Fit Happens Chapter 3: The No Booze Cruise (Part 1)

As I did three years ago, I have devoted the month of February to no alcohol drinks whatsoever (editors note: we shall never speak of the events of February 3rd, which was reserved for the consumption of a plethora and variety of craft brews imbibed during the 49ers loss in the Super Bowl).

This no-alcohol month was done in two parts: (1) to give myself a challenge that I knew would be tough, especially with how many alcohol-based situations I am in on a weekly basis and (2) to help in the process of losing weight for the Fit Happens challenge.

I knew the chances of repeating as the Biggest Loser based on percentage for the month of February would be difficult, so I figured some kind of dietary change had to occur for this to happen (in addition to working out harder and more frequently).

I have kept track of all of the potential drinking opportunities and how difficult it was for me to abstain from drinking. I'm actually surprised at how often I'm in drinking situations, which surprises me that it surprises me.

Without further ado (listed by the date where temptation presented itself)

1st - As is the case every Friday, bowling always presents its share of temptation of delicious beer, usually 312. It is also harder to not drink when the team when you are bowling is a bunch of booze hounds - which was the case today. Seeing as though I bowled below average this particular week (peaking at a 191 in game 2) as our team got swept, a pint couldn't have hurt. Temptation Level: Medium

2nd - This day contained visits to two separate bars - Olivers and Zante's. Oliver's was with the family (not with my usual Wednesday night hooligans, so no difficulty there. Zante's was a different story.

Here's a story on Yelp a few years ago from someone who went there:

• Elite '13
• 304friends
• 160reviews

• Dana G.

Frankfort, IL

 1/6/2011

If there was a hell mouth for douche bags this is definitely one of them.

Do not come here on a weekend if you like your sanity. This place THINKS they are a Chicago club and so do the people that frequent it. They have a freakin' bathroom attendant... seriously thanks but I can wipe my own damn hands and I'm not paying you a dollar for a stick of gum. The door guys/ bouncers are rude (probably from the hair gel leaking through their skulls.

AVOID AVOID AVOID

This summary sums up my thoughts on the place. The best part of the place this particular night was that there was one table of awesome people and an awesome birthday girl. Otherwise, this review is how I feel about the bar. So needless to say, the urge to drink this night was particularly high. I did buy drinks...but they weren't for me. Ada (the birthday girl in question) and Jen enjoyed a lemon drop shot as part of my birthday drink gift. My 3-4 glasses of water were my only beverages consumed. Temptation Level: High; Total Bar Visits: 2; (Month-to-Date: 2)

3rd - (We're forgetting about this day. Damn Ravens)

6th - Wednesday night bowling doesn't usually have the same alcohol temptation that Friday does, but there are a few teams we enjoy bowling against whose enjoyment of a couple drinks might get our team to do the same. However, when the team you are facing is named "BYE" and has no people on the team, the possibility of being tempted by them is nil. After bowling is usually a trip to Olivers, but sticking with the theme of a BYE week, my usual duo of knuckleheads were both MIA - no appearance to Olivers necessary. Temptation Level: Low

8th - Another bowling night, but with a team that doesn't interact with us in a way that others do (where there may be a shot here and there), there was no temptation to drink, although sadly, I have to say we all did take shots from a shot glass. They contained water. I bowled well that night (610 series, topping out at a 241 in the first game), so that's all I really need from a bowling night I realized. Temptation Level: Low

9th - I went to visit my friend who lives in Bloomington. If you know anything about us, you'd know that pretty much every time we've hung out (dating back to the start of our friendship in college times), there has been a couple of beers consumed. We did go to a bar, but we just grabbed lunch and then hung out at his place before heading back home to the South Loop in the early evening.

After this was one of the most alcohol-filled situations I've been in: Geno & Jen's engagement party. Over two dozen people were at the party - I believe all of them except one thinning white boy with a faux hawk were drinking something that night. With celebration drinks and clinking glasses surrounding me, I stayed strong with my 36 ounce water jug (between Bloomington and this party, I refilled the jug about 8 or 9 times - over 300 oz's of H2O in my body throughout the day). Talking about brewing beer with Ed didn't help matters. We also went to a bar (The Shamrock) after for a couple of drinks. But, as is the theme with this story, I stayed strong. Temptation Level: High; Total Bar Visits: 2 (Month-to-Date: 4)

