Week 29 update, I AM SPARTA!!! (3 lbs. lost)...

299 lbs
70 down
30 to go
23 weeks left
$15 per lb pledged
$1050 raised

If you are new to loseforthefuse.com please read the first post or pledge here.

Get it? It's a 300 reference. I figured since I broke the hallowed 300 pound mark it was only appropriate. The truth is this has been a long time coming and I'm just excited I finally got to shave my Ted Kazinski beard. It's been an exciting week, and I knew it would be close, but to step on the scale and slide that top slider all the way over to the left and NOTHING HAPPENED, wow. So now, the top slider is once again all the way to the right, but the bottom slider, well it's over on the 250 notch, so there!

Anyhow, enough about being under 300, let's get the good stuff.

Here is what I looked like before the shave:


Yeah, I know, Unibomber right? Still, this may just be one of my favorite pics of me ever. I'm strangely drawn to it. At least I know if I ever get arrested, after being down on my luck, the mug shot will rule.

To complete the effect:



Now for my son's favorite, the 70s cop look:


and finally, for the first time in maybe 6 years, Dice with a naked face:


Hmmm, I think I want my beard back.

30 more pounds to go, and about 5 months to get there!

See you next week.

Week 28 update, No Gym, Still Losing (2 lbs. lost)...

302 lbs
67 down
33 to go
24 weeks left
$15 per lb pledged
$1005 raised

If you are new to loseforthefuse.com please read the first post or pledge here.

This week was an interesting one at the Lose For the Fuse Headquarters in that my wife directed our church's VBS (that's Vacation Bible School for all you heathens) and needed the vehicle every morning to go lead 150 kids in a chorus of "Father Abraham" (Yes, I'm sure they had much cooler songs than that, but when I was a kid, VBS was 5 old kid's songs, gluing a popsicle stick to green cardboard paper, a vanilla wafer, and running around the church playground for a couple hours. Now they have themes like "Custom Garage" where every kid walks away with a new car at the end of the week. It's like Oprah's free stuff episode, but with 5 year olds.)

The point is...

This week I had no vehicle in the morning to drive to and from my work out so I was left to make due at home all week (I did manage to get in for 15 minutes this morning to do the weigh in). Thankfully Wii Fit came to the rescue and I was still able to do some weight training and of course my Tuesday/Thursday running continued as well. Speaking of which, I passed 100 miles ran since I started the Nike+ running in February. I was also able to bike 26 miles again on Sunday, all of which has helped the pounds to continue to descend. The truth is I've just never felt this motivated to exercize since I played ball in High School, and that makes the daily healthy descisions much easier. Now, I'm just 3 pounds away from breaking 300 (and shaving this horrendous beard like substance on my face) and a mere 33 pounds from my goal with 5 and a half months left.

Thanks for continuing to encourage me, and hopefully next week I'll be back here with a naked face, albeit one that will likely have some sort of freakish beard tan lines on it.

Week 27 update, Wii Fit is in the House. (3 lbs. lost)...

304 lbs
65 down
35 to go
25 weeks left
$15 per lb pledged
$975 raised

If you are new to loseforthefuse.com please read the first post or pledge here.

Thanks for checking in once again to "Lose for the Fuse" to see just how fat I am. Well, technically how fat I am not, but it does seem a little weird that every week you come here and check me out, doesn't it? No, that's not the strange part, the strange part is that I thank you for it and encourage it generously. Apparently, I'm a glutton for punishment, or maybe just a glutton, but that's what LFTF is all about, right? I'm not sure why I'm rambling this week, especially when I have a backspace and delete key at my disposal, but on to the point...

I LOST THREE MORE POUNDS THIS WEEK!

Now I know I've lost more than that before, but I've been in a bit of a slump and to nail back to back 3 pound weeks is pretty encouraging. I'm now 4 pounds away from the 300 mark, and going strong. Overall this week has been a lot of fun and most of that has to do with the genius of the boys and girls at Nintendo headquarters, who came up with what amounts to exergaming crack, the addicting Wii Fit. It's hard to explain just how fun working out is with this "game". There is so much variety and so much innovation in the Wii balance board that I find myself itching to get back on do some more ski jumping, push ups, or even yoga. Yeah, you heard me, yoga. Make no mistake this game will work you hard. You will sweat, you will be sore, there is actual exercise going down with this thing. Add to this that it appears to be a very accurate scale that keeps track of your weight data over time and Wii Fit is a pretty amazing little product. In fact, I really only have one complaint with the whole thing, that it uses BMI (Body Mass Index) as a gauge for how fit you are. The problem with that is that it solely uses height to judge how much you should weigh, with no consideration of frame or muscle make up. In other words, even when I am my ideal weight according to BFP (Body Fat Percentage) Wii Fit will still consider me obese. Oh well, can't please everyone. Despite this, it's still an amazing little piece of Nintendo engineering and I expect my entire family will be enjoying it for a long time.

By the way, I'm still hoping to get more sponsors on this thing to raise more money for The Fuse. I'd love for you to pledge $1 a pound. Just use the link above and show your support for what I'm doing and 101.7 The Fuse at the same time.

Thanks again!

Week 26 update, Carpet Removal, Burning Calories the Most Painful Way Possible. (3 lbs. lost)...

307 lbs
62 down
38 to go
26 weeks left
$15 per lb pledged
$930 raised

If you are new to loseforthefuse.com please read the first post or pledge here.

Tomorrow marks exactly 6 months of hard work and eating changes that I've put in to this little "Lose For the Fuse" project and it means we are officially halfway to the end point. In that half year I've lost 62 pounds (62% of my goal) and have gone from a size 52 waist to close to a 46 (close to 44). Also, when I jump without a shirt on, the jiggling stops after only 4 seconds as opposed to 32 seconds just 6 months ago. That's an 81% decrease in naked belly jiggling duration and that alone makes this whole project worthwhile. I feel better, look better (except for the massive scraggle beard that is awaiting shaving at when I break 300) and have more energy to do things with my children and wife (hey now) than any time in my life.

Long story short, this first 6 months has gone better than I could have ever expected and I can't wait to see what the next 6 will be like. I'm 38 pounds away from my initial goal and though I know the pounds will continue to become more obstinate I'm hoping to blow past 100 before my time is up. My ideal weight according to BFP (Body Fat Percentage) is around 250 and I see no reason why I can't get there. First things first of course, but I'm excited about where I might be when this year comes to a close this December 7th.

Specifically for this week I was down 3 pounds, and I don't expect to see many more weeks in this range so I'll enjoy it for what it is. Reflected in that loss is several hours worth of carpet removal (as we prepare to sell our house) the most painful of which was the scraping of this old school black adhesive nastiness that must have been fashioned by carpet Hitler as some sort of ultimate carpet torture technique. I'm sure I burned plenty of calories getting that stuff up, but I will take a 5 mile run any day over having to do that again. The fact remains that I am now 7 pounds away from a pretty heavy milestone and I hope to crack it before July hits.

Thanks so much for your support, and if you want to pledge (or increase your pledge) to keep 101.7 The Fuse on the air, by supporting my weight loss, please click on the link above. I am close to having raised $1000 for the station (In fact, one more person doing $1 a pound would put me over) and I hope to have even more as we march towards December.

Thanks again, see ya' next week.