Month 3 Weigh-in Is Tomorrow!!! - Over the Top!

(Click to view larger image)

That pretty much sums up the Month 3 Weigh-in pregame special. We're both getting pumped for the upcoming event. Can't wait to see whose girth now has a dearth!!! (yes I know that sentence barely makes sense but it rhymes and I'm happy because if it!!!)

Psychotron - Daily Diary 22

Trying to gear up for the stretch run, but after a bad weekend, I'm not hopeful that I'll be able to break 300 as I had set out to do. I'm still going to go for it, but I'm getting myself ready for the news. Best of luck to my competitor as we push for this month's victory.

3/27/11

Calories: 1,156
Activities: walk

Sunday was something of a recovery day for me. I spent most of the day watching season 4 of Dexter and trying to will my body to process the pizza I had on Friday and Saturday.

3/28/11

Calories:1,375
Activites: gym, walk

Good trip to the gym, got sore, worked up my heart rate, had fun. Well, no, didn't have fun, but the other stuff. After the gym, I went for a walk with my brother, which was really good as well.

3/29/11

Calories: 1,710
Activities: walks

I went for a walk right after work, then late in the evening, around 11:45, I headed out for a supplemental walk. It wasn't quite as long as the other walk, but it's always nice to stack up some more active time.

3/30/11

Calories: 1,826
Activities: none

I should've either eaten better or done some exercise on Wednesday, but it turned out that neither happened. I went to Hard Times for dinner, though I did get a salad with salsa instead of dressing. But I knew I was going out for dinner, and still had too much food during the day at work. I could've been down around 1,500 on the day, or at least gotten some activity. But now I do have a goal for tomorrow.

Looking Forward

In case you hadn't heard, our third weigh-in showdown is this Saturday at my brother's house. And while I'm not all that confident about winning, I am looking forward to the matchup, because I feel like it might be our closest match yet. So hopefully we'll both come out of it feeling good.

Although...FYI, my plan is to get blitzcranked, so I'll probably come out of it feeling exhausted.

Month 3 Weigh-In Week Goals - I'm So Excited!

I'm very excited for this coming Saturday's Month 3 Weigh-In. After a very disappointing showing last month, I'm eager to see how I did. I've been working a bit harder and I hope it has paid off. I'm not sure how much weight will be lost or if I meet my month 3 goal of 13lbs lost, but I've been noticing a huge difference in my workouts.

Week 11 Update

Last week was a very good competition week for me in my opinion. My diet goal of staying away from booze for the week was relatively easy to mantain. I didn't go out Friday night, staying home and chtting with a few griends over video games. Saturday night I hung out with some people who were drinking some wine and beer, but nothing too crazy so it was easy to stay dry. I think I'm gonna stay sober this week as well, just to keep my momentum going for the weigh-in.

My exercise goal of buring 500+ calories six days out of the week was a bit aggressive and I didn't reach my goal. However, I did end up playing tennis twice, walgging once and i hit up the gym twice for a total of five days over 500 calories burned. I think the aggressive goal helped in my motivation to at least get to five.

Also, both days at the gym my cardio workout was very satisfying and I definitely noticed a difference in my stamina. Sunday's cardio was 40 minute total, 10 min on ARC, 10 minutes on eliptical and 20 on treadmill. (I was at a new gym trying some equipment out) of the 20 minutes on the treadmill, I was able to run for 14 minutes 7min running 3min cooldown twice. I think soon I'll try 10 minutes straight with a cooldown and the 10 minutes again. I'll keep ya posted.

Month 3 Weigh-In Week Goals

I'm still obviously going to stick hard to the diet this week, but my main goal is about exercise. I will go to the gym four times this week. Normally I'd say something about playing tennis but the weather is going to be crappy. Also, it's only four days as Saturday is the weigh-in and after party and then Sunday is my mother's birthday and I will be spending the day with her.

I hope a bunch of you can make it out to Eddie's house in Rockville Saturday. It's going to be a lot of fun and we will crown a month 3 champion. Wish me luck!

5 days to go

With only five days till the weigh in every meal and workout counts. Hunger is everywhere.

Psychotron - Daily Diary 21

3/22/11

Calories: 2,180

3/23/11

Calories: 2,060

3/24/11

Calories: 1,038

3/25/11

Calories: 2,270

3/26/11

Calories: 2,060

Looking Forward

I'll give you more information next time...maybe.

