Things that are AWESOME...

[nfreeman]

My boy at 1 day old

 

Good man.

[shrader]

I saw a young kid in a store being a bit snippy with a response to his mother all while making a statement that completely butchered the english language. The mother yelled at the kid and then also told him "no, we don't say that, we say..." and then proceeded to correct his grammar. It was great to see and all you grammar lovers out there would be very happy.

[Eleven]

I'm actually interested in a woman again. This is kind of good. Scary but good.

[Weave]

I'm actually interested in a woman again. This is kind of good. Scary but good.

 

Good on ya.

[wjag]

2-0 Buffalo Bills

[shrader]

I'm actually interested in a woman again. This is kind of good. Scary but good.

 

Best of luck to you. Each time you mention something about this a ton of thoughts come to my mind. Last night the wife and I had an extended talk about her father and everything that happened around Christmas time. I married a much stronger woman than I ever realized. She has handled things much better than I ever thought she would.

[dEnnis the Menace]

I'm actually interested in a woman again. This is kind of good. Scary but good.

 

Best of luck!

 

2-0 Buffalo Bills

 

The Bills winning always make Monday that much more bearable

[biodork]

I'm actually interested in a woman again. This is kind of good. Scary but good.

Good on ya.

 

I'll second weave. But I thought you'd started dating again a couple months ago? Maybe that was just going through the motions, but either way, good for you.

[Eleven]

I'll second weave. But I thought you'd started dating again a couple months ago? Maybe that was just going through the motions, but either way, good for you.

 

That definitely was just going through the motions. Thanks!

[frissonic]

Down 30 pounds in just over 5 weeks doing nothing more than changing up diet and portions. Haven't even started exercising yet. That changes tonight when I take the bike for a spin. Probably a very short spin, but it's a start. I figure if I ride for half an hour to an hour a night, I'll be down to my target weight by the end of October. For the first time in forever, people are actually commenting on the changes, too. I've fluctuated weight, but only a small percentage--barely noticeable. 30 pounds is a significant decrease, even for a guy my size.

 

Job interview for a contract position. In another thread, the rest of this paragraph would be filed under "Complaint." This current position is a joke. I do *literally* nothing. Before y'all start in with the "sounds like heaven!" jokes, let me reassure you that it isn't at all blissfun or fun: 9-hour days spent trying to look busy, or trying desperately to find work in ANY department; emailing my manager, his manager, and our department PM begging for a sit-down to define roles and responsibilities, only to have it fall on deaf ears; contacting HR to hammer this out out of desperation, only to be told a month later that "we're looking into it and will get back with [me] in a few weeks" ... all of this has led me to look elsewhere. I've decided that contract work is the way to go. It pays a lot more, it's still W-2, and I have a good enough understanding of our finances to know how much we need to save and invest. It'd be nice to have a corporate-backed 401k, but it's not the end of the world.

 

tl;dr: Thinner. Job interview. Yay.

 

Annelise Christine SeaBass, born yesterday at 1:00 pm. Both mom and baby are doing great.

 

FANTASTIC! Sorry i'm super late with this. Babies rule. You're gonna have so much fun. Sleep ... probably not a lot, but you won't care. You'll be too enthralled watching her little hand wrap around your finger, and you'll nearly pass out from the excitement. I'd never trade parenthood for anything. Not a damn thing.

 

I'm actually interested in a woman again. This is kind of good. Scary but good.

 

Congrats, man! Best of luck to you and the new lady friend.

[Weave]

Go get em!

[Eleven]

Down 30 pounds in just over 5 weeks doing nothing more than changing up diet and portions. Haven't even started exercising yet. That changes tonight when I take the bike for a spin. Probably a very short spin, but it's a start. I figure if I ride for half an hour to an hour a night, I'll be down to my target weight by the end of October. For the first time in forever, people are actually commenting on the changes, too. I've fluctuated weight, but only a small percentage--barely noticeable. 30 pounds is a significant decrease, even for a guy my size.

 

Job interview for a contract position. In another thread, the rest of this paragraph would be filed under "Complaint." This current position is a joke. I do *literally* nothing. Before y'all start in with the "sounds like heaven!" jokes, let me reassure you that it isn't at all blissfun or fun: 9-hour days spent trying to look busy, or trying desperately to find work in ANY department; emailing my manager, his manager, and our department PM begging for a sit-down to define roles and responsibilities, only to have it fall on deaf ears; contacting HR to hammer this out out of desperation, only to be told a month later that "we're looking into it and will get back with [me] in a few weeks" ... all of this has led me to look elsewhere. I've decided that contract work is the way to go. It pays a lot more, it's still W-2, and I have a good enough understanding of our finances to know how much we need to save and invest. It'd be nice to have a corporate-backed 401k, but it's not the end of the world.

