The Simpson Blog

Here's a graph of how the six month project went: As you can see, it's not a dramatic drop, and there were some ups and downs throughout. Recapping the stats posted earlier: Height: 5'7" --> assuming same Weight: 220 --> 204 Body fat (on electronic scale): 40.1% --> 36.7% Chest: 44.5" --> 43.5" Biceps: 12" --> 11.5" Waist: 47" --> 42.5" Thighs: 25" --> 25.25" Neck: 17 3/8" --> 16" Here's my math for the fat loss, subject to peer verification: Started with 220 pounds, 40.1% body fat, meaning 88.22 pounds of fat and 131.78 pounds of everything else. Ended with 204 pounds, 36.7% body fat, meaning 74.87 pounds of fat and 163.09 pounds of everything else. That means I lost 13.35 pounds of fat and put on ... 31 pounds of muscle? No, that can't be right. Man, I'm no good at math problems. Someone help? I did some math yesterday that suggested I lost 11 pounds of fat and put

The final weigh-in for the six-month BigAssSuperstar: Un-Weighted project: Start weight: 220 pounds Last week: 205 This week: 204 Change: -1 Total loss: 16 pounds I expect to write a follow-up wrap-up some time in the next week, with before/after photos and some more thoughts, but here's the rundown of before and after measurements: Height: 5'7" --> assuming same Weight: 220 --> 204 Body fat (on electronic scale): 40.1% --> 36.7% Chest: 44.5" --> 43.5" Biceps: 12" --> 11.5" Waist: 47" --> 42.5" Thighs: 25" --> 25.25" Neck: 17 3/8" --> 16" And for further comparison, on May 22 2006 I weighed in at 225 pounds. That's a 21 pound loss since then. More to come later, including a review of the goals laid out at the beginning, before-and-after morphing videos, and a look at what happens next.

One week to go, and I have a new weapon in my fitness arsenal: tae kwon do class. This is a relatively big deal for me. I've never been involved in any kind of sport, aside from tee-ball when I was about six years old. So, attending twice-a-week classes with a six-month purchase is a pretty noteworthy step for me. Classes went well last Monday and Wednesday. I got tricked out with a snazzy uniform and white belt (which I've yet to learn how to tie according in the Standard Method), did the hour-long class with kicking and punching and stretching and pushups and crunches and lots of sweating. Then I walked home, which is about 2.3km or 25 minutes. All this while fighting a bit of a cold. Pretty proud of myself. Start weight: 220 pounds Last week: 208 This week: 205 Change: -3 Total loss: 15 pounds ---

Two weeks left, and it doesn't look like I'll be cracking 200. I'm two or three days into developing a cold, so I'm not sure how gymmable I'll be this week. I'd like to think that this week's weight change is purely as a result of about 6km of walking last Saturday, two trips to the gym for weight training, and decent eating throughout the week, resulting in significant muscle gain. Realistically, it could have something to do with that ... plus a junk food binge late in the week. My co-anchor brought in a case of World's Finest Chocolate-Covered Almonds to raise funds for her daughter's daycare, and I think I ate at least six boxes (at $2 each) this week. On the bright side, some children will be enjoying some lead-free paint in their play space. Martial arts training begins this week. Task one: learn Korean. Start weight: 220 pounds Last week: 206 This week: 208 Change: +2 Total loss: 12 pounds

Thanks to dad for tipping me off to the kerfuffle involving CityTV's consumer advocate Peter Silverman, a crazy optician, a door and the Emergency Task Force. (We miss having CP24 .) Kudos to Peter "Watch it, buddy!" Silverman for taking a door to the face while standing up for the little guy. I went to school with Silverman's twin daughters. I almost had my first kiss with one of 'em. We had a "date" one time involving pizza at Frank Vetere's , and video games and playing with Star Wars figures at my place. Grade five. Speaking of Grade Five, we just finished watching the new Fox game show "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?" Not an awful show, but a good reason to have a PVR -- you can watch an hour-long show in under 40 minutes. It also reminds me that in Canada, we call fifth grade "grade five." One of those linguistic differences. Like in the States, they say World War Two, while in Canada, style indicates we say S