Christmas season:

So I feel that the Christmas season was good for me in more ways then I know. The lord blessed me with a very caring and loving family. And the weekend was very good.  I believe that I did not go overboard on the food department but I wont know if that is true until I get to the gym tomorrow.  Like I stated before 2012 is the rebirth of my weight loss journey and I plan to finish it by August 24th.  Stay tuned to see the progress!

New Years Resolution Early

Alright I have had a bit of success in my weight loss journey and I have to admit that I have not hit much of a roadblock and that my success has been regularly consistent. I had decided to stop using myfitnesspal to track my calories that I am consuming.  Over the last 2.5 months my weight has not been going in the right direction it has gone up from 278 to 290 (as of this morning). I can sit here and say that I am gaining muscle mass and such but that would be very similar to the Cake in Portal...aka a Lie (sorry for the video game reference).  There might be a hint of truth in it but the vast majority of it is me being undisciplined. So starting January 1st, I am officially (again) starting my last leg of this weight loss journey. I want to get this final 42 pounds (crap that number hurt) off in the next 9 months...which is about 6 pounds a month...which will have me done around September 2012, Hello 2,100 calories per day.  So I am going back to myfitnesspal and I am going to start up more cardio training and stop snacking on stupid stuff.  And when I say January 1st above I really mean today.  So look forward to more blog posts because my laziness has taken hold there to.

Feeling Good

Got a really good lift in today...I still need to get more cardio in during these winter months but I am really enjoying my workouts as of late.  I also get a ton of joy in seeing growth in my father-in-law.  He has been a real trooper by working out with me in the mornings and I can see the change in him since he has begun doing it.  He is definitely getting stronger and his weight is going in the right direction.

A Good Day!

So today was a positive day on multiple fronts. First my weight was down 1.5 pounds from last week. Second I broke through the 300 barrier on my bench press!  I am not sure which I am happier about, it is definitely good to be on the downward trend in my weight in consecutive weeks but I am really stoked about pressing 305 lbs.  It has been over 8 years since I have last been able to do that and it currently means my bench is officially 25 lbs more then my weight...Since I hit this mini goal I think my next goal will be to do one unassisted pull-up.  I have never done one before but I will soon.

Back on the Bandwagon

For the last several weeks my weight has been in the 284 - 286 range (but this morning I was at 282)...which was up 14 pounds from my low of 272 in August.  There are several factors that have lead to this and actually not all of them are bad.
I have been doing some snacking and the like but that is some of the weight gain over the last 3 months.  But over this time I have begun to hit the weights much harder then I have in the last two years.  An example of the progress I have made is that a couple months ago I was struggling to bench 185 lbs for 3 sets of 10, Now I am doing 225 lbs for 3 sets of 10, and I am close to getting 245 lbs for 3 sets of ten. So my body composition is definitely changing.
But that is no reason to not be losing some weight, I need to get back on the cardio bandwagon and to continue my lifting.  This way I can hit my goal of 250, I don't know if the new year is possible but I am going to give it my best shot.

Reboot

So I am going to reboot my diet. I have been really flat over the last month and a half. I have been sitting at the 276 - 282 range for to long. I have been watching what I eat but I have not done it good enough to maintain my March to 250. This morning I weighed in at 281, my hope is to see some progress by Friday. And maybe 250 by new years day? That might be a lttle aggressive but I am feeling really motivated right now.

Fighting...

So my son has made it a habit to want to stay up past 10 pm every night. My wife and I are struggling to get him into bed earlier and I am starting to pay for it.  I try to get up at 4:45 so I can get to the gym by 5 for my workout in the morning but when you don't get to bed until 11:00 it is hard to get up after 5 hours of sleep.  I have not been dropping weight like I should and I believe the root cause is me only getting 5 - 6 hours of sleep per night...I need to try to get my boy on a better routine so he is in by 9:30.  It is going to be rough but I know we got to do it.

Business Trip

So I am currently on a business trip for work.  I am going to work very hard at two things, 1 my job of course and 2 my diet...my goal is to come back lighter then when I left.   I left at around 276 so I want to come back at least 274...day 1 is going good so far which can be a struggle when eating out a lot. Thankfully the hotel has a gym for me to use.

