This is a first! I am posting two catch up blog posts in the same day. This blog update is for January 25th. My weight for that weigh in was 355.2 pounds. That was a loss of nearly a half pound (0.4) since the previous weigh in. My total weight loss through this date was 1.2 pounds.
Once again, not going to spend too much time writing about this blog post since I am still trying to catch up. I have been weighing in on time. I have just not always made the time to update the blog. Check back soon for more!
Monday, January 25, 2016
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
Delay of Game 3
If you have been following my blog then you probably already know that I am posting these older updates in order to try to bring the blog up to date. I weighed in on January 20th. My weight for that weigh in was 355.6 pounds. That was a gain of 1.8 pounds since the previous weigh in. My total weight loss through January 20th was only 0.8 of a pound.
I have not really been writing too much in these catch up blog posts but I will say that I did turn things around since the 20th. I will try to get another blog post up soon. Thanks for checking in and stay tuned for more!
I have not really been writing too much in these catch up blog posts but I will say that I did turn things around since the 20th. I will try to get another blog post up soon. Thanks for checking in and stay tuned for more!
Friday, January 15, 2016
Delay of Game 2
I am still really late in posting these weight loss updates. I did weigh in on January 15th. My weight for that weigh in was 353.8 pounds. That was a loss of one pound since the previous weigh in. Total weight loss through January 15th was 2.6 pounds.
I don't really have much to say since I am so late in posting this update. I will elaborate more on how I am doing in a future blog update. Until then, take care!
I don't really have much to say since I am so late in posting this update. I will elaborate more on how I am doing in a future blog update. Until then, take care!
Sunday, January 10, 2016
Delay of Game
The last two blog posts have been titled around a football theme but they are also relevant to the blog. This time, I am really late in posting this update. I weighed in on January 10th as I had mentioned that I would. My weight for that weigh in was 354.8 pounds. That was a loss of two pounds since the previous weigh in.
I am not going to write anything more since I am so late in posting this update. I will elaborate more on how I am doing in the next blog update. Until then, take care and check back soon!
I am not going to write anything more since I am so late in posting this update. I will elaborate more on how I am doing in the next blog update. Until then, take care and check back soon!
Tuesday, January 5, 2016
False Start, Offense, Five Yard Penalty, Repeat First Down
I can't sleep. I woke up at 3:50 AM this morning. I have been feeling a little down lately. There are several reasons for that, but one of them has to do with not starting my weight loss journey when I said that I would. That is mostly because I don't like to say I am going to do something and then not follow through. The holiday season is a tough time to start a weight loss program. Still, if I cannot exhibit self control at that time, why should I think I can any other time? So, I take full responsibility for that. I apologize for the false start.
I will just cut to the chase here, I gained a little under a half pound since my last weight loss post on December 18th. My current weight is 356.8 pounds. That is a gain of 0.4 pounds.
I have mixed feelings about that. On the one hand, gaining under a half pound over the holiday break doesn't seem all that bad. On the other hand, I was somewhat active over the break, getting in some decent step counts on some of those days.
Either way, the journey starts in earnest today. I am confident that I can lose some of this weight relatively easily just by cutting out soda consumption. I have not been eating an inordinate amount of calories, I have been drinking them. Well, that is not 100% true. I don't want to give the impression that I have been eating well. There are times when I certainly consume too much food as well. I just mean that if I had to select the biggest reason for my weight, it would have to be soda.
Today I will be logging my calories and keeping track of my steps. I am excited to get back on track. I am tired of being overweight and yearn to get back to a more healthy lifestyle. Now comes the hard part. Losing weight is not easy, but it is time to get started. Thank you for following along. The next blog post will be January 10th. Goodbye for now.
I will just cut to the chase here, I gained a little under a half pound since my last weight loss post on December 18th. My current weight is 356.8 pounds. That is a gain of 0.4 pounds.
I have mixed feelings about that. On the one hand, gaining under a half pound over the holiday break doesn't seem all that bad. On the other hand, I was somewhat active over the break, getting in some decent step counts on some of those days.
