Monday, June 28, 2010

Losing It - 4 Week Update



















4 weeks into my challenge I find myself about 5 lbs down. When I stepped on the scale this past Saturday it read 260. 4, so I'll take it and round it down to 260.

The challenge started off with a bang, but my efforts have slowed of late due to a vacation and the hottest June I can remember pretty much ever. So, I've been pleased with my 5lbs of weight loss,  but know that my inactivity can't help my next few weigh ins. The hot weather does keep me sweting, but still, gotta get back on the horse, even if that means going out to exercise at dusk.

Thanks for caring and keeping me motivated!

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

What The...?














Occasionally in life, you stumble across something that makes you pause and reflect. Other times, you find things that make you say..."what the...?" Last night was a "what the....?"

A routine stop for gas turned into much more when I pulled up to the pump and noticed a well-placed animal head and antlers on the trash can near the gas pump. You know how sometimes you see something and you wonder how it got to wherever it was? Some people do this with big things like Stone Hinge, or the rock formations in southern Utah where one rock is teetering on the brink. Not me, I wonder what the thought process was on leaving this; presumably deer head on the rim of the trash can at a local petroleum depot in Culpeper.














Now, I’ll be the first to admit, I like to clean out the car every now and then while I’m filing up. But that usually ends up being an empty slurpee cup or a receipt or, you know general trash. Can’t say that I’ve ever been cleaning out the car during a stop for gas and thought “oh yeah, I need to get rid of that deer head in the trunk.” Or maybe, the person found it underneath his or her seat…I just don’t know what the thought process is there. But I’d love to find out, or maybe be a fly on the wall…or in this case, on the pump!

Thursday, June 17, 2010

On Utah to the Pac 12

At the end of the movie “The Patriot,” General Cornwallis (played by Tom Wilkinson) says “Everything will change, everything has changed.” A little dramatic? Perhaps, but when Utah formally accepts an invitation to join the Pac 12 conference later today, everything will indeed change for the boys up on the hill in Salt Lake City.

If you just look at the dollar amounts Utah is looking at from TV revenue as a member of the Pac 12, you’ll realize how much things will change. Utah will go from around $1.3 million as a member of the Mountain West to $8-10 million in the Pac 12. The stadium is likely to be expanded and many of the facilities will be upgraded. Sure, anyone can throw dollar amounts out there, but the truth is, the financial impact on the school will hit so many areas, that it may even be hard to measure at this point.

As this story has developed over the last several weeks, I’m reminded of the movie Invincible, where Vince Papali’s friend is encouraging him to go try out for the Philadelphia Eagles. He says, “even if you’re down there, for one hour, you’re down there.” So too is the case for Utah and the Pac 12. It doesn’t so much matter where they fall in the PAC 12 pecking order immediately, the fact is that there is a table called the BCS, that table has a pile of cash on it, and regardless of year-in and year-out performance, Utah now has a seat. That is HUGE!
 
It’s no secret that Utah doesn’t exactly have a rich tradition, but over the last decade, you’ll find few non-BCS teams that have been better. The truth is, Utah got hot at the right time and recorded big wins during a pivotal shift in the college football landscape. They hit one out of the park with the hiring of Urban Meyer and he then turned the Utes into immediate contenders going 10-2 his first season and leading them to an undefeated season and a BCS bowl win the next year before bolting to Florida. From there, Kyle Whittingham was charged to keep Utah’s trajectory upward. While he struggled a little at first, he improved on his previous seasons win total each of his first few years culminating in a 13-0 unbeaten season and Sugar Bowl win over Nick Saban and Alabama. During that game Moose Johnston, one of the commentators said things like “Wow, wow, wow…” as Utah jumped out to a 21-0 lead and never looked back. Wins such as the Sugar Bowl win and even the dominant performance over Cal in the Poinsettia bowl last year have kept the Utah in the national conversation and have made them an relevant and attractive addition to the Pac 10.
It’s hard to say how competitive Utah will be moving forward. Even though they now have a seat at the table and access to more money then ever before, I suspect they will continue to improve and be a legit contender in the PAC 12. It appears as though they will be placed in the “South” division with the likes of USC, UCLA, Arizona, Arizona St. and the other newcomer Colorado. That’s not the easiest road to be sure, but it will also give Utah recruiting inroads in those places that they have otherwise not had before. In the short term though, Utah is poised to begin PAC 12 play in 2011 (rumored) and will have a JR. QB in Jordan Wynn with about 16-18 starts under his belt. They have a lot of young talent in the program already, and hopefully this move will allow them an additional influx of talent as they move forward into the Pac 12.

This is a happy day for Utah fans and alumni. It ranks right up there with the two BCS bowls and the final four appearance in 1998. The sky is the limit for the University of Utah and I cannot wait to see it all unfold!

GO UTES!

Friday, June 4, 2010

Beach Time












I'll be heading out for a much needed beach vacation to the Outerbanks. I am confident upon my return that I will have a myraid of stories and tales of woe from my trip to share with you.


















In the meantime, please enjoy some of my favorite posts from the blog thus far:

Also, when I return I will be officially launching a new fantasy football blog. I'm very excited about this project and hope that it'll catch on, so look for that. It is already linked on the side there, but I don't have much content as of yet.

Cheers!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

I'm Losing It!














Several years ago, right before I met my wife, I participated in a fitness challenge. At the time I was single, didn’t have a lot going on, and could really focus on the challenge. In 10 weeks I dropped somewhere between 35 and 40 pounds. Since then life has gotten a little wider for me and I have easily put back on the weight I lost and then some (like 60 pounds).

12 weeks before my 30th birthday last fall, I thought a fun little gimmick would be to try to lose 30 pounds by the time I turned 30. It didn’t work. In fact, I might have even gained a little. I don’t consider myself “fat”, but I am not where I want to be. I owe it to myself, to my wife, and especially to my kids to be as healthy as I can be and to be around as long as I can be.

As such, I have decided to take my goals to the inter-webs and post them here on my blog and on other forums and social media outlets that I currently use. I’m calling my challenge the “Losing It” challenge. This is not a crash diet and I have set no specific time table for when I want to hit a certain goal, I just know that things need to change, even if it is slow and steady.

So here’s what I’m going to do. I have started a workout routine that I will add to weekly. I am going to do my best to cut out sweets but for the weekends and special occasions. And, I am going to post my progress here once a month. For weekly updates, I will post a “Losing it” box on the right hand side of this blog and put my weekly weigh in results there.

One of the big challenges I will face in this is that eating healthier often requires the consumption of fruit. Which, outside Watermelon, I don’t eat, so if anyone out there has any healthy tips for me for good foods to eat, or good vitamins or nutrients, please let me know.

If you have been looking for motivation to improve your fitness or eating habits, you are welcome to follow my progress and post your own in my comments section. Or, if you want to just help motivate me, become a follower on this blog and keep tabs on my progress!

Wish me luck!