it's been a while

Well it has been quite a while since I have written on this blog. ... not like anyone is reading this anyway. Oh well!!

my weight loss continues. I have been doing weight watchers for 6 weeks now and I have lost a total of 20.8 lbs.

I have been content wearing my old clothes but my wife insists that I wear new clothes because my old ones are getting too big on me. I have dropped from a size 48 to a size 40.

Last night I even tried doing the biggest looser workout. I really liked it. It has the cast (the contestatnts) working out when they are heavier. It also brings in two cast members from the season before. Bob, the trainer, really shows you how to do everything. I was empressed. Usually on exercise videos you are left in the dust while they do there thing and you don't know whet they are going to do next. The biggest looser workout even has a six week program on it.

I would really like to try out for the biggest looser however with my disability I wouldn't pass the physical. They should have an episode for those who are disabled. Maybe I will suggest that to them.

Well I am off to do the shaping part of the video. That is using weights if you didn't know that.

so here I go again.....

My radio station

I have recently made my own radio station on Yahoo. So check it out

Here is my link to my station

http://music.yahoo.com/lc/?rt=0&rp1=0&rp2=1873107935

The weight is starting to come off

Well I went to weightwatchers again last night. I have lost another 3 lbs.

I was really susprised because I wasn't able to exercise the way I wanted and because I have been eating more than I usually have been. I have been allowed 32 points a week and then we are also alloed an extra 25 points as flex points. I try not to use those though.

I went to a super bowl party at my inlaws and ate shrimp. (I love shrimp) and alot of veggies and two cheese burgers. The veggies aren't worth any points and the cheese on the two burgers were worth 4 points alone. The burgers were worth 10 points and the shrimp were worth 1 point for every 1/2 cup.

Needless to say I went there expecting to eat the burgers with cheese. That would put me at 2 points in the bonus. The shrimp how ever put me about another 7 points into the bonus.

I am doing good so far this week so far. I exercised when I got home from WW and exercised today. I ride my exercise bike for 40 minutes and do a 2 minute coold down afterward.

so far I have lost a total of 12.6 pounds. I am once again under 300 lbs. The first time in 3 years. I am really happy. No one to my goal of 210 lbs.

wish me luck.. here I go again!!

Am I the biggest looser?

Well after watching the biggest looser and being inspired by Matt, a contestant on the show, from Marion, Iowa. I have decided that it was time for me to make a change in my life for the better. I have decided to loose weight, exercise, and change my eating habits.

Matt inspired me because we both have a lot of the same background. Matt is from Iowa, he was/is an athlete. We both gained a butt load of weight. Here is the link to one of my favorite shows. maybe it can insipre others also. http://www.nbc.com/The_Biggest_Loser/

I decided that I needed to do this because 1) I want to be around for my son, and 2) I need to build respect for myself and then I can get more respect from others.

I thought I would try to join the biggest looser also but when I read the disclaimer for the show I decided that I couldn't because I am a disabled veteran. I got hurt while being stationed in S. Korea. I have something called Tercel tunnel syndrome. My nerves are being pinched off in my toes.

I did the next best thing I could think of. I joined weight watchers and started riding an exercise bike. When I started I weighed 310 1/2 lbs. Here is the link to Weight Watchers, maybe they can help you change your life for the better too. http://www.weightwatchers.com/index.aspx

My first week I lost 7 lbs. I was doing great. Watching what I ate and the portions I ate on the point system and exercising on the bike for 20 to 30 minutes every other day.

I feel great. I have a lot more energy and don't want to take a nap during the day any more.

I just weighed in last night. I lost an additional 2 1/2 ponds. I am now 301. I really want to get under 300 lbs. My goal is 210 lbs. I wasn't able to exercise as much this week, only twice instead of four days like last week.

I once got down to my ideal weight, 185 lbs, while I was in the army. The doctors told me that I was malnourished and had to gain weight. For my body mass I needed to be 210 lbs. That is once again my goal.

To help get to this goal my wife and I have decided to buy an elliptical trainer. This will make sure that the pressure on my feet is minimal and that I can get a good work out. I will purchase this tonight and start alternating between that and the bike.

I will place before and after photos when I loose enough weight to be more noticeable. I have so far been able to synch up my belt two more notches. Hopefully if anyone ever reads this page they will not be too grossed out.

so wish me luck because here I go ....... Again

My first Post

Well here I am. It is me. This is my first post. I really don't know what to say but here goes my ramblings.

The big issue we are seeing here in Iowa, for teachers any way, is an increase in pay for teachers. The Iowa legislature is debating this issue at this very moment. The Republicans also want to increase the school year. We presently must attend 180 Days. This includes teacher meetings and early outs. The Democrats think teacher pay should be increased.

I know I sure could use the money. My wife is a stay at home mom for our 3 year old. The cost of Day care is very high and when she was working almost all of her check went to day care. We also don't know the quality of the care that he would be getting. We did not like how he was cared for before she started staying home.

Well back to be a teacher. I am a teacher at Norwalk high school in Norwalk Iowa. That is a subburb of Des Moines, Iowa. I teach something called NASA. This is a class that helps teach the fundamentals that students need to be successful in a regular education classroom. Other than one class per day the students are fully included in the regular education classroom. This, as we are told will be the model for other classrooms in the future.

This is my first year at Norwalk. I really enjoy it here. In the past I have taught at Dubuque Hempstead, Des Moines Hoover, Saydel High School, and Southeast Polk High school. I know this sound like a lot of moving around but there are simple expolinations for all of them. Here it is..

I taught special ed in Dubuque for 4 years. they were goping to faze out my position and move me to another school. In the mean time I met my wife, Laura. She lived in Des moines and convinced me to look into what Des Moines offered. I also wanted to get out of town to get a way from my ex-wife. (that will be another post)

I than moved to Des Moines and taught special ed at Des Moines Hoover. I was also a defensive cordinator for the varsity football team and an assistant track coach. This was my worst year ever of teaching. I thought it was a good day if a couple of chairs were thrown in my class and I was told to F off three times a day and had to break up to fights every day. I decided I needed out of there after one year. I was offered the chance to be a social studies teacher and a Head Varsity football coach and Head Girls Tennis coach at Saydel High school, another Des Moines subburb.

Saydel was great at first. Football practices were going good. I brought the offensive cordinator from Hoover with me to Saydel. The kids were excited and were trying hard. Saydel had a loosing tradition, 54 games in a row, but I was determined to change that, and I believed I could. The problem was we played 5 teams ranked in the top 10 of the state football rankings. But we did win our first game in 6 years. things went down hill from there. Put it this way, I did not have control of my own budget and the athletic director and the principal would not let me run my own team. They wanted to tell me how to coach and make my game plans for the week. (this is an understatement by the way, if you want more of the story you will have to ask)

So after two years I left Saydel and went to Southeast Polk, another subburb, and got back into teaching special ed. I really liked it there. The teachers and theadministration were great. Excpet for one administrator, very controlling. Well any way they had to cut teaching positions after one year because of a decrease in the special ed population.

I am now at Norwalk and teaching special ed again, and an assistant football coach. I love it here. It has been 7 months since I have been here. I like the teachers, the administration, and the kids. I would like to stay here for quite a while, I think. However I miss being a head football coach, even with all the head aches. The only problem here is that I am being paid less. So that is why I have picked up teaching Adult ESL at DMACC, the local community college.

Wish me luck.. Here I go