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My wife and I are headed off on a cruise the first week of March. Both of us decided that we had been a bit lazy and let some extra pounds creep up, and that the cruise was a good excuse to get back to where we need to be. I decided to set my goal at dropping from 217 to 185 for a total of 32 pounds, knowing that if I ever saw 190 I would be pretty happy. Today is 5 weeks into our efforts and I have dropped 25 pounds as I saw 192 for the first time in a LONG time on the scale this morning. I now have 45 days to go to lose 7 more to meet my goal. That sure sounds doable at this point.

For me, the approach has been 100% diet-related, specifically following the South Beach Diet. The first phase which lasts 2 weeks is pretty hardcore with absolutely no carbs. We saw some dramatic changes in that period, so we went ahead and tacked on a 3rd week of it, which in hindsight I feel was a good decision. Now that we have moved into Phase 2 of the diet, it is much easier to live with. I never realized how damn good fruit tasted until I cut out carbs entirely! At this point, my wife is making dinners that are on the diet, yet still a healthy meal for our whole family, which I think that is an important factor. When it is just one person trying to maintain a diet, it can be a pain in the butt, not only having to eat separate meals, but watching everyone around you eat all the stuff you shouldn't be eating. When the whole family is eating the same healthy foods, it is an easier path to follow, and hopefully we are setting some decent patterns in our kids.

Unfortunately with the release of InstantSpot 2, full-time job, lots of contracting work, and family, excercise has not fit into my schedule during this period, unlike my wife who has been running 2-3 miles every couple of days and hitting the gym regularly. This week, now that the dust has settled a bit on the InstantSpot rollout - well... aside from our plans to rip the guts out and swap CFML processors this weekend - I hope to find more time to get myself back in the gym as well. It has been a few years since I was fairly serious about working out, and I definitely miss that feeling.

Hopefully I will have another positive report soon.

 

My father and I decided that this was the year that we would hike the North Rim to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. I know this seems crazy, but it is actually a paperwork challenge to be able to hike the Grand Canyon. There is an application process in which you have to fax your request in the 1st day of the month 6 months before the intended date of your trip with a detailed itinerary, including where you will be sleeping and when. We sent faxed our paperwork in and held our breath on the 1st of April, 6 months before we hoped to go in September. After no word for a month we finally contacted them, only to find out that we had been rejected. Discouraged, but not beaten, we laid out the calendar to see if there was another time that would work. We decided that November would be acceptable, albeit a little colder. It should be in the 60s in the bottom of the canyon though where we will spend the majority of our time. Once again, we laid out our itinerary and faxed in on July 1. My dad received a letter today dated July 6, 2005 telling him that they were sorry, but they were unable to accept out application. He spent a good hour walking around the house cussing and feeling terribly disappointed. A bit later my mom noticed there was another letter from the Grand Canyon dated July 7, 2005.

So in 3.5 months, I will be taking this in....