TB's Journey~

At Home

2012-02-17T10:18:00.000-06:00

It's Friday morning, I took the kids to school and headed back home. Working out for two hours a day Monday thru Thursday just wears me out. I planned to prime a few walls in the basement, but it's gotten to be a time where I decided it just didn't pay to start. I got downstairs and taped all the woodwork, and by that time I would have had about 45 minutes to paint, so I decided not to start. At least it's all ready to be primed and painted.

It still is wierd being home during the day. I just don't know what to do. I'm so used to heading to the gym everyday, when I do come home, I have to have something to do or I'm just walking around aimlessly heading towards the cupboards. I will be heading out to Menard's soon to get a few things.

No plans for the weekend, I may head to a Weight Watcher meetings tomorrow morning just to get some motivation, but I'm just not feeling it lately. My eating has been fine, but I just don't want to follow the points. Seems when they took my Saturday meetings away, they took my motivation to follow the plan away too.

Things That Break

2012-02-15T14:30:00.000-06:00

There are some things that break and do not need to be replaced immediately. Sunday, I grilled a tenderlion out and had Caryn and Benjamin carry the platters out to help me. Low and behold, Benjamin just about dropped his on the deck steps. I was right behind him and saved it. Then, I opened the grill and checked on the meat. SPLAT! Somehow he managed to let go of his platter and it broke into a thousand pieces. I don't need to replace it yet.

Yesterday, I started my coffee, went about getting everyone ready and on the way out the door tried to pour my coffee and it hadn't brewed. What? It was on, everything the same as always just no coffee. That is something that has to be replaced. Luckily, it was Valentine's Day. Got one.

Strategizing with weight loss is very similar. A WW member came into to way today and mentioned how she enjoyed the "game." Strategically planning her points and making sure she spent her points on something she really needed.

Wish I could get back into the "game" and have have strategically planning my day.

Looking Out For You

2012-02-14T09:29:00.001-06:00

I wish I had someone email me to verify that I really ate something questionable. Friday, our credit card company emailed us and tried to call us to verify a $1.00 charge to our account. It was from an online music site that they have being tracking. Of course, I could not verify it, since my wife opened the account it had to be her. We never heard of the place, they closed our account and overnighted us new cards with a new account number.

It would awesome if when you tracked what you were eating, someone would be watching out for you. Weight Watchers is getting much closer with their barcode scanner. Now, I just need updated technology to get it to work.

I can see today is going to be a tough day. My oldest made cookies last night and was going to take them to school. She tried one and decided not to bring them. Something about them sugar cookie mix had an expiration date of May 2010. I tried them, actually tried three. I'll be putting them in the truck when I get back to the car.

Happy Valentine's Day!

When Things Go Well

2012-02-13T08:51:00.000-06:00

It's amazing to me how the weeks fly by. It sure is true about the older you get, the faster time goes. My weekdays fly by and if we have something going on during the weekend, it flies by just as fast.

Friday, I primed and painted our toy room in the basement. I wanted to get this room done first because I had gotten a pegboard from Weight Watchers with six baskets and two flat shelves to putup on the wall for toys. It really did turn out well and I was able to empty more totes, which the kids don't like playing out of. Seems if it's in a tote, it's invisible to them.

We also had a birthday party for my nieces. We probably overstayed our welcome, but everyone was playing so nice, we stayed till bedtime.

Yesterday, the girls primed another basement wall while the boys chopped wood and shoveled. Today, my wife is off and I'm keeping the 3 yr old home again. He's having a horrible time with being sick lately. No one else has got it, but he's making up for it.

I canceled my interview for a full-time job. Just does not feel like the right time yet and the place is undergoing lots of change right now, so probably best to notget involved yet.

Everything is cruising along foodwise and exercise wise, which is contributing to making the time fly. It sure was nice to sleep in Saturday, but I'm sure I'll miss the paycheck soon.

Have a great Monday!

Ran 7 miles

2012-02-09T14:14:00.000-06:00

I really was not planning to go to the gym this morning. I had every intention to just head home because frankly, I'm tired. But something got me going and my car headed to the gym. I ran and ran and ran. First, one and a half miles...then switched treadmills because the sun was glaring off the magazine rack right into my eyes. Then, another 5.5 miles. I got done much earlier than I do if I attend a class. Had plenty of time to grocery shop and head to Sam's Club.

I felt great. I know if I would have skipped the gym today, I would have felt guilty all day and just taken the frustration out on the kids for no good reason. I am now set up for success and I am ready for dinner too. Planning ahead to ensure success.

The Saturday receptionists and I have been mulling over options as to meetings to attend. I would love to go to the center closest my house, but I was working there yesterday and checked the numbers and over 150 members attend each meeting. That's a bit too large for me. I understand the leader is great, but seriously...150!

I do plan on skipping the gym tomorrow, but who knows what direction the car will take. Really I have no good reason other than, I can.

Planning Ahead

2012-02-08T14:17:00.001-06:00

Wednesday is always a very hectic morning. I always try to go through what I need to get done the night before, but something always seems to come up unexpected. It's garbage day, breakfast for lunch day, which means I need to make four lunches because no one likes the menu, I need a bag for the gym with dress clothes, need my Weight Watcher bag for work, get an idea for dinner, get my bag ready for my nursing home evening job and then it's a battle to wake everyone and get them dressed, brushed, fed and out the door.

Today, the added demension of a fifty cent "dress down" day complicated the dressing situation. That makes it even a bigger battle to get ready in morning, but actually it did go well.

So why is it that I can plan ahead and get everything prepared for our hectic morning, but when it comes to eating, I can't get a handle on planning ahead? My goal for the next two days will be to plan my points. I don't even care if I will be able to track, but as long as I have my points planned out for the day, I should be successful.

Tuesday Workout

2012-02-07T11:06:00.001-06:00

I have really been working out hard during the week. Much easier just to stick around the gym all morning than head to the stores to window shop or sit at Starbucks to sip some coffee.

Today, I ran 3.5 miles; rode the Arc Trainer 45 minutes on Pike's Peak program; and had a tough strength session for 30 minutes. I burned over 1500 calories and hoping to not eat it all later.

Really, I have been doing alright eating a few healthier snacks throughout the day and one bigger meal. So far, the effort isn't showing up on the scale though.

Have a great Tuesday, it's supposed to snow a little later.

Super Bowl Weekend

2012-02-06T08:16:00.001-06:00

The kids had off Friday, which happened to be my birthday. We went to the WAC to swim. My trainer had canceled on me earlier in the week, so I had a killer weight training session first. I hate weights! My chest is still sore from the session.

Saturday, I worked my last WW at our old center. We have been told that when we get back to our goal, the meetings will be ours again. I pretty much had a pitty party weekend though and didn't so much care what I ate.

We had a family birthday party Saturday at our house, two big meals and cake and pie. Sunday, an impromtu Superbowl party happened at our house as well.

Glad to be back to the routine. On the treadmill as I type, followed by Spin and maybe some weights afterwards depending upon how exhausted I am after Spin.

Have a great week. Shooting to track all week.

Happy Groundhog's Day

2012-02-02T09:10:00.000-06:00

The kids have off school tomorrow. They are under the assumption that we are going swimming at the gym in the morning and painting in the afternoon. We plan on painting our basement as the colors are super dark, but I'm just not sure I want to let all of them help me. Right now, there are a few dark brown walls, a few darker brown walls and a few deep purple walls. We have bought a blue, gold and rust color to lighten it up, but plan on hosting a party on Saturday, so I'd rather wait on the paint.

It's a dreary day today, meaning Spring is on it's way. The groundhog in Sun Prairie, "Jimmy," did not see his shadow. The groundhog at our Milwaukee County Zoo gets to sleep till noon. "Wynter" will make her prognostication then. Last year, we had such a blizzard that they actually canceled Groundhog's Day, so this year is bound to be much better.

Today, the kids had a technology day. For a quarter, they could bring in any technology to play with that they wanted. My two girls both wanted to bring an ipod, so I hesitantly let my 2nd grader take mine. Honestly, she's much more responsible than my older daughter, so I'm not concerned, but it could make for a long run at the gym without my tunes.

Happy Groundhog's Day!!

Light Bulb

2012-02-01T14:00:00.000-06:00

We moved into our new house a bit over a month ago. Seems everyday I can find another lightbulb that was burned out...in the shower, under the kithchen cabinets, outside, in the bathroom, etc.

It's a constant adventure finding all the light switches that work the different fixtures. After a month, I think I have conquered the lights. The only light I can't figure out is a light in a shadow box in our entry way. Changed the bulb, but still have know idea how to turn it on.

One month. I should be able to conquer 7 pounds in a month, but again it's a constant adventure. Wish it were as easy as heading out to buy a new lightbulb.

Under the Weather

2012-01-31T14:28:00.001-06:00

My 3 yr old is back to normal. By mid-afternoon yesterday, I felt horrible however. Just achy and having the chills made for a long afternoon/night. I did make it bad to the gym this morning and ran 3 miles. Less than I usually do on Tuesdays, but my oldest had an Ortho appointment mid-morning. She got her bottom braces on.

I got a call already for an interview, but the more I think about it, the less excited I am to go back to work fulltime yet. Just remembering the headaches when the kids were off school makes me want to wait at least another year. We'll see, an interview is always something goodto practice if nothing else.

It's a beautiful day today in Milwaukee. A high of 53! The only snow left now is the gross brown salt covered snow. I'm sure we'll got more yet.

Things Happen for a Reason

2012-01-30T08:51:00.000-06:00

The territory manager for the new store that our Weight Watchers location is moving into, met with the staff of the Saturday meetings. All three of us receptionists are over our Weight Watcher goal. I am the closer being 7 pounds above my goal. She told us what we already knew, sorry but because you are over your goal, you will not be able to work meetings in the new store. I'm fine with it. I haven't been tracking regularly for a LONG time and frankly, I don't feel comfortable giving advice to members when I know I'm not following the program.

So, Saturday instead of attending WW inservices, I surfed the web looking for part-time jobs. Would love to find one that worked with the kids school schedule, allowing me to work only during the school day and on Saturdays. I had heard that the Activity Director from a nursing home I used to work at had been let go, so I even sent my resume their way. We'll see what comes of it, but I think my time with Weight Watchers has run it's course.

We did make it to Applebee's on Friday night. The kids were on cloud nine...they sang Happy Birthday to both me and my wife and we got the sundae to share as a family.

My 3 yr old had a wicked bug this weekend. I'm keeping him home today as I would hate for the teacher to deal with the mess we dealt with this weekend. Skipping the gym, maybe a good day to clean out the exercise room and actually use it.

Hoping for a healthy week.

Birthday Brownies

2012-01-27T08:00:00.000-06:00

We normally don't have dessert except on the weekend. I usually have yogurt or fruit, but the kids don't call that dessert. Their desserts consist of ice cream or cakes or brownies. Wednesday was my wife's birthday, so my 7 yr old and I made brownies. The kids were extremely excited to find out there were brownies left last night for a second weeknight of dessert.

A few years ago, I don't think there would have been any left. I would have finished the pan after they went to bed. Proudly, I had one each day and there was a row left for my wife when she got home from her Masters class last night.

I'm still working on my exercise room. I seem to keep piling new boxes in there to go through. We got rid of a huge amount of boxes yesterday, and I cleared a bit of room out of our storage room. We ordered a new refrigerator since it was 0% financing for 18 months. We loved our frig at the old house, it was bigger and had the frig on top and freezer on the bottom. I am looking forward to getting that familiar friend back. We'll keep this frig in the basement for extra space.

Looking forward to a Weight Watcher weekend. I still haven't heard though if I'll be working there after next week. We're moving to a new location and had to reinterview in August. Would be nice to know before I spend the weekend training. I know the two receptionists that I work with have been told they will not be moving because they are over their goal. We will see.

Applebee's

2012-01-26T08:15:00.000-06:00

Driving past the biggest mall in Wisconsin everyday allows the kids a fun glimpse towards a good variety of landmarks. One, landmark that my 3 yr old doesn't let me miss is Applebees. Each time we drive past he let's it be known that he would like to eat there. "Applebees NOW!!" we'll be going soon to celebrate my wife's and my birthday.

Another fun sign we pass daily is the Kopp's Custard sign. All of the kids try to read that sign before each other. Everyday, it seems one of them announces the flavor of the day is their favorite.

We drive past 5 McDonald's, 3 Taco Bells, countless banks and othe restaurants. It's fun to drive to school for now, but will be so much easier once the winter is over.

Kitchen Table

2012-01-26T00:11:00.001-06:00

Last night, I picked up our new kitchen table. We have been using my wife's little round table passed on through the generations. It only has two chairs, so we've been using folding chairs to compensate. We had six counter height chairs to go around our countertop at the old house, but we couldn't steal the countertop without the new owners noticing.

To break in the new table, my toothless 7 yr old had cereal this morning. She seemed to enjoy being the first one to eat there.

Happy Birthday to my wife. We'll be celebrating both our birthdays over the weekend.

Exercise

2012-01-24T09:21:00.001-06:00

My gym usually has free wifi, but for some reason it hadn't been working the last few weeks. Tried it again today, and here I am. I've been scolded for not writing since "Elvis' Birthday." I will try to do better.

I've been staying at the gym longer since I need to stick around this side of town while my little guy is in school. The gym got several new machines for the new year, so I've been attepting to like the Arc Trainer. I've had mixed feelings. I've liked the workout, but my feet have been numb afterwards. I'll continue to try it as it is an awesome workout.

The house is getting to be more like home. I bring my little guy home for lunch everyday even though we have to trek right back for speech, he likes the routine of having lunch at home.

My breakfasts have consisted of an oatmeal on the go bar. Thesehad been a trigger food in the past, but now that I know the serve a purpose, they haven't bothered me.

I haven't had difficulty snacking after school much either now that we're getting home a bit later and I can go right to making dinner.

So pong for now, I'll try to get in the habit of writing a short blurb daily, but you know it takes 21 days to form a habit, so give me time.

