Plans Are For Fools!!!!

"title goes here"

2011-03-07T08:35:00.000-08:00

I weighed myself on Saturday to find 238.2, which is cool. It seems like I'm losing something lie 1-2 pounds a week I guess. That's pretty good. Looking at my past logs I don't think I've been in the 230's for that long in over a year or so. I'm happy about that.

I need to really get serious about building some muscle if I'm going to keep weight off. That's my thought of the day.

So I'm still in weight loss mode. That's always been easier for me than maintenance mode.

Anyway, thanks for the comments on my last post. You guys have always been so supportive and still read this even after what, almost 4 years? I really appreciate it.

Eat It

2011-03-01T06:05:00.000-08:00

Hello,
I'm not going to start off with apologizing for not posting for a while. It just is what it is, at this point in my life I'm probably not going to post a lot. Eat it.

In any event, last time I posted back in September it looked like i was trying to get back on track weight wise. I got off that track. I don't know what I got up to weight wise and I don't think I will ever know, but it wasnt pretty.

I spent this past Christmas being the heaviest I've been since loosing 100 pounds in 2007-2008, I'm sure of that.

Like all of the other slackers, I started doing something about it Jan 1. Not as much because it's a new year, but more because I'd started a new job. A job with a gym, and job I could get back to cyclo-commuting to.

I also went on a sort of South Beach thing. Basically doing low carb, but not paying a lot of attention to volume or calories.

It's worked. I don't know exactly what I dropped because I didn't weight myself when I started, I couldnt take the number. Didnt need the dissapointment.

Now I'm right at 240 and still going strong. I've been getting some exercise here and there, but most of this has been diet.

My goal is to get to about 220, so another 20 pounds. My lowest weight was around 203 or so, but I really can't maintain that unless I'm doing lots of cardio all the time and eating spot on. 215-225 if more what works for me, and looks good. In fact if I put on more muscle like I want to it could even be higher.

but right now I want to get to 220 or so.

Things that are different this time than say, 2007, is that :

- I'm not weighing myself every day. Some people may agree with this or not, but at least during this phase I don't want to do it. I don't want to be obesessive, I just want to do my thing without having to "monitor" progress or stats all the time. I just want to be normal.

- Low carb not low fat - I did low fat the first time, but I also counted calories and everything else. I'm doing low carb just because. I don't know if one is better than the other, but I figured i'd try something new. I do think low carb or at least South Beach makes you lose weight fast at first, which is something I needed for a mental boost. Long term I think South Beach is crap and not realistic.

- less exercise - not on purpose, it's just that this time around life is different. Even though I can ride my bike to work it's twice the distance so more of a time commitment, and I have 2 kids as compared to none in 2007. I have to be more strict on diet.

- Build Muscle - I'm not doing this yet, but I really think I need to build more muscle otherwise I'm always going to be flip flopping like this. in 2008 when I weighed 203, I was fit but not toned. 220 with more muscle mass will look and perform way better than 203 and no tone. Cardio was what I did all the time because it was what was easier for me to do. I need to do more muscle building stuff this time. I havent started that yet.

- be normal - in 2007-20008 I was crazy. Posting on this blog daily, cario a few times a day, lifting 3 times a week (for a while anyway), eating spot on. But none of that really is what normal people do. It's what someone trying to lose 100 pounds does. And I did it, in 6 months. But this time I need to do this a different way. I need to just take my time, not worry about things as much, but just consistently be good with food and exercise.

I'm at a point right now, even at 240, that I feel pretty good about myself. Don't get me wrong, I'm going to lose another 20, but I at least don't feel like a failure, and a borderline fat slob like I did 2 months ago. Part of that is because I'm not obsessing over numbers. I truly don't care what waist size my pants are, or what the scale says today. My progress gauge is just, how do I feel? Am I happy with myself?

So the answer is yeah, kinda. I'm happier than I was. I'll be happier in another 20 pounds, and I'll get there.

So that's where I am right now. I probably need to switch up the low carb thing soon because I'm starting to get more workouts in, and I feel like my body is getting too used to low carb. We'll see.

One way or the other I'll get to 220. Definitely by the first day of Summer, if not sooner. Perhaps I'll post again then, if not sooner.

The good the bad and the ugly

2010-09-28T04:52:00.000-07:00

Hello,
The good news is that I ran 6 miles on Sunday morning. That's the first time I've run that far in probably 10 months. I was slow at about a 10 minute mile average, but the stamina was there. I'm happy about that. It double the amount of anything I've run recently.

The bad news is that this morning I weigh 246. Now I do have some soreness from the run and I suspect that 4 lb jump is most likely water retention. It certainly wouldnt be the first time I've had a 4 pound jump from water retention. In fact many runners will tell you that they often find they've GAINED weight while training for a marathon for example.

With that said even taking into account those 4 pounds I'm less than impressed with my progress thus far. I'm trying not to get discouraged though. I do realize I still need a solid plan in place that I don't have. I'm just struggling to come up with a plan that is so adaptable based on my hectic schedule. My schedule is no excuse for my diet though and it's still not what it should be so I should be looking there.

So I'm thinking about trying an actual diet of some sort. I don't know what yet, so I'm open to suggestions. In the end I can probably eat about 2200-2400 calories a day and lose about a pound a week. I'm just struggling with doing that.

Until next time.

Plugging away, maybe running in place

2010-09-23T06:51:00.000-07:00

I'm still around. Progress is slow and this week was difficult from a workout perspective. I only ran once so far, but I hope to again tomorrow. Eating has been maybe a 6 out of 10 on the perfect scale. As a result I'm sticking around the 242 ish mark. Kinda spinning my wheels I guess, but at the very least I know where I am and I'm not gaining.

Plans for the future are to really start running more and training for a 5k and maybe a half marathon. Like I've said in the past I really operate more efficiently when I have clear goals and a path ahead of me. I need that right now.

Ok

2010-09-17T10:28:00.000-07:00

Kindof hanging around the same weight arent I? Maybe this is the normal rate of weight loss for someone? I don't know. I'm watching the calorie and fat intake. I'm running or hitting the gym 3 times a week. I have had a bit of a cold which has kinda kept me pretty inactive aside from the workouts but I'm doing what I can.

One day I had a 239 weigh in, then a perfect eating day, then the next day it was 244. What the hell was that about? I dont know but I'm not letting it change anything.

So I'll just say I'm still working at it, I just don't seem to have much in the way of numbers to show for it yet. It's been 2 and a half weeks though and I am down 5 pounds give or take, so I'll take that for now. I really need to be firmly in the 230's though by October 5th or so. Maybe that's a goal.

On an unrelated note, I'm attempting to get this blog current. I really don't want to dwell on what I've done in the past. That said I will leave some of my accomplishments up because they do motivate me to move forward, get back to that spot, or even improve it.

I've also cleaned up the blogs I follow. I deleted any blogs that haven't been updated in the past 3 months, though most had not been touched in over a year. I need new teammates who are into this thing with me so we can help motivate each other, so if there is anyone who is reading who is keeping a fat loss blog, please send me a note so I can add you!

The Wheel in the sky keeps on turning...

2010-09-13T10:08:00.000-07:00

The slight upwards movement in the weight isnt attributed to anything bad. I think that 239 was just a freak low weigh in when I barely ate any dinner the night before.

I'm still moving forward. Running when I can, riding when I can, always trying to pay attention to what I'm eating and how much. I've got a cold/sore throat thing going on. I've noticed that this is happening to me more since I've had kids, but I'm not letting it stop my good habits. This morning during my run I had to stop a few times to blow my nose, heh.

Moving Along

2010-09-09T05:09:00.000-07:00

I've been lucky to be able to get 4 or 5 "workouts" in in the past 6 days.

I rode my bike to work one day (28 miles round trip), I took my son on a 15 mile bike ride, I did the elliptical at the Y, and I'm about to attempt another run.

I'm still working on a schedule per say, but at least I'm able to get some workouts in. It's starting to look like we're at a point with the kids where I can at least have a half hour in the mornings to do something, a run, or possibly ride the bike to work a few days a week.

The eating has been on too, in fact I'm sure I'm under eating from a calorie standpoint. Honestly I dont care , I feel fine, I have energy, and the weight is dropping. SOme of that weight has to be water (look at the chart on the right), but again, it's progress in the right direction so I don't care what it is. I'm happy to be back in the 230's. My goal right now is 220.

Well, I've got to run (literally) and then get to work.

Get me a paddle

2010-09-06T07:05:00.000-07:00

Hopefully I can be out of the 240's relatively soon. Since I've started to really dial in my food intake I've dropped 4 pounds. I expect that's a lot of water weight, but I'll take it. I really do need to see numbers to feel like I'm doing something and to keep me motivated. That's why it really is a worst case scenario if I allow myself to stop doing weigh-in's. I guarantee that's a huge part of what got me here again.

In other new's I'm going to see if i can manage to ride my bike to work a few days this week. Logistically it's a pain but when I can manage it I basically get 2 hours of cardio a day which is great. As a fall back measure if I can't ride I'll get in some gym visits either in the AM or in the afternoons.

That reminds me, I need to get some new headphones for working out. Working out with no music is like canoeing without a paddle. You can do it but it sure aint no fun!

Progress

2010-09-04T06:27:00.000-07:00

I've made some progress. Not the kind you're thinking of probably. Over the past few weeks I've started to semi pay attention to what the hell I'm doing from an eating perspective. I have been to the gym once and ran once but it's very hard for me right now to find time to exercise or even build it into my schedule just because of the world. I really do hate to make excuses but I'm working my full time job, working my side job trying to grow that business, and helping raise our 1 year and 1 month old children with my wife. Just finding sleep is hard enough to be quite honest. Did I mention we're also painting our house, repairing a leaky roof, moving bedrooms around and doing general remodeling?

That said there is no excuse for what you put in your mouth no matter how busy you are so I've been making a kinda of half ass lame attempt to monitor what I eat for the past few weeks as I've mentioned here. It may be working or it may not , because up until this morning I ha vent had the balls to weigh myself. With the numbers being the major motivator for me it was really hard to be a strict as I should have been when I didnt even know what it was doing.

This morning I weighed myself. I had to do it. If nothing else I need those numbers to see if I'm making any progress.

Out with it: This morning I weigh 247 pounds. I have mixed feelings. I'm pissed off at myself for letting it get there (I should be maintaining 215-225), I'm relieved I finally know the answer and can start seeing results , I'm embarrassed I'm 45 pounds higher than my lowest ever weight, I'm happy I still kept off 50 or so of the 100 I lost.

Mostly though I think I'm really to just not cry about it and move on with getting it fixed. So that's progress as far as I'm concerned.

Hi, my name is Brian, and I've got 30 pounds to lose.

Day 3 - Hi

2010-08-19T21:19:00.000-07:00

Hello
just wanted to get one record that day 3 went well. Not working out unfortunately but the eating was pretty good. I'm still not ready to weigh myself but I'm getting excited about when I am. I really want to be able to track progress with numbers. Soon I'll take the plunge...

Anyway, Hope all if going well and perhaps I'll have a bit more to write tomorrow. Good Night!

Day 2 - Breaking My Silence and Hopefully Thiers

2010-08-18T15:35:00.000-07:00

Yup, still here. Two whole days and going strong :)
I did well today on the food front. Made sure to eat breakfast where I had a small bowl of cream of wheat and a coffee. For lunch i had a giant salad. I forget all that was in it but it did NOT have cheese, dressing with any fat in it, or anything that was glaringly bad.

I didn't do any snacking except for about 6 skittles that someone had sitting on the desk behind mine. Not a good thing to be eating but I at least was aware of what I was doing and really did stop at 6, just a small handful. Basically the theme here is that I'm the one in control.

By the time I got home a bit ago I was starving and had a probably 160ish calorie no fat bowl of cereal with skim milk. Again, I didn't say I was eating healthy, just that I'm in control and not taking in a crap load of calories.

This is important because all around me both at work and at home are bad temptations. I have to make my son mac and cheese for dinner and not eat any. Candy type snacks all over the place at work, and so on. I plan to take a trip to Trader Joe's and get some better snacks to have on hand at my desk at work, which i expect to be a big help. The temptations are always going to be around so I have to get back to managing them better. Having better alternatives at hand was a huge help last time I did this and eventually it became second nature.

Aside from all of that if I'm lucky I'll go for a short run tonight after the kids are in bed and my wife gets home.

As I mentioned before there is no way I'll be able work out twice a day 6 days a week like I was basically doing when I lost 100 pounds in six months in 2007. This is a different animal this time, but I know I can make it work.

the huge elephant hanging over my head right now is the part where I weigh myself. I'm a numbers guy, and it's a huge motivator for me to be able to measure my success in numbers, even if I'm just seeing a pound or two a week. The catch 22 is that I'm not ready for the mental setback and pissed off scene I'm going to have when I see whatever that number is. I'm hoping by this time next week I'll be mentally ready to get on the scale. But who knows, maybe I'll do it sooner.

I will give you some other numbers in the name of coming clean.

July 2007 waist size in jeans - 44
July 2009 waist size in jeans - 34
July 2010 waist size in jeans - 36/38 (ouch, it hurts to write that)

July 2007 weight - 300 I think (I'll have to check the first page of this blog when I'm done writing this :) )

July 2008 weight - 204 (only really maintainable for me if I'm super active and eating perfectly. I'm 6'3 and not a small guy)

July 2009 weight - 215-220 - this is what I think is my sweet spot. Still fit into 34 pants. Looked OK without a shirt on, could still eat some cheese or some beers now and again. This is where I'd like to get back to.

July 2010 weight - ??? - I'm going to guess at best case high 240's, at worst high 250's. If I went and weighed myself now and it was over 260 I think I'd cry.

So there are some numbers to work with until I get hard current numbers. Not ideal, but it did feel good coming clean.It's never too late right?

One of the hardest parts for me is that I really not only felt good about myself before, but I felt like an inspiration to others because of all that weight I lost. Now I feel like I'm borderline looking like another douche bag who is on the way to gaining it all back. It used to be that people who I had not seen in forever commented how I was a changed man. Now no one says anything.

Silence is bad in this case.

Working on changing that and starting with me. Booyah!

I'm Back

2010-08-17T14:58:00.001-07:00

I don't know if anyone reads this stuff anymore, but I'm back for another round of catch up. In the past 13 months or so I've had a lot of life changes. A new son last summer, and new daughter this summer, a new job, and basically a new life. Unfortunately not all of my good habits that I learned over the course of this blog have stayed with me. I have not weighed myself in who knows how long. Slowly my eating habits have gotten worse, I simple don't have the time to dedicate to all of the physical activities I did before.

My new job that I've been at for the past 5 months doesnt allow me to bicycle commute like I could at my last job. Much of my time is taken up by work and family.

The excuses are all over the place.

The worst part is that I spend a lot of time being pissed at myself for falling off the wagon instead of doing things about it.

So I'd really like to put that to a stop. It's going to have to happen slowly, unlike last time.

I'm going to start:

- paying attention to how many calories I consume daily. I'm not going to count, but I'm going to have an idea of what I'm eating and try to keep the number low. I did this for a long time during maintnence and it worked.

- working out in some form 3 times a week. It may be a run, it may be a bike ride, it might be a trip to the YMCA. What's been hard for me is that I don't have any set schedule. I really can't go to the gym the same time every day like I did before. I need to be more adaptable and go when I can in between working and being with my family.

- setting some goals. I might sign up for another half marathon in the winter, but in the short term I'm going to sign up for some 5k's or something. 18 months ago I was running half marathon distances in under two hours. Lat night I went got a 3 mile run, which turned into a 2 mile run because I thought I was going to die. I need to start from ground zero and build myself back up again.

- I'd like to blog when I can because that was a good help, but honestly a lot of that will depend on if anyone reads it. I really did get a lot more from blogging when I was doing it with other people. Hopefully that can start up again.

That's all I've got now. I've run out of time to be on the PC :) That's how life is these days.

Hopefully I'll be back soon with some positive updates that show I'm back on track!

