Week 13...Progress and Results

So, I am now 13 weeks into my personal challenge and also we've made it through the 10 weeks of the Biggest Winner competition which is part of the Las Vegas Corporate Challenge.  I certainly had hoped that I could report more progress, but some was made.  OK, I did lose 25 lbs. for the Biggest Winner competition.  According to their scale, I weighed in at 438 lbs. and weighed out at 413 lbs.  I am happy with that, but one of my teammates left me in the dust losing an impressive 41 lbs. over the competition - Well Done Glen!!!!

I would like to believe the scale as accurate, but my weight loss is measured against my personal scale at the house.  When I got home, I weighed myself and it showed 416 lbs.  I'll take it.  that means at the halfway point of my personal 6 month challenge I have lost 42 lbs.  Now I just need to follow through and keep losing more weight.  In the past, once the competition has ended I've reverted to bad eating habits.  I won't allow myself to do that any more.

On the cycling front, 9 days into the National Bike Challenge I have gotten in 9 rides.  Last night's was a late ride.  I realized at 9:00 pm that I had yet to ride, so I changed and headed out for a short ride.  Now, I will be honest here and admit that all of my rides have been short so far, but the important thing is that I am riding.  

Week 12

So, another week has come and gone and I was hoping to report that I have lost all of the pounds gained last week and while that is not true, I have lost 1 lb.  I'm a bit perplexed as to the reason for this as my eating hasn't changed significantly from my successful routine of the initial 10 weeks of this journey.  All I can figure is that I've reached a plateau and I need to work through things and stay the course.  I know that changes will come.  The only disappointing thing is that Monday is the final weigh in for the Biggest Winner challenge and I feel bad that I am not performing better for my teammates.

On a positive note, I have gotten in a couple of short rides over the last 2 days for the National Bike Challenge.  I am very happy that I am out and riding.  Now I need to get into a steady routine and increase my daily mileage.  there is a bit of frustration associated with the challenge as they are having big issues reporting the data they are collecting for the challenge.  The post on the site yesterday says it may take up to 3 weeks for them to fix all of the issues.  Seems like a long time to me.  The good news is, though, it has given me the small boost I needed to get my butt on the bike.

My goal is to stay hyper-focused this week and see if I can't make a decent number on the scale for the weigh in on Monday.  I know putting some time in on the bike will certainly help in that regard.

Biggest Winner 2016

So, here it is, the start of my 4th Biggest Winner weight loss competition as part of the City of Las Vegas' Corporate Challenge.  The weigh in was yesterday and their scale put me at 438 lbs.  I thought it might have been a couple of pounds light and when I got home and on my scale it showed 440 lbs.  So there it is.  Now this is actually a bit heavier than I was on Tuesday and that was a result of eating some salty foods and drinking a ton of liquids.  I expect that increase to disappear in the next day or two as I flush out my system.

What I find strange is that while we have medaled, taking the bronze last year, and I have lost weight in the competition, it obviously has not 'stuck'.  Let's look back just a single year to last year's competition.  I started the competition with a weight of  448 lbs. and ended at 420 lbs. for a loss of 28 lbs.  You will notice that that is significantly less than yesterday's weight and especially my weight of 458 lbs. back on 2/8 when I started my personal weight loss challenge.

What this tells me is that if I set my sights on a concrete goal, then I am actually pretty good at doing what I need to in order to lose weight, but when there is no target I let my eating slip way out of control.  I see that this is not just a short term change that I need to make in order to meet these short term goals, but it needs to be a lifetime change in my eating behavior. I am working to make that lifetime change a reality.

So, until I get to where I need to be, I am going to keep putting short term goals out there and then striving to meet them.  I have my 6 month goal of losing that 80 lbs. and I am going to hit it, no if's ands or buts, but then I am going to continue on until I reach my ultimate target goal of under 250 lbs.

Week 3 progress

OK, here we are already 3 weeks into my personal 80 lbs. in six months challenge.  I was supposed to post yesterday but the time got away from me and frankly it wasn't a priority so I waited until today. the good news is that I did my weigh in Sunday morning and I was at 439 lbs.  That is 19 lbs. lighter than when I started this challenge and I am very happy with that.

