2015 It's All Downhill From Here

I finally sat down to tally up the numbers for 2015 and it’s staggering what the Lord blessed me in 2015!  2010 was the last time I was able to take a big trip, and that trip included three parks.

In 2015 I visited TWENTY ONE amusement parks! Wow that’s insane even for me!

These parks I visited for the first time:  Disneyland, Disney California Adventure, Knott’s Berry Farm, Universal Studios Hollywood, Six Flags Magic Mountain, Waldameer, Canada’s Wonderland (1^st international park), MarineLane (2^nd international park), Conneaut Lake Park, Six Flags New England, Knoebels, Lakemont, Quassy, Rye Playland, Go Karts Plus (Williasmburg) and Idlewild.

These parks I made a return visit to: Carowinds, Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Kennywood, Six Flags America and Six Flags Great Adventure.

And for the big drum roll please…

I started the season at Carowinds and Fury 325 was my 204^th credit (unique coaster ridden) and I finished 2015 with 276! 

I can’t imagine ever picking up 73 credits in one year ever again. I’m very thankful for the blessings I’ve received this year that allowed me to travel so much, meet Antoine and Chris for the first time, travel to Canada with Shawn (first time in Canada) and just have an incredible year to look back on.

Things haven’t been easy since mom passed last year, but God more than made up for the hurt of 2014 with the blessings of 2015.  My physical challenges are what they are, but wow God has blessed my socks off this year!


I also completed my goal of riding El Toro and got the Bizarro credit to boot!

I look forward to a big trip to Orlando next month and then a trip up to Dollywood for their amazing new wooden coaster later in spring.

By end of 2016 I should be getting very close to 300 coaster credits.

Until next time.

Ole! Revenge Is Sweet!

Hello again readers, if you've been following this blog for any amount of time you know of my weight struggles, and how I finally started down the road towards better health after being denied riding El Toro, a wooden coaster at Six Flags Great Adventure.

So June 10 rolled around, almost five years since I was last denied riding the monster.

After joining F3, doing the 5:2 Diet and trying my best to stick with the program, losing between 50 and 60lbs. I thought I was probably safe heading back to the park for another try.

I walked into the park and headed straight for the coaster, figuring I needed to be at my smallest to make sure I had a fighting chance to fit.  Some don't know that your body actually expands during the day, due to water intake and other factors.

I stopped at the dreaded test seat and couldn't get a green light.  This wasn't looking good.  But I knew from five years ago, that the test seat was more stringent than the actual coaster restraints.

There was no one in line yet, well only a few, so I was grateful if I had to do the Walk of Shame again, it wouldn't be in front of a lot of eyes.

I sat down, pulled the seat belt on, and I could tell I had a little more room in the seat belt than five years ago, so who knows, maybe this would end well.

To my surprise the crew was actually very helpful this time around, and with a few pushes on my restraint, I got the all-clear!

We quickly ascended the lift hill and the moment I had dreamed of for many months was finally coming true as we careened down that 76° drop.  The drop was amazing, the rest of the ride was honestly kind of painful because of the horrible restraint.  But mission accomplished, El Toro was mine!

So what now?  Well, one goal is finished, but time to set some more goals.  I still need to lose at least another 30lbs. and I'm refocusing on that.

I'm thankful for how far I've come, and the great thing is with F3, I'll never arrive.  I can always get stronger, healthier, faster (ha!), but my brothers will always keep pushing me and until I take my last breathe, I'll keep on pushing.

I was amazed this trip at my stamina. Five years ago I visited three parks in two days and I was exhausted by the second day.

This trip I visited nine parks in seven days and drove nearly two-thousand miles and until the very end of the trip, I really wasn't what I would call exhausted.  Thankfully all those coasters and walking each day pretty much guaranteed I was out cold at the end of the day and slept well.

So a 43-year-old me, easily was in better shape than the 38-year-old version of myself, that was denied El Toro, and started down this road.