First Week of the New Year

2012-01-08T08:51:00.000-06:00

It's amazing how much stuff you can accumulate in a short amount of time. We've moved!! December 30 was moving day and I am so glad that we hired movers to help us move. They arrived at our house at 7:15 and got done as we were done closing on our house and becoming homeless for a few hours. I woke up by 5:00am to start getting stuff moved into our cars as the movers would not move everything; plants, chemistry sets, charcoal, planters, lampshades, boxes without tops, etc. We ended up filling both of our cars and my sister-in-laws car, plus she ended up piling a few things onto our neighbors porch as she couldn't fit it in her car and we had already gone to the closing.

It couldn't have been a more smooth move. Everything went great and we are now enjoying our new house. Everyday we are becoming a little more comfortable and a little bit more moved in.

This has been a strange eating/exercise week. I still haven't got into a good breakfast routine. I am driving the kids to school, which is now 20 minutes from our house. We didn't want to pull them out of school in the middle of the year, so we're commuting till June. I pack my gym stuff and head to the gym in the morning. This means breakfast has been on the go so far. After the gym, it's picking up the 3 yr old from 3K and then off to home for some lunch and downtime. Lunch has been fine since I'm home. I haven't eaten dinner regularly since working 5-8 two nights a week and being chauffeur a few other nights, so I tend to have a snack at that time and then again when I'm home at 8:30.

I am hoping to find a good breakfast as this has always tended to be my bigger meal. You know the old saying: Breakfast like a King, Supper like a Servant.

I been unpacking a bunch, but seems my exercise room/music room has been the only room totally neglected so far. Hoping to change that this week. Here's our first family picture in by our new fireplace.

It's Moving Day!!

2011-12-30T05:14:00.000-06:00

I know that I have been more than absent lately. And I've been reminded to write a little more often than once every two months. But, today is moving day. We sold our house! It absolutely took me by surprise. In early November, a young couple with a toddler and one on the way made us an offer we couldn't refuse. We had our eye on a house as well and luckily for us everything has turned out perfectly.

I've been doing fine weight wise, but eating wise the last few weeks has been a challenge. With Christmas and packing everything up without wanting to stock up on any food made it difficult to eat right.

Today, looks to be a snowy mess. Of course, seeing we haven't had snow all year yet, has to do it today.

I will have more idle time come the new year as I'll be dropping the kids off at school and hanging around town most days as it's a half hour drive back home and Ben Ben only has school for three hours. I'll hit the gym and surf the webs in the morning. That's my current plan. Happy New Year. Hope to have internet when we move, but for sure by the end of next week.

Funny Things Heard in a Meeting

2011-11-01T22:33:00.000-05:00

I've been attending a WW meeting as a member that last few weeks. I need to feel accountable to the WW gods and weighing in while I work just hasn't been hacking it. Tonight, was a very good reminder of the importance of losing weight. The topic involved not letting the scale dictate your entire week. I love the leader and this group is one of her smaller meetings, so I do like it. Her Saturday meetings average over 100 members per meeting, so this 35 member meeting is welcomed by me.

One of the funny quotes of the night came from a returning vacationer: What happens in Vegas, doesn't ALWAYS stay in Vegas!

The best part of the meeting occurred when a longtime member announced a milestone. She is a young gal in her early 20's and her ultimate goal was to lose enough weight to become eligible to join the military. 2 years of hard work, and 75 pounds later, she has reached her goal of being able to serve our country. That was a huge goal that I would never had dreamed of accomplishing. WTG! It was definitely a touching moment shared by all.

Next week, I'll be shooting for a loss! I've never weighed so late in the day 7:00pm seems like my bedtime, and I've been eating supper before hand as well. The Halloween candy didn't help at all this week either.

I did get my bodyfat measured again today and even though the weight is not moving much, I have lost a fair amount of bodyfat in the last 25 weeks. Went from just above 20% bf to just under 19% bf. An improvement, but I gotta work on the weight too.

Time Sure Flies

2011-10-13T09:19:00.000-05:00

I've been keeping myself busy and had know idea that it has almost been a month since I checked in here. Nothing much new happening around these parts. Here in Wisconsin, we are just riding high rooting for the undefeated Packers and Badgers and cheering our Brewers onto the World Series.

Last week, in the WW meeting rooms the topic was etools. It got my butt remotivated to get online and track. I've honestly tracked since Saturday, which is the first time I've tracked 5 days straight for a while.

Our house went up on the market 2 1/2 weeks ago and we haven't had anyone look through. Fine by me, we have a nice clean house now and the kids have been keeping it pretty tidy.

Everyone is off school today and tomorrow, I went to an early spin class and tomorrow we're heading to the gym to go swimming. We haven't done that for over a month, so it is about time.

Hoping for a good weekend, our annual Weight Watcher recognition day is Sunday and we get the lowdown on any changes for the coming year, so I'm looking forward to the day.

Have a great weekend!

For Sale

2011-09-19T14:29:00.000-05:00

No News is good news: I've been doing fine eating wise, exercise wise, etc. I realize it's usually not that way in the healthy blogging world. Usually, if someone doesn't blog for a few weeks, it means that they are struggling.

I'm doing fine! I went to the doctor a little over a week ago to obtain an updated goal of 205. Even though this is higher than I'd like, I know it is maintainable for the long haul. I can always stay below it and no harm, no foul. First, I need to get to it. I was 207.6 today, so it's close.

We have been cleaning out our house like madmen lately. Last week, we contacted a realtor and got started on selling our house. By the end of this week, it should be on the market. It's tough to keep up with four kids messes and the messes of the Mommy and Daddy too. I'm trying. Tomorrow, the carpets will be cleaned and then we'll be good to go. My basement has never looked so clean. I've rid the basement of an old water heater, two old bathtubs, an old safe and lots of other assorted "stuff." There is so much room in my basement now! It's amazing. We found an awesome house in a location we would like to live yesterday, but we'll see if our house has any takers first.

Actually, I haven't been hungry as of late, I've been busy keeping everything clean and put in it's place. Eating is just one of the activities that I like to do when I have nothing better to do. Now, I have something better to do.

Stay well.

HAPPY LABOR DAY! Now Get to Work!

2011-09-05T09:36:00.000-05:00

Today is Labor Day. The gym has had special Labor Day hours this weekend. I usually don't go to the gym on the weekend unless I've missed a day throughout the week. However, today is an extended weekend and I didn't track so much this weekend, so off to the gym it was. I was amazed at the number of "regulars" who had come to work out on the holiday ,but it's their routine, their WORK! Everyday workday these same gymrats are there and today I was no different.

Happy Labor Day! I will be enjoying it at home with the family and it is cool outside. Unfortunately, seems summer is on it's way out the door.

Put the Seat UP!!

2011-08-30T13:14:00.000-05:00

I've been home with the boys going on 3 years. In that time, I've always kept the toilet seat up during the day and tried to put it down after school. It's an easy habit for me to remember, I really don't mind putting it down. We're an equal household~3 boys, 3 girls, so really we shouldn't worry about this should we? Yes we should! The boys are slobs, plain and simple. They are lucky to make it to the bathroom and when the do, their aim is not always the best. To top it off, they rarely put the seat UP!! This means that I am always watching the bathroom first to make sure the toilet is flushed, second to make sure the toilet seat is clean and dry. These little boys are not putting the seat up. I'm not fighting it right now cause frankly, I'm just glad they're making it to the toilet and I don't have to clean up messing throughout the house.

So what's next? Habit forming. How do I get these boys to go to the bathroom without me pestering them. Then, how do I get them to put the seat up before taking care of business. It's a work in progress.

Today, I met with my territory manager for Weight Watchers. She is fairly new to our territory, but not to Weight Watchers. She's been around for a long time, just not around Milwaukee, closer to Green Bay. She's been meeting with all of the WW staff in both of her territories just to touch base and see how we are doing and what our goals are. I was pleased with our short chat and remotivated to get to a healthy BMI. She encouraged me to see the doctor to make sure my goal is still appropriate. I've been lifting more and working out regularly so I know my body composition has definitely changed since the last time I went to the doctor close to 4 years ago. It's time.

1st Day of School

2011-08-26T14:41:00.000-05:00

The first day of school was today. It's always an exciting, nervous, frightening, stomach turning experience no matter how old you are. My kids are now entering 5th grade, 2nd grade, 5K and even the little guy is going to school everyday 3K. They were extremely excited to get all their new supplies to school last night and to get their outfits ready for this morning. No one woke up too early, I had to wake the 2nd grader up and we were on our way.

I'm worried about the little guy going to school as he's still not totally understandable. He speaks a lot, but drops the first sound of the word before spitting the rest of the word out. If we don't understand him, he shows us. I was also worried that he wouldn't want to let me go this morning. He was a champ! Hopped in line, held my hand, walked up the steps, into school and into the classroom. He showed me his hook for his backpack, pointed out his chair to sit on and ran off to play. I think I was more scared for him than he was for himself. He's gone to the gym daycare for almost a year and hasn't had a problem saying goodbye, so I'm not sure what I was worried about.

Reminds me of going to a Weight Watchers meeting for the first time. Excited to conquer a new challenge, frightened to be a failure, nervous to not live up to our own standards, and the stomach is a bit full from stuffing in one "last supper."

Everything went fine for the kiddos. Benjamin ran from his line to find me after school. I was relieved to see he had fun and a good day. The rest of the clan soon joined and our first journey of the school year was complete. I tried to get the obligatory first day pictures, but Alex, my 5Ker did not cooperate too well. Will try to post sometime with all my free time now.

I Wanna Learn Too

2011-08-16T20:46:00.000-05:00

My kids are too cute for their own good sometimes. Yesterday, I didn't make it to the gym as Benjamin had a fever and my oldest, Elizabeth was still sleeping at 9:00. I usually hit the 9:00 spin class, which is now totally awesome because we got brand new bikes, but I stayed home and rode the elliptical as the little guy took a nap in the afternoon.

Today, as we woke up, Caryn declared to everyone, "We have to go to the WAC because Daddy skipped his class yesterday, he CAN'T skip another one!"

Cracked me up! I am glad that she's looking out for me and making sure I'm getting my daily exercise done.

On another note: Alex has taken off, full steam ahead, no more stopping him on his bike. In fact, he's been waking up early to ride. Today, it was 7:00 when he wanted to hit the pavement. Since Alex has been having a good time riding, Caryn has decided that it is her time to ride a two-wheeler as well. Her bike was a bit too big for her last summer and really it has sat in the basement most of this summer. Sunday night we hauled it back out and by Monday afternoon, she was cruising. Still having problems getting started by herself, but cruising and stopping on her own.

We went shoe shopping today, along with a new outfit for everyone for the first day of school next week. It was an expensive day!

Milestones

2011-08-12T21:05:00.000-05:00

Our computer finally is back home and ready for action. Our five year old is also ready for action. He gets things fixated in his little head and will not let go of them until they are resolved. The first quest this summer was to get a library card. He practiced writing his first and last name for at least two weeks before our trip to Disney World. As soon as we got home, his first stop was the library to get his own library card. The second quest has been to get his bunk bed set up. I have not done that yet as I had it set up about this time last year and he ended up in our bed for a week straight before I took the bunk beds back down. So, I hesistate to make that wish come true, but I continue to hear about it everyday! The last quest was to learn how to ride his bike with no training wheels. Again, I put this one off until after our trip to Disney World, but once we got back I took the training wheels off. He tried a few times, but was frightened to fall. I refused to put the training wheels back on, so it sat for a week or two. Today, he decided once again to hop on. He did it! Rode up and down our block with pride! Still needs to practice the starting, but he's got the stopping down. Soon he'll be a pro. He's already stated that he's ready to ride to the park.

Our family was out of commission last week. The flu hit a different kid each day from Tuesday thru Friday and our poor Caryn had flu symptoms the week before so we thought she was the one that started it all, she ended it too!

That's it for now, we're headed to the State Fair tomorrow. The big sellers this year include a bacon wrapped hotdog, deep fried butter, deep fried beer and our traditional cream puffs. We set a World Record yesterday by baking a 125 pound cream puff. 15.5 gallons of cream! Unfortunately, it was warm outside and after it was prepared and the record recorded, the cream puff in inedible because it was in the warm sun too long. Poor planning!

National Weight Control Registry

2011-07-24T18:10:00.000-05:00

It's that time of the year again when I receive my annual survey from the NWCR. It's a humbling experience if you've gained weight in the past year as I have. I've gained 8 pounds since last July, putting me in a category of "gainers" instead of "maintainers" that I would prefer to be in. I'm not bummed about it though since I've really concentrated on exercise, fitness and weight training this year. My clothes still fit fine, my wedding ring is still loose most days depending on the humidity and I'm overall feeling great. But, when you are asked to answer tough personal questions, it gets you thinking about motivation, why you eat, when you eat, and if you're happy. It's a long survey and I know several people you have just stuck the survey on a pile if they've gained, but I know it's important to the overall project.

Our trip to Disney World was a blast. Awesome weather, comfortable temperatures for the most part and the kiddos got along, which is always a plus. I'll try to post a few pics on the family blog, but our computer is still sick as "Santa" somehow didn't leave the start-up disks for our computer, making matters a bit more difficult to fix.

I do love going to Disney World and besides the amount of steps I can get in daily, the amount of food I eat seems to be less than I eat at home. 2 meals a day, 2 snacks a day...if I want more, I have to pay extra and as a cheap Milwaukeean, that ain't happening! I eat yogurt for breakfast followed by sensible lunches and dinners. My kids love walking the steps in the hotel. This year, we stayed again at the Pop Century and were in the Yo-yo buildings. All the kids wanted to walk up eat yo-yo; red, blue, and green yo-yo's that were each four stories high. We stayed in the green yo-yo building on the fourth floor, so there was plenty of step walking to be had. My boys would have preferred to stayed at the hotel and climb stairs all day rather than head to the parks.

My goal of getting more steps was met. The first day in Disney I hit 29,600 steps. My low this year was 18,000, but for the most part, I had 20,000 steps daily. By the end of the week, I was pretty tired.

Hoping for a good week, but today we have a sick 7 yr old; fever and throwing up doesn't make for a fun Sunday.

Off to Disney World

2011-07-08T18:39:00.000-05:00

Computer's been sick all week, hoping it gets "magically" better while we're away.

I'll be tracking my steps and my goal will be to increase my steps from our last trip. My low last year was 20,074 and my high was 25,366.