In terms of activity and exercise its been all but non-existent this last week.  I got some steps in but nowhere near my modest goal of 7,000 steps per day.  I also squandered another week of nice weather and didn't get on my bike once.  Part of the reason is that I have been holding back pending tomorrow's weigh in for the start of the biggest winner competition.  I know it's a lame excuse (and really no excuse at all) but I wanted to save some of the weight loss for during the competition where it works for a dual purpose - a 2 in 1 loss as it were.  So after tomorrow I am removing that excuse from my head and will be getting back to it much more actively.

Not much else to report on this week, other than I am starting to see a difference in my body which is a good thing.

And here we go again...FINALLY!

OK, I have to come clean. I have been planning on riding my bike for many many weeks now.  My last ride was the 13th of March. I would make all these plans to get out and ride, but for some reason when it came right down to it, the motivation just wasn't there.

Today, it finally was and I got out for a ride. OK, it was a short one, under 3 miles, but this is a positive step. Part of my trepidation was reading about several people who have been hit by cars in the last few months.  I definitely didn't and don't, want to become someone's hood ornament.

Finally today I felt that I just had to go for it and I did and I enjoyed it.

I think it's time to start getting up at 4:00 am and riding while its cool and the traffic is light. Hopefully in the near future, after we move, I can find some decent bike paths that get me away from traffic where I will feel a whole lot safer.

In other news, today was also the weigh out for the Biggest Winner competition in the corporate challenge and I am proud to say that the scale showed a 28 lb. loss for me. I'll certainly take it and now its all about continuing the journey.

So, now that I did it, its your turn to...

GET ON YOUR BIKE AND RIDE!!!!!!

Week three is in the books

The good news is that as a team we have a net loss of 11 lbs. this week. The bad news is that a couple of our team members struggled and gained a pound each this week. As a team we have already surpassed our total team weight loss for the team in last year's competition.  Personally I lost 4 lbs. This week for a total of 15 lbs. so far. I am very happy with my loss and feel very positive that we will all continue to lose weight.

I heard the news this week that once again the Viva Bike Vegas event has been cancelled.  Apparently the negotiations between the organizer and the various municipalities and regional transportation commission stalled and there is no funding for the safety teams for the event.  That is a shame.  I thought that this was an awesome event.  I'm starting to feel like my participating in an event is a curse for the event.  3 major events I have participated in have all been cancelled:  Viva Bike Vegas, The Tour De Cure and Ride: MS. Its getting to the point where there are very few large, charity rides available in the area.

Another week gone already

I can't believe another week is already gone in the Biggest Winner challenge.  Our team results still remain positive and I couldn't be happier!  Personally, I am down another 5 lbs. this week to 437 which is awesome.  As a team we are down an additional 13 lbs. this week which brings our total to 36 lbs or 2.6%.  This is a great start and we have good momentum going for the challenge.

I am pleased with our results overall, but this is a long competition and there are 7 more weeks to stay focused and on track.  I know I can actually do better by increasing my activity and am planning on more bike riding as I get ready for the National Bike Challenge which will be running again this year from May through September.  I plan on surpassing last year's totals by riding every single day from May 1 through September 30.

What are you doing to get stay fit and healthy?

I have a suggestion:

Get on your bike and ride!

A great start

Today, I gathered the first week's weigh in results from my Biggest Winner team and I am blown away by how well we are doing as this competition gets rolling.  As a team we have lost a total of 1.67% of our body weight in 6 days.  That is outstanding progress.  Sure I realize that the first week of any weight loss program tends to be a higher level of loss than will be achieved on an ongoing basis, but it is still a great start.  As a group we have lost 23 lbs.  By my calculations, if we can maintain an ongoing rate of loss of just half of the first week's for the next 8 weeks, we should lose about 111 pounds by the end of the competition. This would equal a loss of 8.04%.  Last year's winning team lost 7.02%.

