Riding with the window down…

That’s right! I have broken the 200lb barrier. Thinking back, the last time my weight began with a 1 instead of a 2, I was about a year out of college. I have officially now lost 41 pounds and accomplished the initial goal I set for my “getting back in shape” plan.

In retrospect, it was much easier than I imagined and never once left me feeling hungry or over-exercised. Through a series of minor lifestyle modifications, it came off slowly and steadily. We are not talking rocket science nor Herculean effort here.

I would like to continue to drop some weight just because the gut is still too big. That said, I’m pretty sure that’s about all I am going to lose for awhile. I have a couple things working against any further weight loss. I am eating a lot more recently because I have been hanging with people that make amazing homemade dinners every time I come near, also, things are really getting busy with work. Between football season about to go full blast and the videography gigs picking up speed… Jack is a very busy boy.

One last thing and probably the most important - when I first set the goal to crack 200, I told myself that I would dream up some great reward in honor of the accomplishment. I thought about skydiving - buying some cool new electronic gadget - taking a trip - you name it, none of it really seemed worthy of what amounts to erasing 20 years of poor eating and exercise habits.

Then, without noticing, I had my reward. It wasn’t one that I set out for myself. It wasn’t something I ever even imagined. It was something much more rewarding and much more worthwhile. I found happiness.

Not just “I’m the fun guy, jokester that enjoys a good laugh,” but happiness on the inside. Call it a peacefulness, call it joy, call it serenity, call it love. Whatever you call it - we’re talking about good stuff.

Six months and 36 pounds ago, I didn’t really have a goal for my weight loss - and in the grand scheme of things I still don’t. I sorta pegged 200 pounds as a preliminary goal and put the deadline of June 21st (for personal reasons) as a target date.

I am four pounds away with four days to go so it is likely that I will miss it by a pound or two, but that’s not really important. What is important is that I will shortly have lost 40 pounds and be on my way to looking decent in public with my shirt off. The closer I get to 200, the more I realize that I need to add muscle and still drop some gut, but I am pleased as punch with the results so far.

I am thinking that somewhere around 180 (but with much more muscle) is a good final destination for my fitness goals, but who knows - it will probably remain one of those moving targets.  All I can say is that I feel better in general, I have more energy, and a life that was always great anyway, is feeling even better now.

I’ve managed to keep dropping the weight despite some trips to the “fattest city in America.” Houston, Texas. At last weigh-in, I was 208 pounds - a full 32 down from when I moved to San Marcos.

I only recently started to actually do strenuous workouts. Up until now, it has all been about 1) lowering my caloric intake, and 2) getting back into cycling. I added P90 X last week and while it has been kicking my butt, the results are starting to show.

Don’t be mistaken here - there is some photographic skill going into getting this shot. Everything from setting the lighting right, shooting from the right angle, and yes… some serious “sucking in.” It also didn’t hurt that I had the shirt as a souvenir from the Nike Football Camp I was at this morning (as media, not participant) and they seem to be designed to make you look like you’re in better shape. Whatever it takes though, I am happy that my body is getting closer to how I would like, and who knows - maybe one day, I’ll be comfortable taking my shirt off in public - haha.

I am pleased to report that the weight loss continues. Just a few short weeks ago, I reported reaching 216lbs (my lowest since this effort began) and I am happy to report that I weighed in at 211 this morning. That’s 29 pounds lost since I made that a goal.

I still need some help coming up with a suitable self-reward for reaching 200 pounds. Originally, I was thinking of something like skydiving or similar, but I’m not sure. I had sorta narrowed to down finding something that was much easier at 200 pounds than 240 pounds, but hell - everything is.

I do have a pretty significant event coming up in about five weeks so if I pick up the pace a little, I could reach my goal around the same time. Maybe I could combine the two into some super celebration - who knows.

I celebrated today’s weigh in with finally being able to wear a shirt I bought when I first got to town.

They didn’t have it in my size (2XL) so I bought the XL figuring I would be able to fit in at some point.

Anyway, wish me luck and be sure to kick me in butt if you see pigging out or being lazy. Thanks for coming along on the journey.

Posts like the previous one may be why I keep losing weight. Yes, I have dropped another pound and not sit at 216. This is the lowest in - hell, I can’t remember how long. As you may remember, when I moved to San Marcos just over a year ago, I weighed in at my highest EVER - 240 pounds!

