Where I’ve Been

I have not given up.   I have not faltered.  I have not surrendered.

I was simply gone to Kentucky without a computer of my own to do my updates for the last week and a half.  It was kind of nice, to be honest.  I have been rather dependent on the computer lately, and I don’t want to be that way.   Any time spent on the computer is time not being active, doing something.   Even if it is just cleaning the apartment, washing dishes, doing laundry, washing my car, whatever……it doesn’t HAVE to be working out.  Anything to keep me busy and away from boredom eating.

So, I managed to lose 1.2 pounds while I was down in Kentucky.  I didn’t work out at all hardly (though I had meant to).  I did eat good, which helped….but the workouts were non-existent.  I mostly was visiting people I hadn’t seen in a long time so I was pre-occupied.  I managed to stay away from beer mostly, eat good foods, and not overindulge…which we all know is easier said than done on the road.  So, anyway, that’s a total loss of 6.8 pounds thus far!   Gotta be happy with the fact that I’m moving in the right direction still, no matter how slow.   But I gotta step it up if I want to make my goals.

My wife and I ran 4 miles together yesterday in 45 minutes.  We took it kind of slow because it had been a while since we ran.  She just completed the marathon relay the same day I ran the 5K.   She ran about 6.9 miles during that, which was really impressive, in about 73 minutes.  So, now, she plans to run the half marathon with us in Chicago in September.  🙂   The first of three in three months for me.

So, sorry about the long absence.  I am not planning on doing that again, but like I said, I am not wanting to stay on the computer very long these days.   The more I do that, the more successful I am.

Hope all is well!  Thanks for checking in!

My Schedule

Above is my schedule for the next 12+ weeks….heading to the half marathon in Chicago.

Plain and simple, here are my goals/obligations:

• To be under 225 pounds by that point…that’s 2.5 pounds per week on average.
• To record EVERYTHING I eat from now until then….and report my calories each day.
• To have completely kicked the habit of drinking diet soda….and only eating out very rarely.
• To be well on my way to achieving my NYE 2011 goal of being under 200 pounds.
• To beat my personal best half marathon time (2:24:24) by running it in 2:19:59 or less.

Sorry I haven’t been around much lately.  I’ve been very busy (applying for jobs, degree programs, work, and getting ready to head to Kentucky for my buddy’s wedding).

Let’s do this.

The Next 42 Days…Kicking Bad Habits

There are three things I am shooting for these next 42 days.  I want these things to become life habits, and it starts now….on top of my training and weight loss journey.  Of course, I hope these things will help the journey speed along more:

1.  No soda. I don’t drink regular soda anymore….only diet…but still.   It doesn’t help with making me want to eat more…the sodium isn’t great for you…and aspartame has been linked to many health issues.  So, I think it’s best to replace my diet soda intake with water entirely.  For me, this is a tough one….I have tried time and again to kick soda….to no avail.  I have to do it though…it’s a necessity if I’m going to be serious about this journey.  And I am.

This will perhaps be the toughest of all of these challenges for me, but I will be posting about it regularly.  Some people say it takes 21 days to break a habit….let’s shoot for 42….on all three of these things.

2.  Stay under the suggested caloric intake from Livestrong. I use Livestrong’s MyPlate website to gauge my calories each day.  I keep my weight updated and it tells me how much I should be eating if I want to lose 2 lbs. a week.  It has everything from DV% to recording how much water you’ve had that day.  It’s awesome.  It needs to be part of my daily life…..just a routine.  I have found that I tend to not be so hungry when I record everything, because it reminds me of what I’ve eaten…which usually makes me feel full altogether, unless I haven’t had enough.

I can also update my activity for that day with calorie burn estimates and it adjusts what I should eat to that.   I usually don’t eat the extra calories if I don’t have to, but it’s there if I need it.

3.  No eating out. I cannot even begin to tell you how good it felt when I didn’t eat out once for two weeks.  My body felt excellent.  I felt good about myself.  It was a very clean feeling, so to speak.  I’ve eaten out a few times since I’m wanting that good feeling back.  So, this week…no eating out.   I have to travel to Louisville for a wedding and I am going to do my best to not eat out the whole time.  I’m going to take food from my cupboards as much as possible.    It’s not realistic to say I’ll never eat out again….obviously.  Who would I be kidding?   But, I want to make it like a once every two weeks kind of thing….if that.

So, these are my goals for the next two weeks.   Hopefully, by the end, I will want these to continue past that arbitrary time frame.  This will be a 42 day endeavor .  Twice the time many people say it takes to kick a bad habit.  Let’s put it to the test.  I am still working on my workout schedule…..which will include my running, P90X, and Insanity thrown in altogether.   P90X for strength training….Insanity for cross training and cardio….and the running for…well…running.  I’ll post the schedule when it’s finished.

Thanks for checking in!

Pictures from the 5K

Here are some pictures from the Illinois Marathon 5K on May 1st.

About 0.2 miles from the finish....trying hard to get there asap.

I'm somewhere in there...you can see what I meant by having to duck and weave for the first bit of the run...lol

About a 1/2 mile into the run...

Official chip time: 30:16

U of I's Memorial Stadium - The finish line is on the 50 yd line.

A great day!  I really enjoyed the race and I can’t wait for the Chicago half marathon in September!