Real life reminder:

So I experienced a real life reminder this last week that my I am not done with my journey and it is easy to fall of the wagon.  I have recently accepted a new job and the stress of the decision making process caused me to fall back into some old habits...luckily the shock of putting a couple pounds on forced me back on the path.

Yesterday I went for a run at 7:00 in the morning and was greeted with sub 50 degree weather, it was different running with a long sleeve shirt on...I might have to evaluate if I am going to be running outside or to switch my cardio days to the gym.  I think it is going to be the latter.

Maintaining my Course:

Another week is in the books and my weight came in just under 277 today.  Which makes sense for the plan that I am currently on.  I am really feeling the groove of my workouts and I can thank my father in law for giving me some added motivation in the mornings.  I am going to get a 3.5 mile run in tomorrow with a good friend and it should be a good challenge and change of pace for me.

Next week I am going to be sharing my story with some church friends.  My hope is to help motivate and guide them on their own journey that will hopefully lead them down a path that is somewhat similar to my own.  I am looking forward to it!

Lifting and It's Consequences:

So over the past 3 weeks I have been in a routine of running 3 days a week and lifting 3 days per week. I have also increased my caloric intake from 2,000 calories per day to 2,500 calories per day.  What I have noticed is that my weight has gone up from 274 to 277 (as of this morning) At first I might think, Aw crap I must be eating to much again.  But I look at my fitness pal and it doesn't paint that picture.  The only real difference in what I have been doing over the last 3 weeks is that I am now lifting heavy 3 days per week and I believe that I am gaining some muscle mass.  So I am going to continue to monitor my workouts and running and eating and see what continues to happen.

2 Year Update:

This is a two year up date on my weight loss goal. I have ran a little short of my two year goal but I have come a really long way. Today the scale read 274 which is 7 pounds off my intended mark of 267. Over the last year I have lost an additional 38 pounds from this time last year which was 312.  I now enter the last phase of my journey...I want to lose an additional 25 pounds in the next year. So my new short term goal is to get to 250 by August 24th, 2012.  I have altered my exercise routine going forward, now I am lifting weights Monday, Wednesday and Friday while running Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.  I have also upped my calories from 2000 to 2500 per day. This upping in calories will decrease my weight loss but that is ok...I am beginning the transition from losing weight to maintaining weight...I look forward to seeing where the next leg of my journey takes me.

Running in the O.C.

It must take some sort of sickness to get up at 6:00 am and purposely run while you are on vacation. Whatever this sickness is I must have it pretty bad because I did my usual 3 mile run in 30 min this morning.  (here is a link to my route) But there was something different to this morning then to any other morning I have experienced so far.  This time last year I was forced to walk a block and then run 2 blocks...I continued this from 18th to 1st street and then I walked back to 18th street. This year it was a constant 10 minute mile from 18th street to the primary pier by the amusement part and back.  What a difference that is!  I praise the Lord for the strength he has given me to endure and to have the determination to continue on this weight loss journey, I praise him every day for this gift he has given me!

Inching my way Closer

The scale read 272 today...so I am a little bit closer to my end goal of 267 then I was at my last post.  On Tuesday I get to run on the boardwalk at Ocean City, MD...It will be really great to be a runner and not a walker this time around.  I have a nice 3.17 mile run set. http://runkeeper.com/user/derekbostick/route/748103

UPDATE: A little bit closer

Today I stand a little bit closer to my goal of 267.  My last two weigh-ins have been 273...Which means I am down about 6 pounds in the last several weeks and means I am only 6 pounds away from my overall goal of 100 pounds.

Running to the finishline:

I am finding the sprint to the finish to be the hardest part...today I weighted 279, which places me 12 pounds away from my goal.   I am not having a difficult time with my eating or anything like that...but it is difficult not seeing the weight come off.  I run at least 3 times per week averaging 3 Miles per run and my average time is 30-31 minutes per run...so I am extremely happy with what I am doing right now...but progress is addictive and I want to see more!  I have my eyes fixed on 267 and I want to get there by August 24th, 2011.

