Music is my road... into a pair of 36 jeans... maybe.

I'm totally in a massive funk right now. Not for any particular reason. I’m sure some of it has to do with not eating much, some with only losing .5 lbs last week, our CEO coming straight out and telling us no raises this year (in April when raises are in JULY!!!), feeling under qualified to leave this pop stand, wanting to be home working on the yard, having my current client continually miss payment deadlines, etc.

I basically just want to shoot anyone that walks near me right now. (please don't use this in a police report later... I'm not seriously going to kill anyone.... might maim um a bit tho)

Last night I did get to see Wynton Marsalis at the Nancy Hanks Lecture put on by Americans for the Arts. It was a flash back to Erdmann's jazz history class + Ken Burns on Jazz + every book on jazz history I've ever read all rolled into one for the purpose of realizing how much American music has helped develop our culture and other cultures around the world without most people ever knowing it.

So afterwards to try to get off the depressing topic of music appreciation in public schools I started to think how I could relate what I heard from Wynton to what the subject matter of this blog is. I actually came up with something.

I'm paraphrasing here (but I'll post the transcript when it is made available) but he basically said how people need to know where they've been and where they are so they can make sure they don't just circle around and repeat everything all over again. He made a very spot on comparison to early 1900's minstrel shows and the degrading lyrics about women and blacks and then rapped lyrics from Dr. Dre's "Ain't Nothing But a G Thang." It was startling how similar the content was between the two considering the later claims to hate and rightfully should hate everything related to the whole black-faced debacle and that whole segment of American history.

My fattiness point is this… I’m good at losing weight it seems. I’ve done it three times now. The first time was junior year of college when I lost 40 some due to a long relationship ending badly. Second was 18 months ago when I lost 23 in the first biggest loser competition. Now I’m down 38 and nearing the end of this biggest loser run. Calculating the net gain/loss of weight over those 6 years and I’ve lost over 100 lbs and still manage to stay in the 235-255 weight range when I should be well under 200. I’m a yo-yo’er that can’t keep the weight off. This cycle of obesity needs to stop. I need to learn moderation. Most importantly I need to remember how tiresome, tough, time consuming and overly obnoxious the whole weight-loss process is. If I can manage all of that… I might actually be able to keep off all the hefty spare tires and learn to not repeat this shit again… as much as I love this blog and all, its just not worth it.

Me no likie the fattie...

So I went to copy the 3 paragraphs I had written in the editor so I wouldn’t lose it and what did Blogger do? F’n deleted my shit. BAH!

Anyways, long weekend of not so good foodstuff (I love that word… so underused) and not as much exercise as I had hoped for. Megan’s sister Ashley came into town though and it was awesome to see her. Because of the gym and a trip to Raleigh, NC to see the Caps, I didn’t get to see as much of her as I would have liked too but there will always be next time.

12 days left.

That’s all I have before this damned contest is over. There is some real competition around the office this time too. I thought that with the executive mandate of no outside contestants would make this a shoe in for me but a pair of girls are bringing it. Now, to be fair, one of them (Alison) got engaged right after we all weighed in… so she has motivation on top of motivation. Ana in marketing, is just working her arse off to get back into college shape. She’s where my money would be if I had to pick a winner right now. No one will agree to occasional weigh-ins because they don’t want any influence to let up or to give up so I have not idea where they are in comparison to me.

A pair of guys are making some serious strides but I’m sure I have them both topped at the moment…. I think. While I’ve lost more weight than anyone else here, that doesn’t necessarily mean that I’m in the lead. Because we’re going off of % change of fat percentage it’s impossible to eye-ball.

A person can lose all the weight they want but if the fat % isn’t dropping then its not going to get them the money (please give this man his money J). So for the next 12 days fat content is going out the window. This means:

-Nothing mass manufactured (where all the darned saturated fat is)
-Nothing with much sugar (because it’ll turn to fat)
-Nothing that tastes good (because it can’t be good for you… can it?)

