I weighed in this AM and my Withings scale logged 259.7 pounds and sent it to Facebook and Twitter. Soon, I received notice from my online service, connected online to Withings, that I have unlocked my 45 pounds lost badge on Fitbit!

It has taken ten-months but here’s how I have done it: gone to the gym three-times/week; counted my calories; pretended to be an gym rat so I have eaten lots of eggs and lots of chicken and very little pasta, bread, and ice cream; and — and this is key — I have forgiven myself my trespasses because I have had binges, I have had nights of beer and merriment.

I have eaten pints of ice cream that I had bought for my mother.  And I have polished off a bottle of red wine in one sitting, more than once. But that’s OK (for the weight loss) because I did not get frustrated and give up.

I started off using the fitbit thingy and the Fitbit site back in Portland but because my fitbit got killed in the laundry and I didn’t replace it. But I used all the stuff on here to log my food and workout on LoseIt almost religiously — and I still am — and also drank way more water than I was comfortable with.

Since I fetish nice things, I have been working out much harder ever since I secured a pair of red, sexy, Mizuno running shoes, the Mizuno Wave Rider 15 Limited Edition — wearing these bright and shy shoes makes me feel self-conscious because they’re too good for me. I don’t honor them with all the miles in the world so I feel like I need to train like crazy so I can honor them with better time, a better pace, a longer time out, more mileage, and wear them out as fast as possible so I can get another pair. I had been getting lighter, less-structured, running shoes before but I am really sold on these. They’re working like crazy for me and I am now a devoted Mizuno runner, just like Haruki Murakami.

Since I am a technologist, I allowed tech and gear to excite me, including my Polar FT60 to track my heart rate at the gym. I upload the logs to Polar Personal Trainer. I do my best to log and track and I also make sure everything is share-able to social media for accountability. I also use RunKeeper as well as my Garmin Forerunner 305 when I run or bike.

My lofty goal — and goals are essential — is to get back into my delicate little carbon fiber single racing shell that I call Gerris. While it is a heavyweight boat, it isn’t rated for 305 pounds, which is where I was as recently as June 2011.

And, how do I know all this? How do I keep accountable?  Well, I splurged and bought the Withings WiFi Body Scale, which communicates wirelessly not only to the Withings.com site but also to Facebook, RunKeeper, FitBit, and Twitter — so every morning when I weigh myself, my weight gets published to my wall on Facebook and to my 4,973 friend and to my 47,382 followers on Twitter. Every day.

Now that’s accountability.

I also use FourSquare for accountability because not only does it tell my friends that I am there, but it also tells me how many checkins I have made at the gym since I have started checking in.  As of today, I have checked into XSport Fitness Express 121 times.

While I really could not afford it easily, I hired James Harris, a personal trainer at XSport Fitness Express near where I live in Arlington, Virginia. On that note, I joined the gym that was closest to where I live because I was always afraid that any travel at all would give me an excuse not to go. In general but especially when the weather wasn’t perfect.

With James, he makes me do suicides — the suicide drill. He makes me work with the TRX straps. Actually, I ended up buying a travel set of TRX straps that I throw into my suitcase so I can have it on the road. A pair of shoes and the TRX and you’re done. I have the TRX Pro Pack. The Pro Pack comes with a door anchor and it all comes in a netting bag so it easily slips into my Tumi roller bag. Good stuff.

Oh!  And this is the most important thing: the more weight you lose, the easier it is to lose weight; the more you exercise and become durable, capable, and build up your fitness and remove all that weight off your joints, the easier it will be to get out there and spend more and vigorous time — and as you see progress, you will become more encouraged and less frustrated, saying “screw it, it’ll never work, it’s hopeless.”

It is not! You can do it!

