BigFatBob's Quest to Become Un-BigFat: Week 45

[BigFatBob]

Hi, everybody. BigFatBob here, and if my name didn't provide any sort of indication, I have a bit of a weight problem. Hell, from 100 pounds in second grade to 250 in sixth grade all the way up to the 370-pound plateau in high school that I've been hovering around to date, it's safe to say I've had this problem as long as I can remember. I'm no special case or anything, not a victim of any sort of disease, genetic disorder, or some other quirk. As expected, my obesity's a result of over twenty years of laziness, apathy, and generally poor decision making, whether those decisions were my own or not. Whatever the cause, my weight has been a hindrance in almost every facet of my life, be it through physical limitations, social inhibitions, or what have you. It's literally defined who I am, and I've only recently fallen into a state of discontent with that. With the knowledge that I've missed out on some of the most important years of my life and the realization that I may not even get to live the latter half of my life at all if I let my problem run its course, I've finally decided to change who I am and see about shedding over a hundred pounds of extra baggage. I'm sure it'll be, without question, the hardest task I've ever set before myself, but I think the time has finally come to take the BigFat out of BigFatBob.

Originally, this whole weight-loss thing was a cynical "durr, watch me starve myself for a couple weeks, put forth the bare minimum amount of physical activity to cross the boundary into 'exercise' and see where it takes me" venture that I've embarked on a couple times before in a sad attempt to convince myself that I was actually on some sort of path to self-improvement, but after somehow losing fifteen pounds in the ordeal, I've decided to take it in a more serious, motivated direction. I was also originally going to keep this private, at least until I either lost a significant amount of weight or the people around me began to notice, but after I tossed a pessimistic rant into The Rant Thread and got feedback I was really pleased with, I decided that a little documentation here on ScoreHero (at the behest of MasterNobody) couldn't hurt. Basically, the plan is this:

1. Eat a lot less.

2. Exercise a lot more.

3. Get weighed twice a week as part of the screening process at my plasma donation center.

4. Hope for the best?

5. Update the thread with results, successful or not.

The updates here will be weekly and will serve to a) physically track my (possible ) weight loss on a consistent basis and b) provide a bit of a story for anybody who cares. I'll probably make my first update either Friday or Saturday, depending on when I decide to donate plasma, and see where it goes from there. Until then, I guess I'll just let this thread gather a bit of dust.


WEEK 1


The plasma place weighed me in at 356 pounds, which is actually 4 pounds less than 360 from the week before, but I'll just use 356 as my starting point. Dieting has been a little easier than expected, and working out has gone...somewhat well. A couple lapses of willpower and an entire skipped day of exercise are among a couple things I'm not so proud of, but I'm learning exactly what it's going to take to commit to this cause. While I've remained decently dedicated to the exercising, it's been absolute HELL on the body. Every part of me is ridiculously sore; even my fucking gut hurts just from bouncing up and down all the time. Kinda disgusting, I know, but hey. Anyway, a couple of important notes:

1. Working out is great and all, but overdoing it at this stage can lead to a little more than just an exhausted obese guy. I've gotta be realistic about what I can/can't do.

2. This was discussed a bit over in The Rant Thread, but if I physically can't sleep because I'm too hungry, then there might be a chance that I'm making my portion sizes too small, another case where overdoing it might lead to more harm than good.

3. Avoid Buffalo Wild Wings at all costs. I have a real weakness for chicken wings (among a bunch of other foods, but that's beside the point ), and Buffalo Wild Wings is the perfect place to have a good time with friends and completely ignore the 1700+ Calories that I'm about to ingest in a single sitting. Restraint is good and all, but it might be best to leave temptation out of the picture as often as possible.


Week 2


Weighed in today at 351 pounds, a 5-pound loss from last week. The good news: this is actually working. I'll be damned. The bad news: it's getting really freakin' hard to keep my pants pulled up. I bought them when I weighed 370, and I made sure they had a bit of wiggle room then. I am really not looking forward to having none of my clothes fit me once I start losing more weight. I'm poor enough as it is. Buying more clothes is going to suck.


Week 3


Okay, so umm...weighed in earlier today at 345 pounds, a loss of 6 pounds this week. This is ridiculous. I didn't think I'd actually be seeing results like this, but...well...here they are. Looking in the mirror, I don't really see anything different, but all of my clothes are definitely starting to fit more loosely. Not much else to say. I'll just stay the course and see if the weight loss keeps up.


Week 4


Weighed in today at 341 pounds for a loss of 4 pounds this week. That marks 15 pounds shed in the 3 weeks since I've made this thread and 30 pounds down from my weight in the middle of December. I never thought I'd make this kind of progress at all, much less stick with it. If I can keep losing weight at this rate, I'll have dropped 100 pounds by the end of May. I've got a really good friend who I won't be seeing until she graduates from high school on the 25th of May, and I think the look on her face after seeing me, minus over a quarter of my body weight, would be priceless. Of course, that's assuming that my weight loss remains constant for three months, so I'll just consider that wishful thinking for now.

While I'm thoroughly pleased with already having lost 30 pounds, the road ahead puts things into a less uplifting perspective. There are lots of people who would be content for the rest of their lives after having lost 30 pounds. The fact that I almost need to do this six times over to be considered "normal" shows just how out-of-control things became. Even still, though, there are people who've suffered from (and overcome) a whole lot worse than what I'm going through, so I suppose it wouldn't hurt to quit bitching and just keep doing what I've been doing.

Oh, right. I should also mention...I lost my pants in English class Monday. I guess I forgot to pull my pants up past my waist when I got out of my seat because three steps after I stood up, the bastards were at my ankles. It was a little embarrassing, but at the same time, I thought it was kinda cool.


Week 5


Weighed in today at 337 pounds, bringing this week's weight loss, once again, to 4 pounds. Still going strong, even if things get just a tad shaky along the way. I think I might start getting serious about running. Not sure if I'm ready for it yet, but it's worth a shot, at least.


Week 6


Eh, still 332 pounds, which makes 5 pounds lost this week. I know I was hoping to fall below 330, but this is still plenty satisfying. Not a whole lot to say this week, except maybe that I need a freakin' belt. My pants refuse to stay up anymore.


Week 7


Dropped down to 327 pounds, yet another loss of 5 pounds on the week. I can't believe I'm 45 pounds down from my max weight, nor can I believe that I'm still dropping 5 pounds a week, with no signs of slowing down. It's insane.


Week 8


Down to 323 pounds this go around, a loss of 4 pounds. I definitely did way better than I expected. I went home for spring break and visited with some buddies, snagging some decent eats for the first time since...hell, I dunno...week 1 or 2? Anyway, I countered all the eating by running 'til I wanted to god damn die almost every night, which...is taking longer and longer to do every day. I didn't start seeing any major improvement until around the beginning of this past week, but holy hell, running got easier out of nowhere.

And now for bad news...I worked up the courage to start posting about my weight loss on Facebook, and sure enough, I don't even make it a full week before I find someone I thought to be a decent friend of mine talking shit about me via Tumblr. She said some pretty nasty things. Shit was...not cool. Eh, oh well. At least I know what I won't be doing anymore.


Week 9


318 pounds this week. That's 5 more pounds gone. I'm still paranoid about hitting that dreaded plateau that everybody talks about. It hasn't happened yet, though, so I figure I'll just enjoy the success while it lasts.


Week 10


I'm not sure what I did to piss off the angry hand of Karma this week, but whatever I did must have been god damn horrible. As if my little story in The Rant Thread wasn't bad enough, I was also harassed while trying to run for the first time last night. Some asshole high school kid was sitting in his car at the park I run at, and for every lap I ran past his car, he'd find some way to give me shit. The first time was a simple "RUN PIGGY" yelled out his window, which...whatever, I can shrug that off. The second time I ran past him, though, he got out of his car and started jogging beside me, talking shit that I'm really not in the mood to repeat. I felt like I had something to prove, so as long as he followed me, berating me, I didn't stop running. Well...given as big as I am, I naturally couldn't do that forever, so I eventually gassed out. Only when I stopped running and began throwing up did he call me pathetic and finally walk away. I thought going out at night would help keep me out of the public eye and avoid people like him, but I guess not. Whatever. 314 pounds this week. 4 pounds lost again. Cool.


Week 11


Weighed in at 310 pounds this week, another 4 pounds gone. I've lost a little over 45 since starting this thread, and I'm 60 down from my max. These numbers are starting to get pretty big. Nothing else to report, except that for some reason my left thigh is sore as shit from running. I'm not sure why my thigh started getting sore, as only my calves and feet ever ached before now.


Week 12


306 pounds this week, 4 pounds gone once again. Two more weeks at this rate and I'll drop below 300. So close...


Week 13


303 pounds this week, so only 3 pounds gone this time around. I let up a bit on my diet this week, just to give myself a bit of breathing room, so I'm not surprised that I only lost 3 pounds. Hell, 3 pounds is still plenty. Anyway, yeah, I'm ready to hit 300. So ready.


Week 14


I'm not sure what the hell I did differently this week, but clearly something's going well since I weighed in at 296 pounds today, shaving off a record of 7 pounds in a single week. A record high is definitely a nice way to counter the record low from last week. Honestly, though, I'd rather not see seven pounds become a regular thing. I mean...sure, it's cool to see for one week and all, but it seems like I'd be dropping weight too quickly if it were to start happening consistently. Anyway, I'd like to have some sort of visual documentation that really captures how much weight I've lost over the past few months, and I feel like the shirtless comparison pics aren't quite doing it. Therefore, I've decided to whip out...my clown pants!