So salads, bananas, and whatever else I can think of along the way.

Imma gonna be a cranky guy here in a minute.

But in the meantime… this still makes me happy:

What pisses me off: Part 1

...Fucking people who say "gee lets go to the gym" and then sit idle in their cars in a small circular parking lot with their hazards on only to grab the first spot that someone leave from. Not only does this back up cars sometimes 10 deep as they try to get around but its absurd that they just cant park in the HUGE empty lot on the side of the building.

If you're going to the gym yet too lazy to walk an extra 100 ft you deserve to be fat the rest of your pathetic life.

That is all. :)

And I'm BACK... briefly.

I’ve been razzed therefore I’m blogging. It’s a horrible thing that its come to be this way. I really do want to write daily. I just don’t have the gumption to fit everything into my home time. The blog gets voted off the island. Sorry!

But I am constantly thinking about cool “feature article” type stuff for content throughout the day. Things like “Eating out on a Diet” which would include all my concerts and sporting events I’ve gone to, “You might be in a Biggest Loser contest if…” which would include all the embarrassing/humorous moments in public, “Recipe of the Week” which would focus on my culinary side (lol), etc.

When will I ever write any of these things? About that….

So to be brief, I was sick all last week and only went to the gym once. Sinus infection/flu plus a ton of work hours and = good weight loss apparently. 3.5 lbs fell off me just by not having an appetite and sweating off the flu. I’m alright with that… As long as it stays off.

My appetite hasn’t really come back since I started feeling better either (knock on wood) maybe the stomach is shrinking. About dammed time!

I just want to say that despite behaving once this contest is over; I look so forward to allowing myself a beer or two at Bar Louie. The bartenders are so disappointed in me. Laura and I were at the bar pre Caps game the other day and Tracy (my fav bartender) came up to me and ask if I wanted my regular, which I turned down for a sugar free Red Bull, free burgers and fries which I couldn’t touch, and FREE BEER which I abstained from. All I got were sad looks from bartenders that are used to me throwing several sheets to the wind and tipping them their monthly rent.

Oh ya… if anyone is dying, I’m CPR certified again. Just a FYI.

Watchmen kicked ass despite sitting in the third row. That’s a good sign IMO.

Lastly, this tune had me rocking far more than I would like to admit last week when Bernie, the 65 year old spinning instructor that I’m not all that fond of, pumped it up:



Brings me back to my childhood. /sigh

Catch up!

So let me start off by apologizing for the slacking on my part Blog. I know you enjoyed spending time with me and I’m such an asshole for neglecting you. Lisa Facebooked me last night and said that she spent hours talking with you about how hard its been being alone these last couple of weeks. I can’t promise that I can change all that much but I can assure you that I’ll never go completely away. I’ll leave that up to you whether that’s a good thing or not. Now, let me catch you up on my life.

I don’t remember a lot of individual details for the last 10 days but on Saturday the 7th we were able to get in our first game of Frisbee this year. I was stoked. To boot it was like 68 degrees out. This was my first time back at the field of my ankle injury since October. There was about 18 of us to start the game which was a solid number. I was able to sprint a bit but as the game went on, I could tell that my ankle was not doing too well with all the uneven ground. Apparently my arse needs some new shocks. I had to split two hours in so I could make the Caps game that night against Florida. I’m glad I did. It was fantastic stuff.

Since then, the Caps have been on a 3-game road trip which has me longing for some Phone Booth action. Mike Green solidified himself as a Cap to remember and FINALLY I know who my next jersey is going to be… Hopefully before the playoffs. I think its time I add a real current caps jersey to my collection so I can actually rock the red. Now for a short “Get to Know Mike Green” segment (watch out for those simpletons from Regina!):





Broke down and went to Circuit City to check out the liquidation and of course, talked myself into buying a Xbox360 Elite. Still expensive at $315 but that’s $85 dollars off the retail ticket price. Picked up NHL 09 too. Don’t have a HD TV yet but that will come with time.

