Final Weigh-In...

For the past eleven days, we have been furiously working to try and get more pounds off before our final weigh-in on Friday, May 14th. After "Skinny Soup", "High-Low", "Chicken, Eggs, and Tuna Plus", "Millennium Meltdown", and six months' worth of other diets, named and unnamed, it has become very difficult to trick our bodies into burning fat and releasing those extra pounds.

We came in Friday morning and did our usual workout; keep in mind, "usual" only refers to the time we meet, 5:30 AM. There is nothing "usual" about the workout itself, as we have done something different every single time we've met. But we worked, and did what we were supposed to do. We all had things to do on Friday - most of us work full-time - so we would all arrive at the gym at different times during the afternoon. After leaving the gym, I went into the office for a while, and then took off the rest of the day as I had planned to do. I had some errands to run, and then I set about the task of getting as much work as I could in. I went to the mall and walked. I went to Wal-Mart and walked. I went home and pounded a truck tire with a sledge hammer. I jumped on the trampoline for a while. Then I grabbed some lunch (skinny soup) and headed back to the gym around 2. The girl who was working the front desk stopped me after I had scanned my key fob in, and told me that my membership was expired. She was new, did not know who I was, and I don't think she knew what the Biggest Loser competition was, either. While I was trying to explain to her what was going on, Barry walked up, and I told him they wouldn't let me in the gym. He and Big Mike explained who I (and the other contestants) was, and then Mike loudly announced that we could work out today, but if any of us tried to get into the gym after midnight tonight, we were NOT to be allowed in without purchasing a membership. Yeah, we all felt quite welcome there.

I got on a treadmill and started walking; Charles came in about 45 minutes later and joined me. I did the treadmill until about 5, and then I decided I needed a change of scenery. I was going to go with Charles into the steam room / sauna - usually good for dropping at least a little weight. But something told me, no, I had gotten this far without resorting to the steam room, space-age plastic sweatsuits, or any other devices to reduce my number on the scale, other than making sure that my stomach was empty and I was not constipated on Monday. Sorry to digress into such topics, but when one goes on a high-protein, low-carb, low-fat diet, constipation is a constant battle. PHC tells me that I am their first client who actually had a case so severe that they had to go to the hospital. So I bypassed the steam room and headed for Wal-Mart, where I walked some more. I passed the aisle where the bathroom scales were sold, and there were three scales, all different models, out of the package and sitting on the floor. I took off my shoes right there in the store and got on the scale. I was hoping to be somewhere below 201... the scale displayed 199.2. I got off, let it reset, and got back on. Same result. I stepped on the other two scales (both were the dial-type), and both showed me at a tick under 200. I left Wal-Mart with a little time left before weigh-in, so I stopped at Lowe's and walked around in there for a while. I returned to the gym, got on their platform scale - same result. So HOPEFULLY my official number will be below 200. If you've been keeping up with this blog, you know that is the last number I had to crack to reach every single one of my goals for myself.

After we weighed in, the crew all went somewhere and ate Mexican... I am still feeling poorly, so I ran by Chick-Fil-A, grabbed a sandwich and some food for the family, and headed home to take cold medicine and get some fluids in me. Friday was an extremely long day...

Saturday was a good day... I got up early, did the dishes in the sink, ran some errands, went to lunch with some of our best friends (Cracker Barrel - grilled chicken sandwich on wheat bread, no cheese or bacon or mayo), and then we headed downtown for the Thunder Over Augusta celebration. We looked at the car show, watched the motocross riders do stunts off a ramp, and then watched the army guys with service dogs (this was much more impressive than it sounds - you haven't seen a dog do what a dog can do until you've watched him jump through the window of a pickup truck and drag the driver out of the same window by his arm). We left for a while, and then went back to watch the fireworks over the river.

Off to bed... tomorrow is my last day as an Augusta's Biggest Loser contestant, and I will join the ranks of Augusta's Biggest Loser alumni. If my count is correct, there will be 32 of us who have completed the program over the three years of its existence (9 + 12 + 11). If my numbers hold up, as they should, I will be one of six who have won the competition; one of three men who have won the crown; and the first contestant ever, male or female, to finish with a percentage of weight lost of over 40%.