Week 11 Update - Gargantuar

I feel pretty good after thie first few days of the week. Including Sunday, I played tennis with Colin three straight days after work, each for over an hour. Singles tennis is definitely a great way to get exercise and we both can see our old forms coming back to us. Monday we made a chicken and fresh veggie stir fry (a little oil, mostly water). I ate that for dinner both Monday and Tuesday nights. Yesterday I was feeling pretty sore and the weather was poopy, so I took a break from exercise. For dinner I made pasta with a ground turkey spaghetti sauce. I don't know what it is, but I think I actually prefer ground turkey to ground beef, at least in my pastas.

Weekly Goals Update - Burn 500+ Calories 6 days / No Alcohol!

So with taking Wednesday off, I have burned 500+ Calories 2 out of 3 days. I am feeling much better today so I think I'll be able to hit the 500 Calorie mark again. I haven't been drinking any alcohol at all, but we all know the weekends are the biggest problem there. I do have some tentative weekend plans that involve going out, but I can always not drink and have a good time. I'm naturally drunk anyways.

Going Forward

I think going forward I might try to stick to a three days on one day off program as far as cardio goes. Although it will likely depend on the weather and my work schedule. I'm really trying to buckle down these last two weeks before the weigh-in. It stinks to lose and even more so because there are some awesome prizes on the line. I hope everyone can come out to the April 2nd Weigh-in/Battle Marshal Eddie's Birthday Party. It's an afternoon grill out and beer fest. Should be good times.

Week 11 Goals/Week 10 Update - Gargantuar

Good afternoon everyone! Before we get into this week's coming attractions, I wanted to go over some interesting aspects of last week.

• I played tennis finally! Sunday, my roommate Colin and I played tennis for about an hour and a half. I'm pretty excited to get out there exercising in a way I truly enjoy.
• I drank a lot! ...of alcohol! So this one isn't so good. The Saturday before this week (March 12th) I drank a lot more than is good for me. Then both Tuesday and Thursday of this week I had a few drinks. Friday just a couple fireside at my friend's house. And Saturday again a few at a party. This is not helping with the diet. Boo nice weather and Irish-American holidays.
• I drank a lot! ...of water! I do a good job of drinking water at work...hold on...I need to refill my cup...OK I'm back. But I am trying to keep that gooing on the weekends. I did a good job this weekend of being mindful of how much water I was drinking.
• I burned a lot of Calories! Four days last week I was able to meet my goal and burn 500 Calories plus. I walked a lot, I walgged a lot and as of Sunday, I played tennis. I also still came close to 500 Calories (365, 375) a couple other days just by walking.
• I weighed myself! On Friday night I weighed myself at my friend's house. A couple of things to consider here. I was on a scale I hadn't used before so I don't know how close it is to the "official Psychotron VS Gargantuar scale." I had just eaten a MONSTER dinner of spaghetti with lean ground beef in the sauce (delicious by the way). I had just drank a beer and I had just eaten some chips and salsa. I weighed in at 280.2lbs. Not the greatest start to the month but there is a +/- here of a few lbs, so it could be pretty good, or pretty bad.

So that is my update on how last week went. Obviously I think I drank too much last week and hope to cut back on that. I had that bad Burger King day previously mentioned before. If I can get back to not drinking so much and of course no more fast food, I should be ok and think I can still hit my monthly goal. I don't think I will makeit back to Rockville before the weigh-in April 2nd, so I don't think I can give a good weight update before the weigh-in.

Week 11 Diet Goal - No Alcohol for One Week

Heavens to betsy no! Yes I said it. No alcohol at all this week. It's not really that hard. It just means being a designated driver if I go out, so anyone in the area now knows who to call if you are plastered. I'll throw in no fast food as weel, although that should be a given. P.S. I don't consider Chipotle fast food. Yummy!

Week 11 Excercise goal - Burn 500 Calories 6 days this week

I don't know if you noticed but I was awfully close to completing this goal last week. If i worked a bit harder two days it would have been easily accomplished. I started it off right. Monday I played tennis again with Colin for over an hour. That's like at least 600 Calories right there (since I'm fat) plus I walked at work for 30 minutes. I'll keep you all posted.

Psychotron - Daily Diary 20

3/17/11

Calories: 1,580
Activities: super walk

So St. Patrick's Day ended up being much quieter than expected/hoped, due to a rash of sickness across the county (or basically just to one person). Anyways, while I didn't do any partying, I did hold tight on the diet. AND, I did what you'd call a super walk, or what I'd call a super walk. I walked for two and a half hours on Thursday night, occasionally picking things up to a jog. It was cool, being both crazy and uneventful. Crazy because it ended up being so late, and uneventful because nothing actually happened on the walk.