So yeah, these are the pants I had to retire about 30 pounds ago after countless public pants-to-ankles embarrassments, perhaps the worst one being when a friend of mine attempted to leap onto me and straddle me at the waist, only to have her leg slip and pull my pants off. I'm not sure exactly how many inches I've lost since wearing these (they're 48s, but I'm still stubbornly wearing 46es, which are becoming clown pants in their own right), but as you can KINDA tell from my horribly photographed picture, it's...a lot.


Week 15


293 pounds today. 3 more pounds gone. Nothing of note this time around, I suppose.


Week 16


290 pounds today. Ah, it indeed appears that the 3-pound weeks are here. This is just fine, though. So long as I'm still losing, I'm not in any position to worry.


Week 17


288 pounds today. Only 2 pounds this week. Uh oh. Looks like things are about to become difficult. I mean...this weekend saw a lot of calories due to taking my mom out for a Mother's day lunch and having a "friend zone" date from Hell (but that's another story for another time *grumble*), but still. This doesn't exactly bode well.


Week 18


Holy crap, so much for the fear of stagnating weight loss. Weighed 281 pounds this time around, making another 7-pound week. This happened in light of some interesting fitness developments, though. On top of running a mile, I've also discovered that I'm finally not too heavy to do pushups. Funny, this past Fall I took a walking course at my university (needed a physical fitness credit, lazy ass naturally found the easiest course, y'know), and I had to take a fitness test at the beginning and end of the course that was comprised of pushups, situps, flexibility, and a 1.5-mile jog. Of course, weighing 370 pounds, I couldn't even come close to doing a single pushup in either test. A few days ago, I figured I'd give them a shot again for shits and giggles, and I found myself doing ten before I stopped out of sheer excitement and began running through the house, letting out a bunch of celebratory "WHAT THE FUCK, I JUST DID THAT AFHDALEFHLUAEHRW"s. It's strange; I'm starting to reach a point where I can actually like...do things with my body. I've never had this luxury. I don't know how to explain it, but it's amazing. Well, my tailbone coming into existence is a little bit less than amazing, but still, you get the picture. Anyway, now that I'm finally able to do a significant amount of bodyweight exercise, I think it's time to start getting serious about doing a full body workout. Not only am I going to attempt to be un-BigFat, I'm also going to attempt to become fit!


Week 19


Well, then. Came in this time around at 278 pounds, 3 more pounds this week. Of note: as far as this thread is concerned, I've precisely hit the halfway mark. Very cool. From my max, I'm actually almost 100 down, which is just insane. Fitness is getting cool, too. I can do 20 pushups now, I can plank for two and a half minutes, and my mile running is becoming somewhat consistent, albeit slow (I'm close to getting it below 10 minutes, so yeah, lots of improvement left in that department). Anyway, I guess that's all for this week. More to come, like usual, eh?


Week 20


Weighed in this week at 275 pounds, yet another 3 more pounds. Look at that. I passed the four-kitty mark. Not a whole lot to speak of this week. Just...a whole lot more of the same usual stuff. Not much to do but just keep working.


Week 21


Lost another 3 pounds, bringing my weight to 272 pounds. My max weight before undergoing this journey was 372. Though not reflective of my thread's weight tracking, I actually dropped my hundredth pound this week. That's...something else. I can't wait 'til I finally reach the mark in this thread to make it completely official, though.


Week 22


Losing a solid 4 pounds this week brings my weight down to 268 pounds. Things are still going quite well. I was at a friend of mine's family reunion today, and I broke away from mingling with his family for a little while to do some dicking off at the park we were at. I'm starting to enjoy parts of life that seem really petty, but I'll be damned if sitting in a swing with no fear and attempting to try climbing a tree and actually succeeding doesn't make me giddy as all hell. Just saying, I've never been able to climb a tree, not even as a kid. It seems like tiny victories and new possibilities open themselves up to me almost every week, and it's never anything short of an awesome feeling. Anyway, less sappy shit. More thread updating. AWAY!


Week 23


Oh, boy. Had a good week this time around. Lost another 6 pounds, down to 262 pounds now. If I can manage another week at this rate (which I doubt will happen), I'll document the hundred-pound mark next week. My hopes for that happening aren't particularly high, though, so I'll play it safe and assume we'll see it happen two updates from now. Not a whole lot going on lately, except that I've been trying to improve my time on my mile. I'm seeing results, but at the same time, I've been getting kinda frustrated. I was on the final backstretch of my mile yesterday (yeah, I ran in the daytime, and FUCK THE SUN OH MY GOD) when I noticed I stood a legitimate chance of completing my mile under 9:30. I decided to kick it into high gear and haul ass to the finish...only to come in at 9:31. Eh, it's all good, though. It's definitely better than my first timed mile at like...10:33. I'll keep working at it, as well as pushing myself to keep going after running a mile. For some reason, I lose all of my motivation to continue after the first mile, no matter how tired I am. I always find myself playing the numbers game, saying to myself, "But if I keep going, I'll probably only make it one more lap around the track, which makes five laps, and five is an odd number! Gross! Better just stop here."


Week 24


Oh, man. We're getting close. SO CLOSE. I shed another 3 pounds this week to hit 259 pounds, so unless things go horribly wrong, this thread should see the documentation of the 100th lost pound next fucking week. I can't wait. Anyway, turns out I was able to break that mental barrier I had with running just last night, and...well...I actually kinda destroyed it. My old record for running with no breaks was 11 minutes, so I decided I'd at least tie it and see how far I could go from there. After about 12 minutes in...I don't really know how to explain it; my body kinda went into autopilot mode. The excruciating pain that slowly builds in my left leg over time just vanished, and my breathing became controllable to the point where I didn't really have to pay much attention to it. I was suddenly, completely out of nowhere, able to run without having to worry about how my body would react to it, like it was a natural thing I'd been doing my entire life. It didn't feel like work anymore; it just felt like...I dunno...just running. It really is difficult to explain, so forgive me if I'm not making much sense. Anyway, after I hit the 20 minute mark (almost double my previous best) and fucking lapped a couple that was jogging in intervals -- on a half-mile trail, at that -- I decided to call it quits and go home. I'm not sure if it was the feeling of success or another side effect of whatever it was that came over me during my run, but for the first time, I actually felt great after getting out there and busting ass. I can't help but wonder...is this how it's supposed to feel? Am I finally getting where I need to be?


Week 25


The 3 pounds went, as expected. Down to 256 pounds and my hundredth pound officially lost since starting this thread. I'm really not sure what to say. The days when I was locked in my room, feeling like I was near death after doing a measly 20 or 30 jumping jacks seem like a distant memory at this point, but at the same time, it's hard to believe I'm not that person anymore. Literally the last thing I expected from this endeavor was success of any kind; I'd failed at it time and time again, and this was bound to be no different. Somehow, though...it wasn't. I don't know what changed. I don't know what force of nature got me serious enough to make this happen, but I know what's kept me going this long and what's going to keep me going as long as I need to. With that said...thanks, guys.


Week 26


Down to 254 pounds this week, losing another 2 pounds. This week was...interesting. I had decided that Friday night was gonna be the freakin' night; I was gonna buckle down and give my run every ounce of energy I had. I was finally going to run a 5K. Things were going well, too. After 20 minutes had passed, I still felt great. I could taste another milestone, and I was determined to make it happen...until power went out all over town, making the park pitch black. Whatever, I figured. I'm wasn't gonna quit that far in, so I used my cell phone's light to guide me through the dark, but that only lasted so long. About 22 minutes into my run, I caught one of my feet on a break in the sidewalk, tripped, and completely busted fucking face, knocking the wind right out of me. I laid on the ground, an exhausted, gasping heap of defeat. I had failed hard, in one of the most discouraging ways possible.

But hey, whatever. There's always another day to try again, right? With that said, the next night, I went out there again and...well...to save another annoying-to-read paragraph, I did it. It took me 31:52 to do it, but I ran a freakin' 5K with no breaks. It's hard to believe that I've worked up to this point from not being able to run at all. Matter of fact, it's insane. Insane as it is, though, it feels great.


Week 27


Losing another 4 pounds this week has me sitting at exactly 250 pounds. I weighed this much in sixth grade. Sixth. Freakin'. Grade. As with several instances along this journey, I'm conflicted about this milestone. I'm always torn between the pride I have in what I am and the shame I feel when I realize just how bad I was before. I dunno. I just can't seem to shake it, no matter how far I've come.


Week 28


Weighed 247 pounds this Saturday, knocking away yet another 3 pounds. So umm...I have a running buddy now. Who would've thunk? A buddy of mine from back home recently started attending the same university as me, so we recently started hanging out occasionally. With the way I've been shrinking, it naturally comes up in conversation every once in a while, so when he asked me a couple of months ago how I've been doing it and I told him that I've been dieting and running every day, he proposed that we start running together. I told him that I wouldn't mind it, but I never really made any efforts to make it happen since...well...you guys know how I prefer my solitude when it comes to these things. Anyway, after a few "hey, we should run [insert time here]"s that all fell through, we finally met up a few days ago in freakin' 105-degree heat and ran a couple of miles. Apart from sweating more than I have in my entire life, it wasn't bad. Having somebody along for the run is nice, and random people at the park during the day are a hell of a lot less shady than the people who frequent the park at night. It's nice enough that I've actually switched over to daytime running for the time being.


