30/30 WHAT?!

It is with much excitement, pleasure and happiness I can report to you today that I am down 30 lbs as of today, December 21st, 2010. I started my journey back on May 21st, 2010.

The last time I weighed this little (on record) was March of 2005, and it shows. Before moving to phoenix I had put a bunch of clothing that I really liked, but no longer fit me into a bag and stored it. It all now fits again and my wardrobe has doubled in size!

I only have 30 more lbs to go to get to my goal weight and it feels pretty good getting this far. I remember looking forward to being down 30lbs and thinking, that would be cool, but its a long way away. Well - here we are!

At the end of the day, I don't care who wins the weigh in on Thursday (even though I will ;) ), I am just glad I have gotten this far!

Pato Beware

Dear my dearest father Patrick,
You are going down. Yes, I do realize you are ahead of me. Yes I do realize you could win this. BUT, you aren't going to. My evil plan? Catch up and push the deadline to march.

I have number I am down. Its not where I want to be come Christmas, but it's a number and I bet it will be bigger than yours come Tuesday, December 23rd.

Just want you to know that.

Cheers - enjoy a beer or 3 at the eagles game. Maybe go have some fudge mom made too.

Your soon to be weight loss champion son,

John

Sweat it out, peeps.

Back in the Saddle?

Again - long time no write. My apologies.

It's been quite a while since I last wrote. Pretty exciting things are happening here in Phoenix right now. I am doing things I would have never imagined I could do. We have a fantastic crew here and I enjoy working with them every game.

It has been a pretty difficult transition, though. I really got settled in Rapid City. Making the move, not knowing anyone and being disconnected has really been a struggle. With the stress of moving, came... DUN DUN DUNNN... weight gain.

I gained 5 lbs back and decided a few weeks ago that I wasn't done losing weight. I have had a terrible time (even with a pending weight loss competition between myself and my dad about to come to a close) trying to lose weight. I cant seem to get settled into a routine down here with the gym. I have no motivation or care to go to the gym right now. I hired a personal trainer, started getting some success with him, lost some weight and now? he now just left for a different position. here I am lost without a support system again. My gym that promised "a free personal training session a month and nutrition support!" just got bought out by LA Fitness - thus losing all of the fantastic benefits I had (not to mention the SOMEWHAT affordable personal training).

I read the letter I wrote to myself when I was 257 back on June 9th. Its amazing to believe that I am almost 20 lbs down since then, but I still have a very long way to go and with a tough hockey season schedule, my motivation is absent.

I know there are a lot of excuses... I am just hoping at some point I can buckle down and really commit to losing the rest of this excess weight. It just seems so unattainable right now.

Off to the gym to try and feign a workout tonight.

Sweat it out my peeps.

The rush of a lifetime.

It's been quite a while since I've updated this and for good reason, too. Part of this whole blog was to follow my weight loss journey as part of the Ripped workout at Stretch Studio in Rapid City, SD. On July 29th, 2010, I was offered a job with the Phoenix Coyotes as the Event Presentation Manager for the 2010-2011 season of NHL hockey.

I had an incredible time in Rapid City over two years, learning a lot about hockey and game entertainment, but mostly about myself. I learned that I am capable of putting together a fun entertaining show, but at the same time can handle almost anything thrown my way. After going away parties and saying goodbye to many friends and people who were my family away from family for two years, we packed up my stuff and I drove to Colorado to pick up my dad to take the 17 hour trip to Arizona head on. It's been a long long ride getting to Phoenix for a job I consider my dream job. I have watched hockey since I was 9 years old when the Colorado Avalanche had their inaugural season in Denver. I remember pretending we were hoisting the Stanley Cup, but in reality it was just a milk crate, and we were in my front yard.