What does the future hold?  Not sure at this point, but you know I'm not giving up.

Until next time.

T-Minus 9 Days!

Hello again Friends, it's about that time... when I try again to conquer El Toro at Six Flags Great Adventure!

If you go back to my first post, you'll read that back in 2010 I was denied riding the #1 ranked wooden coaster in the world, located on the outskirts of Philadelphia and it inspired me to start searching for a way to lose weight.

Along the journey to lose weight, I've discovered F3, GORUCK and all kinds of silly things like 5k's, 10k's and mud runs, all of which I've already completed with a little help from my friends.

I'm somewhere in the neighborhood now of 60lbs. down, with a goal to lose another 30 or so before I learn to settle into being skinny again for the first time in a very, very long time.

Recently I was able to buy my first 36" pants and shorts in probably fifteen years!

That brings me to this post: nine days from now I'll be hopefully riding El Toro for the first time!  I say hopefully, because after you've taken the Walk of Shame too many times, you never assume you are going to fit on a coaster, especially one so restrictive like El Toro.

Going into this weight loss journey, I was prepared I think, for the physical aspects but had no idea the emotional impact such a journey would take on me.

There are days I get depressed because I'm still overweight, still technically considered obese, then there are days I feel like nothing can stop me and the weight doesn't stand a chance.  This is why F3 has become vital for me.

F3 is full of thousands of guys, some serious athletes, at least one actual Olympian is in the F3 south Charlotte brotherhood now, but most are just average guys just trying to get better.

Many though have never been seriously overweight as I have been, and while they empathize with me, they really don't know what it's like to be so overweight you can't see your feet, so overweight that the weight of your arms puts pressure on your body while in bed to the point of stopping normal circulation, so overweight that you have skin issues, with being so heavy and skin rubbing against skin and causing sores and all other painful issues.  But they still encourage, still push me, still drag me along sometimes. OK, maybe not literally the last one, but certainly emotionally.

It amazes me when anyone says they are inspired by me, it's so easy to look at myself and forget how far I've come, to forget how strong I've gotten, and to forget that I'm well over half way home on the weight loss!

When a friend who I consider a real American hero, serving our country overseas while his wife is home taking care of seven children, because he'd "rather fight them over there, than at home." calls me an inspiration, and wants to do GORUCK when he gets home because I've gotten into GORUCK, it simply blows me away and humbles me, and shocks me a bit too.

When I consider that just a year and two months ago, I could barely survive a F3 workout, and now I've lead about twelve or thirteen workouts now, I just smile and shake my head.

Even though the Bible was talking really of spiritual things, I can't help but feel that 1 Corinthians 1:28 somehow applies to me:

God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are...

It's like me leading F3 workouts, what am I doing?  There are guys in much better shape than I,  who can run rings around me, but there I am.  But that's the great thing about the Body of Christ, God gifts us all with different gifts, different skills, we don't all know it all, and we haven't all achieved it all.

So, who knows if I'll fit on El Toro this time around.  I sure hope so.  But if I don't, I'm not giving up on this journey.  I've learned too much, I've been inspired and pulled into things that have reignited a passion for life, country, my fellow man and God (not in that order) and I'm excited about my life now, I'm excited about what the future holds.  Two years ago I would never have said that.  Never.

So if you're out there, and like me you struggle with your weight, an addiction, whatever, don't give up.  God is there reaching out to you, it may be through someone smiling as you walk your dog, it may be in a brother kicking you in the rear to keep running, whatever it is, God works in our lives, if we let Him.

Look for an update soon about the results of my trip, here's hoping and praying that I'm able to ride the bull! Ole!

Until next time...

Amazing What A Few Inches Can Do

Greetings friends and followers of my little blog, back with an update that is about a month late.  Not a lot has happened on the scale, but a lot has happened in other areas of my weight loss journey.

Still sticking with the 5:2 Diet and working out at F3, and it continues to pay off.