Summertime

Summertime is a great time of the year...this year is actually better then most because I actually feel like doing stuff with my family...it was only a couple of years ago that I desperately needed air conditioning.  Now it is nice but not a neccessity...I also began running with my good friend Jim...he is the one who is also on a weight loss journey.  We have gotten far enough in our journey that we now meet up to run multiple miles together...we are meeting up tomorrow to run 2.75 miles together...Jim has already done it once and tomorrow will be number 2.  Looking forward to a good run in the morning.   BTW my weight is sitting at 278-279 right now...almost hit the 90 pound mark...2 months to lose 11 pounds...I am gonna get this.

Big weekend

So I have a big weekend coming up tomorrow. Our family is making a trip out to Grove City to attend a wedding of a good friend and then going to Ohio to visit family.  So it is really important for me to keep up my plan of making it to 265 by end of August.  So I am going to at least run in the mornings that I am out in Ohio...It will be nice to place some entries in my runkeeper that are not in ship.

Comparison:

So I found a picture of me from 2009 and it got me thinking about how far I have come...So I wanted to post a pic of me from 2009 and then from Today (Literally)  To see what 84 pounds looks like.

By no means do I think that my journey is over but it is hard for me to remember the guy in the photo, at least the dude on the left...

Back on the band wagon:

Alright so it has been over a month since I have stopped calorie counting and I have not continued to lose any weight...I have actually been holding steady in the 285 - 287 range for this entire period.  But I don't want to stay at 285 I want to get to 265 and I want to get it done by August 24th 2011!  So I am getting back in the habit of counting calories and recording them on myfitnesspal.com and my hope is to have this all said and done by the end of this summer!  BTW I am changing my long term goal from 265 to 250...so I have 35 pounds to go!  And my new net calories per day is 1900, yikes I am officially under 2000 calories per day!

BMI Rant

Ok...So every-time I weigh myself on our Wii I kind of get ticked off.  And it isn't because of anything that I am currently doing...it is because of the BMI standard that our culture currently uses.  BMI stands for Body Mass Index and basically is total garbage.  It uses your height and weight and then determines if you are underweight, normal, overweight, obese, or morbidly obese. If you are wondering what your current level is at you can check it here.  But don't worry about what you find...again I believe it is total garbage.  Currently my height is 6'2 and my weight is 285, at that ratio, BMI says I am Obese almost morbidly so. and it also says I would need to get to get to the normal range. 193... So anyone that happens to look at this or has looked at it in the past...don't judge yourself on some artificial number...instead look at how you feel and how much energy you have...that is what really counts.

Check-In

Ok...So I am in my final stretch of my weight loss journey...I only need to lose 20 pounds to reach my goal of 265.  So far I have been able to drop 82 pounds in 89 weeks and I have 15 weeks to lose the final 20 pounds...so that is my new challenge...to lose 20 pounds by August 24th, 2011...Once I get to the 24th and I have lost the additional 20 pounds I am going to celebrate by eating a donut.

Running

Small milestones can be good things. I have worked my endurance up to running 2 miles in 24 minutes.  That is a 5 mi per hour pace...which isn't to shabby.  Tomorrow is my first 5k...I am walking this one with a good friend but the next one will be running.

Not Counting Calories

I have been trying out not counting calories in my traditional sense. I still watch what I eat and I stay in the 2500 range but I am not inputting it daily into myfitnesspal.com. So far I believe it has been going pretty well. My weight is at 285 and If I compare that to last april around this time...that is 48 pounds lighter then I was in 2010.

Change of pace

I am going to change things up a bit and try to eat sensibly without using an app to count the calories.  I hope that the 82 pounds I have lost so far will give me the confidence and the discipline to keep it up.  I'll give the a week or two and then check back in to say how it is going.

Cheater

Alright alright, I cheated on my lent promise...I weightless myself today...luckily it was worth it and my weight was down to 285...felt pretty good to make some progress.

The Lent Season

Alright so maybe this year will by my last year of ambiguous things that I give up.  This year was sweets...but what exactly is sweets?  Cookies? Cakes? Candy? Icecream?  To me it is all of the above. And that is a little rough on me.  But what is even more rough is me not weighing myself...I have not done it for over a week and it already is killing me.  But here is to God giving me the willpower and determination to stay the course!

