Nov 1

Nov 1 Trick or treat, smell my feet...Weekly Weight Upated

After our Sunday weigh-in, some Sunday morning pancakes, and a morning nap (for Cece), the family hit the road for lunch and some farm play time in Ruckersville, VA. We were on our way to meet up with some college friends of Rizzo from Randolph Macon Women's College so all the RMWC offspring could get together and play. We made our way to Greenfield Farm which is a great place to take the kids. There is a ton of open space, a play area set aside just for younger kids with lots of toys, lots of animals, lots of pumpkins, and a hay ride. It was great letting the kids play. Rizzo and I splurged on some brownies for the ride home. We were debating whether or not the brownies were homemade and concluded that they probably were because (1) they were very good and (2) they were served in plastic sandwich bags. Either way, I think it was worth it.

Daddy is tired of pulling you in the wagon. You pull Daddy.

We have crutches, wraps, and other knee braces too.

On my Sunday morning run I felt a twinge in my left knee. It didn't really hurt but it just kept giving out under my steps. The result was only getting in a ten minute run on Sunday morning. Most of the day on Monday my knee felt fine so I didn't have any concern about our Monday night bowling league. The problem happened in the third game when my knee starting giving out again and throbbing. Again, it wasn't terrible but I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get in some runs this week. Luckily for me I married a woman who likes to tear her ACL three or four times a year so we already had a knee brace ready for use.

On Tuesday night I strapped on Rizzo's knee brace and hit the road for an evening run. The brace definitely helped and I was able to get through my 5 minutes of walking, 30 minutes of running, and 5 minute cool down without much difficulty. It did feel a bit awkward wearing the brace and I felt like I was limping with every step even though I didn't feel any pain or weakness in that knee. Near the end of the run my left calf was cramping up and I wonder if that may have been a result of the knee brace and my calf muscles compensating for the other muscles in my leg. Of course that is all speculation since I'm not a doctor or a professional runner. Either way I was glad I can still get in my workouts. On of my biggest fears is ever stopping my workout routine. I feel like if I was to take a week off it could start the downward spiral of laziness and excuses.

Wednesday and Thursday were off days as far as working out is concerned. Rizzo had her regularly scheduled class on Wednesday night and a "Mom's Night Out" on Thursday so I was taking care of Cece instead of going running. I mean come on, "Mom's Night Out"? Give me a break. Like you need a night out with some friends for dinner and drinks. All you do is come home after working with a bunch of obnoxious 6th graders all morning to take care of a kid in her "terrible 2s" that doesn't take a nap half the time. How hard is it to sit around and play with a 18 month old all afternoon? Isn't it just a relaxing walk in the park, literally? (I hope you can sense the sarcasm in this paragraph. Rizzo is a machine. I don't know how she works, takes care of Cece, does the laundry, works more after Cece goes to bed, and still manages to wake up by 4:30am three days a week to work out. Like I said, a machine. It is quite literally the least I can do to spend a Thursday evening writing instead of working out so she can have a glass of wine.)

Friday evening run. Yes, that is a t-shirt from high school that I can wear again.

Since I let Rizzo go out on Thursday night (still sarcasm here, don't kill me) my jog was moved from Thursday night to Friday night. I usually prefer to keep Friday night open to do nothing simply because Friday night feels like a night you should do nothing. The work week has come to an end (sort of. Rizzo and I both do some work on the weekend) and Friday feels like the night to sit down and watch some mindless TV. However, I'd rather keep on my weight loss goals than turn into a vegetable in front of the TV so off I went for a moderate jog.

I love that it is getting cooler outside but I'm also finding that is presenting some new challenges for working out. First, I have to get some more long sleeve shirts. I have one good long sleeve shirt for running that I got from Eddie Bauer and it fits great. Any other long-sleeve t-shirt is very old and soaks up sweat like my liver soaks up delicious pumpkin beers (oh yes, a pumpkin beer blog will have to be done soon). There is also only so much cold a guy can handle while out running. Even I, the guy that wears shorts in the snow, can get a bit chilly sometimes. I may have to suck it up and head back to the gym for an indoor workout. I hate working out at the gym but sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.

Cece went as a butterfly, Daddy went as a beer loving Daddy.

Saturday was full of hard work and fun. I spent the day doing yard work with Dad, winterizing the yard (which you will read about in a later blog) that took nearly all day. It was lots of hard work but it resulted in lots of exercise which was helpful for the Sunday weigh in. After working all day it was a blast to take Cece out for her first official Halloween. Yes, it was technically her second Halloween but last year she couldn't get out to houses but this year she got to go Trick-or-Treating. Here are the required video and pictures of our time out on the town.

As you may recall, I had some dental work done last week so I currently have a temporary crown on my upper right back molar. Having a temporary crown in your mouth during the Halloween season is a blessing when trying to lose some weight. I can have a sweet tooth from time to time and it is easy for me to eat 15-20 mini candy bars in a sitting. However, with a temporary crown I was scared of eating too much candy and risking the crown flying out of my face cause both pain to me and the person who got hit with the flying crown. Sure, dental work stinks but if you have to get it done do it around Halloween. It will keep you from overeating candy simply out of fear.

The hard work and dental work paid off. I was able to lose 2.8 pounds ending up at 214.8. This is the lowest I've been in a long time and puts me at a total weight loss of 53.6 pounds. I hope you all had a very good week and a Happy Halloween.