Little did we know that only 15 years later I would end up working for another outstanding NHL franchise. This time with dreams of winning the cup on the office side. Through all of the teasing I went through in junior high and many friendless days in high school I hoped that some day there would be something bigger out there for me. My mother and father, bless them for their patience, always told me 'John, you will grow up to do great things, just wait and see. I never knew where I would end up, or for that matter what I would end up doing. I never had a true passion for anything but entertaining people and music. I got so lucky as to fall into a career that is centered around entertainment and music. So here I sit, in the 110 degree Arizona heat, preparing for the biggest adventure of my life. We're two days in and I can tell you already, there's not going to be a dull moment.

I will update you with more as the weeks go on and as I get acclimated I will battle on in the fight against fat. :)

Have a fantastic week.

Putting all new meaning into 'sweating' it out.

John

What happened to the kool-aid?

It's been a little over a week since I posted last and although I don't have any real results to post, I do want to write and catch up. The last two weeks have been an absolute roller coaster and weight loss has honestly been the last thing on my mind. Yes, the kool-aid I drank at the beginning to motivate me has somehow magically run out and I am starting to lose interest in the whole weight loss situation. My mind has been elsewhere this week and hopefully I can muster up a little bit of energy to pull together a workout or two. The positive fact is I have remained active and haven't gained, I just haven't lost anything either. It's not that I haven't enjoyed my successes, Its just hard to focus on the gym and working out right now. I am still riding my bike places, going to play hockey and whatnot, but just not motivated to do much more than that.

So while I search for the magical kool-aid of inspiration to workout more and lose more, hope all is well and have a great weekend!

And they keep on coming...

Two weeks after the one month mark I have weighed in again and again I have had success. The past week and a half have been "cutting" workouts and the pounds have fallen off to show it. In the past two weeks I have lost 5lbs and 3.5 inches putting me at a total of 19lbs lost and 11.5 inches in just 6 weeks of Ripped!!!! One more lb. and I am out of the 240's forever and on my way to being smaller than ever before.

I love how my clothes are fitting, some of which, like my business suits from last season, are going to have to be gotten rid of because THEY DON'T FIT!! I am fitting into things that I haven't fit into since college and its freakin great!

I am going to try and battle through the 5k in spearfish canyon this weekend. I'll let you know how it goes!

3 more to go...

3 more lbs to go and I have hit the 20lb weight loss mark. Just to even say I am close to 20 lbs is exciting. I am feeling better as the days go on and am feeling stronger and stronger. I am noticing the amount of weight I can lift is getting better and I am noticing a lot of clothing fitting better.

This week has been insane at the Ripped workout. Johnny kicked things up a notch to help us burn as much fat as possible and the workouts have been very hard. To boot I have been riding my bike to and from work and to workout and back as much as possible.

I really feel this is the week I get down to 240 and am ever closer to the halfway mark.

Time to kick it into gear

OK - so. I have had good results so far. Its time for GREAT results. It's time to kick this into gear and push my body further than it has been athletically. I am registered for a 5K in two weeks, July 24th in spearfish canyon. I just ran a practice 5k on saturday and completed it in 32 minutes. My goal for the next two weeks is to reach 240 lbs and run the 5K between 25-30 minutes.

I just bought myself a new present - a brand new trek comfort bicycle. I am going to ride it to and from work (this is the goal!) and during lunch I will ride from work to canyon lake park and back. Hopefully this will add some much needed extra calorie burn, as well as more leg training to help prevent shin splints.

here we go!

11 in 1!

The Results are IN: After 1 month of training on the Ripped program and working on my diet, following my nutrition very closely, and battling through the pain, shin splints, exhaustion and 3 different vacations, I am proud to say we have seen success. This month (Jun 7 - Jul 7) I have lost 11 lbs for a total weight loss of 14 lbs!!!

Not only have I lost weight but I have lost inches too - a total of 8 inches! over 3 of them from my belly and 3 from my chest! It feels good to have some success after all of the struggles I went through this month. I am excited for the next 30 days to have exponential leaps in strength and energy. I am hoping that I have gotten through the hard part, now comes the strength gain and the pounds start melting off. I cannot wait to see 240 come and go.

