought a personal trainer might be able to help me out of my rut. The session was a mixed bag at best. I asked to be paired with a guy who understood the issues I was going through. Instead I was paired with Greg, who was 22 - 23 at best, and could care less when I explained my weight loss to date and current problem. Instead, he said the "free" sessions were just to explain the use of the machines, which he would gladly do. So, we walked through some exercises for body areas I normally don't exercise and that was it. Not pleased overall with the experience, but most of the exercises he showed were over in the free weight area. I usually steer clear of this area due to the meat head quotient and my lack of knowledge of what to do. Now, at least, I know what to do...
• Some of the comments in my "Sick!" post make me think I gave the wrong impression. I lost the 2 lbs prior to getting sick. I lost (briefly) another 2 lbs after getting sick. So, if I counted an official weigh in on Wednesday, it would have been 190. Hopefully, that 2 lbs will stick, but it looks like 1 lb is already back.
• I was already thinking of taking an official week long "break" from the weight loss thing to shake things up with my metabolism and then start again next week. The sickness, and ensuing disruption of my week, solidified my thinking on that one. I have not done a pushup this week and I have not gone to to the gym. My food intake is a little weird at this point because I ate very little on Tuesday and Wednesday, but I'm not holding myself too close from an eating standpoint. What's funny is that even when I don't want to eat well, I still do. I have things like a soft chocolate chip cookie and I feel gross and full after eating it. Don't get me wrong...it tastes great going down, but my mind and body are pretty used to the idea of getting by without much chocolate, red meat, etc. Can still put down the beers though. For me, beer is a social trigger and social crutch that I use. I usually don't drink alcohol when I'm by myself...

So there you go...I probably will not get a chance to post much over the weekend (I hardly ever do). See you guys at the next weigh in!

Sick!

This was me for roughly 6 hours yesterday ----->

That is why I wasn't able to post my weekly weigh in...

I'm not 100% today, but feel better enough to get back to work and blogging....

Is it sad that I saw as silver lining to puking roughly 10 times in 6 hours that I would probably lose a pound or 2 in the process (not to mention the solid ab workout!)

Don't worry...I'm not going bulimic or anorexic or anything...

And I did check the home scale and I am down roughly 2 lbs as a result of this...I'm sure my body will regulate and I will put those lbs back on...

Update: I will not be pushing myself this week from a workout or pushups persepctive...I reset the pushup ticker to 0 and have no plans to do any this week...Sorry Jynell...

Weigh In - Week 23

What a weird and wacky week (alliteration!)...

First...sorry for not posting a whole lot lately...there has been a lot on my plate as of late (rhyming!)...

As you can see, I got the 200 pushups in last week...I also met with the personal trainer and got to see the scary "free weights" side of the gym for the first time in a long time...I'll post more about my personal training experience in a seperate post...

My food choices this week started out pretty well and ended poorly by design...I figured I needed to shake up my routine a bit, confuse my body, and perhaps take a short term hit on the scale for a larger gain down the road...So, on Thursday, I went to see the Eagles take on the Jets in a meaningless preseason game. I had lots of beer, a turkey and bacon hoagie, and sausage and peppers...On Sunday, I went to a Labor Day party and ate lots of blondies and a few beers...

And I lost 2 lbs! Go figure...

Haven't posted this in a while...Here is the excel graph I've been keeping:

Weigh In - Week 22

Slip sliding away...

BTW...that's a Polish road sign...who knew?

Jeebus...This now a fifth straight week with no weight loss...and a 1 lb weight gain to boot...

I'm now officially on the wrong side of my aggressive goal at 1.9 lbs average loss per week. Not too worried, but now I'm officially annoyed with my body...

The good: Worked out twice plus 185 pushups plus 2 bike rides. Food choices were good throughout the week...as for the weekend...well...

The bad: Had 7 bottles of beer on Friday night...Had a small ice cream from Merrymead (sounds like nothing, but it is very heavy)...Had a nice dinner out on Saturday, which was a mixed bag of good and bad I guess...

Maybe I need to go back to my Healthy Choices blog posts for some more focused attention on my food choices...Maybe the pushups are adding muscle which is keeping me from losing weight short term, but will help in the long term...Maybe my body is just telling me this is where I need to be (no wait...that's my Mom)...

Anyways, that's where I am...thank goodness I'm not participating in this weight loss race anymore...I'd be getting my butt whooped in that too!

I *heart* Metacritic

Another post about websites that I love (and frequent often)...

Sure you've taken advice from Siskel (sadly no more) and from Ebert...Perhaps you've read your daily rag to see if they gave the movie you have to see four stars or zero stars...

But they are just one voice out there in a world of hundreds...How do you know if they are the one crank out there giving four stars to that potential $10 movie ticket investment? By checking out Metacritic.

For movies, TV shows, books, music, video games...they go out to all of the critic's sites and convert their scoring system to a 100 point system (i.e. a 3 /5 star review would score as a 60) and then average it all together to come up with one score based on all of the reviews they could find...they won't officially post a score until they have a minimum number of reviews to average either...and they only take legitimate critics into account...