Eating has been a mixed bag as of late. I’ve been doing okay during the day. It’s been a mixture of healthy leftovers and Harris Teeter. Unfortunately for the diet, Megan and I have been going out and actually attempting to not be hermits. We’ve done Macaroni Grill, Chili’s several times, and a couple other places I can’t think of at the moment. I’ve managed to stay fairly obedient but things like bottomless tortilla chips at Chili’s is tough to say no to. On the flip side, I’ve been banging down vegetables, whole grain pastas, and lean meat so as long as they don’t use 2 sticks of butter per meal, I should be alright.

Went to the gym for cycling on Saturday morning and a fight almost broke out between two women and the manager of the gym. Apparently they’ve been saving bikes for friends who hadn’t signed up for the class yet and people getting to the gym early couldn’t get a bike. It was one of the most childish things I’ve seen from fully-grown adults. On weekends now they’re going to call each one of us to enter the studio in order of sign-up. Fine with me as I usually get there with time to spare but damn people… It’s a fucking spinning class not the war on terror. Had another KICK ASS new teacher that day too. I like my man David but these two chicks the last two Saturdays have been a whole new experience. I am literally less of a man when they’re done with me. Good stuff.

Valentines Day was good. Not quite as planned but good nonetheless. Megan and I were planning on going ice skating at the Wheaton rink and then to dinner at Macaroni Grill. Well the geniuses at the rink decided that Valentine’s Day would be a great opportunity to close the rink, and cancel their adult skate. So much for all those hopeless romantics looking for something to do. Does anyone else think that’s weird? We decided that instead of the cheap option, we’d go to Best Buy and buy Guitar Hero World Tour for the Xbox so she and I could play something together on my new toy. After a horrible customer experience at the Wheaton Best Buy (I’m not longer going to shop there), we went home and got a couple rounds in before dinner.

Dinner was awesome because despite the hostess screwing up our reservation time, we got seated immediately in a VERY packed restaurant while the line out the door cursed at us passionately. The waiter, despite bringing us water glasses for our glasses of wine, left the whole bottle of house Chianti on the table and then only charged us for one (1) glass of wine @ $4.99. Can’t complain about that one bit.

I guess I should address the weight issue since this is a weight-loss centered blog. With all the eating out I thought I was going to be screwed but after a good spin this morning and some light weights, I came in at 248 lbs! I didn’t think there was a shot in hell I’d be under 250 and in fact was preparing myself for my first gain of the competition. With this bit of good news, I’m down 21.5 lbs in 6 weeks which keeps me slightly above my goal of 3 lbs a week. Solid.

Anywho… got staff meeting here in a couple minutes which reminds me, I never told you why I disappeared. My blogging schedule had me doing most of my penmanship during work hours… usually around lunch. Well on the 2nd of February, Strathmore laid off 6 people including 2 people from our department. Put those on top of Veronica, our Ops Assistant, who left earlier in January for another job, and that gives Miriam and I 5 jobs to split between the two of us with no relief in sight. My only work time to write now is when I get in early on spinning days and can get most of my narrative done by 9.

Hope whoever reads this finds it in their heart to forgive my laziness and are doing well personally.

It may not be the right venue for you....

But it is for me!



This is my current inspiration.

First Goal ACCOMPLISHED!!

I don't have jack time this week to write as we've had a bunch of lay-offs at work and those of us that are still left are scrambling.

Didn't go to the gym Monday or Tuesday but after back-to-back workouts Wednesday night and Thursday morning, I weighed in at 254 lbs with 27.3% body fat.

That's one pound past my initial goal of getting back to where I was when I started the last biggest loser.... Now to continue to average 3 lbs a week the rest of the way and the money will be mine!

Catch up with ya'll later. Hopefully this weekend.