3/18/11

Calories: 2,046
Activities: none

Unintentionally, I didn't eat meat again this Lenten Friday. I tried out a crab cake at the cafeteria, and while it wasn't exactly excellent, it kept my calorie count pretty low...which I immediately stifled by eating some chips over at my brother's while watching March Madness. Kept everything below the goal of 2,100, but it was close.

I also watched just a terrible movie. It's called Carriers, it stars Chris Pine, of Star Trek fame. And that's about all I can say positively about the movie. It was billed as a horror, but was never scary. It also wasn't very interesting on any level...like, throughout. The most I can say for it is that it was on my Netflix queue, so I was able to remove it and make space for better movies after watching it. So, well done on that.

3/19/11

Calories: 2,267
Activities: none

The "none" isn't entirely true; I played Rock Band for about 20 minutes. But I didn't feel like that constituted enough actual activity to be worthy of notation.

I went to my cousin's house for a "bake-off," which was exactly as tempting as you'd expect it to be. I managed to keep things under control, but between the various flavors of cupcakes and other assorted desserts, I definitely had more calories than I'd hoped. Still, I was under my original goal of 2,500 calories on the day. I'm thinking that what I might do is set an everyday goal of 2,100 calories, and pull back the goal to 2,500 for "splurge" days. We'll see.

3/20/11

Calories: 1,890
Activities: walk

Cooked up a couple steaks, which weren't great, but were good. I assign half of the credit/blame to myself and my weak cooking skills, and the other half to my choice of cut (which was the cheapest I could find). Still, it was good enough that I'll do it again...just as soon as I get a refill on the propane.

I actually took two walks, but they were both on the short side, maybe a mile apiece.

3/21/11

Calories: 1,997
Activities: leg exercises

The same leg exercises I talked about before, to roughly the same extent. I meant to get to the gym, but I got caught up at work and didn't end up getting home until six. Should I have gone anyways? Yep. Lesson learned; just go to the fucking gym.

Psychotron - Daily Diary 19

I don't know how to explain it, or what the reason is, but I've felt off my game all week. Like, the numbers look alright, and I've made it to the gym twice, but my head just doesn't feel like it's on straight. It's probably nothing, just standard Joe-ness...

3/14/11

Calories: 1,656
Activities: gym

I've found I tend to do really well on Mondays. I think part of it is my constant failures on Sundays. I think another part is that I just do better when I'm at work, not sitting around the house. Monday's always the first day back at work, so it always seems to be the best. Either way, another good Monday on the board.

3/15/11

Calories: 1,906
Activities: none

Pretty nondescript day. Went to work, came home, watched the Caps game, went to bed.

3/16/11

Calories: 1,710
Activities: gym, big walk

Had a good day at the gym, I'm looking forward to being pretty sore tomorrow. Not too sore though, hopefully; St. Patrick's Day is no time to be run down. Speaking of which, with the likelihood of some good drinking going down tomorrow night, I have to remember to be particularly responsible during the day. Hopefully tomorrow's lunch entree will be something lean and delicious.

My brother and I also went for a pretty long walk at a pretty good clip. I didn't check my watch (also I don't own a watch), but based on the limited information I have, I'd venture to say it was about 2 miles of walking, with plenty of hills incorporated. Good good.

Looking Forward

I'm expecting tomorrow to not be a great fit as far as hitting the gym, but Friday might work out just fine. I'll keep you guys in the loop. And of course, I'll come clean on whatever madness I get into on Thursday night...diet-wise. As far as vandalism and sexual harassment, you'll have to just use your imagination.

Week 10 Update "Remember The Burger King" - Gargantuar

That is how I feel right now. Well, maybe not exactly, but I bet it's very close. But first, let's rewind and take a look at the past couple of days.

Monday

So I don't know how to qualify some of my meals. I usually eat some type of fruit (Monday it was grapes) and then a packet of oatmeal for breakfast, but I always spread it out over like two hours. I don't know if that counts as two snacks or just one "meal." For my purpose, I'm going to call it a meal and if I ever eat something more substantial for breakfast and then fruit, the latter will be a snack. So Monday I had three meals and two snacks throughout the day, totaling 1150 Calories. This is where that third 100-200 calorie snack would have put me at just the right amount of calories for my taste.

This is my early week for work when I get off at 4pm and I started it off right. I got home after getting some much needed groceries, and quickly changed into work out clothes. It was so nice out I decided to walk to Patterson Park where, thank God, I didn't get stabbed. Once there I began walgging (walk/jogging - Once it becomes more jogging than walking it will become wogging). It felt great to get out there and actually see people out and about just enjoying the nice weather. Living in the city is so much more fun once the weather is nice. All total I was out for 45 minutes and totaled with my lunch time walk I burned approx 655 Calories.

