slow.

Progress is slow since I started my new job. 

I've lost 2 pounds since my last post, for a total of 62. I've lost those two pounds over the course of probably 30 or so days, which is not great, but is still about an ounce a day.

I've shifted into more of a maintenance cycle for my calorie intake. Instead of 1,500, I've been eating probably 1,800. Which explains the drop off in weight loss.

Still, I'm proud that I haven't had to be so stringent in my application of diet, and have instead allowed myself to eat more things that I would have normally eaten. I just haven't gone off the deep end with eating them.

My 3rd goal (which I never thought I'd get to, remember) is still another 8 pounds away. I think I'm going to say that I hope to achieve that by the end of the year, which is a good goal to have, I think. 44 days, 8 pounds, or a pound every 5 1/2 days. I think I can do that. I'll have to go back to being stringent, but that shouldn't be a problem.

It's been tough to get runs in because of the time change. Most days when I get home from work, it's dark so I don't want to run in the dark. I've been relegated to running on Saturday and Sunday exclusively, cause I don't think I'll be able to run in the mornings.

Goal number two

So, I made it to my second goal, which means I've lost 60 pounds so far (in 331 days). 

That means I lost a pound every 5.51 days over the last year or so.

Recently, it took me 54 days to lose 10 pounds, meaning I lost a pound every 5.40 days, which is actually extremely good progress, seeing as how I don't walk to work anymore.

So I'm proud of myself. I'm 10 pounds away from my final goal. 

My BMI is a normal-range 24.3, which is still on the heavier side, but not techinically overweight.

Wow, that feels good to say. Not overweight.

Anyway, 22 days to the election. FiveThirtyEight has Obama way up and not looking back. We'll see how things go.

Interesting story: I'm dog-sitting for my mom while she's on vacation (again), and I received a phone call yesterday.

Phone: Hello, may I speak to Kevin or Andrew, please?

Me: This is Kevin.

Phone: Hi, my name is (redacted) and I'm with the McCain-Palin campaign. Can I ask you a few questions?

Me: Um, sure.

Phone: Okay, first, in the race for president, do you support John McCain and Sarah Palin?

Me: Hell no.

Phone: (pause) Ooookay. (another long pause) Thinking about your reasons for voting in the election what would you say is your number one issue? The economy, terrorism, national defense or taxes?

Me: HA HA HA. The economy.

Phone: And does Andrew feel the same way?

Me: I'm pretty sure he does, lady.

Phone: Okay. Thanks for your time. (hangs up)

Thank you for that, God.

Wedding post-mortem

Wedding stuff is over. I made it through, but left my flask in my tuxedo pocket. DRAG.

Election in 26 days. I've set a goal for myself to be 5 pounds lighter than I am now at that time. So, 157.

Losing weight still. Even after all the festivities of the last 5 days, I still managed to lose 1 1/2 pounds over 14 days. Which I should be happy about, but right now I'm going to stay very faithful to diet and exercise to reach my next goal.

2nd long-term goal, to lose 60 pounds overall, should be achieved by Oct. 18. 

BTW, on that day, Oct. 18, I will have been dieting for 11 months. 60 pounds, 11 months = 5.45 pounds per month or about .18 pounds a day or 2.88 ounces per day. That's a deficit of 630 calories a day below maintenance level of caloric intake.

Back to the grind

I'm back. I was gone for about a week, out of town on business. I pretty much ate whatever I wanted during that time...and still managed to lose about a pound.

So I'm pretty happy about that.

I'm tired. Still haven't recovered from being on east coast time.

Wedding is in 5 days. Rehearsal dinner Thurs., Bachelor Party Friday, Wedding Sat.

A full weekend of activites await.

All good things

All good things in the last couple of weeks. I like my new job. It's going really well. I've kept up running about 2 miles a day. Some days I don't run if I don't get home in time, but most days I run 2, or 3 if the mood strikes me.

I expected my weight loss to slow to 1 pound a week, but so far since I've started my new job 21 days ago, I've lost 4 pounds, or around 1 1/3 pounds a week still. I'm at the skinniest I've ever been, as long as I can remember.

I feel healthy. I'm pretty sure I've stopped snoring and I have more energy throughout the day. I also fall right asleep when I go to bed. All in all, all good things.

My best friend is getting married in 15 days, and I'm pretty excited for her. It'll just be good to see her and her husband again after them being gone for such a long time.

