Weeks 3 & 4: Working Hard and Losing Weight

It's me, Ben, I'm back again just to update on the blog.   Its been a month since the program started.    During the month of February,  I have lost a total of 20 pounds.

The great thing about losing weight is being able to fit into clothes that I could not fit in before.  My clothes seem to fit better on me.

Saturday was the first time in a long time that I did the bench press and hang clean.   I haven't lifted a bar since my high school football playing days.   It was fun to pump the iron again.

This program of the Biggest Winner is the best.   I am enjoying the exercising and eating right.   The combination of the two makes for good weight loss.   March is coming up and my goal for the end of the month is to sit at 240.    

   

Valentine's Day: Benvenuti in Italia!

For those of you wondering about me, yes I'm still alive! I've let Ben take over the blog for a little while. I hope you've been enjoying his updates on the fitness program he's doing. I'm proud of how dedicated he has been! It has only been a couple weeks but he is already seeing amazing results. Anyway, I wanted to write about Valentine's Day because I know Ben would never get on here and talk about how awesome he is. Our only Valentine's plans were to stay home, make spaghetti, and go to the gym. Yesterday I got a text message from Ben at about 1:30. It told me to call him when I was almost home from work because he needed to meet me outside. The rest of my shift seemed to drag on FOREVER as I wondered what he was up to.

When I got home he came outside and handed me a piece of paper. It contained information about my reservation at "Hotel Italia." That's right. Ben spent hours transforming our apartment into an Italian Hotel. ISN'T THAT SO CUTE?!

I walked inside and had to check in at the front desk:

Then Ben showed me to my assigned room, which was room #8710 (our anniversary):

The table was set for dinner and he even got me my favorite flower, a rose:

He seriously went all out. He made some major changes to our apartment to make it seem more like an Italian hotel. He took down every single picture of us in the whole house and replaced them with printouts of artwork by Italian artists. He also posted a few famous Italian landmarks around the house as if we were looking out the hotel windows. He changed the comforter on our bed. He changed the bathroom towels.  I was impressed. 

After I explored Italy for a bit, we made a delicious dinner of chicken parmesan and salad. Ben bought the biggest pieces of chicken I've ever seen and so we split one and still weren't able to finish it. 

I have the best husband. He never ceases to surprise me. Every day I'm so grateful that he chose me to be his eternal companion. It gets better every day!

Week 2: Ben's Aches and Pains

Well its time for the weekly update.   This week did not go as expected in the Biggest Winner Program.  Sunday night I was pumped up to exercise again for the week.  I lost ten pounds during week one.  I wanted to start strong and come away with a 6-7 pound weight loss.   Monday was the beginning of the week.  Before and halfway through the workout I felt like this:

I thought I was unstoppable.   I went to pick up a weight bar and do some sort of workout.  As I bent over I heard a pop in my back.  I felt the worst pain in the world.

I hurt my lower back on monday and I can tell you I did not feel for like Superman for the rest of the week.  I felt more like this:

I was down and out for the next several days.  I could not get out of bed and I could not walk.  It was not a fun week.   Today is Sunday and my back is finally getting better.   I went to workout on Thursday and Friday.  My back survived two easy workouts.  Even though I did not workout as much , I still lost four pounds this week.  I attribute this weight loss to healthy eating.   I wanted so much to eat some comfort food like go to a buffet or eat a big burger with fries.  I decided the only way to lose weight this week was to eat right and that's what I did.

Saturday was the challenge for the competing teams.  It was a tough challenge.  It involved each team figuring out riddles and then racing from building to building on campus.  It was not easy because the campus of BYU-Idaho is so hilly.  Here is a map of our journey:

Alas, we did our best as a team.  We came in last.  But I was proud of the effort my team put in.  We did the best we could and thats all anybody can ask.  I mean our motto is WE LOSE TO WIN!    I think its fitting that we came in last.   In the end we will all be winners in this challenge we call life.

WEEK #!1 : We Lose to Win

This is the first of many updates for my biggest winner competition.   I am going to try and post every Sunday.  This week has been fun working out and competing with myself to work hard.    I haven't worked out so hard since my senior year of high school during football offseason in the summer.  This week we did some weight training and lots of running.  I'm loving every moment of it.

 Since I have started I have lost 6 pounds so far.   Its fun to get on the scale  and see the weight dropping.  My hope is that it will continue to plummet every week.

My team and I had to come up with a motto for our team this week.   The motto: We Lose To Win.   This has some significance to the phrase.   First it means we want to lose weight to win the competition that we are win.  But the real meaning is we lose weight to win back our lives. We work hard and eat right so that we may have healthy and long happy lives.    

Hard Work, Sweat, and Eating Right!

Well its been a couple of months and the blog needs to be updated.  I, Ben, decided to join a program on campus called "The Biggest Winner".  The program is similar to "The Biggest Loser" show on television.   Biggest Winner started on Monday, the 30th of January and will run through the 29th of March. Here is how the program works and hopefully I can give weekly updates about my progress.   My goal is to drop 40 pounds in the next two months.  Here is what the program consists of:

First I have been placed in a team of 6.  We are competing with six other teams.  We win by accumulating points throughout the next 8 weeks.   I am on the Turquoise team. There are four girls and another guy on my team.

(This is just a sample of the colors)

Second, my team has 4 trainers.  Our trainers help us out 5 days a week and we workout for one hour a day.  We do weight and cardio training. 

Third, I have a weekly appointment to a nutritionist to help hold me accountable for what I eat.  I went today for my first appointment and they set my calories at 1800.  I have been keep a food journal the last couple of days and find myself trying to make better choices on food.   

Fourth, every other Saturday there will be team challenges.  We will compete with other teams for points.  I am looking forward to this part to help build unity with my team.   

This is just a brief description of the program.  I will keep you all posted and if I improve enough by the end of these 8 weeks, I will post before and after pictures.  I am looking forward to the hard work and sweat.  I plan on being the Biggest Winner this semester.