The other reason for posting this is the fact they have a nice chart of when shows will start airing for the fall season. I wanted to know when I can start watching new episodes of The Office and 30 Rock...

Anyway, it's a cool site and I thought I would give them a little love today. I'm not a pay per poster or anything, so it's untainted love...

Getting my butt kicked...

Damn, damn, damn...

I know we both hit my (obviously easy) goal of 150 pushups this week, but Jynell really put the screws to me this week...

311 to 185...Ouch...

She went out ahead early in the week and I had the idea of keeping up with her or staying slightly ahead of her...And I was doing it through Friday when I was at 175 to her 170...

And then I log on late Friday or Staurday (I forget) and see I big whopping 270 posted...and I said, "Forget that"...I'm all for competition, but I'm not going to drop and give 100 just to keep in the game...

So I'll take my butt whooping for the week...

Also, not feeling too confident again about losing (or gaining) any weight when I check in tonight...

Pushup Challenge (cont.)

Well...the battle has been joined...

I thought that the pushup challenge from Jynell would be a simple one to beat...count me as a sexist pig or what have you, but I didn't think she could hit the 150 (heck...I had a hard time hitting the 150 my first week!)

But she not only hit the 150, but came in at a 163 to my 160. A little emasculating sure, but I'm willing to admit I was beaten by a girl. So this week, I came out of the gate determined to put up a number that would blow her out of the water. I pushed my sets from 10 pushups to 20 pushups and knocked out 70 in the first two days...Pretty proud of myself...So what do I see when I check Jynell's blog today? 75. I swear she is watching my number and doing just enough to keep ahead of it!

Which is fine...the way this competition is going we will be knocking out 300+ pushups by week's end and, in the end, we both benefit from this healthy (in more ways than one) competition. After seeing her 75 number, I immediately hit the floor in my office and pumped out a 20 set just to keep ahead myself!

So Jynell asked me to set some ground rules and I'm happy to oblige. This is obviously a pretty loose, "on your honor" competition, but please try to hold to these minimums:

• Must be "man" pushups (see the pic above if you have any questions...no knees on the ground!)
• Must knock out a minimum of 10 pushups before resting (the idea is to feel some burn from this)
• No maximum per day.
• Get a blog tool that you can use to track results (Tickerfactory is a good choice)
• Update your totals immediately if possible. Try to log on before the end of each day to post. I don't want to think I'm beating you 150 to 10 and then log in on Saturday to see you've posted 200 pushups in one sitting (unless you've done 200 pushups in one sitting).
• Try to hit the goal that's been set each week

At this point, it's just been Jynell and I. If anyone else is interested, though, we can make this thing larger and I can post everyone's weekly progress, etc...Here's also why you should join.

Weigh In - Week 21

Honestly...now I'm getting pissed...

I put in my 3 workouts this week...I did 160 push ups...I pretty much held to my eating parameters this week with the sole exception of sharing a bag of cotton candy with my wife at a local carnival...I was actually 2 lbs down on Friday...

...and I weigh in at another 193...this is 4 straight weeks for those keeping score at home...

I was running out of 193 roadsigns to post, but someone at wikipedia added this wonderful DC sign in the past week.

I saw your note DC&Z and read the web page, but I don't think it applies to me as I already mix up my eating patterns...I don't do the "points" thing...perhaps I should personally pig out one day a week to keep my metabolism guessing...I dunno...

At least I should be glad that the weight isn't going up...I guess...

At any rate, I had 1 free personal training session which I never used...so I've decided to use that up next week to get some ideas on how to better train...perhaps find ways to increase muscle mass to increase metabolism to lower weight...In the mean time, I'll keep the push up regimen going and hope that my body will bust through this...

Vick pleads guilty...

As a pet lover of all stripes, I hope he gets more than the 1 year that is being speculated and I hope he never plays in the NFL again...

I'm all for contrarian views and taking a look from all angles, but I find this take on Vick to be pretty reprehensible. It makes Vick look like this poor 6 year old who can't be trusted to make his own judgements.

I'm all for finding solutions to society's ills and all, but we all make our own decisions at the end of the day and we all have to live with the outcomes.

Mission Accomplished

Misssion accomplished on the pushups!

Completed 150 as of 11AM this morning...

Threw in an extra 10 this afternoon because I could...

And yes...I beat a girl while I was at it...I rock! (Althought it looks like Jynell will make it to 100...congrats on that!)

I put up a little gold star graphic to reward myself...

Update: Apparently, I must have done too much self congratulation. While Jynell had 93 pushups when I checked yesterday at 4PM (and I thought there was no way, she would catch up to my 160). This morning, a reader alerted me to the fact that Jynell posted 163 pushups for an amazing 70 pushups in less than 24 hours. Either a) Jynell has some serious pushup power in her or b) she was lax in posting her updates or c) she saw my taunt and felt obliged to show me who was boss or d) all of the above.

This kind of reminds me of when I've bid on Ebay and had the winning bid up to 30 minutes before close, only to have someone swoop in at the last minute with a higher bid.

Regardless, we both hit the magic number we set this week. I'll graciously give her the win this week. If she cares to go about it again, I'll take the challenge...

