The XTERRA Chubsmas Challenge: Week 1 Weigh in!

What a difference a week makes. Last week at this time, Chuck and I were just throwing back smart ass ideas to do a weight loss contest. Now here we are a week later, and we have a contest, stakes for winning/losing, a name for the contest and even an (un)official sponsor.

Chuck chose the name of the contest, dubbing it the "Chubsmas Challenge" which is wonderful in both it's humor, and the fact that it gives me something to call it. This is important because not having a formal name makes it hard to write about. Then, as noted before, the stakes: If Chuck loses he'll perform Lady Gaga's Bad Romance as a sing along with Rock Band in a fashion similar to this video from "On the Rocks" a participant in last nights episode of NBC's Sing Off.

Of course, Chuck's version won't be as good, but it will be entertaining, and that's the whole point. If I lose (which won't happen), I will have to dance along to the Ke$ha tune "Tik Tok". Like I said, I'm not gonna lose, but that does sound kinda fun anyways. I'm mostly shameless, if you don't already know that about me.

And then last night, one of the fine folks from XTERRA Wetsuits was kind enough to add a comment saying thanks for talking about the wetsuit I bought and wanted to offer Chuck and I each something for being part. So now, though they're just giving us backpacks and it has nothing to do with the outcome, I am hereby dubbing this event the XTERRA Chubsmas Challenge.

Further, I'm now inspired to get more sponsors. Do you work for a company that wants to sponsor this death food defying challenge? I've got a great idea, in that I'll simply add your name to the title of the contest either at the front of the back of the title. Ideally, by this time next week it'll be the Bentley XTERRA Nike Chubsmas Challenge sponsored by Diet Mt Dew, GulfStream and Playstation Move. Or something like that. Hopefully with more of a triathlon feel, but you get the idea.

So now, you've read this far and you're thinking "where the heck are the weigh in numbers?" Well, they're right here:

Ben: 321.6 - 319.6 = 2.0 pounds lost
Chuck: 255 - 254 = 1.0 pounds lost

Both contestants lament a week of missed opportunities and a couple of poor meal choices but still managed to lose some weight. We both have a lot of work to do if we're going to hit at least the 10 pound goal set forth in the Fatty Challenge. The good news is that week 1 is always the hardest, but we still managed to drop.

Next week will be much better both in terms of results and stuff to share as we also tie in some of our favorite motion based gaming and exer-gaming products into the contest.

Notes:

- The 18 folks from WWMS competing in the USAT's National Challenge Competition are off to a great start! With just a few members times in so far for the first week, we're already 5th in our division in overall miles and 6th in terms of swim miles. Nationally, we're 33rd, and we're not even 1/2 done getting in our first weeks results.

- I got home pretty late last night after the BU Women's hockey game, but I got on the rollers for a while anyways. I guess that shows how much I want to beat Chuck. I did 3 miles consecutively other than 1 balance check where I had to put my foot on the chair for about 10 seconds. It was a far better ride than I had done in about a week on the rollers.

- I've gotten a little wussy about the cold weather here, but I am going to go run tonight and every other 2nd night between now and 1/1.

- Untrue Chuck Fact: Chuck once walked an old lady the wrong way across an intersection in the freezing cold, just because he wanted to.

What a little motivation will do

I don't know why I didn't think of joining a weight loss contest sooner. Apparently, my competitive nature is way stronger than my regular willpower. We're 5 days into the contest, and I'm down 2.4 pounds already. Plus, I've been doing a much better job than in recent days of avoiding temptation.

A couple weeks ago, I directed Rach to a local restaurant (b. good) for a free pumpkin shake being given away at their truck in front of the store. Something went wrong, and there were no free shakes to be had. I complained to the PR person for the company via twitter, because Rach had passed up other free smoothie options to get this one. They delivered in the form of a free burger and fries coupon via mail.

b. good uses mostly locally grown meat and vegetables, and they bake their fries instead of frying them. Rachelle really just wanted her pumpkin shake, so I got the baked fries and the turkey burger covered in healthy stuff (and some cheese, cause it isn't a cheeseburger without cheese). Not only did the coupons make up for their free shake problems, but they make some darn good food, and pretty healthy food.

