FatBloggers.net A little push to lose the tush.

Note:  I write a semi-regular column called “Fitness for Fat Guys” for our local newspaper.  The first article was just published today, and I’m busy working on my next.  This is the first article: 

Hello, and welcome to the very first edition of “Fitness For Fat Guys.”  My goal here is to use this space to discuss ways for guys like us to get and stay in shape.  Last year, I did the Weight Watchers thing and dropped almost 60 pounds in a matter of about six months.  I counted up my points, faithfully attended my weekly weigh-in meetings, and collected my little progress stickers along the way to improving my overall health.  I also embarked on something that resembled a fitness regimen to help keep the weight off.  I did a little jogging, but I found that hitting the road on a bike was easier on my 40-year-old joints.  (In the interest of full disclosure, Doc Booher tried to convince me of that before I started, but of course I had to figure it out on my own.)  This year, I’ve noticed that I’ve added a few pounds, so it’s high time I get things in gear before I get totally out of hand again. 

And that’s where you come in.  I’d like to use this little column to not only motivate myself to get and stay healthy, but to help you do the same.  I’ve found that staying accountable to somebody else helps me stick with my own program and keep my own weight off more effectively.  Like a lot of you, I grew up right here in Eastern Oregon, played some high school ball, and stayed active and healthy for most of that time.  Daily Doubles on the football field and line sprints in the gym seem to have a way of burning a whole lot of calories.  It wasn’t until I was an adult, and had a family and career, that those fitness activities took a back seat to other things in my life.  It wasn’t that I didn’t like working out, I just never seemed to have time for it.  After a while, the sedentary lifestyle with too much fast food and ice cream just sorta took it’s toll.  Getting back in shape at 41 is a whole lot tougher than staying in shape at 18! 

Biking is my exercise of choice, but there are other activities that may or may not work for you.  I’d like to make this column as interactive as possible, so I’ll leave my e-mail when we’re done.  Feel free to contact me any time to let me know how you’re doing with yours.  My first stop is to head out to Umatilla and take a ride along the river’s edge.  At the end of the parking lot on Beach Access Road, and there’s a trailhead there leads all the way to Hat Rock.  I have an off-road trail bike, but it’s not really a mountain bike, so this relatively flat trail is perfect for what I need.  In my next column, I’ll let you know how it goes.  In the meantime, have a great workout, and by all means stay hydrated during these hot summer months. 

Rick Scheibner is the counselor at Sunset Elementary, where he currently holds the school record for most interceptions in a single recess.  He can be reached at rickscheibner@gmail.com. 

218.8. That’s what it said on the scale this morning. A gain of 2.4 pounds.

Instead of wallowing in self pity. I got up and road my bike to work, despite wet, dirty roads and a threat of torrential downpour.

I got drenched, I got muddy, I got lost and I was late for work and yet it was the best decision I could have made.

It is amazing to me how fast I can start to feel like I am out of shape.

Last week I achieved my greatest physical triumph ever, yesterday I felt like a 300 pound couch potato. I know it’s mostly mental. Which means I need to do some serious mental and physical training in the next 5 days since I have singed up for another sprint triathlon a week from this coming Sunday.

Have a great weekend everybody.

Tony
07/24 218.8 lbs
NEW GOAL: 208
10.8 lbs. to go

Back in May, I wrote about a new class being offered at my gym, the Power Course. I’ve been taking this class twice a week for almost 2 months now and I’m loving it! It’s a challenge and I am definitely ‘feeling it’ afterwards, but the BEST thing I’m feeling is firm. That’s right, I’m admitting it here on FatBloggers, I am enjoying feeling the firmness growing under the ever-shrinking layer of soft gushiness.

The other night, The Boy and I were doing one of the things that I wanted to do when I started this whole project… we were screwing around. He thinks that he is the big 6th grade football stud, of course I have to take him down a couple notches. He is 5′4″ and 109 lbs of 100% BOY, so I crouch down a bit and hoist him over my shoulders. As he is squealing like a girl, he’s grabbing my arms. He  says, “Wow Dad! You are BUFF!”