On September 20, I attended ACE Southeast's SCarolina Coaster Classic, coaster event at Carowinds.

This was my first opportunity to visit Carowinds in a few months and wow did I see a big difference on the coasters.

The coaster shown is Afterburn (some may remember it as Top Gun: The Jet Coaster) and for the longest time it has been a battle for me to fit on the coaster.  But not on the 20th!

My favorite place to ride on Afterburn is in the back row, the forces are the strongest there and I really love it.  But the back row has been a struggle for a long, long time because the belts would many times be too short for me because I was so overweight.

There were times I would barely fit, with the ride attendants struggling to get the belt locked. There were times I was turned away or given the option of the big-boy-seats, which have longer seat belts but are in the middle of the train and don't offer the same G forces.

On the 20th I sat down in the seat and pulled my seat belt and locked it and low and behold it was loose!  I can't remember the last time I had an inch or two of slack on my seatbelt for any B&M inverted coaster.

As you may know my whole reason, besides my health, to lose weight began when I was denied riding El Toro in New Jersey.   Today I think I would fit!  Of course I'm not stopping, I'm going for the gold and while I'm already thinner than I've been in over a decade, I want to go about 30 or 40 more pounds down and then find a way to maintain that weight the rest of my life.

For years I've had roller coaster t-shirts hanging in my closet that no longer fit.  I obviously bought them when I was thinner, but I just held on to them hoping some day I could fit in them again.  Well they all fit now!  I'm actually wearing a Millennium Force shirt today that hasn't been loose on me since probably I bought it in 2003.

I'm running a 5k Sunday (my third since June 2013) and I'm hoping to best my last race time.  I'm also planning to do my first mud run in April!  I always seem to be scared before the next challenge, but I also know that I'll get through it.

If you're thinking about doing a mud run in the future, F3 has a new men's mud run workout!   The Brave (the name of the workout) meets at The Vine at 5:15 on Fridays.

2015 will also hold my second GORUCK Light, my first 24 Hours of Booty, and possibly a GORUCK Challenge. 

Lots of stuff to keep me excited and motivated as I continue the Year of Wes with v2.0.

El Toro I'm coming to conquer you!  Ole!

Thanks for reading along and until next time please sit on your sandals!

My Top 10 Roller Coaster / Amusement Park Lists

Top Ten - Steel

1. Nitro (Six Flags Great Adventure)

2. Intimidator (Carowinds)  

3. Diamondback (Kings Island) 

4. Goliath (Six Flags Over Georgia)

5. Apollo's Chariot (Busch Gardens Williamsburg)

6. Intimidator 305 (Kings Dominion)

7. Millennium Force (Cedar Point)

8. Magnum XL-200 (Cedar Point)

9. Montu (Busch Gardens - Tampa) 

10. Afterburn (Carowinds) 

       

Top Ten - Wood

The Voyage

1. The Voyage - (Holiday World)

2. Thunderhead - (Dollywood)

3. The Legend - (Holiday World )

4. The Raven - (Holiday World)

5. Kentucky Rumbler - (Beech Bend)

6. Thunderbolt - (Kennywood) 

7. The Beast - (Kings Island) 

8. Grizzly - (Kings Dominion)

9. Georgia Cyclone - (Six Flags Over Georgia)

10. Gwazi- (Busch Gardens Tampa)

Busch Gardens Williamsburg

Favorite Parks

1. Busch Gardens - Williamsburg, VA
2. Islands of Adventure - Orlando, FL
3. Dollywood - Pigeon Forge, TN
4. Cedar Point - Sandusky, OH
5. Holiday World - Santa Claus, IN
6. Six Flags Great Adventure - Jackson, NJ
7. Six Flags Over Georgia - Atlanta, GA
8. Busch Gardens - Tampa, FL
9. Kennywood - Pittsburgh, PA

10. Kings Dominion - Doswell, VA