Today, I relaxed most of the day. Our weather is beautiful! Sat outside in the morning till the kiddos pestered me enough to get off my comfy Androndeck to go swimming at the gym. That was the extent of my activity.

I'll be heading to the gym one last time tomorrow before our 1,200 mile, 24 hour straight trip down south. Thinking of hitting the weights since I know I'll get plenty o' cardio the next week and a half.

Off to visit Mickey!

2011-07-04T09:55:00.001-05:00

Happy Independence Day!

Our computer has a cool little virus, so not sure when I'll check in again.

June 30 Deals

2011-07-01T10:00:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, the boys and I had a day to ourselves as the girls spent the day with my sister and her two girls. We had a fun day as Grandpa came over to visit too. First we went to the State Fair to get a few tickets. They are almost half price until June 30 and then for the month of July and into the fair, they go up in price. So, since it was the last day for cheap tickets we took a walk. Alex, rode his bike. It was the first time he rode his bike farther than our block, which is very flat. He had a few tough hills to travel over and was pretty worn out by the time we go home.

Of course, since it was the end of June, we also had coupons for free happy meals that were expiring too. Hop on the bike again young man! We walked the six blocks to McDonald's to get two free happy meals with apples and chocolate milk. Grandpa sat and read the fair preview booklet and decided we needed to walk back to the fair for another bargain. Cream puffs! A six-pack for $15! Only through June 30.

So, back to the fair we walked. And on our way home from the fair, I made Alex ride in the stroller and I could tell he was hot and tired. So it was on the bike for the 3 yr. old, Benjamin! Again, the first time he had riden farther than our flat block. We got home, and crashed. Benjamin was asleep within 10 minutes and Alex took a good rest time, but never fell asleep. I did!

After dinner, it was off to pick up the girls and have a campfire and my sister's house. We were up too late! The 3 oldest kids and my wife slept out in our tent last night in the backyard. I felt so bad for Benjamin this morning when he saw Alex come in from outside. His eyes welled up and he just balled! Maybe a camp out for the wee one tonight?

Off to "Cars 2" today!

Shelf Life

2011-06-29T13:59:00.000-05:00

Well, I have to admit the best by date at the bottom says MAR 13 2011, but still...I thought Twinkies lasted forever. We have various snacks in the back of the cabinet that I like to throw into the kids lunches. Now, since it's summer, the kids don't even look at the snack cabinet, so in cleaning it out, we found this moldy Twinkie.

The kids have been actually having fun going to the gym with me. There are tons of kids there in the morning and they are able to play fun games, so even though they put up the initial "I don't want to go!" They do have fun.

We're getting closer to our Disney countdown and the excitement is a bit much in our house. Lots of yelling, screaming and short tempers...me included. Will be a fun trip though. Hoping for a good weekend, we're heading to Cars 2 on Friday and lots of 4th of July festivities over the weekend including walking in a parade, watching Fireworks and heading to the orthodontist for some headgear :)

Letting the Scale Dictate Your Mood

2011-06-27T07:36:00.000-05:00

I never now what to think when members at Weight Watchers through the normal greeting my way:

Me: "How are you today?"
Member: "I'll let you know in a minute!"

Of course, they all say it with a bit of humor in mind, but really do they?
I had my monthly weigh in on Saturday, the last Saturday of the month. It was not good! Since it was not good, I did let it get me down food wise the entire day. I didn't track, I ate way too many snacks and I just plain was mad at the scale! I went to the gym and worked my tail off for an hour, but proceeded to the grocery store to buy food for dinner and a few extra "I deserve them for exercising" snacks. Nothing horrible, two energy bars and a diet root beer, but after the few snacks I had before hitting the gym, I was not in need of more calories, just a better mood.

I usually am fine about the scale since I know that my weight fluctuates a bunch through out the week, but that ONE official weigh in every month seems to get me worked up. Not sure if it will ever change, maybe if I ever see positive movement in the right direction.

Happy Monday, raining here again...

Turn the Lights On

2011-06-23T16:43:00.000-05:00

It has been completely crummy weather around these parts all week. I just don't feel motivated to do much of anything. When it's so dark and gloomy that I need the lights on in every room, something is wrong. These are supposed to be the longest daylight days of the year, but it really feels like December with the darkness, and October with the temperatures.

Today, I woke up early to head out for a bike ride and when I came outside it was shockingly...RAINING!!! So I headed to the gym for an early morning spin class. Never attende a class that early, but it was a good group. I shall return, but I really like my 9:00 teacher too.

Will try to get an outdoor something in tomorrow as I'm dropping the car off to get checked out before our long trip to Disney World in two weeks.

Days of the Week

2011-06-22T21:30:00.000-05:00

My 5 yr. old, Alex, loves figuring out the days of the week. Each morning he asks what day it is today. Then he proceeds to tell me what yesterday was and what day tomorrow will be. Then he sings this cute weather song that ends with naming all the days of the week. Quite the production, but it's the routine he liked in school and I'm sure by the end of the summer, he won't be doing it anymore.

Do you ever just go through the motions? Another day, another dollar? Or do you take the bull by the horns and seize the day? I go in spurts; sometimes I am so focused and know exactly what I want to accomplish and other times, I'm just existing. I have really been focused since joining my gym and having a set workout routine. I love cardio and could do it two hours everyday, but I also know the importance of strength training and I know the days when I need the strength training.

I look forward to our little morning routine and can't wait till the weather will be sunny and hot once again. The kiddos have had a good time at the gym, but still put up a fuss before we leave daily. Once they get there, they have a blast. Today, was "Shark & Minnow" with the older kids and I actually saw my 9 yr. old smile. She had a good time walking through the group exercise room and seeing me sweat too. I have decided to try to get to the gym a little earlier a few times a week, but I do enjoy my groups and the leaders too, so I'd hate to have to learn new routines.

Nothing Tastes As Good As...

2011-06-21T08:33:00.000-05:00

I listen to lots of podcasts. I just enjoy listening to people ramble about nothingness. I listen to sports podcasts, news podcasts, health & wellness podcasts. I always have a few waiting for me on my iPod to listen to while I exercise. I usually don't listen to them while I run, I need to loud heart pounding rhythm making feet music for running.

Last week, I was listening to a Jillian Michaels podcast from a week or two ago and during her opening schpeel, she mentioned a Good Morning America story that spoke about how different people eat when faced with labels that mention "good for you," "healthy," "fat-free," etc. She said if people are faced with choices between "healthy" and "non-healthy" choices, they tend to eat less when given the non-healthy alternatives and over indulge when given the healthy options.

Nothing tastes as good as free will! I don't want to be told what to eat, when to eat it and how much to eat. Sometimes when I go to the grocery store, I am overwhelmed by the amount of choices. Each aisle, each item seems to have an endless amount of choices. Yesterday, I went to a big box store to buy some laundry detergent that was on sale. I know I always get the "original" scent, but for the life of me, I couldn't find it on the shelf: "Spring Breeze", "Scented with Downy", "Frebreze Scented", "Original with Bleach", and a wide variety of other scents, but no plain original.

Nothing tastes as good as free will! I like going to Applebee's with the family, but when I go out to eat I don't want to think "Weight Watchers", "South Beach", "Atkins" or anything else. I just want to eat something that I want to eat. I know it's best to plan ahead, but when I go out to eat I want what I want!

To go along with that way of thinking, choice is a good thing and when offering snacks to hungry kiddos choices should be offered, but healthy alternatives also should always be an option. Offer the fruit and veggies in different combinations and they'll choice the combo that they like. I tend to offer with added features such as with peanut butter, with dip, with chocolate dipping sauce, etc. I will definitely be watching my snack offerings this summer while allowing choice for FREE WILL.

Non-Food Rewards

2011-06-20T14:58:00.000-05:00

As the "baby" is learning how to go on the big boy potty, we've been once again looking for those non-food rewards for staying dry. His favorite reward so far has been gum. Really that's the only one he's been looking forward to. And when he has to spit the gum out for wetting his pants, he has not been happy.

The other kiddos have been trying to "earn" money to spend in Disney World next month. This has been an easy reward to work towards. They're cleaning up after themselves, clearing the table after we eat, brushing their teeth without asking, getting along with each other, etc. to get extra spending money.

Trying to get them all the gym has been a challenge as well. We've been doing the rewarding with a trip to the park and today our reward was a trip to the library. What next? Always up for suggestions, but I'll be sticking with the park reward as long as they're happy with that one.

I always struggle with non-food rewards. Even when I was actively losing 80 pounds, I always found it difficult to walk without thinking about what I could eat as a reward after my walk. I've still found myself on occasion saying to myself that I can't wait to get done exercising so I can eat such and such. I'm sure it will be a life long struggle to get past, but one I will continue to fight.

Counting calories has been going well, and I've been imposing a "no-in-between-meal-snacking" rule since last Wednesday. Last night, was the first time I had a snack in the evening and I really didn't need it. I know it's just a habit that once I break I will be happy I did so.

Cleaning Out the Closet

2011-06-17T16:28:00.000-05:00

Seems we've kind of split duties when it comes to cleaning out closets. I've come to clean the boys closets/dressers out while my wife usually tackles the girls. We don't receive many hand-me-downs for the girls, only occasionally when we're in the right place at the right time. The boys have received tons from one of my sister's friends and tons from a "bigger" boy in my 5 year olds class. Alex hasn't grown much at all this school year, while the other little boy grew over 4 inches this year. Needless to say, both my boys are wearing the same size right now making it easy to get rid of the smaller sizes, but keeping track of who's clothes are whose doesn't matter to me. The boys let me know when I put some clothes in the wrong place.

The reason I started this process today was because I had just bought some red shorts for Alex and could not for the life of me find them. Wouldn't have been a huge deal, but of course he HAD to wear them today! Nowhere in his closet, nowhere in Benjamin's closet, nowhere on the floor in their room...knew they had to be somewhere. So, in the middle of checking their room, I meandered into my own room and there they were tucked under my bed. I must have dropped them on the floor while folding laundry and didn't discover them yet.

Cleaning out my own closet has been a welcome occurrence the last few years. I have not had to clean it out to get rid of clothes that are too small for me. Instead, I've been gradually "thinning" out the clothes that have become way too big far me. I wear mostly size large now and still have a fair number of double extra larges hanging around just because I like them too much to part with them. I think I'm down to only two or three left and those are jerseys which I hate to give up and replace...who wants to wear a Packer Favre jersey anymore anyway?

So, the closets have been thinned out and we are ready for some summerlike weather now. I did get up early this morning and headed out for a long bike ride. Definitely sets my day up for a much more successful day when I start it with exercise.

Pleasantly Sore

2011-06-16T06:30:00.000-05:00

Have you ever felt soreness after exercising? I've been working out at the gym at least five days a week for well over six months now. Who would have thought that my hamstrings, triceps and abs could be more sore today than the day I started exercising regularly.

Some days I feel like an "old" man. This would be one of them. It hurts to stand up, hurts to sit down, hurts to hurt. But it's a pleasant soreness. Definitely a soreness that leaves me with a feeling the I accomplished something today.

My little Benjamin loves speaking with gestures. One which is a favorite is when he holds two fingers pinched closely way close to his eyes. This is his way of saying tiny. I like poking at his tummy and saying Big Belly. He responds with his tiny gesture and then points at my belly and gestures his hands as far apart as he can and saying in a deep voice "BIG!"

Nothing like being put in your place by a 3 yr old, who I can't keep up with because I'm pleasantly sore.

The Park

2011-06-15T14:10:00.000-05:00

We have been off school since last Thursday for summer vacation. Since that time, we have gone to four different parks and played for at least a half hour at each of them. Today, my oldest daughter wants to go to the park once again. It's an ugly day outside and rather chilly too, so we're having an indoor day this afternoon. Probably, a good idea since a few of the kids have been in foul moods today.

So what do "we" do at the park? Well, I start out sitting on a bench, but that lasts all of 10 seconds. "Daddy, can you help me?" "Daddy, I need a hand!" "Daddy, can you swing with me?"...get the idea? I am amazed by the number of people that are usually at the park. It's well used! But I am also amazed at how the adults are always just sitting and watching. Not much interaction and the adults could stand to have a little activity in their lives!

We'll be back at another park tomorrow. It's been a good way to get my kids to come to the gym with me. I tell them that we'll play in the park after we hit the gym. Of course, then they all have to "hit" the gym door when we arrive. Such a site, Daddy followed by 4 little ducklings.

Today, was the end of a 7-week "Fit Club" session at the gym. It's a tough, boot camp type group with lots of circuit training, which I hate doing on my own, but if someone else plans it, I am more than willing to partake. The next session doesn't start for another few weeks and as long as the kids are still OK with me hitting the gym before the park, I'll be doing the next summer session.

The Saddest Part of Working for Weight Watchers

2011-06-14T07:39:00.000-05:00

Even though my lastest weigh in was 213 for the month of June, I know I'd be much worse off if I didn't attend/work at Weight Watcher meetings regularly. I feel so much stronger and healthier now than I even did at 190. I work out at least 5 days a weeks and in the last 6 months this has included weekly with a trainer and weight training 2-3 times weekly. My clothes fit better than they did at 190, but I'd still like to get back to that weight eventually.

I am so grateful to be able to work for Weight Watchers just for the mere fact that I can attend meetings for free. This has kept me closer to my WW goal than I would be not attending meetings and weighing in regularly. I'd love to work more meetings, but something about "you're above your WW goal" is keeping me from doing so.

This past weekend, a member returned to the meeting room for the first time since February. He reached his lifetime status in February and took it on his own. Unfortunately, he has gained a noticeable amount of weight. Sucks! I know how tough it is to keep weight off and stay on top of nutrition and exercise. In some regards, I think it was SO much easier to lose 80 pounds than it is to lose 10-20 pounds. I was focused, in the zone, had an ultimate goal and wanted that goal. When it was reached, it felt great and I let my guard down and haven't been able to regain that "in the zone" nutritional feeling.

My member "looked" that same way. I could see his dissapointment in himself and feel the same emotional let down that is tough to regain. I hate when successful WW members stop coming for a while and come back needing to "re-lose" weight that they once lost so easily.

Even though I have had a difficult time following Points Plus, I continue to stick with it, but I have recently begun to count calories as well. I feel a double dose of accountablity can't be too horrible. I don't want to come into the meeting room and have anyone think "boy, he looks a little bloated!" anytime soon.

Been a while

2011-06-13T10:54:00.000-05:00

Time sures flies. Summer vacation has started and all the kids are home for the summer. This could be a good thing or a bad thing. Seems it's a lot tougher to take 4 kids grocery shopping, to the gym, or anywhere for that matter. My wife is home most days, but is on a year long contact as of July 1. I love the summer and don't mind waking up early to exercise, but I also love sleeping in at least till 7:00.

Grocery shopping hasn't happened for a while. This is not a good thing...out of bread, out of fresh fruit and veggies and I refuse to go with everyone because even though my kids are well behaved and I can give them something to be on the "look-out" for, they still seem to beg for treats.

The gym will be a challenge to keep regular. I love my spinning classes and working out with group classes, but I could definitely see skipping as an easy alternative. But I also know that I get in a very foul mood if I don't exercise and nobody around these parts would appreciate that.

We'll be spending time outside and the countdown to another trip to Disney World is well under way. 28 days till we visit the Happiest Place on Earth!

I'll pledge to check in more often, just for the mere fact that I know I need to.

26.2 Miles

2011-05-09T14:14:00.000-05:00

Last week, my gym had a special "Fiesta Week." Lots of cool activities throughout the week, one that I particpated in was the week long marathon. I had the entire week from Monday-Saturday to complete 26.2 miles. When the week started, I did not think I could do it. Monday I completed 2.5 miles. This was after doing an hour spin class. Tuesday, I barrelled through 5.75 miles, then took a personal training beating for a half hour after. Wednesday, I was tired! I've signed up for a Fit-U club during May and June. It was the first class so we did lots of base line testing...how long can you hold a plank position? how fast can you run a 50 yd and 100 yd dash? how many crunches can you do in 30 seconds? I was beat! Ran 1 mile, but counted a 2 mile walk with the 2 yr old in the stroller as well. Thursday, again I did spin, and ran 3 miles afterwards. Friday, I banged out 8 miles! Never thought I could run 8 miles in a day, but I did it and felt great afterwards. Saturday, I completed 4 miles and if my calculations are correct, I did it.

2.5
5.75
3
3
8
4

26.25!!

My exercise continues to be rockstar, but my eating leaves something to be desired. I know I eat WAY too much fruit and I need to cut back and get something started in the way of a loss. I lose a few, gain a few, lose a few, gain a few and can't get a good rhythm going. Still trying! Our weather has been not so nice lately and waiting for the nice warm Spring to get me out and moving at home and away from the kitchen cupboards.

Happy May!!

About time to say "Hi!"

2011-04-13T14:03:00.000-05:00

I'm really not sure where the time flies, but it's been close to a month since I've posted anything. I've really been having a good month fitness wise. I lost 4 pounds in March and am working on that much for April to get me to my "Eight by Easter" goal.

We've had some sickness in the family lately. Ear infections, pink eye, fevers, and I've been battling some sinus issues. My oldest has started going to the orthodontist and that has caused some dietary issues as well, since she has to go "soft" and stay away from the chewy sticky stuff. It's been interesting to watch her think through her decisions.

I'm still going to the gym 4-6 times a week. Even with our illnesses last week, I got a kick butt workout in as my sick 9 yr old pushed me harder than I really cared to go. I hope I'll be able to keep the gym routine up during spring break, which starts next Thursday and extends through the entire next week. I may try to go earlier in the day.

Today, I had a trained measure my body fat. I was expecting the worst, but turned out it was better than I expected. 20% is not too shabby, could be worse, but could be much better too. I'll keep working on it.

I'll try to make a point to check in again soon.

When Life Gets in the Way...

2011-03-22T13:36:00.000-05:00

Honestly, can't believe where the time goes. I've actually been doing great exercising and eating this month. Early in the month, we had a staff WW meeting in which my boss wrote out thank you notes for each of us. It was very motivating to receive a hand writen note that she personally wrote about me. It has gotten me excited once again to get back to goal! My plan has been to become a leader once Big Ben makes it to pre-K. I'd be able to work a few at-work meetings easily as WW is always looking for leaders for these at-works. I've informally joined a challenge that started Ash Wednesday. "Eight by Easter" and I'm kicking butt.

There's been much talk at Weight Watchers meetings in the past few weeks about Special K chips. I found them at Sam's Club and they are very good. Lots like a potato chip, but not nearly as much fat, calories, etc. Another product I've tried recently are Apple Straws. I've preferred the apple straws as they give me a bit of sweet that I am always looking for.

Everyone's healthy around these parts. Everyone, but not everything...car went in after the "check engine" light went one, $400 later the car is back to normal. I've been attempting to get Big Ben to sit on the potty chair lately. He doesn't mind doing it, but hasn't had much success yet. I'll try to check in again sooner than later...Big Ben is attempting to ride Thomas the Train all over me right now, so it's time to play!

In Like a Lamb

2011-03-01T14:31:00.000-06:00

What a beautiful spring day! March is here. We still have plenty of snow on the ground, but the sites and smells of spring are all around. More birds, melting occuring, and the sounds of spring training games back on the radio.

I had a horrible weigh in on Saturday! I was expecting it, but need to get my buttocks in gear. Yesterday, I was once again reminded of how awesome it is to be at a healthy weight. I attended the Milwaukee Bucks 10th Annual Blood Drive. I love going to these mobile blood drives as there's always people who have never given before and they are bound to faint, puke, or chicken out. My experience went off easy without a hitch. I remember not so long ago when the workers had a hard time finding my veins. Seems a healthy weight loss helps with the blood giving process.

The kindergartener is home sick this afternoon. School called after he had a second poop explosion. Hopefully, it's just a quick virus and he'll be fine again tomorrow. We'll see.

The exercise front continues to go well. Today, I ran 4 miles in less than 40 minutes, which was my goal. Then I got a buttkicking by a trainer including some awful scorpion-flip-kick-touch silly things she had picked up from the Biggest Loser. I was game as I told her I saw Arthur do them last week. They were definitely not easy.

Hoping I can continue tracking as I have done well for the last 3 days. Let's get the tracking going for a week straight and then I see progress.

Still Winter

2011-02-20T20:34:00.000-06:00

After an awesome weather week here, temperatures in the upper 40's-mid 50's, we are back to winter. Snow, sleet and freezing rain. Can't believe February is just about over. Not sure where the month went, but it went. We did a lot of outdoor playing this past week, I checked a few blogs and started writing, but the 2 yr old rules the house lately and naps have not been occurring daily anymore. That's alright because if he doesn't get that afternoon nap, he's tucked up by 6:30ish.

Our state has had quite the month. Everyone was so united while cheering our beloved Packers onto victory. What a ride! In the middle of Superbowl week was a huge blizzard, which also tends to unite people with stories of survival and pitching in to help neighbors.

This past week, politics has ruled the state. Our public employees, including public school teachers have been rallying in the state capital. It's affecting everyone's lives whether we work in the public sector or not, everyone definitely knows someone who does and all of our views are very different. This has totally divided the state. From Packer triumph, to political division...our state has had quite the month.

I'm still not feeling the tracking. My Territory Manger suggested I try to track during the "toughest" part of my day. For me, that seems to be all day lately. I had been having difficulty after school, to the end of the day. That still continues to be the toughest part of the day and I've found myself eating just to eat and not worrying about tracking. I track great for a day or two and then leave it. Seems I still have a bad relationship with the scale, if it's down, I give myself permission to eat like a cow for the day.

Hoping for a great week as Saturday is my monthly weigh-in day. Exercise continues to be fun at the gym, but I've been skipping the weekends, should probably still be doing something besides watching NASCAR and munching. What a race though!

Long Week

2011-02-04T15:19:00.000-06:00

What a week! Monday we had snow, Tuesday we had snow, Wednesday we had once in a lifetime snow almost 2 feet!, Thursday was my birthday and today no school once again. It was quite the week with my wife being home Wednesday and most of Thursday, the kids being home Wednesday and off today. My girls went to grandma and grandpa's for a few days, sure makes the house quiet!

I worked out everyday this week. On Tuesday, the bootcamp instructor went around the gym making sure everyone was planning on making it on Wednesday. I told her if the weathermen were right, I was staying home. They were right! I was outrageous how much snow we got. Milwaukee schools cancelled Wednesday classes at 10:00 in the morning on Tuesday. They also cancelled Thursday classes because many of the roads and sidewalks were still not shoveled/plowed. It was amazing! Wednesday morning, I shoveled and shoveled and shoveled some more. A little after 8:00, the bootcamp instructor called our house and sadly announced that she couldn't get out so she was staying home. I was a bit surprised she actually went out of her way to call us. I know she called at least 5-10 of us that go to the gym daily. There was no way I could have even gotten there by 9:00. I couldn't even get out of the garage before about 11:00 and didn't finish shoveling everything till after 2:00, but I did make it to work in the evening.

Thursday, I celebrated my birthday. My 5 yr old woke up this morning wondering when we were having birthday cake. We went out to eat at Applebees and got a free birthday sundae which four of us shared. Plenty and didn't have the temptation of cake around the house.

I've actually been doing great tracking this week. Last Saturday, my Territory Manager from WW stopped in our center and gave me a quick pep talk along with a one minute motivation. Got me to track all week, so that's a good thing.

Hoping for a good weekend. Go Packers!

GOPACKGO!

2011-01-24T13:16:00.000-06:00

That's All!

Three Years

2011-01-21T13:22:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow marks the 3 year anniversary of reaching my goal weight. Even though I'm a few pounds over my goal, but getting closer each day, I feel like I'm in much better physical condition than I was 3 years ago. I'm working out 5-7 days a week for at least an hour each day. I'm able to keep up with the kiddos without taking breaks or running out of breath.

When I reached my goal, I was still working full-time and had an easy time getting plenty of walking in daily. Now, I get my exercise in differently...joining a gym for the first time in my life has really amped up my exercise to a new level. I love group fitness and get motivation from others in the group. Spin, Bodyworks, Stretch and Boot Camp have become part of my daily routine now.

My goal blog entry talked about ways to gain 20 pounds (I didn't even have to follow any of this advice). Even though that's about what I gained at my highest, I don't feel like I've been cheating or failing. I know I've had days where I don't track and that's really a huge key for me. Even if I don't count my points, as long as I write it down, I do so much better.

Three years and I'm still in the same size clothes which is a huge accomplishment. Still down over 10" in my waist! Thankful for all the support of bloggers, family and friends who keep encouraging me. Three years down, a lifetime to go!

Good Deeds

2011-01-17T13:51:00.000-06:00

Have you ever clipped coupons and left them on the shelf at the grocery store? I love when people do this. Sweet! an extra $1.00 off. I did this last week as I didn't need eggs or bread as I had just bought some.

Have you ever shoveled farther down the street than your own sidewalk? My neighbor, who doesn't even have a snowblower does this whenever he shovels before me. I always reciprocate and try to do his back driveway pad in the alley as well. Last week, I went farther down the street since he had done mine, I did my other neighbor as they were both working all day and the elderly lady next to them as her walk was the last one not shoveled on our side of the street.

Do you open doors for people? At the gym, my 2 yr old waits for people to come or go just so he can hold the door for them. It's darn cute, but sometimes I am in a hurry.

This morning we had a charity come and pick up a bag of clothes. My wife and I bought our first bedroom set over Christmas and I cleaned out my drawers and still had some "big" clothes that I needed to donate. Might as well left someone else wear them, as they've just sat in my dresser for at least 3 years.

My WW friend from the grocery store never made it to a meeting this past weekend. I'll have to make a point to find her again at the store. She usually works in the floral department.

Hoping for a good week. While shopping last week, I made some horrible impulse buys: more trail mix and Quaker Oatmeal-to-go bars. I knew I didn't need/want them, but I was shopping hungry. Now, they're gone, prematurely for sure, but gone. I wasn't feeling "it" this weekend. Didn't exercise, didn't watch what I was eating and really didn't care.

We're getting a healthy snowfall today. The biggest storm of the season, 3-5". We're close to a foot of snow below normal.

Treadmill Motivation

2011-01-13T13:33:00.000-06:00

I've been doing great getting to the gym every weekday. My 2 yr old loves it. The ladies there get a kick out of his communication skills. He's still in the "Huh, Huh!" stage...pointing at what he wants and knowing exactly how to say it, but choosing not to say it. The group schedule for January/February has allowed me to do spin Monday and Thursday, and take Boot camp Wednesday and Friday. I try to make it to the gym about 30 minutes before the class to warm-up.

Wednesday, I hopped on a treadmill for 20 minutes before Boot camp. After a few minutes, someone got on the one right next to me. I know her and also knew she'd be joining me at Boot camp. My treadmill routine has been walking at 3.5 for 2 minutes, running at 7.0 for 2 minutes, walking again for 2 minutes and running for 2 minutes adding .5 each interval. I've gotten up to 9.5 for 1 minute and my goal is to hit 10.0 for 2 minutes at some point.

While on the treadmill, I knew she was checking my speed out. I paid no attention to hers, but felt inspired to put a little extra effort in because of the motivation she was unintentionally giving me. It was a great little run and I felt good about the extra speed for the day. Boot camp kicked my butt and I'm still feeling my obliques and lower back two days after.

Haven't made it to the Friday Boot camp yet, but hoping to do so tomorrow. The Friday class is a bit earlier and I and the 2 yr old are definitely creatures of habit, so an earlier class my mess with our routine. Hoping for a good weekend, the weathermen are talking snow most days, but we still haven't hit 6" for the season.

Whatever Happened to?

2011-01-10T13:35:00.000-06:00

This weekend, we had a massive influx of members at Weight Watchers. A few of our meetings had 12-15 new members along with the 50-60 that already are members. It was an exciting weekend, and I'm sure it will lighten up as the weeks go though.

I stayed home yesterday while the rest of the family headed to Grandpa's house to wish him a happy birthday. I know, it was selfish, but I wanted to watch the Packer game in peace and on my big TV. If the kids had been around, they would have been subject to some language that they should not be hearing.

Before watching the big game, I headed to the grocery store. We were totally out of milk, eggs, bread and a few other essentials that make life happier, like yogurt and coffee cream. Well, after gathering all my groceries and heading to the checkout, I spotted a familiar face at the checkout. One of my favorite WW members was manning the checkout. I noticed right away that she had put on some weight. This member, had been a longtime member, dating back to the time I was a loser. We sat next to each other and I joined her on walks once in a while as she lives on my street. If I spotted her, or if she spotted me, we'd head out together. She was a walker fanatic! In December of '09, she walked a marathon, but hasn't been at Weight Watchers since. I haven't seen her walking and I haven't seen her at a meeting either. I hate spotting WW members at the grocery store as I know they are looking in my cart. I totally did not have the best choices in my cart, including a snack pack of trail mix, 3 packs of pop tarts and chips. I did have the "good" stuff too, but I know they look at the "bad" stuff.

We talked as she scanned everything in my cart and saddly admitted that she has not walked since her marathon, and has gained 40 pounds back. She has needed to go out and buy all new clothes as she had done the right thing and gotten rid of all her bigger clothes. I felt for her, but I know how easy it is to pack on the pounds. If I were not exercising daily, I know I'd probably be right back where I started. She said she'd be in to a meeting this weekend, so I'll be waiting for her.

Hoping for a good week, we're getting some snow here today. Actually may be enough to snowblow for once. We haven't had much at all yet this season, not even a foot yet and it's all been 1 or 2 inches at a time.

McDonald's Winter Tradition

2011-01-07T20:37:00.000-06:00

Seems that McDonald's always has a special this time of year...buy 1 Big Mac, get the 2nd for the price of the temperature yesterday at noon. This year, they've added a twist: buy 1 Big Mac or 1 oatmeal, and get the 2nd for the price of the temperature yesterday at noon. Now, if they'd be accounting for the windchill factor, they'd be owing us money for taking the 2nd one today! It's chilly around these parts and I think they only run this deal in Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Doing fine eating wise, but still not getting into the tracking routine. I'm good for a day or two and then sluff-off. It's not because I'm overeating or eating unhealthy stuff, just because I don't care to track. We are bracing for a huge crowd at Weight Watchers tomorrow. We have 5 staff assigned to the meetings rather than the normal 2-3 staff. I've heard that lots of members who followed the older program have come back to see what Points Plus is all about. Should be an exciting day!

I am completely sore. Monday, I went to spin class. Tuesday, I did the stair climber for 40 minutes and met with a trainer for 30 minutes. Wednesday, I did a 60 minute boot camp, which included 30 minutes of Tabatas (look it up, sounds so much easier than it is). Of course, after boot camp there was a FREE Try It Bosu class that I just HAD to take. Thursday, I still felt great, so I headed out for another spin class that was added with the new year. Today, I am exhausted and sore from head to toe. Started feeling it Thursday afternoon. I managed a half hour on the elliptical, but am so tired.

Looking forward to a good weekend, Go Pack! And Happy Birthday Grandpa/FIL! I'm contemplating going to Grandpa's house for a birthday party or staying home to watch the Packer game in peace on my 52" screen. What will win out?

Starting a Revolution

2011-01-03T13:37:00.000-06:00

My 4th grader declared on New Year's that she was making a revolution to get a long with her 6 yr old sister more this year. A revolution? Definitely makes sense! I will conquer the year and succeed! I will face challenges head on and not fail! I will start a revolution!

The kids are back to school today while my wife still has a few days off. I headed to spin class this morning and found no more takers than usual. Still a few empty bikes, while last week the instructor needed to lead from the floor because there were so many people there. It was the week between Christmas and New Year's, so I'm sure lots of people had off.

I did make it to a Weight Watcher meeting last week. I'm starting the new year a little higher than I would hope, but what's the rush. 211.2 was my official weigh in, so I've got a weigh to go to get back to my WW goal weight. I actually lost a few pounds over the holidays as I'm working my tail off at the gym. Good thing my 2 yr old trainer continues to enjoy going. The ladies in the Kids Clubhouse love him too, so it's mutual. I'm heading to another training session tomorrow. I've neglected the weights since last Wednesday, just haven't been able to make it to the gym and I prefer cardio to weights anyday!

Ready to conquer the week and make it a strong year!

Jillian or Bob

2010-12-28T21:32:00.001-06:00

My wife got me a gift certificate for a few training sessions at my gym. When she went to purchase it, the young man behind the counter, whom I know and is very knowledgable and has helped me whenever I've needed assistance, asked my wife if I wanted someone like Jillian or someone like Bob. She didn't know the answer so she just went for a gift certificate. I worked out with a younger trainer when I joined for two sessions, but now I've been around for a few months and have seen all the trainers in action. I definitely had a few in mind that I wouldn't mind working with. I've seen them training along with their clients or talking/joking and having fun throughout the session. Then, I've seen a few that have been duds and I would not waste my money on them. So, what's the answer: Jillian or Bob? Well, at my gym, it is definitely Jillian. I do not want to work out with a guy who could bench press me with no problem. Definitely looking for someone who has fun, but works hard. I immediately made an appointment to train with someone who I have taken spin classes from and who leads the bootcamp class weekly. She kicked my butt!! But it was a good buttkicking. I'll be meeting with her once more next Tuesday and then we'll see where it goes from there because personal training isn't the cheapest investment.

Our family is finally starting to feel better. My 6 yr old, who was sick Christmas morning continued to have a fever till Monday so my wife took her to the doctor. Turns out she has Scarlet Fever! Now, with some good tasting medicine she is starting to feel better.

My music downloading project is complete. Now, I'm trying to burn all of our pictures onto CD's/DVD's from our old computer. I still love our Mac, but it has definitely seen faster days since it's older than 3 of our 4 kids.

Heading to Boot Camp again tomorrow, and if the kids cooperate, I'll head to an early Weight Watcher meeting. I've been weighing in on Saturdays as I work, but Christmas and New Year's both fall on a Saturday so that's a bit long of a lay-off.

Happy week! The Christmas cookies are gone here and hoping if anymore appear, they are hidden from my view. A few family pics on the family blog if you'd like to take a look.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-26T20:46:00.000-06:00

What an awesome Christmas we had around these parts. Our family got lots of cool new stuff including a new computer! I'll try to be more diligit in updating my blog now that I have a quick way of doing so. Can't promise, since I know my 2 yr old always needs my attention too.

Christmas was full of eating and I don't even want to worry about the points from the past two days. I saw a great post last week on Jack Sprat about obsessing about food. I definitely have a tendency to do that, but didn't do it this weekend and I felt good about it. I ate my share, probably too much, but didn't worry about tracking, points, exercising, etc. I did my thing and that was it.

We had the flu bug invade our house too. 2 yr old was sick last Sunday, then it was my 9 yr old on Wednesday and my poor 6 yr old has had a fever and flu symptoms yesterday and today. She was a trooper and made it through yesterday, but slept until 1pm today.

I'll post a few of my favorite holiday pictures as soon as I get the computer figured out. My 9 yr old got a new mp3 player and we got another iPod too and loading music onto them took way longer than I planned for.

Chugging Along

2010-12-14T19:21:00.000-06:00

Last week, I went to Walgreens to pick up a few things including lip balm. When I got home, I opened the lip balm box only to find it was empty! Now how do I prove to the people at Walgreens that I bought an empty box? I felt dupped!!

I've stayed very busy the last week or so. My wife loves shopping the day after Thanksgiving, but pretty much stops after that leaving me with a long list of things/people to shop for. So my 2 yr old and I have ventured into the frigid weather to shop almost daily.

One of our shopping trips took us to the mall. My oldest had a pair of Gap uniform pants that got eaten by our washing machine. One of many pieces of clothing to be wrecked by our front loading machines.

My eating has sucked!! That's probably enough said. I'm finding it hard to lay off the carbs. I'm reaching for crackers, chips, bread, etc. And the more I eat, the more I want! Besides the carbs, I've also found myself getting back into a bad habit of eating the leftovers off the kids plates.

Stop the madness! I'll be OK, just a horrible rut lately.

We've got a busy week of concerts and Christmas parties. I'm supposed to be at a concert tonight, but I was late and had no idea where we were singing, so I came home without ever singing. Oh well, 5 more concerts to make it to this week, so I'll not worry about this one.

Not Just the Calories

2010-12-02T13:42:00.000-06:00

Weight Watchers made a huge program change over the weekend. Their way of figuring points has deleted calories from the equation. I've been following the PointsPlus system for over two months, but only now do I have access to etools. I have missed tracking on my app and am so glad to have it back.

We're finally healthy once again at the home front. I'm still battling a dry hacky cough, but I feel fine.

Gym's been going great. My 2 yr old trainer makes sure we get out the door everyday. He carries his own gym bag and runs whenever I mention anything about going away. I could be heading to the grocery store and he still runs for the gym bag.

We're watching my niece today and tomorrow as my sister is in Texas for my BIL's grandma's funeral. We're playing slot and she's awesome at cleaning one thing up before playing with something else. Benjamin likes cleaning too, he has been roaming the house for days singing the "clean up" song in his own language. They sing it at the gym everyday too.

Busy with holiday stuff here and hoping Santa brings a new computer for Christmas. Have a great weekend.

Family Sickness Continues

2010-11-19T11:37:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, my Mom guilted me into going to the doctor ;). Turns out I have bronchitis and I got some meds and an inhaler to use. My wife ended up coming home early yesterday and calling in sick today. Didn't stop me from heading to the gym, I just went a bit slower so I wouldn't cough and I could still breath.

I can't wait for WW to actually roll out their new program. I've been using it since about Labor Day and I should have my 3 month journal just about full, but I don't. At least when it's up and running as an app, I'll have an easier time and little excuse.

Happy Weekend! We're celebrating our first Thanksgiving Sunday and I should probably devise a plan for that.

I am Allergic to the Gym...

2010-11-17T12:24:00.000-06:00

This past weekend, we travelled to the winter wonderland of Minnesota. We celebrated my nephew's baptism along with the first snow of the season. 10 inches was a bit much!

Monday, the 4 yr old was again home from school with another ear infection and pink eye. We went to parent/teacher/ student conferences in the evening and my 6 yr old got sick. She complained of a tummy ache all Monday and made it to the bathroom, but missed the toilet. Being the clean freak she is, she cleaned it up herself before coming out of the bathroom. So, yesterday was another "sick" day.

Today, I made it back to the gym. I'm battling some kind of respirtory stuff and having trouble taking really deep breaths. I made it on the spin bike for 30 minutes followed by Bootcamp. It was tough! Four days away made it's impact. I had exercised on my elliptical the last two days, but it's still not the gym.

So, being away for the four days helped my face clear up. Ivebeen looking like a squeaky voiced pimply teenager. I do declare, I'm allergic to the gym! Well, probably not the gym...but definitely the soap. Today I brought the baby shampoo. Hopefully, I'll have the babyface instead of the splotchy red face.

Hoping everyone stays healthy, cause I was definitely getting a bit tired of just sitting around the house.

It's in the 60's!

2010-11-09T14:38:00.000-06:00

What awesome weather we are having this week. We've been playing outside as long as our sun shines. You ever created "standard" time didn't have children and however decided to switch the times didn't have children either. We need daylight more in the evening so we can run a little steam off, plus that time change makes Sunday the LONGEST day of the year. The kiddos woke up by 5:30 and my 4 yr old fell asleep in church at 10:30 and my oldest had a headache and slept most of the day.

I'm really digging the gym. Why I never used one is beyond me! I'm enjoying the variety and love being able to drop Big Ben off to play. The clubhouse ladies love his communication skills. He doesn't talk much, but totally gets his point across.

One of the gym regulars, conned me into joining in on a Bootcamp group last week. He needed a partner and told me I could handle it. It was tough! Eight different circuits switching every 45 seconds. Three sets of each made for a tough workout. Throw in the killer sprints in the middle and I was hurting.

Foodwise, been fine. I just can't get into tracking with my new WW points. I'll explain more when the new program rolls out in a few weeks and I can really chat about it, but I'm not digging it!

I'll be joining Bootcamp once again this week to give it one more try.

November

2010-11-02T19:31:00.000-05:00

Not sure where the days go. I've done great exercise wise, if only I could get into a tracking groove.

Halloween presented a bit of a challenge. I love candy! Pass a piece out, eat a piece was probably not the best choice.

My kids had a blast, trick or treating in our downtown at all the businesses, at the zoo, and then throughout the neighborhood. My 9 yr old is such a saver. It's Tuesday, she's got the most candy and has still hardly touched any of it. Luckily, I'm not one to take other peoples food. Maybe I should go around the house and label all foods with names other than my own.

I've cleaned the backyard up. It's getting cold and on Thursday we have our first chance of the white stuff.

We're off school again this Friday, so everyone's home with me. I'm sure we'll find something fun to do.

Personal Trainer

2010-10-25T20:59:00.000-05:00

This morning, I had my second personal training session. Last week, I met with a personal trainer to learn more about the weight machines. Today, it was core exercises using the bosu ball, medicine ball, and a lot of pure torture.

It was a tough workout and I am feeling it in my shoulders and lower back. I worked hard and when I was done with the strength training, I actually hopped on the elliptical for a half hour after the strength portion.

I enjoyed the attention from the trainer, but she wasn't super motivating. I know she had other things on her mind as whe we were done, she let me know if I was interested in more sessions, I'd have to talk to someone behind the desk as she was leaving.

Heading to spin again tomorrow morning as I'm in for more punishment.

Spinning Take II

2010-10-22T19:44:00.000-05:00

Friday morning I went to my second spinning class. It was no stroll through the park, but now at 8pm, I'm not feeling much anything at all. It was intense! I made sure to make it a few minutes early soon the instructor could help me set the bike up and give me a few spinning pointers along with going over the lingo.

There's basically 3 positions: 1st sitting, 2nd standing/running, and 3rd standing/lean. The toughest position by far is 1st. Who would have thought just pedalling while sitting could be tough, but when that resistence is set on 8-9, it is pure torture.

Hoping to make it in to strength train tomorrow. I'm not working WW meeting this week, so my wife should allow me out of the house for an hour or so.

Halloween is upon us. We're headed to an adult costume party tomorrow. All the more reason to get a good workout in.

