Back on the blog - Phat Guy for Phi Psi!

Gentle Reader -

Sorry that I have been gone for so long. The world has been changing around me every day. One of my resolutions this 2012 is to write more...both about me and about things that make me who I am.

I've really decided to work on my weight. For those in the know, the name of this blog comes from the fact that, at one time, I was "One biscuit shy" of weighing in at 400lbs. Not good at all. Well, at least we're not there any more, but we still have a long way to go. I'm committed to losing the weight. I've started eating healthier, I've started to wean my self off of pop (or soda for your Easterners) and no more fast food (Opie isn't going to like that one). I'm starting weight watchers again, too. I've run in my first 5K (OK, let;s be real, "run" isn't honest - I finished and I shuffled, but I didn't run) where i dressed like Santa and I'm committed to running in a 1/2 marathon by the end of the year - training starts soon. Any and all help people want to give me (both positive and negative) is welcome. When I run that, I'm going to raise money for my fraternity, Phi Kappa Psi, specifically for the 2 chapters that I advise in Chicago. - More details to follow on that.

I'll be writing at least once a week about things that cross my radar, if not more if it warrants it.

See ya soon

Marc...

About a dozen shy now

So, As readers of this blog know, it started out as my journal of my weight loss trip. That stated out as a bet between my fraternity brothers and I on who could lose the most weight (percentage) by our biannual convention last year. I lost. but not by much, but it helped me start to work on getting fit. I joined a gym, I stopped eating McDonalds and pretty much gave up pop and beer. That got me to lose all of 10 lbs. I was pissed. But, i'm happy to report that I have, since 1/15/08 lost 46 lbs. That rocks.

What have I been doing? Well, i'm been eating less and also trying to work out at least 3x/week. I don't always succeed, but i don't let that little setback get in the way of my goal. I've got a long way to get to where I want to be (not shopping in big/tall stores), but I think that I can get there, and without the surgeon's scalpel. As always, I thank my friends and my family for their support, and for Olivia's biting comments that make me go to the gym (Daddy, you're the biggest Brown Bear I've ever seen...)

History in the Making!

So Super Tuesday was...wait for it...Super? Well it was for me. I got to take my daughter to vote. She was in the booth with me and I she voted for most of the judges, and she even picked out Barack (i know it was luck - but i call it karma). All in all it was pretty cool and when she's 18 and about to vote for the first time, I can tell her when she did it when she was 2.

On the politics side, it looks like I'm going to get my dream scenario: a Brokered Convention. The news pundits won't know what to do, but they should be happy becuase it will be better than any drama they could put out. With Hillary and Bill winning the big states and Barack winning the most states it'll be interesting to see how their groups spin this. But did you see the both of them speak last night. Hilary either needs to invest in a teleprompter or ask her staff for more lead time - she was reading more than she was speaking; As for Barack - he was awesome! His cadence is that of a teacher/preacher and it draws you in. Looking forward to the fun to come.

Also, kudos to McCain for tweaking the tail of his party (Rush, Ann "I need to get laid" Coulter, et al) and making them madder by busting Mitt's behind last night. Also good show by the Huck and Chuck crowd as well.

Lastly, I've lost weight, but i need to lose more. My first milepost event (black tie dinner) is in less than 3 weeks.

See Y'all soon.

Marc...

WW and the gym

So yesterday, Monday, I went and made 2 steps in my attempt to lose weight - I joined Weight Watchers (online - I'm not going to meetings) and I joined a gym. Holly (my wife - you'll hear more about her later) was on WW back in the day and it worked for her. Me, I'm a little skeptical, but I'm going to try and work the plan. The hardest thing for me is going to be be portion control. It really hurts me to leave food on my plate when I've paid good money for it.

I also joined a gym. I joined a 24 hour place near Maison Dumas in the South Loop. It's pretty cool, although I've already almost left OPD (the daughter) in kid care. More on that after my first real trip and my first meeting with Issac, the TRAINER.

I know that this is for the best, but hell, it's going to be hard. If people have any thoughts, they can bring them here.

cya later

Let's get it started

Welcome! This is to be the first of many entries as I talk about my life and about things that I think are important - if you think that just sounds like it's my soapbox, you're right, but you can respond if you like and we can debate once and a while as well.

While I'll probably talk about a variety of topics (Baseball, coaching kids, college basketball, golf - gotta love that guy Eldrick - , poker, politics, shoes, clothes and my views on the American Fraternity) the bulk of what I write about will be about my quest to lose weight. You see, I'm fat. Not need a forklift to move fat, or breaking chairs fat (even though I've done that, but not for a while), but I'm a big boy. I'm not going to tell you my weight, at least for now, but i will tell you my successes and my failures. I'll talk about what works for me and the fun of trying to figure out how to get the things I love (gummi bears anyone??) and still get to my goal weight of 199. Really its not about a goal weight, but about a goal size: I want to be able to buy pants at the Gap!

So with that being said, here we go. I hope you come along for the ride and feel free to comment.