The G-ma Venture

TheThinnerSideOfLife

TheThinnerSideofLife

Day 252

RANDOM FACT – I see to have some semi-nice timing at times.

Weigh in – 195.2 (not even joking you.  I hit that today .. exact.)

Total lost – 140 pounds

Picture –

My grandma Lois with all of her grandkids.

Last night I went for a walk, and I decided I would just make it a visit trip as well walking up to grandma’s nursing home and back.  When I got there I found my aunt, and all or her kids (my only cousins from that side) and my sister.  She had all of her grandkids in the same room for the first time since June.  We talked with her for a while, had her smiling and rolling her eyes (like old times).  She was alert .. and very much aware of everything that was going on.

We got into an argument about who was her favorite grandkid, and I maintained that since I am the oldest I must be the favorite.  We asked Grandma who was the real favorite, and she said that loves us all the same and smiled.

Anyway, we sat around the table with her while she ate, and when she was done, I decided we needed a picture.  The above is the picture we took, and I wanted to share.

One thing that walk did for me was throw my body right into line with where I wanted and needed to be.  I woke up late this morning, and quickly weighed myself .. and that stopped me in my tracks.  I hit the 140 .. exactly.  I weighed myself a couple of times, and I did get other higher numbers .. but 195.2 was the first number I got and I got it more than once.  I told you my scale just likes to throw random numbers at me.  I am taking the 195.2 and claiming it as my own.

That means I have met my second major goal.  The first was to lose 100 pounds, the second was to reach a total of 140.  I am there.  Done.  Met.  w00t!

Now what?  Where do I go from here?  My life is switching over to a maintain mode, so this blog .. will most likely be really .. really boring from here on out.  There is nothing to read about … no goals or milestones left if I am to stay where I am.  The one thing I wanted to do that I have not done is I wanted to post a picture of me in a swimsuit.  I still want to get this done .. but I am going to Florida in November so .. I am thinking I can get it done there and then.

So .. what’s next for this blog?  What will the post schedule look like .. where am I going with this?

I have made a few decisions on that stuff.  First is Post Schedule – I wanted to do this blog for a year, I wanted to show the journey of a man trying to lose 100 pounds over the course of a year.  In 252 days I have lost 140 pounds.  I have roughly 100 days left in the year for posting .. and if I am stopping at 140 and going to try and maintain for a while, then I am done.  I will NOT be posting every weekday anymore.  In fact, the only thing I will be keeping myself to on posts is if I weigh in above 200 at any point, I will blog my daily journey back down to 195.  Other than that, if I am below 200 .. I have no reason to post.

That is not to say I won’t post, I like posting stuff in my life, but this is also part of the test for seeing if I can maintain my weight.  If I am not reminded daily of the weight thing (with having to blog here) will I keep it off?  It’s part of the journey for me .. weening me off the old me and living comfortably in the new me.  So that’s that .. no more posting on a schedule.  The die-hard readers will still get a treat in a shirtless picture of me at some point this year, but you have to be a die-hard I guess.

I want to thank everyone for the support I have gotten, not only from the site comments from time to time, but from the people I see in my day-to-day life.  I have received so many well wishes and compliments along the way .. they all meant and mean a lot to me, and without that support keeping me going who knows where I would be today.

THANK YOU!

I have shown the world, I have shown me that I am way stronger than I thought.  I am a doer.  I took responsibility for myself and changed who I was in 252 days.   I am proud of this journal, this blog, this life-changing log.  I am a new person today because I decided to start this thing.

Am I done yet?  Is this the end of Sam’s journey.  HELL NO.  What this is though is a reality check.  Sam is breaking it off with the blog so he can see if he is strong enough to stand on his own.  I still have some flab to lose, and weight to drop, but I need to know if I can hold what I have already done steady.

I thank you again for reading.  Peace out!

Day 251

RANDOM FACT – My body hates me.

Quick, short post. Weigh in tomorrow, and it’s looking like it will be disappointing. I had my cheat day today .. not really, but kinda. I will announce where I am and where I am going tomorrow, along with a picture .. and weight and … I guess you’ll just have to tune in tomorrow to find out everything I have been thinking.

That is it. I hope you all have an awesome night, and I will see you tomorrow!

Day 250

RANDOM FACT – I am cold.

Short post after yesterday’s novel.  I gained from yesterday to today, not sure why .. but I did.  It seems anytime I get close to a goal my body gets scared and tried to run away, it happened with getting over the 300 hump, hitting 50 pound lost, and hitting 100 pounds lost.  Now I am close to just getting to say I have accomplished my goal of 140 and my bodies response is “OMG, RUN AWAY!”