Related articles

• FitBit Aria Wi-Fi scale now available (gearlive.com)
• New Fitbit knows how high you are (news.cnet.com)
• Fitbit commercially launches Aria WiFi weight scale By Brain Dolan mobihealth news (listahit.wordpress.com)
• My FitBit Experience: Answering a friend’s questions (garvis.ca)
• Fitbit’s New Aria Smart Scale: For When Tweeting Your Weight Just Isn’t Enough (betabeat.com)
• Work out, get on scale…tell your friends? (news.cnet.com)
• How the fitbit got me to walk more and be part of society again (arstechnica.com)
• FitBit’s New (Non-Wearable) Device: The Wi-Fi Smart Scale (allthingsd.com)
• Counting Pullups (jcs.org)
• FitBit Aria Scale Review (abcnews.go.com)
• Fitbit Aria WiFi scales go on sale (slashgear.com)
• Fitbit steps up its game with Aria Wi-Fi scale (ces.cnet.com)
• Time to Weigh In, Fitbit Now Shipping AriaTM Wi-Fi Smart Scale (sys-con.com)
• Hands On With The Fitbit Aria Scale (techcrunch.com)
• Fitness for Mother’s Day (twinsspeak.com)
• Fitbit Premium Membership Benefits Review (shibleysmiles.com)
• Fitbit Aria ships, tracks BMI, weight for $130 (electronista.com)

The day after I wrote the completely doting post about my Amazon Kindle 3G in graphite, Why I Love my Kindle but Not Only in My Words, I went on a long walk and stupidly took off the my leather Kindle Lighted Cover off to make it slimmer and lighter and look what happened:

The brilliant news, however, is that I found the If my Kindle is broken or damaged, how can I get a replacement? page on the FAQ support page on Amazon and called the toll free number, 1-866-321-8851 (outside the United States: 1-206-266-0927) and, on a Sunday, I got a lovely man who, within 20 minutes, assured me I would have a replacement Kindle by this Thursday and it would already be set up for me.

And, I would receive my replacement Kindle immediately and only then send back my broken unit. Bravo!  And, were it not for the Sunday before Memorial Day Monday, then I am sure it would be by Wednesday.

Mind you, the moment my Kindle broke, even before I called customer support, I ordered a Kindle Wi-Fi with “special offers and sponsored screensavers” at only $114 — a brand new model for Amazon as a way of a) collecting reader data b) directly engaging the reader c) all sorts of other stuff — because I never want to be without one in the future until even Thursday.

That said, I have been seriously curious about the whole Kindle with Special Offers & Sponsored Screensavers model and want to check it out personally (and I will write a review when I check it out).

Here’s something I just learned: when you subscribe to magazines, newspapers, and journals via the Amazon Kindle, your subscriptions are for only one of your devices while the books you buy are shared all over them.  So, when I get my $114 Kindle with Special Offers it won’t work with my MIT Technology Review, Foreign Affairs, The Atlantic, The Economist, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, and Financial Times subscriptions — those are only going to work with my original “latest generation” 6″ graphite Amazon Kindle 3G.  I didn’t know that before but it is bloody good to know.

I will keep the new KwSO&SS home, maybe at my bedside, since it will only have my books on it.  I don’t plan to drop almost $60 on a leather cover with a light

though I may well get myself a novelty cover, maybe from the New Yorker or maybe in the form of a favorite book (what would you get?).  If I do buy the The New Yorker Kindle Jacket then I will surely have to switch my New Yorker subscription to the second one with the cover — and then I will probably swap my subscriptions to the MIT Technology Review, Foreign Affairs, The Atlantic, and The Economist as well — to keep my focused on the daily paper while I am on the 3G unit.

Mind you, I am putting way too much thought into all of this.

My buddy and brother, Alan Patterson, just asked me the following “What do you think about the Chromebook? is it just hype or is this the real deal?” over on Facebook

My reply: Both. It’ll frustrate people to know end who don’t get the cloud concept of computing — if the ChromeOS doesn’t have sufficient caching and local-storage — if it can’t make Gears work and if the thing basically dies if there isn’t Wi-Fi or 4G — and I also think that 3G won’t be good enough for heavy-lifting.  Finally, until cell providers stop screwing us over data caps and so forth, it’ll be hard to turn a 4G/3G Chromebook into an everyday solution.

I think I will get myself a Samsung Series 5 3G Chromebook when Amazon finally releases them on to see what it is like with 3G and try to use it as an everyday and I will give you a report

I just received my Blackberry Bold 9780 from T-Mobile and so far I am very happy. Having double the memory is what makes me happy about it. I finally have a little elbow room with which to move in the social media world with Facebook and Twitter both on there.  Now, I received an email introducing the upcoming Blackberry Bold 9900 / 9930 and I cannot wait: a 1.2 GHz processor and 8GB memory (plus, I hope, another 32GB+ in a MicroSD)

Get things done with a 1.2 GHz processor, 8 GB of onboard memory, 720p HD video recording, dual-band Wi-Fi®, a built-in compass (magnetometer) and Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. It’s the definitive BlackBerry smartphone.

