Wedding Weight-Loss Contest

Mary and Joel's wedding is planned for May 9. Mary, Joel, Joel's parents and Joel's uncle are competing to see who can lose the most pounds before the wedding with the final weigh-in on May 5. They asked me to join at the beginning and there has been speculation as to why I did not. Here are some of the comments:

• “he is the shadow watching from the sidelines”
  
• “Because he works out with his mind and he knew none of us would stand a chance against him. He can claim to be the champion from the sidelines or claim to not have been trying. He is one sneaky engineer….”
  
• “I think my dad is too independent of us to do it and he wants to blog about his contest with himself.”
  
• “Because he thinks we should spend more time solving algebraic equations and reading Latin”

I am proud of all of them. Together I think they have lost over 50 pounds! I wish you could lose mass and girth by "working out with my mind," I would be the winner for sure! But why didn't I join, really? Well I think there are two reasons: 1) I was too cheap to come up with the entry fee; and, 2) If I won, I would feel guilty taking other people's money. It's tough being raised a Catholic, even if you are born again.

They are all winners by wasting the weight, no matter who claims the contest cash.

Steve

Steve's Weight Loss Update

The weight is still coming down, a little at a time. I hope that by shedding the weight slowly, I will not be in such a hurry to put it back on!

This week I learned of the sudden passing of a co-worker from my days with the Federal Highway Administration in Minnesota. His name was Tom Fudaly. Apparently he died suddenly while waiting for a red traffic light to change. He was only 56. The person who told me did not have any details about cause of death. He was still working for FHWA but had moved to Lansing Michigan. He was survived by his wife Carol. I can't recall if he had any children. Tom was one of those nice guys who got along with everyone, worked hard, and played hard. When I looked him up on ask.com, it looks like he was very active in his job. He will be missed.

Tom's early departure emphasizes the importance of my quest to shed those excess pounds. My brother Larry's recent discovery that he has diabetes is another reason.

Until next time, don't wait to shed the weight before it's too late.

Love, Steve

5K Results

Well I finished the 5K. I thought I should share some of the details. The picture at the left are some of my co-workers who participated. Bill on the left is about 2 years younger than me but finished about 3 minutes quicker. I did not meet my 30 minute goal. My actual finish time was 41 m 48 s as recored by the transponder on my shoe. (See the last picture). I will be thinking up excuses for my slow race for months.

The weather was nearly perfect for February in Florida, about 70 degrees when the race started. Of course I was training when in was 40 and 50 so it was too warm for me, excuse #1. The course went for just over 3 miles from the Tampa river out along Bayshore and back.

I was determined to run as far as I could before I started walking. Some one at the starting line had a big sign talking about Jesus. See the green arrow, that's me. Kathi could not get in the middle of the runners to get close, and the crowd made it hard to get a clear shot. Did I mention there were 8686 racers? The race started fast. I ran a few blocks but could not keep running because of all the people, excuse #2. After a few blocks a church group was singing and waving. Very friendly. After I made the turn on to Bayshore there was another person with a sign with bible verses who was shouting out how were all going to hell. One of the runners began signing a phrase "highway to hell." I guess those are words from a song.

Not to much later, I was wishing I had some water. Then along came a water station, but it was on the other side of the road. I couldn't cut in front of all the other runners so I waited. At this point it seemed like I was running backwards, so many runner were passing me! I sure could have used some water, excuse #3. At last we came to the u-turn on Bayshore to make the run back to the finish line near downtown. Just over a mile to go. I soom came to the water station I missed going the other way. As I was waiting my turn, the gentleman passing out cups ran out. After waiting around a while, excuse #4, I found another cup and got some nice cold water. I noticed a bazillion empty cups strewn all over the street after the water station. I asked myself why all these people would litter when there is a trash receptacle. I ran past the receptacle before I finished my water so I put the empty cup in my pocket until I came to another water station with trash can a little later. There were all these children passing me, many very young. Ugh, the race was getting long and I was getting tired. Just after the water I heard this squad of military persons running in formation, with three carrying flags. They were still going the other way on Bayshore, way behind me. Did I mention all the children and little old ladies who were passing me? About a quarter mile from the finish, the military squad passed me, still in formation. The runners clapped, but not for too long, since I suspect some were as tired as me.


About a 100 yards from the finish line I put it into full speed, you know for show. No one else passed me for a little while. Kathi was waiting at the finish line to take pictures.

Did I mention there were 8686 people who finished the run. I finished 6041 overall and 107th of the 152 men in the 60-64 age group. Kathi took this picture. I was putting on a good face, but was really tired and wobbled a little when I walked. One of the ladies in the office finished right behind me, but she was sick yesterday so that was no consolation. The medal was given to everyone who finished.

This is the transponder that kept track of my time. It was attached to my right shoe. Really pretty cool technology. The results were posted to a website so you can check me out if you want. Just click on the link or copy and paste it into your browser.

http://results.active.com/pages/searchform.jsp?rsID=75370

You will have to enter my name or Bib # and then press search. My personal results will pop up.

Well that's a pretty long story. I had more trouble putting in the pictures. Turns out you have to select them in reverse order that you want them to appear. Funny.

God's best to you.

Love, Steve

Steve's Weight Loss Update

Another week, another pound (or so) lost. So that the graph does not look so choppy, it now shows 7-day moving average. Looks like I may be able to get down to about 200 by Mary and Joel's wedding on May 9. Maybe...

Exercise this week was not excessive. But maybe my metabolism has increased a little. Last Saturday I ran about 3 miles in 33 minutes and 45 seconds. The first mile in 10 1/2 minutes. The last 2 miles a little slower but at a more uniform pace than the week before. Still not getting close to 30 minutes for the 5K (3.1 miles).

My heart rate is 60 this morning, and that's after 2 cups of ginsing tea. That's a very positive sign. When I drank coffee, my pulse would gradually increase all day. Haven't had my blood pressure or cholesterol checked for a while, but I suspect they are down as well.

May your day be blessed and fruitful.

Steve

Steve's Weight Goal Update

A little progress this week. Another pound or two gone. My initial hope was to lose about a pound a week. So far I am staying ahead of that pace. Belt and pants still feel tight but sometimes I can take the belt in a notch.

All in all a good week. Plan to do more running this weekend. Trying for 1.5 miles, half way to the goal of 3+ miles for the 5k run at the end of February.

Steve

2009 Goals

At the end of 2008, I made some goals (most of us do). But this year I wanted to let all of you hold me accountable. On Jan 1, I weighed a record 223 pounds (Actually it was not a record. When I looked at my 2008 goals, my starting weight was also 223, but look where that goal got me!) My first goal is to lose about 20 pounds by the end of May. Here is a graph of my progress so far:

The red line is the goal, the jagged blue line is my progress. About 16 to go. Have started using Wii Fit and started some jogging. I'm up to about 10 minutes of jogging. Goal there is to be able to run a 5K run at the end of February.

Fringe benefit, my resting pulse seems to have dropped to just over 60. That's good for me. But my balance in the Wii Fit exercises still needs a lot of work. It gives you your age. Depending on the day, my Wii Fit fitness age has varied from 67 to 45. I'm 61.

If you would like to share your goals, feel free. If you have any good ideas, please share.

Love, Steve