Week 29


Weighed 244 pounds this time around, so surprise surprise; 3 pounds have vanished once again. Not a whole lot to add this update. It dawned on me a couple days ago that I've been wearing nothing but athletic shorts for the entire summer; the last time I wore a pair of pants was in the comparison pic I uploaded at the end of May, and those were slacks, which totally don't count. Anyway, with school starting less than two weeks and me not owning a fitting pair of pants anymore, I naturally got to wondering what size I'll need to buy when the time comes to shop. A friend of mine who was visiting me and my roommate at the time suggested I try on his pants (38" waist), and this was the result. They fit rather well, I'd say.





Week 30


Weighed 239 pounds this Saturday. Not sure how, but yeah, that's another 5 pounds down this week. Not a whole lot to report on. I've got my mile down to 8:22. Shouldn't be too long before I can run a sub-8-minute mile, which will be cool. Not sure if seven is possible, but hey, it's not like I won't be working on it. We'll see.


Week 31


Yeesh, late update this time around. School started this week, so I've been kinda busy. Anyway, weighed 236 pounds this Saturday, so another 3 pounds have been shed. Woo. This upcoming weigh-in, though, won't be so great. I've been eating pretty badly lately; ate at Olive Garden for the first time this weekend, and my roommate's girlfriend has gone on a cooking frenzy for everybody here at the house since she got back into town. Girl takes way too much pride in her work, I swear. Also, I got deferred from the plasma center today. My pulse was 46, 4 points too low to donate. It's been steadily decreasing since I took up running, but now it's starting to get so low that it's keeping me from making my meager 70 bucks a week! What am I to do, get a real job or something? C'mon...


Week 32


Hurray, things went better than I thought. Weighed 234 pounds this Saturday, so instead of stagnating/gaining like I thought I would, I actually lost 2 pounds. Spiffy. I kinda busted some major ass with my running to make it happen, but it was totally worth it. I've been so damn late with my updates that I've actually already weighed in again since Saturday (231 pounds at that, so this coming Saturday should be quite nice), so I really need to get this thread back on track.


Week 33


Hey, cool. Weighed 230 pounds, so another 4 pounds shed. Making some more ever so slight improvements on fitness; I've got my 5K right at 28 minutes, and I'm so damn close to being able to do that stupid chin-up I've been trying to do for ages now. I'll get there...eventually.


Week 34


Haha, oops. I freakin' ate like a king this week, so I only lost 1 pound; however, I still lowered the ol' number to 229 pounds. I'd say it was worth it, though. Got to eat some freakin' awesome BBQ, casual southern dining, Italian...now that I'm actually freakin' healthy and closer to my goal, I'm not so obsessed with my progress stagnating or going backward. Now that I'm actually in shape and know what it takes to stay in shape, I'm confident that I can keep myself in check. I feel like I actually have total control of my life for the first time in...well...ever, and it feels great.


Week 35


Okay, 6 pounds gone this week, 223 pounds now, wtf. I mean...I'm not exactly complaining, but it's strange to still be putting up these kinds of numbers. *shrug* Anyway, finally got that damn chin-up down. It felt nothing short of amazing to, after so many freakin' months of trying, feel my arms level out and my chin rise above the pull-up bar. I was starting to wonder if it was ever going to happen. Now I'm just a single goal (damned pull-up ) away from doing every single thing I set out to do in the fitness department. That isn't to say that I'll stop there, of course; there are tons of different exercises and progressions that I've yet to even attempt, and it'll be cool to see what I can do over these next couple of years. However, putting the final nail in the personal coffin should bring me a great deal of satisfaction for obvious reasons.

Oh, also, here's a progress pic. Went out and snagged a new pair of jeans, 36" waist. Not bad.



Also, I went to a BBQ cookoff with my roommate and a bunch of his friends. Saw some random Texas Country singer perform, took a group picture with him (far back). Is it bad that I can barely even recognize myself in this picture (I'm dead center)?




Week 36


Alright, then. Lost another 3 pounds, coming in this week at 220 pounds. With these 3 pounds gone, I've finally crossed BMI's threshold of obesity, so in other words, I'm...officially not fat anymore. Cool. Anyway, looking forward, I'm on the final stretch now. Only 20 more pounds to go. It's crazy to see that I've come so far, so quickly. I never thought this was anywhere close to possible. On a less exciting note, though...I've recently been suffering from some serious bouts of orthostatic hypotension, as well as low blood pressure in general. I'm not exactly sure what gives, but it's starting to become pretty troublesome. Last time I had my blood pressure checked, I came in at 96/53. Weak. Other than that, however, things are still great.


Week 37


WOOOOOO, BIRTHDAY WEEKEND. Went back home and visited with my grandma, who turned 71 the day after I turned 23. Ate lunch and spent the day with her and my mom. Good times. Ate like a king, but still dropped 2 pounds regardless, leaving my weight at 218 pounds. Not much to say past that, I suppose.


Week 38


Alright then. 216 pounds this week, adding some more consistency to these 2-pound weeks I've been having. Anyway, this week was interesting. My 15-year-old cousin's estranged mom is trying to reconnect with her daughter, so she tried earn some brownie points by offering to buy two tickets, gas, hotel accommodations, etc. for my cousin and any adult who would be willing to drive her to San Antonio (5 hours from where she lives, 7 from where I live) for a Pierce The Veil/Sleeping With Sirens concert. My cousin asks me if I'd do it for her, and the first thought that pops into my head is "Haha, NO. Fuck that shit," but instead, I decided to play it off with a bit of tact and say, "Yeah, sure, I'll take you...if you dad says yes," knowing damn well that he, being the total hard ass that he is, was bound to say no.

Well, given my luck, the bastard said yes , so come Thursday the 18th, it was off to San Antonio with me! My cousin's mom ended up accidentally buying four tickets instead of two, so she brought another damned teenage friend with her. On the plus side, though, she let me use the fourth ticket to snag one of my friends who lives in the area, so I didn't have to brave the pubescent shitstorm alone! Anyway, we made it to the venue where my cousin met up with a ton of her friends who came along...with their parents. I used this opportunity to pawn my cousin off with this large, apparently safe group so that my buddy and I could bail the fuck out on this concert (not our type of music at all). For anybody familiar with San Antonio, what's the one place (barring the Alamo) where any tourist/visitor is bound to end up?

If you guessed the MOTHERFUCKIN' RIVER WALK, then...well, yeah, that's about right. Anyway, my buddy and I spent the entire afternoon hitting up everything we could on the river walk (RESTAURANTS AND BARS EVERYWHERE, FUCK YES), so I indulged like crazy. It's okay, though. Still came away none the worse for wear, which surprised the hell out of me.


Week 39


2 pounds down, 214 pounds this week. Surprised? Yeah, me, neither. Good news, though: I applied for (and got) a full-time job as a cashier at Walgreens. It isn't exactly the most wonderful of jobs to have, but my ass is finally going to stop being broke, meaning I can finally start buying some freakin' clothes. Also, there are plenty of people who claim that everybody should hold at least one job in the retail/service industry for the people skills, so that's something to consider. Actually, truth be told, getting this job was a huge step for me. When I was big, I'd have never even dared apply for it due to the wonderful effects of obesity-related social anxiety. Hell, there were plenty of times when I'd see a store's "NOW HIRING" sign and flood myself with reasons why I shouldn't even attempt to get a job:

Why even try? You're massive. What do people associate with massive? Lazy, unmotivated, slow. Nobody wants a worker who won't work, and even if those are just stereotypes, they're true in your case, Bob. Besides, even if you did get the job, think of all the people who are going to make fun of you, day in and day out. To your face, behind your back...it all hurts the same. Don't forget that on top of being seen as undesirable by most of popular culture, they take a little farther; you're also their laughingstock. You don't wanna be that, man. Keep yourself out of the public eye. It ain't worth it.

It may seem like I was blowing things way out of proportion, which...well...I was, but I was afraid. Being big dominated my life in ways I'm almost ashamed to admit. Truth be told, now that this is all so apparent to me, I think I've realized the greatest part of dropping all this damned weight. I have a new lease on life from a mental point of view as well as physical. I'm not afraid anymore.


Week 40


Well, what do we have here? 212 pounds and another 2-pound loss? Shocker. Anyway, some good news this week: I ran a 10K, no breaks. Went out to run my usual two miles for starters when I decided to give it a little extra effort and make it a 5K (it'd been a while since I'd actually churned out the extra mile without a little break ). After I hit the 5K, I figured, hell, I'm pacing myself pretty well; let's see how much farther I can go since I've never ran past the 5K mark. Six and a half laps around the half-mile turned into seven, eight, ten...1:03:40 and 13 laps into my run, I was spent. Six and a half miles with no breaks, though...despite being more exhausted than I'd ever been in my life, I felt great. As with my usual pre-milestone mindset, I never thought I'd even come close to achieving something like that, but...well...I did. Not much more to say than that. Not sure if anything can top that, either. I'd like to run a half-marathon without stopping one of these days, but doubling what already kicked my ass seems pretty damn far out of reach. Let's not even get started on the 26.2 miles of a full marathon. I happen to be a fan of not dying.