Hey Brad!

I'm still reading you pal...don't give up the ship!

Tried to send a comment and your site said the domain is set to expire...

Top 5 Reasons to Lose Weight

Here's another post I've been meaning to put together for a while. Motivation is probably the #1 key to sticking with a weight loss program. If you don't feel any reason to lose the weight, why try? So here are my top 5 reasons for losing the weight (20 weeks and counting!):

1. My health - As I've hit my 30's, I've come to the realization that I won't be living forever (nice thought, huh? :). I know it's not entirely traceable to my diet and exercise habits, but I currently have a high cholesterol issue and a thyroid issue. So this isn't only about looking good, but correcting other health issues as well.
2. AJ - When my dad had me, he was 22 years old and still young enough to get outside and throw the football around, etc. as I grew up. When my son is hitting his prime "play with Dad" years, I would like to be able to do the same with him. Also, I feel it is very important to his health to have positive role models in his parents. Perhaps, if he sees me eating fruits, nuts, and vegetables all the time, he will be less inclined to hit McDonald's as much as I did growing up.
3. Do it now while I'm younger - This is something I've been meaning to do for a while, but each year I realize that my body will be harder to change. I have older friends and relatives that work at this as hard as I do and are lucky to drop a pound a month. So, I better get that weight back to an acceptable range. That way, when I'm 40 or 50, I only have to worry about maintaining...not losing.
4. Looks - I wouldn't be honest if I didn't put this in there. All of my life, I have either been too skinny or too fat. For about 2 minutes somewhere between 19 and 20 years old was my weight in the right range. It didn't stay that way for long, because I was having a pepperoni pizza every other night in college. So, for once, I would like to get my body to a shape where I feel comfortable taking my shirt off at the beach and not wonder if people are repulsed (which is sad because I grew up on LI, NY with a beach within 20 minutes at all times).
5. Energy - It is so awesome to be able to climb a flight of stairs or just get up from the floor without feeling winded. It was very scary for me when I would wake up in the morning and just felt like I was laboring to take a shower, etc. It's hokey to say, but I really do feel the extra energy in my step when I go anywhere now. Perhaps it's the confidence as well, but I really think there is a physical change in how my body stores and uses energy.

So there you have the top 5 reasons why I decided I need to lose the weight. On a positive note, I should be good for a 1 or 2 lbs drop this week, if mid-week readings mean anything. And my pushups are on track as well...giddyup!

Fantasy Football Love...

Obviously not weight loss related...

I am a sports geek and belong to not one, but two fantasy football leagues...

I am sure my team, The Drunken Irishmen (same name for both leagues), will finally win me some long overdue cash (I have been played in over 8 seasons between both leagues and have won $$$ just once...

Anyways, someone forwarded me this funny (because it's true!) list of "fantasy football tips". An obvious male slant to the list, but funny for anyone into the fantasy football thing...

Weigh In - Week 20

Such a mixed bag of emotions this week...

For one, I thought I did pretty well from a food / exercise standpoint. No real big food misses on my part (worst offenses were a Moe's Burrito and 2 beers...that's really it). I put in my three workouts this week and added a few extra walks (1 walk with a 17 lbs weight strapped to me in a baby bjorn) around the neighborhood as well as 117 pushups. I wasn't expecting to lose 5 lbs or anything, but it would have been nice to drop just 1 lb...

I think I'm officially in a plateau phase at this point. Or as my Mom would tell me, "Maybe that's just your body saying you've hit your normal weight." In full disclosure, my Mom thinks I've lost too much weight already, which I find totally bizarre. Any thoughts on ways to bust through a plateau period are welcomed. Perhaps, I just need to wait it out...

On the other hand, this is my 2nd official milestone date and my plan was to be at 216 by this point. Even on my aggressive plan, I wanted to be at 196. So even with this plateau, I am still 3 lbs lighter than my best expectations. As a reminder, here are my milestone rewards. I've earned myself a trip to see the Jets play the Eagles at the Meadowlands on 10/14. The third milestone isn't until 10/22.

Last thing on the pushup front. I know I said I was only going to record in 10 rep increments, but I got to 10 + 7 at 10PM on Sunday night and couldn't do anymore. Rather than dishonestly round up to 10 + 10 (I thought about it), I gave myself credit only for what I accomplished. I plan on giving myself the same challenge this week and actually hitting the number. It looks like I have a competitor to spur me on as well. As people who know me, I tend to get competitive and will most likely not only hit my 150 number, but beat whatever number Jynell puts up on the board as well. Bring it on!

Personal Pushup Challenge Results

The final results are in and...

...I didn't meet my goal of 150 pushups this week. I petered out at 117 last night at 10PM.

More on that later when I post my weigh in results, but wanted to reset the ticker back to 0.

I plan on getting there this week though!

There's a Mascot Hall of Fame?

Yes there is...

And this year's finalists are up for a vote...

What are you waiting for? Go vote for Youppi!

Do not, under any curcumstances, vote for Mr. Met. If you plan on voting for Mr. Met, forget you saw this post.

Mr. Met is pure, unadulterated evil...

Disclaimer: The writer of this post is a Yankees fan and hates all things Mets and Red Sox.

