I just realized that I haven't posted anything all week. Sorry Laura. Well, I had a chance to see my new friends again today and it was nice. Everyone seems to be in good spirits and feeling good.   Some did good and some had a slow start. The thing we all have to remember is that this is a six month contest. Six Months! Well, five now but you get what I am saying. The real test is going to be seeing who can keep this up for the entire contest.   I am proud of everyone. I had a good start. OK, I'll tell you. I lost thirteen pounds. Some people lost more, some lost less, but we all are still in this for the long run. I have to say thanks to my friend Barb for the hug this morning. You have an amazing personality and an infectious outlook on life.   I wish more people in this world had your attitude. It would be a much better place to live. Well, I guess now what I have to do is come up with my strategy for the second month. I think that I could probably post a bigger loss next month, but that isn't the way to do it.   I think that slow and steady will give me the results that I want. OK, enough blabbering. Like Barb said, "some of our blogs are just to prolific to read". You crack me up Barb. When this is all over, we are going to have a real beer, none of that light garbage. Talk to you all soon.   Keith

I am now entering the hardest part of sticking to a diet. The Weekend. I work hard all week long and for some reason, I come undone over the weekend. I finally got back to my original progress after I overindulged last weekend.   If I can just make it through, I should be alright. maybe I won't embarrass myself at the weigh in next weekend. So far so good. I started off with a foot long turkey sub from Subway. I really wanted the chicken bacon ranch, but I was good.   I even had a few drinks last night. After much research, I found that rum and coke is basically the lightest drink calorie wise. It is hard because of the fact that I have always been a beer drinker. I really don't drink that much anymore, so I guess I will put up with the taste in the name of progress.   Beer will definitely destroy what I have done to this point. Large quantities will anyways. Now that I have my focus back, alcohol isn't really an issue. I am starting to notice that my pants are looser. That is a great feeling.   I am actually starting to use the other holes on my belt. That hasn't happened in a long time. I'm on my way slowly but surely. There is light at the end of the tunnel. OK, time to take on the weekend. I can do this, trust me. Talk to you later.   Keith

Today was a good day, generally speaking. I have been feeling a little frustrated this week. When I lost a large amount of weight about 4 years ago, it seemed to be a little easier. I know that I am older now, and I have been through a few surgeries, but the progress is significantly slower this time.   I guess this is the right way to lose the weight considering that I gained back almost everything that I lost back then. I just seem to be missing something. The last time, I became obsessed with losing the weight. I worked out 7 days a week and I measured out everything I ate.   I guess I need to get some of that fire back. I want to lose this weight more than anything, but I haven't put a 100% percent effort into it yet to be honest. As you can see from my other blog entries, I have cheated on the diet quite a bit so far. I am kind of doing the opposite of what I intended to do in this contest.   I have made progress and when I show up at the weigh in, I will have lost some weight. It won't be as much as it could have been. When I stepped on the scale the past few days, I was frustrated, and I only have myself to blame. That frustration is enough to get me fired up again.   I wanted to do this to show my family that it is important to be healthy, and to take the strain off of my body that the extra weight has created. I intend on accomplishing both. I guess I just needed to get mad at myself. No more excuses. No more cheating.   I am not in this to win a contest. I am in this to change my life and to hopefully inspire my family to do the same. Wish me luck. On second thought, I don't need luck. I need you to challenge me to do better. I will talk to you soon.   Keith

I am back to my routine. That is a good thing. It is amazing what a few days of indulgence will do to your progress. Let's just say that it is a rough reminder that I need to stay on track. I did two and a half miles on the treadmill this morning. I decided to do it in the morning, it gets your blood pumping for the day.   I have to say that it is really hard to get going in the morning. The next week is going to be tough, but after that I shouldn't have any problems. I am usually up early, but I haven't worked out in the morning in a long time.   Oh well, not a lot going on today. I am pretty tired. I have to adjust to the morning workout schedule. It will all come together in time. I will talk to you soon.   Keith

Ok, here's the deal. I am having a rough start to week 3. The first two weeks went great. I followed my plan exactly. The last three days however have been a disaster. I guess my will power went on on a short hiatus.   I am just going to blame it on Valentine's weekend. It was a combination of my beautiful girlfriend, and the incredible food at Biscotti's Restaurant in Conneaut. I was just a weak person all the way around this weekend. Can you hear the violins playing in the background?   Alright, I know what I did over the past few days and now I know what I have to do the rest of the week. I have to look at it as a minor setback. Honestly, it was worth every second of it. I would relive this weekend everyday if I could.   That being said, I have to increase my workouts a bit. I read somewhere that doing a half hour in the morning and at night on a treadmill is really effective. It is supposed to keep your metabolism burning for a longer period throughout the day.   I guess I will find out soon enough. I have noticed that my energy level is increasing slowly but surely. I know from experience that it will jump leaps and bounds the more weight I lose. My old "skinny" clothes are calling my name.   I have already started to go through them to see what I want to get into first. I can't wait. My motivation is still high, and it is going to stay that way until I reach my goal. I am fortunate to have great people surrounding me and encouraging me to do well.   Ok, I will talk to you all soon. Have a good night.   Keith