 

tl;dr: Thinner. Job interview. Yay.

 

 

 

FANTASTIC! Sorry i'm super late with this. Babies rule. You're gonna have so much fun. Sleep ... probably not a lot, but you won't care. You'll be too enthralled watching her little hand wrap around your finger, and you'll nearly pass out from the excitement. I'd never trade parenthood for anything. Not a damn thing.

 

 

 

Congrats, man! Best of luck to you and the new lady friend.

 

Let's not get carried away, here. I'm interested in someone, which is a good feeling in and of itself--but I think it would be premature to say that there's a relationship brewing.

 

6 lbs per week w/o exercise is damned impressive. What the hell were you eating before?!

[PASabreFan]

Down 30 pounds in just over 5 weeks doing nothing more than changing up diet and portions. Haven't even started exercising yet. That changes tonight when I take the bike for a spin. Probably a very short spin, but it's a start. I figure if I ride for half an hour to an hour a night, I'll be down to my target weight by the end of October. For the first time in forever, people are actually commenting on the changes, too. I've fluctuated weight, but only a small percentage--barely noticeable. 30 pounds is a significant decrease, even for a guy my size.

 

That is truly awesome!

[frissonic]

Let's not get carried away, here. I'm interested in someone, which is a good feeling in and of itself--but I think it would be premature to say that there's a relationship brewing.

 

6 lbs per week w/o exercise is damned impressive. What the hell were you eating before?!

 

don't ask ... apparently a sh**-ton of junk. and more junk. and probably some junk on the side.

[PASabreFan]

don't ask ... apparently a sh**-ton of junk. and more junk. and probably some junk on the side.

 

Do you count calories, or keep a log? It's very eye-opening where the calories go. I was a butter junkie, almost a stick a day! That's 800 calories.

[frissonic]

Do you count calories, or keep a log? It's very eye-opening where the calories go. I was a butter junkie, almost a stick a day! That's 800 calories.

 

i don't, but i probably should. i'd be curious to see how much i consume. for example today alone i've had two handfuls of cashews, almost a whole small tub of cottage cheese, a banana, and i'm working on my second 32 oz bottle of water. BUT that constitutes four of my six small meals that i eat a day rather than 3 large ones and a bunch of crap in between. i've eliminated pretty much all processed foods. things like butter, mayo, high-fat dressings, cream-based soups ... all gone.

 

now ... like i said, i cheat on occasion, and it's the cheating that lets me keep pressing onward and downward. i also love a good stick of butter ... generally over popcorn popped in lemon-infused olive oil, slathered with the cube of butter, and covered in garlic salt and parmesan (yah ... i know. it really is just that good though). i haven't done that in a *long* time, but i may tonight or tomorrow night just cuz.

 

i don't eat after 8. i drink a minimum of 64 oz of water a day. i take vitamin supplements and natural appetite supressants.

 

i don't have a drawer full of every flavor of dove and bliss chocolate at my desk anymore. i get up and walk half an hour for lunch instead of driving to BK or wherever. i don't drink soda. ever. and that's probably the hardest part cuz i sit in some pretty boring-a** meetings, and a lot of the times, those coke zeros were all that kept me awake. BUT becuse i'm walking more, losing weight, and generally just feeling better all around, I find that I don't need the coke to stay awake. That's huge.

 

lots of little things, a few big things ... all add up to less me. :)

[PASabreFan]

i don't, but i probably should. i'd be curious to see how much i consume. for example today alone i've had two handfuls of cashews, almost a whole small tub of cottage cheese, a banana, and i'm working on my second 32 oz bottle of water. BUT that constitutes four of my six small meals that i eat a day rather than 3 large ones and a bunch of crap in between. i've eliminated pretty much all processed foods. things like butter, mayo, high-fat dressings, cream-based soups ... all gone.

 

now ... like i said, i cheat on occasion, and it's the cheating that lets me keep pressing onward and downward. i also love a good stick of butter ... generally over popcorn popped in lemon-infused olive oil, slathered with the cube of butter, and covered in garlic salt and parmesan (yah ... i know. it really is just that good though). i haven't done that in a *long* time, but i may tonight or tomorrow night just cuz.

 

i don't eat after 8. i drink a minimum of 64 oz of water a day. i take vitamin supplements and natural appetite supressants.

 

i don't have a drawer full of every flavor of dove and bliss chocolate at my desk anymore. i get up and walk half an hour for lunch instead of driving to BK or wherever. i don't drink soda. ever. and that's probably the hardest part cuz i sit in some pretty boring-a** meetings, and a lot of the times, those coke zeros were all that kept me awake. BUT becuse i'm walking more, losing weight, and generally just feeling better all around, I find that I don't need the coke to stay awake. That's huge.