Well, that's about it for now. Got a girl you want to set me up with?

New

So I've started my new job. Been there for a week and a half. No walking to work, but I've been running every day, averaging 2 miles a day. I guess that's good.

I've expected my weight loss to slow, so instead of 1 1/2 pounds a week, 1 pound is probably more like it. Guess I'll have to change a little of the counter on the right around.

It's been nice to be partisan again. I'm working for unions, so there's nothing moderate about that. I can be a liberal again, yay!

Rad.

Anyway, I'll keep updating. I'm probably going to change the name of teh blogz. Good stuff?

Golazo, and life changes

So I made it to my first goal yesterday. In total, I've lost 51 pounds since I broke up with the ex.

Today is my second to last day at my job, and I cleaned up my desk. Sad.

I'll only be walking 6 more miles to and from work. After that, it's back into the car for me. Guess I'm going to have to join a gym.

I'm so ready to go. This place depresses me.

Lasts

As I walked to work today, on pretty much the same route I've taken for months and months, I realized that it was the last time I'd have to wake up on a Monday to walk to my job.

The walk was disappointing. Nothing interesting happened, but it was the first day of school for the kids at Dora Moore, on 8th and Corona. I could hear them from a block away, playing, enjoying each others company like 3 months had not passed since they last spend any real time together.

I did get passed by a group of four ladies walking. They were in their late 40s, early 50s, and walking like Banshees must walk when they want to relax. One lady was talking about her most recent bad date with a man who was good-looking, but a "a total dick." She expressed a desire to find "a nice guy."

"Why can't anyone be both?" Her friend asked her.

It was this sort of thing that led me to look at myself in the window at the tattoo shop on 14th and Ogden.

Am I both?, I asked myself.

Closer

Inching my way up to goal, 2 pounds away.

My goal was to initially do it by the time the Democrats invaded Denver. There are nine days until that happens, so it looks like I'm going to make it.

Nothing of note to report walking to and from work. As the summer drags, though, it seems like people on Cap Hill are getting more and more restless, acting a little bit crazier.

I got a new job and I start Aug. 25. That means I won't be walking to work anymore, so the name of this blog is going to have to change. It's okay; it's been more focused on my weight loss lately anyway.

Two pounds to goal, 12 pounds to second goal, 22 pounds to final goal.

Almost goal.

I don't have much to say. I saw a cute girl the other day on my walk to work. I think she smiled at me, but she might have just been happy. She was good looking, after all.

I'm six pounds away from my first goal. I'm 16 pounds away from my second goal and 26 pounds away from my third goal, which may or may not ever happen.

I've lost 44 pounds since November 2007. That's 4.88 pounds a month. My weight loss has actually accelerated in the last 2 months, when I've lost 14 pounds. I attribute that to an increase in metabolism from running and just exercising more in general.

I've lost 44 pounds, but I've gotten a lot stronger, too, so I'm thinking I've probably lost 50 pounds of fat and gained 6 pounds of muscle.

Wow, it's tough to believe that I actually had 50 pounds of fat to lose, but I guess I did. Gross. And I probably still have another 25 on me.

I've gone from a size 38 to a 34 in pants. Size large shirts are WAY too big for me now.

All of these things help me to quantify exactly how much work I've put into this.

Six pounds! I can do it! That's only a 21,000-calorie deficit. My deficit is already 154,000 calories.

Funny things I've seen over the last 2 weeks

Lady standing on Downing in between 13th and 14th, smoking a cigarette with an oxygen mask on.

Guy sitting in wheelchair on corner of Colfax and grant who looked at me, was going to ask me for money, but gave me the peace sign instead. I gave him the peace sign back.

Same car almost hit me - twice. Once on one block, another time on another block, half a mile away.

The applesauce, spilled nearly 2 months ago in front of a house on the 1000 block of Downing, slowly degrading into a black paste that everyone refuses to step on.

People are funny

I've said it once, and I'll say it again. A lot of the stuff I see walking to work isn't scary, it's just funny.

I think one of my favorite things that happens when I'm walking is when someone is walking in the same direction as me. I somehow catch up with them, because I'm walking fast (losing weight, all that good stuff).

But I can never bring myself to pass these people up.

Some people are pushing a stroller. Some people are just walking like I am.

BUT FAR TOO MANY PEOPLE ARE OUT FOR A LEISURELY STROLL.

They walk slow. They take up the whole sidewalk. And then, when I finally do try to pass them, the decide that it's the worst thing in the world. Then we have to awkwardly walk in a single-file line, for a block or two.

Or six.

That's what happened to me this morning. I had to pass this guy near 12th and Downing. He was just walking too slow.

So I passed him and he decided that it was emasculating him. So he tried to keep up with me.

Buddy, not a good idea. I may be a little chubby, but my legs are muscle. I could kick my foot through a cement wall.

So, to the guy with the tiger tattoo and the rainbow bandanna -- better luck next time.

more, more more

I haven't had time to update. A lot of stuff has happened.

Two of my best friends moved away within a week of each other, so I've been a little depressed, but I'm not too sad anymore. One is getting married, and the other started working for the AP in Atlanta, so I'm pretty proud of both of them.

I've still been walking to work everyday. I've lost 7 more pounds in the last month. I'm 16 pounds away from my goal now, but I may be moving that bench mark back another 5 or 10 pounds, depending on how quickly I get there.

I've been trying to smile more at girls, but no takers yet. I'll eventually find that special someone.

Again, sorry. I hope that I'll have more time to keep on posting. I really haven't seen anything too strange on cap hill, so if and when I do, I'll send it your way.

Kelly Clarkson doesn't even scare them off

It's been an uneventful two weeks on the way to work, besides the occasional chunks of what looked like pink lemonade vomit between Colfax and 14th on Broadway.



I wear my headphones on the way to and from work everyday. Yes, I look like a nerd. And for some strange reason, everyone who walks by me can hear exactly what I'm listening to.



Which means no more guilty-pleasure Kelly Clarkson. I mourn the loss.



Everyday, I walk by the Network Ministries building on Pearl and 14th. It's notable because it's where most of the transients I see on a daily basis hang out. They smoke cigarettes on the steps and talk mad garbage to most people who walk by. Good for them. I keep my head down. I've had my fair share of them follow me for a block or two, begging for a cigarette.


The photo above must have been taken while everyone was still asleep. Or drunk. I've never walked by and seen no one on those steps.

The search for interesting things on my walks continues.

Street currency

I walked home from work at about 3 p.m. Wednesday. I was feeling sick and had some time go make up from working earlier in the week.

I was getting ready to cross the street at the intersection of Broadway and Colfax. A guy crossed right in front of me. He had his coat draped over his shoulder.

And he was flipping through a Penthouse Magazine.

In broad daylight.

I couldn't figure out why. He looked like he was enjoying it.

Maybe it's a sort of street currency. Yeah, that's it.

Anyway, he passed me up. I stayed back. Way back.

Put your money where your mouth is.

Everyday, I walk by the gas station on the corner of 8th and Downing. I always kind of fantasize what it looks like in there.

So this morning, I decided I was going to put my money where my mouth was. Literally.

See, I’ve been sick the last few days. I caught a cold on Sunday and have been struggling with it. It’s tough to do any sort of exercise when you can’t breathe out of your nose.

So I’ve been breathing out of my mouth, like some sort of…mouth-breather.

Anyway, my lips are super chapped now. (Side note: I went to lunch with an old friend today. She was staring at my lips. “I’ve been sick,” I told her. I don’t think she was convinced.)

So I decided to stop in the aforementioned gas station to get some chap stick.

Only there was no chap stick.

There wasn’t much of anything. There were about 40 varieties of chips. About half that many varieties of cigarettes.

And that was it.

So my lips are still chapped. But at least I know what the inside of that gas station looks like now.

"Be careful when you walk to work"

Hi. I'm Kevin. And I walk to work everyday.

No, it's not far, but I do walk through Cap Hill. Which makes things interesting.

As a starting point, I walk about 1.8 miles to and from work. That's 3.6 miles. I figure I take a detour 3 or 4 times a week. That's another .4 of a mile a day. So I like to round it up to 4.

I walk for a few reasons. I'm on a constant diet because I have self-image issues. I was an environmental studies major in college, so I hug trees. But mostly, I hate paying the Denver parking barons. Really, I'm not going to pay on the low end $5 a day and on the high end $15. That's just too rich for my blood. So they can keep their spaces. I don't need them.

I do have a car, which I use to do my job mostly.

I don't have a girlfriend (again, self-image).

And oh yeah: I smoke. Which makes things fun.

Here's what my walk everyday looks like.

I'm hoping to post a few times a week. When something interesting happens, you'll hear about it. If it doesn't, you won't. Thanks for reading.