-Brian

p.s. I think I have 30 pounds to get back to where I want to be, but I won't know for sure until I weight myself. I'm just not ready to do that yet though...

Fat In the Water

2010-03-10T13:38:00.000-08:00

I mean dead in the water.

Work is KILLING ME. It's zapped my completely both emotionally and physically. The time of year isnt helping.

Between a sickness and then crazy work stress and hours I've stopped running. I'm not eating well either. Weight is probably around 240-ish. Ick, not good. My good maintenence weight is around 215-220.

I'm working on getting into a new position with a different company that will help take away much of the stress. Hopefully I'll know something in the next few days.

If anything out of all these negatives at least I'm aware of what's going on and I am really trying to do what I can to keep things in control, but it's really really hard right now.

Just wanted to come clean. Overall I'm really not happy with how things have gone the past 6 months and I do feel like I need another lifestyle change to get things back in check. No, I'm not looking at losing 100 + pounds like the first time, but this stage is no less hard and maybe harder then when I first decided to get healthy almost 3 years ago.

Trying to hang in there. Stick with me.

FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT! Right?

2010-01-08T08:50:00.000-08:00

AS has been said thousands of times by probably thousands of people, maintenance is a bitch! I mean, if you break it down it isnt. Is it technically hard to weight yourself regularly? No. Is it hard to limit your intake somewhat? No. Is it hard to get a normal amount of exercise when you can? Not really.

But put it all together? Is it hard to keep that mindset day in and day out for the rest of your life? Yeah, for me it is. Here's my deal: I focus on things and they consume me. Weight loss and fitness was one of them.
When I stop making them my #1 priority they fall off somewhat. They don't completely disappear but they definitely fall off some. When a healthy fit lifestyle falls off a little we pay the price, and before you know it if you're not careful you find yourself in an unhappy situation again.

Duh.

So of course that said, it's clear I havent been keeping the healthy lifestyle as much as I'd of liked to. Let's break it down.

Here's the bad:

- I haven't weighed myself in a while. Like probably some months. I'm kinda afraid too which is a bad thing. I just don't want to be depressed and pissed off by the number.

- Eating hasn't been good for a while. Holidays, not into counting calories or paying much attention to intake. Not mentally in it. Call it what you want but eating hasnt been great.

I guess that's the extent of the bad.

Here's the good:

- Still working out. I biked up until late November, then I started running again. I'm going to run the half marathon again and I'm in my second week of training for that.

- I suppose I'll count that I'm still thinking about my health and worried about things getting out of hand as a good thing. Obviously if I wasnt even admitting I need to get back on track then I'd be back on the road to blubber.

So there you have it. Some shirts are getting a little tight. I went up a jeans size from a 34 to a 36 about a month and a half ago. No one is calling me fat and no one has told me I look like I've gained weight, but I can tell. I know I have and that's all that really matters. What is different for me this time if that you're not going to see me going all out living a 100% completely healthy lifestyle like I did when I lost 100 pounds in 6 months. It's not sustainable. My goal this time is just to dial it in a little bit. Get back on track. Get back into a 34" waist pant. Start weighing myself again, just not every day. But I do have to say I don't think I'm ready to weigh myself yet. I want to give myself another week of marathon training and decent eating...I know, some of you will disagree with that, but it's what I want to do.

I'll also be posting again until I feel I'm back where I want to be. In a 34" jeans, feeling good again. Ha! that's funny, because I never felt 100% good even when I weighed 200 pounds. I always felt like I still had love handles and some flab. Even in this pic I felt flabby and not how I wanted:

Now I look at it and wish I was there again. So it's a bit of a state of mind. Finding what's comfortable for you I guess.

Here's me a few months ago:

felt fat there.

here i am about a month and a half ago:

i know it's not the best pic because of the big bulging jacket, but i felt fat there too.

anyway, I don't know what I'm saying anymore, except that I want to be back in a 34" pants and I want to feel good about myself. I'm not there right now. But is the grass always greener on the other side? I just don't know.

Talk to you soon.

Had a scare - back on track.

2009-09-14T11:45:00.000-07:00

First of all, Hello blog. I've been ignoring you for a while. Much has happened since our last meeting. I'm now a father of a beautiful now 9 week old boy named Henry:

He's awesome.

But the real reason for my post it to come clean. A while ago I found my maintain weight of around 215 or so. Well, after maintaining that for a while I got comfortable and stopped weighing myself. Eventually I knew I'd gained weight but grew afraid to step on the scale. Not cool. That's an old habit that got me to over 300 pounds eventually. Not cool at all.
I finally came clean a week ago after an especially debaucherous evening. The next morning i jumped on the scale ready for the worst, and it was the worst, 231.6. OUCH!

To rehash the past few years, I lost 100 or so pounds over 6 months, reaching 202 or so in early 2008. I maintained that for a while, at the same time getting comments from people telling me I'd gone too far. I eventually settled on a maintenence weight I felt comfy with, and that was 210-215. I maintained that until about 3 months ago after I finished a half marathon. Then the impending baby came. Goal-less "maintenence-land" existed for while. I stayed active, riding my bike daily, but my diet eventually started to slip and I stopped weighing myself.

That brings us to last Monday and my 231.6 weigh-in.
I'm now happy to report that after a week of much better eating and daily weigh ins to keep me honest I'm back down to 224 , on my way back to 215 or so.
I'll keep updating this blog until I get down to where I want to be again and to keep me honest.

But yeah. It just goes to show that it really is a lifestyle change and that has to mean forever. You cant allow yourself to slip into old habits and if and when you do, you have to adjust and get out of them. I'm working on doing that now.

Zone Maintenence - Paranoia Check

2009-06-11T09:46:00.000-07:00

Today's weigh-in: 215.4

Today I'll be blatantly ripping off Bill's Zone theory, adjusted of course for my numbers.

Green zone: <212 lbs
Yellow Zone: 212-220 lbs
Red Zone: >220 lbs

220 was my original goal to reach, back in January of 2008. Since then I've found myself averaging as low as 203, to having weigh-ins as high as 221. There was an upward trend that started the past 4 months since I stopped Half Marathon Training, so the past few weeks I've been trying to get things in line and my number is coming back down. The reason I consider my green zone a little higher than my lowest recorded averages is that I've put some muscle on. Basically I don't start getting nervous about my weight if my number is below 212 or so.

So that's it really. Thanks for the idea BillyBob!

Psycho Killer Qu'est-ce que c'est?

2009-06-08T08:13:00.000-07:00

Hi.

Been a while eh?

Well you know, I had those neck issues and all. I re-injured my neck after it was almost completely healed, so that set me back. That was a few weeks ago though and it's been 100% now for at least a week. So, no more excuses really.

Know what sucks? As soon as my workouts tail off or I don't watch those calories quite as close as I normally do, what happens? Fat shows up. Where? Directly on my hips and gut. Not so much anywhere else really, but right on my gut and love handles. How annoying is that?

I mean, I was still active, riding my bike and running maybe once a week, but I just lost the fire. And I was relaxing big time on watching my caloric intake.

Maintenance is hard...man.

So after just being tired, hurt, and maybe a bit lazy and watching my weight show my numbers as high as 221-ish, last week I decided I'd better get back on the bus. Err, wagon, and off the retard bus.

I surrounded myself with healthier snacks. I rode my bike a few more days, and I ran in a 5K.

Right, so that 5k. I ran this on Saturday:

On paper I guess I did well, running it in 23:45 and placing something like 170 out of 2000-ish people, but in reality, it hurt. I started the race towards the front for some reason, I guess I thought I was being more badass. You know, the place where they ask the real runners to start from...

I stood around with these 90lb women runners all decked out in spandex and muscles and told myself I'd pace with them for a bit. I mean, come on, I just ran a half marathon, I can do this. That's what I told myself. I forget the Half was almost 3 months ago and I've barely run 12 miles since then.

The Mayer of Philly sounded the alarm and the runners took off, myself included. That first 90 pound women took off, running between large fat cop legs, weaving in and out of Dunkin Donuts eating traffic. I stuck with her, but being 6'3" 215-ish I wasnt quite so agile as her. I found myself running at top speed to get around people in the crowd to try to work my way towards the front.

We hit the first mile marker and it said 6:45. That's when I was like, uhhh wow! I've never run a mile faster than 7:15.

What the hell am I doing? I cant breath! my legs hurt! where the hell did those women go?

I had to slow down and catch my breath and try to recover enough to finish the race.

My splits were something like

mile 1 - 6:45
mile 2 - 8:15
mile 3 - 9:30

hahaha! Way to pace myself! That hurt!

The short of the story is I got a decent time for me, but I almost died. I could have nailed a low 22-ish 5k time two months ago, but I've definitely lost some cario ability. My muscles hurt after the race too.

At the end of the race I basically collapsed at the finish line and layed down on my back for a minute. A random stranger kicked me lightly to make sure I wasnt dead. I just gave her a thumbs up since I still couldnt breath.

So yeah, I ran a 5k.

I've been eating a little better. If Bill's kryptonite is a Cheese Steak, mine are nacho's. beautiful, cheese and meat covered nacho's. Warm. Crunchy. Sour cream. Delicious....

I'm cutting those out for a bit. The constant snacking? Gotta stop that too.

So here I am, trying to eat a little better, ride my bike a little more, lift a little more, and drop about 8-10 pounds. I am down to 215 after topping out at 220.

Last summer I was maintaining around 204. I've put on some muscle with all the running and lifting work in the past year, so I'd like to maintain about 210 this year.

We'll see. Honestly I'd really like some nacho's though.

Update

2009-05-11T09:20:00.000-07:00

I still have neck pain that is keeping me from lifting because I don't want to make it worse. Considering this is how I injured it to begin with I think it's the right choice.

I've been eating OK, and in fact I'm trying to dial my eating in more than usual since I'm not getting the workouts in.

I rode my bike to work on Friday, and for a short ride over the weekend, but once again, the neck is an issue and I'm afraid that whatever I do will make it worse.

So really, all I feel like I can do right now it monitor my food intake and try to maintain. It's pretty frustrating because I'd much rather be exercising.

That's all I've got right now. Hopefully someone soon I can get active again and maybe even set some fitness goals.

My neck my neck!

2009-05-07T07:01:00.000-07:00

So apparently I pulled something in my neck lifting a few weeks ago. For the third time now, I have a dull pain in my neck that lasts for a few days. Last Sunday I went bowling and made it even worse. It sucks!

I've never been to a chiropractor in my life but the pain was becoming unbearable so I decided to give it a try last night. He put me on a table and cracked my neck.

It immediately felt better but this morning it hurts just as much as it has all week.

This sucks!

So that has been hampering my workouts. I got a 4 mile run in Monday morning in the rain, but I skipped lifting. I also havent been on my bike for a week because it's been raining non stop. It's really kinda depressing.

I havent weighed myself for about a week, but I have been watching my food intake fairly closely so I don't think that I've put on weight or anything. That said I do need to get back on the scale.

Right now my first priority is just getting better though.

So I guess this is a warning, be careful, especially when lifting with free weights. I think what I did was rush through my workout and I got sloppy and ended up injuring myself.

Here's to better days.

Going All Out

2009-04-20T06:50:00.000-07:00

I've been really active the past 4 or 5 days. I've also eaten and drank a bunch :).

Friday Morning: - 4 mile run
Friday Night: 4 Marqherita's, chips, a few french fries, the Flyers lose.

Saturday Morning: 40 mile very hilly bike ride
Saturday Night: 2 beers, way too much sushi, and Ice Cream Sandwitch and a cookie!

Sunday Morning: Bike 30 miles, eat a huge breakfast, bike another 20 miles home
Sunday Night: eat a salad, but not the healthiest of salads. The Flyers win!

So yeah, it's kinda crazy. As you can see the weight is back up to 219, and I don't know if it's water retention from all the riding/running, extra weight from all the food drinks, or just that I ate too late last night.

I'll button the eating back up this week though, and I'd be willing to bet I'm back down to 215-ish within a few days. I'm also planning some running this week since the weather wont be the best for riding.

I do feel great though. The weather was beautiful and it felt great getting all that riding in. I really like that I'm riding and running.

I really need to take some pics and compare to last year so see if I can tell if the extra ten pounds is mostly muscle or fat. I'm starting to think that 210-215 is my real ideal weight. This happens to be 10-15 pounds over what BMI says.

I still have something, and I feel good.

2009-04-14T16:57:00.001-07:00

In case you couldn't tell I've felt a little down about myself lately. It's weird, I had this kind-of high for a few days after the half marathon. It might have even lasted a week. I felt directionless, then I didn't really do much of anything. I've already mentioned that I put on a few pounds that I'm not working on getting rid of.

In reality it's only been 3 and a half weeks since I ran 13.1, but due to doing very little since then I was starting to think I was going to have trouble running the Broad Street 10 miler that's coming up in about 2 and a half weeks.

For one, I've proven that I haven't lost much if anything, because I just got back from running 10 miles in the cold and rain, while posting a personal best time of 1:30:45.

So I'm clearly happy about that, but more importantly, I think I'm realizing that if I don't make myself do something active I don't feel well. The benefits are not just a smaller butt, but a happier life.

I really don't know if it's a physical thing, maybe chemicals that get released when you work out that make you happier, or just mental. Maybe it doesn't matter, it's just another reason that you have to stay active to stay happy, or at least I do.

I've even found that if my muscles aren't sore on a semi regular basis I start to get pissed off that I'm not working hard enough, and I get a little depressed.

Honestly I don't know how I ever survived when I was over 300 pounds and doing nothing.

I'd be interested to hear from anyone else that has experienced something like what I'm talking about and could speak to it some more.

Checking In

2009-04-14T08:37:00.001-07:00

Just checking in.

The weight went up 2 pounds today, I assume because I had a late dinner. Aside from that eating was good yesterday. Still havent had time to do any workouts though.

I hate Mondays

2009-04-13T09:08:00.000-07:00

The weekend was good. Got in a 25 mile hilly bike ride, ate well, watched the weight go down a bit.

This morning was a whirlwind of BS as it pertains to bill paying, working, and general first thing Monday morning annoyances.

I'm posting my weight every day on the right side of this blog to keep myself honest.

Aside from a 10 mile run I have in early May I still havent come up with any new goals.

I hate the look of this stupid blog and I'd really like to change it.

Hopefully I can get in some cario soon. Maybe I'll go for a run tonight.

I don't really have much else to add. I'm trying to do what needs to be done and biding my time until we have a nice sunny day that is also warm.

This is a pretty lame post, but hey, at least I posted.

Uhm...what?!

2009-04-10T13:58:00.001-07:00

Wagon? Where are you?

Damn it. I hate to post this, but I've fallen off the wagon and it's time to come clean. 3 weeks ago tomorrow I ran a half marathon. What have I done since then? Ate a lot of crap. Ran a few miles a few times (maybe 3 times total), lifted one day a week, and then ate some more. I drank a bit too. I over ate a few times. I didn't weigh myself much, going a few weeks without doing so.

Where am I now? I weigh 222 this morning. Holy crap! That's 20 pounds above my lowest average ever. It hurts. I did it.

I have to say, BMI says that based on my height and build, i should be 199. I don't want to be 199 because if I was I'd have not much muscle on my frame. There's just no way. What I'd like to get back to, albeit with less fat and more muscle is about 208-210. So I have 12 pounds to lose.

I do know that I've gained muscle, both in my legs and upper body. I can bench almost double what I could a year ago when I was 202, and I wear the same size waist jeans, however they got tight in the thighs. I ran a LOT over the winter and I think the thighs are tight because of that because I can see lots of muscle in my thighs..

But all that stuff aside I've gained some fat. There is no way I haven't.

My problem is that I set goals for myself, I meet them, then I flounder for a while after I meet my goal. I flounder goal-less. Normally I'd be OK because I'd be riding my bike, but so far this spring the weather has been crap, so I haven't been riding, I'm still eating like I'm riding, and I've put on weight. I'm pissed at myself but at the same time, HUNGRY! ALL THE TIME!

