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: