Ben H.

Send Message

Block

Add Friend

Wow.  Havent updated in 6 months.  Wow.  

I am down 150 pounds so far.  I have been holding steady at about 270.  I wam wearing size 38/40 for shorts/pants and 2xl-3xl if I can't find it in a tall.  I feel great, have a ton of energy, and am loving life.  I still have the problem of ordering clothes online that are too big.  Guess its the mindset that I have to keep working on.  I know I can fit 2xl, but I buy 3xl just to make sure.  wierd how that works.  My wife needs to stop asking what size I want and just order stuff for me!

Summer has been amazing.  We goto the pool almost daily, my 2 year old is jumping in the pool and swimming already.  He actually kicks and goes under water, but only for a few seconds at a time. That has been a new thing for him and we are thrilled by it.  

I am not doing much BBQ'ing.   Its too hot, and there is that burn ban.  I did compete in a contest in April and got 11th out of 50 teams.  My best showing yet.  

Now we are getting ready for TAIDS and the opening of Dove Season.  TAIDS is a huge part of my life, and our group raises the most money to donate to ALS research out of any org in Texas I believe.  at the walks and meetings I used to goto with it, we were donating close to 20k each year.  Its a great feeling and this year will be another record breaking year I think.  

I need to start working out again.  I really love running, and now I am starting to swim.  I enjoyed going to the gym, but I despised all the time it took away from my family.  Wife would leave before 5am just to get the gym.  We both worked til 5, get the boy, do dinner, play with the boy, put him to bed, I goto the gym at 8pm.  Wife goes to bed at 830, and I get home at 10pm or later.  Started hating spending time away from family.  So I am going to have to find a way to get that back in my life again.  

Hope everyone is doing great.  I will try to update again soon, and update pics. I update Facebook all the time, but never here heh.   

This week so far has been tough.  I worked out on Monday for almost 2 hours and had to quit before I was done.  My gout was flaring and I think I might have pulled something when I was doing my lunges.  Which was almost at the end of my workout.  I am glad I drove to workout cause I would not have been able to walk home.  

Wednesday I had one of the wierdest job interviews of my life.  Went to Olive Garden and the person doing the interview came with my resume.  I thought this was going to be a situation where they are looking to fill a few of us in with more details.  Over an hour and a half he tells me about the position, and then has me design how I would lay out their data center to have the most optimal config.  This position sounds incredible, managing multiple SAN's, Network equipment, and a large amounts of Servers all running VM's.  There would be some travel, Chicago, and maybe to India for the other data centers.  That night I was still kind of hurting so I stayed home with the family.  Which was good cause I havent spent any time with my wife all week.  

Tonight I went and worked out.  Left late, warmed up on the tmill did a mile in 12 minutes.  New personal best.  Did a lot of my weights in a circuit to get it done faster.  Almost didnt finish my 2nd arm workout as they were feeling like jelly!  And I hate Knee Up's.  Really despise them to be honest :D  

So I had my BBQ Contest this past weekend.  I had a blast while doing this, and cooked the best ribs of my life!  I didnt make any of the finals tables on anything!  I have a boat load of brisket, ribs, and chicken left.  Lots of protien left in other words :D 

I uploaded a pic today that combines a pic from last years comp and this years comp.  I really love what I see.   I was hating that pic from last year.  I couldnt stand how I looked when I saw it.  After combining it with the pic from this year, I am loving the progress I am making.  

I worked out a few times last week and that was awesome! Can't wait for tonight to workout again.  Walking to my kids daycare to drop him off and pick him up all week cause the weather is amazing here in Austin!  

Can't think of anything else to update right now.  BUt I am sure I will later.  

Been a little while since my last post.  Oops.  I am trying to keep this updated as I see it as something that will help with my success.  More accountability.

Guess I will start with news.   I was at costco Saturday with some friends buying some briskets to cook for them.  I grabbed a pair of size 42 Jeans as well.  got home and was shocked to see that they fit!  They were not washed yet, but they fit!! I was pleasently shocked :D  I am also over my sickness I hope.  I was able to work out last week and today with no issues.  I even jogged on the way home!  That was a first for me! :D   This weekend have a BBQ Competition, the first of the season.  I can't wait.  Even tho I can barely eat at the contests, I live for cooking them.  I really love cooking in the BBQ comps.  

I also had kind of an epiphany.  I was depressed and never knew it.  Or if I knew it I shoved it away as  best I could.  I currently have a job that allows me to work from home.  I jumped at the chance to get the opportunity to work from home and was happy that I did.  Starting out I think I took the job so that I could be more productive and be a better family man.  Now, I think I took it so that I could hide from everyone.  I wouldn't have to show my fat ass at work, worry about if my chair is going to break.  Worry if the handi-crapper was taken and I would be in the small crapper, or if I was going to be able to talk to people as soon as I got up the stairs.  I got really complacent with my job as well.  I never wanted to find another position because subconsioncsly (SP??) I didnt want to have to goto work.  So I made excuses as to why I didnt apply for positions and such.  NOW I am actively looking for work, and have had 3 positions POP up into my plate.  

I used to say that I was getting the surgery so that I could be healthy for my son, and to be with my Wife and him for a long time.  Now I believe I am doing this for me.  I am getting more respect for myself, getting more confidence in myself, and basically loving myself.  Now being htere for my family is not the primary reason, but a benefit.    

I hope all my friends are doing great with their journey this week, and had a wonderful Valentines day!  

I weighed this morning and I am finally down 100 pounds :D  I thought I was going to gain as I was only able to work out once last week and I was sick all the week.  Very happy with the outcome.  
Cant wait to get into the gym tonight tho! 
 

I have only been able to work out once this week.  I have been feeling like crap all week, and probably shouldn't have worked out on Monday, but I didnt think I was that bad.  I am still eating good, and not "cheating" like I might normally have done pre-surgery, but I actually miss working out right now.  

Crazy.

One thing I don't miss are Knee-Ups.  I hate Knee-Ups.  

Cant wait for the weekend.  Stay inside, sleep in a bit maybe, goto a bday party, and have fun! 

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week!  

This weekend also marked my 3 month anniversary and we forgot to take pics!  We have been taking them on the 28th of every month.  I was going to post my progress pics, and then saw that they are all of me in my underwear!   Dont know if that would offend anyone, so I decided not to.  :D   I will take some tomorrow both in underwear for me, and then I will start taking some in shorts to post to the public.  

Another note,  I can wear almost all of the dress shorts that I have owned for years now.   There are 2 pairs that are still a bit small.  And I have some very, very nice shorts.  Being in Austin, I wear shorts all the time, so this will be great for the budget!  :D 

Down to a size 44/46! :D  

And I am tired!

So my son's 2nd birthday party was yesterday,  The next paragraph can be skipped if you dont want a timeline of events :D 

I started cooking for the party on Friday night at about 7pm.  Put 2 briskets on the smoker.  At 4AM I wrapped them in foil and put them in the oven to finish cooking and went to bed.  At 7 I woke up, started the fire again, made some oatmeal and coffee, and put 4 racks of ribs on.  Ate breakfast, cleaned the kitchen, played with my son and started straightening everything up and getting setup for the party.  9am pull briskets and put in cooler to stay warm.  10am I put 8 chickens on the smoker.  11 am, wrap the ribs and put back on smoker.  12 noon, goto the store and get more ice, have a protien bar for lunch.  Too much to do!   1pm unwrap the ribs and let them finish on the smoker.  They are looking great.  2pm.  WHOA, 50 people show up at once!  Normally people come in waves to the parties we throw, but this year they just all seemed to show up at once!  I spend the next 5 hours trying to mingle, make sure people have what they need, watching and feeding my boy, trying to catch up with family and friends, and maybe get some food!  Out of all that meat I cooked, I got 2 slices of brisket, and 1 rib!! And there was nothing left.

 I was asleep by 9 that night and slept hard for 12 hours!   My wife said that some time during the night my mask came loose and was making that loud noise that we all love so dearly.  She was awake for 3 hours before finally moving to the couch.  Sometime in that morning my son came up to me and was hitting me while I was sleeping.  I put my arm out and started patting him on the back trying to let him know I knew he was there.  I have no recollection of doing this at all.  WIfey told me that I did that :D 

My cousins gave our son a Chocolate Lab Puppy for his birthday :D  Jake Jr.  They bred their 2 labs, and he looks most like his papa and they wanted to keep him in the family :D We are honored that they would give the pick of the litter to my son.  Will be fun watching them both grow up together! :D   Today we spent going to multiple different stores, and finally to Walmart.  God that was a disaster.  Sunday night 8:30PM Walmart trying to check out, and there are 4 lines checking people out.  We get in line, 2 people get behind us, and the mgr closes our checkout line.  They did this to another line as well so there were only 2 open lines for more than 10 items.  Needless to say they were slammed!! I went and complained, and another person did as well.  Totally unacceptable!!   And that is why I only goto WalMart 1 time a year, if that.   We did get a new dog crate tho for Jake.  So I guess there was some good that came from this.  

 I dont think I will be able to workout this weekend, and that has me bummed.  My son's birthday is tomorrow, and I have to clean and cook for the party.  So that means 12+ hours on the BBQ pit smoking meat, and then the party.  I am cooking 2 briskets, 4 racks of ribs, and 8 chickens.  This is going to be fun!   

I am hoping that I can get a few hours free tomorrow so I can workout.  And if my friends ever find this page they will be amazing to see me typing those words.  :D   

Hope everyone has a great weekend! 

Starting to feel bad/stressed about personal life finally.  I am having a hard time finding a balance with my family time and workout time.  Did anyone else have that problem?    I would like to work out in the mornings but I have to watch my son.  I work 8-5 and then we go and get my son.  After that we get home and I play with him for a bit, and then cook dinner.  After dinner is over 6:15 to 6:30 we play some more and throw a bath in there.  On workout days I leave at 7:30 at night and get back around 9pm.  My wife goes to bed at 9pm as she wakes up at 4 to goto the gym and then work herself.  On Tuesdays she has meetings that she goes to so I cant go out  until she gets home at 8 or so.  On thursdays I go out at 730 to do cardio around the neighborhood, and Fridays I have meetings that I do.  

I dont want to sound like a whiny little bitch, but its starting to suck that my body is changing like this and I barely get to see my wife to share the experience with her.  Want to spend more time with her than just weekends.  

Maybe I should just man up and after a little while things will get better.  I hope it does at least.