I've Made It To The Halfway Point On The Road To 200.....
I woke up on the morning of January 2nd to a harsh reality.
I weighed in at 258 after gaining 13 pounds from Thanksgiving through New Years.
We have all been there. Football season, travel, parties & the holidays combined to do a number on me. It is the hardest time of the year health wise for a reason.
What was done was done. And it was time to move onward. I immediately started eating healthy & watching the sugar intake again.
After I really pissed Big Cat off in December when I missed a flight for a DraftKings stream, I decided to travel way less in 2025 to focus on work & health stuff after 4 years of flying too close to the sun.
The first day I jogged 2 miles and was hurting too! But I had to start somewhere. No shame in that.
I reached out to my co-worker Matthew Piper Jenks and he has been a godsend for accountability (as he has been to Frank The Tank). Jenks stays on my ass demanding excellence daily and letting him down is not an option. (I send workout reports daily)
Jenks helps me to lift weights more often instead of just running which I enjoy more.
The first part of weight loss is always the easiest as the body overreacts to the sugar intake disappearing. I lost 9 LBs in January & was making strides on the running by the end of the 1st month.
Super Bowl Week in New Orleans was not good to start February. Historically, I have struggled when traveling and this time was no different. I gained a few pounds back and had to really turn it up the rest of the month to overcompensate. I succeeded and ended the month at 242.
When not on the road, maintaining control of my diet is not that difficult luckily. I am a huge foodie but there are so many great options these days. Just have to get a little creative....
The running kicked into another gear in March. Mook asked me to run miles on Mook Can't Sleep to raise money for co-worker Ben DiGulio's sister and her cancer battle for the family.
I had not gone farther than a 10k (6.2 miles) to that point but decided to let it rip for the cause. I ran my 1st 1/2 Marathon of 2025 that night in 2 hours and 34 minutes! And we raised $11,000 for the family. MASSIVE W!
Originally my goal for the year was to run a 1/2 marathon again but with that already down by mid-March I signed up for the Chicago Marathon on October 12th instead. We have a crew of about 10 of us from the office running it and I cannot wait!
Everything has continued to progress positively the last week 6 weeks. My sugar cravings are completely gone now which is def a first! I still eat fruit on keto but that is it. Just lots of protein & greens.
The fact that I can still eat a steak dinner and lose weight feels like a miracle.
I hit the 5 year mark of the no alcohol journey on Sunday (minus the Bible Study incident). To celebrate, I ran my 2nd 1/2 Marathon of the year in 2 hours & 29 minutes (5 min improvement).
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While improvement was shown, I was completely GASSED at the end which was a reality check of how much it will take to run the full 26.2 miles in October. But at least there will be plenty of beautiful Chicago weather in the summer to train!
I also even did a 72 hour fast last week from 1pm Tuesday to 1pm Friday drinking only water & coffee. Thursday night during the NFL Draft Stream was BRUTAL as I was eyeing the food the whole night but got through it. By the end I weighed 228.2 on Friday morning.
This was the first time to be in the 220s since 2013!
Moving forward, the weight loss should slow down some naturally. The goal is to lose a manageable 5 pounds a month to put me near 200 for the Chicago Marathon. (Planning to lift weights three times a week too…. can't be skinny fat!)
While the 1st half has definitely been a big success, THE JOB IS NOT FINISHED!
And a big thank you to Planet Fitness for building a gym in the Chicago office!