Depressing state of affairs.

I've just had a pretty horrible conversation with a close friend of mine. She just asked me if I was using drugs! According to her "Your weight loss can't be natural, are you using something"? It's strange, I'm feeling happier than I have in a long time, I'm finally doing something about my weight, work is going well, I'm having fun snowboarding, I'm loving being in Whistler (even with the Dollar taking a kicking) and yet there's always someone who's able to find a way to bring you down.

Since I started working out with the turbulence training plan and eating better I've lost a lot of weight. I admit it's been a pretty fast weight loss but I figure that's more down to the fact my body was happy to drop all that fat than anything else. Don't get me wrong, the plan is hard work and I know I've earned being where I am now but I'm enjoying doing it. Exercise is fun! It's not even like the diet was rocket science! My food diary made me see just how many empty calories I was taking in a day and I knew I could afford to lose a lot of them but still eat what I wanted to. I'll give you an example from my diary:

Tuesday 11/20/07
Coffee 2 sugars, cheerios, toast and spread
Clif protein bar
coke
packet of chips, coke
bbq pork, texas toast, garlic fries, sprite
coffee 2 sugars, 2 cookies
coke
banana, apple
lasagne, garlic bread, ceasar salad, 2 beers
coke
cheerios

That one days food gave me a calorie total of nearly 4000 calories - and this was a typical days eating for me!

Now my food diary is like this (and keep in mind this is when I'm away from home)
Thursday 12/27/07
Coffee, cheerios, apple.
Clif protein bar
bottle water
coke, packet of chips,
vegetable rice bowl, vegetable spring roll, water
starbucks skinny latte
bottle water, banana
chicken breast, roast potato, side of vegetables, 1 beer

which was a calorie intake of 2180

The strange thing is, I'm not feeling hungry or like I'm missing out on food. As you can see - I'm not! It was just about being aware of what I was eating and making sure the (biggest in my case) excesses were removed. I've saved nearly 2000 calories a day! Without exercise that could be adding nearly 5 pounds a week to my body. Not good.

Coupling this with the increased amount of exercise I've been getting it's easy to see why I'm losing so much weight so quickly.

So, if you've got someone in your life who's doing well with a goal of theirs - encourage them, just make sure they are doing it right. Don't be tempted to ask if they are on drugs! (Unless, there are obvious signs of course... I'll be quiet now I think).

Until next time!

Current stats

Weight - 247.5 pounds
Chest - 46"
Waist - 35"

Off piste

Yesterday was insane! We left the hotel just after 7am as we'd planned and headed up the mountain. On the way to the lift we ran into Carl (the guy I mention in my last post) who managed to talk us into some off piste boarding. I guess it's worth making the most of some ones knowledge when you're in a place like this.

To be perfectly honest I can't really remember that much of the run down. I was scared almost stupid a couple of times. It took us 45 minutes to hike to the start of our run and all the way down I had in the back of my mind how long it would take help to reach us if something went wrong... 

The good news is that we all made it down in one piece. My knees are feeling it today though! I don't think we'll be going off like that again on this trip. Maybe next time... or not...

No change to my weight to report but then it has only been 24 hours since my last post. I've been ranting about Turbulence Training to anyone that'll listen and even managed to tell a couple of people about it at the bar last night and I know a couple of my friends have signed up already. If any of you are having a hard time dropping weight (like I used to!) then I'd advise giving it a go. It'll be a bit of a shock just what your body can do! If you're interested - click www.turbulencetraining.com

Time for breakfast! We're having a later start today so I've got my eye on the lumberjack breakfast at the place across the street... Hmmm...  pancakes & bacon!

Until next time!

A late Happy Christmas to you all!

I'm writing this from my hotel room in Whistler. I decided to come up for the holidays after all and got really lucky with a good deal on a room at the last minute! It's kind of strange being away from home for Christmas but we're having a great time up here. The snowfall is AWESOME!!!

You'll be pleased to hear that I decided against trying to ski. Trying to control both my feet at the same time is something I feel is best reserved for when I'm walking or biking. Not on snow! So I've been out boarding. I rented a complete (beginner) set (board, boots, bindings, leash) for the 2 weeks even though I don't think I'll be able to do this every day for two weeks! It's not been that expensive actually, my pass has been the bit that took me by surprise! a 10 day ticket (I figure I can do some low level stuff the days I don't want to head up onto the main runs) cost me $530!!! I can't get used to the Canadian dollar being worth more than the US dollar. Weird. 

Anyhow, everything else is pretty cheap.  Food and drink is about the same as eating out back home and up here there are all sorts of characters to hang around with. We met a guy at lunch today whos just kind of dropped out of society. He's spent the last year traveling to all these crazy places trying out different sports and just chilling. Nice work if you can get it! Anyhow, tuns out he's a really good guy. He's offered to show us a few places off the route map so we'll head out with him in a day or two and see what else this place has to offer. I can't believe I've never been here with my bike!

The exercise has kind of dropped off a little while I've been here but I figure with all the outdor stuff that's been going on I got to be doing ok. Obviously I'm not in as much control of what I eat (I tell you, there are some good burgers up here!) but I'm trying. I weighed myself tonight and I'm pretty impressed. I haven't put anything ON it's just I haven't lost as much as I did previously. Hey, plenty of time to get back into it in the new year, right?

Well, it's time for bed. It's 3am here and we'll be out at 7 again to try and beat the crush. Nothing like a sub zero start when it's still dark to make you wonder what you're doing here!

I hope you all had a great Christmas.

Until next time!

