Stego's (comments, of course, welcome) WW thread...

[stego]

not sure about my sanity. I think that will be a lifetime of healing for me.
This week was different. I will go ahead and tell you all that the scale at WW said so: 4.6 lbs. I was .6 lbs. away from goal. The leader told my wife: why doesn't he take his sandals off? My wife told her: don't get him started.
You are all familiar with how I feel: I went in with my shoes on; I'm going out that way. At this point, anything is possible, and that I feel like 175 can be attained. This will give me some "cushion" when I need to taper off, etc. As I've noted, spring has come to central Texas, and with that, I set off saturday afternoon for a ride. It turned out to be an epic ride, almost 3 1/2 hours on my mountain bike. I was tired after that. And the best part is, I didn't crash. I've had enough of that for awhile. Our garage sale went off well; bought my wife some new work shoes. E-bay sales continue to do well, I went digging through the closet and still have a good amount to sell. It's monday, and I'm back in the office looking out the window. This afternoon I'll pick up the lawnmower and tend the yard. Everything is green around here, and the bluebonnets are out.

 

[stego]

Yup, I couldn't hold onto 40 anymore. It's just something special about this year. I have this funny feeling it be hard to top it off. I'll go ahead and get WW out of the way. Went in for our usual Saturday meeting. You guessed it...gained .8 lbs. Oh, lovely, back on the roller coaster ride. Maybe my inconsistent snacking is catching up again. I thought the cycling like a madman etc. would bring down that .7 I need. Not this week. Looked over and saw my wife WITH THAT LOOK ON HER FACE. Oh my dear god, please help me when my wife gains 3 lbs.!!!!!! She just loves to eat. I don't think my wisecracking really helps her or supports her. She always reacts to that.
Go figure. Looks like I'd better work on that growth. Anyway, now onto my 41st: My wife surprised me in two major ways: her sister flew in from Memphis Thursday night, and then the next morning they surprised me when I took off early from work, got home and out of my easy chair pops my best friend from Florida! She really outdid herself, and then some. She took our son out of school so we all went down to Gruen to have lunch. Beautiful day, the flowers are in full bloom. Great weather. To work off our healthy lunch, we all went bike riding. Everyone kept up OK. It looks like my journey is affecting some other folks as well: I have my own Bike town. Looking out the window at work, now that my SIL and best friend have gone back home, and my wife is at work, and my son is at school: I have much to be grateful for. It's not long for the journey to be finished. This weekend I am going to race my mountain bike. I know that a number of you have been reading along and I would like to hear if you wish for me to continue. The weight is just about done coming off, and I am sure that I will have some fluctuation (and realize that is normal) At this point I realize my journal has been not so much about eating right, or weight loss, or even my newfound physical fitness level. To me it's been about the discovery and awakening of having the right attitude: being grateful. It's been WAY overdue for me to put on a new pair of glasses...

 

[pettyone]

Yup, I couldn't hold onto 40 anymore. It's just something special about this year. I have this funny feeling it be hard to top it off.

You can say that again!! What a year you've had!!

I know that a number of you have been reading along and I would like to hear if you wish for me to continue. The weight is just about done coming off, and I am sure that I will have some fluctuation (and realize that is normal) At this point I realize my journal has been not so much about eating right, or weight loss, or even my newfound physical fitness level. To me it's been about the discovery and awakening of having the right attitude: being grateful. It's been WAY overdue for me to put on a new pair of glasses...

I enjoy reading your posts...you truly tickle me !! Your weight loss success is amazing...but your journey continues...I'd like to know how "the rest of the story" goes...

 

[stego]

But first, I'll get WW out of the way. Good week, I hit the weigh-in on my way to my men's meeting. No one in the weighing area, I thought to myself is this how I'm going to hit goal? The lady said you lost, hold on. Nope. Officially I'm at 189.2...what's it going to take to lose that .3? Looks like I will continue on that roller coaster ride for yet another week...so onto the weekend and my mountain bike race. Decided to make a weekend out of it and go camping. We've never been out to Kerrville, found it to be very quite and peaceful. Went to the race site to pre-ride the course and so our son could do the kid's kup. We feel he's ready to enter the official 10 and under kid's race. Of course, I noted the ringer. Our son is a BAD loser, I think waiting to enter him in the LAST race of the spring season is the smart thing to do. Out on the course I found lots of twisty and fast downhill singletrack,
with some jeep trails as well. I also found cows on the course, and a few dried patties...watch out for the fresh ones!...and took about 1 1/2 hours to ride it. I had to force myself to slow down so I'd be ready for the race the next day. Tossing and turning on the air mattress all night, I tore down the tent while my wife made breakfast and we set off. Got there on time and when I lined up there were 15 men in my age group. They sent off the other age-grouped riders, and off we went, up the hills onto the course. Once again, realized my anaerobic capacity quickly, and figured out I suck in the flats. Finally got into a good rhythm and figured out a water bottle DOESN'T work when I race. There were sections of hills that I caught up with other riders-even ones in the age groups that went ahead of us-and passed them safely. I came out of the woods and finished strong, and got some ice cream. (yes, I counted it!) Got my picture with our son, and then loaded up the bike so I could shower. I kept waiting for the results (I am very inpatient) and they put them up...I came in 5th in my second race!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! While waiting for the awards ceremony I watched the expert men 40-49 line up. I noted the physical conditioning; and decided that is where I want to be in 2 years.