Tuesday

I got a lot of sleep Monday night, so I was feeling pretty energized on Tuesday morning. I had the same breakfast as Monday and ate great throughout the work day. I also took my usual lunchtime walk which was nice. I had Chipotle for dinner at the one that just opened up near my house but I have found a low calorie item. Just a fajita burrito bowl with chicken tomatoes and lettuce. Still tasty for only 365 calories. All totaling 1180 at this point.

I then went out to see my friend Joe play guitar and sing at "The Horse You Came in On" in Fells Point. I decided to have two beers as it had been a low calorie day. I had a good time, hung out a bit after the show, and then drove home. On the way home, I impulsively stopped at a Burger King and bought a Tendercrisp chicken sandwich. Yes fans, I'm as disappointed in myself as you are. This broke about 15 of my rules, mainly just eating late (it was 1030pm) and eating fast food. The worst part is that now, at 530am on Wednesday, I feel like poop. It totally was not worth it. I have now vowed to "Remember The Burger King." Instead of having a fine calorie day of 1435, I ended up at 2235 and still feel like crap for hours and hours later. Remember The Burger King.......

Inspirational Picture #3 - Triumph for One, Defeat for Another

Month 3 Prize announced

After another positive month both of our competitors find themselves down around 30 lbs in two months. Congrats to Joey on pulling out month two. With both taking down a month all eyes are on month three.

I have gone back and forth on what to offer for month 3. (This is why its taken so long for this post... not slacking on the job.... Screw you guys I don't get paid for this) After reading both Joe and Nick's first week blog posts I've decided its time to put a little more jump in their step. Both have set out ambitious goals for the month so I think its my job to give them every incentive to do that. As a result this month's prize will be larger than in the past. The prize for winning this month's weigh in will be two baseball tickets totaling 110$. I will coordinate with the winner on tickets after the weigh in. In addition to this if Nick and or Joey meet their goal of:

Joey under 300

Nick over 40 lbs total lost

They will receive 50$ gift card for clothes. (Kohls, JcPenny, etc)

The plan as of now it to have the weigh in April 2nd at my house. This will mark the halfway mark for the competition and it also happens to be my birthday so I'll probably make a ton of food, drinks etc. So keep the date open.

Good luck you crazy SOBs...

Let's Get Physical - Weekly Goals - Gargantuar

That is my motto for week 10. Make out with Olivia Newton John. No that's not it, although who wouldn't do it...ya know...for the story. The hardest part for me trying to lose weight has been

the exercise portion. I've done a great job with my daytime walks at work, but have only been going to the gym like once a week the past three weeks. I really need to stay committed to the outside of work exercise program.

Some things holding me back have been weather conditions, schedule conflicts, basically me just not motivating myself. There really is no reason other than not pushing myself harder. Just taking this last week as an example. Yes it rained a couple of days, but it wasn't raining inside the gym. Yes I worked 9am-6pm but that doesn't mean I can't workout/jog before my shift starts. These are just easy excuses a lazy man uses to keep being lazy. Well it is time to change all that. Some things that will help facilitate these changes are

• Daylight Savings - It is now light outside way past 7pm, leaving plenty of time to play tennis, or go walking/jogging
• Warmer Weather - Of course the warmer weather also lends nicely to being outdoors more. Plus it will help others to want to join me, and that helps motivate me more. I am a very social person (read: desperate for attention).
• More frequent and public weighings - I think weighing myself more often and being public about the results can only help to motivate me to keep it going. It's easy to lose focus during the middle of the month, so far away from any public humiliation or jubilation.
• Punching Myself in the Face - OK, I'm not serious about punching myself in the face, but basically just staying on top of myself and taking responsibility for pushing myself more.

So that is my outline for "Getting Physical." If anyone lives in Baltimore, come play with me at Patterson Park.

Week 10 Diet Goal - Eat Six Times Daily

Last week I did well eating a lot of salads with or for my meals. I hadn't gone to the grocery store in a while so I did not have a lot of snack foods. That led to more hunger pangs and less spreading out of my meals. I think I have done the best on my diet when I spread my meals and snacking throughout the day, never having any singular huge meal. Ideally I would have 3 meals of about 400 Calories and 3 snacks of about 100-200.