Some Non Scale Victory News...

Had some free time on my hands last night waiting to pick up the parents at the airport and decided to hit a local mall to try on some new clothes...specifically jeans.

Since I started my trek and lost over 40 lbs., I have not purchased anything new. I've told myself that I need to hit my magic number of 50 before I start buying new. This didn't seem unreasonable as I was somehow shedding weight like it was going out of style. I unreasonably expected to be close or at my goal weight by now.

It is increasingly looking like I've hit a plateau in my weight loss journey, so I may not be at the 50 lb marker by September or possibly October. As such, I can't wait forever to switch out of my size 38's as they look ridiculous...especially the jeans. I have actually gotten comments from people when I wear them that they look a little clownish.

So I went into Macy's not knowing what size waist would actually end up being comfortable. I brought in size 36's, 35's, and 34's...I was happily surprised to find that the size 34's were the most comfortable. They are "loose fit" jeans, so that probably plays into things a little, but it's nice to wear a pants size that I haven't worn...since COLLEGE over 10 years ago (how sad is that?).

That should keep me happy while I get stuck in the low 190's for a while...

FYI...those aren't pics of the actual jeans I bought. I did a google image search for "size 34 jeans" and this is what I found. These look pretty close to the Levi's I bought though...

Personal Pushup Challenge - Update

Thought I would give an update on my personal push up challenge.

It's frickin tough!

I am roughly 1/2 way through the week and 1/3 through my push ups. I found that I can not crank out more than 10 push ups in a row and I've been able to crank out a max of 2 sets in one sitting.

My plan when I set the 150 mark was to crank out 3 sets during each session and to do 1 session per day for 5 days. That may have been a tad aggressive on my part.

I'm still gunning for that 150 marker. Onward!

Top 5 Favorite Bad Foods

The whole oreo thing below got me thinking about my favorite "bad for you" foods. I thought it would be fun to share with you the foods that are the most tempting / the easiest to rationalize going off my weight loss program. The whole thing can be viewed as cathartic. Without further adieu (in no particular order):

1. Oreos - This has got to be my all time favorite cookie. Oreos also need to be accompanied by milk or else the whole thing doesn't work in my opinion


2. Hot Dogs - Need to be specific on brands here: Nathan's Famous, Sabretts, or Pott's Hot Dogs. Just thinking about a chili, cheese, onion dog from Pott's (only local to Eastern PA) gives me goosebumps.


3. Pepperoni Pizza - I do not consider pizza to be a "bad" food by itself, but start loading up the salty, fatty meats and it moves in that category. I've had my fair share of pizza since I started on 3/26, but have not had a single slice with the pepperoni on it...I'd like to give a quick shout to my favorite pizza place of all time: Little Vincent's (grew up on LI, NY and this place has the best pizza of my 32 short years)


4. Chocolate Milk Shake - I actually let myself drink chocolate milk pretty regularly, but in small portions and with 1% Milk. A chocolate milk shake from the right ice cream parlor (such as Merrymead Dairy Farm) is unbelievable. Immediately after finishing (usually within 10 minutes), I feel absolutely bloated and horrible (milk comas aren't only for babies), but those 10 minutes are usually worth it anyway.


5. French Fries - Once again, I need to stipulate that the fries come from either Five Guys or Cheeburger, Cheeburger. Fresh cut, fried in peanut oil, and sprinkled liberally with salt. These guys are supposedly known for thier burgers, but the fries are all I need.

So there you go...my top 5 guilty pleasures. I've actually been able to abstain from 2 of them to this point (Pepperoni Pizza and Oreos). Feel free to let me know what your top 5 is in the comments section (or backlink to my post in your blog and create your own top 5 post)

Thanks Domino's for making Oreos unappetizing...

If you currently are an Oreo lover and are looking for a way to kill the temptation, watch this commercial for a new "Oreo Dessert Pizza" from Domino's:



The concept of that many oreos on a fried crust drizzled with sauce makes me sick. The odd "milk mustache" concept makes me more sick.

Don't think appetite suppressant is what Domino's had in mind, but I'll use this ad to keep me in check...

Why I will never work in the food service industry...

Browsing the the Craigslist board to see what local jobs are out there (for my wife more than me) and came across this one for a manager of a Saxby's Coffee Shop.

Now I understand that companies tend to embellish the tasks / requirements for any given position when they advertise, but this is a lot to ask of a person (in my opinion):

• Properly hire, train and motivate your Associates • Handling customer complaints properly • Checking in and stocking incoming orders • Counting and reconciling the cash drawers • Maintaining supply of reserve change • Filling in for absences of other staff members • Maintaining quality control of menu items served • Supervising and assisting other employees in the performance of their responsibilities • Taking inventory and placing orders • Guarding against waste • Guarding against employee theft • Maintaining food and labor costs at established levels • Exploring ways to save the company money within the parameters of the Franchisor’s systems • Updating inventory pricing • Reconciling bank statements • Invoicing and collecting any accounts • Entering invoices and payouts in QuickBooks • Filing • Checking bank deposits online • Keeping the office area clean and neat • Compiling and making the daily deposit • Paying bills as they become due • Computing and completing payroll • Being on budget • Backing
up the computer regularly • Verifying and issuing gift certificates • Maintaining sales at or above the projected level • Maintaining, replacing and labeling air pots • Purchasing and placing new prints in frames periodically • Making sure that all maintenance and repairs are performed on the equipment and facility as needed • Assigning staff to duties • Promoting the overall efficiency and profitability of restaurant • Overseeing operations • Screening new hires

And what should the lucky applicant of this fairly complex job expect to earn for his or her time? $24K + (unspecified) bonus. Assuming a generous 20% bonus payout, this person can expect to make a maximum of $29K. Are you freaking kidding me? I have people in my company who do MUCH MUCH less than this and are making double this in salary alone.