Our other trip out for the weekend was to use a BuyWithMe we'd purchased to PJ Ryan's. Irish pub's are usually a tough place to make a healthy choice, but Ryan's had a lot of healthier choices. I wound up with a pasta dish in a tomato sauce that was different but good, no cheese or heavy fats. All the rest of my meals the rest of the weekend were homemade and fully portion controlled.  

With just less than a month before the Lowell 10k, I've got 13 more runs running every other day from tonight through the 1st. This schedule lets me not run on Christmas, and keeps me on an every other day schedule. Plus it gives me a chance to add enough distance over almost 4 weeks to have better stamina in my first 10k since last year.

I tried to get in a full swim on Friday, but the lap pool was closed, so I only managed 400 yards in the rec pool before I got frustrated and gave up. BU needs to do a better job of not scheduling classes during open swim in the lap pool, and providing better updates for the availability of the lap pool. But for the price I'm paying, I can't complain too much.

Last night, Rach and I did 30 minutes on the stationary bikes, with a difficulty pyramid and sprinting. Not the longest workout ever, but a challenge. Especially because they had the heat on in the gym and I was directly below one of the vents. The only time I've been hotter on a bike is during my roller sessions.

Notes:

- If you're looking for discounts, along with ByWithMe, Groupon is another site we use a lot.  I got Rach $50 to American Apparel for a dress to take to Vegas for $25. Between those two sites, there's always something I wish I was buying.

- We had our last board meeting for WWMS last night, and it was the first one I attended as a member of the board. I'm going to be doing the quarterly newsletter, and working to help with marketing/sponsorship on top of running the National Challenge Competition for the club. It's going to be a fun way to give back.

- 19.2 pounds, 26 days. Progress being made, but it's gonna be tough.

Famous Fridays

My wife often says things that make me laugh so hard that I can't breathe. Just last night, as we were talking about seeing shows on our upcoming trip to Las Vegas she said "You should take me to see the Chipmunks!". It took me a minute to understand what I heard, and laughing hard I asked her "You sure you want to see the Chipmunks? Wouldnt you rather see the Chippendales?"

While that was unintentional, she often says hilarious things by choice such as "I think I'm Freddie Mercury's long lost love child" or "I would do drugs just to go to rehab. Look at that guy, he's living the life!". The one I want to share specifically today was "Not many people know you yet. But stick with me and I'll make you famous, Benny". I've taken to putting these quotes on my facebook profile so I don't forget them.

That last quote prompted Rach to start thinking about how people get famous and posting a humorous guide on how to do it on her blog. Since she's been busy with school and hasn't had a chance to do it on her blog, I decided I'd do a little bit on the topic here. Each Friday, I'll highlight some aspect of this and how it applies to my life and cycling/triathlon. Today's topic is focused primarily on Twitter, which seems to be the easiest way to interact with an honest to goodness famous person.

Since starting this blog I've become world famous. Well, ok, maybe not world famous in a Kentucky Fried Chicken way, but I've become a household name if just in my own house (finally!). I've had my name in a magazine, I've gotten way more readers than I deserve (and am grateful for every single one of them), and I've mingled with sports glitterati. Maybe mingled isn't the right word. More like had deep meaningful discussions on the meaning of life, and how we all fit into this crazy universe. One such example is this tweet from world renown triathlete Juan Pelota:

He only uses as many syllables as he has pelotas.

