Good morning, fair citizens! We are coming up on the halfway point of the Big Skeezy Challenge 2011. Last week we saw The Skeeze drop three pounds, battling back from a two pound gain the week before. He said he had a new plan he was going to try this week. Did he find out where the devil lived on the other side of that wall he’s been butting up against? Was it successful? Was it a good week or a bad week? Maybe he’s given up entirely and is just letting the chips fall where they may? Let’s break it down:
You know what I’m tired of? The 290’s. Like I said early in the BSC, I knew the day would come when I wasn’t losing weight at 5-8 pound per week. The problem is that I tasted blood and I liked it. Now I’m faced with these weeks where it’s anywhere from one to three pounds dropped. While that’s still a decent showing, anyone who knows me will tell you that I tend to get a bit antsy and frustrated with things that don’t go the way I think they should. An astrologer would call it the Aries in me. A stranger would call me an asshole. They’d both be right in their own way, but ultimately it’s that I expect certain things of myself and when I don’t perform to the level I think I should (or worse yet perform to that level and still fail) I get upset about it.
The week started much like this sentence always does, with a solid run at the gym and diet. I did two-a-days consisting of what they have been from the onset a couple of weeks ago. I awake, get dressed and pack my work clothes, take some creatine, ride the three miles to work, fender bench for 30-45 minutes, go to work and drink a protein shake made with water. At the end of the work day I change back into the gym clothes (which have been drying in the server room all day) and return to said gym where I do an hour on the treadmill. I do a 3.5-3.7 mph paced walk and increase the elevation by 1.5 every ten minutes. I then get on my bike and ride home. Dinner is usually some grilled chicken, hard boiled eggs, string cheese…things of that nature. Not a lot gets ingested other than water when I get home. This pattern will usually last until, oh, mid-day Friday when I end up tossing the fate of the BSC into the hands of the weekend gods.
Was this past Friday different? Nope, sure wasn’t! I started the day like I detailed above and, having three solid days containing six workouts I felt good about my chances as I rolled the dice. Friday night was spent as it has been the last few weeks, at Hollywood park betting on the ponies followed by a trip to the Tattle Tale for some post-race carousing and karaoke, henceforth known as CAROUSAOKE! Normally it would end there but we finally had most of the band back together for this one and decided to hit the grocery store afterwards. Why? Why else? To get three frozen pizzas, chips, egg rolls, wontons, Gatorades and more liquor because we obviously needed all of that. We took all of this back to our usual apartment after-hours spot and proceeded to keep the party going. Well, they did. I fell asleep earlier than the lot of them. I was up at 5AM – sue me. I did, of course, eat a good amount of all the crap I listed a moment ago before falling asleep. And here…we…go.
I awoke Saturday morning to a sea of passed out bodies, most of which seemed to be breathing. Having not eaten nearly enough crap the night before, I accompanied a young lady to Hollywood for breakfast at the Saddle Ranch. If you haven’t eaten there I highly recommend it for two reasons. First of all, the portions are large, country and served on a metal plate about as big as my torso. Secondly, $9.99 will get you bottomless mimosas and/or bloody marys until 3PM. Did we partake? Yup. I also ate this crazy country eggs benedict made with chipotle hollandaise sauce over my poached eggs, black forest ham and buttermilk biscuits instead of the traditional english muffins. There was also a good heap of hash browns on the side. I devoured it. Before we’d even finished our meals, the nice waitress brought us a complimentary tower of cotton candy:
That things is three feet tall, mind you. Unfortunately, we ate a good deal of it. That’s not to say it wasn’t tasty, but it’s not exactly BSC approved.
A nap ensued from 3-9PM. We decided to see “Super 8” (which is awesome, by the way) at 11:30PM so we killed time at a watering hole on Sunset Blvd. We had a few drinks each and then ate some popcorn during the movie. After that it was a couple hours of DVDs and sleep.
Sunday came around and I made my way to the office as I had some work to do. After that I hit the gym for about ninety minutes, getting in some weight work and cardio. Luckily my bike was still there and I was able to top it all off with a ride home. Monday rolled around and it was business as usual, which brings us to today.
You know the drill, so let’s just skip to the part where I stepped on the scale and discovered that I’d…
…lost three pounds! That brings me down to 292 with a total weight loss on the year of 79 pounds.
Not bad, I must say. Some of you, no doubt, are wondering what that thing I was going to try this week was. Truth be told, it didn’t really pan out due to logistical reasons so I’m keeping it a secret. I’m going to try again this week and, if i can pull it off, I’ll tell you all about it next week.
Until then, keep on keepin’ on!