I guess this must be the going rate in for a manger in the Starbucks world, which is why I will never work in the food service industry.

Some "after" photos

I know I haven't posted some progress photos in a while....to be honest...there hasn't been a whole lot of progress since my last (only 5-7 lbs)...So I thought I would spice it up by doing some of those cheesy "wear your old clothes to show how many inches have come off" shots:

To be honest, these size 38's are probably the loosest 38's I own. So you get the greatest effect. But I think it still looks cool. I switched back to wearing size 36's and those fit comfortably to slightly loose now. I would guess I could probably fit into a size 35 waist if I wanted...

One last bonus pic for everyone out there in blogland. A year ago, I was in Phoenix and decided to pick myself up an authentic black cowboy hat. With my chubbier face and lack of facial hair, I don't think I did the hat proud. Fast forward to today:

Don't think I'll ever be a true cowboy, but I think I look a lot better in the hat these days at least.

BTW...I hate my camera...I need a new one...those are some blurry pics above!

Weigh In - Week 19

To those hoping that I would not lose weight this week (yes I'm talking to you Diet Coke and Zingers :), I have some good news for you...

I held even this week at 193.

Another week of doing all the right things during the weekdays and then blowing it all on the weekends (See Musikfest post below).

I shouldn't be too hard...Still down 43 lbs. and that is nothing to sneeze at. I must say that Summer is a tough season to lose weight. There are just too many parties, summer festivals, summer trips, etc... All with the temptation to eat too much...I'm somewhat amazed that I still managed to drop 10 lbs through it all...

Turbotax, Turbotax, Turbotax

Here is truly the last post on my TurboTax issue...

I tried one last time to convince them that their program led me down the incorrect path, but they trotted out their same excuse that I must be dumb as a brick to have committed the error I committed. Apparently no other users ever have a problem with TurboTax...

Did I say they were professional in their response? I take that back as well. Essentially, the response was professional in the use of grammar, etc., but essentially calling your customers stupid is far from professional.

I'm too tired to keep fighting a charge of a few hundred dollars, and every new response from Anita just gets my blood boiling again.

Here is my bottom line to everyone out there in blog-land. I STRONGLY advise not to use TurboTax to do your tax preparation. In my opinion, they do not stand behind their user interface at all and will blame you for any error in using their product. I will be going back to using H&R TaxCut. It may not look as pretty as TurboTax, but it always did the job RIGHT.

P.S. - To Bob Meighan: I have deleted all of your comments and will continue to remove your comments in the future. While I can not do anything to make your company repay the money I lost, I am under no obligation to give you space on my website to push your side of the story. If you wish to stay and contribute to the weight loss discussion, please do so. From what I can gather though, your paid job is to seek out negative TurboTax comments on the web and attempt to refute them. I'm pretty sure this must be a full time job that hopefully pays overtime for you.

Why I will probably not lose weight this week...

In a word...Musikfest!

I actually did pretty good this week, until my wife and I did our traditional trek up to Musikfest in Bethlehem, PA.

For those of you in eastern Pennsylvania, I highly recommend making a trip to this week long festival. Lots of good music, good food, and beer (notice I left off the good part).

I've been going every year since 1996 when I was a junior at Moravian College. Heck, back when I lived in Bethlehem after college, I would actually take days off work to just hang out down at the festival, drink beer, and be with friends. These days, I usually will head up for a few hours and rehash old times and then have to drive back. But it's still a great time and only as expensive as you wish to make it (admission is free...you only need to pay for food, drink, and the premium acts).

For me, there are certain eating traditions that aren't exactly the best in terms of weight loss. Here was my diet between 12-4PM on Saturday:

• Loaded nachos (Shared)
• 2 Pints of Beer
• Pulled pork sandwich
• Roasted Ear of Corn with Butter, Parmesan, and Spices (Shared)
• Bratwurst on a Roll (Shared a little)
• Chocolate Ice Cream between 2 Belgian Waffles (Shared a little)

So you can see why I'm not feeling too confident this week. I'm betting I break even this week and I will take it...

Personal Pushup Challenge

I hate upper body strength conditioning. Probably the one thing that I feel I have no idea what I'm doing and feel absolutely silly doing it. I hate doing free weights at the gym.

Even something as simple as the push up frustrates me. How could something so simple give me so much trouble?