Strength Training

2010-10-21T14:18:00.000-05:00

I was never really a huge fan of strength training. Even when I played football in high school, I always thought working out was so slow and I never appreciated the process.

Today, I worked on all the upper body strength machines at the WAC. I started with 10 minutes on the treadmill, followed by a set of 12 on each of the 8 machines. 10 more minutes on the treadmill, another set of 12 on the machines and then 15 minutes on the elliptical.

It was nice to break it up a bit and there really are lots of people that jump around from machine to machine without doing too long of any one exercise.

I'm so glad Benjamin enjoys his time in the Clubhouse. Makes me want to go more often. I signed up for Spinning once again tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll last as my legs are still quite sore form Tuesday.

I'm on a sauerkaut kick lately. I've bought some chicken sausages at Sam's and add a cup of the kraut for lunch. Mm mm good!

Happy Thursday!

Deep Thoughts

2010-10-20T14:54:00.000-05:00

#1 This morning, on the way to the doctor's office (4yr old has a double ear infection, first one ever), I was following a dump truck. On it's tailgate was the company's slogan: Results not Excuses!

Why a dump truck would carry that slogan is beyond me, is there a wrong way to haul dirt?

#2 Biggest Loser...Last night the eliminated contestant went home and has lost over 130 pounds. The person talked of anexercise regimon the include an hour and a half before work, an hour and a half after work, and another one to two hours at night. How realistic is that? I'm proud of myself when I workout anything over an hour!

#3 Spinning use muscles that riding an elliptical never touches. The tops of my thighs are extremely sore today. I rode my elliptical during naptime, but I was hurting.

#4 I haven't writen on this blog in consecutive days for a LONG time. I'm feeling good about my eating and activity and that's probably the reason. I actually feel bad about not being able to make it to the gym. The ladies in the Kid's Clubhouse have a habit of saying, "See ya tomorrow!" So it's added incentive to get there.

We'll see if I can make it three straight here tomorrow.

Spinning

2010-10-19T19:45:00.000-05:00

It's been a week since I joined a gym for the first time. On Monday, I had an hour training session to get aquainted with all the equipment. Today, I attende my first group exercise: Spinning! It is extreme and I loved it. As much as I wanted to quit, I got lots of inspiration from the others in the group. After the group, a few members introduced themselves and I told them I was a "Spinning Virgin." the instructor was very impressed as I stuck in there and kept going. Tonight, I'm feeling it, but I'll be back spinning again soon.

Hoping to weigh in tomorrow, but looks like we got a sick 4 yr old. He's been sleeping since school let out, woke up for a bit before holding his ear and lying back on the couch to sleep.

Have a great week and take the first step.

SAHD: Feeling Lazy

2010-10-13T14:34:00.000-05:00

I haven't blogged regularly for some time. It's pretty much assumed that if a blog isn't updated regularly, there's some struggling going on. Yup! Haven't been watching my food intake at all. I checked my food journal and it's been over a week since I wrote anything down. I hate feeling out of breath heading up the stairs or chasing after the little one.

It's been two years since I've worked full-time. What have I accomplished in that time? I managed to gain 20 pounds, but still have kept 60 off successfully! Actually, I was hanging at 200 till the beginning of summer and then it was a kid stress induced 10 pound jump over the summer. Last night, watching BL, one of the contestants was disappointed by a 8 pound loss. Bob reminded him, he had lost 17 pounds in two weeks! The contestant joked that he had never lost that much, but probably gained that much in two weeks. This weight loss thing is tough!

So, today I went to a gym. The WAC is pretty close to my house and lots of WW members talk about how nice it is. I signed up and actually worked out right away. I have found that I need the motivation of "paying" someone to keep me accountable. I haven't paid WW for over 3 years since I'm a lifetime member and actually working for them, I can attend as many meetings as I want. I'm 20 pounds over my goal and am hoping that the paying to work out will get me to do it a little more often. I have never stepped foot into a gym before, so it was an experience. Monday, I have an appointment with a personal trainer (complimentary), to go over all the equipment as it definitely looks overwhelming.

Gotta do something to get comfortably back into my jeans. On the positive side, Benjamin had a blast playing in the daycare and in fact did not want to leave! That's a good sign.

Happy Fall

2010-09-23T16:06:00.000-05:00

Have you ever tried standing an egg up on the first day of Spring or Autumn? It really works! I know in actuality it can be done any day, but it's a lot more fun to try it on a special day and seems to work a lot easier. Go ahead try it...it's still the first day of fall.

Everything is going fine here. Had a "Launch Party" for Weight Watchers last weekend and I'm trying something different, but that's about all I can say about that. Hoping a little change gives me a keep in the rear that I need to lose some weight. I refuse to go up a pant size. I know that my weight gain has been gradual starting when I quit working full-time. Wish I still had the walking routine that I had when I was working, but walking 15,000-20,000 steps a day just isn't as much fun around the house.

Happy Fall! I love this time of the year. Our leaves are already changing, but seems everything was a few weeks ahead of schedule this year. Hope that doesn't mean that the snow is on it's way early too.

It's Windy

2010-09-07T14:21:00.002-05:00

I gotta say that's it's tough getting back into a school day routine. It's easy enough to wake up and get going, in fact the last few weeks, I've been waking up about 4:30am ready for the day. I have gotten up a few times and gone for a run.

The kids already had off last Friday from school. One week in and off for a longer weekend. We spent the day "parking" it. The kids love playing outside and the fresh air always wears them out more, so we went to Miller Park and played on the huge playground in the parking lot. The wind is awful round these parts. We had to search the deep trenches of the closets to find pants and sweatshirts as we've been wearing shorts and t-shirts all summer. We made it to the zoo this weekend and wore off a bit more energy there.

Today, it was back to school and the kids are finally back to uniforms. I understand that the school likes to let the kids wear their "new" clothes to start the year, but uniforms sure are convenient.

I made it to a WW meeting with the 2 yr old last Wednesday and he did awesome. It's a meeting I had never gone too...lots of retirees and a few others tossed in. We'll go again tomorrow as I love the leader. I have to say this has been a tough week. I put the scale away once again. I find myself always stepping on the blasted thing and this week and relying on my hunger and only weighing tomorrow at the meeting. It will be the first time ever that I'll be surprised at a weigh-in because I really don't know what to expect. I have tracked 4 out of 7 days, and haven't done horrible the other 3 days, I just hate worrying about it on the weekends and Friday just turned into a weekend day round here ;)

Hoping to check in a little more often as this naptime is an awesome two hours of the day. Exercise, lunch and a bit of computer time.

The End of Summer

2010-08-24T10:25:00.002-05:00

We have had an awesome summer around these parts. Lots of adventure and exercise. There is a great new indoor play area called "Kids in Motion." My kids have loved playing in the padded playground area and we've spent hours there without fighting. The only fighting that occurs is when I announce that it is time to go. I've done fine exercise wise, I've continued to run at least 3-4 times weekly and I've thrown a few bike rides into the mix as well. Last week, I rode my bike to my WW meeting. That was a good workout as it's uphill both ways. How does that even happen? Seems I have to go over the freeway and they've built it up on both sides. I've still been riding the elliptical too, so exercise has been plentiful.

My eating on the other hand needs a little working on. If I do good till 4:00pm, my day is awesome. It seems to be the 2-4pm snacking that kills me. I'm hoping that once the kids go back to school, I'll get into a no snacking routine, but that time of day has always been a problem for me even when I plan a snack for that time. We've had an awesome August with going to the State Fair, my oldest daughter's 9th birthday, a family outing to the Brewer game and now getting ready for school, which starts on Friday.

It will be a new adventure as I'll only have the babe all day. Last year, our day was broken up as I had to pick up our preschooler everyday at 11:15. Hoping for a good start of the school year as our kids are transitioning into a new school as our school building from last year has closed.

Promise I'm still around kicking, but it's tough to get computer time as the kids like playing games. As I type, I have one screaming for a snack, another barking at her sister and the babe trying to climb all over me. I'll make a point to check in more and get blogging back into my school everyday routine.

July is Almost Over

2010-07-28T08:42:00.002-05:00

Where has this month gone? We've had a fun month starting it off in Disney World and enjoying other little adventures including a trip to Missouri this past weekend. I've done OK foodwise, I've been tracking best I could for the past 3 weeks. Hasn't shown a bunch of success on the scale, but I know I'm headed in the right direction. Lost a few tenths each week and I know they add up over time, so I've not in a huge hurry.

I have bought new Asics running shoes and actually have gotten out to run 4 days this past week. That's a HUGE accomplishment! I wouldn't call myself a runner yet, I've stopped a few times during the 2-3 mile attempts for a breather. Seems I don't quite have a good pace yet. I like to go fast and I know I need to slow down a bit to make it 3 miles running the whole way. I have gotten better the last 2 times and soon I'll be running the whole length.

I've attended WW meetings the last 3 weeks in a row. That's a major accomplishment as well. I feel that I stay motivated much better when I have someone "watching" me. I know as a WW staff, that I have a hard time keeping track of everyone and couldn't tell you who lost and who gained once the meeting starts because the line gets long and we weigh people so quickly, but that 1:1 moment on the scale makes an impact for the week.

We've done lots of "Back to School" shopping so far and the kids are ready for school to start. They all have new back-packs and lunch boxes and lots of new assorted school supplies. We have to go shoe shopping yet as everyone's feet have gone over the summer and it seems the only things fitting right now are flip-flops.

Have a great last week of July, we're off to the library this morning. My wife is pretty much back to work/school as she has taken on a new position this year as the Assistant Principal at her school along with trying to get everything organized within her old position since the teacher taking her old position is out of the country for two weeks. Library program this morning is for all ages, which is a good thing. We'll be dancing to the Polkas!

Plateaus

2010-07-15T07:11:00.003-05:00

I decided to get my lazy butt to a meeting this week. The meeting that I attended while losing the majority of my 80 pounds no longer exists. The leader hasn't been with Weight Watchers for over a year and that's probably about how long it has been since I attended a meeting. I woke up extra early yesterday and attended a 7:00 meeting. Actually, didn't effect me at long, more my wife had to wake up early to play with the early riser boys. I knew the result at the scale would not be pretty since I had to weigh in last week with my Territory Manager. She was pleasant and didn't really seem to care that I am almost 20 pounds over my goal. Frankly, I wasn't really caring either until my shorts were starting to get a bit snug and it's been so hot lately that I sweating just thinking of the notion of exercise.

Yesterdays meeting was about fighting through plateaus. I wish I was in a plateau, I seem to be heading up a very steep grade mountain and in the wrong direction! She had the regular culprits: portion control, tracking, exercise, etc. But the one that caught my eye was EFFORT. I haven't been muching more effort into losing/maintaining weight for that last year. I've felt that if my clothes fit, I've doing fine. Well, it's come to the point when that excuse is no longer viable. My goal for the week is to track daily. I have done this so far since last Friday when I weighed in with my TM, and that's 5 days longer than I've tracked in several months.

So the official damage: 208.8

My goals for the week:
Track daily. Often, leaders suggest a goal of 4-5 days, but I used to do it daily and have no reason not to once again.
Exercise daily. Not a huge goal as I have continued to do this for the most part, but I will be focusing on my effort this week and will have a goal of burning at least 300 calories during each workout.
Meet the Good Healthy Guidelines. My biggest challenge is getting two dairies and a serving of oil everyday, so that will be my focus. Unfortunately, a pan of brownies even though it contains 1/2 cup of oil probably is not an appropriate way to get my oil.

That's it for now, working towards a better week!

Back to a Routine

2010-07-06T16:10:00.002-05:00

What a vacation! I don't remember being this tired last year after driving through the night from Disney World. We arrived home Sunday and I am still dragging. We had an awesome trip. I didn't worry about food last week as I wore a pedometer all week and had no days less than 20,000 steps. That's a lot of walking!

I didn't find myself too hungry last week as it's not so much fun eating when you're sweating just sitting around. We did manage to eat enough good stuff and bad stuff too. Our "biggest" adventure was tackling an Earthquake. Eight scoops of ice cream, a topping on each, a boat load of whipped cream and other surprises.

One thing that did surprise me was the fact that I couldn't find a size large shirt anywhere. I really was trying to find a large tank top, but gave up early in the week and still couldn't find a t-shirt that I liked throughout the rest of the week. It was all small, mediums or extra-large. No larges to be found!

I'll try to get back in the posting routine, but am not promising much through the summer as the kiddos take over the computer and I can read on the iTouch, but don't care to post from there.

Monday Errands

2010-06-22T13:34:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I was home with the kiddos all day as well as today. My wife is in charge of organizing the reading program for her school's summer school program and has been busy at school and finishing up work on her Master's class. We had several stops planned to get ready for our trip to Disney World this weekend.

We made a stop at Menard's to get flashlights (free after a mail-in rebate), Walmart for a few pair of shorts for the 4 yr old, Target for muscle shirts for the 2 ye old and traveling pillows. We were on a search for youth ponchos and finally found some at K-Mart this morning. Everyone was satisfied but my 6 yr old who really, REALLY wanted a pink one. We settled on a blue one and I told her we could decorate it. Hoping glitter glue sticks to ponchos at least for a week.

I was wearing my pedometer during our errands and when we got home I checked and had close to 8,000 steps after four shopping stops.

I was quite amused at the reaction of fellow shoppers at Menard's. I had five guys stop and comment on the kids and the handful I had. None of the other stops brought any reaction.

We're chilaxing by the kiddie pool this afternoon as the temps are close to 90.

Eating is going fine, not actually sure what happened at my monthly weigh-in, I was up 8! Next day, back to 200. We did go out to eat the day before, so I'll blame it on Applebee's.

Trying the Elliptical

2010-06-17T15:41:00.000-05:00

My wife told me four years ago that she would never use a treadmill. I had been mulling over the elliptical vs. treadmill debate that many people internalize. She also told me that she would use an elliptical a lot more.

It only took four years! She has been exercising deligently now for close to a month. Of course her motivation is to look better in her swimsuit when we go to Disney late next week. Not only has she started exercising, she has also started eating healthier. She hasn't been much of a salad/veggie type, but has tolerated them. She has limited her sugar, cutting out regualar soda, and limited her desserts.

