People have asked for some before/after pics.  I did’nt do any “official” ones, but this should give you an idea.

Went to Dr Messer’s office last week (Riverside Family practice) and got my 90 day check up.  If you recall, when I started this, they gave me 90 days to lose 15lbs and correct some of my medical issues.  Well I walked into that office, stepped on the scale and….I weighed 29lbs less!  Take that doc! lol  It was pretty cool when nurse Claudia asked me if I had forgot to bring some of myself to the office.  I was a little nervous, since I just got back from Disney World and lord knows how that might have effected my results.  Well, beyond dropping 29lbs in 90 days I had also FIXED my blood pressure and blood sugar issues!  I am no longer considered to be ”diabetic”.  I will be perfectly fine for the rest of my life as long as I watch my weigh and diet.  Basically, don’t get to be 230lbs again and everything should be cool.  I will do my best.

With that big news, my wife and I went out to Baskin Robbins and I got a double scoop sundae!  Don’t look at me like that!  I earned that bad boy!  Ice cream is still part of my life, we’re just seeing less of each other these days! lol

Had to do something kinda odd yesterday.  In the middle of washing my hands, my wedding ring fell off of my finger.  I now have a wad of tape on it to keep it from slipping off again.  Was watching the biggest loser last night and saw the guys on the show wearing their rings on necklaces around their neck.  I’m gonna try the tape thing for a little while, then after I lose a few more pounds, I might get it re-sized.  How much does that cost?

Speaking of spending money! (ugg) I now pretty much have a new wardrobe!  They make better clothes for thinner people by they way.  I’ve always had nice stuff, but I can now wear more “trendy” designer clothes.  The only things that still fit me are my socks and shoes!  Our neighborhood garage sale is next weekend.  Someone might walk away with some pretty cool clothes….made for someone who is an XXL or size 38.  Come on down, I’ll cut you a deal! (cheesy sales guy voice)

Weighed in this morning.  I almost teared up walking out of the gym.  199 pounds!!!!  ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY NINE POUNDS!!!!!  What exactly does that mean?  Allow me to explain.

The approximate pounds I weighed for events or points in my life:

165lbs     Graduated High school

190lbs     Minor League baseball tryouts

200lbs     Sophomore year in college

215lbs     Graduated college in 1997

210lbs     Married in 2000

225lbs     Came to work at B93.7/Became a daddy

230lbs     Went to the Doctor and started this whole thing.

I now weigh less than my sophomore year in COLLEGE!!  Less than when I got married!  I’m less than 10lbs away from what I considered to be “the best shape of my life”.  Allow me to gush for just a moment…to bask in the awesomeness of the accomplishment….to take a deep breath….(suddenly I hear my trainer’s voice in my ear “Chase…give me 3 more”)

Thanks to Greenville Hospital System, Dr Messer, Renee King at the Life Center in Simpsonville and my wife Christal.

Next goal!  190 by Thanksgiving!  We’re going to see my family in Texas.

We probably walked 10 miles a day.   I didn’t have my pedometer, but I bet 10 miles is pretty accurate. We did all 4 parks in 4 days.  It was amazing!  Vacation adds a whole new challenge to the staying healthy-weight loss-exercise lifestyle that I am trying to lead.  At home I can easily plan out my calories.  My routine, for the most part, is 300 calories for breakfast, 5-7 for lunch and the remainder for dinner.  This gives me an opportunity to have a snack or even a beer/glass of wine at the end of the day.  I can easily stay under 1800 calories with my eyes closed.  Yet, on vacation, you don’t have the comforts of having the same routine.  Throw in Disney World with all its snack and buffet opportunities and you have perfect conditions for the inner (evil) voice to take over.  “Eat it…Drink it…you’re on vacation” the voice says.  That’s the same voice that got you here in the first place!  Don’t listen! lol

All in all I was good.  I allowed myself one meal to let loose.  It was a German buffet with a big ol litter of beer.  It was worth it.  I felt guilty the whole time, but sometimes you gotta listen to that voice!  He knows what he’s talking about!  The problem with some people is that they listen to that voice…and then listen again…and again…and again.  I let him speak up once and have his way!  He won that meal, but the next morning I woke up and worked out with the Dyna-bands ( rubber band looking straps) and did my crunches.  It’s not as intense as my usual workout, but it’s certainly better than nothing!  4 days-12 meals and I let the voice win once.  I think that was ok, especially since we were on vacation.