Last week, my mom sat at the dinner table and called me "FANATICAL"-the best thing my own mother could do on my birthday at my table who is at least 75 lbs. overweight: label me FANATICAL. Lovely. Anyone want to trade? No takers? Yeah, I thought so...

 

[KimRaye]

and got some ice cream. (yes, I counted it!)

Good WW that you are.

Hey, Congrats on 5th!!! What a fabulous accomplishment, both physical and personal!! Enjoy yourself Fred, fanatical or not.

 

[stego]

It's taken me 8 friggin' weeks to lose 2 lbs. And the roller coaster ride continues...with a gain of 1.2 lbs. Surprise, surprise, surprise! Thanks Gomer Pyle! This was supposed to be a weekend of slowing down, in preparation of my race this weekend. Went out for a ride friday afternoon, and decided to take a section of the trail that my skills have been ready for. Went into it, and hit a root at the bottom, and you guessed it, over the handlebars. Got up and rode for another 1 1/2 hours, took a section of the trail with a hill that I'd never, ever done before. I had to force myself to get off the bike for my run the next day: 7 miles and finished strong, felt like I could have run 3 more miles. The weather had cooled down quite a bit here in central texas.
But sunday I think it all caught up. My son and wife were setting the pace for me on their bikes. That has be a first. I have been fixated on the weights of professional baseball players at my height who weigh more than I do as a justification of why WW just can't let me sit where I'm at. And these guys are 10-15 years younger than I am...I could go on all day and my justificaiton is useless. I know that at this point, anything really is possible.
I don't have all the answers, I just have to work on accepting that my body is just doing it's thing...whatever that is. In all reality that snacking in the pantry has really turned into a bad habit. I'm not sure if it's 1-2 lbs. worth each week, but certainly something I have to seriously consider at this point. Either way, I told myself and whoever would listen that I would take the next year to let everything settle in (but primarily focusing on some specific training goals and incorporating them)

 

[stego]

I will go ahead and get WW out of the way...with a loss of .2 lb. I had no idea what I'd do...skipped dinner...did an easy run of 3 miles. I will say this weekend I ate a few nutrition bars. And the scale said so last night. I know that I have shared in a number of posts about my emotional growth during my journey. Well, that got left on my garage floor early saturday morning. I purchased a new bike rack to put on the back of my wife's car so she could take her bike, and so we would save on gas. That was the idea anyway. Turns out loading the bike took way longer than I alloted for...and I became unglued and once again it became all about me...and how worthless I was.
I totalled pe'od my wife off and my son was in tears. Forgiveness is obviously something I need to continue to work on...forgiving myself and being accepting of my wife and son's forgiveness. And mostly patience. I find that everything works so much better when I'm doing the work and working vigorously at a spiritual growth. Not this day, obviously. Pause here.
Let it soak in. Ok, we were off and found LOTS of suburbia traffic in Houston.
My son's kids kup race was way over by the time we got there, and so we decided to enter him in the competitive race. He went out with me on the course for the pre-ride. It was in the Sam Houston national forest, lots of pine trees and shaded. Nothing really technical. So we came out of the woods and where is my wife? 15 minutes behind us! She decided to ride, as well, she wanted to ride her bike, and she did. We set out for Livingston, TX and on the way to camp stopped at the wallyworld and found that Darth Tater we'd been looking for. Then onto camp at Lake Livingston. Beautiful under the pines, it had cooled down 30 degrees and it was hard for me to stay warm (which I understand is normal when someone loses 94 lbs. of insulation) We did some easy riding in the morning, and then set off for the race site. Got there and Christopher took off! Went back to my bike and found my front tire had a flat-went running back to the car-changed it in record time and got to the start. Some of the guys started noticing me...and then we were off...thought I'd gotten in the top 5 going into the woods...and thought I'd passed two guys and only one passing me. My lungs kept burning trying to keep the pace, catching up and shaking the others. I had to watch the turns or hit trees...finally smoothed out and after my first lap was doing OK, went back into the woods and started to have the super young guys on my tail...finally got a second wind and was matching their pace...almost did a serious crash on a bridge about a mile from the finish...came out of the woods with a guy hanging right behind...reached into nothing left and came out ahead of him 30 yds. ahead. Donna had no idea how I did, but I thought I did well. Saw the results...9th and I think that's wrong. I could have protested but I had nothing to go in with...in the series standings I am in 13th and will have to scream & fly through the course to come up to make top 10. It's 7 miles and I have no idea about the course. This course was 14 miles, but not hilly...and that's my strength. So today I have nothing in the tank and am friends with Ibupofen and drinking lots of water. So stay tuned for the increasing insanity of Stego's WW journey...

 

[KimRaye]

Whew! Wow Fred, I'm tired just reading that! What a workout. Have a great WW week!