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This has to be one of the hardest blog entries I’ve had to write (originally written 6/1/09 TODAY’S ENTRIES ARE BELOW THIS ONE). I am used to covering other peoples lives, events and things happening in Philly. How did I get here, I often ask myself. No not how did I become the Philly Social Diarist/Paparazzi or any of my other identifying characters, but how did I get to be almost 300lbs.

I like food and although I would like to think I work out, I guess running after a celebrity or walking through the park with my camera can’t really be considered “Fat Burning” no matter how heavy my camera might be. I wasn’t an overnight success getting to this weight, it was a gradual trip through many Cheese steaks, Tastykakes and anything else that Jenny Craig wasn’t offering.

Here I am 2nd from right at my sister Margaret’s wedding in 1993
That great metabolism I had in my twenties disappeared in my 30’s ( Mike & I 2001)
and I slowly ballooned to unbelievable widths. Although I exercised, I never learned to eat properly; I would go on the grapefruit diet, the cabbage diet, various programs etc but in the end put a piece of chocolate cake or pizza in front of me and it all went out the window.

(My sister Crista’s Bacherlorette party 2005)

Recently I took a good look at myself in the mirror and admitted life was unbearable in this direction (plus I was tired of people calling me “big guy”, “Hey big guy what’s up?”, “big guy you want fries with that?” and my favorite “Hey, big guy could I have a quarter?”

Last week a friend Twittered about the Fusion Cross Training Boot Camp program (with nutritional help). Fusion was also doing something along the lines of Philly’s Biggest Loser Challenge with NBC10 available to a smaller group in the boot camp. I thought I like The Biggest Loser, but do I have to do that photo without my shirt? (Owner Gavin MacKay said no, thankfully) I knew this might be a good thing, one of my dearest friends has been telling me for the past couple years “Hughe you should apply to be on “The Biggest Loser”. I wanted to be insulted, but I knew she was right. She told me that I could reach my goals, that it would force me to be more focused and most importantly maybe I could inspire others to do so too. Since that is the primary mission of PhillyChitChat to inspire and expose people to support the charities I cover, well how could I turn this down.
Although I may not live up to the segment which is called be “A 10 in 10 Weeks”. I might convince you to put down that extra slice of toast with butter and jam, and that’s OK. And although most of you probably don’t need to lose 100lbs, there are three other people that might be more in line with your goals. Remember Nicole Michalik from The Biggest Loser season 4

She initially lost over 130lbs, but a few pounds crept their way back on. She’s going to be part of the NBC10/Fusion Cross Training Challenge (Not contest, we are not competing). So if you were a fan, or you wanna follow someone who’s been there before you’ll want to tune in. The other participants are Megan Smith and Joe Matthews who I will write more about in the future.

One thing I was really surprised about was how aware I am now about what I eat. I went to the movies Saturday night and skipped the popcorn. That was big for me as I am a traditional eater, Turkey/Stuffing, Movies/Popcorn, Birthday/Cake.

So follow along as I shed the pounds towards a healthier me, and hopefully a healthier you.

———————————————————————————————————— 6/3 – 6 – 7AM Show- intro of people how to follow along @ Fusion fitness assessment links to track at home weights/measures pkg #1 ———————————————————————————————————— 6/106 – 7AM Show #1 video fitness tip #1 @ gym how it works nutrition tip #1 initial weights/measures pkg #2 ———————————————————————————————————— 6/17 – 6 – 7AM Show week #2 video fitness tip #2 rittenhouse profile person #1 nutrition tip #2 weights/measures after wk #1 pkg #3 ———————————————————————————————————— 6/24 – 6 – 7AM #3 video fitness tip #3 tba profile person #2 nutrition tip #3 weights/measures after wk #2 pkg #4