Week 10 Exercise Goal - Burn 500 Calories Four Days by "Getting Physical"

As I discussed earlier, I have a bunch of means at my disposal to try to be more active. I have a couple different sources to try to keep track of how many Calories you burn doing certain activities based on gender, age, and weight. I am going to add them all up each day, and would like be over 500 Calories four days this week. Now, these are activities outside of my typical day, so normal being on my feet and walking around my office, do not count.

Month Three Weight Loss Goal

As Psychotron laid out earlier, he would like to lose 14.5lbs or more, as that would get him under 300lbs. I have set my goal at 13lbs for month three. That would put me at 40lbs overall for the competition, and 40lbs in three months is an amazing accomplishment. On a side note, if both The Tron and I hit our goals exactly, Psychotron would win month three by 0.01% (4.61/4.60). That is unless my math is bad (it's not) or my facts are wrong (they're not). Hey, I'm as competitive as the next guy, but a 0.01% margin, would be pretty amazing to see. Here's hoping.

Psychotron - Daily Diary 18

3/9/11

Calories: 1,670
Activities: "leg exercises"

Normally I'm not big on acknowledging religious holidays (or religion at all really), but this year, I decided to give Ash Wednesday its due. So, I had no meat all day. I had a salad, and some vegetables and dip, and some chips and salsa. The chips and salsa were left over from the party over the weekend, and really, I need to get rid of them. They're this giant temptation that's been sitting in my house, drawing me in for an entire week. I think I'd better just throw them out...

I put leg exercises in quotes because they weren't really any sort of regular leg exercises. It was just me doing squats in my bedroom while I was waiting for the League of Legends queue to pop. But I was the good kind of sore for three days afterward, so it must've done something.

3/10/11

Calories: 1,280
Activities: gym

I've noticed that I usually have good days when I find a good entree at work for lunch. Thursday they had kebabs and green beans; it was 360 calories worth of awesome, and I was happy and controlled the rest of the day, diet-wise. I went to the gym and had a pretty strong workout. I knew that I'd had some kind of disappointing workouts, so I went in thinking that I needed to really step it up. Mission accomplished.

3/11/11

Calories: 1,828
Activities: none

Try this on for size: it was a Friday in Lent, and I consciously didn't have any meat. It's just another way for me to challenge myself, and I'm in a challenge myself kind of mood these days. The only thing, though, is that when I choose not to eat meat, about half the time I end up having pizza, which is okay, but not that great for you. Anyways, it worked out.

Went to the hockey game, it was pretty great. And I wore my brand new Dave Steckel jersey. In case you're wondering, yes, that's the guy who the Caps traded to New Jersey in the Arnott deal. I ordered it like three days before the trade deadline, assuming he was safe. Oh well. I still love him. And I do like having an unconventional jersey; this just makes it really unconventional.

3/12/11

Calories: 2,086
Activities: walk

So I've noticed that on weekend days that I don't have plans, I tend to get into food-eating trouble. It's like, if I'm just sitting around, for some reason, I default back to snacking. So, what's the resolution? Make plans. Make plans like my life depends on it. I've always hated having plans, so this is another change of pace. But it should be fun to hang out or whatever, right?

Went for a walk with a cute neighbor. I think she's married, though. :)

3/13/11

Calories: 2,104
Activities: none

Headed back down to the Verizon Center on Sunday for another Caps game, and another Caps victory. The games are a lot more fun when the team wins. Also, this game's tickets were the prize for last month's weigh-in victory. So it was especially sweet to savor such a great experience.

More notably for this blog, however, is that I breached my new goal of 2,100. Even though it was by a mere 4 calories, it's a disappointment to be sure.

I know what you're thinking: "But Joe, you had plans. I thought you said when you have plans, you get in less trouble." That's true. But my plans were still in flux right up until they started happening. We didn't figure out food plans until mere moments before the eating started, which ended up with me eating 3/4 of a personal pepperoni pizza, then going out to dinner just a few hours later. I'm still confident that more concrete planning would have resulted in better eating decisions.

Looking Forward

As I hinted at, I'm going to focus on having some kind of concrete plans for each day this weekend. I've been invited to a food party on Saturday night, which isn't exactly perfect for the diet, but again, I can plan for it. So there's a pretty decent chance I go to that. Sunday, as always, is a harder day to figure out, but I've got time.

Psychotron - Daily Diary 17

As you guys saw, I was able to pull out the victory in month #2 of this six month competition. It was gratifying and exciting, after putting forth a very sincere effort this month, to be able to come out on top. And it puts a ton of pressure on both Nick and myself to grapple for the lead in month #3. But good pressure, I think.