Week 41


Haha, freakin' finally. 209 pounds this week; so that's 3 pounds down, bitches! Unfortunately, that's the only good thing that happened this week. My low blood pressure woes reached critical mass Friday at work. As I mentioned before, I now get frequent head rushes when I move from a prone or otherwise low position to a high one, and they're pretty annoying. That's all they've been, however, until a few hours into my shift, I squatted down to grab a pack of cigarettes from the bottom rack of the shelves. I rose a bit more quickly than I should've, and in came the dizzy spell. It's okay, though. I'm used to these things. I just powered through it for the few seconds it takes for it to fade out...except it didn't. In fact, the lightheadedness built to the point where I was seeing spots, blacks were turning purple, and reading text was about equivalent to staring into a lava lamp. I asked my customer to bear with me, I paged my already-in-earshot manager, and told her I was starting to feel sick. I heard her mention something about me being ghost-pale, and the next thing I know, I was out cold. I god damn fainted. I'm now how sure how long I was out, but I know I was barely able to come to in time to stop her from calling 911 on me. She settled with having the pharmacy manager check my blood sugar (he was concerned that I was showing semi-diabetic symptoms) and blood pressure/pulse, which, naturally, was looooow. 97/51 BP, 48 BPM pulse. Keep in mind that this was taken while working, not resting. Well, I guess you can count me passing out as resting, but still. Anyway, they had me rest up for an hour (I took my lunch break for half of it), and I finished the night without incident. The one incident was more than enough for me, though. Looks like I need to see a damn doctor.


Week 42


Getting closer...came in this time at 207 pounds, so yeah, 2 pounds lost once again. Nothing much to report this time around; however, I did find myself wearing a Medium shirt, which I thought was cool enough to warrant a picture. *points down a couple of lines*





Week 43


204 pounds, this week, 3 pounds closer to the big goal. I hadn't even realized, but I passed the 150-pound mark this week. Holy crap. As awesome as it is, though, I've got my eyes set on a bigger prize, and it's so. damn. close.



Week 44


Oh, shit. Thanksgiving. Did I gain any weight? *steps on scale* 203 pounds...1 pound lost...phew! I should consider myself damn lucky that I didn't gain. I kinda went nuts with food this Thanksgiving. Anyway, moving forward...


Week 45


Lost another 2 pounds, leaving me sitting at 201 pounds. Ugh, one more week, damn it. Just one more.


Weight Loss to Date


January 28, 2012: 356 pounds
February 4, 2012: 351 pounds
February 11, 2012: 345 pounds
February 18, 2012: 341 pounds
February 25, 2012: 337 pounds
March 3, 2012: 332 pounds
March 10, 2012: 327 pounds
March 17, 2012: 323 pounds
March 24, 2012: 318 pounds
March 31, 2012: 314 pounds
April 7, 2012: 310 pounds
April 14, 2012: 306 pounds
April 21, 2012: 303 pounds
April 28, 2012: 296 pounds
May 5, 2012: 293 pounds
May 12, 2012: 290 pounds
May 19, 2012: 288 pounds
May 26, 2012: 281 pounds
June 2, 2012: 278 pounds
June 9, 2012: 275 pounds
June 16, 2012: 272 pounds
June 23, 2012: 268 pounds
June 30, 2012: 262 pounds
July 7, 2012: 259 pounds
July 14, 2012: 256 pounds
July 21, 2012: 254 pounds
July 28, 2012: 250 pounds
August 4, 2012: 247 pounds
August 11, 2012: 244 pounds
August 18, 2012: 239 pounds
August 25, 2012: 236 pounds
September 1, 2012: 234 pounds
September 8, 2012: 230 pounds
September 15, 2012: 229 pounds
September 22, 2012: 223 pounds
September 29, 2012: 220 pounds
October 6, 2012: 218 pounds
October 13, 2012: 216 pounds
October 20, 2012: 214 pounds
October 27, 2012: 212 pounds
November 3, 2012: 209 pounds
November 10, 2012: 207 pounds
November 17, 2012: 204 pounds
November 24, 2012: 203 pounds
December 1, 2012: 201 pounds

Total weight loss: 155 pounds
_________________

FL4RE wrote:

Wow I didn't realize that wasn't a word used in the U.S commonly...having read over what I wrote before, I am in fact not encouraging you people to fuck slags, STD's are bad.

[BigFatBob]

Hi, everybody. BigFatBob here, and if my name didn't provide any sort of indication, I have a bit of a weight problem. Hell, from 100 pounds in second grade to 250 in sixth grade all the way up to the 370-pound plateau in high school that I've been hovering around to date, it's safe to say I've had this problem as long as I can remember. I'm no special case or anything, not a victim of any sort of disease, genetic disorder, or some other quirk. As expected, my obesity's a result of over twenty years of laziness, apathy, and generally poor decision making, whether those decisions were my own or not. Whatever the cause, my weight has been a hindrance in almost every facet of my life, be it through physical limitations, social inhibitions, or what have you. It's literally defined who I am, and I've only recently fallen into a state of discontent with that. With the knowledge that I've missed out on some of the most important years of my life and the realization that I may not even get to live the latter half of my life at all if I let my problem run its course, I've finally decided to change who I am and see about shedding over a hundred pounds of extra baggage. I'm sure it'll be, without question, the hardest task I've ever set before myself, but I think the time has finally come to take the BigFat out of BigFatBob.

Originally, this whole weight-loss thing was a cynical "durr, watch me starve myself for a couple weeks, put forth the bare minimum amount of physical activity to cross the boundary into 'exercise' and see where it takes me" venture that I've embarked on a couple times before in a sad attempt to convince myself that I was actually on some sort of path to self-improvement, but after somehow losing fifteen pounds in the ordeal, I've decided to take it in a more serious, motivated direction. I was also originally going to keep this private, at least until I either lost a significant amount of weight or the people around me began to notice, but after I tossed a pessimistic rant into The Rant Thread and got feedback I was really pleased with, I decided that a little documentation here on ScoreHero (at the behest of MasterNobody) couldn't hurt. Basically, the plan is this:

1. Eat a lot less.

2. Exercise a lot more.

3. Get weighed twice a week as part of the screening process at my plasma donation center.

4. Hope for the best?

5. Update the thread with results, successful or not.

The updates here will be weekly and will serve to a) physically track my (possible ) weight loss on a consistent basis and b) provide a bit of a story for anybody who cares. I'll probably make my first update either Friday or Saturday, depending on when I decide to donate plasma, and see where it goes from there. Until then, I guess I'll just let this thread gather a bit of dust.


WEEK 1


The plasma place weighed me in at 356 pounds, which is actually 4 pounds less than 360 from the week before, but I'll just use 356 as my starting point. Dieting has been a little easier than expected, and working out has gone...somewhat well. A couple lapses of willpower and an entire skipped day of exercise are among a couple things I'm not so proud of, but I'm learning exactly what it's going to take to commit to this cause. While I've remained decently dedicated to the exercising, it's been absolute HELL on the body. Every part of me is ridiculously sore; even my fucking gut hurts just from bouncing up and down all the time. Kinda disgusting, I know, but hey. Anyway, a couple of important notes:

1. Working out is great and all, but overdoing it at this stage can lead to a little more than just an exhausted obese guy. I've gotta be realistic about what I can/can't do.

2. This was discussed a bit over in The Rant Thread, but if I physically can't sleep because I'm too hungry, then there might be a chance that I'm making my portion sizes too small, another case where overdoing it might lead to more harm than good.

3. Avoid Buffalo Wild Wings at all costs. I have a real weakness for chicken wings (among a bunch of other foods, but that's beside the point ), and Buffalo Wild Wings is the perfect place to have a good time with friends and completely ignore the 1700+ Calories that I'm about to ingest in a single sitting. Restraint is good and all, but it might be best to leave temptation out of the picture as often as possible.


Week 2


Weighed in today at 351 pounds, a 5-pound loss from last week. The good news: this is actually working. I'll be damned. The bad news: it's getting really freakin' hard to keep my pants pulled up. I bought them when I weighed 370, and I made sure they had a bit of wiggle room then. I am really not looking forward to having none of my clothes fit me once I start losing more weight. I'm poor enough as it is. Buying more clothes is going to suck.


Week 3


Okay, so umm...weighed in earlier today at 345 pounds, a loss of 6 pounds this week. This is ridiculous. I didn't think I'd actually be seeing results like this, but...well...here they are. Looking in the mirror, I don't really see anything different, but all of my clothes are definitely starting to fit more loosely. Not much else to say. I'll just stay the course and see if the weight loss keeps up.


Week 4


Weighed in today at 341 pounds for a loss of 4 pounds this week. That marks 15 pounds shed in the 3 weeks since I've made this thread and 30 pounds down from my weight in the middle of December. I never thought I'd make this kind of progress at all, much less stick with it. If I can keep losing weight at this rate, I'll have dropped 100 pounds by the end of May. I've got a really good friend who I won't be seeing until she graduates from high school on the 25th of May, and I think the look on her face after seeing me, minus over a quarter of my body weight, would be priceless. Of course, that's assuming that my weight loss remains constant for three months, so I'll just consider that wishful thinking for now.

While I'm thoroughly pleased with already having lost 30 pounds, the road ahead puts things into a less uplifting perspective. There are lots of people who would be content for the rest of their lives after having lost 30 pounds. The fact that I almost need to do this six times over to be considered "normal" shows just how out-of-control things became. Even still, though, there are people who've suffered from (and overcome) a whole lot worse than what I'm going through, so I suppose it wouldn't hurt to quit bitching and just keep doing what I've been doing.

Oh, right. I should also mention...I lost my pants in English class Monday. I guess I forgot to pull my pants up past my waist when I got out of my seat because three steps after I stood up, the bastards were at my ankles. It was a little embarrassing, but at the same time, I thought it was kinda cool.


Week 5


Weighed in today at 337 pounds, bringing this week's weight loss, once again, to 4 pounds. Still going strong, even if things get just a tad shaky along the way. I think I might start getting serious about running. Not sure if I'm ready for it yet, but it's worth a shot, at least.