 

lots of little things, a few big things ... all add up to less me. :)

 

Fiber is your friend. I saute a can of chick peas in olive oil and various spices for lunch three or four days a week. It's all I can do to finish it, along with two pieces of whole grain bread. And I'm not hungry the rest of the afternoon. A little high in sodium, but not bad.

 

And walking is the best. It's as good for your mind as it is for your body.

 

Keep going. Small changes, over time, that's the secret.

[shrader]

Do you count calories, or keep a log? It's very eye-opening where the calories go. I was a butter junkie, almost a stick a day! That's 800 calories.

 

That's it? I would have guessed more. Anyway, nice work Chris. Now just imagine how things go if you combine both the diet and the exercise. It's amazing just how easy certain things can be with a little dedication. I'm not tracking anything on a scale, but it was very obvious in the past year that I was slacking when it came to physical activity. It was equal parts laziness and absolutely hating the conditions at the crappy gym that I joined to save some money. With my move to NC, I saw it as a good chance to pick that stuff back up. I'm only a month in, but so far I feel like I have a lot more energy. I missed that lingering muscle pain a day or two after certain types of lifting (######, I earned that soreness!). Now I just have to maintain this routine long term.

[frissonic]

Fiber is your friend. I saute a can of chick peas in olive oil and various spices for lunch three or four days a week. It's all I can do to finish it, along with two pieces of whole grain bread. And I'm not hungry the rest of the afternoon. A little high in sodium, but not bad.

 

And walking is the best. It's as good for your mind as it is for your body.

 

Keep going. Small changes, over time, that's the secret.

 

 

yah, i definitely need more fiber. it's the one aspect of my change that i haven't even looked into yet. no reason ... just haven't.

 

That's it? I would have guessed more. Anyway, nice work Chris. Now just imagine how things go if you combine both the diet and the exercise. It's amazing just how easy certain things can be with a little dedication. I'm not tracking anything on a scale, but it was very obvious in the past year that I was slacking when it came to physical activity. It was equal parts laziness and absolutely hating the conditions at the crappy gym that I joined to save some money. With my move to NC, I saw it as a good chance to pick that stuff back up. I'm only a month in, but so far I feel like I have a lot more energy. I missed that lingering muscle pain a day or two after certain types of lifting (######, I earned that soreness!). Now I just have to maintain this routine long term.

 

if my bike didn't have such insanely knobby tires, i'd be on it a lot more than i am. every time i get on it, i feel like i'm fight it more than the road. it's weird. but i figure it doesn't really matter, since it's all exercise anyway. i'm excited to see what the results are in a month or so!

[MattPie]

Do you count calories, or keep a log? It's very eye-opening where the calories go. I was a butter junkie, almost a stick a day! That's 800 calories.

i don't, but i probably should. i'd be curious to see how much i consume. for example today alone i've had two handfuls of cashews, almost a whole small tub of cottage cheese, a banana, and i'm working on my second 32 oz bottle of water. BUT that constitutes four of my six small meals that i eat a day rather than 3 large ones and a bunch of crap in between. i've eliminated pretty much all processed foods. things like butter, mayo, high-fat dressings, cream-based soups ... all gone.

 

That doesn't sound all that different that what I was doing, but mine was a bit more regimented. Based on Alton Brown's "Live and Let Diet" Episode (look it up, it's on Youtube in 2-parts). Went from 300-ish to 225 in 9 months, almost no exercise. I'm up around 235 now which is a function of me not being strict and having a social life (wife), and now eating whatever I can when the baby isn't making demands on my time. :) I'm really at a wall, I need to start exercising.

 

As for counting calories, I didn't have much luck with it. I was using the "Lose It" app on my phone, which I'll admit is really slick. You can scan bar codes or search of stuff in their database. It's surprising how much was in there (Wegmans 7" Italian sub: check!). The problem I think I had was it's tough to really measure stuff out unless you're making everything yourself (which I was for awhile), and "oooh, I still have 200 calories left, time for a beer!". Sometimes saying, "I don't want to know" is better (for me at least).

[cdexchange]

Congrats on the weight loss, gents. The benefits are so worth the effort.

 

My contribution to this thread: I'm hooked on the new Ryan Adams album in a big way.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmglUwgtHxs

[biodork]

Good to see you around again, Chris, and congrats on the weight loss and lifestyle changes!

[PASabreFan]

I just started watching Modern Family. It's awesome. I don't know how I missed it.

[shrader]

I just started watching Modern Family. It's awesome. I don't know how I missed it.

 

I'll go out on a limb and call it the best show on tv right now. And since it's heavily in so dictation now, you'll be a junkie for the next couple weeks.

[inkman]

I'll go out on a limb and call it the best show on tv right now. And since it's heavily in so dictation now, you'll be a junkie for the next couple weeks.

Agreed. Three of the hottest women to boot.