I am not going to worry about it is the thing.  My frame of mind at this point is stay under 200 .. anything under 200 is success.  So, today is a success.  I will see you guys tomorrow, I am feeling a little … off today.

Day 249

RANDOM FACT – Don’t you wanna get Supersonic?  You gots to get Supersonic. (Long weekend ended with loud concert.  Lyrics .. stuck in head.  Must .. fight urge .. to wear .. Hulk fists.)

My .. lord.  I feel like I got in a car accident over the weekend.  Every part of me hurts, even parts that I didn’t think I used much.  Example, I am in a mosh pit right.  I have zero personal space, and I am fighting for position in the crowd constantly.  The boys (some men .. but not many.  It’s a mosh pit after all) in front are squirming at any chance to cause a rukkus, touch the performer on the cat walk, or jump at seemingly random intervals causing a ripple effect through the crowd.  With every action they do, it radiates back to where I was in the form of the people directly in front of my spot falling backward towards me.

No problem right, just move with the crowd.  Solved!  Wrong.  I noticed that the girls behind me were wearing flip-flops.  They had zero toe protection and looked to be about … I wanna say 15.  I was, at least 50 pounds heavier than anyone standing directly behind me, so when the ripple hit me I was forced (by my own conscience) to stand my ground against it.  The legs, arms, torso were all stressed trying to save some STUPID teen toes.  I had people on either side of me jumping up and down jabbing their elbows into my sides, and my back was killing me.

Did I have fun? HELL YEA I HAD FUN!  I can just say that it’s either age or I am just a weakling, but I left the crowd early and went to take a breather in the car.  It was intense to say the least.  I may just be too old or nice to mosh.

The rest of Sunday was awesome, hanging out with friends at Lifelight and hearing some good tunes.  It’s a big deal around these parts, and though I am not so into the message part of the Christian music fest these days (I believe, but question the church) it was a nice event anyway.  I am glad I went.

The other event of the weekend was a LAN in Omaha.  That was a blast too.  We played a few great rounds of L4D (and 1 or 2 of L4D2) and I remembered why I and the rest of my friends fell in love with those games.  Seriously cool fun.  The host and hostess were fantastic, and the crew that brought me there and back made the trip a worth while experience.  I always enjoy a good LAN, and this one was about as good as they come.  Community, fun, and food.  All needs fulfilled.

With all the partying and such, I did gain a little over the 3 day break, but not enough to worry about.  It was more severe yesterday, but my system took a day to process and I am about back to where I started the weekend on.  I said I am going to be switching to more o a maintain mode, and this weekend was a good test of my limits, what impacts certain things have on my weight fluctuations, and where my limits really are.  I found that if I only eat enough to keep my satisfied, I should be alright.  I skipped that 3rd bowl of chili, and that bigger corn dog because .. I didn’t need them.  I was fine with what I had already.  If I stick to that plan, I think I will find it easy to keep the weight from returning.

I have lived my life by those rules for the past 9 months, but the difference from the lose mode and maintain is I didn’t count any calories this weekend, but did it all by feel .. and guess.  I felt like I had enough .. and I did.  The other difference is that I didn’t pay attention to times.  I ate when I felt hungry, even at 12:30am (even though I stayed up for another 4 hours) .. or had that corn dog and giant lemonade at 8:00PM.  Stuff like that.

I need to lose another pound or so to be at the 140 mark.  At that point I will announce where I am taking this blog, and my life.  I am still not sure how it will all work out, but I need to make a switch at some point.  More later!

I hope your Tuesdays are awesome, and I will see you back here tomorrow!

World of Color

Day 245

RANDOM FACT – Ronald Jenkees has some uber talent. CLICK HERE AND HEAR FOR YOURSELF!

Weigh in – 196.2
Total lost – 139
Picture –

That is exciting eh? The first official weigh in in the 100’s? I think that is the first time I have weighed in at under 200 since middle school. Fairly sure of that. I was a big kid for a long time, still not small .. but I am at a more comfortable place than I have been in a very long time.

As promised, this post will be a reflection on what it means that I am now under that 200 pound bar, and how I will go on from here. If you remember back to when I crossed the 300 pound mark, I made a few statements on the subject then as well. Part of the fun of keeping a blog like this is I can look back to that day and reflect on some of those feelings.

hooray! You have no idea how awesome it is to type those numbers out finally. I am not done yet by far, but to get over the 300 hump is like .. vindication. I am losing weight. Not only am I losing weight, but I have lost enough to make the numbers roll pack to another series. It’s like … I dunno, I guess I just can’t accurately explain the feeling, but it is a good one.

