Big and Bearded ... Is It Just The New Me?

Ermahgerd, it's the hurlidurs agin.

Still fat and thus, still hairy. It is also the holidays, which means it isn't easy to maintain, let alone lose, weight. I have been ebbing and flowing with 5-6 lbs. for some time now. I get close and then my weight creeps back. Still trying, but two years into the beard penance, it is getting old.

No snowboarding yet. But there has been decent enough snow now for what, a week? Promise that I am taking Smarty Pants up on Sunday.

New bikes... new bikes.... they fill my dreams and haunt my waking hours.

The "Serious" Beard Challenge - Day I

I know I have been down this road before, but the beard has GOT to go.

This time I'm serious you guys.

Just so you don't have to go back through time, which really wouldn't take too long since the frequency of my blogging efforts is rather sparse, I'll regale you with a bit of history. A couple of years ago I found myself putting on some extra weight. Then a little more. And a little bit more. Pretty soon I was sitting at 165 pounds, which for my 5' 7" frame isn't bad if I never wanted to go up a hill ever again without wanting to punch myself in the ball sack or had pectoral muscles and biceps worth mentioning. Since neither are the case I wanted to lose weight. Hair has been a good motivator before, the last time I grew my hair long and vowed not to do more than trim the ends before I did I Half-Ironman distance triathlon. It worked. I trained and did it. So, this time, weight loss was the goal. Since my hairline has receded further I decided to grow a beard. I would keep the beard until I hit 150 pounds. That was two years ago....

That's right. I have had this stupid beard for nearly two years. I refuse to shave it until I lose the weight. I would consider just getting below 155 pounds and shaving it now. Maybe I have thus far failed because shaving isn't as sweet of a goal as that triathlon. I dunno. But I have been slowly (obviously) building toward critical mass — both physically and mentally — and I think it is time to get serious.

So here I go. I am starting today. I am going to chronicle this mess, day by day, until I shave it off. I may miss a few entries, but I have got to rid myself of this thing and I need some sort of accountability — even if it is only to myself on this page.

Why do I want to shave it when I still get compliments? The beard is hot. I hate riding through bugs and wondering what is crawling through it. Plus, I really want to see Smarty Pants' face when she sees me for the first time after I shave it, my beard replaced by an awkward tan line.... 

Tomorrow I will write about what I did today. It won't be a comprehensive list with calories and everything I eat. It will include nutrition and exercise overviews, plus the days' weight which I will obtain nekkidly on the scale in the morning. Today's weight was 164 pounds by the way.

Let the game begin.

The Beard that Keeps on Giving

I'm over the beard.

I'm tired of the Duck Dynasty references. The hipster jabs. Really tired of the gray in it. Drying it, trimming it. Combing out the snarls.

Yet the beard remains. It remains because my back fat remains. My weak attempts at weight loss fail. The 10 pounds I wanted to lose to shave it have now become 13 pounds.

But I am out of the rut I was in. Now, I'm just busy doing ... stuff. Projects and work taking my exercise time. Not that I am battling to find more time, mind you.

I need goals. I need to have an end before I can start. Climbing onto my bike for a ride is great, but the furthest thing from my mind is an interval. No goal, no schedule. Just flitting along day by day. It has merit, you know.

Still, it's time to lose the weight and shave the beard.