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Yes. I’m lazy. Get over it.

I haven’t been updating things.  I know.  

Here we are at the beginning of 2012.  I’m at about 280.  I’ve lost about 180 pounds.  Almost all of it was in the year 2011.  So as far as that “lose weight” resolution goes…I think I nailed that one.
So what about 2012?  Well, it’s time to focus on getting to my goal weight and trying to figure out what that will mean.  Pretty soon I’m going to get some immersion body fat testing done to find out what my lean mass really is, but I’m guessing my goal will be around 200.
One thing I do need to do is get off my butt and figure out if my bike can be made rideable again or if I just need to get a new one.  I do want to start riding pretty soon with my eventual goal being riding the bike to and from work.  If I get going then it should only take me about 20 to 30 minutes (as opposed to the 10-15 that driving takes) and give me a bit of extra exercise during the day.  
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The current state of affairs…

Yes, the updates are not as frequent as they have been.  Sorry about that.  And I suppose I should write about things other than losing weight.  I’ll see what I can come up with.

Anyway, as of this morning I was at 305lb.  That makes for a total weight loss of 155 pounds.  
I’ve crossed one major milestone having lost over 150 pounds.  And I’m also closing on what may be an even bigger milestone – changing that left most digit from a 3 to a 2.  I honestly can’t remember when that was last true.  It’s some time in my childhood – high school at the latest.  I might have some old weight watchers log at my parent’s house but I’m not going to look too hard for it.  That milestone could happen this week.  Next week at the latest. 
So one annoying thing – the clothes that I had just started to fit back in to are getting too big again.  I suppose it’s a good problem to have, but the fact is that I won’t be replacing them for a while.  I’m going to go through a period of several months where I honestly have nothing to wear but jeans and t-shirts.  I might buy a nice shirt or two if I have to but I’ll try to avoid it.  The goal is to save up money for when I reach goal.  Then I’m gonna go on a shopping spree.  
We’re supposed to throw out our clothes that are too big.  The idea is if you keep them around then if you gain weight you can just “grow back in to them”.  They tell me that the act of having your clothes be too tight and having to shop for bigger clothes might help you get back on track.  That does make sense, but as my mother’s son throwing out anything is rather difficult.  I’m still wearing, on occasion, 5x shirts that are FAR too big.  Even some of the 4x stuff is too big.  It makes it hard to go out on a date if you’re trying to look impressive.
Regardless of what I do I will keep the size 66 jeans that I got for Christmas last year.  When I get to goal I’ll take one of those “look at how fat I used to be” pictures.
I’m also planning on taking my bike to the bike shop and getting it fixed up (if it can be).  I think it’s time to start riding again if my knees will let me.  My hope is to eventually be able to ride to and from work and maybe go riding for fun on the weekends.  I’ll start with my bike from college and if I stay with it I’ll consider something better. 
There’s all the news from the weight loss front.  In the immortal words of Timmay – have fun!
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What I’ve been up to…

Some folks had noted I hadn’t updated a while.  I’m glad to report that no, I haven’t gone completely off the wagon, but I have hit a bit of a rough patch.

My friends on Facebook and whatnot know why, but for those who don’t – my mother passed away on July 21st.  She had been in the hospital recovering from a femoral bypass and things just took a turn for the worse.  She was in the ICU for about 5 weeks and we were even hoping she’d be make it to a rehab hospital but it was not to be.  I missed my trip to Florida and spent as much time as I could in Sacramento – a lot of it with Mom in the ICU.  (The ICU staff at Sutter Memorial were amazing.  It’s the people that make the hospital, not the building or equipment.)
Needless to say this has been a fairly stressful time and I have strayed a bit from the plan – I’ve been “out of the box” on occasion, to use HMR speak.  It can be hard.  For example the day of Mom’s funeral I had to pick up car up from the dealership after having been repaired.  The car made it 10 miles and then completely died.  I called a tow truck and the first tow truck showed up with a broken winch and I had to wait for a second.  It made for a long afternoon and by the time I got back home my dad had ordered pizza for him and my sister.  I looked at my diet food and just said “screw it”.  (Well, I didn’t use screw.  But I did use a similar word.)
Fortunately with all that went on the damage was slight – by the time I checked in again I had gained 4 pounds.  (The first week that this had all gone on I had lost 12.)  That’s already off.  I’m down to 330 now, so that makes a loss of 130.  Since I had listed 200lb as my original goal weight I’m halfway there – but I’m starting to think 180 now, so I need to lose 10 more pounds to get there.
The benefits of losing weight showed up a lot on my vacation to Maui.  After all of the stress I felt I needed to do something and when Chris’ timeshare interval came up I talked him in to going.  (I didn’t have to talk very hard.)  Being able to walk places and move better was very nice.  I needed just a bit of a seatbelt extension on the plane but I was able to use the tray table in first class for the first time.  (They’re in the arm and come out and down over your belly.  For me my tummy was always in the way.)  Look for another post on Maui after I get my first set of pictures uploaded. 
Anyway I’m trying to be back on track with mixed results.  We’ll see.  I don’t want to give up at all, but things are challenging right now.  I’m told it will get easier.
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It’s gonna be up in the triple digits today…