1/2 Training & 100 Pushups W2D3

Today starts a new day in my training.  I began my half marathon training today with a 3+ miles in 32 minutes or so.  The results posted on Twitter, so you can check it out there.  I felt good, though it was humid and the sun was glaring pretty hardcore on me the whole time.  I felt a little sick when I got home because of it, so I took some time to recover before I did my 100 pushups workout.

I was able to do all of the scheduled push-ups (82 total w/ the breaks between each set)  and felt much stronger than I did on day 2 of this week.  I am really happy with how it went.  So, that concludes week 2 of the program.  4 more to go.  Next, I need to do a max set of push-ups to see which column I follow for week 3.   So, we’ll see how that goes.

I am real excited to be back training for another half marathon.  It’s about time….and I think it will really bring progress in many other facets.   Insanity and P90X are going to be implemented throughout and I will announce that schedule once I have it.

Thanks for checking in!

The Long Road Ahead

Since I started a little over a month ago, I’ve been trying to take this whole thing one day at a time. As many of you know, it is overwhelming to think about the end result. I don’t mean in a “what it will feel like when I get there” sort of way. I mean, when I look at all the work and sacrifice that I will need to do between now and then, it’s completely overwhelming. I am no stranger to this whole fitness/cardio/hard work thing. I know what it takes to get the job done. It’s going to be a rough, long road ahead.

Already in this month, I have found my motivation and determination waiver back and forth. One day, I’ll be completely focused and pushing myself to the limit. The next, I could be having every problem in the book with finding the motivation to get the job done for that particular day. Then, life happens….sickness, unexpected issues, etc….

I want this more than anything. I want to get to December 31, 2010 and for once in my life……I want to be able to say I did it. I want to be able to say I came through for myself. It’s a long road ahead. And sometimes, I just have to find a way to focus on the now….and make sure the now is getting me close to the end.

It will be glorious when I get there….when I know that all I have to do is maintain and improve….and live life in a way I haven’t felt in over a decade. I want it.

Late Weigh-In: Week 5

Weigh-In: Week 5
Weight: 255.2
Weight change this week: -1
Total lost in 5 weeks: -5.6

First 5 pounds down…and it was a lot of work to make it happen. Some courses of action need to be taken to make this happen quicker. I could be doing a lot of things different…things that I have justified as okay but that really aren’t for my body’s chemistry. Diet soda needs to go. Period. It’s soooooo hard for me to kick it, but if I want this bad enough, I will. So right now, that is my goal. No diet soda.

I have set a weight goal…..235 by July 4th. THAT is my focus. Not the end of the year, but just that date. It’s going to be tough. But I think it can happen. With the running and Insanity and eating right. I need everyone’s help to get there, but the only person who can do it is me. If I get to that point, I will be on track for my end of the year goal of under 200 by 2011.

There is a guy on YouTube, Dustin @ losetogain, that I find inspiring like nobody’s business. He at one time weighed over 475 pounds and now is in the mid-200s….still fighting for more. It took him a couple of years to lose well over 200 pounds, but he never gave up. This is one of his most inspiring videos, if you ask me. It was when he was dealing with some apathy and disappointment and was finding a way to make it happen anyway. (At the end of the video, he yells really loud for motivational reasons, so be ready for that. I had my volume up and it was LOUD. hahaha) I hope any of you out there who are having trouble fighting the mental demons of fitness find this to remind you why you are doing this. If he dealt with this kind of thing, you can deal with what you are dealing with…and I can too.

The half marathon schedule for me is going to be made up tonight hopefully. I will be posting that so you can see what I’m doing week to week and hold me accountable. Thanks for checking in!!

PS- BE SURE to enter into Andrew’s World’s Lamest Giveaway!

The Weekend

This past weekend…in one word…was debauchery. I drank beer for the first time in weeks….I only worked out twice (the 5K and an Insanity workout)…not a lot of sleep……just overall, not a very productive weekend. I kind of needed it in a way, but I am dying to get back into hardcore mode now.

I am starting Round 2 of Insanity now and it’s going to be even harder than the first month. That’s a good thing. I am also beginning half marathon training. As you know, I have my next year of running planned out for the most part….the events anyway. 2-3 half marathons this fall followed up by a full marathon next year about this time. It forces me to lose the weight. It forces me to get serious. To kick diet soda to the curb for good. To learn more and more about nutrition. To end that which hinders me. I’m excited. That day we run the marathon will be one of the toughest days of endurance I have ever been through, I’m sure….and that’s why I have it as a goal.

Tomorrow will be my next day of Week 2 of the 100 pushups program. Moving slowly but surely through that. Everything is good thus far with that. I am really feeling the strength coming on.

I was given a “blog award” by Ashley (which I much appreciate). It looks a little something like this:

I have to:

1. Get really excited that you got the coolest award ever!
2. Choose one of the following options of accepting the Oh My Blog! award:

(a) Get really drunk and blog for 15 minutes straight, or for as long as you can focus.
(b) Write about your most embarrassing moment.
(c) Write a “soundtrack of your childhood” post.
(d) Make your next blog a ‘vlog’/video blog where you’re basically talking to the camera about whatever.
(e) Take a picture of yourself first thing in the morning, before you do anything else (hair, make up, etc) and post it.

3. Pass the award onto at least three, but preferably more, awesome bloggers and let them know.

I have decided that I will write a “soundtrack of my childhood” post soon, so hold me to it, Ashley. That will be fun to do. And I give my award to Steve, Jess, Brandon, Josie, and Tara. Seth would get it too, but he already got it once. haha

Alright, so more updates soon. Thanks for checking in!