Hearkening back to my college and fraternity days, one of the hazing methods was forced push ups for doing things wrong. I know, I know...hazing is an evil, evil thing...but I will tell you that I was never in such good shape as I was at that point in my life. My arm muscles looked pretty damn good!

So my personal challenge involves something of a forced push up. I will challenge myself to do 150 push ups this week (Monday through Sunday). That is 30 push ups for 5 days this week with 2 days of rest... I do not have to do 30 in one sitting or even 30 in one day (but I should a minimum of 10 in one sitting). The goal is to knock out 150 whatever it takes...

This may sound weak to some of you, but it's a start towards rehabbing my weak upper body...

FYI...not feeling too confident about tonight's weigh in...we'll see...

Trackbacks and Backlinks...

Anyone care to give the history and usefulness of track backs and back links?

Do people really use these functions on their blogs?

It seems like an interesting comment and an easy way to both comment on someone's site and add content to my blog at the same time...

It's funny...I used to be the "Go To Guy" for all things tech related, but this blog thing has made me realize how far my tech knowledge has receded over the years...

This will interest nobody but me...

But I'll post it anyways...trying to get Google Video to work on the blog...

Like cheap t-shirts?

I'm a big t-shirt guy. You know...the hip ones the kids are wearing these days that is heavy on graphic design, cultural satire, etc...

Here's a sampling of sites to give you an idea of what I mean:

http://www.threadless.com/

http://www.palmercash.com/

http://www.unetee.com/

Well...the fine folks over at woot.com have decided to get into the biz as well. The picture above is today's shirt that is already sold out. The site follows the same woot model of one shirt per day until it sells out and a majority of them do sell out rather quickly.

I especially like the fact that each shirt to this point has been only $10 w/ free s&h! With the other places, I find a shirt that I like, but can bear myself to spend $17 + 5 s&h for a t-shirt. At $10 total cost, I see myself becoming a woot t-shirt guy very soon.

Fun with my new scale...

I forgot...the point of this blog is journal about weight loss, right?

First off...I am 95% happy with my purchase at this point. It does everything as advertised, looks stylish, and now I can know my weight down to the tenth.

The only downside is the flimsy piece of plastic they use to cover the battery area. I can't just jump on the scale and need to move it whenever I weigh myself. In the short time I've had it, the battery cover on the bottom has already come off twice. A piece of scotch tape may be in order.

I like it so much, that I've become somewhat obsessive with checking my weight these days. I probably will jump on 2 -3 times daily. And here is the interesting thing. My weight fluctuates 2 - 4 pounds within any given day! The biggest difference is between weighing my self when I go to bed (Been as high as 195) and when I wake up in the morning (been as low as 191).

I have two questions for the group:

• Any thoughts on what causes such a shift in weight? Water weight?
• Is there a recognized "best time" that you should be weighing yourself?

Obviously, I will continue my Monday after working out ritual weigh in to keep consistent. Just curious what the common wisdom is...

Poking the bear...

Did I say I was done talking about the tax issue? Well our good friend Bob Meighan, a VP over at TurboTax, keeps leaving me comments that supposedly prove I am in the wrong on this issue.

So, instead of letting this lie, I feel compelled to respond yet again to Bob and the folks at TurboTax. On the advice of Customer Service Rep Anita and VP Bob, I actually went into my current 2006 return and attempted to add a bogus W2 to see what would happen...

First off, Bob is correct on one point. TurboTax doesn't ask you to fill in the SS# by W2. Instead it asks who to associate with each W2 at the beginning of entry. I probably incorrectly chose myself for both W2's. Therefore, it was not incorrectly viewing 2 different SS#s as one person. Score one for Bob...

But after I enter in another bogus W2 on my 2006 return and associate it with me, here is the screen that pops up:

I don't claim to be a tax guy. That's why I pay TurboTax $50 to do it for me. If I knew the intricacies of social security witholding and that you only have to pay up to a certain point and that this applies to each individual filing on a joint return, I WOULD HAVE DONE THE DAMN RETURN MYSELF! But I don't know these things and that is why I relied on TurboTax to ask the right questions in order to fill out the return properly.

So when TurboTax tells me that my company may have withheld too much SS tax, I would believe them. TurboTax only asks that I check to make sure the numbers on the W2 I am entering match what they have on the screen. I DID THAT AND THEY MATCHED! At no point did they question whether I chose the correct person for the W2. So I went forward believing that I indeed paid too much in SS tax and was entitled to a refund. What reason would I have to think otherwise?

BTW, Bob (if you're still listening)...no need to send me software...I'm pretty confident it will only confirm what I am stating above.

Bottom Line (for me...again): TurboTax should flagged this error and instructed me how to fix. The point of the software is to make accurate tax preparation an easy process. I'll admit TurboTax is an easy process but I'd question the accuracy piece.

Bonus: I'm going to label all of these posts as "My TurboTax / IRS Rant" so that these posts do not get lost in time.

Bonus #2: Bob states the following in the comments section:

"Just to reiterate what Anita already stated, if you entered one or more W-2s for the same spouse that exceeded the limits above, TurboTax flags you with a warning and error flag. The warning allows you to change the "ownership" of the W-2 to either spouse."