So usually when someone who has been on an intense diet and blogs about it but doesn’t update for a while it’s usually because “life happened”, they went off the plan, and they don’t want to admit it.  These folks also often talk about having been “out of the box”, which is HMR speak for eating things you’re not supposed to. 

Fear not – that’s not the case here.  I’m just lazy.  (This is the secret to my success on HMR.)  My official HMR stats are 79 pounds in 17 weeks.  The actual total weight loss on *my* scale is about 104 pounds.  (That also includes the weight I loss in between attending the HMR orientation and actually starting the program – about 1.5 months.)  I’ve been entirely in the box for these 17 weeks – and that’s why the scale says what it does.
When I ducked under 360 that was pretty big for me because I remember seeing the scale at 460 and going “OMGWTFBBQ11!1!!!!”.  I’m also looking forward to 350 since that’s the max weight for many things like bicycles and gym equipment.  Sadly, that milestone isn’t very far away so it’s gonna be here quick.  The next one will obviously be seeing the most significant digit go from “3” to “2”.  
I really need to dig up some pictures or something – when I look in the mirror the changes don’t look that dramatic to me.  They do to some folks, not to others.  I know there are changes though – for Christmas my dad bought me 2 pairs of jeans that had 66″ waists.  I just bought a new pair (of actual Levi brand) jeans that were 60″.  That’s 6″ off.  Plus things fit better in the leg and butt.  (A large part of the loss has been in my butt.  Don’t ask me how I know.)  I also had to pick up a new belt because even with all the extra holes the old belt was just looking wrong.  (Hey Rochester here’s a hint – when your house brand belt is the same price as the Ralph Lauren belt I’m going RL.)
The one thing that was cool was that my “nice” clothes fit again.  I started buying some pimp gear at Rochester Big and Tall back in 2002-ish.  Lotsa stuff with horsies on it.  None of it had fit for a while. (Heck, I’ve got a pair of pants that still have the tags on them.)  I weigh much less now than when I bought it – more proof that it’s not coming off my belly as fast as it is coming off from other places.  But then again it’s stuff that barely fit when I bought it.  It really fits now.  “Shopping in your own closet” is nice and doesn’t cost much.  I don’t think the stuff will fit for long but I’ll enjoy it while it does.  I’ll dress up and scare my co-workers.  (Wearing nice clothes to the office usually means you’re interviewing somewhere.)  Obviously I’m trying to avoid dumping too much cash into clothes right now.  But at a minimum I need to have, at any given time, two pairs of jeans that fit, underwear, a belt, and t-shirts.  I’m gonna buy jeans one pair at a time – see if I can wait until I’m down to 56-ish before buying another pair.  I guess I’ll usually have one pair that’s a bit snug and one pair that’s a bit loose. 
I also needed new undies and have discovered the magic of boxer briefs.  How did I not know about these things?  They’re awesome.  My giblets are pleased.  I’m *really* looking foward to hitting 3X size because I think stuff like the compression gear that Under Armour makes will be helpful.  Things are getting flabby enough that I wanna keep it strapped down.
I’m looking forward to my trip to Florida – I wonder if I’ll still need a belt extender.  Maybe.  I’m sure the seat will be more comfortable.  I’m still flying in first class – I’m not ready for the trauma of coach yet.  But I’ll just make a shake (or eat a cold bean entree – not too bad) and enjoy the ride. 
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HMR – Core Overload

I’ve now completed the 12 weeks of the HMR “core program”.  I will be continuing on into the “ongoing” program, which operationally is just like what I completed – the only difference is the class content.  I will be continuing with my 3 shakes/2 entrees meal plan (averaging about 1100 calories a day) and continuing doing my exercise.  