Week 6


Eh, still 332 pounds, which makes 5 pounds lost this week. I know I was hoping to fall below 330, but this is still plenty satisfying. Not a whole lot to say this week, except maybe that I need a freakin' belt. My pants refuse to stay up anymore.


Week 7


Dropped down to 327 pounds, yet another loss of 5 pounds on the week. I can't believe I'm 45 pounds down from my max weight, nor can I believe that I'm still dropping 5 pounds a week, with no signs of slowing down. It's insane.


Week 8


Down to 323 pounds this go around, a loss of 4 pounds. I definitely did way better than I expected. I went home for spring break and visited with some buddies, snagging some decent eats for the first time since...hell, I dunno...week 1 or 2? Anyway, I countered all the eating by running 'til I wanted to god damn die almost every night, which...is taking longer and longer to do every day. I didn't start seeing any major improvement until around the beginning of this past week, but holy hell, running got easier out of nowhere.

And now for bad news...I worked up the courage to start posting about my weight loss on Facebook, and sure enough, I don't even make it a full week before I find someone I thought to be a decent friend of mine talking shit about me via Tumblr. She said some pretty nasty things. Shit was...not cool. Eh, oh well. At least I know what I won't be doing anymore.


Week 9


318 pounds this week. That's 5 more pounds gone. I'm still paranoid about hitting that dreaded plateau that everybody talks about. It hasn't happened yet, though, so I figure I'll just enjoy the success while it lasts.


Week 10


I'm not sure what I did to piss off the angry hand of Karma this week, but whatever I did must have been god damn horrible. As if my little story in The Rant Thread wasn't bad enough, I was also harassed while trying to run for the first time last night. Some asshole high school kid was sitting in his car at the park I run at, and for every lap I ran past his car, he'd find some way to give me shit. The first time was a simple "RUN PIGGY" yelled out his window, which...whatever, I can shrug that off. The second time I ran past him, though, he got out of his car and started jogging beside me, talking shit that I'm really not in the mood to repeat. I felt like I had something to prove, so as long as he followed me, berating me, I didn't stop running. Well...given as big as I am, I naturally couldn't do that forever, so I eventually gassed out. Only when I stopped running and began throwing up did he call me pathetic and finally walk away. I thought going out at night would help keep me out of the public eye and avoid people like him, but I guess not. Whatever. 314 pounds this week. 4 pounds lost again. Cool.


Week 11


Weighed in at 310 pounds this week, another 4 pounds gone. I've lost a little over 45 since starting this thread, and I'm 60 down from my max. These numbers are starting to get pretty big. Nothing else to report, except that for some reason my left thigh is sore as shit from running. I'm not sure why my thigh started getting sore, as only my calves and feet ever ached before now.


Week 12


306 pounds this week, 4 pounds gone once again. Two more weeks at this rate and I'll drop below 300. So close...


Week 13


303 pounds this week, so only 3 pounds gone this time around. I let up a bit on my diet this week, just to give myself a bit of breathing room, so I'm not surprised that I only lost 3 pounds. Hell, 3 pounds is still plenty. Anyway, yeah, I'm ready to hit 300. So ready.


Week 14


I'm not sure what the hell I did differently this week, but clearly something's going well since I weighed in at 296 pounds today, shaving off a record of 7 pounds in a single week. A record high is definitely a nice way to counter the record low from last week. Honestly, though, I'd rather not see seven pounds become a regular thing. I mean...sure, it's cool to see for one week and all, but it seems like I'd be dropping weight too quickly if it were to start happening consistently. Anyway, I'd like to have some sort of visual documentation that really captures how much weight I've lost over the past few months, and I feel like the shirtless comparison pics aren't quite doing it. Therefore, I've decided to whip out...my clown pants!




So yeah, these are the pants I had to retire about 30 pounds ago after countless public pants-to-ankles embarrassments, perhaps the worst one being when a friend of mine attempted to leap onto me and straddle me at the waist, only to have her leg slip and pull my pants off. I'm not sure exactly how many inches I've lost since wearing these (they're 48s, but I'm still stubbornly wearing 46es, which are becoming clown pants in their own right), but as you can KINDA tell from my horribly photographed picture, it's...a lot.


Week 15


293 pounds today. 3 more pounds gone. Nothing of note this time around, I suppose.


Week 16


290 pounds today. Ah, it indeed appears that the 3-pound weeks are here. This is just fine, though. So long as I'm still losing, I'm not in any position to worry.


Week 17


288 pounds today. Only 2 pounds this week. Uh oh. Looks like things are about to become difficult. I mean...this weekend saw a lot of calories due to taking my mom out for a Mother's day lunch and having a "friend zone" date from Hell (but that's another story for another time *grumble*), but still. This doesn't exactly bode well.


Week 18


Holy crap, so much for the fear of stagnating weight loss. Weighed 281 pounds this time around, making another 7-pound week. This happened in light of some interesting fitness developments, though. On top of running a mile, I've also discovered that I'm finally not too heavy to do pushups. Funny, this past Fall I took a walking course at my university (needed a physical fitness credit, lazy ass naturally found the easiest course, y'know), and I had to take a fitness test at the beginning and end of the course that was comprised of pushups, situps, flexibility, and a 1.5-mile jog. Of course, weighing 370 pounds, I couldn't even come close to doing a single pushup in either test. A few days ago, I figured I'd give them a shot again for shits and giggles, and I found myself doing ten before I stopped out of sheer excitement and began running through the house, letting out a bunch of celebratory "WHAT THE FUCK, I JUST DID THAT AFHDALEFHLUAEHRW"s. It's strange; I'm starting to reach a point where I can actually like...do things with my body. I've never had this luxury. I don't know how to explain it, but it's amazing. Well, my tailbone coming into existence is a little bit less than amazing, but still, you get the picture. Anyway, now that I'm finally able to do a significant amount of bodyweight exercise, I think it's time to start getting serious about doing a full body workout. Not only am I going to attempt to be un-BigFat, I'm also going to attempt to become fit!


Week 19


Well, then. Came in this time around at 278 pounds, 3 more pounds this week. Of note: as far as this thread is concerned, I've precisely hit the halfway mark. Very cool. From my max, I'm actually almost 100 down, which is just insane. Fitness is getting cool, too. I can do 20 pushups now, I can plank for two and a half minutes, and my mile running is becoming somewhat consistent, albeit slow (I'm close to getting it below 10 minutes, so yeah, lots of improvement left in that department). Anyway, I guess that's all for this week. More to come, like usual, eh?


Week 20


Weighed in this week at 275 pounds, yet another 3 more pounds. Look at that. I passed the four-kitty mark. Not a whole lot to speak of this week. Just...a whole lot more of the same usual stuff. Not much to do but just keep working.


Week 21


Lost another 3 pounds, bringing my weight to 272 pounds. My max weight before undergoing this journey was 372. Though not reflective of my thread's weight tracking, I actually dropped my hundredth pound this week. That's...something else. I can't wait 'til I finally reach the mark in this thread to make it completely official, though.


Week 22


Losing a solid 4 pounds this week brings my weight down to 268 pounds. Things are still going quite well. I was at a friend of mine's family reunion today, and I broke away from mingling with his family for a little while to do some dicking off at the park we were at. I'm starting to enjoy parts of life that seem really petty, but I'll be damned if sitting in a swing with no fear and attempting to try climbing a tree and actually succeeding doesn't make me giddy as all hell. Just saying, I've never been able to climb a tree, not even as a kid. It seems like tiny victories and new possibilities open themselves up to me almost every week, and it's never anything short of an awesome feeling. Anyway, less sappy shit. More thread updating. AWAY!


Week 23


Oh, boy. Had a good week this time around. Lost another 6 pounds, down to 262 pounds now. If I can manage another week at this rate (which I doubt will happen), I'll document the hundred-pound mark next week. My hopes for that happening aren't particularly high, though, so I'll play it safe and assume we'll see it happen two updates from now. Not a whole lot going on lately, except that I've been trying to improve my time on my mile. I'm seeing results, but at the same time, I've been getting kinda frustrated. I was on the final backstretch of my mile yesterday (yeah, I ran in the daytime, and FUCK THE SUN OH MY GOD) when I noticed I stood a legitimate chance of completing my mile under 9:30. I decided to kick it into high gear and haul ass to the finish...only to come in at 9:31. Eh, it's all good, though. It's definitely better than my first timed mile at like...10:33. I'll keep working at it, as well as pushing myself to keep going after running a mile. For some reason, I lose all of my motivation to continue after the first mile, no matter how tired I am. I always find myself playing the numbers game, saying to myself, "But if I keep going, I'll probably only make it one more lap around the track, which makes five laps, and five is an odd number! Gross! Better just stop here."


Week 24


Oh, man. We're getting close. SO CLOSE. I shed another 3 pounds this week to hit 259 pounds, so unless things go horribly wrong, this thread should see the documentation of the 100th lost pound next fucking week. I can't wait. Anyway, turns out I was able to break that mental barrier I had with running just last night, and...well...I actually kinda destroyed it. My old record for running with no breaks was 11 minutes, so I decided I'd at least tie it and see how far I could go from there. After about 12 minutes in...I don't really know how to explain it; my body kinda went into autopilot mode. The excruciating pain that slowly builds in my left leg over time just vanished, and my breathing became controllable to the point where I didn't really have to pay much attention to it. I was suddenly, completely out of nowhere, able to run without having to worry about how my body would react to it, like it was a natural thing I'd been doing my entire life. It didn't feel like work anymore; it just felt like...I dunno...just running. It really is difficult to explain, so forgive me if I'm not making much sense. Anyway, after I hit the 20 minute mark (almost double my previous best) and fucking lapped a couple that was jogging in intervals -- on a half-mile trail, at that -- I decided to call it quits and go home. I'm not sure if it was the feeling of success or another side effect of whatever it was that came over me during my run, but for the first time, I actually felt great after getting out there and busting ass. I can't help but wonder...is this how it's supposed to feel? Am I finally getting where I need to be?


