Current Weight: 278.8lbs Not anywhere close to my goal for Furfright.

I bought a book about ten years ago called "Power Eating" and I never really used it because after I read it I was A) intimidated of the exercise and diet is suggested B) didn't think of myself as a body builder, whom much of the book was written for and C) I had a girlfriend so I didn't need to stay in shape, right? RIGHT? Anyway.

I was organizing my library and I found it again under about 10 cookbooks. Seriously, that's not eerily symbolic or anything.

Regardless, I have been re-reading it and now realize I don't actually HAVE to be a body builder to get the most out of this book. However, having the mentality of a bodybuilder and realizing that losing weight and getting back into shape effectively makes you a bodybuilder, is a more prevalent idea in my pudgy brain. I'm reading the book in an entirely different mindset and have already implemented a far more structured workout and a more regimented diet plan. The book has a ton of intricate biology and terminology that just tickles that intellectual part of me, which I think is helping me get more into the idea of being more interested with my own health and fitness.

Here's a generalized outline for a week day:

Breakfast consists of a mostly Carb meal... Oatmeal and strawberries, Bananna+Strayberry+Lowfat Yogurt+Ice Smoothie, Two Eggs no butter with soy sauce and garlic, Whole Grain toast with strawberries. You get the idea. Carbs from Whole Grain and Fruit. (love my awesome blender)

I usually take a shower and get dressed after breakfast and about half-an-hour later I got take a 5 mile bike ride (25 minutes), or do the elliptical machine for 20 minutes if it's raining. (love my awesome bike... hate the elliptical grrr)

Then work. Drinking about a liter of water in coffee, tea, and/or plain water. (love my french press)

Around noon I take another 5 mile bike ride and when I get back, I have a multivitamin and lunch which consists of a salad that has various beans and celery/cucumbers/pickles on it, or a soup/stew my mom sent in for me (love her soups om nom).

I get out around 5.... take yet another 5 mile bike ride. Yeah.

When I get back, I do strength training with a couple of 20lbs weights and WiiFit Yoga, for a total of about an hour.

Around 6-7 I cook dinner, which is mostly a protien meal. A steak or chicken or fish.

Then I TRY and get to sleep for 8+ hours.

I'd like the theme to stay on pumpkins. Preferably with some canine element to it.

The beer is a sweet brown ale with a nutty flavor, infused with pumpkin and pumpkin pie spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, and the like).

Examples: Pawmpkin Brown Ale, Shepherd's Pumpkin Ale

If I like your idea, I might use it for the coasters I hope to have made for Furfright.

aaaaand.... GO!

Where are you staying?
Main hotel.

What day are you getting there?
Thursday afternoon.

Who will you be with?
 Katmomma

Who will you hang out with during the convention?
 Katmomma  desertgunbunny  shikoku and  g-shepsquad

Are there any panels you might be attending?
I've kinda grabbed the reins of the German Shepherd Meetup and subsequent Pool Party on Saturday at 12 to 1:30, and then pool part yis abotu 1:30-2:45, then at 3 there is a fursuit parade we'll be attending.

Will you be suiting?
Indeed.

What is your gender?
I have boobs and they are real. I'm a guy tho.

How old are you?
30

How tall are you?
5'11"

Can I talk to you?
Of course, I'm super friendly.

Can I touch you?
Oh my. Uhm... I'll get back to you on that.

How can I find you?
If you suddenly find yourself running down a hallway to avoid a large boulder... that's me. I'm the boulder. (not really, you don't need to find me. If you need me, I'll find you)

Can I visit your room?
By invitation only.

Can I buy you drinks?
I brew my own beer and am bringing enough of it to make half the con drunk. How bout I give you a free beer?

Can I give you stuff?
So long as it's not drama... or food. Please do not feed the sheppy.

Can I hug or snuggle with you?
YES. I'm a super nice guy and I'm all about cuddling and snuggling and murrpurring. Seriously tho, yes.

Are you nice?
I'm super friendly, yes. I'm a big cuddly shep.

If I see you, how should I get your attention?
Signal flares, semaphore, sending a courier with a gilded scroll, or you could say "hey sheppy/Log/Logarth/you bastard"

Where will you be most of the time during the day/s?
Heh, where WON'T I be! I'm one of those people that walks around the con allllll daaaaay and doesn't stay in one place too long.

What/where will you be eating?
I'm eating out of a cooler lol. Maybe pizza. Not planning on going anywhere out to eat. (Sushi at that place near the old hotel)

Can I come with you for food/fun/etc?
If you're invited, sure! I'm pretty impromptu about invites.