Is that an ego boost or WHAT?!?!?!

Fellow blogger and all around awesome guy, Israel over at FatManUnleashed has one of the most awesome logos in all the blogosphere. Lucky for us (me), he slapped the logo on a sweet T-shirt.

This is the equipment used for the Power Course. The plates are 22lb, 11lb, 5lb and 2lb. That’s right baby! This FatMan is curling 80lbs!

btw… the lady behind me is mortified that she is getting her picture taken.

Cross-posted to Fat Guy in Little Coat

One of the things that seems to creep into every student’s finances is parking on campus. For as long as I can remember, I have been obsessed about getting a good parking assignment. I did my undergrad and masters at Arizona State and was fortunate to have one of the best parking structure assignments on campus. I didn’t care how much it cost, I shelled the cash out to make sure I kept my permit. Since parking has more than doubled since I last needed to park anywhere near ASU, I doubt that would be the case anymore.

Then we moved to Athens, Georgia for me to go to school at UGA, which despite increasing its parking fees this year, is considerably less than most schools. I’ve never had a hard time parking anywhere, and like ASU, I received a good assignment. However, I had to take a closer look at what I was spending…

I paid over $300 for a permit last year and lived about a mile from campus. Pathetic, huh?  I mean, I did walk on occasion, but why waste a good permit? Now, we’ve moved across town and the drive would be a few miles more. Gas prices, as you all know, are quite ridiculous these days, and in addition to that increase, I would have to pay more for a parking permit.

Then I made a small discovery outside our new home: a bus stop.

So, I did some research on the bus routes and discovered that the bus that passes 20 feet in front of my house is the very same that would take me no more than 100 yards from my building on campus — and students can take the bus for free. But, I saw that there were no late hours, and since my classes are all in the afternoon or evening, It would work out.  But then a friend chimed in. “Actually, there’s another bus that services the area on nights and weekends.” I checked it out and he was right.

So, after mulling it over a little while longer, I decided it was time to forsake the permit and instead enroll in the alternative transportation program, which would still allow me to park in designated lots twice a month. The infrastructure is in place for me to get to A to B without a car…why not go with that option? I could take the bus all week if I wanted, but on Thursdays, after 5 p.m. I can park right behind my building for my late class. The options are all there. It just makes sense.

I would be saving $420 by not purchasing a permit, plus, if gas continues to stay the way it is, I figure I’d be saving almost $600 in gas costs this coming year.

So, I’m saving over $1000, walking more, and doing a little bit more to help reduce carbon emissions. Already, I’m seeing the money I would have spent on the permit going to a Garmin Forerunner and another pair of running shoes.

The more I think about it, it’s not a sacrifice, it’s a no brainer.

Well, I did start my diet/exercise log, but after about two days, it all went to heck. Not necessarily what I ate, but just work and life getting in the way of me staying focused on staying focused. I think the motivation to do the logging did have an impact on this week’s weigh-in.

After all, I had assumed I had one more gain. This past weekend was “Geek Sunday” with my buddies and we ending up going to Mexican food and having carb loaded snacks while playing D&D 4. I wasn’t happy with some of my choices this past week, but I thought about it after the weigh-in and realized that I couldn’t remember there being very many bad choices.

I kept up the workouts and decided to change this week by going back to the company weight-room, doing laps around the call center, followed by incline situps (75+) and leg lifts (75+), and, today, throwing in some weight-training again. The abs were burning today being on the second day back to doing them (I had dropped everything else to do my 3.8 mile jogs).

I have a feeling I need to start mixing up my routine and that may have shaken up my metabolism this week. I’ll take it and that gives me only 8 pounds to go to “achieve 55 by Labor Day”.

Starting weight: 319.0 lb
Previous weight: 275.0 lb
Current weight: 272.0 lb
Current loss/gain: -3.0 lb
Total loss/gain: -47.0 lb
Distance to 55: 8.0 lb
Distance to WW Goal: 22.0 lb

Cross-posted to WebCudgel.com

Cross Published on Rejecting Your Reality…

Jan had a really great discussion at WeightWatchers meeting tonight, Ways to make yourself feel good.