Week 25


The 3 pounds went, as expected. Down to 256 pounds and my hundredth pound officially lost since starting this thread. I'm really not sure what to say. The days when I was locked in my room, feeling like I was near death after doing a measly 20 or 30 jumping jacks seem like a distant memory at this point, but at the same time, it's hard to believe I'm not that person anymore. Literally the last thing I expected from this endeavor was success of any kind; I'd failed at it time and time again, and this was bound to be no different. Somehow, though...it wasn't. I don't know what changed. I don't know what force of nature got me serious enough to make this happen, but I know what's kept me going this long and what's going to keep me going as long as I need to. With that said...thanks, guys.


Week 26


Down to 254 pounds this week, losing another 2 pounds. This week was...interesting. I had decided that Friday night was gonna be the freakin' night; I was gonna buckle down and give my run every ounce of energy I had. I was finally going to run a 5K. Things were going well, too. After 20 minutes had passed, I still felt great. I could taste another milestone, and I was determined to make it happen...until power went out all over town, making the park pitch black. Whatever, I figured. I'm wasn't gonna quit that far in, so I used my cell phone's light to guide me through the dark, but that only lasted so long. About 22 minutes into my run, I caught one of my feet on a break in the sidewalk, tripped, and completely busted fucking face, knocking the wind right out of me. I laid on the ground, an exhausted, gasping heap of defeat. I had failed hard, in one of the most discouraging ways possible.

But hey, whatever. There's always another day to try again, right? With that said, the next night, I went out there again and...well...to save another annoying-to-read paragraph, I did it. It took me 31:52 to do it, but I ran a freakin' 5K with no breaks. It's hard to believe that I've worked up to this point from not being able to run at all. Matter of fact, it's insane. Insane as it is, though, it feels great.


Week 27


Losing another 4 pounds this week has me sitting at exactly 250 pounds. I weighed this much in sixth grade. Sixth. Freakin'. Grade. As with several instances along this journey, I'm conflicted about this milestone. I'm always torn between the pride I have in what I am and the shame I feel when I realize just how bad I was before. I dunno. I just can't seem to shake it, no matter how far I've come.


Week 28


Weighed 247 pounds this Saturday, knocking away yet another 3 pounds. So umm...I have a running buddy now. Who would've thunk? A buddy of mine from back home recently started attending the same university as me, so we recently started hanging out occasionally. With the way I've been shrinking, it naturally comes up in conversation every once in a while, so when he asked me a couple of months ago how I've been doing it and I told him that I've been dieting and running every day, he proposed that we start running together. I told him that I wouldn't mind it, but I never really made any efforts to make it happen since...well...you guys know how I prefer my solitude when it comes to these things. Anyway, after a few "hey, we should run [insert time here]"s that all fell through, we finally met up a few days ago in freakin' 105-degree heat and ran a couple of miles. Apart from sweating more than I have in my entire life, it wasn't bad. Having somebody along for the run is nice, and random people at the park during the day are a hell of a lot less shady than the people who frequent the park at night. It's nice enough that I've actually switched over to daytime running for the time being.


Week 29


Weighed 244 pounds this time around, so surprise surprise; 3 pounds have vanished once again. Not a whole lot to add this update. It dawned on me a couple days ago that I've been wearing nothing but athletic shorts for the entire summer; the last time I wore a pair of pants was in the comparison pic I uploaded at the end of May, and those were slacks, which totally don't count. Anyway, with school starting less than two weeks and me not owning a fitting pair of pants anymore, I naturally got to wondering what size I'll need to buy when the time comes to shop. A friend of mine who was visiting me and my roommate at the time suggested I try on his pants (38" waist), and this was the result. They fit rather well, I'd say.





Week 30


Weighed 239 pounds this Saturday. Not sure how, but yeah, that's another 5 pounds down this week. Not a whole lot to report on. I've got my mile down to 8:22. Shouldn't be too long before I can run a sub-8-minute mile, which will be cool. Not sure if seven is possible, but hey, it's not like I won't be working on it. We'll see.


Week 31


Yeesh, late update this time around. School started this week, so I've been kinda busy. Anyway, weighed 236 pounds this Saturday, so another 3 pounds have been shed. Woo. This upcoming weigh-in, though, won't be so great. I've been eating pretty badly lately; ate at Olive Garden for the first time this weekend, and my roommate's girlfriend has gone on a cooking frenzy for everybody here at the house since she got back into town. Girl takes way too much pride in her work, I swear. Also, I got deferred from the plasma center today. My pulse was 46, 4 points too low to donate. It's been steadily decreasing since I took up running, but now it's starting to get so low that it's keeping me from making my meager 70 bucks a week! What am I to do, get a real job or something? C'mon...


Week 32


Hurray, things went better than I thought. Weighed 234 pounds this Saturday, so instead of stagnating/gaining like I thought I would, I actually lost 2 pounds. Spiffy. I kinda busted some major ass with my running to make it happen, but it was totally worth it. I've been so damn late with my updates that I've actually already weighed in again since Saturday (231 pounds at that, so this coming Saturday should be quite nice), so I really need to get this thread back on track.


Week 33


Hey, cool. Weighed 230 pounds, so another 4 pounds shed. Making some more ever so slight improvements on fitness; I've got my 5K right at 28 minutes, and I'm so damn close to being able to do that stupid chin-up I've been trying to do for ages now. I'll get there...eventually.


Week 34


Haha, oops. I freakin' ate like a king this week, so I only lost 1 pound; however, I still lowered the ol' number to 229 pounds. I'd say it was worth it, though. Got to eat some freakin' awesome BBQ, casual southern dining, Italian...now that I'm actually freakin' healthy and closer to my goal, I'm not so obsessed with my progress stagnating or going backward. Now that I'm actually in shape and know what it takes to stay in shape, I'm confident that I can keep myself in check. I feel like I actually have total control of my life for the first time in...well...ever, and it feels great.


Week 35


Okay, 6 pounds gone this week, 223 pounds now, wtf. I mean...I'm not exactly complaining, but it's strange to still be putting up these kinds of numbers. *shrug* Anyway, finally got that damn chin-up down. It felt nothing short of amazing to, after so many freakin' months of trying, feel my arms level out and my chin rise above the pull-up bar. I was starting to wonder if it was ever going to happen. Now I'm just a single goal (damned pull-up ) away from doing every single thing I set out to do in the fitness department. That isn't to say that I'll stop there, of course; there are tons of different exercises and progressions that I've yet to even attempt, and it'll be cool to see what I can do over these next couple of years. However, putting the final nail in the personal coffin should bring me a great deal of satisfaction for obvious reasons.

Oh, also, here's a progress pic. Went out and snagged a new pair of jeans, 36" waist. Not bad.



Also, I went to a BBQ cookoff with my roommate and a bunch of his friends. Saw some random Texas Country singer perform, took a group picture with him (far back). Is it bad that I can barely even recognize myself in this picture (I'm dead center)?




Week 36


Alright, then. Lost another 3 pounds, coming in this week at 220 pounds. With these 3 pounds gone, I've finally crossed BMI's threshold of obesity, so in other words, I'm...officially not fat anymore. Cool. Anyway, looking forward, I'm on the final stretch now. Only 20 more pounds to go. It's crazy to see that I've come so far, so quickly. I never thought this was anywhere close to possible. On a less exciting note, though...I've recently been suffering from some serious bouts of orthostatic hypotension, as well as low blood pressure in general. I'm not exactly sure what gives, but it's starting to become pretty troublesome. Last time I had my blood pressure checked, I came in at 96/53. Weak. Other than that, however, things are still great.


Week 37


WOOOOOO, BIRTHDAY WEEKEND. Went back home and visited with my grandma, who turned 71 the day after I turned 23. Ate lunch and spent the day with her and my mom. Good times. Ate like a king, but still dropped 2 pounds regardless, leaving my weight at 218 pounds. Not much to say past that, I suppose.


Week 38


Alright then. 216 pounds this week, adding some more consistency to these 2-pound weeks I've been having. Anyway, this week was interesting. My 15-year-old cousin's estranged mom is trying to reconnect with her daughter, so she tried earn some brownie points by offering to buy two tickets, gas, hotel accommodations, etc. for my cousin and any adult who would be willing to drive her to San Antonio (5 hours from where she lives, 7 from where I live) for a Pierce The Veil/Sleeping With Sirens concert. My cousin asks me if I'd do it for her, and the first thought that pops into my head is "Haha, NO. Fuck that shit," but instead, I decided to play it off with a bit of tact and say, "Yeah, sure, I'll take you...if you dad says yes," knowing damn well that he, being the total hard ass that he is, was bound to say no.

Well, given my luck, the bastard said yes , so come Thursday the 18th, it was off to San Antonio with me! My cousin's mom ended up accidentally buying four tickets instead of two, so she brought another damned teenage friend with her. On the plus side, though, she let me use the fourth ticket to snag one of my friends who lives in the area, so I didn't have to brave the pubescent shitstorm alone! Anyway, we made it to the venue where my cousin met up with a ton of her friends who came along...with their parents. I used this opportunity to pawn my cousin off with this large, apparently safe group so that my buddy and I could bail the fuck out on this concert (not our type of music at all). For anybody familiar with San Antonio, what's the one place (barring the Alamo) where any tourist/visitor is bound to end up?