10th - Another day with G & J, another day of bowling, but surprisingly, not as much temptation. This bowling league on Sundays is more of a social league than a serious one, but on this particular day, no one on the team was drinking. I'm a substitute for the team, bowling when needed. Afterwards, we went to Diversey's to grab dinner and catch some of the Blackhawks game. Again, shocked to see no one was drinking. Jen and I left before the game ended. However, at the bar, I set up my next drinking temptation event, which coincidentally enough, involved going to a Blackhawks game. Temptation Level: Low; Total Bar Visits: 1 (Month-to-Date: 5)

Pierre & Geno

12th - I was invited to go to a Blackhawks game with Geno, for the low price of buying him a couple rounds of drinks. At this point, he knew that I was not drinking this month - and as such, he respected my stance of not drinking this month. We took a free shuttle from The Crossroads to the United Center. After not drinking there amid a 3-2 Blackhawks defeat, I went back to the bar with Geno (but not before running into New Orleans Saints running back Pierre Thomas, who I took a picture of with Geno). The urge to drink was a little higher than the previous temptation, but certainly not as bad as it's been this month. Temptation Level: Medium; Total Bar Visits: 1 (Month-to-Date: 6)

13th - I headed to Atlanta for a few days, where I was to meet with my co-workers, including my new boss (who I had never had the chance to meet before). I was in my hotel room for several hours before I got a call from him to meet him at the hotel bar. As I did many times so far this month, I explained my no-drink situation, so my beverage of choice was water throughout the 48 hours together. I also managed to avoid drinking at a restaurant we went to when Jake got into town. I did take a shot of something - strangely, it was an oyster/calamari shot. I assured the new boss that I would be enjoying adult beverages with them on our company trip next month in Hawaii. Temptation Level: High; Total Bar Visits (including the hotel bar): 2 (Month-to-Date: 8)

14th - The second night featured dinner with a client in a downtown restaurant and visiting a pub where the boss wanted to see an old friend of his that he hadn't seen in a couple years. The client dinner was fantastic - no drinks, no worries. Same with the visit to the bar. We didn't stay there long, as every one of us was tired and wanted to get some shut eye. Temptation Level: Low; Total Bar Visits (including restaurant): 2 (Month-to-Date: 10)

15th - I got back into Chicago around 7:30 pm, just in time to get back to the suburbs for bowling. Like the bowling situation on the 1st, we faced a team full of guys who are never shy about their consumption of buckets full of piss water known as Coors Light. Avoiding drinking was not a problem though. Temptation was lower than normal, considering the team we are bowling against. One thing I did notice - as I go with beer drinking at bowling, so goes my team. Not once this month has my team had a beer to drink while bowling. Temptation Level: Low

More to come on this as the month finishes. I will also update everyone on my weight loss and whether or not I am able to defend my Biggest Loser crown from January. Peace!

Fit Happens Chapter 2: A Healthy Competition

Month 1 of 2013 brought some true change to this country. No, this isn't the political type of change or the even more devalued change in our pockets after buying a candy bar. This was something bigger. Or should I say, a bunch of someone's bigger.

Weighing in at a combined 1015.1 pounds, the quartet in the 2013 Fit Happens Challenge had a lot of extra baggage to remove to start the new year. Better choices had to start being made: cutting out the cheeseburgers for something more healthy, curbing/eliminating the amount of fast food eaten, the switch from Diet Cokes to water. These are just some of the ways the four of us approached the weight loss challenge.

How It Started...

I must say that I am starting to feel the energy I had just before I stopped working out in July 2010, when the combination of getting a job where I worked from home and going to night class three times a week in the middle of the week caused me to curb my visits to the gym.

At my peak between 2008 and 2010, I would be going to the gym 5 times a week regularly, going from 220 pounds at the time of my gym membership start to about 175 at its lowest over the 2 years at the gym. When my work/school schedule changed, so did my gym habits. 5 times a week turned into twice a week. Twice a week turned into twice a month. Pretty soon, I just gave up going to the gym, and my body responded appropriately.

At the end of 2012, I was tagged on an email with a couple of friends and their friend, all of whom had discussed starting up a weight loss contest that would present motivation for the four of us to get trimmer heading into 2013. In addition to prizes given for monthly winners and the overall winner, there are also parameters in place where everyone in the contest will have to stay motivated, no matter the difference in % of weight lost.

While we all seem to be in the clear of the most dangerous of those motivating factors (anyone who loses less than 2% of their original body weight will have to wear a dress in public), there is also the threshold of getting at least 7.5% weight lost or risking the loss of your gamer tag for a year (or changing of a FB profile picture for a month).

Luckily for us, we all started out the month strong...

User	lbs	%
Dave	-11.8 lbs	-4.09%
Hippo	-11.4 lbs	-4.62%
LionEsquire	-13.2 lbs	-5.41%
B-Bo Knows Weight Loss	-13.0 lbs	-5.52%

One Month In...

