Body Challenge update and the Gators



I just thought I'd let you, my readers, know how I am doing in the T-Bone's Body Challenge.

First off, I'm not doing so well. The hardest part of the challenge is the diet and finding the time to meet with Carrie.

In our initial meeting in January, Carrie gave everyone a list of foods that we could consume and a work out tailored for our body. No problem on the work out except not being able to walk for a few days because my legs were so sore, but the hardest part is the diet.

I admit that I am not a big fan of saying no to food, but I brought the list of foods home to my wife and she looked it over and agreed that it was doable. But she was not on this same diet that I was on and unfortunately, we could not spend the extra money for my food while paying for the food for our family. And my wife is a terrific cook and I cannot refuse anything she makes.

I am in the challenge, not my family. So right away, I knew I was going to have problems with meeting that requirement. There is also a lot of eating that goes on around my family and most of it is not made for a person who is watching what he or she eats.

I did my best by not gorging myself and limiting my trips for seconds. But everyone knows how hard it is to say no to Indian bread and chile stew.

So needless to say, I have failed miserably at T-Bone's Challenge and it is not because of Carrie. She called my office and reminded me that I needed to get in to see her, but once again, I couldn't make it in.

This is as much of an excuse as I can give, but I was busy. There is a lot of sports that happens on the weekends that I'm required to cover and I just couldn't find the time to get to the gym. My wife works during the week and the weekends she likes to do things. So it was either make her change her schedule and wait for me, or throw in the towel and hang with her. Guess which one I chose. I like sleeping in my bed and not on the couch so I chose to do fun activities with my wife instead.

Sure, I could go during the week. But that would require I burn gas to drive to Grants from my home in Laguna. Again, the reason is purely financial. I am not usually in my office on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.

I have been going to the gym quite regularly at Laguna. My wife makes sure of that by giving me a hard time if I don't go. I haven't gained any weight since my initial weigh-in at T-Bones, but I haven't lost any either. Sorry Carrie, but you are a great trainer and you are doing great work to help us out, but I just can't make it to the gym to see you.

The Gators

Congratulations to the Florida Gators, the 2006-2007 NCAA basketball tournament champions. This was the first time ever that one school won football and basketball championships in the same year. In fact, the Gators brought three championships to Gainesville in 12 months. Awesome.

Our local athletes might take a page out of the Gators book when it comes to unselfish play.

The five starters on the Gators basketball team forsake multi-million dollar contracts in professional basketball to return and win back-to-back championships. UF is the first school to win back-to-back championships since my Dukies in 1991 and 1992.

It took every player on the Gators two-time national championship team to win the game. Now, I expect the Gators starting five to jump off the swamp boat and head for “greener” pastures. I am not a UF fan, but you have to admire their commitment to the team and to each other. They set out on a mission as a team and they finished the job with back-to-back championships.

They were also my bracket buster in the final four. I went with the long shot and chose UCLA to defeat Ohio State in my bracket challenge. As the tournament began to unfold, I regretted my decision after watching UF play through the final four.

My wife, in her infinite wisdom, went with the Gators.

The Gators senior QB Chris Leak earned MVP honors in the championship game, also against Ohio State, despite many Gator fans calling for head coach Urban Meyer to replace him with freshman sensation Tim Tebow. Tebow and Chris Leak split time under center during the season, but the senior came up big for his team despite not being a crowd favorite. I earned new respect for Chris Leak, he is the ultimate team player.

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