Greg's Running Blog

Since I’ve been feeling pretty sick it was a challenge to get myself to do the pictures. It is probably the reason behind my facial expression, I just didn’t feel like taking pictures. I have also felt bloated and like I have been retaining water. I don’t know if it’s from the medications or from the high sodium turkey I ate Wednesday but I felt bloated and puffy. I have gained 3.3 lbs in weight from one day to the next. It didn’t feel great. But when I compared my photos I can actually see that I’m still leaning out. While I thought my face was all bloated it actually doesn’t look as bad as I have felt while taking the photos. My waist, chest and hips all have shrunk a quarter of an inch since the last photo.

12/17/2009 Transformation Picture

But tonight I did not only take my own pictures. I had to take photos of my kids too for their “Thank You” notes for their daycare teachers. So I managed to whip out these two in a hurry, I could have done better but this is all I could manage on such a short notice.

I took pictures again. While my measurements dropped drastically from the last 4 days, including 4.4 lbs weight loss the picture doesn’t show that much of a difference. I think I have finally managed to get a half decent 45 degree shot of me as well. The legs could look better but it’s definitely a change in the right direction. Actually in my profile pictures I have noticed that my posture has changed again and my spine is better aligned and straighter. I’ve always had a “hole” in my lower back and that seems to get smaller and smaller. When your gut is not pulling on it so much I guess it gets a chance to straighten out. I can feel my chest getting stronger and my “boobs” are sagging a little more. On guys that’s a good thing, once I lose all the fat out of them they should look fine. It’s only a matter of time. Until then here is my current update.

12/13/2009 Transformation Picture

Today’s photos turned out OK. I have a hard time with my 45 degree picture, I always end up looking like a true dork or like someone who’s about to take a dump. Today I did three takes on that one and I’m still not impressed. I kind of realized that I have been doing it all wrong before, leaning forward instead of standing fully upright. So I have modified my posture, I still look terrible in the pose but I think it will look better later. I was very close to abandoning that pose all together. But enough about my struggles with the posing. I can see visible reduction of my gut, the tape measure shows a 0.6 inch difference in my waist.

But the tape measure is not the only thing that shows the difference. Last night I wandered into the closet and took a peek at some size 38 jeans I’ve had for a long long time. They are in excellent shape as I have hardly worn them before I “outgrew” them. But I have kept them “just in case”. I have tried to try them on 2 weeks into my transformation and they did not fit. I could not even button them up. My waist then was 45.7″ and I’ve been wearing size 40 jeans. Now it’s 43.3″ and I could fit into the size 38 jeans just fine. They’re just a tad snug but I could button them just fine and I would wear them to work if I had to. These jeans will be my transitional set, it seems like they will never get the wear and tear they deserve, and once I “outshrink” them they’ll be thrown out or donated. I will never wear a size 38 pair of pants ever again after that. I have also managed to fit into some nice dress pants that I have been unable to wear in the past 2+ years. They were my Christmas/wedding/funeral pants but luckily I haven’t had to go to a funeral or wedding in a while and last Christmas we celebrated just amongst ourselves without extended family so I said “screw it” and wore jeans. I am positive that this coming Christmas will be the last one that I’ll get to wear them though, by next summer I’ll have to buy a new pair for my cousin’s wedding for sure!

As for my other dimensions, I have lost 0.25″ on my bicep which sounds like a bad thing but it’s a great thing when all you’re losing is fat. I can actually see my bicep now instead of a fat arm blob. I have also dropped 0.25″ from my chest and a whopping 0.75″ from my hips. I love that not only the scale is moving in the right direction but the tape is showing clear and obvious progress as well. My thighs haven’t changed in dimension but I see a bit more definition on my hamstrings which is great!

12/09/2009 Transformation Picture

Today was photo day again. Not a whole lot of changes from my last one. My bicep is getting skinnier and I can see a hint of triceps now on the back of my arm. My hips went down 0.25 inches and so did my calf. Other than that, not much else has changed. I had a sodium rich day today so I probably retain a bit more water.

12/05/2009 Transformation Picture

Unlike last time where I almost didn’t get the pictures done, tonight was probably the fastest I have ever gotten them completed. My kids were barely in bed and I already had the pictures taken and processed. This is how I like it! It leaves me more time to do other stuff in the evening. The scale hasn’t changed much in the past 4 days, I’m 1 lbs lighter than the last picture which is not much and doesn’t really show. I see a bit more definition in my upper arm on the back flexed shot but I can’t really see much else in terms of difference.

The numbers tell a bit different story. My neck has gone down half an inch and so did my chest. My hips and thigh have also shrunk a quarter of an inch each. It could be because of the weight drop or because of my new measuring tape that I just got this week. I purchased a MyoTape from Amazon. It has helped me to get more accurate measurements on my bicep, calf, chest and waist but it is not a single user friendly when it comes to neck measurement so I just had my wife take a reading as I was measuring my neck. Overall it’s a pretty decent product and you can’t beat the price, it’s probably as cheap as fitness products can get.

12/01/2009 Transformation Picture

I almost didn’t make the photos for today. Even though today was a day off from work, I was just too busy. But I managed to snap the shots just before bedtime and I put them together the next morning, so here they are for 11/27/2009. The difference is not too much from the picture I took 4 days ago but it’s huge when compared to day one. I’m working on putting an animated video together, it’s a work in progress. It seems like the weight is coming of my thighs lately which is certainly a good thing, they’re mighty fat.

11/27/2009 Transformation Picture

Today is the 4 week mark from the first photo of 10/26/2009. There is clear difference. Today while I was taking the photos I have also noticed how my forearms are thinner and that the skin above my biceps are not as thick. My calf are getting downright cut. Well cut might be an overstatement but I can certainly starting to see some definition in them.

11/23/2009 Transformation Picture

I was pretty excited about taking today’s photos. I can actually feel my face getting a bit thinner and I am noticing dimples on my body where it used to be filled with fat before. There is an absolute clear visible difference from my starting weight to today’s picture. I am quite pleased with my progress, it’s over 11 lbs (5kg) so far. I also got a haircut on Sunday, this is the same haircut I always get; no. 1 on the back and the sides then blend it to the top and cut the top to finger length. My hair is thinning in the front so I need to get in shape pretty soon. I certainly don’t want to be bald AND fat!

11/19/2009 Transformation Picture

Another 4 days have gone and another photo update. I had a really tough time getting the photos in tonight, the weekend is pretty much a blur. Today I had to overlook  the assembly of several Lego sets, I had to transform 3 transformers from cars/helicopters to robots and back a couple of times, put a bicycle together, and go to the zoo. This weekend was about my son pretty much the whole time with him turning 5 and all. It was a really great weekend and we had a ton of good time together. So there wasn’t a whole lot of “me” time. At any rate, I can actually see some visible signs on today’s set again and I’m pretty pleased with the results. This morning I weighed in at 226.4 lbs (102.7kg) and my BF% was 35.8%. I’ll start adding a new weekly progress chart to the blog from now on so the progress will be more visible that way in terms of numbers.

11/15/2009 Transformation Picture

I’m almost 3 weeks into my transformation and my numbers are certainly improving. I can’t really see that much in the pictures but at least the numbers don’t lie. My current stats are the following:

• Weight: 103.6 kg (228.4 lbs)
• Waist: 115 cm (45.28 in)
• Fat%: 36.6%

11/11/2009 Transformation Picture