I got sucked into Facebook, even though I had successfully avoided it for so long (blame Eric Englehorn for getting me to try Mafia Wars, the bastard). Not that I post all that often to FB, but it seemed a bit redundant to do a blog and maintain a facebook page.

I was looking around for a photo today and ended up finding here in an really old journal entry. I got to looking around and reminded myself that a/ I enjoyed posting things here, especially using it to keep track of my weight loss progress and B/ that facebook really isn't doing the job of replacing that function.

So, I'm going to get back in the habit of posting here. I have no idea if anyone is ever reading this stuff, but that's not really important anyway. I also need to get back to keeping a semi-public record of my weight loss progress. Not doing that has contributed to a general slacking off. I've even gained some back.

Time to reengage and refocus.

Oh yeah, and I just got an iPhone, so I can post anytime, anywhere.

Current Location: United States, Washington, Seattle

10.10 - 10.23

Workouts: 7/7
Workout String: 3 weeks
Total Weight Loss: 160 lbs. (official, as of 7/30)

My ability to keep up with doing this blog every week hasn't returned, but at least I've been able to get a couple of 7 day workouts the last two weeks.

Tags: the scott project

10.3 - 10.9

Workouts: 6
Workout String: 1 weeks
Total Weight Loss: 160 lbs. (official, as of 7/30)

I tried hard to get my 7. Hard.

But work got in the way. On Tuesday, I worked a 16 hour day, got home at about 1:30 am and got to bed a little before 2. Determined to get my 7, I had The Woman get me up at our normal 4:30 to go to the gym.

Wednesday night, I worked a 15 hour day, left work at about 12:30 am and got to bed by about 1:30. The Woman woke me up at 4:00 to ask if I wanted to go to the gym, but I had to say no.

So, I only got a 6 instead of 7.

Tags: the scott project

6.19 — 10.2

It's been awhile — a good 3 and a half months since I've updated this journal. During that stretch, I've been sick enough twice that I was off exercising for a week each time, The Woman and I went to China for the Olympics and ended up missing 3 weeks of exercising (although we did walk our asses off, averaging 5 miles a day with a 10 mile and 15 mile day in there), and then lots of off and on exercising that added up to a dwindling routine.

I decided last week that I'd had enough messing around and it was time to reboot the system. Time to get back on track.

So, starting last Friday, I rebooted. No more missing workouts. Back to 7 days a week.

Before the journal blackout, The Woman and I had started working with our trainer together. We're still doing that. We are with him for an hour three times a week with 45 minutes to an hour of cardio afterwards.. On the other days, we're doing an hour of cardio.

I'm also rebooting my food intake. I'd let things slide a bit. The travel helped with that, but I'd started falling into the trap of allowing success to translate into a more lenient food attitude. No more of that either.

I'm also rebooting this journal. It's interesting that as I let my habit of regularly writing about my progress slide, so did all the other aspects of my progress slide.

So, all settings are back to zero. I still have between 60-80 pounds to lose and I mean to lose them.

Tags: the scott project

6.6 — 6.19

Workouts: 7 & 6
Workout String: 15 weeks
Total Weight Loss: 150 lbs. (official, as of 5/30)

The Woman and I have started doing joint trainer sessions so that we are working out with him for an hour together instead of a half hour separately. We're doing a kind of boot camp routine that mixes weight lifting supersets with lots of all-over exercises. Starting next week, we're going to be doing that 3 times a week along with an hour of cardio each day. We're hoping that this will jack up our individual progress.

Tags: the scott project

5.23 — 6.5

Workouts: 4 & 7
Workout String: 13 weeks
Total Weight Loss: 150 lbs. (official, as of 5/30)

So The Woman and I decided to take Memorial Day weekend off from the gym and I took a 4 that week. No worries though, because on Friday the 30th, I stopped by my doctor's office and did an official weight on his scale.

I've finally hit the 150 lbs. lost mark.

To celebrate, The Woman and I did a "triathalon" on Saturday — an hour at the gym, 2 hours kayaking, 90 minutes biking and then poker with the Vag Pack. After a full day of activity, the only side effects were slightly sore butts from the bicycle seats and me out $10.

Tags: the scott project

Watching the first data download from the Phoenix lander at the Mars North Pole live on NASA Web TV. As the images came up on the display, they were almost instantly uploaded to the Phoenix mission website:

http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/images.php?gID=309&cID=7

The Martian tundra, courtesy of the Phoenix lander:



Incredible.

Watching the Phoenix probe's entry/landing on Mars live via NASA tv on the web right now.

The Woman and I went kayaking yesterday for the first time. We rented a couple kayaks and went out for a couple hours with friends Leighway and BirdJack. Both of us did really well and, thanks to our trainer, were able to go from the UW all the way around Lake Union and back without getting tired or sore.

Besides doing something I've been wanting to do for years and checking that off the list (we're already talking about buying kayaks), this outing had some added high notes for me.

No one at the rental place hesitated at all when we got up to the counter when we asked to get a couple kayaks. I didn't get "the Look™" or any questions about how much I weighed. They handed me a life jacket that fit and they didn't have to dig around trying to find one. We went out to the dock, got in the boats and paddled away. Like normal people. That was almost better than the whole part out on the water.

Tags: the scott project

5.9 — 5.22

Workouts: 5 & 5
Workout String: 11 weeks
Total Weight Loss: 143 lbs. (unofficial, as of 5/2)

A mix of sick days (The Woman and I got our immunizations for China and I've had 3 separate reactions since that put me out for a day each time) and long work days have made it very hard to hit 7 days a week.

On the good news front, I've gone down another pant size, a shoe size (never saw that one coming) and I can definitely see that my body is changing. There are actually spots that ripple instead of jiggle.

I also tried jogging for the first time since I was a teenager. I was on the treadmill and, following the instructions from both my trainer and physical therapist, walked for 4 minutes and jogged for 1, walked 4, jogged 1, etc. for an hour. I had to work hard on my breathing to keep my heart rate down and I had to concentrate on relaxing to keep everything from reflexively clenching. I had one knee twinge, but otherwise no significant pain. I really look at this as my first step on the road towards my first marathon.

Tags: the scott project