3/6/11

Calories: 2,116
Activities: none

The day after the big party, there was a single cupcake sitting on my counter, looking lonely, almost whimpering for attention. So, as I do with anything that whimpers, I ate it. I also had some chips and salsa, and a couple beers. And I didn't go anywhere or do anything, as I attempted to recover from Saturday's mayhem. It wasn't exactly the kickoff I was looking for going into the crucial third month, but it's what it was.

3/7/11

Calories: 1,296
Activities: walk, gym

Sort of a "get back in the saddle" day. Ate a ton of vegetables (there was a veggie platter I bought for Saturday that never got opened), took a decent walk after work, and went to the gym. Calories were back in line, got some activity, and I feel like I'm back on track.

3/8/11

Calories: 2,011
Activities: none

I would've liked to get a walk in on Tuesday, but work was a lot busier than usual, and I didn't have time after work. Also I had an Italian sub for dinner, which didn't help the ol' calorie count. Lamb of god that thing was good, though. I also had ice cream in Maryland for the first time this year, I think (I'm sure I had something ice creamy in Disney World). But I really didn't have very much at all; I think it was a combination of being kind of stuffed from the sub and my own subconscious guilt for eating something I knew I shouldn't be eating.

Ahh, guilt. You've woven a tangled web.

Looking Forward

So I've decided to do two goal-related things this month. First, as you remember, my previous daily calorie goal was 2,500. I do believe that, if I stay around 2,500 calories a day, I'll still lose a good deal of weight. But I almost feel like 2,500 is too much leeway. I've seen that I'm able to keep myself around or under 2,000 calories on most days, for several days in a row. So I'm making a midstream adjustment: from now on, my daily calorie maximum is 2,100 calories.

Part two is something I actually had already started to do, but didn't make public. I have specific weight goals for each of the remaining four weigh-ins. So, in my first post after each weigh in, I'm going to announce my goal weight (FYI, for last month, it was 315, so I just barely hit it). Without further ado, my month #3 goal: 300 lbs.

Do I know that Nick was under 300 pounds after the first showdown? Yes I do. And that's a reminder that I've still got a long ways to go. But I honestly can't remember the last time I was under 300 pounds, and losing 14.4 pounds this month, while absolutely challenging, is also absolutely attainable.

I've got you in my sights, perfect game of bowling. See you soon.

Month Two Results - Gargantuar's Thoughts

So The results are in and even though Psychotron crushed me in this month's weigh-in, overall it is still very close. Let's look at some of the numbers.

Note: The winner each month is determined by percentage weight lost and then overall winner is percentage after 6 months.


Gargantuar:
Starting Weight(Jan 7th): 309.8
One Month Weight(Feb 6th): 289.6
Two Month Weight(March 5th):282.8
Month Two difference: 6.8lbs/2.35%
Overall Difference: 27lbs / 8.72%

Psychotron:
Starting Weight: 346.6
Month Weight: 332.2
Two Month Weight: 314.4
Month Two Difference: 17.8lbs/5.36%
Overall Difference: 32.2lbs / 9.30%

So yeah, I got crushed this month. Let's give credit where it is due. Joe had an AMAZING month. He worked his butt off (literally) and it showed. My congrats to your month two win. Overall it is still very close and anyone's game. I aim to make month three my best month yet and plan on taking back the overall competition lead. I think losing a month puts things in perspective. Maybe I got too confident after having a great first month. Maybe The Tron was extra motivated after losing the first month. Whatever the case, I want to bring it home month three.

Week 9 Diet Goal - Eat More Salads

I don't have a set "this many salads this week" or "one salad a day" but I'd like to have a huge salad as a side dish to as many of my lunches and dinners as I can this week. I started off right today buying a huge one pound salad at giant, eating half of it with some grilled salmon my dad made. In the salad I added spinach, brocoli, carrots, tomatoes, cabbage, green peppers, cucumbers and a smidge of lite vinagarette dressing. When I say smidge, I mean a very small size (that's what she said). It was a very tasty and healthy lunch. Let's keep it up.

Week 9 Exercise Goal - Jog/Gym/Tennis Every Day Before or After Work

I really enjoy my lunch time walks at work during the week. But they are time bound and control how much I push myself as I don't want to get sweaty and smell the rest of the day. I want to try to do something each day where I can push myself. Whether it's jogging through the park, going to the gym, or playing tennis or something else. I would love to be able to do a 20 minute run without stopping to walk at all. I smell a future goal...