I only stay in Roswell because I have a client there. That said, I have been back to this Courtyard by Marriott again and again and my experience has always been good.

I don’t ever really get up and around in enough time to take advantage of any hotel’s breakfast buffet but on Wednesday nights, they offer a buffet of sushi, chicken wings, wine, and beer, cheese, etc — sort of a happy hour.

The beds are comfortable and the flat-panel TV is great, though the reception they have on some channels is wonky.  The quality of the free Wi-Fi is high and through ibahn, though you have to re-sign-in every 24-hours.

The staff is responsive and there is a very large and very nice business area in the front.  Thought I didn’t use their gym or the pool, the facilities are nice.  I had a number of packages Fedexed and mailed to me and their service has always been friendly.  Mind you, this isn’t a hotel proper, it is really more of a hybrid motel.

Don’t go there as a destination but if you’re doing local business, I can surely recommend it, even for an extended stay.  The rates are fair and there is a feeling of pride surrounding the property.

(Copied from my review on Yelp!)

I did it! I pre-ordered the new little Kindle.

Based on my recent postings about the Kindle, I never thought it would happen, including The Reason I Never Bought an Amazon Kindle and Kindle 2 is a Little Less Effing Fugly.

In its 3rd version, Amazon has done it in the new Kindle Wireless Reading Device.

Amazon has brought the price point down well enough, has offered a sexy dark graphite-finished color selection, and has been able to speed things up and improve the speed, the rendering, and all this stuff:

• All-New, High-Contrast E-Ink Screen – 50% better contrast than any other e-reader
• Read in Bright Sunlight – No glare
• New and Improved Fonts – New crisper, darker fonts
• New Sleek Design – 21% smaller body while keeping the same 6″ size reading area
• 15% Lighter – Only 8.7 ounces, weighs less than a paperback
• Battery Life of One Month – A single charge lasts up to one month with wireless off
• Double the Storage – Up to 3,500 Books
• Books in 60 Seconds – Download books anytime, anywhere
• Free 3G Wireless – No monthly payments, no annual contracts
• Built-In Wi-Fi – In addition to the 3G wireless, you can connect to Wi-Fi hotspots
• 20% Faster Page Turns – Seamless reading
• Enhanced PDF Reader – With dictionary lookup, notes, and highlights
• New WebKit-Based Browser – Free 3G web browsing (experimental)

Why did I pre-order this little device even though I am rocking an Apple iPad? Well, I use my Apple iPad a lot — every chance I can.  I read the FT, the WSJ, the Times, Wired, my mail, my Google Reader — everything — on my iPad.

However, I don’t read books on my iPad.  I do my magazine and book reading at the gym and on my super-long walks, and the iPad is too shiny, too expensive, and almost impossible to read in direct sun.  Additionally, it lives by my chair and is my constant go-to.  When I am traveling, I grab my Lenovo ThinkPad X61 and generally wouldn’t consider bringing both the iPad and the ThinkPad, because there would be too many valuable things in the lurch.

Now that the Amazon Kindle is smaller, lighter, less-whiter, faster, and quickers — and at a much lower price point — then it can live in my Filson Briefcase and be there whenever and wherever I need it: when I am on the plane, when I am on the train, when I am on the bus, when I am on the metro, and when I am on one of my 3-hour walks, in direct sunlight.

OK, I will admit it, the version 1 of the Amazon Kindle was fugly, the version two of the Amazon Kindle was less fugly but just as nancy-ass white and un-sexy, but the third Amazon Kindle, like the proverbial Story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, the third Amazon Kindle is just right!

So, I have pre-ordered the new Kindle and even ordered the nice little black Kindle Lighted Cover — I was tempted to get the burnt orange, but I do a lot of business travel and I just wussed out and decided to keep it all manly and TUMI-class.

Latest news from Media Bistro via Seth Godin, Here comes the paperback Kindle… as promised, and right here: Amazon to Release $139 Wi-Fi Edition of Kindle eReader:

Tonight, with typical Amazon timing, news leaked that Amazon will unveil a $139 edition of the Kindle eReader tomorrow.

UPDATE: eBookNewser is live-blogging the Jeff Bezos appearance on Charlie Rose tonight–join in the comments.

It will be smaller, cheaper, and have higher resolution. Tune into eBookNewser for all the details.