To keep myself on the right track and losing weight I actually got out for a nice bike ride over the weekend.  There really is no excuse not to ride with our beautiful weather of late.  I went 5.85 miles which was a good distance and I certainly felt my lack of riding over the past several months.  Its time to make it more of a habit.  I need to in order to hit my goals for the year.

So, my plan is to get on my bike in the evenings and put in at least some miles every other day, at a minimum.  I also will continue to eat a healthy, low-carb diet and drink lots of water.  I'm hoping my doctor notices an improvement in my BP and blood work next week when I go see him.

Until then,

Get on your bike and ride!!!!!

And the games begin - 2015 edition!

Once again this year I will be participating in the Corporate Challenge games through my place of employment.  I have previously written about participating in or even captaining teams in several of the events:  Biggest Winner (2013, 2014), Bike Race (2011 2012), Track and Field, Tug O War and Laser Tag.  This year will be slightly different.

I am captain of the team for the Biggest Winner competition again this year and I feel like i have a strong, motivated team. Yesterday was the initial weigh in and to prepare, I ate just about anything and everything to "bulk up" before hand.  It seemed to work in that my initial weight for the competition came in at 448 lbs.  Now its time to put in the work, watch what I'm eating and lose a significant amount of weight. the final weigh in for this event is on May 11.  Just over 9 weeks away.

I am also captain of the bowling team this year.  The gentleman who had been captain for several years retired, leaving an opening which I decided to see if I could fill.  It will be interesting to see how we do this year as there have been some strong teams in the past. I'll be posting more on this over the next few weeks as the competition isn't until May 3rd.

Track and field is on the agenda as well as I participate in both the softball throw and the shot put again this year. I really need to get out and get some practice time in as this event is coming in less than 3 weeks.  I hope to better my mark from last year so I need to get out there and throw the ball!

So, with these events I have to get active and get healthy.  My biggest secret will be to...

get on my bike and ride!

ADDENDUM

I just looked at my calendar and realized that the track and field event conflicts with a previous engagement so I won't be doing the shot put or the softball throw this year.

DW

Biggest Winner Competition wraps up

You may remember that I wrote about the Biggest Winner Weight Loss competition which is part of the Las Vegas Corporate Challenge.  The initial weigh in was on March 4 and the weigh out was this past Monday, May 12.  I was the captain of our team and recruited 4 other individuals to participate. I had hoped to earn points and possibly a medal for our team.  Unfortunately that was not the case.

As with most weight loss competitions the team started out positive, strong and motivated.  I had the team check in each Monday with their current weight and the first 3 or 4 weeks were great.  Then we hit a couple of snags.  Team members suffered injuries and had to curtail some of their physical activities.  Easter came and went.  There was a reduction of staff at work. Mother's day was the weekend before the final weigh in.  It all added up to our placing 12th in the competition.

I know we all have struggles and challenges we face every day, but I had hoped to keep my team motivated and on track., I obviously did a poor job.  If each member of the team had simply stayed at their lowest reported weight, then we would have placed 4th overall.  That didn't happen.  Over the last 4 weeks, and particularly over the last week, several pounds, once lost, were gained back.

I lost the largest number of pounds on our team for the challenge at 23. I also had the largest percentage at 5.23%.  The total weight lost by the other 4 team members combined was only 18 lbs. which gave us a 41 lb. total loss representing 3.29%.  While I could try to blame my teammates, the failure is mine.  I failed to keep them motivated and on track for the challenge. I need to look at what I did and when, and decide what I could do differently to help them achieve better results.

The fact that we had gained back weight points to a failure on my part. I was supposed to keep them motivated and on point for the challenge and my weekly emails obviously missed the mark.  There has to be more that I could have done.  Right now I'm not sure what that was, but I have reached out to my team mates and asked that very question - what more could I have done to help with the challenge.  I hope to get some usable answers so that in the future I can be a better leader.

So, I am celebrating my 23 lb. loss, but the celebration is short lived as I need to keep myself motivated and moving forward towards a slimmer and healthier version of myself.  I indulged a bit the last couple of days in the food department, but its time to get back to eating better and moving more.