Current stats

Weight - 249 pounds

Chest - 46" ???

Waist - 35"

(I had to buy a new pair of jeans when I got here, my old 501's just kept falling down! Can't believe it's only been a month!)

Big day is almost here

It's almost upon us! I'm pleased to report I've finished all my present shopping (still waiting for a couple of things from Amazon.com but Firebox.com have been AWESOME!!!)

I've cut back a little on the exercise this past week. I've lost a good amount of weight since I started and I'm in great condition for the Holidays coming up. When I say I've cut back, I'm down to the 3 days a week instead of 5 but I'm still doing the hour a day. I surprised myself out on the bike yesterday and I put it all down to the loss of weight. Loving it, and long may it continue!

We're heading out for drinks after work this evening, everyone is coming and it'll be great to catch up with everyone before Christmas. I hope whatever you're up to it's with people that matter and you have a great time. I'll write again soon!

Current stats 

Weight - 250 pounds

Chest - 45"

Waist - 35.25"

Time to breathe

I never thought I'd end up being so happy to update this thing, especially as often as I have been! I don't know if it's because of work and my needing to let of a little steam, or just because it's quite cathartic. Whatever it is, I'm quite into it. Oh, and my exercise!

This week I've pushed my workouts up to a full hour a day. The guide says I can do 45 minutes 3 days a week but I'm loving the new look I've got! It's been years since I was this trim, and I've really only just started out with this!

Oh, and I've had a few people ask me what I'm using to get these results. Follow the link below:

www.turbulencetraining.com

And yes, I'd recommend this to anyone!

Work is steadily getting calmer. Everyone seems to have caught up with everything they have to do before the break and we've now got 4 guys out of the office on extended vacations. Will has already headed up to Whistler (I'm meant to be going skiing with him & his friends over Christmas) and Daves family have swarmed in from all over the country. Fun for all!

Time to get back to it. Until next time!

Current stats

Weight - 254 pounds
Chest - 45"
Waist - 36" !!!

(my jeans no longer fit - even when I do my belt right up! I'm loving this and so is Sandy!)

Quick update

I don't have long to post today. I'm writing this at work and it's been a killer of a day but I wanted to tell everyone my good news. I've been working out for 2 weeks now and my body is changing stupidly quickly. If Santa is good to me and brings me the Canon I've asked for I'll get some pictures online soon.

Back to the phone, still got a lot to do before I can call it a day!

Stay happy, Santas' coming soon!

Current stats

Weight - 258 pounds
Chest - 45.5"
Waist - 37.25"

At this rate I'll need a whole new wardrobe before January is out!

Christmas shopping adventures

I started the nightmare that is shopping for Christmas this weekend. I drove 2 hours in each direction to do it! It's not like I had to, there are closer places to shop. I just wanted to take a bit of a break from my front step. You know? I forget how much of a shock it can be when you're from a small town and you go to a big shopping mall at a busy time. Wow. People. But aside from a couple of bruises to my legs (strollers are not weapons, people!) and a slightly dented credit card balance, I made out ok.

Never having been a good gift shopper I wasn't sure what to get for people so after a bit of digging around on Google (I'm getting to be a Google fiend!) I found a service on Yahoo.com which was a huge help in coming up with a list for everyone. You can find it here:

http://shopping.yahoo.com/giftfinder/

I hope it helps you as much as it helped me!

My exercise has been going well. I've been mixing up the workouts to stop my body getting used to a particular way of doing things. So far the results seem really good. I know it's always the same at the start of a new program but it's not normally been so noticeable before. My stats are improving really quickly, at this rate I'll be at my ideal weight a lot sooner than I expected!

The office is getting crazy. Everyone seems to have started shutting down already, and we still have just over two weeks to go so as you can imagine, this isn't good for productivity. At least I'm able to focus on my accounts with no problems though, with the office being quieter I can make calls pretty much all day now and my figures are looking awesome!

Heading to the bar with Tom, Oz and Pete tonight. They're insisting I join them for the trivia quiz. If nothing else it'll be entertaining to see just how badly we can do against the other teams. And they have Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale at last! Oh yes, I'm going to have me some of that!

Until next time.

Current stats
Height - 6' (I think I'm going to stop posting this, it's not like it'll change!)
weight - 263 pounds
chest - 46"
waist - 38"

Things are working out great with my... ummm... working out... I can wear my favorite pants again!

Ow. Be gentle.

I've been working out every day for a week. As you can guess my pant shocker was a good motivation to lose the weight! This new exercise plan has been fantastic. It's hard on me but for 45 minutes a day I'm doing something positive for myself and I'm finding it strangely relaxing to be working out like this again. Its been a very long time since I have. The only problem is I haven't been able to ride my bike far since I started. It's really taking it out of me. Hey, this can only be a good sign can't it? If you check out my stats I think you'll get as big a surprise as I did!

On other topics I've got dinner plans tonight with Tom & Becky. I haven't seen Becky in forever and I'm looking forward to catching up with them both. We've got a bit of a drive to get to the restaurant but I ate there a few years ago and if it is as good as I remember then it'll be well worth the trek.

Work is beginning to get hectic. The closer we get to the christmas break the closer the boss gets to a meltdown (JUUUUUST kidding Bill). Seriously though, the two week break will be good for everyone in the office. I've had an invite to go skiing up at Whistler for Christmas but I haven't been on two planks in years and I don't heal as fast as I used to. We'll see. It could still be fun!

Will write again soon. Who'd have thought I'd enjoy this?

Current Stats
Height - 6'
Weight - 267 pounds
chest - 46"
Waist - 39"