Even though she's still wasting mindless hours playing on Facebook, she has not complained about exercising. In fact, she's used the darned elliptical more than me lately.

Officially, she was shooting for 10 pounds in a month, but has blown past that and now on the tails of 15 pounds. It's exciting to watch her enthusiasm for being healthy.

So here's an official shout out to Mrs. B and her awesome success practicing a healthy lifestyle.

Wedding Day

2010-06-13T08:26:00.002-05:00

We had a great time at my sister's wedding yesterday. My kids had never really experienced a wedding reception before. Unfortunately, the last one we attended, my 6 yr old threw up at dinner and I spent the evening in a hotel room with the kiddos, but that was a few kids ago too ;)

To keep it health related, I haven't officially exercised since Thursday. I've been wearing my pedometer this week again and have been pleasantly surprised to find out I"m getting well over 10,000 steps. Yesterday, I tore up the dance floor with all the kids. With four kids wanting to dance at all times, I didn't take too many songs off. We had some awesome moves :) I'll load some videos onto Youtube sometime soon. Foodwise, I did great. Small portions and a few shared pieces of cake. It was a great day. I've posted a few other pictures on our family blog too.

Last Week of School

2010-06-08T17:24:00.006-05:00

This last week has been a busy one and it's not over yet. Last week, I got the basement cleaned up from our rummage and finally uncovered our two claw foot bathtubs that have been covered in treasures for the past several years. Considering we remodeled our bathrooms almost 8 years ago, it's probably time to get rid of them. Finally put them on Craigslist and sold one in a day for $150 and have had a few inquiries about the other.

Seems likes we've been celebrating birthdays everyday. Last week, Benjamin turned two and we HAD to have cake for him on his birthday. Caryn celebrated her summer birthday on that same day so luckily, all we had to do was make twice as many ice cream cone cupcakes.

Memorial Day weekend we had cake with my wife's family and this past weekend it was my family's turn. The cake won't end any time soon. This weekend, my sister is gettign married and Sunday is Caryn's real birthday.

Today, we celebrated K3 and 5K graduation. Caryn had a bigger program with 5K, but Alex showed off his stuff singing the ABC's and Wheels on the Bus with the K3.

I'm having trouble finding time to sit down and read/write blogs as I do this now, my 2 yr old is climbing all over me hitting all kinds of buttons. I'm hoping to post at least weekly, but if not, it's summer and I've got bigger fish to fry!

Feeling Berry Good

2010-06-01T13:36:00.006-05:00

We've had strawberries in our garden since we started a garden almost 10 years ago. Never have we had the amount that we are getting this year. Everyday for the last week, we've been able to pick about 2 quarts. It's been awesome. You know they taste WAY better than those mammoth ones that are sold in the stores.

Our weekend was a productive one. Rummage sale Friday and Saturday followed by a huge family party Sunday. We celebrated my two June kids birthdays. Monday, I hauled all the rummage stuff to our church, their rummage is in two weeks. I'm so glad I don't have to deal with getting rid of what doesn't sell now. Saturday, I had my monthly weigh in. Finally, back to 200. It's a battle and I'm sure it will continue to be so, but most of the time, I feel like I'm headed in the right direction.

Ever try getting 8 kids to look at you for a picture?

June Birthdays sharing a cake. She'll get her own this weekend.

What a happy kid!

Why a Rummage Sale is like Weight Loss

2010-05-29T11:55:00.000-05:00

Day 1 of our first ever rummage sale went awesome. I really had no idea what to expect as I decided to go for it this week. We've had tons of stuff accumulating in our basement. It was amazing to clean it out and actually see the basement floor once again. Our trash treasures brought in $275!

Why didn't we ever have a rummage sale before? Well, it's a lot of work! The first step was the hardest. Deciding to do it. Once I started gathering stuff and pricing it, that was easy. The sale itself has been fun. Hearing my 8 yr old announce after each sale how much we made was priceless. The kids were having a blast playing with toys we hadn't played with for years. It was a great day and we were totally exhausted. Today, has been quiet, but it's a beautiful so we are still enjoying the weather.

It's that first step that's always the toughest. Weight loss, rummage sales, whatever it may be, taking the first step is always the challenge.

Sadly, no one has wanted to buy any of my WW stuff ;)

Rummage Sale

2010-05-24T13:47:00.002-05:00

We went through our toys again yesterday. I've got at least 8 totes full of toys that have been banished to the basement. Most are wonderful toys, just too many for four kids to play with. I'm thinking of having a rummage sale this week. Never had one before, but the kids are off Friday and I'm thinking it would be best if we did it without Mommy around. Seems she's one of "those" people that gets so attached to something for sentimental reasons that she never wants to get rid of anything. So the toys are banished to the basement. I've got so much stuff that I would love to get rid of. A guitar, a harp, knick-knacks galore, and I'd love to get rid of a few of our New York sized Christmas village that has remained banished for 8 years and will probably never make another New York size appearance. My kids helped to sort through toys yesterday and they really weren't interested in much of anything.

Makes me wonder how we got so much stuff? I'm sure it has something to do with the old dieting adage: Eat less, move more! We gain more and more stuff, but never rid ourselves of anything! I'm sure our house has gained at less 500 pounds of stuff since we've moved in 10 years ago. I'll attempt to thin it out a bit this week. I'm sure the kids would be a huge help, they're looking for some spending money for a trip to Disney around the 4th of July.

It has gotten extremely humid around here this week. I spent the early morning outside with the 1 yr old, but by 9:30 it was 85 and humid. Not sure where our Spring was this year. We've gone for having the heat on to running the air conditioner pretty quick this year.

Salad Kick

2010-05-21T14:23:00.003-05:00

I've been on another salad kick. I definitely go in spurts. Some weeks, I don't want to look at it, some weeks it's all I eat. This is one of those, eating salad for every meal kind of weeks. Recently, I purchased some Ken's Salad Dressing. I usually never sway from Kraft Ranch or Italian, but neither were on sale and the Ken's was the cheapest. It really adds some needed kick to my salad. The Lite Sweet Vidalia Onion has been a favorite this week. I bought some mixed salad from Sam's and am surprised at how much more flavor it has than me boring old Iceberg Lettuce. Sprinkling a few Craisins for added sweetness, carrots for crunch, Parmesan cheese and Salmon and it is great.

Yesterday was a very eventful day. My FIL came over to assemble a wishing well he had designed. It turned out great, but I will not forget the fact he tried to kill me with a nail gun! I left him do all the heavy lifting on that project, because I spent the day building a new front porch. My wife had told him that I was going to build some new steps, unfortunately for me, the guys I hired to do the job showed up on the same day Grandpa came, so my professional job was outed. I did have to write the check! I should have explained to him that it was either hiring someone to build the steps, or hire someone to watch the boys and I thought would be much cheaper to hire the builders ;)

No plans for the weekend other than working a few WW meetings early tomorrow. It's supposed to be an awesome weather weekend around here.

Biggest Loser Thoughts

2010-05-19T13:28:00.007-05:00

Daris is one of my personal favorites this season. I totally related with him last night when he was sent home for 30 days. He trained for a marathon while the other three contestants had to train too. His excuse for gaining two pounds, over training for a marathon. I think the real reason came during his late night video: 1:00am eating more food than he should in an entire day and then afterwards feeling guilty, stuffed, and frustrated.

Been there, done that. Although I would never get out of bed to eat since I'm either too lazy or value my bedtime too much, I have totally snacked on enough food to keep me alive before realizing what I had done. I have come to find that this happens if I don't eat my usual breakfast or the usual amount of points I am used to for lunch. If I skimp on my lunch, I snack WAY too much in the late afternoon.

I really feel bad for Daris. He has worked so hard to get where he is and he still hasn't learned everything he needs to learn to be successful. Same goes for Koli as he is just playing to win and not learning the balance that it will take to be successful in "real life."

I really don't care who wins the overall prize, I like all four of the finalists, just hoping a few certain people don't come back to win the at home prize.

Here's a few picks of my new, I mean the kids new swing set.

Sabor

2010-05-17T12:50:00.002-05:00

Sabor Restaurant! Not a good place to go if you are trying to watch what you eat. 12 cuts of meat, a loaded salad bar, delicious desserts! The guys come to your table bearing meat! How can you pass that up? I went on Saturday night with my future brother-in-law for his bachelor party. My sister is getting married the second weekend in June. We had originally planned to go to the Brewer game, which would have been much easier foodwise, but they were sold out. Not sure why, seems they can't win a darn game at home.

12 cuts of meat! I sampled each one and gluttonously had more pork tenderloin than I care to admit. My plan was to eat a healthy salad and then try to eat only a few meats. Couldn't do it. Loaded me salad plate thinking I was going healthy, then turned the card to "green" to let the meat begin! They have little cards "green" for go, "red" for leave me alone I've eaten TOO MUCH! Sadly, I was not the first to go red. Not a successful evening, but it is a restaurant that I am glad I had the opportunity to try.

I couldn't even pass on the "sides" that were on our table. Fried bananas are evil! Then there were some awesome bite size rolls that I'm sure were loaded with butter, fat and cheesy goodness and like chips, I couldn't stop at one!

Dessert! I didn't any room left in my already full stomach, but I managed to order dessert, flan. It was awesome!

I did make a point to exercise much longer than normal yesterday to try to make up for it, but I don't think the hour on the elliptical will even make a dent in the colossal amount of food I consumed Saturday night.

I did do a lot of physical labor Friday and Saturday, I built a new swingset for the kiddos. Enough swings for everyone to enjoy at once. Friday was the building and Saturday I dug some post holes three feet down and it's not moving now. Pictures will be coming when I get them up on the computer.

Phineas and Ferb

2010-05-13T14:10:00.002-05:00

My kids were watching Disney Channel and an episode of "Phineas and Ferb" was on. Can't say I'm a huge fan of the show, in fact, each time I catch it, I find myself saying,"This is stupid!" This episode was no different.

Dr. Doofenshmirtz was creating a contraption (an disintegration ray) to get rid of a bridge leading to a cupcake factory. Seems he had been gaining weight and each time he was close to his goal weight, the "Fireside Girls" always came to his door selling cupcakes. If it were just so simple. Create a disintegration ray to rid the world of tempting food. His disintegration ray turned everything into broccoli, what a concept!

In the end, of course Doofenshmirtz failed, just like always. And the episode left me saying,"This is stupid!" just like always! But it did get me thinking about the ONE food that keeps me from succeeding and staying at my goal weight. You know, I can't seem to narrow it down to just one! I really have been eating clean, just too much. I continue to work at so maybe if Doofenshmirtz could work on the ultimate portion control contraption I'd be set!

525,600 Minutes

2010-05-11T12:44:00.002-05:00

I've had this silly song from "RENT" stuck in my head for days. Unfortunately, I'm HORRIBLE at memorizing anything and the only words to the song "Seasons of Love" that I know are "525,600 Minutes!"

One year! A few weeks ago in a WW meeting, the leader divided the year up into segments: weekdays, weekends, holidays. 104 days are weekends. Not sure if anyone is like me, but the weekends are more difficult because of the lack of routine, added family gatherings and more emotional eating: boredom, stress, happy, sad, etc. Depending on how "true" holidays you celebrate there are between 6-14 holidays. I usually have a plan going into a holiday, but still these are not my best days. Weekdays make up about 250 days. That's about 2/3 of the year. Should be easy to stay honest for 2/3 of the year right?

525,600 minutes! Seems so long, yet flies by quicker than I realize. There's always the longing for Tomorrow as I'll start again, or that Monday will be the beginning of a much better week. Ah, it's the weekend, I'm not going to stress over food now! 52 days of weigh-ins and 52 days of eating whatever I want since I just weighed in and I have all week to make up for it. The birthday parties, the holidays, the extra unexpected treats...it all adds up and I'm longing for the start of the next 525,600 minutes before too long.

We're having some very cool rainy weather around here this week. Mother's Day was a nice day. I finally found a bed pillow at "Bed, Bath & Beyond" that the wife has approved. I couldn't tell you how many bed pillows I've bought for her over the years: the memory foam pillows, the neck-saver pillows, the "Big-One" pillows, the hypoallergenic, etc. Finally, she tells me: "I want a pillow like yours!" The easy thing to do would have been just to wrap mine up and give it to her, but there ain't no way I'm giving my feather down pillow up ;) It's got years of TLC left that I just can't give away. So, it was off to every store that sells pillows and finally found a winner (for now), at BBB!

Have a great Tuesday! Yesterday was a no nap day and hopefully today turns into a 3 hour nap day, 2 hours so far.

Grey's Anatomy

2010-05-07T10:14:00.000-05:00

Not much happening around thes parts this week. It's been a rainy few days. First rainy day wasn't bad, I put the babe in his crib to play while I sorted through winter/summer clothes. Seems my 4 yr old is finally growing a bit. He finally doesn't fit into 2T clothes anymore and neither does his brother. So I've been getting all the small stuff put away and pulling out some summer clothes. Looks like our boy shorts consist of 2T and 4T, not sure why there's no 3's in there.

Last night's episode of "Grey's Anatomy" dealt with a huge guy over 600 pounds. He poked fun at himself while the doctors underwent sensitivity training, so they wouldn't be tempted to joke. By the end of the show, Dr. Karev, who happens to be one of my favorite characters, gets the patient to realize that jokes weren't funny and only covering up a very painful reality. Definitely got me thinking about self deprivation. Why is it so easy to be self critical and so hard to accept compliments?

Happy Mother's Day! Enjoy the weekend together with your family.

Star Wars Day

2010-05-04T15:57:00.000-05:00

May the 4th be with you! Happy Star Wars Day! Today, I was supposed to present for two hours, "Integrating Music into Activities", but it has been cancelled. Not sure if I should be happy, sad, irritated, relieved or what. I was totally prepared and looking forward to it along with being totally stressed out over it. They group just got done hosting a huge national conference, I'm not taking the lack interest personally.

