Pre-Thanksgiving Update

Sorry for the disappearing act last week, folks.  I know that my week without posting blew up the media world.  Anderson Cooper questioned, "Is this the end of Jeff's quest for a smaller suit?"  Donald Trump claimed he had proof that I wasn't even weighing in to begin with.  Kim Kardashian tweeted something stupid.  The truth is I was really busy and I just didn't have time.  We're in the thick of the registration season at work, I'm in the prime paper writing time for grad school, and getting up at 5 am to work out makes Jeff a very, very tired boy.   The truth was I gained last week, but it was less than a pound and there were a lot of reasons for it, not the least of which is too gross to type on a respectable blog such as this.  Just know that had I had about 20 more minutes and a cup of coffee before I jumped on the scale, I would have kept the losing streak alive.  Anyway, here are the results from the past two weeks, including the numbers from the last blog post.

2 WEEKS AGO
Weight: 248.8 lb (-4.8 lb, total of -12.6)

BMI: 35.7 (-.7, total of -1.9)

BMR: 2310 kcal (-30, total of  -46)

Fat %: 37.3% (-2.9%, net loss of 4.7%)

Fat Mass: 92.8 lb (-9.2 lb, net loss of 17.2 lbs of lard)

FFM: 156 lb (+4.4 lb, net gain of 4.2 lb)

TBW: 114.2 lb (+3.2 lb, net gain of 3.1 lb)

LAST WEEK

Weight: 249.4 lb (+.6 lb, total of -12)

BMI: 35.8 (+.1, total of -1.8)

BMR: 2314kcal (+4, total of  -42)

Fat %: 36.5% (-.8%, net loss of 5.5%)

Fat Mass: 91 lb (-1.8 lb, net loss of 19 lbs of blubber)

FFM: 158.4 lb (+2.4 lb, net gain of 6.6 lb)

TBW: 116 lb (+3.8 lb, net gain of 6.9 lb)

THIS WEEK

Weight: 244.2 lb (-5.2 lb, total of -17.2)

BMI: 35 (-.7, total of -2.5)

BMR: 2281 kcal (-333, total of  -75)

Fat %: 35.8% (-.7%, net loss of 6.2%)

Fat Mass: 87.4 lb (-3.6 lb, net loss of 22.6 lbs of belly Jello)

FFM: 156.8 lb ( -1.6 lb, net gain of 5 lb)

TBW: 114.8 lb (-1.2 lb, net gain of 5.7 lb)

Boo-yah, bizzos!  Look, had I not had back to back weekends of absolute fun, I'd be sitting somewhere in the 238 neighborhood.  The truth is that I have a life that's pretty awesome.  No, seriously.  That week where I gained I busted my butt and focused on building muscle and water weight.  Sure enough, that happened.  I also got to go out with Molly's friends on Friday night where I drank beer and ate nachos, which I immediately followed up with an encore with my friends the following night where I drank beer and ate German pot roast covered in cheese.  No apologies.  We had a blast, I made major progress in the water and muscle department, and I'm ignoring the .6 increase because I know how hard I really worked.

This week's results are a combination of a roll-over of the previous week's progress that just didn't show on Tuesday and this week's uptick in working out.  Even with the 5.2 pound loss, I actually consider this week more of a failure than the previous week because I didn't stick to my protein shake at lunch after working out and I ignored my water intake this weekend.  It was Veteran's Day week, and as the vets advisor at ARCC, I had events over lunch a couple of days (I still made smart decisions, including whipping out my phone at Applebees to find out that the Jalapeno Shrimp was the best choice). Molly was sick this past weekend, so we were home bound.  As easy as it should be to remember to drink water at home, it just wasn't.  I didn't eat much in the way of crappy food and even turned down Molly's Domino's suggestion twice, but I didn't stick with the plan more than I did stick with the plan and the result was a loss of muscle and a drop in water weight.  Still, I can't complain too much with a loss of 5.2 lbs.  

I wanted to weigh 243 lbs by the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.  I'm not throwing in the towel or making excuses, but picking the Tuesday after Thanksgiving probably wasn't the smartest move for a weight loss milestone marker.  I really want to push the goal weigh-in back a week, but it is only one freaking pound.  I've already told Molly and Shelbi to throw in their walking shoes because I don't want to completely lose momentum.  My compromise with myself is to push the weigh-in day back to Wednesday instead of Tuesday.  That gives me one extra day to shake the Marlins breakfast that I'm going to eat Sunday morning (and you better believe I'm going to devour every last greasy truck stop-tastic bite of it).  

Quick hit updates on the goals:

Goal 1 - Survive the Weekend Part II   C- 

Could have been better, could have been worse.

Goal 2 - Up the Workout Times - A

I played ball Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings last week and both mornings this week for a solid hour, plus I played again at noon on Thursday, Friday and this Monday.  

Goal 3 - Add More Greens C+

Honestly, I don't know how I did on this one.  I feel like I made a conscious effort to eat more vegetables, but I can't prove it so I'll just take a passing grade.

This week's goals

Goal 1- Don't Eat Until I Need to Throw Up or Lay Down

What a wonderful country that we live in that we can celebrate a day of thanks by being so gluttonous that we go into a coma.  Good work, Pilgrims!  I'm not going to say that I won't eat the sweet potatoes or have a piece of pie because the next blog I write will feature me substituting Thanksgiving words for curse words (much to Kacey's delight) and I'll just be frustrated.  There is a happy medium between passing by every dish and eating until I want to die.  My goal is to live in that medium and not try to supersize it.

Goal 2 - Work Out at Least Twice in Blunt

"Work out" will be somewhat relative because I imagine this will be going for walks instead of my current workout schedule, but I need to do something.  Two days of some cardio work is better than 5 days of no cardio work, plus I'll still have two days of hard workouts waiting for me next week when I get back.

Goal 3 - WATER, DUMMY!

I have to, have to, have to remember to drink my water.  I was just commenting about how it has been a miracle that I haven't had a single leg cramp since I started playing basketball again and really being aware of my TBW numbers.  How do I celebrate this?  By not drinking enough water over the past week and dealing with a twitch in my muscles that seems to be warning me that the big one is coming.  I don't want to be "that guy" who carries a water bottle everywhere I go, but I honestly buy into the water awareness being one of the top two biggest success factors for me (I don't have time to think of the other one).  It does suck running to pee every hour, but it doesn't suck sleeping through the night without fear of your body declaring a mutiny against you.  

Finally, I don't usually participate in the Facebook days of thanks routine, so I'll just summarize all I'm thankful for in one word on here and call it a day.  This year I'm thankful for you.  I'm glad I have a car and a job and a house and enough to eat, but none of that would be possible or really even matter without you.  My family, friends, and Molly are the reason I get out of bed every morning, the reason I don't want to call in sick to work because I'm afraid I'll miss some fun, the reason I can't wait to come home at night to play Phase 10 and watch HGTV, the reason I can't wait to drive six hours both ways across South Dakota, and the reason that I try to be the best me I can be.  I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Gobble, gobble,

Jeff