Dennis

great moment

Wed, 21 May 2008 18:41:00 GMT

Had a great moment this morning when i was getting ready for work. I found a stash of clothes that i had put aside for when i lost weight. Like most men (overweight men inparticular) i shy away from dressing rooms, for one it's a hassle and two the last thing i want to see is how i look half naked in the mirror, as a result, i've collected quite the assortment of "skinny" clothes over the past few months/years. Skinny clothes being any garment that you're saving as motivation for the day that you do in fact actually lose enough weight to fit into them. That being said, after finding these "skinny clothes" tucked away in the back of my closet i quickly ran an iron over them and threw them on...much to my horror...they still didn't fit! They were too big! Somewhere along the line i missed the opportunity to wear them...my skinny clothes are too big. And i don't mean too big like they were slightly baggy, i mean they were swimming on me to the point they looked sloppy and un-presentable. You don't understand, some of these clothes were so tight before i couldn't even button them...there was a shirt that nearly lost all its buttons because they were under so much tension, now, i can close it like a bathrobe.

just to see the difference, and because i'm starting a new phase, i took another photo for the before and after shots. OMG! If you saw the most recent shot you'd never think i originated from the starting photo...i look a world apart from where i began.

Listen, this diet and workout schedule is the hardest thing i have ever had to do in my life, but i can't ever imagine where i would be had i not taken those first steps 3 months ago.

final phase

Tue, 20 May 2008 20:28:00 GMT

so i lost 1 pound this week, not what i was looking for but definitely better than gaining i suppose.
Bonnie has moved me into the final phase with 3 weeks remaining. Right now i'd just like to lose the remaining body fat and keep everything else. I'm assuming that's what this final phase is geared towards. there's a ton of cardio involved and mentally it's already got me.

i'm still adjusting to the change in diet. there aren't any eggs in this phase and that was the one thing that i really loved and tire of...but this has nothing to do with what i love and everything to do with what's best for me. What i love is what got me fat in the first place! sometimes what's best isn't always what you want. That's something that i learned on day 1 of this journey and it's something that i have to remind myself of every once and a while.

sorry for not keeping everyone posted with my results. we're still getting settled in our new location and there isn't much time for anything but work work work...

back on track!

Mon, 12 May 2008 01:19:00 GMT

Back on track.
Most important thing i did this week...stayed true to the diet. That's not to say that i wasn't before, it's just that if it was eating time i made sure i was eating, and if i was eating 8oz i made sure it was 8oz and not 8.5oz.
It's very simple...if i don't lose this weight - i fail...the diet didn't fail and the workouts didn't fail but i failed.
i have roughly 15 pounds to go with 4 weeks left - this is going to be a very long month.

goose egg

Sun, 04 May 2008 19:45:00 GMT

i didn't lose any weight this week but i kind of thought that might be the case. We closed providence for renovations...which turned into a complete move to a new space so i was without any kind of training for the week. All our kettlebells and equipment have been locked up in a U-Haul...until today.

Tough week but it's better than gaining weight i suppose. Will hit hard this week and drop a bunch by next Sunday!

so tired

Thu, 01 May 2008 05:10:00 GMT

took today off from running. If you haven't heard yet, Punch Providence is moving locations and it was a busy day packing up all our gear for the big move. We're moving into a much bigger facility and i for one, can't hardly wait.

run run run

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 02:57:00 GMT

ran today for the first time since last year and with all the extra weight now gone i was able to run much further and faster. I stopped after about 3 miles and felt great. I owe that to the diet. it's a great feeling to be able to get up and run and not suck wind after 5 minutes. we closed the providence gym this week for some renovations so i'll need to find some alternative form of fitness. i've decided to run, i really enjoyed it and i'm hoping it's going to help with my stamina when it comes to kettlebell.

