Half of Phil

Photos help a lot to show progress and keep up the motivation.  When you see yourself in the mirror every morning and generally naked you don't always notice the vast difference a few years makes.  Which I'm sure is why these types of memes are so popular: A few weeks ago scrolling through facebook I came across this photo and thought wow!!!  I've posted the photo below along with one in a similar sized 5x shirt I still have.  Apparently I purged the original one which in and of itself is shocking. I also took another 8th grade basketaball shorts picture.  I'm down about 30 lbs between the 2017 pic and the 2019 one. I'd say I'm down close to 100 from the original in 2016.  Overall my weight loss is stalled around 155 lbs overall loss.  I've been hanging around 275 for quite a while. I have to keep a couple things in mind with the weight loss stall, overall I'm in the best shape of my life.  I walked my 3.3 mile loop this morning i...

I finished our April 5k.  I'd set a goal to 'run', well at least for me, the entire distance and I met that goal.  My pace time by the timer is off from the Cupid 5k in Feb, but I really think I went faster, the distance on my fitbit tracker was 3.25 miles versus just at 3 for the Cupid track. The next race we are signed up for is toward the end of June.  So I've got some time to keep getting better prior to it. We are headed to the beach and DC over the next couple weeks.  Spring Break is next week.  It's almost been 3 years since I began this journey so I'm hoping to do a bigger update for my next entry.  We'll see how work and life in general work for that.  For now I'm just happy to check in that I've kept the course and I'm keeping on even if additional weight isn't coming off. Next committed update 4/30

Spring is in full swing for our family.  2 Soccer seasons in progress, short course swim season winding down and long course starting.  Spring Dance recital is right around the corner. And I've got a big BBQ comp coming up this weekend!  I'm looking forward to the BBQ comp to hopefully have some fun and relax some.  It's been stressful at work, it's layoff season but so far I've been safe and our group has as well.  Will be the theme of this year though apparently so time will tell.  It's a rough weekend for me since it's the anniversary of my friend Dan passing away.  Last weekend another guy I knew through coaching passed away from a heart attack.  Yesterday I went to his visitation and ended up getting a speeding ticket on the way from the funeral home to get the boy from one practice to go to the next. Seems the end of March is a tough time.  Hoping for a fun diversion and distraction. I did vest on the 14th of March though so that is...

I've been running more in the mornings I don't make it to 9round and some on the weekends.  I've been able to run/jog (ok brisk walk for lots of folks) the full 3.3 mile loop.  Most mornings I"m around 14ish min miles.  My hope and plan is that by doing this I can in the long run better my times for 5ks this year since I'll hopefully be able to go at a consistent pace rather than stopping to walk some.  Time will tell.  There's definitely an endorphine high from running.  I don't know that I'll get addicted to it, but you do feel better for a bit until you start to get sore at least.  It is a great sense of accomplishment though.  Weight loss is pretty much stalled, but that is to be expected, still staying the course tracking the food, more good decisions, less bad ones.  Keeping up the exercises and celebrating the weight I've lost and progress I've made.  Can't lose sight of the fact that I'm wearing smaller pants than I did in high ...

 My wife got me tickets to see Tommy Tomlinson's talk for WFAE and the Charlotte Library Foundation.  My trainer and friend from 9Round went with me.  We had a great time.  Got my book signed another brief moment of fame! I am doing the Harrisburg Bar Ba Brew  again this year with some CAD Brethren and soccer friends.  We are looking forward to a fun time.  I got a new smoker last week.  It's a huge gravity feed charcoal unit.  I am hoping to try it out next weekend prior to the competition. I've been running a couple days a week.  Our next 5k is a little over a month away. Weight loss is stalled I put on a few pounds the last few weeks but my clothes are fitting better, I bought some 42" pants from a lady a few months ago.  I started wearing those this week, they are still a little snug but fit pretty well.  Crazy to think about losing 18" in the waist! Next committed update is 3/14

A couple dates getting this posted but we ended up with a great day for our run last weekend.  I finished in just over 37 minutes so I'm on track with one of my goals for 2019.  Just need to save a couple more minutes off my time. I'm hoping over the long weekend to get some more work done in my garage shop.  I think there's going to be a lot of rain though. Weight loss wise I'm not doing so well, too many sweets and treats around, but at least I'm maintaining.  I've been pretty good at making it to 9round and have keep up my step counts. Next committed update 2/28.

I've started a new book, Elephant In the Room , by FB buddy and local columnist Tommy Tomlinson . I've been following his journey of writing it for several years and read lots of excerpts.  All of the reviews on his website are great and what I've read of it so far is great.  In college I had a buddy, Matt, and we'd routinely tell each other to get out of my head because one or the other of us would be saying something the other thought or knew already.  I've experienced that at lot in the book.  His thoughts and experiences are very similar to mine. One thing that caught my attention in the book and I just confirmed it with the CDC, but I'm now just severely obese, which may not sound like much but when you figure I started beyond morbidly obese in the 'super' obese category I'll take it. I've gotten signed up for a 5K in Feb , April and August .  Just need to find one for June and October then I'll have one lined up for every 2 months...