What's your goal(s) for the con this year?
Not gain weight, not spend too much money, spend every waking (and unwaking) moment with the love of my life, preferably at least a small amount of that being in someones closet. Promote 's awesome new suit. OH AND THE SHEPHERD PARTY THING.

Attn:  G-ShepSquad

For our Furfright Meet and subsequent pool party:

1) I'd like to ask everyone to meet up at noon on Saturday in the lobby of the hotel in one of the covered wooden-beamed sitting areas in suit ready to go. We're not gonna "parade" but we'll surely be walking and posing and generally messing around.

To the newbies, it's awesome good fun but if you're gonna pass out, duck out to the fursuit lounge. We'll be hard to miss when you wanna come back, trust me. If you DO manage to lose us, we *should* be at the pool around 1-1:30 until whenever.

2) Bring $5 for pizza, if you plan on eating any at the pool party. Outside food IS welcome and encouraged, just no glass containers. It'd be nice if people could potluck, that would be tricky at a con. While I trust my fellow sheps, I'm not too keen on con vultures swooping in and stealing from my bros, so I'll handle the pizza transportation and distribution personally.

3) After the meet at around 1-1:30pm, Operation Pool Party commences! De-suit and report to the pool for pizza, music and swimming and general cavorting with your fellow sheps and shep friends. Please observe pool rules, bring towels and try not to drown yourself or others.

I'm still looking for a good photographer to follow us around and take pics for this meet, like we had for AC. If anyone has a friend or knows a decent photographer that wants to follow us around and make sure we eventually get to see these pictures, please please please let me know.

I'm looking forward to seeing you all again and estimate the number showing up to be around 5-10 shepherd suits and possibly an additional 5-10 friends and fans!

I talked to constaff at FF over the last week. They gave me the OK to have a Pool Party, either Saturday or Sunday, within the window of 11am and 5pm. (They're showing movies at night and we don't want to be pool hogs)

My vision is thus: We meet up in the lobby, suit around for an hour or three like we usually do. Then, instead of everyone dispersing like we usually do to go get cooled off and find some grub, we all de-suit and meet up at the pool. We go swimming to cool off, and have ordered a few pizzas before we go suiting so there is food waiting when we get done.

The pool party will be open to anyone and everyone. Sheps both suiter and non, friends of the sheps and anyone that just wants to hang out in the pool. Pizza chip-in will be $5 cash so have it ready ahead of time. You could also bring your own food if you like, just no glass containers in the pool area please. Suits will be welcome in the pool area but not in the pool (duh) and the hotel has requested no pool toys in the pool area. All pool area rules should also be adhered to during the party. I'd like to be able to do this again in subsequent years without Belic getting all twitchy at the mention of a pool party.

What I need form you: Interest. Let me see a show of hands how many people want to attend. This is open to EVERYONE mind you, so if you're not a shepherd, you can still reply here to let me know you're interested! I'd like to get a consensus when the best day and time is to have the party so I can let the con staff know and MAYBE get this on the actual schedule. Gasp.

I'm tired, achy and hate feeling like this. I should have done this years ago, before I did the damage I have already done. I'm sorry for wasting time thinking and mulling over it. I'm just going to do it and be done with it. I can accept it may hurt, but in the end the result will be that I won't be suffering anymore.

I also apologize to everyone who tried to help me that I ignored. This is my problem, only I have the ability to really fix it. My parents, close friends... I appreciate what you tried to do for me but in the end I wish I had just had the balls to go ahead without your acceptance.

In the end, it doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is there is going to be less of me around.

I think I'm gonna miss pizza and beer the most... who knows, maybe where I'll be afterwards, I can have pizza and beer and not worry about a pound or two.

Today I weigh 273.6lbs Monday I'll be 270.0

Don't try and talk me out of it, I'm doing it this time, for real. Call Athens Pizza and tell them I'm sorry. You'll find me on my bike riding around in circles, drinking fruit smoothies and south beach diet.

First of all I would like to thank Pup and Pad for inviting us into their home to celebrate Pups (redacted) birthday Saturday evening. What a lovely apartment, excellent people and exquisite food.

On Friday after work I schlepped over to home depot and bought about $85 of wood, fixtures, stain and varnish. A night of staining, finishing sanding, cutting, screwing, gluing, clamping, more screwing and touch up staining/varnishing/finishing later I have a nice new workbench build specifically to store all my tools, equipment, and a vast array of junk I had previously laying around my living room. Now all I need to do is clean up the explosion of stuff that moving equipment, sawing and staining left strewn across my living room/storage area.

