Week 47 update, The Wall? Nope, Just Krispy Kreme (0 lbs. lost)...

274 lbs.
95 down
5 to go
5 weeks left
$16 per lb pledged
$1520 raised

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

First, I have to say thank you so much for all the suggestions on what to do now that my ring is averse to staying on my ring finger.  There were some great ideas and I'm going to chew on them for a while before making my decision, so feel free to continue to offer more suggestions or vote for your favorite.

Speaking of chewing on things, this week was a bit out of order in the eating department.  Not that I broke down and just decided to forgo my new patterns, just that we had a fundraising week at FuseFM and that always means lots of food around.  Plus, my wife recently bought some cookie dough for a friend's fundraiser, which resulted in both uncooked and cooked cookie dough being consumed.  I have decided that fundraisers are perhaps the biggest threat to healthy eating in the history of mankind.  Whatever the case, my new metabolism and work out schedule was enough to keep any new pounds from showing up so I'll have to be satisfied with a zero week.  It's especially encouraging considering yesterday someone brought in a box of Krispy Kremes and keeping to my commitment to not change anything I would want to change back a had one (OK fine, one and a half), because there will never be a day when I will not partake in free glazed fried dough, period.  At the end of the day, this puts me back on the pound a week train to hit 100 in a year.

Thanks for checking in, and maybe a more typical schedule this week will provide better results next Friday!

Week 46 update, My Naked Ring Finger (2 lbs. lost)...

274 lbs.
95 down
5 to go
6 weeks left
$16 per lb pledged
$1520 raised

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

I've known for a while now that my wedding ring was getting a bit big for my newly svelte fingers. I haven't fretted it too much because it was loose when I got married 13 years ago and never lost the habit of checking with my thumb ever few minutes to make sure it was still there (That's also due in part to me losing it at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean for 24 hours on my honeymoon but that's a story for a different day). This week however I had an experience that changed my mind. My periodic thumb check came up empty, as in no ring here go look elsewhere. Now, I know that I check my finger at least every 10 minutes so it would seem a pretty easy task to retrace my steps for the last little bit and find it. One problem, I had been cleaning. Within that short time frame I had done laundry, dishes and emptied trash. Three nightmare scenarios for premature ring loss. As thoughts of sifting through bags of old banana peels and meat juices began circling my brain, I did the thing I've learned to do first (goes back to the honeymoon story, remind me to tell you sometime) I prayed. Nothin' fancy, just made sure that I knew that it was in God's hands and not mine, and that if it was His will it would be found. Opened my eyes, decided to check the laundry first and it was sitting on top of a pair of Jeans awaiting my arrival.

Crisis averted.

So now the question is what do I do with the ring? Before, even though it was loose friction would do it's appointed work and keep it from falling off. Now though, it's so loose that friction never has a chance to enter in to the equation. Gravity can literally pull my ring off my finger without ever having it touch the skin on the way down. Here are some of my ideas, let me know which you like the best or suggest your own.

Get the ring resized - Probably the most obvious and typical. However, being a person who hates being obvious and typical this is fairly unappealing to me. I also have this thing about my ring, that I like it to develop character and perseverance like my marriage. I've never had it "cleaned" it has a crack in that I've never had repaired, and I like it better because of these things. They are the scars and stories that make both an object and the marriage it represents more interesting, unique, and full of story. I think too many times we over polish our marriages when the character we develop in those scratches is much more genuine and compelling. I like my ring to reflect a story and now part of that story is that I've lost so much weight that it doesn't fit anymore. Plus it cost money.

Get a ring tattoo - I've been thinking about this one for a while now. I like the idea of a permanent marking to convey the permanence of my marriage. But the more I've researched it the less I think I want to go this way. First, it again eliminates the story of my existing ring as mentioned previously. I've also heard that the ring tattoo fades and blurs very quickly because of it's location. I've also seen a few and they never look as cool as you think they should in your head. Plus it would hurt a lot, oh, and cost money.

Wear the ring on my middle finder - This is my current temporary solution. The ring right now actually fits pretty nice on the middle digit. What I don't like is that it feels strange and will take some major getting used to. The good news is there isn't a cost involved, but I still have a hard time with the idea of wearing the symbol of my marriage on a symbol of profanity and vulgarity. I worried if someone ever hits on me, thinking I'm available, I would show her my ring and she would think me much more rude than I intended. (By the way, I am perfectly aware of how delusional I am to think this would ever happen, but just for argument's sake.)