The Cinco de Marzo Fiesta

Regardless of the outcome we all had a great time at the after party. Some of you may think it might be weird to celebrate weigh-ins with parties. To those people I say "Have you heard the singer Cee Lo Green's new hit? Boom...roasted

Month Two Weigh-In Results

Month two of this epic confrontation has come and gone, and it's time to review the results. After an impressive but insufficient 14.4 pound loss in month one, Psychotron was looking to take his game to the next level. Meanwhile, Gargantuar was hoping to repeat his incredible 20.2 pound opening performance, and get a stranglehold on the competition.

Tensions were high as the secret weights were measured by NASA's UltraScale 11.1. The Battle Marshal had to break up the contestants several times before a silent accord was reached to postpone hostilities until the weights could be gathered.

As is customary, the challenger stepped up first...

Psychotron's previous weight was 332.2. At the month two weigh-in, he registered at 314.4, for a loss of 17.8 pounds. Psychotron was heard saying, "Fuck the 320's!"

The bar set high, Gargantuar rolled up his sleeves and climbed upon the UltraScale...

The Battle Marshal peered down onto the scale, and read off the results: down from 289.6 pounds, Gargantuar measured 282.8, for a loss of 6.8 pounds.

Your month two results:

1st place: Psychotron
2nd place: Gargantuar

Congratulations to all our competitors, and good luck going forward!

Psychotron - Daily Diary 16

A bit late, but here's the information about my days leading up to the big weigh-in.

3/3/2011

Calories: 1,420
Activities: gym

Thursday night I headed to the gym and focused on chest and triceps exercises. I pushed myself harder than I had the previous time out, because the previous time out, I didn't really feel sore afterward. The results were legitimate; soreness ensued.

After I got home, I heated up one of my favorite Lean Cuisines: Pineapple Black Bean Chicken. It's got the protein of chicken, the substance of rice and beans, and the sweet finish of pineapple. I haven't had a better Lean Cuisine meal yet...well, except for those steamer things. Those things are bomb.

3/4/2011

Calories: 1,529
Activities: walk

Went for a walk during the day with Eddie, not as long as our normal big walks, but it was enough to get the blood pumping. After work, just played it cool. Real cool.

3/5/2011

Calories: No data
Activities: Weigh-in, party

That's right, there's no conclusive data from Saturday. I know that going into the weigh-in, I had only eaten 290 calories worth of food, but once I got weighed in, things rolled quickly. And when I say things, I mean alcohol. And when I say rolled, I mean got drunk by me. Someone somewhere once said that you should go nuts every once in a while to give your body a shock, and force your metabolism back up. Well, consider the metabolism shocked.

The Big Weigh-In

Weigh-in results to be posted shortly...

Month 2 Weigh-in Week Update - Gargantuar

Saturday's weigh-in is getting closer and closer. I'm pretty excited yet nervous so I'm trying to work extra hard to make this week count. Even if I don't win, I still want to have a good showing to motivate myself to keep pushing for the other four months.

A co-worker of mine told me about this site Sparkpeople where you track your nutrition, weight, fitness and other goals you may have. I've seen sites like this one before but so far, this is the best one I've seen. There is a large community of people to talk with, message boards, articles and over 200,000 user submitted recipes to check out. Just something to look at if anyone wants to check it out. You can tell them Elsuav1 refered you. On to the update!!!!

Month Two Weigh-In Week Diet Goal - 1500 Calories per day or under Mon - Fri

So far so good. I made a mixed vegtables with rice dish for dinner Monday. Tuesday it was whole grain spaghetti with ground up boca burgers, and wednesday was a chicken salad sandwich. My breakfasts and lunches are never usually a problem and this week is no different. I've been eating raisins and oranges for snacks so not much of a problem there. Each day so far has been between 1100 - 1400 Calories. Today I'm having Subway for lunch but that will only be like 400 Calories.

Month Two Weigh-In Week Exercise Goal - Gym, Gym, Gym....Tennis???

As far as tennis goes, it has been too cold/windy/rainy to play yet this week, but as soon as it isn't I will be playing. I went to the gym on Tuesday and had a pretty good session. Dan and I lifted legs and then I was on a treadmill running/walking for 30 minutes, about 12 min of which was actual running. I completed a little over 2 miles, so about an average of 4mph. When I walk it's 3mph-3.5mph, and jogging is 5mph. I'm goiong back tonight with Dan so I expect at least the same quality workout if not better. I have also been walking every work day at lunch for 20-25 minutes, just to get a little extra activity in my day.