Time to get back to daily weigh-ins (I started 2 days ago), time to get some runs in if I'm not riding (I ran this morning) and time to come up with some damn fitness related goals (still working on that, although I do have a 10 mile organized run to do in a month).

I REFUSE TO GAIN ANY MORE WEIGHT.

That is all. I've come clean. I'm going to fix it. Here I go...

EDIT - FOLLOW UP:

It's now a day after I made this post, and I have a day under my belt of close to perfect eating and my weight is down 4 pounds from yesterday to 218.6. I'm still about 8 pounds above where I want to be, but I feel a little more in control now because I think the 222 weigh in that freaked me out was ne of those random high ones. That said, everything I posted above still stands, and I am on a mission to get back to where I want to be.

Mark it done!

2009-03-21T19:51:00.001-07:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm happy to announce I've met a personal goal of mine. Today I completed the SunTrust National Half Marathon in Washington DC.

I'll go into more detail about the race when I'm not about to fall asleep, but I will tell you that I did not meet my secondary goal of running the half marathon in less than 2 hours. That is because I ran it in EXACTLY 2 hours, down to the tenth of the second. You can see the results here which show me (search for Brian Payne) coming in 2062nd place out of 4150. So exactly 2 hours was my time with an overall average pace of 9:10 per mile. The second half of the race I was faster than the first which is kinda interesting...

Anyhow, I'm very happy with the results and I also know next time I'll post an even better number. But for now I'm beat, have sore knees, and need to go to bed so I'll fill you in on the details later.

-Brian

Half Marathon getting close...

2009-03-12T11:49:00.000-07:00

I'm at the end of week 9 of my 10 week long half marathon training. The is down in DC next Saturday the 21st of March. I'm excited about it. I'm excited because I'm looking forward to seeing if I can get under the 2 hour mark. I'm also excited because I really miss riding my bike. That's something I really haven't been able to do much, partly because of the weather but mostly because of my training. I plan to start to ride to work again the week after the run.

I found out that you can't wear headphones during the Half, which kinda sucks. That's actually the main thing I'm worried about as music really helps me not focus so much on the run and pass the time.

I have one more longer training run of 8 miles this Saturday and I plan to not wear headphones just to see how it goes. I want to mimic what it will be like the day of the race as best I can.

So yeah, back to riding my bike after the run, although I did sign up for a 10 mile Broad Street run the first week of May. That will be nice to keep me in decent running shape until then.

I like to keep myself busy and keep setting clear goals that are exercise oriented. I've found that as long as I have something to focus on that I'm interested in I'm good. It's when I'm floating around in no-mans-land, just randomly trying to stay in shape where I look back and realize I had not worked out for 2 weeks. I don't know how some people just fit in workouts when they can randomly. That would never work for me. I do know that everyone is different and you have to work with your schedule...

Lastly , about my last post; I do realize I came across a bit harsh and probably a bit like a dick, and I am sorry I seem to have offended some people, but I still stand by what I said. I only say it because I know I spent YEARS blaming my "self issues" on outside things. It wasn't until I took accountability for them that I could take control. In the end I just want everyone to know that my intentions in that post were good regardless of how they may have come across. I hate to see people fail and find themselves unhappy with themselves, especially when they know what they're capable of. I also understand everyone has their issues and there is no one formula for everyone.
Sometimes people just need a kick in the ass though. Call me insensitive or short sighted if you must.

OK, that's it, I'm blabbering. I hope everyone is well, doing what makes you happy. That is all.

Later

LIFESTYLE CHANGE, REMEMBER THAT?

2009-03-10T07:55:00.001-07:00

I'm annoyed.

Why am I annoyed? Because I'm tired of reading about people in the same boat as me fail.

How many people lose lots of weight, then gain it all or a lot of it back?

How many people stop setting goals for themselves?

How many people stop keeping a constant monitor on their weight to keep it in acceptable range?

Lots.

Maybe most.

WHY?

What is one of the main things we always talk about when we go down this road of getting healthy?

THIS IS A LIFESTYLE CHANGE!!!

Do you know what that means? That means there is no maintain. There is no "life gets in the way". There is no crash diet. There is no make time to work out/eat better etc.

Healthy is your life now. Committed isn't even the word. When you set out to get in shape, lose weight, get healthy, you committed to be a different/better/more aware person. Healthy lifestyle is not a hobby, it's not a fleeting idea that fades. It's not an idea for a neat blog. It's what you are now.It is you.

Stop making excuses, stop blaming things on life, stop getting angry at yourself, stop trying to fit health into your busy lifestyle. Just stop.

Healthy IS YOUR LIFESTYLE. Life fits into healthy, not the other way around. This is what you are now. You own your own actions , they do not own you.

I know this comes across like a preaching email, but I'll make no apology. Make a decision as to what you are and stick with it, otherwise you're not being true to yourself.

I've used the word too, but I'm done; there is no more "maintain", there is just you. Take responsibility for your actions and use them to be the person you want to be. Do it now or die regretting it!

Feeling bad about yourself is a absolute waist of time. Erase that shit from life and just do what the hell you need to do. Everybody fails. That's normal, but when it becomes an every day pattern, you need to do something. You already know what you need to do. Do it! NOW!

Or ignore me and go back to feeling bad about yourself, but I'm done reading about it.

I have no time for people who give up, and I'm not sorry about that.

I'm done.

Recovery

2009-03-03T07:34:00.000-08:00

Time for an update. I'm now into the last 3 weeks of my training for the Half. The bad news is that I got sick last week and missed my Thursday and Saturday run. Perfectly bad timing as the Saturday run was the pinnacle of my training and the longest run before the Half. The good news is that I'd already run that amount a few weeks ago. I tried to run on Sunday, still not recovered from being sick and wimped out after 4.5 miles. I just didnt have it in me. Then yesterday, I missed that run because we had a huge storm, my car was in the shop and I had no way to get to work to run. I worked from home, and running outside yesterday would not have been possible.

So today I'm back on the wagon, finally feeling strong again and I knocked out 4 miles this morning, making up for yesterday's miss. The race is about 2.5 weeks away. I don't feel as good about it now as I would had I not gotten sick, but I'm still comfortable that I'll be finishing the race.

Baja Fresh Pork Tostata Salad and New 4 Mile Time

2009-02-19T06:36:00.001-08:00

Today I bested my 4 mile time by a half a minute or so and ran it on the treadmill in 34:00 flat. That's a 8:30 average which for me isn't too shabby. Tomorrow is a rest day and then I have another 12 miles on Saturday.

In other news, yesterday at lunch I got a "Salad" at Baja Fresh with Pork, veggies, a small amount of sour cream, avocado, and some other stuff. I noticed the salad weighed what seemed like 2 pounds. Now, I don't really count my calories any more because I have a pretty good idea what I'm putting in my body from my experience watching it so closely over the past year and a half. But out of curiosity I looked it up.

Here's what I found:

doh! Lucky for me I did burn about 600 calories earlier in the day, but still, look at that saturated fat content!
I wasn't far off on the weight either as it's listed as weighing 1 pound 11 ounces!

Crazy.

After that moment of reality I buttoned up my diet for the rest of the day and stayed under my maintenance number, but still. It just goes to show how a few "lax" meals can very soon turn into weight gain. It also goes to show that as most of us probably already know, just because it's a salad doesn't mean it's healthy!

I guess there is one positive, that salad combined with the shakes I have in the morning had enough protein to feed a horse.

With as much running and lifting as I've been doing, it's really hard to eat well all the time because as much as I eat I'm hungry all the time. I think my body is a calorie burning machine right now. Unless I keep healthy food in front of me at all times it's really hard not to justify having cheat meals all over the place since I know I'm burning so many calories.

I gotta try to stop that and dial that in a little better.

I also have to go get something to eat because I'm starving right now. Later :)

New 5 Mile Time

2009-02-18T06:44:00.001-08:00

I bested my 5 mile record by 2 minutes. Not really on purpose, moreso because I didnt feel like running so I figured the faster I ran the sooner it would be over.

5 miles - 43:26.

Yes! 12 miles, I win.

2009-02-14T09:10:00.000-08:00

Those two days of rest paid off. I ran 12 miles this morning!

I was only supposed to run 10, and not 12 for another 2 weeks, but screw it, I felt good so I kept going. I ran it in 1:48:30 which is averaging a 9:03 mile. That's a minute below my goal!

My training schedule didn't even have me running 13, but I think I'm going to ramp up the next two long Saturday runs and make the next one 12 instead of 11, and the next one 13. Then the next few weeks will be a recovery mode before the actual race. If I'd of gone another mile today and kept the same pace I would have completed a half marathon in less then 2 hours. I think that is awesome for a first timer , let alone someone who never ran at all a year ago, and I'm really happy with myself because I now KNOW I can do it.

Originally my goal was just to finish, but now that I know I can I plan to get under 2:00:00 in the actual Half Marathon.

For now though, I gotta go soak my feet and stretch a bit more. Overall I feel pretty good though! RAWR!!!

P.S. One interesting fact I just calculated based on my average heart rate, average speed, time and weight; Calories burned: 1,960!
Kinda crazy. So if you want to lose weight just run 12 miles every day.

Ouch!

2009-02-11T11:12:00.000-08:00

A few problems today.

Not big problems, but I was due to run 5 miles this morning. The past due days I've tried to take it easy as I really do think I may have overdone it by biking on Sunday.
This morning came and something was going on with work that kept me up late last night, and up early this morning, preventing me from doing my run.

Now, I've done almost all of my running over the past year and a half in the AM. Often before eating anything.

I had lunch at noon or so today, and since it was unseasonably warm outside I decided to head over to Valley Forge Park again and get my 5 miles in.

After the first mile my sides started to hurt. Then before the second mile hit I had stomach cramps. Wow, that really sucked.
I toughed it out to three miles, then decided to walk. I did that for maybe a half a mile, then when I felt better I ran another mile to so, short of my 5 mile goal for the day.

So I guess there is something to be seat for routine. My theory is that I ate too soon before I ran. Or I just can't run in the middle of the day. Or I'm just still sore from the past weekend. Or all of the above.

The schedule has me doing another 3 miles tomorrow, off friday, then pushing it again with 10 on Saturday.

I think I might skip the 3, and take it easy for the next two days, only doing me weight routine, and hope that I'm strong again for my Saturday morning run.

I knew things were just going too well up until now. But what is life without adversity?

I do feel good that I even got out today, even though it didn't go as planned. Consistency is key I suppose.

Slightly Beat Up

2009-02-09T11:46:00.001-08:00

I had a pretty "productive" weekend. Although I'm mentally in great spirits and still full of energy, my calves and hamstrings and pretty beat up.

-Saturday I ran in accordance with my training schedule, 8 miles. Those 8 miles were in 20 degrees over some pretty steep hills in Valley Forge National Park. I was kinda intimidated by this run as I've only ever run this distance a few times, all of them on treadmills with no incline. I'm happy to say though that I paced myself very well and felt strong the entire run. I felt I could have even gone further. In the end I ran it in 1:13:15 or a 9:10 mile average, well below my 10 mile average target. I was happy about that.

I felt really good and not sore at all after the run, so on Sunday:

-I rode my bike 30 miles. My friend invited me to come out and the weather was in the 50's for the first time in a while; I couldn't resist. Those 30 miles once again were very hilly. I felt good and pretty strong considering I had no ridden a bike in a month or so.

By Sunday night I had some soreness in my calves. This morning it was time to do my Monday 3 mile run. I did it, outside once again, but I felt like I was running in sand. I still managed a respectable 25:17 or an 8:26 pace, but it sure didn't feel like that when I was doing it.

Now it's a few hours later and like I said, I feel good, but I am sore. I've been stretching when I can.

This week's weather was supposed to be fairly warm and I've been considering commuting on my bike a few days. I'm just not sure if I'm going to wear myself out adding in riding my bike 20 miles a day for a few days, lifting on Tuesday, then doing the rest of my training runs for the week which total another 18 mile.

This Saturday I have to continue to push myself and get up to 10 miles. The following Saturday is 11 and the next is 12, then is tapers down for a few weeks until the actual Half Marathon.

Overall I'm very happy with my progress and I don't want to wear myself out or worse, injure myself for the race. So I think I might have to suck it up and not ride my bike this week. I guess I have all year for that anyway...

I've also heard that a low cardio slow workout can help your muscles to recover and get rid of the extra lactic acid, so maybe I will ride to work...

As you can see I haven't decided yet.

On another note, I've been trying to get back into posting some sort of pictures in my posts. I'm not really a fan of posting pics of myself in spandex, but what the heck. It's not like there arent already half naked pics of my on this blog:

I managed to snap a pic in the freezing cold before my long run on Saturday. The trick to running in such cold? Layers! Lots of them.

Disclaimer: As you can see despite all the exercising I've been getting I still have an extra 10 or 15 pounds around the middle that I'd like to see go away. But being in weight loss mode and doing this much stuff is hard. I'm hoping it comes back off when I get back on the bike more consistently.

Finish the run or run for time?

2009-02-04T06:32:00.000-08:00

I ran my miles today on the treadmill because we got 8 inches of snow overnight. I really wanted to run outside like I did on Monday but it just wasn't in the cards.

I started out rather sluggish, my body not really feeling like moving much, but by the end of my 5 mile training run I was pleasently surprised to see that I beat my best time by over 3 minutes! 5 miles at 45:36 ,that's averaging a 9:07 mile. I felt pretty strong throughout the entire run, but I still feel like maintaining that pace for 8 MORE MILES is a bit in a future.

I have no doubt in my mind that I will finish this half marathon, which was my original goal, but I'm afraid to say I'm making the sketchy mental goal in my head that I can do this thing averaging less than a 10 minute mile. Everything I read says for your first half marathon your goal should just be to finish. For me though, I want more.

Another note, I'm noticing a trend in my running. My outdoor runs, the majority of which have been run in horribly cold weather, have always been faster than my indoor runs. I don't know if that means the treadmill is off, my gps watch is off, or I just truly am faster outside. I certainly don't feel faster outside, if anything quite the opposite. However I have noticed that when on the treadmill, it's easy to get into a groove at one speed and stay there for long periods of time. Outside you don't have the luxury since you're reacting to the terrain and you don't have as much of a constant watch on your speed. I don't really know what this all means if anything, it's just an observation. I will say I much prefer my outdoor runs now, even though they're physically harder on my body. They're just much less boring and a bit more rewarding.

I'm looking forward to spring, or at least no ice on the roads, at which time I think the majority of my runs will be outside, which is a change for me.

Day 555

2009-01-28T08:11:00.000-08:00

Well, it's officially day 555. That's right, it's been 555 days since I decided to get happy about my looks, performance, and health. Seems like a long time, but to be honest, after the first few months it became a lifestyle and things get a little bit easier then.

Anyway, I've been wanting to update my blog a bit with my changing goals and outlook. I'm no longer in a weight loss mode, nor have I been for almost a year. Sure, I'll probably put some weight on,then try to lose it. But my overall focus in life isn't weight loss. It's challenging myself physically and attempting to further realize potential from my mind and body. Hence the new semi cheesy title and blog layout. I hope to get some decent "action" pics soon and maintain a current Day XXX picture in the right column.

I don't want to forget what I used to be, where I came from, and how I got to where I am now. Much of the point of this blog for me is to track my physical changes over time in order to ensure they're headed in the right direction. I hope to keep this log and blog around for a long time.

You may also notice that I've deleted some links to people's blogs. Please don't take this personally, but I've decided that I can't support peoples blogs that are never updated. That's kinda the point of keeping a blog. If any of these blogs become active again I'll by all means be available for support and add them back to my page, but until then I don't see the point in keeping old stale content linked on my page.

In other news, training for the half is going well, eating is going well. Baby planning is going well as well. If anything, right now I just can't wait for the winter to people over so I can start being outside more. For now though, I'll make due and keep trudging along. Hope everyone else is doing well.

Doin' It

2009-01-23T15:46:00.000-08:00

Been running this week lots. After my first outside run last Saturday I had some really sore calfs. I attributed this to the fact that I don't think I was stretching enough. Is not at all enough? Probably not.