It’s only 24 pounds, but it has been an amazing change. I won’t get into all the circumstances that led to my decision to do something about the expanding waistline, but let’s just say I found some reasons.

I am thinking about skydiving when I break the 200 pound mark, but not sure yet. I want to do something - just not sure if that is special enough. Any ideas?

Seems that everything is coming up roses - well, not everything, but even those things that are lagging behind are moving in the right direction. First off the cycling. I now have less than 900 miles to log on my bike before I reach 20,000 lifetime miles. That’s kind of cool.

Another thing (and one of the side effects of the bike riding) is that I have dropped down to 217 pounds. (I maxed out at 240, just before moving to San Marcos.) This is pretty monumental as it has been years since I weighed this little. The combination of cycling every day and the recent addition of weight training to the routine seems to be a good fit. I have also greatly cut down the empty calories from things like soft drinks. I think my end goal should be somewhere around 200 lbs because I am going to continue the weight training, which will add some pounds.

It’s never too late.

Chris heads to the wild area that connects Prospect Park and Lower Purgatory to cure his EDD (Environmental Deficit Disorder)

This morning was another in a line of recent milestones - this one, weight related.

When I moved from Houston to San Marcos, I weighed in at 240 pounds (my highest weight ever.) I didn’t move for the purpose of losing weight. I wasn’t even trying to lose weight when it started to come off. I rationalized that it was the new surroundings (particularly the lack of buffet restaurants and distance from my regular “going out to eat” buddies) that kicked things off. I also noticed that because my office location is right in the middle of downtown with a bunch of useful places within walking distance, that I was walking a lot more.

After the first couple of pounds dropped off and I had to move to a tighter notch on my belt, I decided to make a concerted effort. I brought one of my bikes up from Houston and eased back into some leisure rides.

Fast forward almost a year and a half later and I have lost over 20 pounds, set my most optimistic cycling mileage goal in over a decade, and it has worked like a charm. No pressure, no quick-fix, just routine repetition of good habits.

The weight loss had plateaued at 20 pounds and held steady for about a month until this morning. I believe though, that things are about to kick back into fitness gear even more.

The plan - 1) continue my cardio work with daily cycling, 2) continue to eat conscientiously, but not restricting what I like, and 3) add weight training. I have always responded quickly to weight training and can put on muscle pretty fast. It will be misleading on the scale as I replace fat with muscle because it weighs more, but I will gladly take a stall in weight loss in exchange for a return to being able to comfortably take my shirt off in public.

I hope to settle in between 180-200 pounds, with the emphasis being how I feel and how I look with my shirt off. I have brand new inspiration that should be just the ticket. I have always been more motivated to do things for someone else than myself and let’s just say that I have “someone else” to inspire me.

I grabbed a bottle of Muscle Milk from the convenience store the other day figuring it was some vitamin or protein enriched milk - uh, not even close. It isn’t really milk at all. It is a protein and vitamin shake. Sure, it’s good for you. Sure, it builds muscle. Sure, it is just the thing if you are working on building muscle mass. The problem is that is tastes bad.

I have to give the Cytomax kudos for their inventive packaging. As it was in the section with milk, I assumed it was just milk with some added good stuff. The bottle doesn’t at all look like the massive tubs of protein powder which are closer to its origins. For what it is, I am sure that Muscle Milk is a great product - but as a milk shake… I don’t think so.

Drink it to help with your training… just don’t expect it to taste like a milkshake.

I did just over five miles today on my bike and started thinking about a goal.  Last year was one of my worst in terms of total mileage and I think its time to get my butt back in gear.

Rather than just do something simple like set a goal of “ride more” or “ride once a week,”  I just went all out insane.  I noticed I was right at 1,300 miles away from achieving 20,000 since I graduated from high school and started keeping track. What better goal than breaking 20K?  Sure, I haven’t done over 1,300 miles in one year since 1989.  Heck, I haven’t even broken 1,000 since 2001 (the last time I trained for a ride - the Hotter N’ Hell 100)

With about 47 weeks left in year, I am looking at somewhere north of 27 miles a week.  Back when I was training, I used to do over 20 miles a day with rides of 50-75+ on weekends.  I can do this.  What better way to make it real and force me to stick to it than making it public.

Now, I am going to count on all of you to keep me motivated and kick my butt when I start slacking.  I will be posting the remaining mileage from time to time - and if I can figure out how to do it, maybe even paste it to my back when riding.