Day 2- Luck!

Today I woke up at 4:13am

I hate waking up when the ending numbers are 13. Yuck!!

I fed the baby and then walked the dog. It was raining outside, so I opened the umbrella for us to walk under. Unfortunately, I opened the umbrella inside the house!

Just my luck!

Then I did some things around the house for my wife. I wanted to wear my lucky shorts, but could not find them.

After that, I had to move a dresser and I broke the mirror that was attached to it.

There we go! Seven years of bad luck!!!!!

I went in the kitchen and a stupid light bulb was out! I got the ladder out of the garage, but ended up walking right under it.

Why didn't I walk around it!

The day was coming to an end, and I was tired! I saw a penny on the floor, but decided not to pick it up. I did not want to bend.

Overall, I guess you can say I had a very unlucky day!

Oh, by the way, I worked out, spent time with my family and ate well.

I mean, luck has nothing to do with good decisions, right?

You got questions.....

So here are a few questions I have been asked over the last few days:

Q: Did you eat "healthy" while you were at the hospital

A: I was at the hospital for five days. I did not go home to sleep, I stayed on one of those deluxe super duper fantastic foam bed. By the way, nothing with the word foam in it is super duper.
They had a cafeteria downstairs with different pre-made foods. They also had a huge buffet/salad bar. I think the food was $.54 an ounce.
With over 100 different selections, I always had spinach, broccoli, eggs, red kidney beans, mushrooms, cottage cheese, and a slice of deli chicken.
I would also buy an apple at a buck a pop! That is one expensive fruit!
So I did eat the way I have been for over a year. It was not super delicious, but then again I do not think and hospital food is supposed to be.

Q: Now with the baby, are you still working out?

A: It is funny how my weight loss was all about me when I started, and now so many people support me. I have an incredible family, on both sides. My mom's third question after asking about the baby and wife is if I am working out.
Now, I have taken time off from work to take care of my baby and wife, but I do have family come over for a couple of hours so I can go to the gym. I do a lot of work, so now more than ever it is important for me to be in shape.
I still wake up at 4:45am, but for a better cause. I also wake up at 3am, 1am, and any other "am" you can put in!
But yes, I am still going strong!

Q: Has your life changed?

A: Hmmmmmm......

Q: Oh my, it is July 1st, and I saw you had a contest, and I want to enter but I will not be able to get a picture to July 4th and where do I send it and.....

A: I am pretty excited about the "Missouri 60" because I have written down a lot of goals for myself. I will share them as I go along.
You can enter this contest any time in the 60 days! I will not tell someone they missed out on the deadline. It is to better yourself, not to win exercise cards!

Entering the contest takes courage. I have seen so many pictures, but the best part is the reaction. First I love the courage of people taking the pictures of themselves, then they beat themselves up, and then they get motivated!

Remember, this contest is for 60 days for a reason. That is where the difficult part comes in.

It is easy to enter a contest, but hard to finish one. I see so many people who love challenges, yet never finish one!

Enter this anytime.

Q: Prizes?

A:I have sent out some letters to companies to review products for this contest. I am not a fan of reviewing, but I am a fan of this challenge, so I will make the sacrifice. If you know of something to promote on here, let me know in exchange for a sweet prize!

If I can not find anything, I will get my own prizes. Also, give me ideas. I am a restaurant manager, not a party planner.

Q: In the contest, is it who loses the most weight?

A: Not at all! This contest is about who changes their life in 60 days. Maybe they asked and got a promotion at work, or maybe they changed the way they eat, or maybe they had the courage to go to Oregon.
Maybe you did lose that last "20 pounds" or join a gym. Maybe you passed on your mom's meatloaf.
To me, weight loss is about courage. 60 days is a lot longer than you think! It is about turning "Maybe" into "Definitely"!

Q: Are you going to put up pictures of people in the contest?

A: No, you should proudly display them on your blog. If you like, I can put a link on my blog for you blog, or something like that?

Q: I am so confused? How are you going to decide a winner?

A: Let's see how many people stick with this for 60 days. I have time for more details....

Q:I have a few more questions for you!

A: As always, email me questions anytime. My email is on my profile on the right. I will answer as much as possible.

Let's Dance

First off, I want to thank everyone for their awesome comments recently. It made my wife and I feel real good!

Also..... do not worry!

I did not forget about the "Missouri 60" which starts tomorrow!

I will go over some details on tomorrow's blog!

Get ready!