Get on your bikes and ride!

2014 Biggest Winner Challenge

This year I am once again the captain of my company's Biggest Winner team as part of the Corporate Challenge here in the City of Las Vegas.  Basically we have a 5 member team and the goal is to lose the highest total percentage of weight over the next 10 weeks.  Our final weigh in is on May 12.  Having participated in this challenge in the past I understood how easy it might be to "stack the deck" a bit in our favor by gaining a bit of easily loseable weight.  One of the easiest things to do is to drink as much water as possible the day of the initial weigh in to increase your starting weight.  Eating like a pig for a couple of days before and the day of prior to weighing in helps too.

I'm here to let you know I was very successful in this regard.  My Friday weight was 429 lbs. and my official weigh in weight was 440 lbs.  I got on the scale this morning at home and it showed 436.4 lbs.  My goal over the next 10 weeks is to lose one percentage of my starting weight each week for a total of 10 % for the competition.  Do I know this is faster than recommended as a good, steady amount to lose?  Sure I do, but it is a competition and not a lifestyle.  I do hope that the change will carry forward, though.

So, 4.4 lbs per week between now and May 12.  I know I can do it by staying focused, eating right and getting my butt moving!

Putting a shot, throwing a softball, a walk race and a weight loss competition

What do all of these have in common?  They are all events I have signed up for in the 2014 Las Vegas Corporate Challenge.  I am actually team captain of our weight loss team competing in what is called the Biggest Winner event.  This is going to be an interesting 10 weeks.

The overall competition runs from March 4th through May 17th.  the biggest Winner starts with a weigh in on March 4th and a weigh out on May 12.  The teams are then ranked by percentages of weight lost, with Gold, Silver and Bronze medals awarded for the top 3 teams.  I was team captain last year but we only came in 6th place.  The top team had a weight loss percentage of 8.96%. Our goal for this year is 10% weight loss over 10 weeks of the competition.

The other events should be interesting as I have not competed in them before.  Sure I've thrown a softball and I can walk, but haven't done either in a competitive environment.  The shot put will be totally new to me.  Anyone have any tips on how best to put the shot?

Update:  I have just volunteered to be the team captain for the Tug of War team as well.  Not sure if this gives us an advantage as the weight limit for the team is 2000 lbs.  I am taking the spot of what could be 2 people, but we'll see!

Update #2:  I have also volunteered to captain the new Laser Tag team.  I really want us to win the Corporate challenge this year!

May rides #7 & #8 and Weigh in

May ride #7 was a nice little 6 mile ride yesterday after the sun was up.  I started a bit after 8:00 am and it was already in the 80's. In fact our overnight low was only 80.  My objective was to get in a nice little work out and sweat out a bit more weight before my weigh in.  Mission accomplished.  I would have ridden a bit longer, but all of the parents were coming out to get their kids to school and the bus and frankly it didn't feel safe!  It really is a winder there aren't a lot more accidents at that time of the morning.

More on the weigh in in a moment.

May ride #8 was this morning and it felt really good!  I felt strong, the weather was perfect and there was little wind.  The bike performed flawlessly and I was getting back some of the confidence on the cornering.  It was a good morning to be on the bike.  I did the 22 laps I had planned on Monday and netted 10.47 miles.  My average speed was a good 14.6 mph and that was with actually taking a couple of cool down laps.  I didn't push all out, but I did push and it felt awesome.  I actually did most of rht laps staying in my highest gear.  That means I'm getting stronger and I am getting more confident in m ability to accomplish the 100 Miles of Nowhere in 2 1/2 weeks.

Now for the weigh in.  The good news is I lost an average of 1.8 lbs. per week for the last 10 weeks which makes a total of 18 lbs. for the Biggest Winner contest.  The bad news is I think my off the rails eating over the last week probably cost me 4 or 5 lbs. on the contest.  I feel bad because it feels like I let my teammates down.  But it is what it is and its time to move forward.  Now I want to concentrate on eating healthy and riding my bike and let the weight fall where it will.  I'm not under the pressure of a contest, I know what I need to do and I'm just going to do it.