So now you're saying to yourself "I've heard of TechknowGN, but who the heck is Juan Pelota?" Well, when you spend your days fighting cancer and cycling for a living, sometimes it helps to have an alter ego (as if his first ego isnt big enough). Yep, @juanpelota is none other than Lance Armstrong. He started a second twitter account so he could tweet about his triathlon training and racing without flooding the million plus followers with the details of preparing for his first multisport season in many years. In his primary account he references Juan Pelota as a different person which makes it even funnier. When I recently asked "Juan" what it was like having Lance's Ranch named after him, he responded:

It takes some "ball" to post so humbly

Now if the depth of conversation with Lance doesn't impress you, perhaps my conversations with his chief lieutenant Levi Leipheimer might. In world full of danger and intrigue, you have to protect your pets. And while I made the point that pets can be implanted with microchips for identification, Levi counterpointed with the following:

A word to the wise. Don't let your pets leave home without it

In a world this dangerous, Levi's right; your pet should never leave home without at least 2 forms of ID. Now you may ask, where did Levi come up with such a profound piece of knowledge. Well I'm happy to say he got it where we men get all of our valuable information the back page of Playboy magazine his wife:

So much knowledge in just 140 characters

I actually knew the breakable collar part, but it's good to see that professional athletes worry about such things too. Now, I just need to find a breakable collar small enough for Rachelle's hamster, Lil' Wengels (aka Puffball).

Notes:

- Last night I did 5 miles on the rollers. It's the longest total distance I've done in a day. The more I use them the more I'm finding how tough the rollers really are. I had to break the distance up into 1-1.5 mile increments. I'm hoping to be able to gut through 5 consecutive miles soon.

- Tonight is another swim, as I want to really see how much I can contribute to the teams swim mileage this month.

- 21.4 pounds, 29 days. Too much salt yesterday. I need to take a recovery day this weekend while watching my intake and I should drop a couple/few pounds.

The Fatty Challenge gets personal

Meet Chuck:

Doesn't Chuck look thrilled? It's the kind of look a guy who doesn't enjoy taking gratuitous pictures makes when he's asked to take a picture in shorts and a T Shirt for his best friends blog. But it's his own fault, and if I have my way, it won't be the most embarrassed he'll be to appear on this blog.

You see yesterday, after reading about the Fatty Christmas Weight Loss Challenge, Chuck issued a challenge of his own. I quote:

Want to make it interesting?  Want to see who can lose the most weight by 1/1?  I need to drop about that amount just to start feeling better and I figure if we make it a competition it will make it that much more...enjoyable (we're both competitive).  It might be enough to get you out of your funk and to get my fat ass off the sofa. 

A few things about this:

1. Chuck's an incredibly mild mannered, polite guy who is easily the first person I would call if Rach and I were trapped somewhere and needed someone reliable to help us. When I asked him to be the Best Man at my wedding, I told him "For you it isn't a job, it's simply a description". But when he says he's competitive, he isn't kidding. He owns several unofficial penalty minute records in the Columbus Adult Hockey League, and when he's getting beaten at video games (a rare feat for me to accomplish, unless it's an NHL title), he could easily be replaced by a 10 year old kid and you wouldn't know the difference.
2. His "fat ass" is not nearly so fat as my ass.
3. I simply cannot resist a challenge like this.

With Christmas fast approaching and each of us saving for out of state trips in early 2011, a large financial bet doesn't make sense for either one of us. Besides, I don't want his money; I want to see him make a fool of himself. Being mild mannered and all, Chuck isn't known to make nearly the fool of himself as I am (often at the drop of a hat). But at the occasional get together at his house, Chuck has been known to put together an epic sing-along performance of say Blondie's "Call Me". Our mutual friend John was kind enough to send me the link to the above mentioned performance in order to give everyone a taste:

As you can see, This is YouTube gold, and the ideal prize for when/if he loses this challenge. I've chosen Lady Gaga as the artist and Rachelle will pick the song this week. I'm thinking it's going to be Bad Romance or perhaps Poker Face, but there are a couple other choices. If only Disco Stick was available as a DLC for Rock Band 2, that would be truly awesome.

So now you're wondering what happens to me if I lose? First, you shouldn't worry about that because it ain't gonna happen. But if as in a scene from one of the Saw movies, Chuck opts to cut off a body part in order to win, I will be forced to record myself dancing along to Ke$ha's "Tic Toc" from the game Just Dance 2.

