40 for 40

Lent is upon us.  This year I decided I was not going to give anything up.  I have been reading that it is better to do something new, something worthwhile during lent. Yes, it's good for the kids to give up candy and desert, but for us adults....As a result, I have added a couple of spiritual things to my daily routine, but I also wanted to do something positive for my body, and help me get to my weight loss goal. 40 is a very important number in religion.  From Wikipedia:

The number forty has many Biblical references: the forty days Moses spent on Mount Sinai with God (Exodus 24:18); the forty days and nights Elijah spent walking to Mount Horeb (1 Kings 19:8); the forty days and nights God sent rain in the great flood of Noah (Genesis 7:4); the forty years the Hebrew people wandered in the desert while traveling to the Promised Land (Numbers 14:33); the forty days Jonah in his prophecy of judgment gave the city of Nineveh in which to repent (Jonah 3:4). Jesus retreated into the wilderness, where He fasted for forty days, and was tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1–2, Mark 1:12–13, Luke 4:1–2)

So I came up with "Forty for Forty," meaning I would exercise 40 minutes each of the forty days of lent.  Pretty good plan if you ask me! Starting on Ash Wednesday I did my 40 minutes on the exercise bike at the gym.  Today and tomorrow I hit the treadmill.  Wish me luck!

Back to ground zero

As you can see from all the posts I've been making (not), I've been really dedicated to getting in shape and losing weight (not).  Actually, I'd been doing not too bad, maintaining 7-8 pounds lost for the past couple of months. For some reason Super Bowl, and the week after, have always been a bad time for me weight wise (can't imaging why....).  As a result, at my weigh-in this morning, I was back to my original weight when I started this project back in June.  To say I am depressed about it would be an understatement.  But, there are some good things that have happened over the past couple of months:

• I (believe) I am kidney stone free (not that many of you knew I had/get kidney stones).  Part of ensuring I stay that way is I drink 10-15 8 oz glasses of water a day.  I am quite hydrated, which is a good thing. 
• I pretty much keep to 1-2 craft beers a day, which keeping with one of the themes to this blog is good.  Shows self-control and indicates that my weight is not caused by beer drinking.
• I bought a new bike after the holidays.  With the nice winter weather we've had, I have actually ridden a couple of times already which is a good thing leading into the spring, where I know bike riding will help me reach my goal and keep me healthy.
• Rose bought a treadmill.  I'm torn on this one as I have a pretty good morning routine, getting to the gym a couple of days a week to ride the exercise bike.  However, having a treadmill at home will allow me to exercise everyday inside until the weather gets bad, regardless if I am working downtown (where the gym is) or at home.  I have been on it a number of times since we got it last week, and so far I am enjoying it.  Who knows, maybe I'll start running again.
• Rose wants to lose weight also.  If both of us are on the same page food-wise, it will be easier to keep on track.

So there you have it.  50 pounds (again) to go in 300+ days.  Should be an interesting couple of months trying to kick start my program.  Only time will tell if I can do this....

Cleveland Beer Week

It's been a while since I posted. Weight is coming off slowly, but at least I'm not gaining weight...
Cleveland Beer Week starts today, and I wanted to let people know where I am hoping to get to. Nothing finalized, except Brewzilla, but a good chance you might see me at one of these events!

• Saturday October 15 -
• Barrel Aged Thirsty Dog Tapping - Lizardville, Noon to 4pm

• Sunday October 16th - 
• Heinen's (Hudson) Meat and Greet, Noon to 4pm
• Jolly Pumpkin La Parcela Keg Tapping -  Bedford Hts Winking Lizard, 4pm to 8pm

• Monday October 17th -
• Cask Conditioned Sierra Nevada Torpedo Firkin - Gateway Winking Lizard, 4pm to 6pm
• Left Hand Firkin Night - Independence Winking Lizard, 4pm to 6pm

• Tuesday October 18th - 
• Rolling Blackout (Stout) with GLBC - Gateway Winking Lizard, 4pm to 6pm
• Meet North Peak - Hooligans Tapping - Wonder Bar, 6pm to close

• Wednesday October 19th - 
• 2008 Stone Barrel Aged IRS Release - Lizardville, 6pm to 8pm

• Thursday October 20th - 
• Smuttynose Short batch #10 - Gateway Winking Lizard, 4pm to 7pm
• Goose Island Vintage Ale Invasion - Independence Winking Lizard, 4pm to 9pm

• Saturday October 21st - Brewzilla

Hope to see you during Beer Week!

