Week 11 -- Halfway there, but not Halfway done

Start Weight: 226.0
Week11 Weight: 210.8
Weekly Loss/Gain (+): 0.7
Program-to-Date (PTD) Loss: 15.2
% Weekly Loss/(Gain): .31
% PTD Loss: 6.73
Program Goal Weight Loss: 36.0
Program Goal % Loss: 15.9

The halfway point has come, and I am found wanting. 0.7 lbs came off this week, but no where near my guarantee of 2.5 lbs. Ironclad guarantees on the weight loss program can no longer be a part of my motivational arsenal. The exercise was there, but the eating habits didn't change even though I wanted them to.... I got mentally roughed up by Dr. Laura during my almost daily five-minute drive to the AM/PM. She was going on quite harshly to a young lady who was complaining, whining actually, about not losing weight even though she really "wanted" to. The good doctor said if she really wanted to, then she'd do it, so quit crying about it, accept the fact that you really didn't want to do it... end of story. She then went on to say that in all phases of life we end up doing what we want to do... and the more time thinking, planning, commiserating, and fretting about things we say we want to do, but really don't, the better off you and your loved ones will be. I had no response, other than an "Amen" as I got out of the car.... have never been a huge Dr. Laura fan, but this one came through on God's radio dial for me. Liberating in a way...

11 weeks down, 11 to go, and 42% of the goal weight is lost. Means I've got some ground to catch up on. It was a very busy week, other than my eternal soul being in danger over the whole wedding ring thing, I had a good week. Wendy's volleyball games, Sara's getting into everything, some very good meetings at church, and a few nice evenings out with friends.... you have to call it good.

ROUTINE: About a quarter of the way through the morning workouts, it feels pretty good. I haven't done any weights really, even though my brother is waiting for me to be "cut and ripped" for our family portrait at Christmas.... I'll have to look up the definition of that. I've been doing the elliptical still, with the treadmill, and am starting to mix in some jogging. I can do about 20 minutes straight of jogging now, the goal is to get up to an hour by the first of the year. What's that, about five miles worth? It feels pretty good once you get going. No real diet change this week, we had a great dinner and entertainment over at the Hamners, with David, Sarah, and Gabe. Here are a few pics, and I'll attempt to put up part of David's clarinet solo:




Very nice people, those Hamners... that good food over there, and I chose to eat it all, did not directly cause my meager results this week, but it was a contributor... I made a good trade that night.

ON THE BIKE: With the colder and darker mornings, the bike enthusiasm has waned, but my biking buddies are at it none the less. I understand they've added a fourth, and also one more day of the week, now MWF. Still at 6:00 AM, the same trek on the bike trail. I told them I need to save face when I come back, one day I will show up unannounced and lead them down a dark and wet Madison Avenue to the bike trail. That, my friends, will happen....

ODDS N' ENDS: Other than the Dr. Laura revelation, I've got very little to comment on. The picture above of Gail, Sara, and me is a result of the best of a photo shoot Wendy did in the backyard... it was to be sent to the winning bidder of the wedding ring I put up on E-Bay. Turns out after all the grief I took over that whole story from friends, family, and random E-Bayers alike, my sister turned out to be the winning bidder. She and her husband, Bob, have hearts of gold, and the plan was to buy the ring and give it back to Gail.... how could I be so insensitive, etc..... we had an interesting phone conversation, her and I, after I sent her an e-mail*** (full text at the end of the post, if anyone cares). Let's just say, she didn't think the whole "scheme" was too funny.... I'm trying to figure out what to learn from it all.... her reply was "how 'bout telling the truth?".... she got me there. There are no FAQs this week, here are just a few random pics... Sara getting ready for Halloween.... well, 'til next week.... I'll do what I want to do this week.

Brian



***briansprague@comcast.net

To: Diane Lee

Subject: Winning Bidder -- Gail's Wedding Ring

Date: Sunday, October 14, 2007 8:21:56 PM

Diane.... just got home from a church meeting and checked the
auction.... neverknew during the whole time with the Q/A
and the bidding who would be family members or friends
or just random E-Bay folk.

Here is the whole story:

Gail's been doing some researching on how to get your name
known or how to create a social "buzz" on-line, with an eye
on someday marketing a product or an idea on-line.  She's
seen a number of stories where there's been a funny or a
heart-felt angle to it where people are then directed to a
website where something's being sold.  So, I said I've got a
lot of good stories and ideas that people might think are
good "copy".  I didn't tell her about this until I
was ready to post it at E-Bay, but we both thought it'd be
fun and kind of a test.

So... the ring here is not the one I got her when we got
married.  A few of her friends, and I think maybe one of
her sisters got these very large fake rings...I always said
I was not going to do that, my love was real, etc.  So, I
got her a real,very small diamond ring at the time.  Within
a year I think, she chipped it, didn't tell me about it,
then after a while told me, she was starting to outgrow it
anyway, etc, the ring came off.  As a joke, she got this fake
one (flea market) wore it a few times, we had our fun with
it, and that one came off too.  Truth is, off and on, we've
always talked about getting a new diamond ring, but there's
always something else to do with the money.   So, this E-Bay
ring is a wedding ring, but not the one I originally got her.
The rest of the story is completely true, a little embellished,
but true.  I  was not trying to intentionally mislead people,
but when the questions started coming, I didn't tell the whole
story.  Some of those questions were funny. The memorable
part was supposed to be we were having a baby after 25 yrs
of marriage.

With the "social tagging" Gail was doing, i.e. putting my
story on some other websites, we got a huge amount of visits
(5,381) for this item.  I really didn't care if it sold or
not, just a test to see if we could get any traffic to it. One
person (hey, was that you, Bob, or Miranda??) said, that the
story "was one of the sweetest stories" she'd (?) ever heard,
she wrote back, I didn't post it though, and said she would
buy a book of those stories if I compiled one.  So, maybe there
are folks out there who'd read some sort of a compilation.

So....  lots of people read it, I don't have anything to sell
yet, but the ideas are starting to come.... hey, I could have
got $45 for this ring from the next person down , if it wasn't
my Bishop or someone like that.... we'll have to catch up by
phone.  Dang, I should have had a rich friend of mine put on a
bidding war with y'all....now that woulda been fun.

Brian