I too was supposed to take my own Tshirt & shorts photo (cue the singing of "T-Shirt Time" by those whack jobs on Jersey Shore), but it just so happens that I got an even better photo op last night. One of my Christmas presents for this year arrived yesterday; a new XTERRA wetsuit for our 2011 racing season! It's going to be wrapped up and put under the tree, but I wanted to try it on and see how close I was to being able to wear it.

When did Sea Lions learn to take pictures of themselves?

Now I don't expect the suit to fit properly by 1/1. I need to lose more than 20 pounds to even get it to zip up, I'm sure. But the fact that the Neoprene stretches as much as it does means that I'll definitely be able to lose what it takes to use this suit for the season opener. 

For our official first weigh-ins, I was a stout 321.6, and Chuck was a sprightly 255. We've already both started off with good first steps; Rach and I did a mile in the pool last night, and Chuck walked his dogs a combined 3+ miles this morning. We're going to try to incorporate using our Wii Fitness boards as the official scale of our contest for easy sharing of official weigh in pictures, but I'm waiting for mine to come in before we can do that.

It's going to be a fun month.

Notes:

- 54:43 seconds to do 1700 yards in the pool last night. I did it as a series of 200 yd reps, with 30 second to 1 minute breaks between. My first long swim in a while and I wasn't really sore after.

- After 1 day, Wheelworks Multisport is leading the Div III clubs in the NCC. I've put it Rach and I's swim totals from yesterday, and that's it so far. Will be interesting to see where we are next Wednesday.

- We ALMOST got up to swim this morning. Need to start heading to bed sooner. I'm not sure whats on the schedule for tonight, but whatever it is, I'm looking forward to it.

Fatty throws down the gauntlet

Two days ago, as I was sitting on my couch wallowing in my displeasure at not having done much over the Thanksgiving break, when I saw a post from the Fat Cyclist. He wanted to reverse his annual trend of gaining weight between Thanksgiving and Christmas, so he's giving away a bunch of stuff for people who want to participate in the process with him. He's just trying to lose 10 pounds before 12/25. A pretty manageable task, really, if you watch what you eat, exercise, and avoid the temptation of comfort food when your body tends to crave it most.

Lately, I've been pretty well motivated (barring Thanksgiving weekend, of course), but seeing as Weight Watchers hasn't jump started my progress, and I've been sort of mired on a plateau for a while, I figure this couldn't hurt. Twice before as part of weight loss contests I've shed weight. Both times I shed enough to win or come very close, and the second time I kept it off as part of my overall weight loss to date. Having a contest I can't lose, but can't win is a little different, but it still gives em something realistic to shoot for. My personal goal is still 299 by 1/1, but any progress at this point would be a positive step.

It must be tough if it has Challenge AND Competition in the name.

It also just so happens that today begins the National Challenge Competition. I've mentioned previously that USA Triathlon has an annual competition for it's clubs (and individual athletes not associated with a club) in order to help us all focus on our off-season training. Clubs are pitted against each other for a series of prizes over 3 months time. Each month will have a focus discipline (swim, bike, run; in the same order as a triathlon), with which special goals and extra incentives are associated. We've got 14 or 15 members of Team Wheelworks participating, including Rach and I. As the teams manager for the contest, I've gotta make sure my results are enough to be a real contributor to our cause.

I got a good start last night, even though we can't count it. 35 minutes on the stationary bike at FitRec with Rach followed by another half hour spent lifting. I didn't do as much weight this time, but more reps, and my arms aren't killing me today so I must have done a better job. I tried a couple of new things, and while there are still a few machines that I don't really understand, I've found enough I know how to use that I can get by for now. I wish the gym had some of the Concept2 ERGs we used in training class. I might wind up needing to join Community Rowing to get in some rowing time.

Notes:

- 21.6 pounds, 31 days.

- This month is supposed to be swim intensive from a NCC standpoint, but I also need it to be run intensive from a Lowell 1st Run standpoint.