I Have Been Weighed, I Have Been Measured.

     So, as expected, I was a little heavier late in the day when I went in to get the final measurements taken.  Here are the results:

• Weight - 213.3
• BP - 138/82
• Chest 41.5 inches
• Waist 41 inches
• Abs 43 inches
• Hips 43 inches
• Right Bicep 13.25 inches
• Right Thigh 22 inches
• Percentage Body Fat 28.4
• BMI 32.4

     They will give us printouts tonight that explain what the measurements were to start with and how we've improved. 
     I started working out at the gym by the house this morning.   I've been doing a lot of walking on the treadmill lately for that extra boost of cardio in the last few days before the final weigh in.  Both trainers said that walking without holding on (even just a little for balance) is a much better workout.  They said that I should concentrate on trying to walk at a 3.0 with no incline and strive for comfort walking with swinging arms.  That speed is uncomfortable for me, and it is starting to cause pain on the top of my right ankle which causes me to walk funny and lose balance.  This morning I had to drop the speed to 2.5 because of it, but I did the whole time without holding on.  I am going to ask someone about stretches or therapy to push through this.  The top of my ankle was pretty inflamed yesterday and hurt all afternoon.

Last workout before final weigh-in

     I went to the gym this morning (Sunday) for a last minute push.  Afterwards I weighed on the scale that I've been using every Monday morning.  I wanted to have a way to compare what they told me tonight so that I knew what my actual numbers were.  I know that tonight it will be slightly more than what it was this morning because as I drink water throughout the day, my body retains fluids and I am always heavier at night.  Since I have been regularly weighing in the morning, I wanted to have a good baseline.  I weighed in at 211.5!  That's down 3 pounds from last week.  According to my calculations, I've lost 17.7 pounds which is 7.72%.  I know it is silly, but my favorite thing about this whole thing is that I'm under the red line.  I exceeded my goal of 2 pounds a week!

     This past week I have done a lot of extra cardio to get this result.  We had a boot camp on Thursday morning.  We had a few guests join us from another team.  It was nice to see them and find out that one of them reads this blog!  I followed the Boot Camp up with a visit to Massage Envy on Friday night to help recover enough so that I could continue my cardio workouts over the weekend.
     This week I did a few things to keep myself going after the finale on Monday.  I joined the Biggest Loser Competition at work.  (I'll keep you posted on that.)  And then, Thursday at lunch, I went to a local gym near the house and met with a trainer I will work with going forward.  I will miss Paula, but I think this will work out better because it is much closer to the house.  Paula suggested that I begin training for a 5k race in the fall.  Paula, my new trainer, Kari as well as a few runners at work have said that it is definitely possible to be ready in time.  My wife is going to try to train for the race along with me.  There are a few runners on my team.  Maybe I can get them to run with us as well.  Paula doesn't want us to lose touch with the team members and said she had some ideas that might allow us to get back together periodically to work out together.  I'm looking forward to that and to seeing how everyone is doing on Monday night.

Week 7 weigh-in

     Down a half a pound.  Not stellar by any means, but still down.  I think this may have to do with the fact that we ate out on Friday night.  We had taco salad which isn't horrible, but it is higher in sodium, has beef which sits pretty heavy on my stomach and I ate the fried shell.  I think I have one more weigh-in, so this week, I plan to do extra cardio to really make the last one count!

Tennis

     My wife and I started playing tennis some time ago as an activity we could both share that would give us some exercise and allow us to spend time together.   Since our children came along, we haven't played much.  My wife has played on a few teams, but I have been busy with other things. 
     We got a sitter this weekend and Saturday went to some local courts and hit around.  I was still stiff from my boot camp workout, but after a while my muscles warmed up and I could move better.  Up until that point, I was frustrated that I couldn't move very well and said as much to my wife.  As an encouragement to all the effort I've been putting in and also kidding with me, she said, "Well, honestly you are moving as much as you ever were."  And she was right, I have been dealing with muscle/ankle issues for quite some time and I would become very tired and winded after a very short tennis session because of the amount of effort I needed to put forth to get to the ball (or keep my opponent from running me around).
     I am pleased to say that after the hour session we had, I wasn't tired at all.  I felt that my muscles had warmed up and I had loosened up a bit, but I didn't get much of a cardio workout.  (Which is good because I really didn't move that much).  I am looking forward to continuing this journey and getting to the point where I can play at the level I think I am capable of because I am not hindered by my lack of fitness.

The Benefits of Massage

     I never realized just how much a massage could help.  By Friday night, my muscles were really protesting from the boot camp the day before.  I had signed up for regular sessions with John to help loosen up the muscles in my lower body.  Boy am I glad I did.  Usually the 2nd day after a workout is worse than the day after as far as soreness goes.  I wasn't looking forward to it at all. 
     Saturday, I was still stiff, but the massage had gotten most of the soreness out.  I still had a small area of my hamstring where I could feel pain, but it was so much better than the day before.  Thank you John for becoming an integral part of my road to wellness!  I don't think I could have walked let alone gone out and played an hour of tennis with my wife if I hadn't had that massage.

Radio Interview

Well I got my 30 seconds of fame on Friday morning when teammate, Stephanie and I showed up early for a radio interview on WCHL 1360 AM .  We had a total of 2 minutes for our segment and the time flew by.  If you want to download the broadcast, you can find it here: (we were on about 8:30 - 8:40am) Radio Interview

Our interview starts at time stamp 36:35 of the mp3 file.

Visit to the Doctor

Friday Morning I visited the doctor for my 6 week check-up.  She was very pleased with the weight loss and also that my numbers were coming down.  She said that in 6 weeks if everything kept progressing, she'd start to ween me off the medications at that time.  Yay!

Boot Camp

     Had another boot camp last Thursday.  I was already starting to feel my muscles start to tighten up that afternoon and sent an email to Paula and my teammates to tell them how I was feeling that night.  I was so sore in my hamstrings the next day that I could barely walk.




     Here's Paula demonstrating proper gut wrenching technique, while Stephanie and I do it and Diane takes pictures! I really hate those core exercises and threw the little ball that was supporting our lower backs as soon as it was over.










     Ah, my favorite part of the boot camp workout!  The stretching!  As you can see, all of us need work stretching those hamstrings and our hip flexors.