I can wrap a towel around my waist again- and not even one of those extra large towels either! (extra large towels are a vestige of fatness)

I’ve got an NSV and a goal to cross off my list!

It’s begun to get cold here, so I dug up my winter coat, and just for grins tried to see if it would button… and it did! You can check out my updated list of goals here.

Also, I have the results of my most recent weigh-in- I’ll update them tomorrow.

I wanted to get a photo of something that weighed as much as I lost, so I plugged 31 pounds into Google and came up with this:

Disapproving policeman disapproves.

I’ve lost as much in drugs as there is on that table. That’s a lot.

There’s also this photo of an orthodontist who had a mysterious package sent to his office:

Approving orthodontist approves… heartily.

This one makes me laugh more.

I ran 4.66 miles again last night, with no plan and no route. Just ran ‘til I felt like I should pack it in. I felt alright, but not as good as I did on Tuesday. I had a stitch in my side and a tingling in my knee, but those things are pretty much par for the course, for me anyway.

I don’t think I could honestly run the thing without some kind of music to distract my mind from the unpleasantries of almost being hit by a car, or almost falling off a curb, or wondering how serious the pain in my hip is. So in light of that, I’ll give you a peek into my playlist for the last few weeks.

Yes, that’s all Tool. All Tool, all the time.

Tool offers versatility of sound and lyric in what might seem like a rather lopsided playlist. I’ve been on a big Tool kick lately, and it seems to aid the thought process when I’m out late at night running.

I ran this route last night, which is a little different from Tuesday night in some ways I’m not sure you’ll care about.

I didn’t biff it this time, which probably gets me docked on entertaiment value.

It did occur to me that it seems like I’m over my cravings of junk food. It’s taken about a year and a half since I made the decision to excise that stuff from my life, and while I can’t say I don’t think about it lustily from time to time, I was able to make brownies, fudge and candy in one night without trying any. At the same time, I didn’t really feel like I was fighting any urges or missing anything. I think it will last, as long as I don’t start eating really unhealthily again, and at this point, I don’t think I will. I had my vitals recounted by my doctor recently and everything is down across the board: blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose, everything.

So, down to business: yesterday was a weigh-in day, my first in quite a while. I’m happy to report that my weight has dropped 5 pounds in a short period of time, which drops me well into the 250s at 257. You can find an updated weight metric here.

Looking forward to the flightline run I have planned tomorrow night, so I think I’ll take tonight off to rest my legs and feet.

My wife and I have a friend who lives up the street, and I’ve worked out a deal where she comes over a night or two a week and hangs out at my place if I can give her daughter a ride home a couple nights a week. Tonight was the first time she’s come over.

I went running without a plan or a route in mind. I went running just to go running, just to experience the wonder of running through a town when it’s at its sleepiest. I went running to feel the cold beat against my bare skin. I went running just to go running.

I felt pretty good the entire run except for some tightness in my left achilles tendon. I sprinted the last 1/4 mile at a good clip and when I was finished I wasn’t as winded as I thought I should be, so I feel like I probably should have sprinted it a lot faster. Next time I will. Screw that lagging.

This is the route I ran:

I am an Olympic athlete.

Turns out the route I ran ended up being almost 5 miles, which isn’t bad for someone who hasn’t run regularly since May. Plus, in the weight department, I’ve dropped down to 257. I was stuck on a plateau for about 6 months. Screw that plateau.

Lately I’ve been feeling like the universe is caving in on me and after this run, for the first time in a few weeks, I feel like everything’s manageable. Everything will be all right, everything will work out as it should. I feel good and I feel optimistic. Pretty sure that’s the endorphins talking, and even if it is, it just means I’m going to have to run more. Screw that moping.

My wife is gone right now, but I think I can get down to at least 230 before she gets back - maybe even 220 if I kill myself. This would be good for a couple of reasons: I know she’s not expecting it, and it would mean I could fit into my old clothes. Screw XXXL.

I finally adapted my son’s bike trailer to a jogging stroller and as soon as he’s able (he’s a little under the weather right now) we’re going to run the flightline together: good for 6.4 miles. That’ll be another goal I get to cross off my list. Hopefully I’m going to be crossing off a lot of my goals here in the next few months. Screw this fatness.

I’ve found over the last 10 years or so that my feet are susceptible to plantar fasciitis, which makes it feel like I have one of these stuck to the bottom of my foot:

Except mine probably feels a little bigger. It’s really aggravating, and I’m suposed to take it easy until it gets better, which could take months. Fuck everything about that. I decided last night that this time I’m just going to play through the pain and my foot is just going to have to deal with it.

Can’t wait to go running again.

Got babysitters for the kids tonight and went for a three-mile run. I wanted to run the flightline, which is a 6.2 miler, but the person I was running with wasn’t up to it. The flightline run is one of my goals, and next time I can find a sitter for the kids, I’m going to get it done, dammit!

Also, lost 2 more pounds. There is less of me to love.

Also, ran like a boss this morning: threw the textbook up on the treadmill and studied while I worked out.