On Saturday I slept in, and got ready for the shindig at Pup and Pads... then spend the remainder of the evening there.

On Sunday, I got up and had some coffee with friends and chilled out a bit before returning home and chatting with Katmomma about Furfright plans. The robot army is almost ready. Mwuahahaha! Seriously tho, Furfright this year will be awesome. Which reminds me I'm starting a double beer batch of the Pumpkin Ale! Damn it I gotta do that this week! Aiiieee!

Today was the big cooking day. I showed up around 8:30am and started in on my Italian version of Ratatouille. My mother and I worked until about 1:30pm cooking and saucing and getting the services ready for the 5 course Italian dinner. My uncle was moving back to France and so this was kind of a sending off thing for him. it was also and excellent excuse for us to pull out all the stops and show off our cooking skills.

People started to show up around 1pm and and around 1:30pm we were serving the first course (anti pasti) which was: olive oil and kalamata olive teppenade, freshly sliced roma tomatoes on an onion cracker, proscutti wrapped around a mozarella pearl, basil and small piece of roma tomato and sprinkled with a bit of balsemic vinegar, a pamersian/mozzarella platter also including various proscutti slices and an assortment of olives, garnished with fresh curley leaf parsely and cherry tomatos. Wine selection was a couple of dry white wines. Around 2pm we brought out the second course (ensalada) which was a caprase platter with slices of tomato and fresh mozzarella topped with a chiffonade of lime basil and garnished with green olives, and my Italian style Ratatouille. Wine selection was a pair of Pinot Gris wines, one with a sweet note and one with a bright citrus note. People sat around till about 3:30pm picking over the remains of the anti pasti and ensalada, talking and drinking lots of wine. Around 3:30-4pm we served the third course (primero) which is usually pastas. We made our own spagetti and we had gotten some red pepper rigatoni from an Italian store we frequent in Rhode Island. We tossed half of the spaghetti with some bolonaise sauce we had made and the other half with some pesto we had made the week before out of fresh garden picked basil, parsley and cilantro. The rigatoni was tossed with some thicker beef bolonaise sauce Wine pairing was another pair of reds, both nice but I wasn't doing a lot of eating other than to check dishes were being served hot and fast. Again, we scrambled around while people moved out to the screen house, changing services like a well oiled machine. Around 5pm we served the fourth course (secundo) which was two platters of Chicken Parmesan and Eggplant Parmesan. Both fresh from a farm we frequent in the area. Best chicken and eggplant parm I have ever had ever ever. Wine pairing was another pair of reds and a dry dry dry Chianti. other bottles were opened and we finished off the previous rounds wine fairly quickly. It was amazing and accolades all around. Right after people were finishing thier second helpings, we started the fifth course (doulce) and I kicked into barista mode and whipped out 6 cappacinos in about 5 minutes with my combo machine. We served home made biscotti and an assortment of filo pastries we had gotten at the italian store in Rhode Island. No wine pairings here. it was super fun and everything came out well I couldn't believe. My mom and I are planning on doing this more often, and people are seriously telling me I need to go to chef school but... heh, that's for another time.

In the end, we had about 9 bottles of wine paired with various dishes over a 5 course meal that went off without a hitch. Everyone really seemed to enjoy themselves and after the meal we all went down to our beach. I swam across the lake with my 24 year old cousin who is some kind of track and field star. Heh, needless to say, after cooking, serving and eating a 5 course meal, and having had at least 8 glasses of wine myself, I was surprised as I kept up with him fairly well and only suffered a minor cramp about 100 feet from the shore on the way back. Looking on Google, it was about a half a mile across and back so I guess swimming and biking everyday really paid off in that I didn't drown or have a coronary.

Regardless, it was a blast and my only regret is not having taken more pictures.

http://saucepls.info/A/48/italianstuff.jpg

F5 for my FBW icon. :) Be sure to check out http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/2583126/ for the Fat Bunny Week Contest!

New Hampshire is not known for it's murder rate. I'm sure that there hasn't been a murder in Keene in about a decade at least. Regardless, last night, it was apparent something was up because Kimmers and Dex Wolf and myself observed a huge goings on late Sunday night on a street pretty much next door to me.

I dunno anyone involved, but it was in an area that college students predominantly occupy in off campus housing. My condolences to the deceased, and I hope not too many peples lives are ruined because of this.

http://www.reformer.com/ci_18542011.....rce=rss_viewed

 desertgunbunny poked me the other day and asked if i was doing a July 4th outing at the lakehouse again this year. I thought about it last night and given that my parents won't be using the lakehouse, that yes, we would.