Out of the 40 or so people who stay for the meeting on Tuesday nights, there are three guys; an elementary school teacher, a mental health clinical case worker (a colleague) and myself. We really don’t try to be disruptive, the very nature of the meetings are aimed at women. When Jan asks the group, "what is your favorite part of your body", I laughed. She says, "Oh John, do you have something to add here?" No, I don’t, I told her that I laughed because I’ve been married for 15 years and I really wanted to hear ONE of these women tell us they had a ‘favorite body part’. Just as I suspected, the only answers we heard from the ladies were how much the liked their eyes or hair.

The upshot to the subject of the discussion tonight was that we should dress to our changing body size. Jan says that she has some women coming in wearing the same clothes they wore on their first night. Even though they are baggy, they know that the weight of those specific clothes are ‘normal’ to the scale. But they don’t want to risk changing to newer clothes because they will affect the number on the scale. Logic dictates that there would be LESS fabric, therefore FEWER pounds on the scale.

Guys, one of the biggest joys I have had over the last year is wearing SMALLER clothes. Whether those came as cast offs from a fellow FatBlogger, or from items I joyously purchased off the rack like normal people. The biggest accomplishment of the last year and a half is how I feel when I get dressed. Wearing nice looking normal sized clothes is the best incentive anyone could have devised.

Anton, A drum roll please…

Starting Weight (Dec. 22, 2006): 392 lbs.
Starting BMI: 51.7
Weight Last Week (July 15, 2008): 288.2 lbs.
Weight Today (July 22, 2008): 287 lbs.
Current BMI: 37.9

Weight Change This Week: -1.2 lbs.
Total Weight Lost: -105 lbs.
NEXT GOAL: 275 lbs. by Labor Day (12 lbs. to go)

Do… or Do Not… there is no TRY. –Master Yoda

Now, everytime you log in you will see just how much of a collective accomplishment you have made. From time to time, I will update the little widget in the sidebar to represent how much less of the FatBloggers there is.  Give yourself a hand!

I don’t know about you guys, but variety wherever I can find it helps me stick to my diet. Like Warhol’s silent films of faces, in which the eventual blink is like a thunderclap, adding onions to turkey sandwich #1,006 was a revelation.

So, I started the day with something different: 1 cup of pureed strawberry after my run. A co-worker said that getting the fructose in can shake up a metabolism. Hints from co-workers rank about the same as superstition, but I’m more than ready to worship pagan gods if it edges me toward 180.

I also read a study in which rats fed on artificial sweeteners had altered metabolisms and satiety, affecting portion control — so those are out, too. Any day now, you’re going to see me grinding flax seed or something, and swearing by it.

Rats and superstition may be just handy distractions, saving me from dwelling so fully on the overall willpower and asceticism of it all, but I’ll take it. Nice to meet everyone, by the way!

The legend of FatBloggers is spreading Far & Wide! Men in all stages of weightloss, from every corner of the Fruited Plain are coming here because of the community we have built. I am proud to announce that FatBlogger #25 has joined us in our Battle of the Bulge.

Colin comes to us from… actually, I have no idea. He doesn’t say.

Colin comes to us from hanging out with Dick Cheney in an undisclosed location. His blog has cool links and the BOLD shirtless shot (You DA man!). But he does have a very cool blog name… Fitness Death March

What an awesome experience!

There is no other way to describe the weekend. It was absolutely awesome. Everything I wanted and hoped it would be.

First the big news. I finished! But we all knew I was going to do that. I did way better than finish, I blew all of my expectations out of the water.

Here are the results:

Total Time: 1:04:30

Overall Place    148 / 388
Gender Place    99 / 180
Division Place    21 / 33
Swim time    8:39
Swim pace    1:58/100 Yards
Swim place    67
Bike time    27:11
Bike mph    19.9
Bike place    137
Run time    23:58
Run pace    9:36
Run place    226

I don’t want to bog down Fatbloggers servers with tons of video and photos, so if you are intrested in more details about my first ever triathlon check in over at Guess How Much I Weigh later today or tomorrow. I’ll get up the full race report as soon as I can.
Tony