If you guessed the MOTHERFUCKIN' RIVER WALK, then...well, yeah, that's about right. Anyway, my buddy and I spent the entire afternoon hitting up everything we could on the river walk (RESTAURANTS AND BARS EVERYWHERE, FUCK YES), so I indulged like crazy. It's okay, though. Still came away none the worse for wear, which surprised the hell out of me.


Week 39


2 pounds down, 214 pounds this week. Surprised? Yeah, me, neither. Good news, though: I applied for (and got) a full-time job as a cashier at Walgreens. It isn't exactly the most wonderful of jobs to have, but my ass is finally going to stop being broke, meaning I can finally start buying some freakin' clothes. Also, there are plenty of people who claim that everybody should hold at least one job in the retail/service industry for the people skills, so that's something to consider. Actually, truth be told, getting this job was a huge step for me. When I was big, I'd have never even dared apply for it due to the wonderful effects of obesity-related social anxiety. Hell, there were plenty of times when I'd see a store's "NOW HIRING" sign and flood myself with reasons why I shouldn't even attempt to get a job:

Why even try? You're massive. What do people associate with massive? Lazy, unmotivated, slow. Nobody wants a worker who won't work, and even if those are just stereotypes, they're true in your case, Bob. Besides, even if you did get the job, think of all the people who are going to make fun of you, day in and day out. To your face, behind your back...it all hurts the same. Don't forget that on top of being seen as undesirable by most of popular culture, they take a little farther; you're also their laughingstock. You don't wanna be that, man. Keep yourself out of the public eye. It ain't worth it.

It may seem like I was blowing things way out of proportion, which...well...I was, but I was afraid. Being big dominated my life in ways I'm almost ashamed to admit. Truth be told, now that this is all so apparent to me, I think I've realized the greatest part of dropping all this damned weight. I have a new lease on life from a mental point of view as well as physical. I'm not afraid anymore.


Week 40


Well, what do we have here? 212 pounds and another 2-pound loss? Shocker. Anyway, some good news this week: I ran a 10K, no breaks. Went out to run my usual two miles for starters when I decided to give it a little extra effort and make it a 5K (it'd been a while since I'd actually churned out the extra mile without a little break ). After I hit the 5K, I figured, hell, I'm pacing myself pretty well; let's see how much farther I can go since I've never ran past the 5K mark. Six and a half laps around the half-mile turned into seven, eight, ten...1:03:40 and 13 laps into my run, I was spent. Six and a half miles with no breaks, though...despite being more exhausted than I'd ever been in my life, I felt great. As with my usual pre-milestone mindset, I never thought I'd even come close to achieving something like that, but...well...I did. Not much more to say than that. Not sure if anything can top that, either. I'd like to run a half-marathon without stopping one of these days, but doubling what already kicked my ass seems pretty damn far out of reach. Let's not even get started on the 26.2 miles of a full marathon. I happen to be a fan of not dying.


Week 41


Haha, freakin' finally. 209 pounds this week; so that's 3 pounds down, bitches! Unfortunately, that's the only good thing that happened this week. My low blood pressure woes reached critical mass Friday at work. As I mentioned before, I now get frequent head rushes when I move from a prone or otherwise low position to a high one, and they're pretty annoying. That's all they've been, however, until a few hours into my shift, I squatted down to grab a pack of cigarettes from the bottom rack of the shelves. I rose a bit more quickly than I should've, and in came the dizzy spell. It's okay, though. I'm used to these things. I just powered through it for the few seconds it takes for it to fade out...except it didn't. In fact, the lightheadedness built to the point where I was seeing spots, blacks were turning purple, and reading text was about equivalent to staring into a lava lamp. I asked my customer to bear with me, I paged my already-in-earshot manager, and told her I was starting to feel sick. I heard her mention something about me being ghost-pale, and the next thing I know, I was out cold. I god damn fainted. I'm now how sure how long I was out, but I know I was barely able to come to in time to stop her from calling 911 on me. She settled with having the pharmacy manager check my blood sugar (he was concerned that I was showing semi-diabetic symptoms) and blood pressure/pulse, which, naturally, was looooow. 97/51 BP, 48 BPM pulse. Keep in mind that this was taken while working, not resting. Well, I guess you can count me passing out as resting, but still. Anyway, they had me rest up for an hour (I took my lunch break for half of it), and I finished the night without incident. The one incident was more than enough for me, though. Looks like I need to see a damn doctor.


Week 42


Getting closer...came in this time at 207 pounds, so yeah, 2 pounds lost once again. Nothing much to report this time around; however, I did find myself wearing a Medium shirt, which I thought was cool enough to warrant a picture. *points down a couple of lines*





Week 43


204 pounds, this week, 3 pounds closer to the big goal. I hadn't even realized, but I passed the 150-pound mark this week. Holy crap. As awesome as it is, though, I've got my eyes set on a bigger prize, and it's so. damn. close.



Week 44


Oh, shit. Thanksgiving. Did I gain any weight? *steps on scale* 203 pounds...1 pound lost...phew! I should consider myself damn lucky that I didn't gain. I kinda went nuts with food this Thanksgiving. Anyway, moving forward...


Week 45


Lost another 2 pounds, leaving me sitting at 201 pounds. Ugh, one more week, damn it. Just one more.


Weight Loss to Date


January 28, 2012: 356 pounds
February 4, 2012: 351 pounds
February 11, 2012: 345 pounds
February 18, 2012: 341 pounds
February 25, 2012: 337 pounds
March 3, 2012: 332 pounds
March 10, 2012: 327 pounds
March 17, 2012: 323 pounds
March 24, 2012: 318 pounds
March 31, 2012: 314 pounds
April 7, 2012: 310 pounds
April 14, 2012: 306 pounds
April 21, 2012: 303 pounds
April 28, 2012: 296 pounds
May 5, 2012: 293 pounds
May 12, 2012: 290 pounds
May 19, 2012: 288 pounds
May 26, 2012: 281 pounds
June 2, 2012: 278 pounds
June 9, 2012: 275 pounds
June 16, 2012: 272 pounds
June 23, 2012: 268 pounds
June 30, 2012: 262 pounds
July 7, 2012: 259 pounds
July 14, 2012: 256 pounds
July 21, 2012: 254 pounds
July 28, 2012: 250 pounds
August 4, 2012: 247 pounds
August 11, 2012: 244 pounds
August 18, 2012: 239 pounds
August 25, 2012: 236 pounds
September 1, 2012: 234 pounds
September 8, 2012: 230 pounds
September 15, 2012: 229 pounds
September 22, 2012: 223 pounds
September 29, 2012: 220 pounds
October 6, 2012: 218 pounds
October 13, 2012: 216 pounds
October 20, 2012: 214 pounds
October 27, 2012: 212 pounds
November 3, 2012: 209 pounds
November 10, 2012: 207 pounds
November 17, 2012: 204 pounds
November 24, 2012: 203 pounds
December 1, 2012: 201 pounds

Total weight loss: 155 pounds
_________________

FL4RE wrote:

Wow I didn't realize that wasn't a word used in the U.S commonly...having read over what I wrote before, I am in fact not encouraging you people to fuck slags, STD's are bad.

[Sarg338]

One thing that worked for one of my classmates was that he walked on a treadmill every time he played Madden. Lost a ton of weight over summer just by doing that. If you have the money for a treadmill or can get one, I would suggest doing that (Whether it be playing a video game, or walking for 30 minutes during one of your favorite shows) as some sort of exercise. It serves it's purpose, and since you're doing something entertaining, it will make it go by a lot faster.

Just my input on this. Best of luck to ya!
_________________

[Sarg338]

One thing that worked for one of my classmates was that he walked on a treadmill every time he played Madden. Lost a ton of weight over summer just by doing that. If you have the money for a treadmill or can get one, I would suggest doing that (Whether it be playing a video game, or walking for 30 minutes during one of your favorite shows) as some sort of exercise. It serves it's purpose, and since you're doing something entertaining, it will make it go by a lot faster.

Just my input on this. Best of luck to ya!
_________________

[sukergod]

The whole doing something on a treadmill is something that I find so important. I walk/jog at my school (30mins) and have a projector connected to my laptop and watch x-files or anything i can find. I find it so boring to just stay on that machine for a while but if I do something else, it does work.

Good luck with it though. Currently I am about 230 and need to lose 31 pounds (Id like to be less than 200) for my wedding in December, so while its nothing compared to yous, any weight loss is difficult and should be comended.

Let us know how you are doing and stick to that as well for a motivator. Hey once you lose your goal loss, maybe JC will change your name to LittleSkinnyBob

Good Luck!!!

[sukergod]

The whole doing something on a treadmill is something that I find so important. I walk/jog at my school (30mins) and have a projector connected to my laptop and watch x-files or anything i can find. I find it so boring to just stay on that machine for a while but if I do something else, it does work.

Good luck with it though. Currently I am about 230 and need to lose 31 pounds (Id like to be less than 200) for my wedding in December, so while its nothing compared to yous, any weight loss is difficult and should be comended.

Let us know how you are doing and stick to that as well for a motivator. Hey once you lose your goal loss, maybe JC will change your name to LittleSkinnyBob

Good Luck!!!