My response...see the actual screen print above...you are incorrect.

Staying off topic just a bit longer...

One thing you didn't care to know about me is that I am somewhat of a political junkie and follow certain political blogs closely. In full disclosure, I lean to the left of center. This is probably due to growing up in a union household in the Northeast.

One of my regular reads is Andrew Sullivan. Even though he is conservative, I admire him for being able to keep a clear head and doesn't attempt to link every thing the current administration does to the conservative cause in general. If Bush screws up, he calls it that way. I did find this one post peculiar though.

Although he doesn't explicitly say it, I assume the theme of his post is to highlight that Iran is a barbaric regime. It's a theme he returns to frequently.

My point is not to argue whether Iran is a barbaric regime. I agree that it is. But I'm willing to bet $100 that if someone polled self identified conservatives with the following question, "Are you in favor of the death penalty extending to those convicted of kidnapping or rape?", that over 80% of conservatives polled would be in favor.

How can you be in favor of the death penalty in the US, but then criticize the death penalty in Iran? Is it the fact that the execution was by hanging? in public?

I haven't read Andrew Sullivan enough to know his stance on the death penalty (perhaps he is against it), but I do know that conservatives strongly believe that it is OK for the government to take another person's life if they commit a crime. Once you decide that is OK, the question of how it is done, where it takes place, and what crimes are appropriate is all just a slippery slope in my opinion.

http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/2224950/20511168

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming...

I'm sure my ranting on the IRS and TurboTax wasn't particularly engaging to anyone.

Still it felt good to get it off my chest...

We'll get back to more weight loss centered posts now...

Thanks for your time...

It's Official...I HATE TURBOTAX

I won't bore you with the long drawn out letters back and forthat this point , but "Anita" essentially restated the error was mine. It didn't matter if I felt TurboTax's software should automatically flag an error as obvious as the one I made or that Turbotax would even allow me to claim two different social security numbers as my own.

You would think that in this case...just to be consumer friendly...they would throw me some sort of bone...

But thier response (in the most professional way possible) was to say, "We're sorry your so ignorant as to fill out such an easy question incorrectly. We hope you use our product again!"

My response (in the most professional way possible) was to let them know I will never use thier product again and will let everyone know that I think thier product and thier accuracy guarantee stinks! I also let them know that my wife and I are planning to purchase personal finance software in the very near future (that's what happens when you have to pay thousands of unforseen dollars to the IRS) and that we will not be choosing Quicken (brought to you be the same company that produces TurboTax).

Can you feel my anger coming through on this post right now?

Where are you Bob Meighan? Looking for your response in the comments section.

Tax saga continued...

For those interested, here TurboTax's response to my request that they pick:

I received your letter regarding our Accurate Calculations Guarantee, and have reviewed your request for reimbursement for interest and/or penalties paid to the IRS for 2005.I have determined that TurboTax Software did perform the calculation correctly and am unable to approve your claim. The basis for coming to this decision is as follows:When you choose to enter a W-2 in the program,you come first to a screen titled “Tell Us About Your Wage Income.” If you are filing jointly with a spouse, that screen contains three buttons from which you must choose. One has the taxpayer’s name on it, another has the spouse’s name, and the third says to skip the W-2 entry. You cannot progress beyond this pointto enter a W-2 without making a selection here. If you make the correct selection, that is, if you correctly identify the person to whom that W-2 belongs, then the social security tax from that W-2 will accrue to that person. If you accidentally make the wrong selection, and choose the same owner for W-2s that belong to different spouses, then all the social security tax withheld accrues to only one spouse and that person appears to have too much social security withheld. The apparently excess amount appears on your 1040 as “Excess social security withheld” and increases your refund or decreases the tax due.If this error occurs, you are given the opportunity to make corrections. After entering the W-2s, a screen appears saying that one individual may have paid too much social security, with the relevant information appearing below for you to review and correct.If you use the CD version of the product, whether an actual CD or downloaded CD, you can verify this error by opening your return and choosing Continue as though you were going to work on your data again. Then, along the top of the TurboTax screen, there is a narrow grey menu bar that starts with the words “File…Edit…View…Forms…. Select the word Forms, then Show My Return from the dropdown menu. You will see a list of all the forms used to create your return. Double click on the Form W-2 and W-2G Summary to open it. If you see if too much income showing in the column for one spouse, that is the cause of your excess social security.If you used the online version, you can duplicate the error by starting a fake return in the current online version. When you enter W-2s, make the erroneous spouse selection as described above and see that all social security is then attributed to only one spouse.Keeping our customers loyal is important to us. If you have further questions, or feel that I have reached this conclusion in error, please feel free to contact me by sending an e-mail to TaxAnalysts@intuit.com and typing “Attn: xxx” in the subject line. Please also include your Reference # xxxx in your message.

And here is my response to them:

Anita,

Here are my comments to your conclusion:

-> Since I used the online version, I can not go back and
verify what was entered back in 2005. Your online version only allows
users to go back and check specific entries for the latest year. You note
that I should use the current version to prove that TurboTax asks the
appropriate question, but how do I know that this latest version is exactly the
same as the version used back in February 2006?

