I Best my COLLEGE Weight

This first day of September in the year of our lord 2011, marks the conclusion of my weight loss challenge.  This is a good day.  After 81 days of grueling work and dedication, I am proud to announce that I've lost 25.2 pounds!

This challenge was conceived over dinner on June 12 of this summer.  Wifey and I were revelling in the most exotic dinner of our lives (sea erchant, bone marrow, and the like), when she wagered that she could get me below 200 lbs by September 1st, 2011.  Being the fervent supporter of Wifey that I am, I eagerly accepted the challenge as I gulped my last bite of freedom (ox tail, if you must know).

Over the next 2.5 months, we drastically reduced the amount of carbohydrates, soda, red meat, cheese, and salt that I was eating.  In total, I approximate that I reduced my caloric intake to 1700-1800 calories per day.  Most of the weight loss came from diet alone.  I began adding exercise during the second half of the challenge.  In any given week, I would run 5-6 miles 3-4 times per week.

Every meal and exercise were tracked in our Food Log. Then, each and everyday, I stepped on the scale for the daily progress report.  Here's what my weight chart looks like.  You might notice that I started at 221.4 lbs and finished at 196.2 lbs.  That's total weight loss of over 25 lbs!

Can you spot the weekends?  ...the biggest peak was Lake Placid.  ...another doozy was the Man U - Barca game.

For some added perspective:

• My heaviest weight ever was 230 lbs
• In college, I was listed at 190 lbs but I'm pretty sure I never got below 200 lbs
• At my wedding, I weighed 213 lbs

When I finally rolled-back into the lower century, Wifey and I started getting really excited.  It was fun to see the numbers on the scale get lower and lower.

It really helped to have a partner in this crime.  One of my stipulations was that Wifey couldn't ask any more of me than she asked herself.  To that end, she also reduced her calories, exercised, and ultimately lost over 12 lbs!  If I ever eat one more spoonful of Greek Yogurt, it will be too soon.  Our normal diet included:

• Breakfast: scrambled eggs, yogurt, blueberries, and a banana
• Morning Snack: two apples
• Lunch: baked turkey (sliced), broccoli and other assorted veggies
• Dinner: poultry, pork, or fish with steam veggies

Once the exercise portion kicked in, I also started eating mixed nuts in the afternoon.  Fortunately, I didn't need to stick to this regimen seven days a week.  On the weekends, Wifey would loosen the requirements and allow for Sunday Slices in the Garden and/or a home cooked steak dinner.  Did I mention how much I like Beacon Hill Chocolates?

I've been looking forward to this day for quite some time.  And now that I'm free from the challenge, I'm tempted to go bonkers this weekend.  Can I get a Big Mac!?

Irene, Irene.

As Irene drew near, so did Paint-a-Palooza.  Wifey and I decided to use our hard earned vacation time to paint the master bedroom AND stain the corner entertainment center.  Preparations began on Friday morning, painting commenced on Friday afternoon, and staining followed shortly thereafter.  When all was said and done, the bedroom is in tip-top shape and we survived Irene.  Here's the before pic.

We recently resigned our lease for an additional year. Part of our decision to stay for another year included an agreement to make the apartment comfortable (to our standards).  With that in mind, we repaired the walls and initiated our rebellion against the institutional color palettes of yesteryear.
Maybe it was the tension caused by working in a small space for 36 hours, maybe it was sleeping on the couches for 2 nights in a row, or maybe we were just tired of painting.  Whatever it was, we decided that we were content with only replacing the wall and ceiling colors. We decided that we liked the color of the molding MORE than the planned purpley color.  Considering the Renaissance era molding along the baseboard and 12' ceiling, this decision probably saved us 8 hours of work.  Here's what the room looked like as we were putting it back together.  Funny how we didn't realize how bad the curtains are until after painted.

After we were done painting, our attention turned the oak entertainment center that we purchased in 2005.  Upon occasion, I've been reminded that, at the point of purchase, I promised to save money by staining the piece myself (an approximate $150 value).  (Un)fortunately, the day of reckoning hath arrived.  We finally stained the piece and are very happy with the results.

While we were finishing the painting/staining, Tropical Storm Irene rolled through Boston.  We got a lot of rain and wind BUT, were left relatively unscathed compared to the initial projections and the flooding that continues in Vermont.  The worst damage we saw was in the Public Gardens. We lost a large very old tree that had been camping directly opposite the Cheers bar.  If you've been to Boston, there's a strong likelihood that this tree is in one of your photos!  This tree fell down and blocked all 4 lanes of Beacon Street. It's sad the think that this tree has been around for over 100 years.  Within just a couple hours, the city had come and cleared the obstruction.

Our Boston Diggs

This post has been (way) too long time in the making.  Since I've taken the ADSK gig, I've always made time to model each new domiciles.  For example, here's the Somerville house.  I started modeling our Boston home immediately after moving in.  One year later, I'm yet to complete the model and starting to doubt my dedication to completing the project.  With that in mind, I set this project free!  Sorry about the details that I haven't finished!  ...I hope that you get the gist.