Have a fantastic week.

Sweat it out.

4 and the 4th

Here we go... week number 4 is underway. It is going to be a pretty interesting one, at that.

After last week's frustration with weight loss and not seeing any results midweek, I have decided to ship my scale, tape measure and bodybugg off with my girlfriend this weekend to her house where i cant use it. I don't want to get discouraged midweek because I am not losing any weight, but at the end of the week I still was down.

This morning I weighed in at 249 lbs, officially out of the 250s and 260s forever. Pretty good feeling knowing I will never see 250 again. Ready to rock out at the gym, fight the battle and work hard. I even plan on keeping pretty strict to my diet over the 4th of July weekend. Wish me luck!

This past weekend, Amy and I went to Custer State Park to Sylvan Lake and tackled Harney Peak Trail #9 that takes you all the way to the Summit of Harney Peak, the highest point in the states East of the Rocky Mountains.


Me acting cool on the trail.




All in all it was a pretty tough trip. 7 Mi round trip and a lot of stairs and hills, but absolutely worth it. My legs are still pretty sore today, but I am glad I got to do it and I think Amy had a good time.

Also - got some pretty exciting news this AM. I was named the CHL Employee of the Month for June.

Have a great week and a safe and happy 4th of July!

Sweat it Out.

Pain and Frustration

Well.... here we are again on the roller coaster of weight loss. I am getting really frustrated at this point. I'm at the almost 3 week mark of ripped, I have worked very hard this week trying to hit a big number at the end of it and with one workout left, I still haven't lost anything since Tuesday. Both days I have hit my mark on calories and diet, maybe then some.

I know, inches are where it matters. But thats not really changed either since Tuesday. I have absolutely killed it in the gym too. I pushed myself so hard, especially on the treadmill through very painful shin splints. I hope that after a day off today, I can kill it tomorrow morning, have the day off sunday and wake up below 250 on monday morning.

who knows though. no motivation today. Is Friday over yet?

Sweet Success

FINALLY! Freaking FINALLY! I have officially lost my FIRST TEN POUNDS! For 37 days I have been staring at the number 250 on my wall above my scale, welp its coming down! I have worked so hard the past three weeks to continuously lose weight even though I have been on vacation and gone to league meetings and gone here or there. It feels amazing to be this far already. After coming home from Vegas and being 255lbs again dropping that in just two days to 250 feels amazing, have I told you how excited I am? haha.

I wanted to hit this number by the end of this week, but here we are midweek and I have already done it! I am going to work really hard because at the end of this week I will have said goodbye to the numbers 250 and 260 for the last time and will be in the 240s!

Have a great day!

Sweat it out.

The Sin City Slump

Vegas was an absolute blast. We had a ton of fun. I enjoyed myself and (somewhat guiltily) ate what I wanted to while I was there (for the most part). By saturday morning I was practically sick to my stomach from the bad foods I had been eating and sugary drinks. I, at 6 weeks deep into eating right, could not believe that is how I used to eat when I lived there. Even though I really enjoyed all of the meals we had, especially the fantastic meal at the capital grille for my dad's bday/fathers day, it has shown on the scale. I am now at 254 this morning, which is totally fine and was almost expected. Time to bust ass in the gym.

I am back on the program, back to eating right and back to making this work. Worked out really hard last night and am actually sore this AM for the first time since the first week which is great. Ready to rock out the next two weeks to get huge results before the 4th of July boat party. I want to wakeboard again that weekend and I want to know that my upper body strength can support me. I am more motivated then ever and I am actually finding that the cheating weekend has motivated me to do more and beat myself up for cheating. Which has been a great motivator.

Here we go again!

Sweat it out.

One and Done

One more workout left and I am off to Las Vegas for the weekend. More importantly, one more pound to lose and I will have officially lost my first 10 lbs. Even better, one more day and I have been at this for a month now!

I have been working out at stretch studio since May 17th and lost 3lbs during the first two weeks of eating/working out.