So when by Tuesday I was still pretty sore, I got a hot bath, and really started stretching at various times during the day. This helped a lot, and I made it through my Wednesday and Thursday 4 and 3 miles runs respectively.

This weekend I'll be doing my annual "Winter Campin'" trip with the guys, so I had to move my Saturday long outside run up to today. I just got back from it a bit ago. Aside from my gps watch running out of power after only .6 miles, it wasn't too bad. I had to wing it as far as distance, but I did pretty well. I mapped my route when I got home and I'd run 5.2 miles. Not bad guestimatin'! I'm not really sure of my time because I didn't pay attention to when I left, but I believe it to be around 50 minutes. I felt strong for most of the run and I know I'm getting stronger, and more used to running outdoors.

Next time I'll make sure the battery is all charged up on my watch though.

So, like I said, this weekend I'm off for some snow camping fun, then Monday I'll be back on the treadmill, Tuesday lifting the weights, Wednesday and Thursday on the treadmill, Friday resting and next Saturday running 6 miles this time, outside of course.

And so it goes...

Soon enough I'll be able to call myself a (Half)Marathon Runner. I've got it clearly in my sights and intend to see it through.

Double U Tee Eff

2009-01-20T07:08:00.001-08:00

Weigh-In: 218.2 lbs!!!

218 pounds today. That's right, that's now over 10 pounds more than the weight I was maintaining for the last year. I know some of it has to be water weight. I've run 17 miles in the last 7 days, lifted weights twice. I beat the hell out of my legs running last Saturday outside and my calves are still pretty sore. My shoulders are sore because I've been doing my chest routine for a few weeks right now, mostly lifting to fail once a week. I think I've packed on some muscle in the past few months too because I can see it in my shoulders and chest.

My clothes still fit fine.

Other than being sore I feel great.

That said, some of that 10 pounds has got to be fat and I'm annoyed. As I've mentioned I've been working out a lot lately, but with that my hunger levels have been through the roof and the quality of the food I've been eating has not always been the best. I'm also drinking way too much coffee.

There is also supposedly the possibility I'm putting on weight because I have a kid on the way. I've heard of men eating more when their wives start eating more in pregnancy. Come to think of it, I don't think I've told any of my blog readers I have a baby on the way. Due July 19th! We don't know the sex yet.

Back to my weight, to make matters worse, some people's reaction when I tell them I put 10 pounds on is "great!". Yes, I still have certain friends and family who think I was too thin.

Meanwhile, I still have flab around the middle that I want gone.

My point is that it's hard to stay motivated to be in a weight loss mode when people are cheering you on for gaining weight, you're hungry all the time because you're working out so much, it's winter time, my dog died, the alignment of the sun is off..

Anyway, I just wanted to post to get some stuff off my mind, express my dissatisfaction and internal conflict with being 10 pounds heavier than a year ago (for whatever reason), and to come clean with what's going on. For anyone who thinks life is great once you loose a hundred pounds and you're below your goal weight, think again. This is a life long struggle!

I guess I probably need to do pictures again soon too..

Talk to you soon.

P.S. For anyone still out there, please stop on by Garth's page and help support him on his journey to get in shape.

Support Yourself and your Brother

2009-01-14T11:34:00.000-08:00

I just read my first two posts to this blog from about a year and a half ago. First of all, wow, I almost forgot what person I was. How I felt about what I looked like and how much I weighed. Some days I forget not only the importance, but the breadth of what I've actually done. I mean, I transformed myself. I lost over 100 lbs and I've kept it off for over a year. I can't allow myself to forget that.

That said, the point of this post isn't to pat myself on the back or brag about my accomplishments. Those accomplishments I speak of? They owe so much to this blog and to the people who read it, commented on it, and helped me in so many ways. Even if it was just being there and letting me know other people were suffering through the same things I was, and DOING SOMETHING about it. I didn't really need experts, I just needed to know I wasn't alone. That played a huge part in my success.

I know things don't go on forever and life is constantly changing, but some things shouldn't. Excuse my french, but WHERE THE FUCK IS EVERYONE?

People need our support.

If you're not posting because you're not completely happy with yourself and you no longer need a blog, fine. I kinda doubt that's the case with most people, but if it is, great.

If not, you not only owe it to yourself, but to everyone else to keep talking. Keep posting about yourself, keep supporting the people that helped motivate you to meet your goals.

The most important thing is that everyone is still working to better themselves while helping friends and even strangers do the same. Maybe most people aren't blogging anymore, but I hope they're at least happy, since that really is what this is all about.

Later

Half Marathon Training Begins

2009-01-12T06:26:00.000-08:00

So today I officially started my half marathon training. In case anyone is interested, here is how the schedule pans out, with the last Saturday being the actual race.

10 Week Half Maraton Training Schedule

My plan is to do the weekday runs on the treadmill as I've been doing, with the Saturday runs outside. For those outside runs, arriving today is my new toy, a Garmin Forerunner® 305.

For anyone interested in getting one, check out Amazon. I got mine for less than half of the price listed on the Garmin site.

It's basically a watch that has a heart rate monitor, a gps, and all of the normal watch type functions. It means I can track my pace, time, and distance while running outside. Not more plotting out routes or guessing to figure out what you're really doing. I means you get everything the treadmill gives you except you get to be outside. What could be better? I'll do a more depth report on it once I get some experience using it.

One additional comment for today...GO EAGLES!!!!

-Brian

Half-Marathon Training and starting again

2009-01-09T06:35:00.000-08:00

So, I've been kinda floating for a while. Trying to maintain, but mainly half-assing a half thought out work-out routine in order to be able to eat what I want and stay relatively in shape. Things got harder and fell off even more when it got cold enough outside that I wasn't comfortable riding my bike to work every day. The past few weeks I've been running maybe 8-10 miles a week and lifting 1-2 days, but that's basically been it.

We all know that exercise and good eating habits are all part of staying in shape and being healthy. I need to better align myself with that again. Like many of you, the holidays could have gone better, and over the past two months my weight has slowly crept up to around 214. That is still not a bad weight for me at 6'3", and right in the range my doctor recommended for me a year ago. However, my lowest average weight was about 204, so as far as I see it, I've gained 10 pounds. Ironically, one year ago today I weighed exactly the same as I do today.

My body can still perform like it did at 204, in fact, just today I ran a 5k on the treadmill without really pushing TOO hard. After checking my numbers it was my 4th or 5th best time ever. That's not too bad really, especially for not really trying to hard. I can also bench the same amount today that I could 6 months ago.

Anyway, since I'm really trying not to ramble, let me just get to my points:

- I feel like I've lost a bit of my drive to stay in shape and eat right. Blame it on the time of year, circumstances with my commute to work, being basically comfortable with my weight, the direction the wind is blowing, whatever. I'm going to change things in order to give myself back that drive.

- I'm running a Half Marathon, the Sun Trust National Marathon in Washington DC on March 21. I'm starting a regimented 10 week training schedule for that event this Monday. I really want to be able to mark down on my list of accomplishments a half marathon, so no time like now to get started on that. Two of my co workers are doing it with me, so that really helps too :

- I'm going to pay better attention to what's going in my body. You see, losing 100 pounds was easy. I cut out almost all saturated fats, kept my calories around 2500 a day, ate breakfast every day, and exercised my ass off any way I could. 6 months later the weight was gone. Building muscle and maintaining weight for the rest of your life, well, that's the hard part.

- I hope to start posting more to hold myself accountable for what's going on. My posts fell off when I didnt have much to say. Normally when you don't hear from me its because things are going well. I'm not breaking any personal records, but I'm not doing bad either. I'm posting now because I don't want to be one of the many who fall off the life long wagon. My blog is how I keep myself in check.

That's all I'm going to say for now. I have more to say, but I'll save it for the next post.

Ran Run Ran

2009-01-04T20:24:00.000-08:00

I ran 5.7 miles total on the treadmill tonight. Yes, on a Sunday night after lounging around all day watching football and eating. I just felt rather slobbish so I went and ran some of it off. Not my fastest time, but I feel like I ran 10 miles. I'm still getting back into the running groove.

Tomorrow I go back to work and have to work 5 days straight for the first time in 3 months. I'm not looking forward to it.

Life goes on.

Hope everyone is getting and staying in shape.

Talk to you soon.

New 5 Mile Time

2009-01-01T16:32:00.000-08:00

I ran another 5 miler on the treadmill this morning. This may be the first time I've actually tried to better my 5 mile time, but nonetheless I beat my best time by close to 2 minutes. I'm really still not in that great of running shape yet, so I think I can still knock a few miles off of my 5 mile time.

It's something to shoot for anyway. Perhaps I'll start running 10k's though instead, since 5 miles seems like a rather arbitrary number in the running world. We'll see.

Ran -Biked - Lifted this week

2008-12-30T07:12:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note to say that I ran 5 miles on the treadmill today. Time was 53:37. Ironically the last time I ran 5 miles on the treadmill was exactly 1 year ago today. Today's time wasnt my best or my worst, not that I was running for time.

I also commuted by bike to work yesterday for the first time in 6 weeks or so. I lifted as well. Gotta stay active you know..

New Mile Time

2008-11-04T07:10:00.001-08:00

Sorry the posting has been off. It's not due to lack of workout effort, just the fact that I haven't had a lot of time to post, and not really a lot of new information to talk about.

I've been running on the treadmill 2-3 days a week, lifting weights 2 days a week, and still riding my bike when I can, maybe 50-60 miles a week if you include weekends.
My weight has gone up slightly the past few weeks and I think it's probably due to water retention from starting lifting again. WHen I say up I've been around 206-210 when my lowest recorded weight ever was around 200. My original goal was to stay under was 210 (remember that I'm 6'3" and a large frame guy) so I'm still maintaining under my original goals.

Today I started out quick on the treadmill and decided to see what mile time I could get. I ended up with a 7:24 which to my surprise after referencing my best time earlier this year is a new record by 20 seconds! I feel like I could probably get in the sub 6 minute range but I always seem to have some back pain when I try to run really fast miles. It must have something to do with my form or lack thereof. That said I prefer to focus on longer endurance runs anyway.

I think I've been in maintenence mode for 10 or 11 months now. I'm happy with myself but like to continue to push my limits to see what I'm capable of.
Anyway, it's time for another meeting so I've got to run...no pun intended.

Vacation Is Over

2008-09-10T15:56:00.000-07:00

Yup, Vacation is over.

By that I mean, I'm back from North Carolina. By that I mean, it's time to get back to work.

Cardio; I'm in good shape. I still ride to work every day. Haven't missed a day of bicycle commuting for 6 weeks. 120 or so miles a week minimum. Blah blah blah.

I still have goals to achieve. I've spent the summer enjoying my new self, but there is still work to be done. I still can't bench my body weight. I still haven't run a 10k. I haven't tried recently, but I still don't think I can do 10 pull ups.

So, the riding isn't going to stop, but the weight lifting is starting back up again. In fact it started Monday with a nice upper body workout and I've been sore all week. Just goes to show what a few months off does to a body.

I do have the MS150 to ride in a few weeks. And I have some new goals to strive for, but more on that later. I just wanted it to officially be known that I'm going to be back in the fitness blogging world, setting new goals for myself, learning, tracking my progress, doin' stuff.

Welcome back, self!

6 months of 200

2008-08-26T07:09:00.000-07:00

Weigh-In: 202.2 lbs

I figured I'd update my blog today since it's been so long. In doing so I just noticed that's its been over 6 months that I've maintained a weight right around 200 pounds. I'm really happy about that, but I'm already thinking about how I'm going to keep it up once winter comes around. That's always been my biggest concern because in the past I would become less active and put on a few pounds. I don't want to allow that to happen this year.

My plan of attack is as follows:

-Keep riding my bike as long as there is no snow on the ground. Currently between commuting and recreational riding I'm putting in about 150 miles a week. I'd like to maintain that for as long as possible. I think it will go a bit lower in the winter so..

- I'm going to start running on the treadmill again in the winter. I enjoyed it and it has taken a back seat to riding this summer, so it will come back.

- I'm going to start lifting again. 3 days a week. There is no time like the present.

- I'm going to start doing 200 push-ups a week. I need to start this now. In fact, hang on....

ok, I just did 4. 196 to go.

I eat OK. I think caloric intake is inline with how many calories I burn during the day, but I'm not always happy with the quality of those calories I'm consuming. I need to do a better job to eat things that are good for me and that aren't swimming in sugar and preservatives. After all, the overall goal here is to live longer, not just be thin. It's easy to forget that once you're in decent shape physically.

Anyhow, I'm on vacation next week in the Outer Banks North Carolina so maybe I'll actually have some time to post some more. I plan to get in a bunch of riding,a bunch of relaxing, and a bunch of seafood (the healthy kind of course).

I hope every else's summer is going well.

-Brian

MS 150

2008-07-30T11:10:00.000-07:00

Hey guys,
I'm riding my bike in the MS150 City To Shore ride in September. It's a two day event, 75 miles each day. I have to raise $250 in donations for the event, so if anyone would like to contribute, no matter how small, it would be greatly appreciated.

To do so use this link.

Anything you could mange would be a great help and go to a great cause!

Thanks in advance

-Brian

1 Year Anniversary

2008-07-24T06:59:00.000-07:00

It was one year ago today that I made my very first blog entry. It was one year ago I decided it was time for a lifestyle change. On that day, July 24th of 2007 I weighed 296.5 pounds.

Today, one year later, I weigh 200 pounds and have been 200 pounds plus or minus 5 for almost 5 months now.

I'm too busy to post much more at this time, but I just wanted to call this out. I'm proud of what I've accomplished this past year. Now it's time to keep moving forward and meeting goals.

Hope everyone is having a great summer!

Update

2008-07-07T11:03:00.000-07:00

My weight finally went back down to 201-ish. Today it's back up to 205 but I attribute that to a late meal yesterday. No biggie.

I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend and is back at it working towards your goals.

For me right now, maintenance is an accomplishment so that's what I'm working towards.

I don't know...

2008-06-30T13:00:00.000-07:00

...what I weigh.

Yea, for the first time in a while I decided to ditch weighing myself for a few days. Why?
Because I got frustrated. My weight suddenly went up 8 pounds for some reason and no matter what I did I felt like I couldn't stop it. That annoys me. So, I struck back. I ate more. And I stopped weighing myself.

I needed a mental break from wondering what my weight was every day. I figure, if I look in the mirror and I think I look like I did the week before, I'll be OK.

Tomorrow I'm going to go back to weighing myself. I'm hoping I'm back down to where I've been since March or so..203-ish.

I ran again today. It felt nice. Instead of jumping on the treadmill and trying to see how fast I could crank out a 5k, I ran a few intervals, and then I just ran at a steady 5-6 mpg for 20 minutes or so.

Eating has been pretty good today. Like Bill and some others I do end up indulging on alchohol on the weekends and I'm of the mindset i want to have fun this summer and not limit myself everywhere. So since that is the plan I'm trying to keep my weekdays extra clean and healthy in order to prepare for the deboucherous weekends. Hopefully this works out.

Well, that's all I really have to say about that..

Since I don't like posts without images to look at, here's a picture of my dog Bella with a bowl on her head. This one is for you Melissa.

The Dude Abides

2008-06-26T08:40:00.000-07:00

Weigh-In: 205 lbs

This week has been funny weight-wise. I've eaten pretty well, biked about 70 miles since Monday, lifted weights on Tuesday, and yet I'm up several pounds. I'm assuming its water weight , or maybe muscle?

Who knows.

Anyway, here's a random pic from my bike trip last month. You can get an idea of the crazy looking recumbent I ride when I go on bike tours.

Funny lookin' eh?

My pictures tend to be pretty boring, but if you want to check out the rest of them from that trip, they can be found here.

I don't really have much else to say. I'm just trying to maintain my weight, and hopefully slowly build some muscle. I'm trying to stay active.

Hope everyone else is going well and meeting your goals!