Barring the lakehouse use, I'm considering having it just at my place which is downtown Keene, which will be like 500 feet from where they launch the fireworks from, and a 5 minute walk from downtown which is awesome.

Note or message or whatever here if you're interested.

My maternal grandfather passed away about 30 minutes ago. He's had terminal lung cancer for about a year, and beat the "you're going to die on X" spread by about 8 months. We visited him often and have always been on good terms with him as long as I've known him. He was the guy I got all the mechanical/tinkery skills and feisty attitude from according to my parents. I like to think he's also where i got my passionate and adventurous side.

My mom is the one that's really going to need to emotional support on this one. Like I said, we all visited him regularly and she's been down there often to make sure everything is in order and that he is happy etc. He died in his home with no pain, after a long and beautiful life as a mechanic, father and all around hard worker at 83.

Rest in Peace Granpa Norman.

...will have to wait, I just got home and I am tired.

Thanks to  Katmomma for making this one of the best weekends I've had in years and years and years. Apparently there was a furry con going on in the hotel we stayed in. I was distracted most of the time, so it makes sense I didn't notice it.

ARRIVAL:
I'll be arriving late Thursday night

WHERE AM I STAYING?
The Westin

WHO WILL I BE WITH?
 shikoku  desertgunbunny  rayen &  katmomma

HOW DO I FIND YOU?
I'll either be walking around- a rotund 5'11" shepherd with short brown hair OR
You'll see me in my german shepherd fursuit.

WHERE WILL YOU BE?
I will be in the fursuit parade, and hanging out in the dealer's den to stop by and wish some of my favorite artist friends well in their sales. I'll also be hanging out in the main hang out room to chat it up.....and of course...random places throughout the hotel.

WILL YOU BE DOING ARTS?
No, but I will be doing beer trades and like, playing Bass guitar a lot probably.

ANYTHING ELSE WE SHOULD KNOW?
Don't be a creeper! Seriously, creeper no creeping!


Now, who else is going?

Goal: 250 by Furfright

Current: 279.6

To go: 29.6

Time left: 135 days

Current rate loss for success: 0.22lbs/day = ~800 calories/day

Current BMR at rest: ~2600calories/day

Current BMR with 45 minutes of light exercise: 3642calories/day

I haven't lost weight, due to various stupid choices, and a trip down to FA:U recently putting me back about 5lbs. Whatever. Goal is still reasonably achievable, and on Monday I've promised myself I'll be down to 275 to get back on track. A pound a week, and getting righteous with the diet and exercise.

Upped my bike ride to one huge 5 mile loop around downtown Keene during lunch. It's got about 6 long painful uphill sections. Dear god it sucks but I come in sweating and breathing normally, so asthma and pollen haven't really held me back this season. I don't know how doing this every day hasn't burned off like 10bs already but, maybe it's time to not be such a huge lardass and eating smaller meals. I'm literally counting every last calorie I consume so i know it's that I'm eating "to much".

I kinda used April to get out of winter mode running for 30 mins a day, May to get back into biking shape with multiple 15-20 minutes rides, and now June will be the month I reallllly grind off the weight with 45-60min power rides around Keene, NH.

 Hali is doing a live show in Nashua on June 18th at 6pm at Fat Daddys coffee shop http://fatdaddysnh.com/ In an attempt to get more local furs to show up, I'm trying to make more of a day out of it. (Vermonters I am looking at you) I'm planning either a lunch+movie, mall crawl, along with a trip to the brewing store and hydroponics store in Nashua. We might even start the day off at Fat Daddys for coffee etc!

Never heard of Matthew Ebel? Sign up for the mailing list and get 5 free songs! http://matthewebel.com He's an awesome musician that does live performances at cons and many other venues, and is also a swell guy IRL.

Someone snagged a couple of icon slots and someone was thoughtful enough to give one of these slots to me... and this is how I thank them.

Goal: 250 by Furfright

Current: 279.2

To go: 29.2

Time left: 150 days

Current rate loss for success: 0.19lbs/day = ~700 calories/day

Current BMR at rest: ~2600calories/day

Current BMR with 45 minutes of light exercise: 3642calories/day

Yup, so it looks like I can easily lose the weight by Furfright. I may readjust this as I start losing, since the last 6 times I've lost 30+lbs, the first 10lbs just dropped right off, giving me a lower goal.