Either way, the journey starts in earnest today. I am confident that I can lose some of this weight relatively easily just by cutting out soda consumption. I have not been eating an inordinate amount of calories, I have been drinking them. Well, that is not 100% true. I don't want to give the impression that I have been eating well. There are times when I certainly consume too much food as well. I just mean that if I had to select the biggest reason for my weight, it would have to be soda.
Today I will be logging my calories and keeping track of my steps. I am excited to get back on track. I am tired of being overweight and yearn to get back to a more healthy lifestyle. Now comes the hard part. Losing weight is not easy, but it is time to get started. Thank you for following along. The next blog post will be January 10th. Goodbye for now.
Friday, December 18, 2015
Do. Or Do Not. There Is No Try.
I imagine most people are out enjoying the new Star Wars movie that was recently released to theaters. Me? I am updating this blog. The time has come for me to get serious again about my weight. I will be updating this blog with my weight loss journey.
So, it is confession time. With my previous blog, I was always brutally honest about my shortcomings. I am finding it hard to write this though because I had lost close to one hundred pounds. Now, I have gained it all back plus some. My current weight is 356.4 pounds. When I started my previous weight loss journey I was around 350 pounds. I won't make excuses. I did this to myself.
Where do I go from here? Well, I started drinking soda again. That ends tonight. I have always loved soda and it has always been a weakness. In addition, I plan to start doing daily step counts again. To get started, I am going to set those counts very low. Not only am I heavier than when I started last time, my knees have been hurting a bit. I am getting started with just 2500 steps a day. I know that is a very low step count but I want to ease into it. I will ramp it up as I go along.
Naturally, I will be eating healthier as well. I have fallen back into eating out, eating late, and eating too much. I am not saying that I will not eat out anymore. I just need to cut back. I remember that when I first started trying to lose weight, I always felt like I was hungry. I remember going to bed many times with my stomach growling. Well, I will just say that I have not had that happen in quite awhile.
I will be weighing every fifth day of the month. I always found that if I weigh in weekly, I lived like the devil immediately after weighing in because I always felt like I could make up for it later in the week. With five days, I really don't feel like I have that temptation. So, with that said, the next weigh in will occur on December 20th. Yikes! That means I have to weigh in Christmas morning. Guess I will have to be good on Christmas Eve.
On a completely different subject, I am moving blog posts from my old gaming blog site. Feel free to check them out if you like. Some of them are a bit dated and please understand that I wrote that blog kind of tongue in cheek. I would like to think that I possess a sense of humor. You are welcome to disagree. Check back soon for new posts. Goodbye for now!
So, it is confession time. With my previous blog, I was always brutally honest about my shortcomings. I am finding it hard to write this though because I had lost close to one hundred pounds. Now, I have gained it all back plus some. My current weight is 356.4 pounds. When I started my previous weight loss journey I was around 350 pounds. I won't make excuses. I did this to myself.
Where do I go from here? Well, I started drinking soda again. That ends tonight. I have always loved soda and it has always been a weakness. In addition, I plan to start doing daily step counts again. To get started, I am going to set those counts very low. Not only am I heavier than when I started last time, my knees have been hurting a bit. I am getting started with just 2500 steps a day. I know that is a very low step count but I want to ease into it. I will ramp it up as I go along.
Naturally, I will be eating healthier as well. I have fallen back into eating out, eating late, and eating too much. I am not saying that I will not eat out anymore. I just need to cut back. I remember that when I first started trying to lose weight, I always felt like I was hungry. I remember going to bed many times with my stomach growling. Well, I will just say that I have not had that happen in quite awhile.
I will be weighing every fifth day of the month. I always found that if I weigh in weekly, I lived like the devil immediately after weighing in because I always felt like I could make up for it later in the week. With five days, I really don't feel like I have that temptation. So, with that said, the next weigh in will occur on December 20th. Yikes! That means I have to weigh in Christmas morning. Guess I will have to be good on Christmas Eve.
On a completely different subject, I am moving blog posts from my old gaming blog site. Feel free to check them out if you like. Some of them are a bit dated and please understand that I wrote that blog kind of tongue in cheek. I would like to think that I possess a sense of humor. You are welcome to disagree. Check back soon for new posts. Goodbye for now!