A Little Reminder

2008-06-20T07:15:00.000-07:00

You know, something happens after you've lost a bit of weight. You forget what you were before. I would even go as far to say that you might get comfortable in your new "skin". That's where things get dangerous for a lot of people I guess. They tend to slowly fall into their old habits and start to become mirrors of their former selves.

To combat this I like to remind myself of what I used to be by looking at pics, or even just thinking about some of the meals I used to eat and consider normal fair.

This time a year ago I would have found myself content on with a dinner of Bubba Burgers. I use the plural sense because I'd probably have two burgers with dinner. Mmm, Bubba burgers. Those are great arent they? My love for them have not changed.

This year I might have the same cravings, but I remember all of the hard work I put in in the last 11 months. So I won't have a bubba burger, or if I do I'll have a low fat version, and only have one, and probably go for a jog or a bike ride the next morning because I feel guilty , or maybe just afraid of becoming what i once was.

The urges are still there, I still love that food, but I now have an arsenal of things to combat that.

-I like a lot of healthy food. I love sushi, vegetables, water, fruit. I'm happy to eat those things the bulk of the time.

-When I'm no longer hungry I know now I no longer need to eat. Portion control. Learn it.

-Guilt. I have guilt whenever I indulge. Maybe not right away. I can still enjoy foods that are bad for me, but sooner or later I'll be thinking about what I just consumed, and taking the proper steps to ensure it isn't going to lodge itself onto my love handles.

-Exercise. I've come to really enjoy it. I don't like when I go a long time without it. I like to stay active. I like to do things. Hopefully this never changes, because I feel like when you slow down, you die. I don't ever want to die.

So back to a year ago. Reminders of what I was.

This is the closest I can come in a pic, July 4th 2007:

Is that me? Oh that's right. It used to be. Wow, I think I'll pass on that Bubba Burger.

Sometimes today I forget what i was like, and maybe I get a little hard on myself because I havent worked out for a while and maybe my eating wasnt the best. So, let's take a picture from today and compare, just to be sure we're not falling back into BurgerLand:

ok so maybe I need to learn to smile a little better, and is my hairline receding? What the hell is that about?

But the plan worked. That is not the same person. Try a body shot if the face shots aren't working. Maybe I'll do that next time.

So here I am, plodding along. Still living with my new identity , maybe a few reminders of my old one. But I'm doing OK.

-Brian

NOTES:
You'll see I took a run yesterday on the treadmill (my time is posted on the right). This was the first time in..I don't know, 2-3 months that I've run? I still ride my bike and I'm active, but there really is no way to keep in good running shape unless well, you run. I wasn't too hard on myself with my 25:53 5k time though. Sure I've done better, but I'm still in the respectable range as far as I'm concerned. My legs are sore today though.

I think you have to keep yourself in check and keep challenging yourself. I think that is one of the keys to staying in shape. I'm hoping it is anyway.

Oh and I do still have goals. I'm starting to lift again. I'd like to get some more muscle definition. I want to be able to do a few more pull-ups.

But tonight I think I'll have a Bubba Burger, think about what I used to be, then maybe go for a bike ride and know that I'll never be that person again.

OK, I'm partially kidding. I probably wont have a Bubba Burger.

Maybe Nachos...

Hi!

2008-05-15T13:40:00.001-07:00

Just thought I'd let you all know, as of last night, I'm engaged!

Uhmm...I guess that's it!

Bubye now!

Maintain Cycle

2008-05-08T07:14:00.000-07:00

It's that time again. Time for another monthly update!

What have I been doing to maintain my weight loss?

Well, I ride my bike!

All the time.

I ride to and from work 5 days a week. That's a 18 mile round trip. I also ride with a local club one or two nights a week. So in total I ride my bikes about 150-200 miles a week.
That alone is probably enough to keep me in shape, but I also still watch what I eat and weigh myself every day. My weight is usually between 200 and 203.

I lead a pretty normal eating life now. I try to eat healthy as much as possible, I try to control portions and not overeat, I try to stay away from alcohol and sweets. But that said I do allow myself to indulge every now and again.

But I almost always feel guilty when I eat a plate of cheesy nachos or something like that. Because of that I don't do it very often.

You could say I'm slowly finding my groove. Learning what I can and can't do in order to maintain this weight.

I have however been slacking on the weight training though. There are really no excuses. I've been wanting to do push-ups in the morning , but it just has not happened. I'm putting it on my list of things to do.

I don't have much else to report.

Have a great month!

Yeah, I'm here

2008-04-09T11:25:00.000-07:00

Howdy!
I figured I'd give you all an update since it's been over a month.

I've been trying to get back into a "normal life" the past few months. You could say I'm still not quite used to not being in a weight loss mode, even though I haven't been for some time.

Here's a few comments/thoughts:

-I still weigh myself every morning. What is that weight? Well today it was 203. It's been between 201 and 209 for almost two months now. I got sick for almost a week about 2 weeks ago and that was when it went down to almost 200. It's been hovering in the 203-205 range for about a week now. I'm happy with that weight. I think it's a good weight for me to maintain. 6'3", 204ish. Not bad at all.

-Exercise: I'm still doing it. I'm not running as much anymore, but I have replaced that with bicycle riding. By the end of this week I'll have ridden my bike about 75-90 miles between commuting to work, club rides after work, and running errands. I hope to keep that the norm.

I still do weight training, but only about two days a week. I'm not really trying to build muscle much anymore, but more-so just maintain what I have. I think once it's cold and crappy out again and I can't be on my bike I'll be back into lifting, but for now I prefer to spend my spare time outside.

I'm still swimming, maybe 1-2 times a week. I'm probably not going to do the triathlon though. I just really haven't gotten the breathing part down and I couldn't really imagine swimming non-stop for a half mile. I'm still working out it, but probably not at a level that I'll be able to do it for the triathlon.

Call it a cop-out, call it what you will, but I'm not going to do it. Instead I'm going to ride my bike more since that's what I enjoy.

Speaking of bicycling, another reason I'm riding so much is because I'm going to be going on another unsupported bike tour in just over a month. It will cover over a thousand miles and two weeks of time. Here's a rough map of where we'll be riding:

In addition to that trip in two weeks I'm going to be doing another quick tour around the Delaware bay, 180 miles in two days. That may sound crazy to some, but I can't wait.

-Eating
My eating is still good. I feel I'm doing pretty well at eating more like a normal person, albeit healthy. I eat smaller portions, I don't each many things with lots of fat or sugar. I do allow myself some things here and there, like cheese or maybe a beer. But I'm constantly aware of what my weight is and what I'm putting in my body. I'm still staying around 2500-3000 calories a day and that seems to be working out. I'm finding out that 205 is a good natural maintain weight for me to be.

I'm not really sure what else to report. All really is going well. I feel strong, I'm happy with how I look and how I perform. I'm trying to do my best to lead a healthy lifestyle, yet not be "that crazy health nut" guy. I think I'm doing ok so far. I'll try to check in now and again and hopefully comment on some of your blogs, but in case it's already not obvious, I plan to be outside enjoying life more than posting blogs. So I'm still here, just not as much...

I hope everyone else is doing well!

Stroke, Breath, Stroke, Drown

2008-03-04T08:55:00.001-08:00

Weigh-In: 208.6 lbs

Yesterday I was finally able to join Liz in being a member of the Y. I've been wanting to join just to use the pool so I can start swimming laps in preparation for a triathlon I'm going to do in July.

I purchased my speedo, goggles, and ear plugs last week. This morning I put them to use at the pool.

When I say I put them to use, what I mean is that I wore them while I violently thrashed around the pool, attempting to swim, and breath at the same time. It was hard.

I know how to swim, I guess. But I haven't really done it for a long time. I know I took lessons as a kid, but I'm not sure that is helping me here.

My main problem is that I'm having trouble breathing without taking in water. So, it's really hard to swim a lap in the pool when you can't breath. In fact it's impossible.

I only managed 3 laps this morning before I gave up, deciding I need some more education before I proceed. I really don't want to have to be rescued by the 18 year old lifeguard.

So that's what I'm doing now. I research at Beginner Triathlete.com. I'm also going to get some direction from a professional at the Y next time I go.

So these are my next set of immediate challenges:

-Learn to swim correctly without drowning.

-From there, I need to be comfortable doing 17 laps as that's what I'll be doing in the triathlon.

I feel like I'm a long ways off from that, but we'll see.

There is a guy at work who also just started training for his first triathlon and has just crossed these same hurdles. Talking to him is motivation for me. If he can do it I know I can. In fact, he's a smoker...

Aside from that, things are going well. I'm still doing weight training 3 days a week, and I throw in some cardio 1-2 days on top of that. I still weigh myself daily just to monitor what is going on, but as I've said before I'm no longer trying to lose weight. I seem to fluctuate between 206 and 210 these days.

More updates in my triathlon training to come.

Runnin' Bikin' Workin'

2008-02-21T07:29:00.000-08:00

Weigh-In: 209.5 lbs

My weigh-ins have been anywhere between 208 and 212 for about two weeks now. I guess that's good since I'm not really trying to lose weight. I'm still adjusting though to not losing weight. It's weird.

Anyway, I ran a 5k this morning for the first time in a week. I really pushed myself a got a new best time (I think): 23:36. Woohoo!

I still haven't signed up for the Philly triathlon yet, for a few reasons.

One, it's $120 and I'm kinda broke right now because of remodeling my kitchen and a few other things (It sure wouldn't hurt to have that $40 bucks from the DECEMBER weight loss challenge! Like that's going to happen. Anyway, I shall digress...)

The other reason I haven't signed up is because I'm not sure if I really would like to swim in the Skukyll river, right next to downtown Philly. Apparently every year before the triathlon they test the water for contamination. A few years they didnt have the race because it failed the test...that sounds...kinda scary. Maybe there is another triathlon I can sign up for where I don't have to risk infection.

Everything else is going well. Still weight training 3 days week and doing cardio 2-3 days. Still eating well. I started commuting to work on the bicycle, but now the weather has turned bad and it's just too cold. In fact, here's a pic from Monday:

Hmm, kinda looks like I have a gut, but it's actually just because that shirt is tucked in. Ignore that please!

Well, that's all I really have to say today. Hopefully everyone is doing well!

Day 200 something

2008-02-19T06:49:00.000-08:00

Weigh-In: 209.00 lbs

First Bicycle Commute of the year.

2008-02-18T07:48:00.000-08:00

Weigh-In: 210.5 lbs

Nothing new weight loss or fitness related, so I'm going to cross post this story of my morning that I posted on a bicycle forum I frequent.

-----------------

First Commute of the Season

All weekend I had been thinking about riding a bicycle to work on Monday. The winter saw a lot of changes for me. For one, I've lost almost 90 pounds since July 24th of last year, much of that since the last time I'd been on a bicycle. I've been really itching to see what I'd be able to do on the bike with the lighter weight.

I've also recently been setting up an old vintage Raleigh Grand Prix as a commuter. In the past I'd commuted on a LWB USS Vision recumbent, but I don't really like to ride it to work because it's a pain in the ass in traffic and in a few tight spots I have to get through.

So this morning came and I looked out the window to see foggyness and light rain. Crap, I guess I wouldn't be riding today.

When I went outside to let the dog out I couldn't help but notice that even though it looked crappy out, it felt like it was about 60 degrees! I'd been in the 30's here in Philly for a while. I had to ride.

So I loaded up my laptop and a change of clothes in my messenger bag and jumped on my Raleigh, ready to make the 8 mile commute.

Two blocks from my house, after going down a steep hill which is actually an elevated bridge I hear a loud bang! Holy crap! Hey wait, the front end is very squirely. The front tire had blown its bead, making a sound equal to gunfire and scaring the crap out of me and several pedestrians.

OK, I guess I'm not riding today. I pushed the bike back up the hill, two blocks, back home.

Then I remembered that someone just gave me an early 80's Nikishi Sport ten speed that I'd just cleaned up last night getting ready to sell. May as well test er out...

The seat on the 'ishi is less comfortable and riding on a brick, so I started to move the seat over from the Raleigh. Crap, different seat post sizes, have to unbolt the seat from the post.

5-10 minutes later.

Ok the seat is all sorted out.

Time to change the spd pedals over so I can click into the 'ishi. No big deal.

One pedal off the nikishi, one pedal on the 'ishi.

The next pedal, which had probably been threaded onto the crank arm on the 'ishi since 1981 did not want to move. Wouldnt budge! After a few minutes of beating the crap out of it and bending a wrench on it I yelled "F@#$ You!!".

Apparently my neighbor heard me in his yard, wondering why I was alone in my garage yelling at something, and offered his help. A little embarassed I said "no, I'm just pissed at this bike".

Then I got an idea....both bikes have 27" wheels, just put the 'ishi wheel on the Raleigh and be on your way! Duh!

OK, switch front wheels. Put seat back on Raleigh. Put pedals back on Raleigh...adjust seat.

I don't know what time it is anymore, but it's probably pretty late. Whatever, it's so nice out and now I'm commited, I HAVE TO RIDE TODAY.

Finally everything is all sorted out, I jump on the Raleigh and head through my town, towards the bike path that is my commute.

Forgot my pump, oops.

Hope I don't need that.

In the middle of the wooded bike trail after shiftng, my chain suddenly stops. Won't move at all.

Seems it got stuck between the smallest rear chain and the bolt from the fenders I just installed last week.

Damn.

After few minutes and very dirty hands I'm on my way again.

A few minutes later I shift the front derailler and it throws the chain into the crank arm.

Great, thanks.

Fix that, on my way.

Well, I'm already late, lets stop and take a pic. After all, I'm going to enjoy this nice warm morning! I'd like to snap a pic and post it on BF.

Memory full.

What? Oops, forgot the memory card for the camera...

And you know what? Carrying my laptop in this messenger bag really sucks. I really need to install that rear rack and start using a pannier bag.

@#$^!!!

I ended up getting to work 45 minutes late.

Hmm. Well, it sure was nice out this morning. I wonder if my bike will break in half on the way home, throwing me down an embankment into a river. Time will only tell.

The Bench

2008-02-12T14:45:00.000-08:00

Weigh-In: 211.3 lbs

I just thought I would share with you guys the numbers for the first 6 weeks of lifting. These are just for the bench press. I think the numbers show that I'm improving every week. They also show what I already knew, that my upper body strength kinda sucks. Dan(my lifting partner) has already met his goal of benching his body weight. I think he weights around 220-225.

All of these numbers were basically "maxing out".

Anyway, here they are:

Day 200

2008-02-08T05:29:00.000-08:00

Weigh-in: 209.6 lbs

The 200th day of the new lifestyle has arrived. With it ironically comes a new low weigh-in that puts me below my current goal of 210. This is good news!

Here's a new side compare pic. I didn't realize it had been 51 days since I'd posted one last...

I can't even believe day 1 when I look at it anymore. Seems like a different person.

Day 199

2008-02-07T05:54:00.000-08:00

weigh-in: 210.6 lbs

Hey there! I've got a meeting in 5 minutes, and a busy day ahead of me so I have to make this quick. I wanted to post anyway though because as you can see, I've posted a new low of 210.6! I'm very close to me Feb 15th Goal of 210, which is good since Feb 15th is close too. Other than that, I actually took off from cardio this morning because I'm not feeling well, sore throat, no energy. Hopefully I can fight this off before long, but I think I need the rest right now. Hope everyone else is going well!

P.S. If you read this...Happy Birthday Mom!

Day 197

2008-02-05T06:42:00.000-08:00

Weigh-In: 212.6 lbs

I don't really have a whole lot to report today. Things are going really well! I'm eating right, I'm creeping up on my goal of 210 by Feb 15th, I'm starting to feel better and better after weight training sessions.

Liz joined the Y last night and it's got me thinking about taking one of the "basic training" classes, or possibly a triathlon training class. I never thought I'd be saying that! How things change eh? It's also getting closer to bike riding season which I'm really looking forward to. I know, still February, but it will be here before we know it. Can't wait!

Well, lots of work to get done today so...

