Week 7: Setbacks

I weigh almost as much as I did at Week 5. And I’m eating a white chocolate cranberry shortbread cookie as I write this. It tastes like it’s made entirely of butter. Yes, this train is slowing down.

We’re now at the halfway point for Choose 2 Lose and one of the participants already lost 24 pounds. How is this possible? I’m curious to know his tactics.

Within the last couple of weeks, my strategy seamlessly shifted from exercising daily and sticking to portion sizes to exercising less than 30 minutes a day (if at all) and consuming a lot more candy. I prefer Sugar Babies and Mike and Ike.

It all started to fall apart when I got sick. I put off exercising and focused on getting better. Then Laura got sick… and our hot water tank was leaking… and the carpet was ruined… and I had to tear it up… and I had to pay for emergency service to replace the water tank… and Chloe got sick… then Laura and Chloe were sick… and they’re still sick… and I may be getting sick again. So I drowned my sorrows with bags of buttered popcorn, bottles of soda and the sheer joy of being a lard ass.

Reality hit when I stepped on the official Choose 2 Lose scale. After all my efforts, I only lost one pound. Over the last week or so, I gained back four of the five pounds I lost, thus shaming my team, city and state.

At the moment, I’m focusing all my energy on avoiding the super virus that’s taken over Laura. I didn’t exercise today and I may not do so tomorrow. I need to beat this illness before it has a chance to take over. That’s my number one priority. It’s all about health, right?

“But, Jon, I exercise when I’m sick. It makes me stronger.”

Well good for you, anonymous super fit exercise guru. I’m a sissy and I like cookies. Give me the weekend and I’ll be 100%. I have another six weeks to go. It’s still anyone’s game.

Week 6: Sick

It was a very uneventful week (in regards to exercise). I called off sick and didn’t use the treadmill until today… and I only ran/walked a mile. I didn’t want to overdo it, but I did have a chance to weigh myself and it looks like I lost another two pounds without even trying. Sorry, no picture.

I did get a little exercise on Wednesday when I tried to extract water from the carpet in my basement after the hot water tank leaked all over the place. I somehow ended up doing squats (bending down for maximum suction, lifting up for maximum extraction). I was feeling it in the backs of my legs for days. Despite my hours of extracting with a wet/dry vac, the carpet is ruined and will need replaced. Oh well.

So there’s not much to report this week. Next week is the midway weigh-in. By this time next week, we’ll know the leading team in this year’s Choose 2 Lose competition.

Stay posted!

Week 5: My Neck, My Back, I Do Sit Ups and I Crack

I weigh exactly the same as I did last week.

Since one of my goals is to beef up my abs, I’ve been doing more sit-ups. And, as usual, they kill my back. Some suggest that I may be putting too much of my neck into it. Others say I may need to beef up my back muscles before I can get into sit-ups. Whatever the case may be, when I try to do more than 10 sit-ups at a time, my lower back starts to hurt and I wiggle around on the floor in pain. Chloe thinks it’s funny. And then she jumps on me. And bounces.

I’ve been trying to strengthen my back muscles by lying face down and lifting my right arm and left leg at the same time and then alternating. A co-worker of mine introduced me to this exercise in an empty public space. Luckily, nobody walked in. It could have been awkward.

A few people have suggested doing planks. This was the first image that came to mind…

But after doing some research, I realized it’s more like this…

I’ll give this a try… later.

On the plus side, I’m running more and walking less. I was able to run a solid 30 minutes a couple days last week. My fellow Lean Squirrel caught me in action.

As you can see, I’m now so thin that my legs just seem to fade away. Success!