Bullish Loser

Well there I was...7:00am on a Monday morning getting ready for work, my favorite time of the week (insert sarcastic eye roll here).  I had already taken a shower and was picking out what to wear for the day.  If you ask my wife, she would say I'm worse than a woman when it comes to getting ready but I like to think of it as being "carefully style conscience".  After all I have to keep myself G'd up from the feet up!  Anyways this blog post has nothing to do with my impeccable style but more so with the need to restock my closet with the latest trends because my washing machine seems to be shrinking everything.  I mean clearly it's not because I am gaining any weight...or is it?!?!

Let's recap the events of the last six months...

• June - I move to Warren County and have almost 3 hours or commuting each day (I may or may not have eaten a few cheeseburgers in my truck this summer)

• November - Job change from the YMCA (super active with a free gym membership) to the Durham Bulls (for now a desk job with very little movement...let's face it, my fingers are in great shape from all of the emails and phone calls I'm making)

 These two occurrences have apparently invited an extra 15-20 pounds along for the ride...(but honestly it's more like that invite you give to your neighbor in college so they won't call the cops on your keg party). 

Rewind back to that morning getting ready for work.  We all know what happens next, I go to put on a pair of dress pants and I can't get them buttoned...not even close.  I tried everything, lying down to button them, fooling myself that a sweater would cover up the fact that they weren't buttoned, the jaws of life.  You name it I tried it.  I was disappointed and a bit embarrassed but in typical Kevin fashion I made fun of the situation and went to a nice pair of adjustable waist Haggar pants (I highly recommend adjustable pants...not elastic waist band but real adjustable pants).  In reality though I was pretty upset that I had let myself get away.  Now, its not that I eat much worse than the next guy but I have an issue with portion control and the metabolism of an elephant (don't quote me on that, I couldn't check wikipedia because of the SOPA blackout).  Bottom line was, I had to do something about it.

In comes the Bullish Loser.  The guys at work started this competition several years ago and in typical guy fashion put some money on the line.  Here is how the competition works.  12 weeks with weigh-ins every Wednesday morning.  If you don't lose weight then you put $20 in the pot.  At the end of every 4 weeks the person who has lost the highest percent of their body weight gets half of everything in the pot.  At the end of 12 weeks (the day before opening day) the person who lost the highest percent total gets the rest of the pot.  We are all pretty competitive guys so nobody is claiming they will slip up, but last year the winner took home almost $1,000!  Now if that isn't incentive then I don't know what is.

I officially weighed in at 257.25 and after the first week was down to 247.5 now to be fair, some of that was water weight from drinking around 64 ounces of water before our weigh-in to "tip the scales in my favor" (pun intended).  I don't have any mind boggling plan, just make better food choices and eat less of them.  Exercise and stay motivated.  I am going to use MyFitnessPal app and the 100 Push-Up plan.  I will update my progress on here so you guys can help hold me accountable as well

Here goes the neighborhood!

A few "before" pictures...all from the end of the summer so not at my highest (probably 10lbs heavier now)

Girl look at that body...I work out!!!!

Kev's on the Bus!

So here is the deal.  Kev's on the bus...not literally, it's more of a metaphor because I'm back in the Minors (not that I ever made it to the Show).  Anyways, what I am trying to say is that for the first time in 12 years I am NOT working at the YMCA.  I have disregarded conventional wisdom and taken a huge leap of faith to follow my dream of working in sports.  I've known since high school that I wanted to work in baseball and until now I've been a "career minor leaguer" (this time both literally - I previously worked for the Durham Bulls in college and figuratively - I never made a career out of it).  But as of November 2011 I am putting all of my eggs in one basket hoping that 1) I like it and 2) I do well enough to find a full time job in sports.

Some of you may be asking yourself..."What's the big deal, he took a new job doing something different?"  This is true, but the big deal comes when you are married, have a mountain of school loans and then decide to leave a job with a decent salary and benefits (ok ok ok...an average salary...fine I got paid in fruit snacks and capri suns).  And I left all of that for a 40 hour a week minimum wage internship (yes you read that right...internship.  NO GUARANTEE of a job after Sept. 18, 2012).  Obviously this was no brainer (said sarcastically as I shake my head holding a paycheck in one hand and my College Foundation bill in the other)!


Anyways...I may start writing more frequently now adding stories of the things that I go through as an intern in minor league baseball.  Some may be funny, others may be me ranting about the village idiots I work with (cough Tyler and Bryda cough...it's ok, I don't think they can read, just kidding...but seriously if they can read...never mind I'm pretty sure they can't read.), and hopefully there are a few epiphanies along the way that can bring me, or someone else, some inspiration.

So grab some peanuts and the beverage of your choice and enjoy my ride!