Biggest Winner Week 7

Hard to believe we are already 7 weeks into this 10 week competition.  Its been a pretty good week.  I've eaten decent, gotten in some exercise so I figured I would see some progress on the scale today.  Unfortunately the scale didn't agree and showed me with a gain of .8 lbs this week.  Sure, its not a big gain, but I really was expecting a loss.

According to my FitBit report  I averaged over 4700 steps per day and had a net calorie deficit of about 7000 calories for the week.  I rode my bike 35 miles over the last week.  All of this would make me think I should have lost something on the scale. That is not the case, though.

I know I am doing the right things.  I know that the weight will come down as I get in more exercise and watch what I eat.  I just wish it would be a bit faster since I am in the competition and there are only 3 weeks left.

I am going to stay the course.  I know it works and I just have to trust the process.  This Saturday will be a big test for me - the 30 mile ride for the Tour De Cure.  Watch for a full report.

Weight Loss challenges

OK.  Let's take a moment and talk about the strategy and philosophy of weight loss challenges.  Most challenges are structured to reward those who lose the highest percentage of their body weight over a fixed period of time.  Fairly simple.  To calculate the percentage of weight lost you divide the total pounds lost by the participant by their starting weight.  The idea of using the percentage of weight lost is it tends to be easier for larger individuals to lose more pounds.

So with this in mind, I have a weigh in today for a 10 week weight loss challenge - The Biggest Winner, which is part of the Las Vegas Corporate Challenge.  I am actually the captain of a 5 person team representing my company.  It is our combined percentage of weight loss, when measured against the other teams, that will determine or placement at the conclusion of the challenge.  To prepare for this weigh in, I have been eating lots and today am adding in salty foods and drinking lots as well.  By my estimation I will have added about 10 lbs. over where I was last week.  Is it wrong to "stack" the deck like this for a challenge?  Personally I think it falls into the realm of game play and have no doubt that other teams are doing exactly the same thing.

Right now I'm predicting my weigh in weight to be about 440 435 lbs.  I will consider my competition to be a success if I can get below 400 over the next 10 weeks.  Towards this end I will be tacking my progress here.  Every Tuesday morning, I will weigh in and track how much weight I have lost both in lbs. and percentage of initial.  My secret weapon will be that I am going to start walking and riding like a mad man.  I have the Tour De Cure coming up next month and the 5k in May.  All that training and exercise, along with maintain a strict accounting and adherence to a total calorie intake of 2000 per day will get me where I want to go.

By the Way, If you haven't done so, could you please support my effort to stop diabetes by donating to my Tour De Cure ride? Every little bit helps!

Thank you.

Update on last week's goal...

I had meant to post this sooner, but got side tracked and never actually published the update.

Last week I set myself a short term, achievable goal to simply ride 5 of 7 days.  I made my goal.  I rode Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.  My total mileage for the week was just under 50 miles, which according to My Daily Mile, is the most I've ridden in one week since I completed Pumpkinman in October 2010.

When I looked back and saw that fact, I realized quickly how I had put back on some of the weight I had lost.  Its really very simple, I continued to eat too many calories and to burn too few.  I am working to change that by monitoring what I eat as well as what I burn.

For example, if I follow the calorie burns supplied by My Fitness Pal in capturing my rides, I burned an extra 4873 calories in 287 minutes of riding my bike over the same 7 days.

Obviously these are calories I would not have burned if I had not gotten out there and ridden.  For this very fact, I am planning on setting the same goal for this week - ride 5 of 7 days.

Now I actually have applied a bit greater pressure to myself this week because I didn't ride on Sunday.  I did ride this morning, though, so I have to ride 4 of the next 5 days.  My plan is simple - Get up at 4:00 am on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and Ride my 8 to 10 miles in the morning before work and then ride either Friday or Saturday, depending on the weather and the activities at home.

The good news is that with riding, my weight was down 1.4 lbs. this week to 416.  The big weigh in is on Thursday for the Biggest Winner competition.  I will have lost some weight, but not nearly as much as I had hoped for the 10 weeks of the competition.