20 Pounds In 20 Weeks: Week 6: Tiny Setbacks

20lbs in 20 weeks, Fitness, Weight Loss

This week was a first in this 20 pounds in 20 weeks challenge: I gained weight.  Not much, mind you.  Just a half a pound.  It was still a bit disconcerting to see the scale numbers go up.  I didn’t do anything too out of the ordinary last week.  Not giant points splurges to speak of.

Starting Weight 205
Current Weight 194
Goal Weight 185
Lost 11
Left Until Goal 9

Even if this “setback” were larger or if this spans a few weeks without weight loss, the key thing to remember is that you can’t let it get to you.  In my experience, a body undergoing weight loss will often reach a plateau.  At this point, many people will get discouraged.  They will notice that they are depriving themselves and nothing is being reflected on the scale.  It is here that the danger of falling off the wagon lurks.

When you reach a plateau during weight loss, just ignore it.  Your body needs a week (maybe two, maybe three) to readjust before the weight loss begins again.  Keep your weight loss routine up and you’ll soon see the numbers begin moving down again.

Aloha Friday: The Icy Hazards of Winter

Aloha Friday, Photos, Winter

I’ve written before about our snow problems.  Chief among them are ice dams.  Basically, due to poor insulation in our upstairs room, heat warms our upper roof and snow on that roof melts.  The dripping water refreezes on the lower roof.  Over time, the ice gets very thick and very heavy.  We tried various methods of removing the ice, but had only limited success.

With the recent warm weather, we noticed two things.  First of all, the ice was melting and thus was separating from the roof.  Secondly, the gutter on one side of our house was bending.  Obviously, the ice was shifting.  Instead of putting its considerable weight on our roof, it was placing the weight on the gutter.  I decided to remove the ice dams before any serious damage was done.

I positioned a ladder and carefully scaled it.  Once at the top, I used a hammer to chip away at the ice.  Small chunks flew from the giant ice block.  (Fast moving, but small chunks of ice really hurt when they hit your face, by the way.)  Then some big chunks fell off.  I descended the ladder to reposition it so I could reach more of the ice.  As I stepped off the ladder, there was a creaking/ripping sound.  Suddenly, the ice came crashing down, bringing our gutters with it.

Here are some photos of the aftermath.  That hunk of ice was *heavy*!

P1010497 P1010498 P1010500

P1010501 P1010502

With the ice down, inspiration struck.  Here’s my own little creation.  I call it Ice Henge.  I shall pray to it in the hopes that Spring arrives quickly and gets rid of all of this snow and ice.

P1010503

 

My Aloha Friday question for today is: Has your house ever been damaged by the winter (or other seasonal) weather?

Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the McLinky there if you are participating.

Aloha Friday by Kailani at An Island Life

Aloha #75

Lollipop Hearts

JSL, NHL, Photography, Photos

For Valentine’s Day, we got the boys some lollipops.  (Of course, by “we”, I mean B.  She’s the one who found and purchased them.)  Of course, these weren’t ordinary lollipops, but heart shaped ones on ring “sticks.”  I took the opportunity to whip out my DSLR and get a few photos.  (Click on the photos to enlarge them.)

IMGP2292

I love how blue JSL’s eyes are in this shot.  The DSLR picks that up so nicely.

IMGP2296

NHL is always looking away from the camera for some reason.  I think the TV might have been on.  Also, he seems to have inherited my hair in at least one respect.  When I need a haircut, my hair refuses to obey any commands of mine and simply does whatever it wants to do.

 IMGP2297

I love the depth of field in this shot.  That and the wonderful smile hiding behind that lollipop.

It’s times like this that I love that we live in the age of digital photography.  These moments are now captured and stored for years to come.  When our boys are grown, we can go back and relive these moments over and over again.

A Guest Noodle

Comics, Parenting

NKB_TechyDadHelpers_TEASER One of my great pleasures in life (besides my wife and kids) are comic strips.  I’ve been reading comic strips for as long as I can remember.  I used to get the paper as soon as I could, tear it apart until I could find the Funnies and pour over Peanuts, consume Calvin and Hobbes and get freaked out by the Far Side.  As the Internet took off, I sought out my favorite comic strips online.  At first, the pickings were slim but little by little the comics came online.

Then, I noticed something interesting.  Not only were the comics I knew and loved online, but a lot of other comics were online as well.  Comics with no large syndicates backing them were sprouting up left and right.  Some might have spoken to a niche, some might not have fit into your average newspaper and some were just too out there for the comics page.  Not all of them were good, of course, but many of them were.

I began following a lot of comics.  One of the newest ones that I’ve followed is called Noodle Knobs.  It features a mom, dad and a kid nicknamed “Noodle Knobs.”  Here’s the twist: The characters in the comic strip aren’t fictional.  In fact, the family is quite real.  The artist is the father (known on the site as The Daddy).  In addition to comics, NoodleKnobs also features a blog where The Mommy and The Daddy discuss (separately or together) various topics ranging from illness to kids toys to nicknames.

But today’s NoodleKnobs has a special place in my heart.  Why?  Because my boys and I are in it!  Yes, NoodleKnobs put out the call for parents to guest blog about their own NoodleKnobs.  I answered and that guest post runs today, along with a comic that The Daddy drew.  The teaser above is a shot of JSL meant to whet your appetite.  Is it whetted yet?  Then head on over to NoodleKnobs.com to read my guest post and see the full comic!

1 … 197 198 199 200 201 … 300