You might have an idea what my name in the contest is. Luckily I lived up to my name, reaching the end of the month in first place with 5.52% of my weight lost, edging out my nearest competition by 0.11%.

The 13 pounds lost in a month has to be a record for me. Which is surprising, because I don't think my eating habits have dramatically improved during this month.

Well, I should say what I choose to eat hasn't changed. I've definitely been eating/snacking less than before. But for the most part, my diet hasn't changed. I have cut back dramatically on alcohol and my Diet Cokes, opting for some agua instead. I'd say the conversion to a near-water beverage diet has helped a lot, although I still had a couple of weekend nights where I imbibed on a few too many.

The Next Month

Here are a few things I am expecting from Month 2 of the contest

1. The weight loss will be tougher. From my experiences working out 5 years ago, I know that the dramatic weight loss will likely tail off in month 2. This is why I've set a reasonable goal of 6-8 pounds loss for February. It won't be for lack of trying - I'm hoping to prove myself wrong and get past that mark, but not counting on it.
2. I expect to continue to get more energy the more I work out. I've been going to the gym about 3-4 times a week this year so far. The workouts, focused moreso on cardio activities, have increased in length and intensity since the beginning of the year. The first week or so was spent on the treadmill, walking at about a 3.5/4 mph pace. In the past two weeks, I've been starting to jog on the treadmill, around a 5/5.5 mph pace. The workouts aren't always as long, but I end up losing way more calories with the jogs.  I am looking to get back to running around a 6mph pace like I was able to at the same point of my weight loss in 2008.
3. My diet will improve. It may not improve dramatically, but cutting out soda and alcohol (save for the Super Bowl) for the entire month of February will have to help somewhat. In fact, I meant to ask if anyone wanted to join me on this No Booze Till March campaign. And no, my non-drinking friends don't need to be smartasses and agree to go on this campaign with me - I'm looking for my alcohol-soaked friends to hop on the Sober Train, which I think is more reliable than the CTA/Metra.
4. I don't expect to win the weight loss title again. But that doesn't mean I won't aim for a repeat. I figure if I win it a second month in a row, I must be doing something right and will be in much better shape when the month of February comes to a close.

When this contest first started, I must say I was slightly motivated by winning it. But then I realized that this is more than just a contest to win by losing weight. This is about making better decisions, whether it be to lay off fatty snacks and eating fruit instead or going downstairs to the gym to workout instead of sitting on the couch watching 1990s sitcoms and crappy college basketball games throughout the early evening.

I must say that win or lose, this contest is exactly what I needed to start making some better decisions. Thank you to Chris, Nick and Dave for the invite in what promises to be a healthy competition.

Combined Weight to Start January: 1015.1 pounds
Combined Weight to End January: 965.7 pounds
Weight loss total - 49.4 pounds (4.9% lost)

No Time to Weight

It's been a week of being on medication and going to see a physical therapist, and so far, so good. The back appears to be getting better, and hopefully by the time the month's worth of physical therapy appointments are done, I will be back to normal. I'm really tempted to test it out by bowling a game, even though that's how I threw out the back. But for now, I'll be smart and sit it out while watching my teammates bowl. Watching from the sidelines has been difficult. When you get used to a routine - and when you're passionate about something like I am about bowling, it's tough to watch it and know you can't do it.

One thing I'm glad that I haven't missed too much, surprisingly, is beer. These medications (for pain reduction and muscle relaxing) are not to be taken with alcohol. I'm sure most medications are that way, but I've taken this as a serious warning. The few beers I have had in the past week have been well after I took my last medication (like 6-7 hours), and in each situation, I only drank a beer.

Even watching people drink hasn't been as bad as I thought. Normally, that would be the biggest form of pressure to drink - when your peers are pouring down the suds. The ability to resist has been better than I imagined.

I was told by my physical therapist that losing some weight would help the back. This has inspired me to try eating healthier in addition to the reduction in alcohol consumption. As of 8/15/2011, I sit at 217 pounds, so we will see how this change of diets (in addition to moving around a little bit) will help my weight loss (and in turn, my back).

I did so good with my working out the last time 3 years ago and threw it all away in the past year. I need to get in the workout mindset again. My friends Jen and Steve are doing a good job with it- so much so, that when they came over last week for a swim and BBQ, they brought over some turkey burgers.

I need to get into the eating right/exercising regimen again. Let's hope that I (as well as Steve, Jen and any of my other friends who are aiming to get healthy/healthier) can get this in order.