This Just In: My Handicap isn't (Entirely) My Fault

I cashed-in the last of my 2011 birthday gifts this morning.  The dinner, custom shirts, and nick-nacks are all eaten, picked-up, or gone...except for the club fitting at the Taylormade Performance Labs.  If you enjoy golf and are looking for an opportunity to geek-out, this is a great way to spend two hours (especially if you work for ADSK and are familiar with Maya).

Here's how it works:

1. attach the reflectors
2. turn on the cameras
3. swing the clubs
4. let the computers do the rest

The real value of the event is the club summary, but the cool factor is provided by the swing visualizer.  Here's what my 6-iron, wedge, driver, and putter swings look like.

And here are the results of my club fitting. Not to say that I don't need to do some work, but the impact graphic for the driver (page 1) makes it look like I missed the ball.  That's not the case!  The graphic is scaled wrong!!  You believe me, right?!

Don't forget to scroll down to the last page!  That's where the recommendations are.  So, if you're struggling to find me a christmas or birthday gift...  Just be sure to coordinate with wifey to avoid any duplicate gifts.

DM Club Summary

Night Walks w/ The Pup

During the week, Jacob gets three walks a day (plus playgroup).  Wifey and I divide up the walks; normally, she takes the morning walk, we both go for the dinner walk, and I take the night walk.  Summer night walks are wildly better than winter night walks.  As you can see, Boston's Public Garden is a street-musician hot-spot during the summer nights.  Each night, puppy and I get a (near) private performance.  It's usually acoustical but these guys are two of my favorite performers.

I gave them five bucks.  That milk crate must've had $200 in it.

Manchester United, 2 : Barcelona, 1

It’s not every (weekend, month, etc) that us Americans get to play host to two of the best club teams in the world.  I’m fortunate enough to have a wife who thrives on gift giving and being aware of the best events around.

We bought our tickets on the day that they went on sale and have been looking forward to this weekend ever since.  Sure, Barca has had fortune on their side of late but I’m pulling for Man U.  We flew into Reagan early Saturday morning and spent the morning walking around Annapolis.  I was surprised to see that Rt-50 was wide open.  This is a different MD than I remember.

After the stores had been shopped and the crab cakes eaten, we headed for our newest temporary domicile: the Holiday Inn Express.  The Largo HIE is two miles away from the stadium.  Walking to/from was the plan but when it came down to it, it was too hot for us Bostonians…we drove instead.  On our way out of the lot, we took pity on four other soccer fans and decided to bring them along for the ride.  Judging by the looks of things, these guys were fully prepared to be the life of the party.

Our tickets included passes to the Ultimate Fan Experience tents and a parking pass for the Purple Lot (both a godsend in their own right).  This was the second time that I’ve had Dave’s BBQ.  It was just as good as I remembered.  We had great seats so we rushed to occupy them and decided to postpone shopping until halftime.

The P.A. announcer said that the game was sold out and that the attendance was 81k+.  Our family accounted for, at least, four of the attendees.  Mom and Matthew showed up for the game too: happy birthday, Matthew and, thank you, Mom for the gift from Italy.  We’re glad that you enjoyed yourself!

Even though the teams didn’t play their entire starting roster, the talent on the field was inspiring.  We were happy to see three goals, although, the first Man-U goal looked offside from our perspective.  We were rooting for Man-U so we went home happy.

Wifey and I are crazy about collecting our reward points:  Marriott, Hertz, JetBlue…it doesn’t matter, we love the points!  This time around, we were singing the praises of the Hertz reward system.  Our weekend ride only cost $4.47.  Gotta love points!

A Man on a Mission

An unfortunate truth of living in a city is the great reduction of private outdoor living space, specifically, the loss of my grill.  The day that I sold my grill was a sad sad day…

I’ve only recently discovered how to make lemonade out of this situation and wonder why it didn’t dawn on me earlier.  For my entire life, I’ve cooked steak on the frill.  I was surprisingly unaware that steaks are prepared in an oven at most steakhouses.  With this knowledge, I’ve become an inspired man on a mission: to prepare the perfect (non-grilled) steak.

A broiled steak has a different flavor than the grilled steak.  …one that I like (I like it a lot).  So much so that I’ve cooked steak three times in a ten day period.  I like mine marinated before hand and then broiled on both sides for five minutes.  I finish the filet on the stovetop (in a nice pool of hot butter).  The result is heavenly.  Like any aspiring chef, I’m only as good as my tools.  The final piece of the puzzle arrived this week.  It’s surprise gift from Wifey.

Oh yes; seven pounds of pre-seasoned, carnivore enabling, intruder bashing, cast iron goodness.  Thank you, Wifey.  Thank you, Ms. Dean.

Now, if I could only figure how to reduce the amount of smoke I produce…