43 Pounds to go

It's been a busy week preparing to take a couple of days off from work for some R&R and some fine craft beer!
I managed to lose 2.5 pounds last week, which I was hoping for since I did do some exercise last week and tried to not over do it on the eating side.  It was great to get back on the bike and see some positive results! Not sure how I'll do for next weeks weigh in, as I know I will be having more fun, then being good.  It will be a good test to see how I can have fun in moderation, and not gain all 7 pounds I've lost to date back in 5 days!
Wish me luck.  I'm gonna need it!

Balancing a diet with craft beer consumption

Basically the whole gist of this blog, right?  Billy Broas of Billybrew.com recently wrote a great blog post comparing the most popular diets and how they look at beer consumption.  You can find his blog post here.
The short of it is that most diets today do not take into consideration that many of us like to drink craft beer, and carbs from alcohol are not allowed in most diets.  Billy reminds us that "95% of people that lose weight on diets put it back on." So what does he recommend?

1. Drink in moderation - makes sense to me, just like I know I should eat in moderation.
2. Take a break - if you need to give up beer for a week or two to kick start your weight loss program, do it.  Most of the popular diets require it anyway. I had my week at Manatoc that was craft beer free.
3. Remember that we make bad eating choices when we drink - I mean, who doesn't love going to the Lizard and having a couple of beers with a pile of wings?

So my mantra going forward is "moderation" with increased exercise to help me make my goal.

What do you think?

I survived summer camp

I weighed in today.  I'm pretty happy with the result.  I've lost 4.5 lbs in the past 2 weeks.  Not bad.  The first week I was getting ready to go to Boy Scout summer camp as an adult leader for my son's troop and wrap up a bunch of stuff at work.  It was a stressful week.  Stress is my downfall, and the cause of much of my binge eating. I did manage to lose a pound or two before heading off to camp a week ago Sunday.  While I did a lot of walking around at Camp Manatoc, the food served is meant to replace the calories burned off by very active boys during very busy days.  Sausage gravy and biscuits, grilled cheese and tomato soup, and razorback steak were just some of the calorie heavy foods served.  I did watch my portions and skipped (most) desserts.  Add on a graduation party and a couple of 4th of July BBQ's and I am very happy to have lost anything at all! So I guess I won't complain.
I did manage to have a couple of great beers this weekend.  On Saturday night I shared a bottle of Hoppin' Frog Barrel Aged BORIS Royale that I had picked up at the bottle release back in May.  I thought it was outstanding and some of the guys who tried it were Miller Lite drinkers but were very impressed with the beer and were asking a million questions about craft beer.  I think I converted a couple of people that night!
On Sunday night I cracked open a bottle of Hoppin' Frog Barrel Aged Frosted Frog to celebrate Christmas in July.  It was awesome and aged well.  My friends were duly impressed that I would share it with them.  But then again, what are friends for?

Based on comments from some of you, I'm hoping you will be joining me on my journey to lose weight!

Any suggestions for meals (especially on the grill) to help me keep up the momentum?

Off to Camp

So the timing of starting my journey is gonna be interesting.  I'm off to Boy Scout Summer Camp at Camp Manatoc.  I'm hoping I can take advantage of the fresh air, and lots of walking around and camp food to kick start my weight loss.  Two problems, no craft beer and no computer.  Wish me luck and I will post the results of my week when I return. 

What do you do to kick start an exercise or weight loss routine?