On this vacation, I was given “that moment”.  You know the kind when someone sees you for the first time in years and you can tell they are impressed.  I dated this girl back when I was in college.  She moved away and I then moved away….you know the story.  Since then she and I have kept tabs on each other.  We’ve both grown up, got married and have had kids.  She knows my wife and my wife knows her.  We’ve talked but have not seen each other in probably 11-12 years!  She lives in the Orlando area so we all planned on meeting up for a few minutes, just to see each other after all these years.   When I last saw her, I weighed about 215 (my senior year in college).  I now weigh 201.  Let me tell ya, It was cool to get checked out after all these years.  Knowing that I look better now than I did then 11-12 years ago when we saw each other last.  You could almost say it was like one of those movie moments…It was good for the self esteem and it made me feel some sense of selfish accomplishment for all the hard work I have put into this.  I walked a little taller that day.

We had a ton of great moments while we were there and tons of memories that will last forever.  It was an awesome experience and I cannot wait to do it again.  Next time I hope to be under 200lbs.

Tomorrow is my 90 day check up at Dr Messer’s office!  Wish me luck-I am sure I will blog about it.

This week has been a crazy one!  The Verizon Wireless Last Chance Summer Dance is tomorrow!  Although it will be one of the biggest concerts we’ve ever been a part of…my brain is ready to check out for vacation.  We’re going to Disney on SUNDAY!  Let’s just hope that the weather doesn’t screw with Erin’s first trip to see the mouse.  So much work to get done before I leave for vacation.  Basically, I have to set up the station to run on some sort of cruise control for the next week and in order to do that, I need to work twice as much this week.  It will all get done and everything will be fine.  I just want to be sitting in the Murphy SUV headed to see the mouse!  You know how it is with vacations….cant wait to get going and then somewhere towards the end-cant wait to get back.

While I’m on vacation with the family, I will still have to watch my diet and find some time for exercise.  I don’t want to screw up the hard work that I’ve put in over the last few months.  As of this morning, I’ve lost 27lbs!  I wanted to be at 30lbs by Sunday, by that’s probably not going to happen.  It’s ok, I’ll be happy with 27 and who knows what I might lose over the next few day?  Still sticking to the 1800 calories/5 days in the gym routine and it seems to be working.  The hotel we are staying at in Disney World doesn’t have a gym, so my trainer Renee (Life Center-Simpsonville) has given me these things called dynabands.  They are elastic exercise bands that you can use to work out with.  I did a short workout with them this morning and it seems like they will work for taking care of my upper body workout while we are on vacation.  I’ll get in legs and cardio while walking the 10+ miles a day they say you do at the Disney parks.  I’ll bring my pedometer to see how many steps I take each day.  We’ll see if I walk 10 miles or not.  Either way, I’ll get a workout in I am sure.

It’s funny how vacation used to be about eating my way through a town or vacation location.  You know, when you go somewhere and you plan out where you’re going to eat and with whom (if you are visiting somewhere with people you know).  Every time we go to Charleston it’s “Well, we’ll have dinner at Hanks with the Glover family and lunch with the Spencer family at Shem Creek”.  My diet and exercise have changed the way I vacation.  Don’t get me wrong.  I’m giving myself one or 2 meals where I’m going to HAVE FUN and eat something bad or drink something bad….It’s going to happen!  Yet, I think at this point I deserve it.  27lbs….it should at least win me an banana split?