Lent

During the Christian calendar there is a very special time that we use for reflection, repentance and for drawing nearer to God. I like a lot of Christians am trying my best to do all three of these things...as tradition goes I have decided to give up sweets for lent...cookies, candies, cakes, etc...all gone for 40+ days...along with weighing myself.  The next time I will know how much I weigh is after the celebration of Jesus rising from the dead.

Beginning to become frustrated:

So I have been going to the gym (4 times per week), controlling my caloric intake (2400 - 3000, depending on level of exercise) per day and my weight has not gone down at all in the last several weeks.  I am trying to stay positive and see what is going on...I am going to claim that it is muscle mass...(maybe true, maybe not, it's not really important)  I am going to keep up my work and see where it leads me...I am going to take a vacation from weighing myself for one month...and see what happens...so the next time I am going to weigh in will be April 4th...Hopefully I won't still be at 289.

Another week down the tubes:

Another week down and another week closer to my goal...haven't gone down much in weight but I am still feeling good, got to get to the gym today and get a good workout in...Hopefully 280 comes soon.

Different type of Workout

Workouts have been good over the last couple of weeks...I have began placing strength training back into my work week.  But the only bad that I have had is that my weight has stayed at 289-290...290 this morning :-(

I am not worrying about it though...I am feeling really good and I know the last bit of my weight will come off, I just have to be persistent and patient.

Anther week

So I believe that my 287.5 weigh in was an anomoly.  Soon after that my weight went up to 291...which was still a 1 pound drop...and this week my weight was at 289.5 which was another 1.5 pound drop...so I am still on track with my weight loss goal.

Monday evening

Evidently when I eat to much salt and don't drink enough water I retain water like crazy. Did a bonus weigh in today and was shocked at my number, 287.5...at least for now I am sub-290 and that feels good

Friday:

Another week is in the books...this week I didn't hit my 1 pound goal...I actually stayed the same weight.  Now I got to take the bad with the good and keep going toward my goal.

Week 2 is in the books!

Alright...Week 2 is officially in the books and I am glad to report that it was another good week for me!  Current weight is sitting at 292.5  so I made my goal for the week!  Currently I am averaging 1.5 pounds per week. Now I just need to get back to the gym on a consistent basis, I didn't do a good job of that this week!

Extra Post this week:

Ok so I was feeling nostalgic today and I looked at the very first blog post I did on August 24th, 2009.
Below is an exerp from that post:
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 "My plan is to get myself under 300 lbs within the next year...so i have to lose 65 lbs in 365 days or 1.24 lbs every 7 days. My long-term goal is 265...but i am not thinking of that quite yet."
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Man how things change in 1 year and 5 months.  Here I now sit at 293 and 265 is very much in my radar.  It seems like an eon ago that I was at 367.

Week 1 is in the books!

Alright week one was a good week for me, but then again it was bad in some ways as well!  I didn't get to the gym as much as i wanted (which is the bad) but my weight went down 1.3 pounds.  So I am currently sitting at 293.7 pounds which is ahead of my weekly goal!

I decided to try out a new site for counting calories.  I liked hotcal.com  but I was drawn to the brighter lights of a larger company.  I decided to go with myfitnesspal.com and so far it has been really good.  they have an app for my android power phone and it has a lot of features that other sites just don't have and for free!

If anyone is looking for a good site to count calories that has a mobile app for iphone / android www.myfitnesspal.com is a good place to go! You can join here -> myfitnesspal.com

New Year and Rededication:

Alright so I have not been posting nearly as much as I have wanted to over the last several weeks for a lot of different reasons, most of them being laziness.  As of today I am sitting at 294 and I need to refocus so I can finish my journey to my final weight goal of 265.
 I am going to keep my original goal of August 24th 2011 to finish this weight loss journey and to be able to transition to my weight maintenance journey which I plan on having to be on for the rest of my life here on earth!

August 24th is 206 days or 29 weeks and 3 days away and I need to lose approximately 30 lbs to reach my goal.So this math is really difficult on this one...basically I need to lose 1 lb per week. So here is to a New Years resolution to keep going with what I started on August 24th, 2009 and completing it by August 24th, 2011

I also am going to be posting once per week and weighing in only once per week...each will occur on Friday!