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
What Is An IRA?
With every passing year I am getting closer to retirement age. Hey, we all are. I am at an age now where it feels like I should have started setting money aside when I was younger if I want to retire a millionaire. I can dream, can't I?
Since I have had to figure some of this stuff out on my own, I thought I should share some of what I learned. I imagine everyone has a basic idea of what an IRA (Individual Retirement Account) is and what it can do for you, but just in case, here is a quick overview. I will discuss in future posts the differences between the different types of IRAs. Also, please excuse the analogies that I share, I tried to make them different than the books that I have read on the subject so that I am not copying anyone (I hope).
An IRA is kind of like a grocery bag. At grocery stores, they used to ask if you wanted your groceries bagged in paper or plastic. Nowadays the options are probably more like plastic or the reusable shopping bags. Similarly, IRAs are offered with either pre-tax or after-tax benefits. As I mentioned above, I will present more on the different types of IRAs and their specific benefits in future blog posts.
Typically, grocery bags are used to store items that you have purchased. This makes them easier to transport until you reach your destination. Similarly, an IRA is used to store your investments until you reach your destination (retirement). An IRA can store many different kinds of investments. You can own stocks, ETFs, Mutual Funds, and even savings accounts inside an IRA. I will most likely discuss each of those types of investments in future blog posts. For now, just know that an IRA holds the different investments that you choose to place in it until you reach retirement.
Why not own some or all of these investments outside of an IRA? You could certainly choose to do so and it might even be beneficial. The primary reason to store them inside an IRA is due to tax treatment. This is likely a gross oversimplification, but pre-tax IRAs provide a tax savings now, grow tax-deferred, then taxes are paid on the investments when they are sold and income is taken at retirement age. After-tax IRAs (taxes were already paid on this money prior to entering the IRA) provide tax-free growth and no taxes are paid when the investments are sold and income taken at retirement age.
I hope that this blog post was helpful. If you notice any mistakes or would like clarification on anything, please leave me a comment below. I may edit this post with more concise information in the future, but for now, this should suffice. Thanks for reading and I appreciate your feedback.
Since I have had to figure some of this stuff out on my own, I thought I should share some of what I learned. I imagine everyone has a basic idea of what an IRA (Individual Retirement Account) is and what it can do for you, but just in case, here is a quick overview. I will discuss in future posts the differences between the different types of IRAs. Also, please excuse the analogies that I share, I tried to make them different than the books that I have read on the subject so that I am not copying anyone (I hope).
An IRA is kind of like a grocery bag. At grocery stores, they used to ask if you wanted your groceries bagged in paper or plastic. Nowadays the options are probably more like plastic or the reusable shopping bags. Similarly, IRAs are offered with either pre-tax or after-tax benefits. As I mentioned above, I will present more on the different types of IRAs and their specific benefits in future blog posts.
Typically, grocery bags are used to store items that you have purchased. This makes them easier to transport until you reach your destination. Similarly, an IRA is used to store your investments until you reach your destination (retirement). An IRA can store many different kinds of investments. You can own stocks, ETFs, Mutual Funds, and even savings accounts inside an IRA. I will most likely discuss each of those types of investments in future blog posts. For now, just know that an IRA holds the different investments that you choose to place in it until you reach retirement.
Why not own some or all of these investments outside of an IRA? You could certainly choose to do so and it might even be beneficial. The primary reason to store them inside an IRA is due to tax treatment. This is likely a gross oversimplification, but pre-tax IRAs provide a tax savings now, grow tax-deferred, then taxes are paid on the investments when they are sold and income is taken at retirement age. After-tax IRAs (taxes were already paid on this money prior to entering the IRA) provide tax-free growth and no taxes are paid when the investments are sold and income taken at retirement age.
I hope that this blog post was helpful. If you notice any mistakes or would like clarification on anything, please leave me a comment below. I may edit this post with more concise information in the future, but for now, this should suffice. Thanks for reading and I appreciate your feedback.
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