It is okay to cry

" Okay, so I wipe and clean him every two to three hours, or if I hear him cry, and then I feed him 30 ml of food every three hours. I clean his umbilical cord with a alcohol wipe every time I change him, and I hold his head secure!"

" Wow, you are asking a lot of questions. You are going to make a great daddy."

"Well, I made a promise....."

I have gone through a lot in 2009.

Putting my weight loss aside, this year I have seen my dad and wife in the hospital, I have had to take time off of work (In 10 years I have never taken a full week off!) and have dealt with a rough economy that scares me every day.

This week scared me the most!

My wife was going to get induced on Wednesday. She was supposed to go in Wednesday morning and have the baby by Wednesday night or Thursday morning.

My wife has had some issues with her back. The baby was on a nerve so it was hard for her to walk. I took two weeks off of work to help her around the house.

I worked hard, and she worked harder to get better. If you know anything about back pain, you know it is close to the worst pain ever.

So we went in on Wednesday and my wife got induced.

Maybe it is just my stupidity, but what I knew about labor is what I watched on TV. You know, the sweaty woman in stirrups, the husband/baby daddy coaching her to breath, and then a baby comes out.

Remember, I said stupidity!

My wife was having hard contractions until Thursday afternoon. For 36 hours, she was in pain.

Epidural and all, she was in pain.

For five hours she pushed. The baby was not moving. She was saying she had incredible pain in her pelvis. We realized the baby was stuck in her pelvis.

The doctor rushed in at 8:30pm to tell us that a C-Section is the best option.

Again, I am a guy. I am thinking it is just a little cut and the baby pops out.

When the doctor talks to you about the surgery for 30 minutes, you realize it is serious.

They rushed my wife to the operating room to have the surgery. They told me to wait outside and put on some scrubs.

Fifteen minutes later they got me and brought me to the O.R.

When I walked in, I saw a team of doctors around my wife. I sat right next to my wife.
I started to cry.

I do not cry often at all. I cried when I found out my father had cancer, and I cried at my wedding.
I was scared. Scared I was going to lose everyone. Scared for my family.

I cried on Thursday as well.

While sitting next to my wife, I heard the doctors talking:

"Move this part now, the baby is there." "He is stuck, I need you over there!"

My wife, who was being operated on only said one thing to me. She looked back at my face and said:

"It is okay to cry."

I am not a religious guy by any stretch of the imagination, but I talked to God at that moment. I told him that I would be the best father husband if my wife and baby were safe. I would sacrifice anything and do whatever I needed to for them.

Right after my talk, I heard a loud cry. It was a wonderful cry, one from a gorgeous little boy.

I went to meet him for the first time, and I still could not stop crying. He looked great! He was healthy and beautiful!

We all went to recovery where my wife looked relieved. I was relieved she made it through!

The nurse looked at us and said:

"Did you hear, Michael Jackson died."

I was sorry to hear that, but it was the last thing on my mind. My son had just been born.
Not like it is on TV every 12 seconds!

So now I have a beautiful baby boy. My wife is recovering and doing better every day. I am taking a little time off of work to take care of my wife and family, something I might not have done a few years ago.

Not only that, but my Dad is doing well also.

Yeah, 2009 is a great year!

Dad

Two years ago my wife and I got in one of our biggest fights.

We were wanting to have a child.

At 420 pounds, I needed to lose weight. There was no way in the world I could have a child nor take care of one!.

I remember my wife begging me to lose weight, and I wanted nothing to do with it.

It did not matter to me at the time.

I would still go out and get food at Taco Bell

I would get Chinese takeout

I would eat deep fried steaks at work

My wife saw how much I ate. It devastated her. She knew that it would not be to long before she was a widow.

At 420 pounds, I did not care what anyone thought. I never had a bad self image. I really did not care if I was considered handsome or attractive.

I just wanted to eat.

I was just selfish!

That was until two doctors changed my life. One doctor told me that I would die within three months if I did not change my ways. He set me up for Gastric surgery, and recommended Weight Watchers. He heard about the amounts of food I ate, and he also saw how high my blood pressure was. At 217/135 I was a walking time bomb.

The other doctor told me that we could have a baby. It was up to me. I needed to lose the weight.

In early 2008 I decided to lose weight. It started out as a modest diet.

I lost 200 pounds quickly.

I dieted at first, then changed my life.

I talk about how I lost my weight for the love of my wife. I write about it almost every week!That is absolutely true.

At 9:40pm I also realized something else I will write about....

The reason I will keep the weight off.