A Weekend of Exercise

2008-02-04T06:06:00.001-08:00

Weigh-In: 212.6 lbs

Well the weight finally went back down close to where it was a few days ago. As I'd mentioned before I'm sure I was retaining water from the weight training, but I am glad to be back where I was.

I feel like I got a lot of exercise in this weekend, especially yesterday. Sunday Liz and I took Bella for a 4-5 miles walk first thing in the morning. Then Sunday afternoon I took my new (old) bike that I just recently got all together out for a 17 mile ride in the local hills. I felt pretty strong, especially for not having ridden much on a regular upright bike for several years. Actually my friend who rides all the time but not much over the winter mentioned he was jealous because I was faster than him up the steep hills. He said all that running I've been doing must have paid off. That was nice to hear.

That's all I've got today.

Day 193

2008-02-01T08:22:00.000-08:00

Weigh-In 214.2 lbs

Apparently this guy climbed Seven Summits in 193 days.

Soren Gudmann claims Seven Summits in 193 days!

I didn't do that, but I have done a few things.

For example (not in any special order):

- I ran a lot.
- Rescued a dog.
- Bought a house.
- went on vacation.
- lost 80 or so pounds.
- ate a lot of salad, hummus, water, and carrots.
- ran in a 5k race.
- tore my kitchen apart to remodel it.
- spent a lot of time at work, doing stuff...
- rode my bike to work.
- moved.
- organized my garage.
- went hiking/camping. A few times.
- rode a train.
- drove a motorcycle.
- lifted some weights.
- painted some pictures.

A lot of things can happen in 193 days. In less time people have reinvented themselves, ruined themselves, gotten married/divorced, run for office, changed the world...

What are you going to do in the next 193 days?

Be All That You Can Be!

2008-01-30T06:24:00.000-08:00

Weigh-In: 216.6 lbs

The weight is up again today. I know it's not fat though. First of all, I've not eaten anything bad, or in mass quantities. Secondly, my pants if anything are looser than they were a week ago. So it's either water or muscle or both. It's probably time for another comparison pic or something as its been 40 some days since I've done one. I was thinking of waiting until say 200 which is on Feb 8th though.

I kinda feel like blogging is really falling off for a lot of people. I don't know if that means they're not into the weight loss as much or what, but I just feel like less and less people post blogs and read blogs every day. I hate to think that because that really has been one of my main motivators, the online support. I looked forward to posting blogs and discussing things with people, but these days I just feel like I'm at a bit of a loss for words, and maybe everyone is. I suppose it's just a phase. Maybe it's the winter blues. I thought everyone would be going crazy though what with their new years resolutions.

Someone mentioned the other day (Bill? Ripx? Bro Jay?) about trying to look your best come memorial day. The thought behind it being that it's the first possible "take your shirt off day" this year. I've been thinking about that lately and I really want to strive for that as well. I feel OK now, but if I were to hit the beach tomorrow I'd still not be overly comfortable about my gut hanging over my bathing suit. Of course, it'd be 100 times better than last year and I'm sure 9 out of 10 people who saw me then will be commenting on how different I look. But I'm not completely comfy with it yet. I don't have to have a six pack, but I don't want a jiggly gut hanging out there.

So I guess memorial day is just short of 5 months away. That might seem like a long time but it will be here before you know it. Time to keep plugging away and try to be the best I can be. I really have no idea what that is, but I'd like to find out.

Ew!

2008-01-29T07:21:00.000-08:00

Weigh-In: 216.0 lbs

The weight went up again today despite my actions yesterday of running a 5k, doing a hard-core hour long weight lifting session that obliterated my chest and bi's, and eating perfectly. I can only imagine I'm retaining water or something. Less than a week ago I was weighing in as low at 211.8. Now I'm a full 5 pounds higher. I say whatever to that!

Keep Up the Good Work. Forever.

2008-01-28T07:21:00.000-08:00

Weigh-In: 214.8 lbs

If you're like me, when you become interested in something, you really engulf yourself in it. It consumes you. In the past 6 or so months I've done it with exercise and weight loss. At other times, some recently and some not, I've done it with the following:

Bicycles, Motorcycles, Guitars, Kitchen Renovation, Old Jeeps and the list goes on.

Actually, now that I look at this list, those are very manly things aren't they? ROAR!

I guess you should be worried if I mentioned things like collecting hair brushes and Hello Kitty Memorabilia.

Anyhow, the reason I'm bringing all of this up is that a lot of those things that have consumed me often eventually fall off to the point where I forget how to play songs on the guitar, jeeps sit rusting in parking spots, and bicycles go un-pedaled for months, maybe a year. Usually these things find their way back into my life at some point albeit, not to the point they once were.

That can't happen this time. It doesn't mean that I have to spend every waking moment researching/discussing weight loss, planning workouts, and reading online forums about muscle building. But it means that I can't let this lifestyle sit in the corner for 6 months or a year getting dusty.

Just like playing the guitar, if you don't keep practicing eating right, working out, you're going to get rusty. The next time you sit down you wont be able to play "Freebird". Or perhaps you'll just be flabby. Your calluses are gone. Your gut is back. You get the idea.

BUT just like anything if you go at it 100% 24 hours a day 8 days a week eventually it's going to fall of some. That's expected.

So well, I'm not really sure if I had any other point aside from what I've said. I think I just needed to remind myself about my history and to stay focused. The one thing that is different about this time is that this isn't a hobby at all, but a life changing event. I haven't done anything yet. What is 6 months in the entire scheme of a life? I do indeed have a lot further to go.
-------------------------------------
In other news, I broke my 5k time today on the treadmill. Ran a 23:39. Go me!
BTW, that was done doing 8 intervals at 6.5 and 8.0, then with about 4 or so minutes of running at 9mph at the end. Just thought I'd throw that out there in case anyone thought I'd stop doing intervals. I almost always incorporate them into my runs.

Hungry Like the St. Bernard

2008-01-24T16:52:00.000-08:00

weigh-in: 211.8 lbs

Much like my trusty sidekick Bella, I've been so hungry lately I can eat just about anything and everything in sight. That is not to say that I'm doing that, but I've wanted to. I think it's something to do with the weight lifting.

Also, unfortunately I feel like I might be fighting something off or possibly coming down with something. I have a sore throat and its possible I feel a little weak...

But that does not keep me from working on my new project, a 1969 Raleigh Grand Prix 10 speed, while in my other project, my remodeled kitchen, while looking mighty dorky with my head lamp, while looking at my dog, wondering what to eat.

100th Post

2008-01-23T06:50:00.000-08:00

Weigh-In: 212.2 lbs

Today is my 100th post!
And that figures because I really don't have anything interesting or insightful to say.

So, how about a pic comparison?

I'm posting a pic from the day of my first post, and then another from my 100th post, today, day 184. Let me know if you can tell any difference.

296 pounds - July 24th 2007

213 pounds - January 23rd 2008

Day 183 : Goal Attained; Phase 1 Complete

2008-01-22T06:35:00.000-08:00

Weigh-In: 214.4 lbs

I'm hereby declaring my original weight loss goal of 215 pounds to have been met. I've been weighing in the 213-215 range for a week now, so I'm going to call it.

Here's a few stats of what was achieved over 183 days:

- Roughly 81 pounds lost
- average 3.01 pounds of weight loss per week over 26 weeks.
- 10 inches lost of off waist, size 44 pants to 34.
- Size XXL Shirt to size L
- 2 inches gained in inseam? Seems weird, but I now wear a 34" inseam as compared to 32". I think the difference is because my pants were forced to reside under my gut, hence the two extra inches.
- I no longer snore
- I no longer get constant heart burn

Here are some of the things I can think of that made me successful so far.

- Persistence. It's in my nature that when I really decide I'm going to do something to give it my all. It just happens to have took me until I was 30 years old to decide to do this. I was getting some form of exercise almost every day. I was watching what I ate ALL THE TIME. Any one not great day I had was ten times better than my best day before I started this lifestyle. I do not give up. Any movement is progress no matter how small. Once you realize that, the pain of working out and being healthy is a lot easier.

- Ease. On some level, however you decide to change your lifestyle, you have to make it fit your schedule and your lifestyle. I was very lucky in that I had a gym in my work building and a schedule that allows me to use it basically when I want. Without persistence and the will to do anything this would be useless, but the fact the facilities where there make it all that much easier to act on them. That said, I did many things that contributed to my weight loss that anyone can do, no matter what there physical location to a gym is. One of them is using a pedometer and simply walking whenever possible. Running. Planning meals. Keeping healthy snacks around. Any of these things anyone can do to make this change easier on yourself. Once you do it for a while it becomes second nature anyway.

- Support. I had full support from Liz, my girlfriend and from my friends and family. I'm sure it was an adjustment at first dealing with me not wanting to eat or do some things that I'd always done before. But overall everyone dealt with it pretty well. These blogs were also one of my main means of support. I can't say I wouldn't have done any of this if I had not happened across my former co worker/friend's blog Billy, but it was a huge inspiration and a big push to get me moving. Hell if Billy could do it anyone could :). The blogs were a big help for info and support for me. Thank you all for that!

In Conclusion:

Moving Forward:
Just because I've declared this goal met does not mean this is over. The first phase might be done, but as I've said in the past, this is a new , healthy lifestyle. In a way it will never end. I will never stop regularly monitoring my weight. I will never stop paying attention to what I put in my body. I will never stop making sure I get some forms of exercise.

As I've mentioned, my next set of goals are to exchange some of my left over fat for muscle. Although I appear pretty slim and fit in clothing, I'm still a bit soft around the middle. I have not reached my full fitness potential in many respects. I want to be able to bench press my body weight, squat my body weight, do pull-ups, etc etc. I guess you could consider those things phase two of my transformation.

I might end up weighing less than I do now, I might weight slightly more, who knows. Muscle after all weights more than fat. The point is that I want to get my fat percentage down and my muscle percentage up. I want to wear a swimsuit and be proud of myself. I've made a hell of a lot of progress, but now it's time to fine tune.

That's all I have for today. Thanks again for everyone's support and for reading my blog over the past 183 days.

2008-01-21T05:23:00.000-08:00

Weigh-In: 215.5 lbs

I had a few new low weigh-ins this weekend with the lowest being 213.4 yesterday. Today I'm back up a little bit though, most likely because I had a larger and later dinner than I usually do.

I'm off from work today and plan to be drywalling the ceiling in my kitchen. Then tonight if I'm feeling up to it I have another weight lifting workout to do.

I purchased an old English 10 speed Raleigh bicycle that I'm fixing up and I'm going to use to commute to work when it gets a little warmer. Hopefully it will be a little warmer than today's 13 degrees.

That's all I really have to today. Not much new to report.

Chips and Salsa Extravaganza

2008-01-18T06:57:00.000-08:00

Weigh-In: 216.8 lbs

I kinda screwed up yesterday. I've been really hungry lately, ever since I started lifting. I'm still eating around 2200 calories a day. Usually when I'm hungry I simply just eat something, but I keep it healthy and I try to keep the portions small.

For lunch yesterday I had my normal salad. It was good, but about an hour or two later I was running errands and I found myself still hungry. I happened across a Baja Fresh which is a Mexican fast food-ish place. They have some healthy stuff, I probably eat there once every two weeks or so, usually getting a salad. I was really craving some chips and salsa.

When you order any meal they usually give you a small side of a few chips. That's what I wanted, but apparently when you order the Chips and Salsa by itself it's considered a full meal and they give you enough to feed 4 sumo wrestlers.

I told myself I'd been working so hard and that these chips and salsa weren't really that bad for me anyway. I didn't think about how that night I'd be going to my sister's house to celebrate my twin nieces' 4Th birthdays. There would be cake and we'd be ordering takeout. I wanted to save some calories for that.

Anyway, I ATE ALL OF THE DAMN CHIPS AND SALSA! I knew I had gone overboard. Not only was I not hungry anymore, but I was rather stuffed.

After finishing my chips and my errands and went back to work to look up the calorie numbers for the chips and salsa. I don't normally do this as I don't count calories but I knew today was going to be close and I may have just ruined my dinner.

So Chips and Salsa: 810 Calories!

Wow, that's a lot.

I did some quick math and added up all the calories I'd had for the day, subtracted the calories I'd burned on the treadmill, and I found myself sitting at 1600 or so before dinner.

I ended up having a "Mexican wrap" and a tiny slice of birthday cake for dinner... and about a dozen fries.The Mexican wrap had cheese and fried pieces of chicken in it.

So in short, I don't think I stayed under 2200 calories yesterday. Hopefully I stayed under my maintenance number of 2800-3000, but who knows.

What bothers me more than the calories was the saturated fat content of the chips and probably the dinner. I looked up those steak fajitas I'd been eating maybe once a week and even though I don't put cheese or sour cream on them, they're much higher than I thought in the saturated fat content as well.

So all that said, I know it sounds like I'm being overly anal. I know some people will read this and say that I've lost 80 pounds, why should I be worried about going a little overboard one day.

The answer is that I'm still learning to eat. I've been slowly trying to introduce some less than perfect foods back into my diet, but always at a controlled pace. I always want to at least have an idea of what I'm putting in my body so I can monitor it. If I don't do that, I could find that in 5 years, or 6 months I'll have undone all of the hard work that got me here.

It doesn't mean that I can never eat bad things, it just means I have to control them and for a while yesterday, I didn't. My mind just went blank and I started shoving a boatload of chips and salsa into my face.

I wasn't even going to write this entry because I'm embarrassed by what I did. However I realized I needed to, not only to be accountable but so I can look back on it and remember what happened, and what needs to be done differently next time.

In the end I didn't ruin my weight loss plans and gain a bunch of weigh back, but I hopefully did take a small step in learning how to eat right, or at least how to control it a little better. Actually I don't know if I did or not, but time will tell.

p.s. I ran 3.5 miles this morning and burned 400 calories. I feel a little better now and a little more in control. I like that feeling much better.

Business as Usual

2008-01-17T12:11:00.000-08:00

Weigh-In: 216.2 lbs

I decided to scale back my cardio a bit, so today I did 2.5 miles of HIIT, or 10 intervals plus a 4 minute cool down period. That burned about 250 calories instead of the 350-400 I normally do.
I’ll probably only be running a 5k once a week or so. I need the extra calories to build muscle.
Aside from that, everything seems to be going well. Not sure I have much else to report!

Tricep/Back Workout

2008-01-16T06:34:00.000-08:00

Weigh-In: 216.4 lbs

I ended up jogging two miles on the treadmill today. After doing squats yesterday my legs were already a little sore, but it felt good to run again.

Here is last night's workout. I actually couldn't finish the last tricep workout because I was so sore. I'm definitely feeling it today.

We switched the tricep back workout with the shoulder workout since last week I didn't want to do the back stuff on the regular day because i was sore from laying sheet-rock all day. That's why we just did some of the same stuff I just did last Friday.

I'll be doing the shoulder workout either this Friday or Sunday morning. I'll post that when it happens.

Triceps:
Dumbbell Kickback

Dumbbell Triceps Extension

Barbell Lying Triceps Extension "Skull Crusher"

Back:

Barbell Bent-over Row

Dumbbell Bent-over Row

Weighted Back Extension (on hyperextension apparatus)

New Routine to get Buff

2008-01-15T06:40:00.000-08:00

Weigh-In: 216.8 lbs

Yesterday was a good day. I'm trying to learn as much as possible about gaining muscle while still losing fat. It's time to adjust my routine a bit to meet these new goals. I still will run, but I'm going to have to cut it back on "lifting days" to make sure I get enough caloric intake to build muscle. It's also a fact that running is a highly catabolic (read: muscle break-down causing) activity, so that is a bit counter productive to building muscle.

There is a line I have to walk between cardio and strength training. I'm still trying to sort it all out and get in a groove, albeit a new type of groove.

