Ok, so I haven’t been blogging much as of late on this old blog (ok, it has been a few months!) and there is a reason for that… I haven’t been going to the gym as much. Now, I know what you’re going to say, “Scott, have you given up?”

Never! I think it is crucial, though, not to let this weight lose thing get in the way of me living my life, and life has been pretty good and very busy.

Luckily, things have quieted down and I am back at the gym and you’ll never guess that I have been doing there. That’s right, I’ve been running on the treadmill for 26 minutes (doing about 2.3 miles, not too shabby).

Yes, I’ve gained a couple of pounds but I am still on the road to fitness.

Plus I ate a punch of crap this week (not literally) and I had pasta last night for the first time in a long while (it was good, and it tasted even better after the 2 rolls I had).

281.1. 281.1! That’s how much I weighed when I got on the scale today. You know what that means, I’ve lost 102 pounds (or so) in less than a year (ok, not much less than a year but still!). I’m ahead of the schedule I set for myself a month and a half ago. I’m excited to say the least.

I think my metabolism is gearing up or something.

You know what this means? Only 3.1 more pounds and I will have lost 100 pounds since I started this crazy adventure. It is hard to believe that not so long ago I was weighing in at 383 and looked like this. I look back at these pictures and I am shocked that I didn’t do anything about my weight sooner, however, that isn’t the point of this. No need to worry about what I didn’t do, but rather concentrate on what’s working for me:

• working out regularly (with some great folks)
• eating better (I am not doing the South Beach Diet anymore, but I am applying principles that I learned doing it, and I am eating some of the things that they suggest on a regular basis)
• actively thinking about my health

All of those points are important, but the last one has had the most impact. It is really very easy to slide back into my old habits of eating too much and moving too little. Thanks to this blog (which is a manifestation of my thinking about these issues, even if I don’t write too much on here) I am able to keep myself on the straight and narrow.

Let’s be real though, I’m not starving myself. This whole losing weight thing would be a mess if I changed my life in an unsustainable way. I have thought about going vegetarian, but that would just set me up for failure (I love me some steak), but eating more vegetables is something I can, and am, doing.

Life is all about being honest with yourself and knowing your limits. I’m not particularly strong willed, but I am able to follow routines. I have used my routine following skills to my advantage (going to the gym 5 times a week and doing the same thing every time might strike some as boring, but it strikes me as the way to a thinner, happier, and handsomer Scott) and replaced my old ruts with healthier ones.

I don’t have all the answers, but I do have a body that weighs 97 pounds lighter than it did 11 months ago and that’s good enough for me.

Where does it all go?

Luckily, I was able to get back on track last week and I have lost another 2 pounds (after gaining back a few pounds… which I will admit I skipped recording on here).

It is a cliche, I know, but getting fit is a marathon, not a sprint. I’ll be dealing with this crap for rest of my very long (I hope) life.

Oh, and I have decided that it would be really great if I could get to the 100 pound mark by August 16th (which would coincide with the first entry here on Scott Gets Fit).

6.6 pounds in about 8 weeks? I can totally do that.

Anyway, enough of that! I have lost 91 pounds so far. That’s pretty incredible. You know what else is incredible? What I am doing at the gym. I go 5 times a week and do the following:

• 4.5 miles (or so) on the elliptical (that’s 30 minutes on the damn machine)
• 8 minutes on the treadmill (which is about .75 miles at the pace I go)
• some light strength training, very very light but it is a start

I’m turning into some sort of gym regular or something.

• The gym was closed for most of the week, so I only went 3 times
• I ate like crazy! Ice cream, cake, muffins… you name it I ate it.

Therefore, I take this tiny gain as an indication that I am on the right track! Hurrah!

Over the last 8 months I have been doing one thing at the gym, the elliptical. I started off barely being able to stay on the damned thing for 5 minutes, and now… drum roll please… I am doing 30 minutes on the elliptical 5 times a week. Let me tell you, I ain’t strolling along on that damned thing either, I’ve been doing at least 4 miles in those 30 minutes. It really makes a guy sweat (and fat guys sweat with the best of ‘em).

The other day Joe was at the gym, pursuing his Joe Gets Fit Plan, and he challenged me to a treadmill race. A race! No man worth his salt can refuse a man to man challenge and despite my many misgivings about the treadmill, which included:

• I just spent 30 minutes going 4 miles on an elliptical machine, would this be pushing it?
• When I first starting doing the elliptical machine it frightened the crap out of me. Would I fall off of it? Would I hurt myself? Imagine those fears amplified several times. The elliptical isn’t a giant conveyor belt of Doom. I have seen more than my fair share of treadmill launched iPods smashed against the cruel, unforgiving gym floor. Imagine me in the place of that iPod, and you can imagine what I was thinking.
• Running, what’s it good for?

I accepted Joe’s challenge. With a little help I figured out how to operate the treadmill and I jogged a little (I won’t say who won the race, but I did).

That, dear readers, is how a few minutes on the treadmill has entered into the official Scott Gets Fit training regimen. At the moment I am only doing 5 minutes on the treadmill (after 30 minutes on the elliptical) but soon enough I’ll be running for longer and longer.