2.6 pounds and very happy

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 13:07:00 GMT

I was very happy with today's weigh-in. I lost 2.6 pounds coming off an away week, which is good...had i lost anymore i'd be nervous of a repeat of my chicago trip where i lost a lot on the trip and then pulled a zero the following week. It's tough to stick to the diet on away weeks because it's nearly impossible to pack all that food and take it with you at the same time keeping it cold enough not to spoil. And ordering all the food from room service is just plain expensive. So on away weeks i end up having to make do with what is available. The Titan training facility is great when it comes to feeding their players...in the ON season, we were there for the pre-pre-season which means food selections are limited. Breakfast meant boiled eggs with some scrambled eggs added in for extra calories, lunch was a heaping pile of turkey lunch meat with lettuce and tomatoes, and dinner was pretty much whatever was safest on the menu (the coaches would take us out to dinner).
The travel days are the worst. You spend all day traveling and no time eating. Airport food is notoriously unhealthy, usually fast or chain food and forget about getting anything healthy on the plane. My first day in Tennessee all i was able to eat was dinner (had a steak from Ruth Chris). So, 2.6 pounds is a great amount to lose...anymore and i would have expected it to be from lack of calories or maybe even loss of muscle.

ttfn
-d

it's been a while...pic of me!

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 01:26:00 GMT

It's been a while since my last post. Anthony and I were guests of the Tennessee Titans, training staff and players in the AOS practices. It was a ton, TON, of fun. The only drawback was i wasn't able to bring any food with me which meant having to adapt to a new eating style for the week. I'm a bit worried as to the effect this is going to have on my diet. I don't want a repeat of chicago's catastrophe (i lost weight the week of the trip only to have a loss of zero pounds the week after). I guess the true measure of how devestating the trip is to my diet is to wait until next week - lets see how much i lose then. Another problem with the trip was that i wasn't able to work out enough. I know that sounds odd, but there really wasn't enough time for us to do any training for ourselves.

All in all i have no regrets, it was great trip and it was awesome hanging out with the coaches and players. I have over 4 hours of video tape plus some 1200 photos that i have to sought through for this weeks MOS.

I weigh in tomorrow - hopefully all goes well. I need another 3 pound week...being 208 would sound fantastic...we'll see. That would leave me with 18 pounds to go...it's going to be nice.

I bought a book by arthur saxon...strong man from the early 1900s - Anthony is big into the old strong man workouts - i think i might start incorporating those workouts into my training schedule.

later

-Dennis

i took this shot of me while in Tennessee to see how i looked before heading out...didn't really work as i couldn't see it that well on the camera display. thought i'd send it along...i've had quite a few requests for pics so i thought this might do for now...it's a tad grainy and dark - DEAL WITH IT!

lost 3.6

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 14:32:00 GMT

lost 3.6 pounds this week
above what i needed for an average week
only got 4 workouts in this past week
hoping 6 workouts this week will translate into more pounds next week
have to erase that 0 i got a couple of weeks ago
is it possible for me to use the word "week" anymore than i already have?

21 to go

pinnacle pinnacle pinnacle

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 00:32:00 GMT

I did 2 Punch workouts today
Resolution, solo for 30 minutes, and then followed that with Pinnacle for 60 minutes in one of our classes. Both were great and equally demanding but i found that i got a lot more out of Pinnacle for the simple fact that it was in a class setting - with Resolution i was able to take breaks between rounds and sometimes i think i may have been a bit to liberal with the time.
Pinnacle was let by Steve Magnelli one of Providence's newest trainers and all around kettlebell junkie. What's great about Steve is that he doesn't mind getting in your face when he knows you're not giving everything, he's very motivating!

Bonnie has upped my cardio to 45-60 minutes per day as well as advancing me to phase 3 on my eating plan. Things are starting to get down to the nitty gritty and i must stay focused! KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE i say to myself when i absolutely don't have the energy to go on. I just have to keep thinking about the impending deadline and what it's going to take for me to win. I MUST WIN! I CANNOT LOSE!

...no pressure