-> Even if I take TurboTax’s word on this, can you please explain any situation where I would claim a W-2 return with a different social security number as my own income? This is poor programming at best that only can lead to the error you claim I made. While I can’t go back and prove it, I do not remember TurboTax ever raising a flag indicating a potential error on my part. It is my contention, that while I may have ultimately checked the incorrect box, that poor programming led me down this path. Isn’t the purpose of your software to make it easy for the consumer to fill out a correct tax return? Giving the consumer the choice of selecting a W-2 with another person’s SS# as his / her own income serves no other purpose than to cause confusion and errors in my estimation.

For a few years prior to using your software, I was using HR Tax-cut Online. I actually switched to your software due to its better interface and my impression that it captured more information in order to get a better refund. I was actually excited when TurboTax actually reported a much higher refund than what I received using Tax-Cut. Now, your higher refund resulted in me not only having to pay back taxes (which is a hardship that I didn’t budget for this year), I have to pay an additional $300+ in interest and penalties.

I have already voiced my displeasure publicly on this issue through word of mouth to friends and family and through a personal weblog that generates x page views monthly. I was hoping to follow up this story by telling friends and family (and web traffic) how TurboTax did the right thing in the end. As things stand right now, I can only say that TurboTax did not do the right thing by the consumer and I would
advise anyone against using your services in the future with my story as the cautionary tale.

Bottom Line: I disagree with your review of my request. TurboTax software should not even ask whether W-2 forms with two different Social Security #s should be counted under 1 person. To hold me responsible for accidentally checking the incorrect box for a question that shouldn’t be asked in the first place is unfair. I hope you will reconsider reimbursing me for the interest and penalty charges I have already paid to the IRS.

And now you can vote on who is right and who is wrong! Be the judge, jury, but not the executioner (that's the IRS's job):

Weigh In - Week 18

I'll be perfectly honest here. I was fully expecting to come in to this post with amazement that I was able to keep my weight in check this week. I was shooting for another 196. A quick recap of some of the bad things...

• Only worked out twice this week and both workouts were the bare minimum (cardio, abs, and little / no weights).
• Had a pepperoni cheese steak for the first time in ages. For those of you outside PA, the ingredients are chipped steak, American cheese, pepperoni, all on a 12" white roll. Extremely delicious and the saturated fat is off the charts.
• Went to the bar for drinks on Tuesday night and had beers Saturday afternoon after a successful yard sale.
• Had a Moe's Burrito for dinner on Friday night (Trust me, they're not good for you).
• Finished off a 1/2 bag of multi grain pretzels dipped in Nutella.

By far, this is one of the worst weeks that I can remember since I've started this. There were some positives mind you...Setting up and tearing down the yard sale was a workout in itself. AJ is getting heavier and likes to be held in a way that works the arms a bit. Other than the food faux pas mentioned above, everything else held to my normal weight loss form.

But my faux pas were never this plentiful...Even my trip to see my brother in Phoenix wasn't as bad as this one...and I not only lose weight, but I lose 3 lbs! Someone upstairs must be smiling down on me.

So, I basically am expecting to gain or maintain this week...this was truly a fluke...

Haven't posted the excel chart in a while...here it is:

Finally picked up a scale...

It's amazing that I've gone this long with a program and haven't purchased a scale.

As regular readers know, I've been using my gym's scale as the official weekly reading. I still plan on doing that (and have my next reading coming tonight...wish me luck), but as I get closer to goal / healthy weight, the pounds are not coming off as quickly. Therefore, I wanted to buy something that measures in small increments. This one does it in tenths and that works for me.

Also, I've read horror stories about people crash dieting and losing body muscle instead of body fat. This got me wondering where my body fat % currently is and this scale also does that as well as body water %.

It also saves readings, allows you to track to a goal, and can keep up to four separate users saved at a time. It's very techie / geeky (and guys love techie / geeky stuff). Bought it at Wal-Mart for $39 (Actual photo included above). Only started using last night, but it seems pretty good...

So, in anticipation of today, I jumped on the scale to see where I will probably end up for my "official" weigh in. My unofficial weigh in clocked in at 195.8....since I am going to the nearest pound, I expect to break even this week. To be honest, if that happens, I will not be upset at all and will go into the number of bad things I did this week to make a break even seem OK.

Also, my body fat % came in at 18.9%...which is right at the top of the "healthy" range. Which syncs up nicely with the fact that my weight is right on the bottom of the "overweight" category. Translation: My weight loss program is not causing me to lose weight at the expense of body muscle...which is good.

Extra Bonus: With a digital scale at home, I can now "unofficially" weigh myself without clothes and get an accurate reading. My buck naked weight actually came in at 193.4! Giddy up on that number...Nice to know that my true weight is even better, but for the purposes of the "50 pounds in 50 weeks" game plan, I will stick to weighing myself with tshirt, shorts, and socks...

They are watching...

I don't know whether to be impressed or freaked out...

Go look at the comments section from my little IRS rant...

No...the IRS didn't find it but a VP over at my favorite tax software company did...I doubt he's a regular reader...I wonder what web sniffing software they used to find me...

Caveat Lector...