Looking ahead

Saturday I have my niece's 2nd birthday party which will be fun, and then the weigh-in and party. That night should be a blast. Win or lose, you will see me doing tequila shots and dancing like crazy. Also, there should definitely be Kanjam. The greatest game ever invented. I hope to see a nice turnout for the weigh-in!

Psychotron - Daily Diary 15

2/27/11

Calories: 2,054
Activities: big walk

Sundays are always tough days for me. I think I get bored and end up watching a lot of TV/movies, and that sometimes translates into snacking. This time, it wasn't so much snacking as it was a couple of beers and several microwaveable meals. Honestly, the fact that I stayed around two thousand calories is pretty surprising. And I did get a "big walk" in; up and down some hills, totaling about 35-40 minutes. So while it wasn't a very good day, I was able to focus myself enough to get back on track.

2/28/11

Calories: 1,518
Activities: gym

I had to slow my roll right away on Monday. I grabbed a couple of breakfast egg rolls from our cafeteria, and I knew I was headed for a bad day if I didn't nip it in the bud. So I went with just a small cup of Velveeta macaroni and cheese for lunch, a cool 180 calories. Then with a controlled dinner, I had a good day.

I went to the gym after work and did some chest and triceps exercises, but I didn't get nearly as sore as I did the first time around. I did ride the bike for 20 minutes, and came home and played some Rock Band. It wasn't drumming, though; just felt like jamming and belting out some Billy Idol. Hence not logging it as an "activity."

3/1/11

Calories: 1,530
Activities: big walk

I've redone the math on Tuesday's calories a couple times, and it's correct, but I promise you, I felt like I had a terrible day, eating-wise.

The daytime was fine, normal, came home with 480 calories used. Then when I got home, my stomach was feeling a little weird, so I decided to eat. I had cooked some egg whites the night before, so I took them and threw them on a slice of wheat bread with some salt and pepper. By the way, egg whites are pretty unexceptional. Don't know if I'd get them again. Anyways, the eggs didn't sit right, so I tried a potato hot dog bun instead of the bread, and it was okay, but still not great. So I finished it off with another potato hot dog bun with some peanut butter. And after that, my stomach was alright, but I was pretty displeased with how everything had panned out.

Historically, I'd have just let that go as a bad day, but at about 10:30, I said to myself, "Why not go for a walk?" I couldn't think of a good reason not to, so I threw on a jacket and shoes and went for another 40 minute walk. Again, I think it's important for me mentally to find successes in days where I feel like I came up short. Hopefully all this mental hooey ends up reflecting well on Saturday.

3/2/11

Calories: 1,000
Activities: gym, big walk

So I did make a mistake on Wednesday. Remember how I talked about black socks being my arch-nemesis? Well, I bought some new black shoes, and I gave the black socks another try. I went for a walk with Eddie during the workday, but it was a disaster. For whatever reason, the black socks just chafe the shit out of my feet.

Got home from work, caught up with my roommate who just got back into town (and will be leaving again in like 2 days), then headed back to Westat to go to the gym. I did some back and biceps exercises, and I can already feel my arms getting sore, so that's a little more encouraging than Monday's workout. I think my feet were still bothered from earlier, though, because I could only go for about 10 minutes on the bike before they felt like they were on fire.

AND THEN, after I left the gym and got back to my house, after I made myself two of those Velveeta mac n' cheese cups, I thought back to Monday and that walk I took, and how I felt so good afterward, so I decided to go for another walk. This one was even longer; I was out and about for almost an hour, and pushed myself a couple times to get my heart rate up, since I hear that's important. My only concern here is that my feet are definitely sore/chafed, but hopefully wearing white socks tomorrow at work should prevent me from being too uncomfortable to get back to the gym tomorrow night. And the plan tomorrow night is straight cardio work. Try to burn off as much of that water weight as possible before the big weigh-in.

Looking Forward

There are a couple other topics I want to talk about, but for this post, I just want to let everyone know the details on Saturday's gathering. We'll be having a Mexican-themed get-together at my house in Rockville. I don't know exactly what that entails, other than Mexican food and drink. I've got a whiffleball set, Rock Band, and a few decks of cards, so I'm sure we can figure out stuff to do. Plus, I mean, just hanging out is pretty fun.

Email/text me or Nick for the address and/or directions, if you need them (I'm not a fan of posting my address on the internet). Here are the relevant details:

When: Saturday, March 5th, 6:30 PM
Where: My digs, Rockville
What to Bring: Corona, Dos Equis, tequila, chips & salsa, fajitas, whatever else kind of Mexican delicacies you can think of.

Month 2

3 Days.... Keep it up you crazy SOBs