Good Morning everybody. Well it's bright and early and it seems to be a good start to the day. I have decided to split my workouts into two parts. I do my treadmill work at night and my crunches and push-ups in the morning.   I looks like this combination is going to work best for me. It keeps the calories burning for a longer period throughout the day. It is certainly working because I am off to a great start. I feel good and thanks to all of my good friends, I couldn't be any more motivated.   I am trying to keep my diet at around 1500 calories a day, give or take a few. Occasionally, I have to feed my cravings and I may go over that amount. Make sure you never ignore your cravings, it will come back to haunt you.   If you crave chocolate, have a little piece of it, just don't go overboard. Ignoring your cravings will only make them grow stronger and when you do address it, you will more than likely overindulge.   Well, other than the lingering effects of a nasty cold, I feel really good. We have a few more weeks until the next weigh in and I think that I will represent myself fairly well. My family is becoming more and more interested in what I am doing.   That was my main reason for taking part in this competition. As I stated before, "seeing is believing". I am thankful for the opportunity to be a part of Lighten up. There is no doubt that it will have a huge impact on my family and my health.   Ok, I guess I have rambled enough. I will talk to you all soon.   Keith

Well, I made it through the Super Bowl with minimal damage. That being said, I am ready for a productive week. I have completed the maintenance on the tread mill and it is running like new. All I have to do now is find some new music because I have been listening to the same songs for the past 15 years or so.   I guess you can say that I am a creature of habit, which is what got me into this shape in the first place. It is easy to settle into a comfortable routine. Now is the time to shake it up a little. I remember how I felt when I lost the weight the last time. I want to feel that again.   My energy level was through the roof. I even entered myself in the Johnny Cake Walk in 2006. I took first place in my age group by the way. That is going to be another short term goal of mine, the Johnny Cake Walk. I want to see if I can do it again.   I am feeling pretty good so far. I have noticed that I seem to have more energy. I am not sure if it is mental or physical but I can feel it. The only thing that I have to do is figure out when I should get on the tread mill.   It is hard to get up in the morning, and I am somewhat tired when I get home from work. Either way I am doing it, but I have struggled with when. If I do it in the morning, I will most likely wake up everybody. I guess I just answered my own question. I need to suck it up and do it when I get home.   Well, I will check in with you later in the week. Talk to you soon.   Keith

Well, the first week is almost done. I have to say that I have stuck to my plan. Well, I may have slipped up a little bit at dinner tonight, but the rest of the week went great. I haven't decided yet if I should say how much I have lost or not.   Maybe I should just keep it a secret and let the News-Herald let everyone know every month. That one is still up for debate. I will say that I am in good spirits and although I may not have lost a huge amount of weight yet, I can definitely feel a difference.   I am trying to take this competition in stages. What I mean is that I have made small goals for myself that are easier to obtain. I guess you can say that I am taking baby steps. Weight Watchers taught me that and it really does help.   I am glad to see that my family is already taking notice to what I am trying to do. Everyone is asking me questions about what they should eat and how much. I hope that what I am doing will take a long term effect on everyone around me.   The real key is to show them results. The old saying is, "seeing is believing". I have said that I was going to lose weight for the past few years and then I didn't follow through with it. This time is different. My mind is in the right place and I will reach my goal.   I just have to make sure that I work out hard tomorrow for my indulgence of pizza tonight. Yes, I had a weak moment. It just smelled really good. I was extra good all week so I don't think that I did any real damage. Oh well, enough rambling. I will talk to you soon.   Keith

I know this is just the beginning, but it is the hardest part of this journey. The truth is, I haven't been eating healthy for a long time. I do know that you need to eat to fuel your body. One of the biggest mistakes that I have made throughout my life is to go overboard when trying to lose weight.   I sometimes try to to get results to fast by limiting my food intake to a bear minimum. I have learned through the years that the only thing that does is make the weight come back faster and with a vengeance.   It's impossible to eat like a bird for the rest of your life. It just isn't realistic. The key is to find the right balance between your food intake, and that dreaded word, exercise. The first week is always a struggle. I went from eating everything, to watching everything that I put in my mouth.   I guess you can say that my body is in shock. I know I can do this because I have lost a significant amount of weight in the past. I joined Weight Watchers about five years ago. I guess you can say that I took it to the extreme because I lost 85 pounds in about 5 and a half months.   I followed the program to the "T" and it worked great. I honestly think that I lost the weight too fast. Let's just say that when I stopped going, I stopped everything. The end results, I gained back all but 10 pounds. This time I intend to do it right, and keep it off.   OK, I have to throw this out there, The Super Bowl is Sunday. As you already know, I am a die-hard Steelers fan. Therefore, I will do my best to keep my composure when it comes to snacks, and maybe even a few drinks, but I can't promise anything.   The only thing I will do is promise to work out hard on Monday to make up for my culinary sins during the Super Bowl. Wish me luck. I am feeling much better and I intend to hit the treadmill first thing in the morning. Oh boy, reality is really setting in now.   Talk to you soon,   Keith

I am still having a hard time believing that I am in this contest. Don't get me wrong, I am excited that I was chosen, but it just seems surreal. The fact that we are making our weight loss journey public is more than enough to motivate me.   I wanted to start by saying that it was a pleasure to meet my new friends that are going down this tough road with me. Everyone seems to have the same story that I have, the life long struggle with weight.   Personally, I have had enough. I am tired of being out of shape and I intend to do something about it once and for all. My goal is to show my family the importance of being healthy. I also want to feel better. At 40 years old, being overweight really puts a strain on your body.   So, how am I doing? It is my luck that I have gotten what seems to be the worst cold I have ever had in the first week of this competition. That being said, the first couple of days have been rough. I am watching my food intake closely by paying attention to portion control.   I know that is the first huddle in losing weight. I hope to be able to start exercising in a day or two. That will be the second huddle. There is no doubt that I can find success in this competition.   The truth is, I'm not here for a prize. I am here to be healthy. I want to thank Laura and the News-Herald for this opportunity. Talk to you soon.   Keith   P.S.  The subject of this post is my salute to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Any Steeler fan knows the chant, Here We Go, Steelers, Here We Go, Pittsburgh's Going to the Super Bowl! Go Steelers!!