Mixed Tape!

I have been swamped!!!!

Work has been crazy! I just got done with a sixteen hour day!

I will have another one of those tomorrow!

I am going to have some big news later this week as well.

Since I am short on time, I will just ramble a little bit!

1. I am so excited that people liked the Missouri 60 idea. I have seen some awesome pictures on blogs. Not only that, I like how so many people just want to better themselves in two months, without a prize.

Either way, I am emailing like crazy different companies. Come on, I am ready to review your product for contest prizes.

I will have more details within the week.

2. I saw the anonymous post I had.

I miss those.

I have not had a juicy one in a long time.

He/she is right. I never respond to any thread I put up on the WW or any board.I do not have time, I post and run!

I put up a fun comment on a board so people can go to my blog to get motivated.

With that being said, I also give out my email, and I never reject a Facebook friend. When I get emailed a question I always respond right away. I do love to help.

That is why I have an iPhone!

Here is what I did not understand about the comment. He/She got mad and said I never respond, then told me I was losing weight wrong.

If I am losing weight wrong, then how can I help others?

Do not worry, I help as many people as I can.

3. I did not comment on Tony's blog, but I am very proud of him!! It takes a lot of courage to admit what he did. I am all about courage. Tony is a great guy who writes from the heart. I look forward to reading his blog. A proud 100 pound loser!

Still, it does take a lot of courage to admit that you play competitive DDR. Thank you for coming out with that info!!!

4. Scales do not lie! Why do we keep on thinking they do. Salt, really!!

5. Dance Your Ass Off? Come on!

6. I loved talking about fiber before. Now, it is like everything has fiber in it, including yogurt. I feel dirty talking about it now.

7. Here is another great Tony. 200 pounds lost!!!!!!

8. Okay, I love Twitter! I did not want to , and my wife does not understand it, but I love it. You WILL know when I am eating an egg! Plus, I might have a few jokes for you. I will make the most of 140 characters!

That is all for now. Till the big news!

Result Driven!

I am not the smartest person in the world. That I will honestly admit.

I am also very stubborn and opinionated.

That is probably the biggest reason why I have been successful in this weight loss journey.

I am a results person. At work, at home, and on myself. It means nothing if I write or say something. It means everything if I do it!

I am not a fan of someone talking about IT! More about someone being about IT!

That is the whole purpose of my challenge, the Missouri 60.

I knew I could achieve the impossible, but did not know how. I would write down a goal, and would start it tomorrow.

Tomorrow never came.

So recently I have realized that today is a better day. I can do a lot of things today.

And with 60 today's, I can change my life!

I love doing this blog, but it would have no credibility if I did not have the pictures of my journey.

I see blogs with pictures of blogger's faces, foot, or leg. Yet, they do not show their transformation. They do not show where they started from, and where they are now.

With all that being said, the Missouri 60 is the easiest yet hardest challenge to do. Here is how you start.

1. You must take a picture! Getting on the scale or blogging about how you can do it means nothing. You need to stare at yourself and see where you are now.

Once you look at your picture, look deeper. Are you the person that makes excuses:

"I do not have time to work out!"
"My boss is out to get me!"
"My wife doesn't support me"

Once you are looking at your picture, think about how you want to change. Maybe you want to get a promotion, have a better marriage, lose weight, save money, etc.

2.Write down all of your goals, but keep them to yourself. Remember, this is about results.

3. Now, you have 60 days to change your life. This is a commitment you are making to yourself. For 60 days you will not make any excuses. No holidays, outings, fights, or economy will stop you from your goals.

4. Once you hit a goal on your list, share it with people. Maybe it was to lose 5 pounds, or go on a romantic dinner with spouse, or have the courage to pass on a piece of your Dad's cake. Remember, this is about "Showing" not about "Telling"! Put on those new pants and tell people you can wear them now, or show friends a business card with your new title on it.

5. After 60 days, take another picture. Compare the pictures. I guarantee you will see a difference. Maybe not in weight, but in yourself.

I have had 60 people say they liked this challenge and were interested. I think more will come. With the economy the way it is, people can not afford to go and get "Free KFC" or "Value Meals". People need to get healthy and feel good about themselves.
I am going to write a list of people who have entered, and if people take it seriously, I will come up with cool prizes. I already sent out a few promotion letters to some companies. We will see.

Basically, who can transform their life the most in 60 days?

In the meantime, take a picture, and ask yourself one question:

"Isn't it time to Show Me!!"