My new schedule is looking something like this:

Monday:
-strength training; chest and tri's
-light cardio workout, no more than 1-1.5 miles of running/jogging
-50 situps (this number will get higher as time goes on)

Tuesday:
-strength training; I actually forget what we do today but I'll post it as soon as I hear back from my friend.
-50 situps (this number will get higher as time goes on)
-light to no cardio

Wednesday:
-situps
-4 sets of squats
-light cardio as I need to recover from the two days of lifting

Thursday:
- run a 5k
-situps

Friday:
- run a 5k
-situps

Saturday or Sunday (whichever day I can fit it in):
-strength Training: shoulders and back

Aside from that on the weekends I rest and do my normal weekend things which usually include some type of physical activity anyway.

Check back later and I'll post the Tuesday workout. I just need to hear back from my friend so he can tell me what we're doing since I forget!

Sub 24 Minute 5k - Goal Attained - Chest Workout

2008-01-14T10:38:00.000-08:00

Weigh-In: 219.4 lbs

As you can see my weight is still up from last week, I assume due to water retention from weight training. I'm not really worried about it.

This morning I made another attempt at my sub 25 minute 5k goal and I'm happy to report I broke it! I ran a 24:17 5k on the treadmill. I pushed myself pretty hard throughout the run so I'm pretty confident I did the best I could. I might be able to pull off a sub 24 minute soon, but we'll have to see.

Tonight I'll be lifting again. It's chest and tricep night:

----------------------

Chest/Tri Workout

Once again, 4-5 sets, 10-12 reps starting out, adding weight and working down to 5-6 reps.

Bench Press

incline dumbbell bench

dumbbell flys

EZ bar biceps curls

dumbbell biceps curls

Back Workout

2008-01-11T09:16:00.000-08:00

In case anyone is interested, here is the workout I'm doing this afternoon. Today is Back day.

For all:
4-5 sets each, 10-12 reps first set decreasing about 2-3 reps each set with increasing weight or same weight.

Dumbbell Row

Barbell Row

Cable Front Pulldown

I'll post the other two workouts we're doing next week.

So much to say so much to do...

2008-01-11T07:19:00.000-08:00

Weigh-in: 218.4 (what?!)

Yes, sometimes I go up in weight too for no reason. Yesterday's weigh in was 216 even. Today? 218.4. Sup with that?

Don't know. Don't care.

I ran my 5k this morning. It felt great. I actually ran 3.5 miles.

Right.

So...I did a lot more manual labor yesterday. That was nice.

And uhh. Things are pretty good.

Gonna lift some weights on Monday.

So, well, I guess I'll talk to you all later.

Maybe I'll have something better to say next time..

Work Work Work

2008-01-09T06:52:00.000-08:00

weight-in: 216.5 lbs

Another new low today. I'm kinda beat today. The last two days I've done the following:

Monday:

-ran 5k in the AM
-did manual labor in the evening for 3-4 hours
-started new lifting routine at night, chest and bicepts

Tuesday:
- ran 5k in the AM
-did manual labor for 5 hours, including moving a clothes washer down a flight of stairs.
- lifted again, shoulders

This morning:
-ran another 5k

In addition to all that my eating has been light as I've been so busy. My caloric intake was probably slightly lower than it should have been, hence to new lowsThe good news is that I am still drinking a LOT of water, over 100 ounces a day which is good.

Over the next few days I'm going to make sure I get all the nutrients I need and spend a little time recovering. I won't stop running, but I might tone it down slightly in addition to letting my muscles recover from the lifting and hard work I've been doing.

That's all I've got today, I'm late for a meeting.

have a great day!

Weight Training 101

2008-01-08T07:40:00.000-08:00

Weigh-In: 217.4 lbs (new low)

So I finally started my lifting routine last night with my buddy Dan. We did chest and biceps.

I'm sore. I mean, I can still lift up the phone, drive the car and whatnot, but I'm pretty sore. We didn't "max out" or anything like that, but did 10-12 reps for 4-5 sets.

We did bench presses (I maxed out at 115 lbs for 4 reps, I told you my upper body strength sucked), curls, flies, some above the chest type thing, and a few other things I can't remember. I let Dan do most of the planning and basically tell me what to do. Once it becomes routine I'll write down some more details here.

Dan can lift much more than me which is good because it makes me push myself. He maxed out last night at 195. Both of our goals are to be able to bench our body weight, and right now we both weigh around 220. So I have a bit more work to do than he does to meet our goal.

Tonight we'll be working triceps and back, I think.

I brought my camera to the gym this morning and took some pics before and after my workout. They're not serious pics or anything (as you'll see in a minute).I wanted something other than the normal poses so I could really see what I look like in other positions. They're to serve more as a record of what I looked like after the first day of lifting for later comparison. Hopefully in a few months I'll be able to see some real progress.

I still have love handles and a small gut that I want to get rid of, which is why I'm looking to lose another +- 10 lbs.

Anyway:

Beck, now you can see why I really need that new Monkey Hair Style you were talking about in your blog..

Deconstruction of Goals

2008-01-07T06:28:00.000-08:00

Weigh-In: 219.8 lbs
5k Time: 25:30

Today I attempted to push myself a little further and see how close I could get to my sub 25 minute 5k goal. As you can see, I was able to record a 25:30. That time included 8 or 9 intervals at 5.3/7.5 then 5.3/8.0. I think if from the start I would have bumped up my lower interval time to say, 6.0 I might have been able to get under 25 minutes. I like to try to attempt to break personal records on Monday's since I'm usually fairly well rested from the weekend, so maybe I'll make this a weekly thing.

Tonight I'm FINALLY starting my lifting program with my friend who lives down the street. I'd been putting it off because I've been gutting my kitchen, tearing down walls and ceilings and so forth so i didn't want to be so sore I couldn't put my arms over my head.

The kitchen still isn't done, but the demo work is, so hopefully I can move on with my lifting. Although installing drywall on the 12 foot ceiling might be interesting with sore arms...

Pain is a part of achievement

2008-01-04T06:52:00.000-08:00

weigh-in: 219.7 lbs
weight lost: 76.3 lbs
Day Number: 165

I've been running at least a 5k (on the treadmill) every day M-F for maybe a month now. Yesterday I recorded a best time so far of 26:01. Most days I incorporate some form of H.I.I.T while running it.

Running really is very therapeutic. Several times I've been in a bad mood for whatever reason at the beginning of the run. Usually when that is the case I run further than usual. At the end of the run I'm always feeling great, and that feeling tends to stick with me for several hours.

If I take more than two days off from running I tend to find myself thinking about it. The longest I've gone without running at least for 20-30 minutes is three days, but only one or two times in the past few months.

It's funny because before I started this new lifestyle I'd been thinking about jogging for a while. I was worried about turning my ankle as I'd always been prone to it ever since injuring it a few times. Now I'm realizing weighing close to 80 pounds less really has an effect on turning your ankle. It doesn't happen; at least not at the rate I'd expect it to. I'll knock on wood now because I'll probably walk out to my car at lunch today and fall down the stairs or something...

Another deterrent for me was back pain. The few times I ran in high school I remember hating it so much; it was hard on my knees, my back hurt, trouble breathing.

There are a lot of the reasons why I took this on. One of them was because I wanted to be able to confront those issues. I'd never have thought I could actually enjoy something I despised so much. Sometimes it just takes a different approach and a lot of patience.

Overall I think I realized that losing weight was going to be hard. Therefor, I expected some discomfort in order to achieve my goals.

What is it they say? "Anything worth anything takes work."

Something like that anyway.

I'll take it a step further and say that "anything worth anything takes work, and that work is probably at least occasionally going to hurt".

Pain is a part of achievement. I think once you can realize that and in a way, embrace it, you can be successful at just about anything.

Pain means progress. Mistakes also can mean progress. You teach yourself what works and what doesn't. Every mistake should teach you something. Each mistake, each pain session you recover from makes you stronger. For yet another cliche, what doesn't kill you truly does make you stronger.

These are some of the things I've learned and what I believe has made me successful in this endeavour.

I expect pain and I expect mistakes.

I persistently expect them.

So, don't be afraid to fail. Don't be afraid to get hurt. It really is good for you and makes you a better, stronger, smarter person. Once you truly realize this you will start to meet your goals and in the process improve yourself.

I often imagine where I'd be right now if I'd realized this 10 or 15 years earlier? Bah, who cares, I've got work to do...

Próspero año nuevo!

2008-01-02T06:30:00.000-08:00

Weigh-In: 219.8 lbs

Happy New Year to every one!

New Years resolutions? I'm not making any. Why? I don't know really. Maybe I made mine 6 months ago. More likely, News Years resolutions always have seemed doomed to fail for me. Not that I wouldn't encourage anyone else to make them, they just don't ever seem to pan out in my favor.

In other news, if you haven't noticed, I've met the last weight loss goal I had in the right column. It was 220 pounds by Feb 15th. I picked that date semi-randomly months ago and I probably should have moved it up once I knew at what rate I was going to be losing. I never did, so it's not really as impressive as it looks.

So I've decided to make a new goal of 210 by February 15th. That time frame is a bit longer than usual for me because I really want to concentrate on weight lifting and trading muscle for fat. I want to slow down the weight loss just a tad just to make sure that it is gone for good and I'm doing it right. It's another step towards that "normal life" mode that I'm trying to ween myself onto.

Speaking of goals, I should have some more updated ones soon as it relates to lifting. I've yet to have a chance to start my routine with the new bench press and weights my friend and I purchased, but that should be happening later this week.

As for today, I'm happy to report I broke my 5k record again with a new best time of 26:33 on the treadmill. You know what the trick was? Music! A friend gave me an Ipod shuffle and I wore it today while running and it really had this effect on me that made me maintain a higher speed throughout the run. It also really helps to take your mind off of the run and get into that "auto pilot" mode. Whenever I get in that mode I find it easier to go farther, faster, longer.

I also just eeked by a faster time on the 5 mile run last Sunday. I highly recommend those toe socks that look like gloves for your feet for longer runs. Whenever I ran that far before I'd get a blister on the side of my big toe where it touches the next one. No more. Here's the socks I'm referring to:

Toe Socks

So here's to a great new year!

Much like Billy has said; a year will go by regardless...what will you do to meet your goals?

Rockin' 34

2007-12-27T09:30:00.000-08:00

Weigh-In 222 lbs

Quick post, but I just wanted to note that I'm rockin' a pair of 34" waist jeans today.
That's right, 34. Now I know I'm doing well because I wore 36" jeans in HIGH SCHOOL.
When I started this I wore a tight 42".

I'm happy with that.

Happy Holidays

2007-12-26T07:29:00.000-08:00

Weigh-In 224 lbs

Happy Holidays to everyone!

My Christmas went well. It was nice to hang out with the family. It was great getting my Christmas shopping mostly done a week early for once. It was nice to come out of it basically unscathed in the weight loss department.

That said, yesterday was probably my highest caloric intake day since I started this quest 5 or 6 months ago. It included a few cookies, a slice and a half of Pumpkin Pie, a bit of Chocolate Mousse, and a moderate amount of general snacking throughout the day. I tried to keep most of the snacking as healthy as possible though.

I know that sounds like a lot, but compared to other years it was nothing. I managed to run 4.5 miles and lift weights on Sunday night. I also went for a 2 mile walk/jog on Christmas day, mostly to check out my new Heart Monitor watch (thanks Dad!). I think it was important to keep some level of activity during this time. It also made me not feel as bad for taking the day to indulge on some snacks.

So in the overall scheme of things things are still going great. I'm still sitting below my January 1st 08 goal by 6 pounds.

This morning I went back to running my morning 5k on the treadmill. I threw in some bench presses as well. I'm still less than 10 pounds away from my original weight loss goal. There are still some parties and outings coming up, but won't there always be? I'm not worried about it.

Here's to a healthy, safe, goal filled and fun new years and 2008. I hope everyone else is having as good a time as I am!

-Brian

Holiday Party

2007-12-21T08:15:00.000-08:00

weigh-in 223.6 lbs

I guess the low weight is sticking since this is the second day in a row at that number.

I had my department holiday lunch and then party/happy hour yesterday. I had turkey and some salad for lunch. Then I left the room because it was filled with about 15 different desserts people brought in. I figured it be best not to be around them...

At happy hour I had some Vodka and Diet Cokes, no food. I had another salad when I got home later last night. I wanted to keep it light since I probably had a lot of calories in those drinks.

Lots of comments about how I looked at the happy hour. I guess people lighten up a bit and find it easier to talk about such thing. All of the comments were positive though and I feel really good about it.

So all in all, not the healthiest day, but considering the circumstances I'm happy with what went down. There will be days like this so it's a good test.

I'm just over 8 pounds away from my goal. I think me running a 5k every morning and drinking a LOT of water throughout the day is really making the weight fall off. I've also lifted twice this week and aside from the drinks yesterday my diet has been really good. Maybe I'll be at 220 by the end of the year? We'll see. I'm in no rush really, it just happens that I'm going through another one of those phases where the weight is coming of quickly.

Hello!

2007-12-20T07:26:00.001-08:00

Weigh-in 223.6 lbs

Weird low weigh in today eh?

I spent all my blog time redoing the layout to something that worked better than my old one.

So with that said, gotta go!

Compare

2007-12-19T10:48:00.000-08:00

Weigh-in 225.2 lbs

I used all my spare time today to edit this new compare pic, so I really don't have time to post.

Here's the new pic with day 149 being today. I'll let the pic do the talking today.

I have some more update pics I'll be posting but I have to redo the layout of my blog first. So until then...later

A Record Broken

2007-12-18T06:59:00.001-08:00

weight-in: 225 lbs

I had another unplanned milestone today. I broke my best time record for a 5k. I ran it in 27:45.

This wasnt planned. First I ran 11 intervals at 5 and 7.5 mph, but then after the last one I cranked it up to 8 mph, basically just to see if it was feasable to break my 5k record. I always have my prior best number in the back of my head.

Eventually I ran the last 45 second or so at 10 mph and I was yelling at the machine to make me go faster as I'm watching the time unfold.

I thought I was either going to pass out or launch off the treadmill!

The bad news is my back is kinda sore now. I'm not sure why but hopefully that goes away.

-----------------

The pic is another from the Firebird Festival Saturday night.

A Goal Met

2007-12-17T06:48:00.000-08:00

Weigh-In: 225.4 lbs

I thought I'd share this picture from Saturday night. Every year my town has a festival where they build this three story tall Phoenix bird and burn it to the ground. It's supposed to symbolize a rebirth for this old, once shabby iron town. It was a rebirth of sorts for myself as well.

----------------------------------------------------------

As of today my weight loss goal is 10 pounds away. I'm excited to get there.

After a not very relaxing 3 day reprieve from the gym I decided this morning it was time to attack one of my goals. The one that has been staring me in the face for a while now was the sub 8 minute mile.

When I started running I didn't really even pace myself for a fast mile, but after the first minute I figured "what the heck" and I hiked the treadmill up to 8 miles an hour and kept it there. Eventually I was running at 10 mph and I was able to eek out a 7:44 mile.

Strike that one off the list!

In other news my friend and I are looking into purchasing an Olympic weight bar and weights so we can start doing squats and bench presses in his basement.

I have to say, when I see that huge bar sitting on the floor it's a bit daunting. This will really be a challenge for me to build upper body strength as I've never even been able to do a single pull-up in my entire life.

In a way I'm really looking forward to the challenge of it.

Drink Your Water

2007-12-14T06:44:00.000-08:00

Weight-in: 226.4 lbs

I know that you're supposed to drink a certain amount of water every day. Lately though I've been reading how if you do not drink enough, your body thinks there is a drought and actually retains water.

I've often been guilty of not drinking enough so yesterday I made an attempt to drink more. In fact I drank probably 80 ounces throughout the day. I was peeing all day long. You'd think that I might actually weigh more today taking in all that water. Guess what? I'm down almost two pounds from yesterdays weigh-in. Coincidence? I don't think so. I don't think it's possible to lose 2 pounds of fat or muscle in a day, so it must have been water retention.

It seems weird to think you need to drink MORE in order to lose, but it seems that its true. In addition to getting rid of retained water, drinking the correct amount also makes your metabolism work more efficiently and therefor you also burn more calories when you work out. That's what I've read anyway.

