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Sunday, May 15, 2011

Lowest to date — Week 26 progress

Friday's weigh-in: 231lbs.

My lowest to date, in over 25 years.

I went a little overboard this weekend though, so I expect a rough catch up week. My daughter had a Birthday party and it was also my wedding anniversary, so I did indulge in lots of good food.  I tried to make up for it today by going for a long bike ride. Hopefully it made a difference.

 

Monday, May 9, 2011

7/52 — Week 18

A day late. Oops.

Not much of a varied selection this week, but I did dig out my old Canon S3 IS for some shots! I went cycling with my son on Saturday and brought the S3 along for the ride.

Anyway, to start off with... my Rock Band addiction gets a boost. The Fender Squier Stratocaster is finally available in Canada and my pre-order from last month arrived. Playing Rock Band 3 with it is more difficult than you might think.

My daugher wants to learn guitar, so she had to give it a try.

When my son and I were out cycling, we came across a bed of daffodils along the Rockliffe Parkway. We weren't along in thinking they were photo-worthy. As we left, a photographer arrived with his camera gear and tripod to take his own shots.

While I was taking pictures of the daffodils, this little guy was watching us from a distance. My son insisted that I take its photo. :)

My S3 never ceases to amaze me at how good its shots are.

 

Saturday, May 7, 2011

I'll fit in this one day...

I love T-shirts. I love free promo T-shirts. Give me a free promo T-shirt and I'll wear it. Guaranteed. (within reason, of course...)

What I've always hated is that more often than not that free promo T-shirt is either an XL or an L size. Being an XXL free promo T-shirt lover sucks.

In many cases — if I really liked the T-shirt — I'd tuck it away in my drawer for "I'll fit in this one day..."

That day has finally arrived.

This morning, while looking for something to wear, I came across a few of those T-shirts. I picked one out and tried it on.

It fit! It's not tight or even snug, it's a comfortable fit! I think it's an XL. I don't want to take it off to check for fear that I'll wake up from a dream. :)  But I can say that this particular one never fit me and I've had it for about 2 years.

I was half-tempted to try some others on, but I decided to wait and leave them for another day so I can be just as surprised.

It's little things like this that keep me motivated to continue my weight loss. I've got about 30lbs still to go. My friends and family tell me that I'll be too skinny at 200 lbs. I can't rememeber if I looked too skinny when I was that weight in my late teens/early 20s (I was the same height).  All I remember is that I've been self-concious about my weight nearly all my life, except for a short time when I was in the military and lost most of it, and I've never been told I was too skinny.

My doc says I should be 190 lbs. 200 lbs is the goal, but I'm pretty sure that I'll be happy at 210 lbs, but I won't know for sure until I get there.

I can't believe that I'm actually half-way to the goal. Go me go. :)

Friday, May 6, 2011

Back on track... deja vue — Week 25 progress

I'm back on it and made more headway. I credit two salad lunches and a ~30 km bike ride on Sunday. I'm down to 233.2 lbs — my lowest recorded weight to date in the last 25 years. :)

We bought our son a new bicycle on Sunday and after I topped up the tires with air and adjusted his seat, I decided to do a little maintenance on my own bike. Of course, I then had to take it out for a spin. I didn't plan on out for more than an hour, max, but as I rode I kept wanting to go further. I ended up at Petrie Island about 15kms away. I was happy to see that almost the entire bike path is now paved too. The last time I rode there two years ago it was all gravel. My weight loss and overall fitness improvements are definitely paying off; I wasn't early as tired after the ride like I usually am after the first long ride of the year. I'm tempted to work my way up to another ride out to Rockland like I did about 5 years ago.

I'm looking forward to the weekend and more riding, and getting my family into it as well. I doubt they'll want to ride all the way to Petrie Island though. :)

Monday, May 2, 2011

7/52 — Week 17

It was a really nice weekend, weather-wise, and I didn't get out much for shooting. :( I did, however, spend time outside... just not with my camera.

I discoved this little guy hanging outside my window at work, on the 3rd floor. It rained the next day and he was gone. Not sure if he's just hiding, or the rain and wind took him away.

One of my DailyShoot contributions for the week. The theme had to do with depicting a choice.

My sister got new dresses at her shop and needed photos taken so we could put them up on her web site. This is one of them.

One of a few new visitors to our backyard. They don't seem to like landing on the hanging feeder. Instead, they choose to eat the seeds that fall on the ground. I wish they'd eat faster because there's a huge mess on the ground. ;) I'm not sure what kind of bird this is. They spook a lot more easily than any of the others.

I weeded the flower bed this weekend. This is one of the many hostas that I have growing.

We went out to buy our son a new bike since he has outgrown his last one. After putting air in the tires, I figured I might as well do all of our bikes. Once my bike was ready to go, I had no excuse and took it for a ride out to Petrie Island and back. That wasn't the plan, but the further I rode, the further I wanted to ride. 31.2 kms in total. Not bad for my first ride of the season. I may have to try riding out to Rockland again as I did a few years ago. Anyway, this is the hub of my front wheel.

And a reflector from the same wheel.

It's too bad there's no easy way to bring my camera with me when I got riding. There were a few nice photo opportunities that I missed out on. I may have to settle for bring my old S3 IS instead.

 

Friday, April 29, 2011

Another fail week — Week 24 progress

Failed the weigh-in this morning by a pound and a half. They seem to happen on a regular basis, followed by a catch-up loss. When I see the graph of my loss, it's like a roller coaster ride. As long as it continues to go down overall, I don't think there's any reason to be concerned. So I'm not. :)

 

Sunday, April 24, 2011

7/52 — Week 16

More birds, no cats, and signs of spring.

I shot this from my truck while waiting for my wife at Giant Tiger and Shoppers City East. You see this every once in a while and there's no clear explanation for it. If you Google "shoes hanging from wires" you'll find a whole bunch of theories. One blogger pretty much summed it up: "So there you have it. It's either a harmless prank, a rite of passage, or a sign of the end of civilization. You figure it out." :)

The finches are becoming more and more trusting. Yes, there's a pane of glass between where I stand and the feeder, but they hardly pay any attention to me now when I walk up to the window to watch or photograph them.

The finches were out in full force this weekend, and emptied the feeder twice. I tried to catch them in flight coming and going.

No flowers yet, but the lily bulbs began sprouting in the last two weeks.

The peonies have sprouted and reach for the sun.

Stop. Click the photo if you don't know what it is.

A sure sign of spring at our house; I put our patio table and chairs out on our small front patio. All it needs is a nice cold beer sitting on it. :)