Earlier this week, we showed you how to cover your Kindle with that newspaper case. If this price war strategy works, demand for these covers (and other accessories) could explode.

Amazon to Unveil $139 Kindle Wi-Fi

Amazon has fired the next shot in the eReader price war. This evening the New York Times broke the news that Amazon will soon offer a new edition of the Kindle eReader, a brand new $139 edition called “Kindle Wi-Fi.”

Here’s more from the report: “Unlike previous Kindles, the $139 ‘Kindle Wi-Fi’ will connect to the Internet using only Wi-Fi instead of a cellphone network as other Kindles do. Amazon is also introducing a new model to replace the Kindle 2, which it will sell for the same price as that model, $189. Both new Kindles are smaller and lighter, with higher contrast screens and crisper text.”

This morning, we reported that Amazon’s Kindle 2 was sold out and the eReader was listed as “Temporarily out of stock.” Many experts speculated that this news meant a new Kindle was on the way. For a complete breakdown of eReader price scales before this announcement, check out the Borders price chart.

UPDATE: Engadget actually takes a look at the new device: “Amazon is introducing a new reading device for e-book aficionados dubbed simply… the Kindle. The new handheld — slated to be released on August 27th — is 21 percent smaller and 15 percent lighter than the previous model, has a 20 percent faster refresh rate on its E Ink (yep, still E Ink) screen, and will now come in two colors (graphite, like its big brother the DX, and the original white).”

UPDATE 2: What do you think? Mike Cane extended the battlefield metaphors, calling the $139 eReader “Amazon’s Scorched-Earth Win.” Don Linn offered a similarly fiery prediction: “$139 will soon become $99 and Amazon has in all likelihood just burned this mutha down.”

UPDATE 3: Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos will speak with Charlie Rose tonight.

Also, according to PC World, Amazon Unveils Sleek New Kindle which looks just like the sexy new black Kindle DX only smaller

I am studying German and have been told that it helps if you listen to German radio so I ordered the Logitech Squeezebox Radio on the recommendation of my friend Scott. I find the Squeezebox Radio to be perfect for the night stand, where I will be listening to the radio before I got to bed.

I set the presets with Berlin radio stations and linked via Wi-Fi and it sounds great in both spoken word and also music.

PRO: The set up was so easy and it even made the WPA/WEP key entry for my Verizon FIOS Internet.

I was also able to easily find all the stations I listened to in Berlin when I lived there and I was also able to find local stations and I could easily “install” BBC and CBC and even a Facebook and a Flickr applet. I am very pleased. I got a red one.

The date and time is awesome because it is updated via Internet so I didn’t even need to set the date or time — so I also have myself an atomic clock, I guess.

There are multiple alarms and also a line in so I can run my iPod and my iPod shuffle through the device, too, which is great for my German homework (a CD I burnt to MP3).

CON: A little expensive but you get a lot more than just a radio. It doesn’t come with a rechargeable battery pack or the remote — an additional $50.

BOTTOM-LINE: Small and deceptively powerful — it is basically a little Linux box in a small boom box/Internet clock radio — and it is the most modern of the Squeezebox line so you can do very cool stuff with the device. Easy to set up and to start using.

It can work as simply as a clock radio with presets or you can get all geeky and install apps and podcasts and you can connect to SIRIUS and all those other paid streaming services. I love it. It is my new favorite thing.

Even though this Apple MacBook Mini netbook is fake, according to PC World, Gizmodo, Apple Recon, BoingBoing, Ubergizmo:

• 10.4″ WXGA display.
• 1280 x 768 pixel with LED backlighting.
• NVIDIA MCP79
• Intel Atom Z740 1.83GHz with 1MB L2 cache.
• 2GB DDR3-800.
• NVIDIA GeForce 9400M
• 64GB Solid State Drive.
• Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n
• 1 x USB 2.0
• 1 x Mini Display Port
• Battery Li-Ion 5100mA

. It took me while to figure out how to make my Skype ID hyperlink, <a href=”callto:chrisabraham”>chrisabraham </a>.  It renders as chrisabraham.

Makes sure you select “Associate Skype with callto: links” in the Skype Menu>Tooks>Options>Advanced options.

It also works with telephone numbers like +1 (202) 352-5051 if you have SkypeOut. <a href=”callto:+12023525051″>+1 (202) 352-5051</a>.