[Bill2380]

Thanks to Newman for the great idea and to Og for the spreadsheet, without which I'd have no idea how many points I had.

Nutrition 197 pts

Exercise 147 pts

Competitive 100 pts

Personal Goal 150 pts

Total 594

I started out pretty well with my nutrition but faltered at about the three week mark....as always. My will power rarely gets me further than that when I diet. I tried to pick it back up, but travel and vacation gave me too many "zero point" days. I must admit that my wife and I are eating better, more veggies and salads, but I do enjoy an oatmeal-raisin cookie midmorning.

My exercise was pretty good throughout. Except for vacation I got 3 or 4 resistance sessions per week and walked a lot with my wife or dog. I'm not sure if the walks did a lot for me physically, but they are relaxing after a workout.

My competitive challenge was a 3 on 3 basketball tournament in which we took some lumps. The old "whoever travels further is better" rule came into play when we lost to two teams from the DC area. We played both pretty tough but in reality they were just younger, early 30s, and better.

I'm claiming 1/2 credit on the personal goal. I was able to complete the 500 sq feet of hardwood floor installation on the night before my son's new girlfriend rolled into town for a visit. The 2 inches off the waist goal turned into 1 1/8". I lost a total of 10 lbs at my peak, but gained 2 lbs back after a wild July 28th party. I'd planned to pull an all day "Biggest Loser" exercise session on Sunday, but somehow the energy just wasn't there....damn beer.

My biggest take away is that I can drop fat relatively easily when my diet is really tight, but just have a hard time extending that for more than a few weeks. I'll probably try to put together a few good weeks before the end of the summer.

Thanks again to everyone who participated.