This whole thing just shows me first hand that it really is so important to drink lots of water, every day. From now on I'll be trying to do just that. I suggest to everyone, weather they're trying to lose weight or not to do the same.

Pics and a Story

2007-12-13T07:36:00.000-08:00

Weigh-in: 228.4

I felt kinda sluggish this morning as I made me way through a 30 minute workout, so afterwards I played around with my camera a bit. Someone had asked for some updated pics a few days ago. I was going to wait until day 150 which is coming up, but what the heck.

Don't pay any attention to the retarded/crazy faces I'm making :). Click the pics for Larger/Scarier versions.

In other news, I have a story to tell:

As I mentioned before, Liz and I adopted a 6-8 year old St. Bernard rescue named Bella. She is the nicest dog. Bella had surgery last week and this week she's had some complications that has caused her to bleed. She'll be OK, not to worry. In the meantime we wanted to keep her in the kitchen when we're not at home so she doesn't get blood all over the house.

Yesterday morning Liz put Bella in the kitchen and blocked off the door with an ottoman and a recliner chair. I came home at lunch to check on her and she had pushed the recliner and ottoman out of the way and was asleep on our bed. Thanks Bella!

I had an old plywood door in the garage. I cut it in half and installed it in the doorway, then latched it with a brass hook and loop into the door jam.

Liz and I went for a walk last night after putting Bella back in the kitchen and closing the new door.

Upon arriving home, I opened the front door to the house, only to be greeted by Bella.

Upon further inspection, I found this.

Needless to say, I think we might be getting her a diaper instead. That should be a good punishment!

A Walk in the Woods

2007-12-12T06:52:00.000-08:00

Weigh-In: 228.5 lbs

This picture is from yesterday. I took the day off from work and decided to hike a 7 mile loop in the woods. The snow we had is gone from everywhere else, but in the higher elevations in the PA mountains it's still there. It was a foggy, rainy, cold day, but it's always beautiful in the woods.

This particular picture is from a section of the trip that was on the Appalachian Trail. The Pennsylvania section is well known for it's multitude of "ankle breakin'" rocks that require you to constantly be staring at the ground planning every step. The cold, wet and ice covered rocks made it even more interesting than usual.

The trip started and finished near a man made reservoir seen below.

It really looks like a frigid winter place, but it was actually close to 40 degrees. I did the hike alone, walking most of it but jogging the parts that were too treacherous to run. At some points I needed my hands to get over ice covered rocks the size of Volkswagen Beetles.

I'd brought with me some beef jerky, water, and a power bar and I'm glad I did because I did start to feel a little weak in the middle of the hike. I'm still tweaking my diet on days when I do a lot of heavy/long activity.

I feel like the weight loss has slowed down a bit over the past few weeks. I'm not saying that is bad and in fact I've been wondering as of late if I've been losing TOO fast. According to my Excel sheet, as of today, day 144, I've lost 68 pounds. That boils down to almost a HALF POUND A DAY.

Don't get me wrong, I want to lose the weight and I'm happy its gone. But I want to do it a healthy way and I want it to stay off.

So my point; that fact that is has slowed down a bit in the past few weeks is OK with me. I feel great, I feel stronger than I ever have, and I have more stamina than I ever have had. I am by no means done, but I do feel good where I am. I just want the rest of my gut and love handles to go away! I know they will.

Facing the Enemy

2007-12-10T06:48:00.000-08:00

Weigh-In: 229.9 lbs

I don't know if its the holiday's, the fact I've been working out basically 7 days a week, or I'm just not eating enough, but I've been really hungry the past week or so. As a result I've eaten a little bit more. Nothing crazy, but I've allowed myself some more food on several occations. I even had a slice of Cheese Cake last night..don't shoot me!

Like I said, it's practice...right, practice. I havent gained weight though and I'll tell you why. Because I work our more/harder when I know this is going to be happening. Normally I don't run on weekends, but on Saturday and I went for a 3 and a half mile jog around town, and Sunday I did 45 minutes on my treadmill while listening to the Eagles lose, again.

So in this time of great temptation and wonderful cheesecake filled moments, stare that food in the face and let it know who controls who. And even if it wins the battle, you will win the war*.

*But it won't be one of those drawn out wars that last like years and years. It will be more like a blitzkrieg of sorts, with you being the victor. SPARTA!

Still losing; Maintain Mode Practise

2007-12-07T06:31:00.000-08:00

Weigh-In: 229.6 lbs

First time in the 220's today. Woohoo!

I was thinking about it, and I believe it was definitely High School when I last weighed in this range. Also, this will probably be the last month that I participate in any of Tuck's challenges. Kinda sad actually :(

I know I've said I'd be lifting more and I have, but I can't seem to stop running. I think I'm really getting a high from it. I ran a 5k yesterday on my new (free) treadmill that I got the other night. Then this morning I ran another 5k. I'm taking it easy and running them in right around 30-31 minutes. I'm not really going for speed, but I will say they get easier each time I run them.

The eating has still been good, although not perfect. Part of that is on purpose. 1., I think I might have been losing weight a little too fast and 2., I know I'm not always going to be eating perfect, plus I'm getting close to my maintain period. I'm in a way practicing. Basically, I want to start getting used to eating in moderation while still having some of the things I like that aren't the best for you. I'm not going crazy, but I've allowed myself some cheese here and there, some butter, and a few of the things that I'll eventually be eating every once in a while, but that I didn't let myself have over the past few months. I'm still keeping my calories around the 2k mark though.

I don't want the maintain mode to be a huge shock to my system physically or mentally so I really think this is an important step. Don't get me wrong, I still plan to eat as healthy as possible, I just have to allow myself some of those "other" things too. I'm just teaching myself to control them instead of them controlling me.

Winter Exercise

2007-12-05T07:55:00.000-08:00

Weigh-In 231.2 lbs

So what do you guy's do for exercise in the winter? I'm in the gym every day, but I'm going to need a good outdoor activity to supplement that on the weekends. Of course, I could jog or ride my bike but not in the snow. Well I guess I could jog in the snow...that just sounds like a twisted ankle or broken hip waiting to happen.

Speaking of snow, it's doing it right now. Just a few flurries. We don't normally get that much snow here in Philadelphia. And usually not before Christmas. The fact that we're relatively close to the ocean and I guess due to the jet stream, we often get ice, or freezing rain. This year so far seems like it might be different as we've actually gotten flurries a few times and it's only December 5th.

Anyhow, I'm thinking of trying out a new winter activity. Maybe Cross Country Skiing? I do after all have a huge park (Valley Forge) right near my house. Maybe Snow Shoeing? Not sure if we'll get THAT much snow...

I do know one thing: it won't be shirtless leg lifts in the snow.

Motivation, among other things: The Longest Post Ever

2007-12-04T08:32:00.001-08:00

Weigh-In: 230.8 lbs

The past few days I’ve been thinking about motivation and what creates it in me. I have to say, I can be a very lazy person. The weight and shape I allowed myself to get in over the past ten years is a great example of that. I’ve been lazy paying bills, keeping things clean, getting things done. I can admit that. These are all things that I’ve tried to improve about myself over the past year or so. For me, something snapped inside me in the months leading up to my 30th birthday. I don’t know exactly how to put it into words, but somehow in the past 18 months or so I’ve come to realize my own mortality. I guess this happens to a lot of people when they hit 30. I’d like to think I’m not alone anyway.

I don’t consider myself a religious person and I have no idea what will become of me after I die. Everyone has their own ideas ranging from nothing, to going to heaven, to being reincarnated. I don’t want to get into that discussion, but I’d just like to get across the fact that I do not know what will happen. It’s pretty scary really, especially for a person like me who often values rationale and facts over feelings and faith. My answer for this dilemma is to try not to spend much time trying to figure it out, but instead enjoy the time I have and make the most of it. I don’t plan to have any regrets. Will I make mistakes? Absolutely. But I will not regret those mistakes because they will be part of learning, which is part of living. Regardless of what my peers, my bank account, or my body tells me, I will do what I want, and I will achieve what I want, or at least give it a hell of a try. If it ends, I will make that decision. I refuse to have it made for me.

I know I’m only 31 years old and that is relatively young, but I’ve learned a few things. I’ve learned that your body will adapt and allow you to do things you’d never have thought you’d be able to do. It’s a wonderful machine that can reward you, or cause you great pain. For me anyway, it constantly impresses. I will give back what you put into it. At least that has been my experience.

I have not always felt this way. As with many things my thoughts and feelings about motivation have changed over the years. And there have been a few defining moments that have helped shape me.

The one that’s been sticking in my head is my Chicago – Philadelphia bike trip a few years ago. For those of you who read this and know me, you may want to skip this part as I’m sure you’ve heard this story before.

At some point, maybe 8-10 years ago, my Dad started riding bicycles. I’m not really sure what motivated him to do so. Maybe it was because he didn’t smoke anymore and wanted to get in shape. Maybe it was because he rode as a teenager and wanted to relive those days. I don’t really know why, I’ll have to ask him someday. The point here is that he started riding. I’d also ridden to work and around my home town as a teenager, but most of that went away when I started driving a car. When my Dad started riding, eventually I started going with him. I can credit him with being the one getting me into the sport which eventually in a way changed my life.

This was also a pivotal time in our relationship as I was just becoming a man at 20 or 22 years of age. I was just starting to really get to know my Dad and we ended up bonding on our bike trips in one way or another. What started out as an hour down a flat paved path on a Sunday afternoon eventually turned into 40-60 mile day trips in the rolling hill of southeastern Pennsylvania. I’d been interested in hiking prior to this so at some point I suggested we get some pannier bags and take the bikes on a longer multi-day touring trip. Neither of us had ever done this before.

Over the next few years we’d end up doing many trips. We threw our bikes on the train from New York City to Montreal then rode home to Philadelphia through the Adirondack Mountains over 10 or so days. We rode to Virginia Beach in the hot summer heat, turned around and came home, camping all the way. We also did smaller long weekend trips through wind and rainy weather, hot and cold. People at work could never understand why I’d take vacation time to ride a bike all day. At times I wondered the same thing, but at the end of a long hard day of riding the feeling of accomplishment always overrode any pain I went through.

In Early Spring of 2004 we’d planned to do a bicycle trip. Actually, I’d planned it. I do the planning and my Dad does the repairing of the bikes. That’s just how things work . That year, a former high-school peer of mine made headlines in the National News. His name was Nick Berg and he’d gone to Iraq for business, and ended up being murdered. A simple Google search will tell you more of what happened if you’re interested.

The event hit very close to home for me and for some people I know who were close friends with Nick. Somewhere during that time I got the idea to basically dedicate a bike ride to Nick. In fact Nick used to go on long bike rides himself. So in late May of 2004 my Dad and I flew out to Chicago with our bikes, intending to ride home to Philadelphia. We’d have signs on our bikes that said “Ride for Nick” and we’d hand out flyers which told people what we were doing and asked them to contribute to the Nick berg Memorial fund. I’d also set up a website that had a forum and I would update it with pictures and text from our trip along the way.

Before we left I’d been interviewed by the Philadelphia Inquirer and our story ended up getting picked up by the Associated Press. The story reappeared on news channels and in newspapers in several places across the country as we were riding.

As for the trip itself, well, we had our problems. I had done no training whatsoever before the ride and was not in the best shape. In fact I never trained for our bike trips. I’d just suffer it out for the first few days and my body would eventually adapt. Being overweight probably didn’t help either.

The first half of the trip through the flat Midwest went well enough, but about half way through my Dad started having major knee problems. As it turned out his bike was not put together properly when we got to Chicago and it was slowly irritating his knee. Once we fixed it, it was too late and the damage was done. The strongest rider I’d ever ridden with was having trouble keeping up with me even at a slow pace. He was in a lot of pain and really should not have been riding at all.

When we reached the mountains of western PA, it was my turn to suffer. I had bike problems where it wouldn’t shift into lower gears right when going up yet another steep incline. One time I got so angry I jumped off the bike and chucked it into a ditch in the shoulder and started walking. I’d even considered sending home a lot of the luggage we were carrying on the bikes to make it easier.

This was the longest and hardest trip we’d ever done. At the same time it was the most emotional. As we were riding my Mom would phone us letting us know she read about our story in the LA Times. I’d been in contact with Nick’s family and they knew what we were doing. In fact Nick Berg’s father planned to ride the last few miles home with us on the last day.

So back to our trip: it was hard. In the end, we ended up covering over 1,000 miles in 9 days. My Dad somehow suffered through 500 or so very painful miles. I somehow got stronger the farther we went regardless of how much my bike acted up.

We did end up riding the last few miles with Mr. Berg. When we got home my friends were there waiting, along with a reporter. I wasn’t sure how but we’d made it, but we did. We did it for ourselves, for Nick, in a way it was for who we were as a people. There were a lot of reasons I guess.

When I started feeling better, and as I was riding up a steep hill, I could not stop thinking that whatever anyone throws at me, however difficult things get, it all just makes you stronger. That goes for western Pennsylvania hills, knee injuries, and Iraqi terrorists. I know it sounds cliché to say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, but I was really realizing this first hand.

Most importantly, what this trip proved to me was that I CAN, and I WILL do what I set out to do. Sometimes we need a little help from each other, but in the end reaching your goals is up to you. It get’s a lot easier when you truly understand that you CAN DO IT. If it were easy, well that just wouldn’t be life I suppose. We all fall down, the important part is that you get back up.

My take away from this is the following:

1. I will not ignore my problems. They will not go away.
2. Things will almost never be perfect and I will fall down. I will ALWAYS get back up, until I meet my goals.

Learning these two things changed my life. Some day’s I’m still learning them, but they will always be in my mind.

Breaktime Over - Let the Weight Training Begin

2007-12-03T06:31:00.000-08:00

Weigh-In: 231.2
Well, I just had a nice 3 day vacation from working out. It was nice, but I found myself constantly thinking about what my next challenge is going to be. I'm within 15 or so pounds of my goal weight and just over a pound away from my JANUARY 1st goal of 230.

Speaking of my weight, if you remember last week I was saying that when I started running the marathon I actually got heavier. It's true. When I started I had leveled out at 234, then two day's into the run I was at 236 and as high as 240 depending on what time of the day it was. It didnt seem to make sense because even though the scale was higher I my clothes were looser. Yet to make it even more confusing I felt kinda bloated.

Well, within two days of when I finished the run I was back down to a new low of 232, and now that has come down slightly further to 231.2 as of this morning. So why the gain? Seems it was water retention. I read somewhere that when you're putting that much stress on your muscles they retain water in order to repair themselves. Makes sense. The farthest I ever ran before two Friday's ago was 3.2 or so miles, then I suddenly did 5, took two days off, then ran another 5, then 7, then 7 again, and so on.

I read that some marathon runners actually put on weight when they're training. Crazy.

The other reason I know it was water weight was because the first day after I finished my run I was peeing NONSTOP.

So now I'm back to normal, at a new low weight-wise, and I'm ready to start back up the exercise again. I do still have some lingering blisters on my left foot, but nothing too bad.

Starting this week I'll be toning down the cardio a little bit and concentrating on weight training. The fat is MOSTLY gone except for some around the middle, so I want to start toning.

What the schedule is, I don't actually know yet. I had to take Bella to the vet this morning so I haven't started yet.

I'm thinking about running just 2 miles or so in the mornings, then lifting in the PM, rotating between upper and lower body. Basically two-a-day's.

We'll see how that works. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.

New Measurements

2007-11-29T16:09:00.000-08:00

Thought I'd post some new info I just received. Just got back from Target because I only have two pair of pants the fit and they are getting a little bit large.

As it turns out, I'm now a 36x32 pants size. I was a very snug 42 last July. For comparison, last time I was a size 36 pant? High School. Possibly even early High School, I can't remember exactly.

I'm also now a 44L suit. I was a 50L in July.

Size L shirts too.

I can't tell you how nice it is to go shopping and not be embarrassed about what size I'm looking for. The selection seems much better as well.

I'm happy. Lucky for me I'm one of those guys who likes shopping though.