I have been working out with the Ripped program at stretch studio for the past two weeks and have lost almost 7lbs working out in just my first week and a half.

I am really excited to go to Vegas but even more excited to come back and put a good month of work in to see where we're at. Already noticing a lot of differences and I am ready to be RIPPED!

Here's to losing 1lb today!!

It's Working

It is working. It is still kicking my butt every night, but it's working. I kicked that workouts ass tonight. I went from throwing 10lb weights last week to 20 this week for my back. I pushed it through the end of the work out and kicked it as hard as I can. On Thursday I will have been doing this diet and working out for a month!

It wasn't until I started wearing my bodybugg every day that I noticed how absolutely crucial and critical every piece of food that goes into my mouth is. Tonight I had a really bad comedown off of my workout. It took me about two hours to relax and after I ate I had, what I think was a blood sugar crash. Either I didnt drink enough water, eat enough carbs or just worked too hard. I am going to pay close attention once I come back from Vegas to my carbs and water.

I am very excited to hit the one month mark and I am very ready to work hard when I come back.

The Results are In

Week 1 Results:

I lost 3 lbs this week for a total weight loss of 6lbs and 5 inches this month!

Pretty exciting results and I am excited to get back to it today. Nervous about our vacation to Vegas this weekend, it might set me back a little bit, but I am ready to come back and work it out until I see big numbers. I really believe this is my time to do this, this time it will work and this is when I make the permanent change. No more yo-yo dieting, I am over that.

Have a great week!

Sweat it out.

Week One Down

Try saying it without excitement... you can't do it. The first week of "Ripped: The Killer Workout" is done! I am proud to say that I finished the week very strong. The last cardio workout I did I hit 10mph on the treadmill and ran for 45s a really long sprint for me at that speed. This was all after a grueling workout of squats and lunges. I am really proud of myself. I rocked it out.

I stuck to my diet like a crazy man this week! Yesterday on my cheat night, even though I played hockey etc. I couldn't bring myself to drink a ton or eat a ton. Even afterward I felt guilty... strange, but I am gonna go with it for now. Two of the biggest things I have done for myself were 1. picking up a high quality, great tasting protein powder at Max Muscle in CO, and 2. implementing glutamine into my supplements. Both of these combined have helped me greatly.

I am really excited to spend the weekend with Amy getting ready for Vegas and hopefully if the weather clears up we will get outside and do something like hike Harney peak or go to Mt. Rushmore and walk the presidents trail.

Excited to weigh in tomorrow/monday AM with some official results for the week.

Have a GREAT weekend - enjoy the rain while its here!

Sweat it out.

Finding the Motivation

Week 1 is almost over. I have one more work out tonight and then one killer leg work out Saturday morning and the week I like to call hell week, will be over.

I had some really big results yesterday with my diet and exercise. It is the first time since starting three weeks ago I hit or exceeded my target calorie burn. I have been unbelievably sore. Every part of my body hurts and aches. I literally have to work to do things like wash my hair or fix my collar.

Today I decided to take a test to update my "Real Age." Kind of like the test on the biggest loser, the Real Age test helps you know if the lifestyle you lead is helping you or hurting you.

I took it only a mere two months ago on march 19th. I had shocking results of 35 years old. I am happy to say with all the changes I have made with my diet/exercise etc. I am now at 22.5 years old - a year and a half YOUNGER than my chronological age!

I have really really struggled this week with motivation to keep going to the gym. The simplest tasks have hurt and have really taken a toll on me. I am proud to say I have stuck to my diet though, and my resolve is still pretty strong. I decided to write myself a letter after last nights crushing workout. One to my future self reminding me how I feel right now. How badly out of shape I am, how I cant even lift 10 lbs above my head in a shoulder exercise, how it feels to be out of shape and how no food will ever replace the feeling I will feel when I reach my goal.

Hopefully this will come in handy in the future to pull out and read and remind myself what I am doing and how far I've come.