I haven’t posted in a while. This summer has easily been the worst three months of my life, so I’ve been quite busy. That and having my daughter home with me all day pretty much helped me decide to take the summer off. I’ve still been eating well, but I’ve fallen out of the habit of exercising. My daughter finally went back to school on Monday and I decided I would use that momentum to get back into the swing of things at the gym.

I’ve noticed some interesting things about my time off and the last few days in the gym, and I’ll enumerate them here (because I’m lazy):

1. I scaled the distance I’m running back from 5.5 miles to 2 to help stave off injury. While I’m not running as far, I’m definitely running much faster and I don’t know why. I think that’s odd.
2. I haven’t lost much muscle either. I’m right about where I was when I took a break. Maybe a little weaker, but not much.
3. I’ve tweaked my weightlifting regimen to include squats and will be lifting less for definition and more for power and bulk. 
4. I haven’t gained a lot of weight, just four pounds. It wasn’t an official weigh-in day, so I won’t include it. Today is the official weigh-in day, and I forgot to weigh in. I’ll do it next week.

My wife is in Afghanistan and will return sometime next year. She doesn’t know I’ve gone back to the gym and I’m pretty sure she thinks I’ve given up on this blog. I’m planning to surprise her with my weight loss when she gets back. I’d like to lose another 30 pounds by then, which would put me at 236 and back into my XXL clothes. I think that’s a goal I can easily attain without killing myself.

Parting shot:

Ankle feels tight today. Hope it finds a way to untighten itself before my run tomorrow.

Just got back from the gym and my arms feel like wet noodles.

The last few weeks have been hard on my workout. Without giving too much away, it’s obvious from my past posts that I live overseas in Europe near a military base. Things got really busy with the Libyan bombing campaign – everyone was working very long hours, running paths were shut down, and gyms were closed to accommodate the new arrangements. Throw that in with my daughter’s spring break and I was left with long days: early mornings and late nights with little in the way of a kid friendly environment.  The kids play area in the cardio room was even shut for a week because of an ant infestation (pretty gross). 

Pretend this is an ant.

So my PT routine languished. I had an unofficial weigh in that pegged me close to a new milestone and I ended up taking it easy because I thought I was entitled to. I took on coaching my daughter’s little league team (because baseball is awesome, duh) which for a while meant dinner at the BX’s food court right afterward.

Do you know how hard it is to sit and watch three people eat hamburgers/pizza/tacos when you’re supposed to be on a diet? I’m sure each of you has experienced that private circle of hell.  

Michigan isn’t the hell I meant.

In the past when I’ve fallen off the fitness wagon, my immediate instinct has been to clam up and just stop talking about it, in hopes that no one will notice that I’m not doing so well and never ask me about it. This time was different. I remembered why I set up this blog – so I could share my successes in the most public forum possible. I thought that in the name of transparency, I needed to share my failures and struggles with you as well. So this is new territory for me. Thank you all for helping to keep me accountable.

Then, last week, I hit the magic mark. I started running five miles at a time and suddenly it was daunting. It was an effort to get myself out there and do it. It seemed far. It felt like it took forever.

Tonight, after pigging out at Easter dinner, (I had beer for the first time since November!) I forced myself to go to the gym after softball practice. I dialed it back to four miles and I slugged it out the whole time. It hurt and I didn’t like it, but I felt great when I finished. My next run with week with be 4.5 miles, and my final run this week will be a 5-miler.

So here’s the big news: I’ve officially lost 50 pounds. I’m sitting right on 262.0, so blowing my nose might be enough to push me to 51 pounds. This is motivation I desperately need and a pat on the back I feel like I deserve.

In the meantime, reading Ben’s blog again helps keep me motivated. See you guys on the other side of the finish line.    

This guy!

My fantasy baseball team went 1 for 17 last night. Amateurs.

I’ve had several small victories today. Let’s list them in bullet form, because I’m former military and that’s what you do when you have no imagination (did I say that out loud?).

• My daughter and wife had Girl Scouts tonight, so I hitched a ride to the gym since it’s right next door.
• For the first time in 2 or 3 weeks, I lifted weights.
• Plus, I have maintained my level of cardiovascular fitness through biking and running at home so I can still comfortably use the elliptical at max resistance. Killed it, as Ben says.
• I’ve got an appointment for the car to go into the shop.
  You wish you looked as good as I do in my car.
• Turns out I need a new water pump, or Pump Water, as my Italian mechanic insists on calling it. This means I’ll be able to get to the gym five days a week, at least until something else breaks. (I’m driving the Italian equivalent of a 15-year-old Hyundai.)
• It’s opening day, and I’m doing OK in my fantasy baseball league. Two Three home runs so far. We’ll see. 
• I’m on the cusp of running 5 miles at a time. 4.4 miles this week, and 4.8 next week. Once I hit 6, I can run the flight line and cross off another goal.
• I saved the best for last. I jumped on the scale after my workout, not knowing what to expect. I now weigh 263 pounds and have lost 49 pounds. I’m not going to count it as an official weigh in because it wasn’t Wednesday and it wasn’t morning, so you’ll have to wait summore until next week for all those fancy calculations. I figure if I kill myself at the gym between now and then, I can not only make it an even 50, but I can break into the 250s, which would be a huge psychological boost for me.