[blingdomepiece]

Good luck man. I have a coworker who was quite obese in high school, and by the time I met him 6 years later he was in top shape, ran 10 k's, etc. He eats what he wants but he puts in his time at the gym / running and it's worked for him.
_________________

Expert Pro Keys: 50/63 GS, most recent The Killing Moon
Expert Pro Drums: 53/83 GS, most recent Free Bird / Oh My God / Oye Mi Amor
Expert Pro Bass: 6/83 GS, most recent Everybody Wants to Rule the World

[blingdomepiece]

Good luck man. I have a coworker who was quite obese in high school, and by the time I met him 6 years later he was in top shape, ran 10 k's, etc. He eats what he wants but he puts in his time at the gym / running and it's worked for him.
_________________

Expert Pro Keys: 50/63 GS, most recent The Killing Moon
Expert Pro Drums: 53/83 GS, most recent Free Bird / Oh My God / Oye Mi Amor
Expert Pro Bass: 6/83 GS, most recent Everybody Wants to Rule the World

[GuitarHailz]

Hey, congrats for taking this first step! Keeping this thread updated will definitely be an awesome motivator. I second Sarg's idea as well, if you find something you really enjoy and turn it into an exercise it really won't feel like work (in my case it's listening to music or playing Rock Band drums, or if on a particular day I lose all my dignity, I will play Kinect <___<)

This may seem a little cheesy, but one of my Rock Band buddies H2O w3akjuice has a pretty awesome story about weight loss. It took him 2 years to achieve his goal, but it really is inspiring and worth watching: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZzR7cCAEi0&feature=player_embedded (Proof that it can be done the old fashioned way!)

A lot of people don't know this about me but I lost a fairly significant amount of weight towards the end of high school and beginning of college (LOL FAT CHICKS jokes aside...). I used Weight Watchers, which I'm not convinced the diet plan helped me as much as just the moral support. A really good motivator can be to lose weight with someone else and they'll hold you to it (in my case it was my sister - she would prevent me from caving and getting fast food since I am prone to just eating my depression away, and I would help motivate her to go walking with me, etc). See if you can find someone else who also wants to lose weight and that will really help, but don't make it a contest.
_________________

[GuitarHailz]

Hey, congrats for taking this first step! Keeping this thread updated will definitely be an awesome motivator. I second Sarg's idea as well, if you find something you really enjoy and turn it into an exercise it really won't feel like work (in my case it's listening to music or playing Rock Band drums, or if on a particular day I lose all my dignity, I will play Kinect <___<)

This may seem a little cheesy, but one of my Rock Band buddies H2O w3akjuice has a pretty awesome story about weight loss. It took him 2 years to achieve his goal, but it really is inspiring and worth watching: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZzR7cCAEi0&feature=player_embedded (Proof that it can be done the old fashioned way!)

A lot of people don't know this about me but I lost a fairly significant amount of weight towards the end of high school and beginning of college (LOL FAT CHICKS jokes aside...). I used Weight Watchers, which I'm not convinced the diet plan helped me as much as just the moral support. A really good motivator can be to lose weight with someone else and they'll hold you to it (in my case it was my sister - she would prevent me from caving and getting fast food since I am prone to just eating my depression away, and I would help motivate her to go walking with me, etc). See if you can find someone else who also wants to lose weight and that will really help, but don't make it a contest.
_________________

[MSH-Hitman]

This is something I've been working on myself, but have stalled in the last few months. I started out great, removing soda and a majority of my junk food, losing 15 pounds from that within like a month or so. My problem right now is just getting myself moving and exercising, hovering around 300. It's good I haven't gained any weight, but my current goal of getting down to like 250 by summer is getting beyond me and right now, I just want to try and lose a good 25 pounds by April so that I can fit into a tux for a friends wedding. Got tired of being the fat friend. Trying to get out every day now, which I gotta push myself for.

So good luck with your weight loss. It's something I'm pushing for and I think it's great to see regular peoples weight loss stories.

[MSH-Hitman]

This is something I've been working on myself, but have stalled in the last few months. I started out great, removing soda and a majority of my junk food, losing 15 pounds from that within like a month or so. My problem right now is just getting myself moving and exercising, hovering around 300. It's good I haven't gained any weight, but my current goal of getting down to like 250 by summer is getting beyond me and right now, I just want to try and lose a good 25 pounds by April so that I can fit into a tux for a friends wedding. Got tired of being the fat friend. Trying to get out every day now, which I gotta push myself for.

So good luck with your weight loss. It's something I'm pushing for and I think it's great to see regular peoples weight loss stories.

[FL4RE]

Man good luck with that...I'm behind you (Y)

I need to lose some weight too...I'm at about 14-15 stone and would ideally like to get down to 12.
_________________

[FL4RE]

Man good luck with that...I'm behind you (Y)

I need to lose some weight too...I'm at about 14-15 stone and would ideally like to get down to 12.
_________________

[MSH-Hitman]

[MSH-Hitman]

[FL4RE]

[FL4RE]

[Sarg338]

[Sarg338]

[FL4RE]

[FL4RE]

[Pas26]

I was about to write a long post but nah I'll just share some of my best tips:


You WILL want to, eventually, skip a day. Dont. Skipping one is the first step toward skipping a whole week, then falling back into old habits. You will be sitting in a chair, and be wondering what wonderful thing you could do instead of suffering in a gym. But stop, and think about these things, and realize that they are not worth more than an hour at the gym. Reading something on the internet or playing a game is barely more interesting than working out listening to music in a gym, yet one will improve your lifestyle and your overall wellness.

Do not give up on ALL small threats at the same time. It would be too hard. Instead, decide that a certain day of the week is THE ONE where you are allowed to eat chips. Stick to that day, NO MATTER WHAT. You want to have discipline, because that's what you will need to get that fat off for good. Too easy to sit in a chair messing around on the internet.

One day, you will not feel like suffering through you new daily pain. But everytime you question yourself about these activities, remember how well you feel once you feel that burn, the next day, how you feel your own body working so hard to make himself stronger, to prepare for the next time. How satisfying to be in control of yourself and be able to do what you want. Climbing a set of stairs without being out of breath, without turning red. Remember how comfortable the bed is after a long day of training or physical labor. How fast the sleep comes, and how well you feel in the morning.

There will be a time where you will want to stop some exercice early, say that you did enough. Do not leave, do not stop to run. The only way that is not toward your old state is away. Going back even one step is a huge slippery slope that may lead you afar from your goals.

Dont do everything at once but gradually work before eventually reaching that day. Before going to sleep, think if you did something positive toward your goal today. You must have, or else you lose. You not only lose to your own self, you disappoint your old self who did all the work, for nothing, and your future self, who might not live as well. And for what? A few hours of internet pleasures. Smart deal,
_________________

[Pas26]

I was about to write a long post but nah I'll just share some of my best tips:


You WILL want to, eventually, skip a day. Dont. Skipping one is the first step toward skipping a whole week, then falling back into old habits. You will be sitting in a chair, and be wondering what wonderful thing you could do instead of suffering in a gym. But stop, and think about these things, and realize that they are not worth more than an hour at the gym. Reading something on the internet or playing a game is barely more interesting than working out listening to music in a gym, yet one will improve your lifestyle and your overall wellness.

Do not give up on ALL small threats at the same time. It would be too hard. Instead, decide that a certain day of the week is THE ONE where you are allowed to eat chips. Stick to that day, NO MATTER WHAT. You want to have discipline, because that's what you will need to get that fat off for good. Too easy to sit in a chair messing around on the internet.

One day, you will not feel like suffering through you new daily pain. But everytime you question yourself about these activities, remember how well you feel once you feel that burn, the next day, how you feel your own body working so hard to make himself stronger, to prepare for the next time. How satisfying to be in control of yourself and be able to do what you want. Climbing a set of stairs without being out of breath, without turning red. Remember how comfortable the bed is after a long day of training or physical labor. How fast the sleep comes, and how well you feel in the morning.

There will be a time where you will want to stop some exercice early, say that you did enough. Do not leave, do not stop to run. The only way that is not toward your old state is away. Going back even one step is a huge slippery slope that may lead you afar from your goals.

Dont do everything at once but gradually work before eventually reaching that day. Before going to sleep, think if you did something positive toward your goal today. You must have, or else you lose. You not only lose to your own self, you disappoint your old self who did all the work, for nothing, and your future self, who might not live as well. And for what? A few hours of internet pleasures. Smart deal,
_________________

[newuser1234]

[newuser1234]

[krisdaschwab912]

I'm right there with ya. I was at 232 pounds last summer before I decided to get my ass back in shape. I dropped down to about 210 by the end of the summer, but then I broke my toe and got lazy again, so I was at 220 by the end of the semester.

Since I've arrived in Finland, I've already lost a noticeable amount of weight thanks to the lovely combination of really long walks, sauna, and various sports, not to mention the whole "lack of an all-you-can-eat meal plan" thing.

Maybe SH can have some sort of "Biggest Loser" contest.
_________________

krisdaschwab912's dream six-pack undergoing revision.

PiemanLK, on krisdaschwab912's legendary dating skills wrote:

I'd listen to him, he knows his way around with the ladies.

[krisdaschwab912]

I'm right there with ya. I was at 232 pounds last summer before I decided to get my ass back in shape. I dropped down to about 210 by the end of the summer, but then I broke my toe and got lazy again, so I was at 220 by the end of the semester.

Since I've arrived in Finland, I've already lost a noticeable amount of weight thanks to the lovely combination of really long walks, sauna, and various sports, not to mention the whole "lack of an all-you-can-eat meal plan" thing.

Maybe SH can have some sort of "Biggest Loser" contest.
_________________

krisdaschwab912's dream six-pack undergoing revision.

PiemanLK, on krisdaschwab912's legendary dating skills wrote:

I'd listen to him, he knows his way around with the ladies.

[youhas]

[youhas]