Over the 12 weeks of core I lost 54 pounds (by the way HMR does math).  The only real complaint I have was that towards the end of the program I hit a two week plateau.  At two weigh-ins in a row I had lost 0 pounds.  This may or may not have been related to the cold I had, but it was very frustrating and I do feel like I didn’t get a lot of support during that time.  It’s very frustrating to do everything like you’re supposed to and see no results.  Also, the plateau means that I didn’t make my hope for an average of 5lb/week during core, but 4.5 isn’t too bad.
Our class, that had about 15 people in it, lost 359 pounds total.  Since I only represented about 6% of the class, but 15% of the weight loss, I assume that I lost more than some people.  They wouldn’t say who lost how much however – it’s not a competition.  (Yeah, right.)
On the exercise front things are improving.  I started off doing no exercise, then 30 minutes of cardio 3 times a week, then 35 minutes, then 45 minutes.  Now it’s 45 minutes 4 times a week and soon to be 5.  I also have started working with a personal trainer for strength training, flexibility, and stability.  My stated goal is to start riding a bike soon – then I’ll be working on getting good enough to ride to and from work.    
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HMR update – week 8

Yeah, I know, it’s been a while.  So here’s an update on where things stand.  I’ve now completed 8 weeks on the HMR program.  Here’s where I’m at:
  • The official “on plan” weight loss is 49 pounds.  That’s a bit more than 6 pounds a week.
  • This week, while I was sick, it was a 10 pound loss.  Last week, when I was on vacation, it was a 6 pound loss.
  • The left most number on my scale has changed from a 4 to a 3.
All three of these things are pretty good news.  The diet has been very successful so far.

I’m not really seeing HUGE physical changes yet.  My pants are getting kind of loose and I definitely need to add some holes to my belt. I think my man boobs are shrinking.  Hopefully this weekend I’m going to be digging out some of my older slacks and seeing if they fit enough to be wearable.  I miss my brown corduroys.    
Other than that, I’m about 25% of the way to my goal.  That’s worth celebrating, I think.
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Road trips and technology

I returned last week from a road trip to Palm Springs.  This road trip was the first chance I had to play with some technological goodies.

This was my first road trip since getting my amateur radio license (short trips to Sacramento not withstanding) and my Kenwood D710 was an excellent radio on the way.  I had it programed for the WIN Repeater System and had coverage pretty much the whole trip.  I also had several other repeaters programmed in and let the radio scan.  I had several good rag chews along the way.  Also I was very impressed with APRS digipeater coverage – my track was well represented.
The other tool that really impressed me was my iPad 2.  I activated 3G just before I left and it worked well along the way. And then in Palm Springs I had WiFi.  My goal for this trip was to see if I could make it without opening up my laptop up.  I pretty much met that goal.  I *did* use it a couple of times to check on pictures I had taken but it turns out that with the camera connection kit I could use my iPad for that too.  It looks like I might be able to leave my laptop home on my next vacation.  (If I can get over the separation anxiety.)
The last new toy I had with my was my new  Canon 60D.  The only problem with this camera is that I’m still learning how to compose good shots and whatnot…any failure there is strictly operator error.  I shot entirely in RAW format but haven’t played with the pics yet.  This hobby is a bit more complicated than I thought.  
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The VX-3R is fly like a G6.

I finally broke down and bought one.

This little sucker has been taunting me every time I go into HRO.  It’s only 1.5 watts but it’s also VERY small and so I don’t have an excuse to not keep it on me.  Which means, I suppose, that I’ll have a radio on me more of the time.  Yeah, that’s sure to make me more cool.

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HMR Week 4 – Won’t you take me to…Funkytown?

Another week, another 5 pounds.  That takes it to 25 pounds in 4 weeks.  Can’t really complain about that.

One thing I tried this week was making the HMR cereal as a savory dish.  So instead of water I made it on the stove with chicken stock, cumin, curry, and garlic.  It’s VERY tasty that way.  The cereal with cinnamon and Stevia was ok.  The cereal with the above spices is extremely tasty.  Who would of thought that “savory oatmeal” would end up being tasty?
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HMR Week 3 – Return of the Mack

Week three had pretty good results.  First I got my 2000 calories of “PA” (physical activity – what HMR calls exercise) in.  Secondly I lost 5 pounds.  That takes my 3 week total to 20 pounds.  That’s not too bad.  I can live with those numbers.  I was once again “in the box” for 7 out of 7 days so it’s nice that I haven’t fallen off the wagon yet.

I have two basic concerns at this point:
  • I may be pushing the PA a bit too hard at this point and don’t want to aggrivate my knees or cause any harm – not sure how long I can keep this up.  (Although obviously as I keep losing this will become easier, hopefully.)
  • I’m falling asleep dreaming of food I can’t have.  That’s just not right.
Other than that it’s just going.  We’ll see how week 4 goes.