Today, marked the official start of "Summer." The temperature is close to 80, but the real sign of summer came rolling down the street just minutes ago. The Ice Cream Truck is back!! Again, not sure if I should be happy, sad, irritated, relieved or what. :)

Grandma & Grandpa

2010-05-01T17:03:00.000-05:00

Grandma and Grandpa came for a visit last weekend bearing gifts. They brought bananas, strawberries and cookies. Not sure how they're all connected other than G-pa can't pass up a good sale and the fruit was on special at Aldi's. The cookies...G-pa likes a good cookie too ;)

Today, we finished the treats. Guess what the last thing left was. Strawberries lasted a day. Bananas lasted three days. The cookies made it all week! Unforunately, there were not enough to go around, so guess who made more cookies today. I blame it all on the G-pa!!

Confidence

2010-04-29T12:58:00.002-05:00

In the past few days, I've bumped into 2 people from my past. One, a nurse that worked with my on a unit at a nursing home for three years. It was during the time I was actively losing 80 pounds. She just happened to now work at the same nursing home as I do once again, even on the same unit. I saw her working in an office, took a double take and confidently went up to talk to her. Usually in the past, I would just walk past without saying a word. If she noticed me, that would be when I would interact.

The other happened while I was shopping for a certain Mother's Day present. I know it's early and all, but thought I better get a jump on it. I was shopping at a store that shall remain nameless cause it would give away what I was there for ;) On my way out, I noticed someone I played volleyball with for years. We played for at least 5 years together, but with children and changing lives, we all decided to break the team up. That has been a good 5 to 6 years ago and I hadn't seen this friend for several years. I greeted her and we had a good chat. This too would have been an encounter that 80 pounds ago, I probably would have tried to avoid.

I am proud of my weight loss and enjoy telling people when given the opportunity. Why shouldn't I be proud, it's darn tooting hard to lose and maintain a loss!

I got the not-so-friendly-you're-over-your-goal letter in the mail yesterday. Weight Watchers watches us employees and wants us to be good role models. In an email last week, the Territory Manager stated that 50% of the receptionists and 35% of the leaders are above their goal weight. I would love to not have to worry about that scale, and actually I don't worry about it much as long as my clothes are still fitting. Unfortunately, if I want to continue working with WW, it's one of the things I need to keep aware of. They rarely do much of anything, just friendly reminders to keep us motivated and encourage us to keep working at it.

Looking forward to a 70 degree day, too bad it's a tad bit windy.

Saving Up

2010-04-27T12:38:00.002-05:00

My 8 yr old has been checking out all the nutritional facts in the house. She's studying nutrition right now in Health and has had fun checking out calories, fat, etc. Unfortunately, she's a huge salt freak and adds seasoning salt to most anything. I don't mind as long as she eats the veggies she's adding it to, but I'm afraid now that she's checked out the nutritional facts and learned that there's no calories, she'll be pouring it on even more. I have made a point already to let her know that there is more to food than just calories, and some things need to be used in moderation.

During dinner last night, she announced that she will not be eating seconds anymore. She has decided that she wants to "save up" for our Disney trip this summer. We'll be headed to the most magical place on Earth once again this summer and she has a long list of things she'd like to try. Last year, seems someone put two large plates of nachos in front of her and she felt that she needed to eat them all! This year, she's hoping to tackle an Earthquake, which is a huge at least 10 serving ice cream explosion. So, it's probably not a bad thing that she's attempting to "save up" for the big event. Didn't go so well last night. She still had more chips and Sloppy Joe's. Initially, she said no seconds; then, she said seconds only on "small things" like pickles; then she said "can I have more chips!" We'll keep trying ;)

We've had beautiful weather and I have loved sitting outside now in the 50's-60's. By summer, I'll be too warm to sit out for long, so I'm soaking in my kind of weather right now.

Trip to the Post Office

2010-04-23T12:06:00.002-05:00

I rarely need to show my picture ID, but yesterday I went to pick up a package at the post office and was asked for my license. The post office employee did a double take and right away said, "You must have lost at least 50 pounds!" I just smiled and kept keeping the 1 yr old busy. I haven't really looked at my ID for a long time and when she handed it back, I did a quick check.

Of course, I lied about my weight on my license just like everyone does. My listed weight is 240. I'm sure when I got that license renewed, I was no where close to that low. It's good to know that people are still noticing and gives me a little nudge to keep going.

A few times this week, I've parked the car by no other cars and when I've come back to the car, there's been cars within inches of my driver seat car door. I couldn't imagine trying to squeeze into the van if I weighed anymore than I do. I great reason to keep going.

Have a great weekend, looking like a very rainy one here.

Plugging Along

2010-04-21T12:41:00.002-05:00

I am enjoying the Spring weather more than ever it seems. I'm not a huge outdoor kind of guy, but I have been outside with the kids more than ever. I think a big reason is because when we're outside, our inside doesn't get messy. Not saying our inside is clean, but still it doesn't get more messy.

We've enjoyed trips to the zoo, many neighborhood walks and just plain vegging in the backyard. I love our backyard especially since it is fenced in. I hear "over the fence" from my neighbor all the time calling for her 2 yr old to "come back", "don't go in the street", "stay here!" and then she shouts out, "We need a fence!" I just smile as I love our fence and maybe a big reason for that is because I did it myself!!

Eating, exercising and all things healthy have been going along fine. Seems mangoes are back in season by the price in the store and I've enjoyed my fair share lately. I just wish I knew exactly when to eat them. I've cut up a few that have just not been quite rip enough and then they are "stringy." I love my a perfectly rip mango though!

Have a great Wednesday.

"Why Don't You...

2010-04-19T12:17:00.002-05:00

just go exercise?"
~Wise Words from my 5 yr old.

Yesterday, I was beat. My wife had been gone Wednesday through Saturday afternoon and I was just tired. I hadn't formally exercised on Friday or Saturday and I really didn't feel like it on Sunday either, but something happened.

My 1 yr old just went down for a nap, my 4 yr old was snuggling with me and shouting out all the Brewers names and numbers while we lazily watched the game. My wife and the 5 yr old just plopped on the couch and it turned into a rest time for the 4 yr old and 5 yr old. I was forced to the "Back Room" to watch my Brewers. Unfortunately, the 8 yr old was already staking claim to Disney channel on that TV. Where did that leave me? No choice but to go exercise if I wanted to watch the Brewers. So thanks to the 5 yr old for "forcing" me to exercise on Sunday.

Eating has been fine lately, but I still am having trouble tracking the entire day. I make it through lunch and afternoon snacks and then just keep a mental note the rest of the day. I'll get there, when it's important enough.

Enjoying the Spring weather.

What Doesn't Get Written Down

2010-04-16T12:58:00.002-05:00

I have done a good job of tracking this week. I have tracked even the stuff I'd rather not track, but still have counted the points. My week ends on Wednesdays, it just happened to be when I always weighed in while losing. A few things never get written down, like "Why I am eating!" Yesterday, was a stupid eating night. I had done awesome all day and had 3 points left for an evening snack. Unfortunately, that 3 point snack turned into another 3 point snack and another 3 point snack and probably one more 3 point snack just for good measure.

I am one of those people who eat so well when others are around, but once everyone is in bed, I eat! Crazy!! Not sure why I did it, just did it. It's the old, if no one's around, they won't know I'm eating. But they will, they'll see it later around my waist!

I am proud that I continued to track, but what the heck was up with the late night binge. I blame it on my wife! Why not, she's out of town.

I've been watching the new season of "Ruby" lately. This past Sunday's episode dealt with Ruby eating only when her boyfriend/roommate Denny wasn't around. She felt like he made her feel guilty when she ate, so she only ate when he was gone and then she ate as much as she could and whatever she could find, mostly fatty, calorie laiden foods. Like me, she was "good" in front of people, but packed it in when alone.

Oh well, I know I always have things to work on and those darn Brewer jerseys were looking mighty nice in the store this morning when I took the kiddo to Sam's Club for some necessities.

Don't Fall in the Toilet

2010-04-14T09:22:00.002-05:00

I have always been the one to intuitively "put the seat down" after going to the bathroom. Recently, I've found myself not doing this especially since I'm home all day with the boys and we use the bathroom a lot during the day. Alex usually does a little potty dance for a good half hour before having to rush to the bathroom, so keeping the seat down is sometimes a must. My wife has gotten spoiled by my habit over the years and never checks the seat until it's too late ;)

My habit of putting the toilet seat was a relatively easy one to form and I'm sure it'd be easy to keep putting it down, but I really see no reason to take the extra step during the day when I know I'm the only one around. Why then was this habit so easy to form while the habit of tracking my food is so hard to form and keep? I tracked diligently for over two years, but now have had difficulty doing so for the last year or so.

I'll keep working at it. Maybe if I keep my tracker in the bathroom I could work on both habits at once.

Check out the "Man of the Day" at Two Fit Chicks today. These gals are a great inspiration.

Another Shot of P90X

2010-04-12T13:41:00.002-05:00

I had done a complete 12 week round of P90X back in October thru December, but got tired of waking up at 4:30 and missed my cardio on the elliptical. Sometime after Christmas, I had a 30% off coupon from Kohl's and purchased a pull-up bar since I know they never go on sale and thought this would get me excited to start another round of P90X.

Only a few months later, I've finally gotten around to trying it. I tried Day 1 yesterday and today I am extremely sore. It's a good kind of sore, like I accomplished something. I think I'll try to make my P90X experience a hybrid experience this time. I like the strengthening workouts, but really enjoy my elliptical, so I think I'll stick with the elliptical and add in the power workouts every other day.

What got me motivated? One of my Facebook friends, who I went to high school with, was starting a round this weekend. She commented that it was somewhat addicting and I remembered how much I did enjoy my personal time with Tony Horton, but I hated the fact that I woke up so early to do it. Lately, I've been riding the elliptical during naptime while my 4 yr old rests in bed watching PBS. Why not try P90X during this time? I'll give it a try and see how it goes.

Back to the routine today as everyone is back to school and back to work this week. My wife is leaving me again this week to head to New York for a few days for a business trip. Could make for a stressful week, but it has started out well.

Tracking: Has gone well since last Wednesday. I have tracked everything. Kathy, mentioned setting a goal and rewarding myself afterwards. A goal for me now is to track daily for three months. If I've tracked at least 5 out of 7 days weekly at the end of those three months, I'll buy myself a new Brewer Jersey. It is something I have wanted for a while, since the one I have is still a 2X and has tons of stains on it, mostly because I love to wear it and it's white. This time, I'll shoot for a dark one.

The Guys Have It

2010-04-09T11:46:00.002-05:00

Something funny happened to my wife this morning. I sent her to the bank to deposit a check and exchange some change for my cashbox for WW. She tried to take some money out and had trouble doing so. Why? Seems some how she morphed into a child. I am listed as her custodian on our joint checking account. She could have taken money out if she knew our pin number, but she never using our ATM card. She could have taken money out of our savings account, but I think she was too flustered to realize that. So she was forced to come home and ask "Daddy" for some money.

We ended up going back to the bank and signing some papers to get the account back to where it should have been all along.

Having a good week this week. I've enjoyed listening to "Two Fit Chicks" podcast about the "boys" of healthy liver blogging (their words, not mine). I agreed with much that their guest Ryan had to say on behalf of all men. I also enjoyed D's link about losing weight like a guy. However, I tend to eat lots of sweets. I wouldn't consider myself an emotional eater until my eating faulters and then I just eat more. I usually can keep my emotions in check, till I eat something I wish I didn't and then it just snowballs.

Hoping for a good weekend. I have been able to ride the elliptical much more this week as the wife has been home all day and it's much easier to exercise with someone to watch the little people. Last week, I skipped ALL exercise so this has been a step in the right direction once again. Now, if I could only get myself to track honestly.

Spring Break

2010-04-05T10:49:00.002-05:00

It was a different kind of week last week, as the kids had a few days off and continue on with Spring Break all week this week. I'm staying away from the computer this week and trying to stay away from the leftover Easter candy too. The kids made a great dent in it yesterday, but somehow we managed to have a lot left for today!

Today is opening day for baseball and it's a beautiful day here in Milwaukee. It will be the first opening day that Miller Park will have it's roof open ever. Can't believe Minnesota has gone roofless!! I'll be sitting outside enjoying the weather.

The rest of the week, we'll try to get along with each other. I'll check blogs throughout the week, but probably won't be posting.

I had an interesting week last week at the WW meetings. Lots of emotion as a few WW members came back after gaining much of their weight back, one member hit the 100 pound lost mark and a new member came Saturday. Same age as me, and starting at about 420. It's got to be intimidating to even start a process and got me thinking as to how I felt the first time I came to a meeting. I will try to get that feeling of "I can do this, a little at a time!" feeling back this week.

Losing Weight

2010-03-29T11:58:00.002-05:00

There was a great quote in the WW Weekly this week:
"You don't 'lose' weight, you 'take it off.' Sometimes when you lose things, you find them again!"

That unfortunately happens a little too often. Lose a pound, gain a pound, lose a pound, gain a pound. There's a radio personality around these parts that jokes about losing over 1000 pounds, but it's always the same 10 pounds over and over again.

I need to get the mindset of taking 10 pounds off and not just losing them. I get comfortable whenever I see 200 on the scale and tend to relax a bit, stop tracking for a few days, stop the intense exercise, eat a few more sweets, etc. and then number creeps up again. I need to refocus the energy and not be happy with the 200.

This weekend, I had a wedding to attend. It was a great event and the food was awesome. Someone close to me, chose to skip the reception because of recently joining AA. I understand the thinking and realize this is a temporary avoidance until things are more under control. Got me thinking about food and avoidance. If I were to avoid every difficult situation involving food, my family would never see me. In fact, I don't know how I'd function since food needs to be consumed to live. Sometimes my toughest days are the days I spend all day at home. I welcome the celebrations! I tend to have good days then. I can only eat what is put in front of me and I tend to steer clear of the appetizers because I feel like everyone is watching me and what I eat.

We also had a chicken dinner at our church on Sunday. It was a delicious meal. Afterwards, I came home with the kids and my wife went back to work the dinner for the second half of the time. She stayed till the end and unfortunately decided to take advantage of the "half price bake sale" that takes place with all the leftover bakery for the last half hour. She came home with a bunch of cherry turnovers. They're mocking me in the kitchen right now. I've stayed out of the kitchen all morning, which will continue to be a key for the rest of the day.

Weather is going to be awesome here all week, hoping to get in a few quality walks!