I've pulled my old Giant bike from the garage and ride it every morning, at lunch and after work for about a total of 45-60 minutes, about 15 minutes which is a significant hill. I've started taking a mens health vitamin, drinking tons of green tea (like, the only thing I drink now) and sticking to carrot sticks and lean cuisine's. Tired of being Fatty McFatterson and just wanna be chubby Von Slightlyportly.

Where are you staying?
 shikoku shikoku's Haus

Who are you rooming with?
 katmomma  shikoku  desertgunbunny

Who will you be with?
Awesome Bunny fat dog, derp bunny, and who ever has the beer.

How old are you?
30

Whats your gender?
I'm a MAAAAAN.

How tall are you?
5 foot 11 inches

Do you do trades?
No, unless you want to trade beers.

What suits will you have?
A human suit.

What will you be wearing?
Probably cargo shorts, a hoody, and running shoes wiht short socks.... and maybe a silly hat of some kind.

Can I talk to you?
Can I talk to YOU?

Can I buy you a drink?
I'm bringing my own booze, save your cash.

What's your poison?
Beer. Duh.

Can I commission you?
No, my art is not a beast I have yet tamed.

What events will you be attending?
Matt Ebel Concert & After party

Can I hug you?
Heh, if your arms are long enough.

Are you nice?
I am very nice... too nice some would say.

How long are you going?
Just for Saturday- all day

Do you have an artist table? If yes, what will you be selling?
No.

Do you like parties?
I live to party.

Can I give you a gift?
I take beer and cash.

If I see you, how should I get your attention?
Walk up to me and say hi and then have something interesting to say. Don't come up to me and say hi and then like, expect me to do all the talking.

Anything else?
I'm a beer dog. Ask for for some beer, I think.

 Katmomma made me an awesome new icon, and it's awesome and you should see it.

Awesome. Whoo!

It's nice outside. I have lots of beer that needs to be consumed. You know what to do.

No kids, no creepers, no furfaggotry drama bullshit.

I have tons of parking, near downtown Keene and we can grill stuff or invade some bar or I dunno. I guess fursuits welcome but, I mean do you wanna walk like 2-5 miles in a fursuit in this weather? Fursuits totally welcome to come chill out at my place tho.


Mind the bird, the garden and the evolving studio.

Note me for the address if yer interested.

If I have one piece of advice for anyone... it's, do it. That project or idea that's sitting in the back of your mind? That thing you've always wanted to do, but never went for? Do it. Do it now. Don't even wait for tomorrow. Stand up right now, and do it. Every second you wait, will be just that much more time wasted without you being able to move your in the direction you want to go.

I just pretty much practiced playing my guitar all day...and until about 5:30am. I love it. It's the coolest thing ever. I am so so so glad I did it, and frankly, I regret I didn't do this sooner.

So, in summation, Do it. Thank you.

... so over the last two weeks, I've shopped around for electric guitars, frequenting a local music store and the internet for reviews of what was available. I finally decided last night and bought a Jumpstar Kit from Ibanez. It contained an Ibanez Gio, a small amp, cables trap picks, tools and a tuner.

I also picked up a few primers so I could learn how to read guitar sheet music and not just stumble around with tab like I have with my acoustic for the last year. After last night, I'm not sure I want to go back to tab. I have been in chorus, theater and have played the trombone for a few years (back in highschool, and a little after) so I'm not unfamiliar with reading music, and basic music theory. I have to thank my music teachers in middle school and high school for that. Regardless, I found it far easier to read the music and know a few chords and basic notes than to try and read tab and not really get any explanation out of it. I also feel far more confident using a primer, since it's structured to teach you to play.

I'd eventually like to record and "produce" music, which should go well with the voice acting/recording I wanted to do too. Maybe I can get some pointers from some of the more musically talented people I know on FA abut equipment. I hear they're all going to be busy at Furry Fiesta this weekend though.

 buckhopper  bucktowntiger  flarestarfire  hali Just to name a few... if you don't know these people, check them out. Yes... yes there *are* good furry musicians. (Buckhopper does voice acting, but check out the FBA tracks still.)

The first in-keg naturally carbonated batch I've made... Now I just need to hit up the brew shop to get a tap, some pipes and a canister of CO2. Gooo me for waiting so long. (Also, need a new primary seal ring for the keg, oh god.)

Beer Dog strikes again. I now have 2 beers going in my little brewery. Next weekend I'm finally *finally* getting to the Boston Lager... and my dad is bringing up about 8lbs of honey from his bee hives to make mead.

Oh, hells yes.

Also, life is pretty peachy, stayed a Sagittarius, during the moon phase shift thing that just happened, work is slow finally, and I'm catching up on some well needed sleep.

<3s to whoever needs <3s