Thanks for reading. sweat it out.

What doesn't kill you...

makes you stronger... right? Day two of Ripped tonight. I have not hurt this bad in a long long long time. Tonight was arguably one of the hardest work outs I have ever done. It is taking a lot out of me and I need a lot of motivation. The silver lining in all of this is that it is motivating me to keep to the diet. I burned 880 calories during the work out and cool down. I felt like a fat kid on the first day of the biggest loser camp.

Hoping for a very inspiring loss in either inches or numbers this week. It would definitely help me stay motivated through vegas next week.

The Trainers:


Johnny and Maria Gonzalez. Johnny Gonzalez has been involved in the fitness and sports community for several years. He has worked with a variety of ages, levels, abilities to achieve a personal fitness goal. Johnny has been a example of physical fitness, strength, and discipline, never missing more than one day between workouts since he started high school athletics.

Maria, Johny's sister, is an athletic soccer star who kicked my ass on the treadmill tonight, nuff said.

I hope this week provides some solid results. It has been pretty difficult.

Time to Get RIPPED.

Back from the League Meetings in Arizona. I didn't really struggle drinking the protein shakes after my first breakfast of oatmeal and two eggs cost $16. I had a fantastic time and tried to walk as much as possible as it was a fantastic $20 a visit to the hotel's spa/weight room.

I came home and hopped on the scale - luckily for me I weighed in at 257 lbs - just 1 lb higher than I left.

Today is the start of the ripped sessions with Johny Gonzalez at Stretch Studio. Check the program out at http://www.rippedthekillerworkout.com/

I am really excited about the program. If I keep my diet tight this is going to be the summer that I drop all the extra weight.

I can't hardly move my arms at this point as we did chest and abs - tomorrow is back. I am really proud of my success - I ran and did really well during the cardio, rocked out the abs and when we did planks I did one for 45 seconds.

READY FOR MORE!

Sweat it out.

Sunny Arizona

The hardest part of starting this program will be this week. I made it back from home in Colorado last weekend weighing in at 256 lbs - what I weighed before I left which is a HUGE success. The trying part will be making it through the CHL League Meetings this week in Arizona.

I am very excited for the conference and very ready to go have some fun in the sun, however it is not going to be getting me prepared to start the Ripped program next Monday.

To counteract some of this being gone I have packed protein powder, a shaker and some snacks in my suitcase to help plan for the unexpected and hopefully I can get a chance to use the gym while I am there one of the days.

Have a fantastic week and see ya later!

Sweat it out.

The Power of Two

So after watching last night's biggest loser finale I am feeling a little hopeful. The biggest shock of the night, other than the great transformations, was Cherita from the blue team, who did all of the work at home, without the help of the ranch, and ended up losing 90 pounds! Nuts. And that got me thinking... if she can do that much on her own at home, I should be able to tackle this little amount I need to lose.

So this morning I woke up looking for a little "why in the world am I doing this" motivation. Hopped on the scale and found out that in the two weeks, with all the diet struggles, stomach problems, urges to cheat and give up and more I am down two pounds. The bigger news? I am down two inches as well.

Its a small victory, but its a victory nonetheless.

Excited to start the hardcore part of the program in two weeks.

Sweat it out.

Week one down

Well week one is officially over. Big results? Not so much. Only 1 lb lost. I really struggled this week with a lot of stomach problems as well as my body reacting badly to the protein powder.

The first workout of the Ripped program left me completely sore. I am still sore to this day. I just set up my bodybugg again and am going to continue wearing it and tracking calories in/out so I can know for sure I am hitting the burn I need daily. When I go back to CO this weekend I am going to look at other protein options as well.


Today Amy and I decided to take off to the Badlands National Park... we ended up going on a mile hike up to the "notch" which was really cool.



We didn't know what we we're in for but we got to take the trail up a ladder to the top of the rock formations and the open "notch" that over looked the valley.