I guess I could post the picture from that day too.

That was then, and today is now. I have lost over 100 pounds since that post. I have gone from 335.2, to 196.2 in 245 days. it’s a feat that I think a lot of people around me thought was near impossible, and even if it was there was no way Sam could do anything like that. I have done it is the thing. This isn’t a dream, this isn’t future plans .. this is here and now. I weigh 196.2 pounds this morning. That, my friends, is reality.

What does it feel like to weigh in with that amount after first starting at 335? It feel awesome .. more than that I feel accomplished. I feel like I have a hold on my life in ways that I did not previous. I feel like a normal person in a world that is now built for me. I can wear anything I want to wear, I can shop in the higher class store because they make stuff that will fit me. I can put on a life jacket and go boating. I fit on every theme park ride built for adults in the country. I am, at this moment, no longer part of the obesity statistics on the news.

I am not thin.

I know that I am not thin at 196, but I am way more comfortable with who I am. I am close currently to the average American male weight (source Wikipedia). I don’t want to be on the cover of a calendar titled “sexiest men alve” or star in a photoshoot in “skinny and buff magazine”, but I want to feel like I am not a sore thumb in a crowd. I want to feel normal .. and I do now. I am so incredibly excited for reaching this step in the journey. I am excited about moving forward as well.

What about moving forward? Well, I am 1 pound away from reaching the 140 pound mark that I switched to after reaching the 100 mark. I am sure I will reach that, but I need to start moving into a maintain mode .. and see where that takes me. I don’t know what I will be doing with this blog after this post .. I will post until I reach my 195.2 target, but I am just not sure where to go from there. I will be thinking about that in the coming days, maybe it would help to have some input? Ideas? Suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

This weekend I am going to be busy doing a lot of things, inclusive of a LAN party and maybe a trip to Sioux Falls .. we’ll see about that one. Life Light is happening this weekend, and the only day I will be available is Sunday. We’ll see. Monday I think will be a rest day. One that is sorely needed after the other 3 days I am sure.

I hope your weekends are awesome, and I will see you back here on TUESDAY (Taking Monday off .. obviously).

Day 244

RANDOM FACT – I .. am going away for the weekend I think?

OMG! Quick post, and it is a bit late, but better than nothing right? So, today was an alright day, I got some more organization projects started .. and the IT room needs it. I need it. I don’t know why, but I am just in one of those moods.

Tonight, after work I went to go visit Grandma. O .. MY GOD guys, she is looking awesome. I had a whole conversation with her. Her vocals were good, she was smiling and moving about. Best thing about the night .. SHE WAS EATING! Not only was she eating real food, but she was feeding it to herself! It was like night a day even from just last week.

I was .. in shock almost. She looks awesome! I am so proud of her, and in awe of her strength. That woman is showing everyone there is very few things that are going to put her life on hold. She’s got a lot of living left to do. She told me tonight that she will be home by Halloween, and I don’t doubt that at all after what I saw tonight. She is .. awesome.

I was going to go on a walk, but after I visited with her, I just came home, talked with the folks about how awesome she looked, and came downstairs to do laundry and write this post. It is really windy anyway .. but I feel alright enough tonight even skipping the walk.

Other than those things, I don’t have much more to talk about … I will see you tomorrow, with a weigh in and that promised reflective post of milestones and where I am and going. Have a great night, and I will see you then!

Day 243

RANDOM FACT –  If you have 3 quarters, 4 dimes, and 4 pennies, you have $1.19. You also have the largest amount of money in coins without being able to make change for a dollar.

Alright, so last night was a short one.  I didn’t work late, and I was thinking I might take a trip to go see my grandma, but that didn’t happen either.  She is coming home today anyway so I should be able to see her tonight.  I am hoping that all turns out alright and that her trip back home is good.  This is the first hospital estimated stay that went right .. like she is getting out on the exact date they said she would be getting out.

cool.

I feel asleep early.  It was kind a restless night, not so much early on, but I woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep easily.  That kind of night.  I had a big bowl of soup for my evening meal, that was good.  It was good enough that I am thinking of having some today for lunch as well.  Tomato Bisque anyone?  Yeah .. I thought so.  My evening plans consist of visiting grandma .. maybe, and for sure a walk of soem kind.  I just heard that it is supposed to be a icky/stormy night, but if it isn’t severe storms .. I may just go out anyway.  I like rain.

Besides, there are shelters along the path so I should be good right?

My Friday post this week will be a very reflective post of reaching milestones, where I am and where I am going type thing.  I hope you guys tune in the for that one.  That is about all I have for today, I will see you guys later!  Have a great Wednesday!