Wear the ring as an earring or nose ring - How awesome would that be? The answer, not very.

Wear the ring on a chain - The Biggest Loser method of choice. I can see myself going this route, except for a couple things. It would always be getting tangled in my headphones and I'm just not a chain kind of guy. I know this one has some general cultural acceptance, but it just doesn't feel right for me.

So there you go. I'm looking to you to help me figure this out. Be as creative as you want in coming up with other ideas or let me know which idea you think is best and why. Until the solution is found, my ring will be snugly aplace my central digit. If you don't believe me, I'll be glad to show you.

Week 45 update, A Pound A Week Shall Do Just Fine (1 lb lost)...

276 lbs.
93 down
7 to go
7 weeks left
$16 per lb pledged
$1488 raised

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

You know how in "Wheel of Fortune" or "The Price is Right" they spin the wheel and it flies around really fast but then as it slows those last few clicks are slow and measured until it reveals the result?  That's the feeling I'm getting as I push toward the goal.  I can't complain too much, because one pound a week is exactly what I need to get to my goal in a year, but I was just kind of hoping that I would hit it before Thanksgiving hit, if you get my drift.  I keep reminding myself that nothing is changing even once I hit the goal, but it's still hard not to want to blow by it instead of this pound by pound thing.   I just have this feeling that I have another big week in me and if I can put all the variables into effect I can cross the 100 pound mark even before November hits.  We shall see.

One more thing before I press on towards another Friday weigh in.  Someone commented in last week's post that it appeared as if I was solely focusing on cardio.  It made me realize that I don't emphasize enough in the blog how much weight training I'm doing every week as well.  Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I only run for about 10 minutes and then work out different muscle groups for another half hour or so.  It's a vital part of this whole process and I highly doubt I would feel as healthy as I do (and look as good, wink, wink) without it.   There are many who have traversed this road long before me and we each have to find our own way, but in my opinion that way has to include some form of controlled eating, weight training, and cardio.  All three are important and have been highly beneficial for me.

Thanks for the comments and please if you have other questions just let me know.  I'd love to start passing on more of what I've learned as I click, click, click toward the goal.

Week 44 update, Candy Wings, Chimichangas, and Lots of Exercize (3 lbs lost)...

277 lbs.
92 down
8 to go
8 weeks left
$16 per lb pledged
$1472 raised

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

Turns out that whole excercize thing is the key.  I had some meetings this week and of course all the usual snacks and over eating that go along with such endeavors.  This included (but was not limited to) mounds of these incredible wings which instead of some sort of BBQ or Wing sauce had this candy coated syrup, and two huge chimichangas (and some flautas) at a local Mexican place.  So how on earth did I end up 3 pounds lighter this morning?  Running.  While at the hotel I took advantage of the treadmill and ran at least 30 minutes each morning AND EACH NIGHT.  Now, in the 10+ months I've been doing this I have never done a night work out until now, and I must say, not bad at all.  As long as you don't have to be asleep within an hour after you finish, it's actually quite refreshing.  Of course I also ate much better the rest of the week so it was only a couple days of indulging as opposed to constant slacking.  The end result is that today I stand 8 pounds away from the 100 pound mark and ready to blow by it sometime in November (so I can start depression binging after the election).   Hopefully next week I can make it two nice loses in a row instead of this 3 steps forward, 1 step back thing I seem to be doing.    I just can't get passed the fact that even if you cut off my thumbs, I can still count the pounds I need to lose to hit my goal on the remaining fingers.

SOMEBODY THROW AN OCTOPUS ON THE ICE, IT'S GETTING CLOSE!

Week 43 update, Too Much Slacking, Time to Refocus, (1 lb gained)...

280 lbs.
89 down
11 to go
9 weeks left
$16 per lb pledged
$1424 raised

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

Well, perhaps I should be a little more focused.  With fall pushing the temperatures downward the urge to stay snuggled in my comfy comforter is becoming larger.  I also imagine my body wants to hang on to it's insulation a bit more as well.  But the main problem is that I had that extra scoop in many meals this week (it's so hard when your spouse is such an amazing cook) and exchanged apples for candy bars a few times at work for my afternoon snack.  Add to that not running on Tuesday and Thursday (brrr, seriously, brr) and I'm not extremely surprised to see a pound appear.

What does it mean?

Just that I need to refocus and continue to make correct decesions so that it turns back around and heads in the right direction.

Come back next week and see how it goes!