The ladder


Pretty steep cliff we had fun navigating.



Amy Enjoying the View from the top.




The hole above is the notch we were just in.

We had a ton of fun today. So nice to have good weather when we have had such crap lately.

Have a great week and great memorial day weekend.

Sweat it out.

The Workouts

Burning more calories than consumed. Sounds..... simple.... right?

Well hopefully with the help of my friends at Stretch Studio - it will be.

Starting this week I attended my first classes at Stretch and I am already seeing results. I am the type of person who would much rather go play hockey for an hour, go swim or do something active instead of sitting in the gym pumping iron. If you are like me you would love stretch studio.

Now - to the men reading right now (women skip down to the next paragraph). YES zumba may be a little bit girly. But come. I have NEVER sweat like that in a gym or a hockey game. It will teach you to be coordinated, help you dance, and there are plenty of girls to help you... uh... learn what you're doing.

Cirque class may possibly be the biggest challenge I will face over the next three months and I am determined to master it. Been to Vegas? Been to a Cirque Du Soleil show? This is like a remedial cirque du soleil classe. You get to hang on a swing and straps from the ceiling and do toning exercises, sit ups and more. I want to learn more with this one.

Ripped - the killer workout. This is what I am really here for. I did my first trial run of it tonight and I am pretty sure it will be one of the hardest, most challenging programs I will have ever done. Ripped is a combination of low weight, high rep weight training, plyometrics, and well, boot camp. Tonight we did anything and everything from squats to running ladders and side squats on the downtown parking ramp. Starting June 7th they will offer nightly sessions. Sign up now at Strech Studio today.

Thats enough for tonight.

Sweat it out.

The Diet

To lose weight you have to consistently consume less calories than you expend. Nuff said.

So - for a rock star diet, I went to a true rock star. My partner in crime - Trevor Wicken. For those of you who don't know Trevor. He is a rockin' personal trainer from Fort Collins, CO. Did I mention he is rockin?

6 meals a day is the plan. Small meals, high in protein but still including some carbs and fat. So far it has been the easiest, most flexible diet I have ever been on. Day 4 still going strong and I can't say that I have felt deprived, hungry or eaten something I don't like.

Suppliments -

For help gaining energy and weight loss I went to my buddy Dan at locally owned and produced Biofusion Health Products. Check em out at www.mybiofusion.com - if you want to order, hit him up at Dan@mybiofusion.com

He set me up with some great products - some of the best I've seen in the supplement world.

Thermofusion - It is a fantastic fat burning energy creating supplement. It gives you crazy energy and helps you burn fat all day. I have been on this stuff for a long time and would recommend it to anyone.

L-Carnitine Fusion - I know it sounds more like a tasty Mexican dish and even though it does come in a pina colada flavor its not from Mexico. It is a fantastic energy generator that contains no stimulants at all. It is PERFECT for a pre-workout boost and it tastes so good its hard to stop at just 1 0z.

Vita-immune Fusion - I can attest to this product. I ALWAYS get sick under pressure and stress. I took this on a regular basis this last season and was hardly ever sick. It even helped me recover from having mono earlier this year.


Hopefully with these supplements and the rock star diet, I will be able to melt pounds away quickly.


If you'd like more info on Trevor or Biofusion let me know.

Sweat it out.

The start of the journey

It's ALL about commitment. That is what is on the Colorado Avalanche magnet that stares me in the face every morning when I make my coffee.

At the end of the 2010 hockey season I weighed in at a whopping 260 lbs. The most I have ever weighed in my life. After meeting with the Rushettes Head Coach, Teresa, we decided we would work this summer to change my life for good.

Starting June 7th I will start the Stretch Studio Ripped Program. Hopefully it lives up to its name and is the KILLER work out.

Come October 1st I will step on the scale again and hopefully, with the help of Stretch Studio and Biofusion, I will be a whole new man.

Follow my progress here and help cheer me on as I put it all on the line for myself.

Sweat it out.