One Year (Weeks 51 & 52 Weigh-Ins)

Week 51-January 21, 2008
Weight: 263.2 lbs.(-1.8)
Total Lost: 116.8 lbs.

Week 52 - January 28, 2008
Weight: 261.6 lbs. (-1.6)
Total Lost: 118.4 lbs.

Fat Ratio: 25.9%
Lean Mass: 193.8 lbs.
Fat Mass: 67.8 lbs.
Waist: 49.5 inches

Not everything went as I planned. This year, it seemed like we were at buffets galore. I hadn't even considered buffets. It's not something that is usually even on the radar. Yet, for some reason, we ate at more buffets on this trip than we have in the last 2 years. Go figure.

I ate healthy. I also ate horrible. Some of the horrible was planned and expected. Some was not. The exercise was wonderful. I ran on the beach every day we were there. We arrived on Sunday. I was so restless from all the driving that as soon as I could, I put on my shorts and ran 10K on the beach. Monday and Wednesday, I ran 2+ miles with my daughter on the beach. Tuesday, I ran 5.9 miles. Thursday, I decided to run up and down the entire length of the beach which was 8 miles total. That is the longest distance I have run so far. It felt great.

The beach was nice, but the Gulf was FREEZING!!! Thankfully, our hotel had a heated outdoor pool. We swam Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Thursday, we checked out and drove past Atlanta. Friday, we made it to Cincinnati. We swam in the indoor pool that night. Saturday morning I ran on the treadmill and elliptical. Not knowing the city, I didn't try to run the streets. At the end of the day, we all went back to the pool. Sunday morning the two oldest kids came with me to the hotel gym. I just ran the treadmill.

IOW, the exercise went quite well and my shoulders are killing me from all the swimming and playing with the kids in the pool.

The vacation was a success and we all had a good time. In addition, I accomplished what I set out to do. I was not going to vacation with the idea of living unhealthy. To boot, I even lost a respectable amount of weight.

Over the past year, I lost nearly and average of 10 lbs. a month. I did not accomplish this by shooting for that goal. I did not accomplish this by dwelling on how much I weighed and how far I had to go...Okay...Okay, I dwellt on it some, but I forced myself to push those thoughts aside and take things one day and sometimes, one hour at a time. I did it by making my goal to live a fit lifestyle. It is a goal I can reach each and every day, but a goal that is not Fête Accompli. It is a goal that is there each day. Though it will never be something that I can put behind me, there are markers and milestones along the way. Running in races! Getting my oldest daughter interested in running! Cross country skiing! Ice Skating! Biking! Of course, losing fat, gaining muscle, and fitting in smaller clothing are exciting, but I don't think I would have made it a year if those were my only goals or motivations.

What is most important is that I am healthier...a lot healthier. I no longer worry that I might have a nervous break or hearth attack. I no longer worry that I will get diabetes. I no longer worry that I will need to get bariatric surgery. I no longer worry that I won't be there for my kids or grand kids. God willing, I will be here for my family for a long time to come. Thinking about these things chokes me up. I was so selfish and unfair to my wife and kids when I was living so unhealthy. Shame on me. No matter the excuse, shame on me. I can't change the past. I can only ask for their forgiveness and live each day for them by taking care of my health. I love them so much, and they love me...at least until they are teenagers!!!

I have some more reflections about reaching this milestone, but I will save them for later posts. Vacation was good, but getting back home is good too. Ah, who am I kidding. I could live on vacation 24/7/364.25 easily.

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined."--Henry David Thoreau

Living Fit Is My #1 Job!

Battle Plans for Vacation Fitness

I am headed off to the sunshine state for a week. Many a blogger report how they take a vacation from their fitness as well. I know. I know. It's okay to splurge once in a while. It's okay to plan a week of indulgence as long as you get back on track. But, I don't want to. I want to continue to eat healthy and exercise. I don't even want to maintain my fitness, but improve it as is my goal every week. There are several reasons for this:

1) I feel lousy (physically, mentally, and emotionally) when I don't eat well and exercise.
2) I don't want to associate vacations with living an unfit lifestyle.
3) Even though I have learned to run in the cold and snow, I really want to run in the warmth and the sun.
4) We will be eating out a lot, like the whole time, and I want to prove to myself that I can eat healthy even while eating out (Now, where are those calorie-free Krispy Kremes?).
5) My before picture was taken on our trip to Florida last year. That was a person who did not respect himself or his body. I am not that person any more.
6) The next time I report will be exactly one year since I began my journey of fitness. I want to come into the next year on a high note.
7) The day before my one year anniversary, will be my 39th birthday. My birthday wish is to reach a healthy weight.

Here is my plan to live a fit lifestyle while on vacation:
1) Respect myself!
2) Just say NO to Crack(er Barrel). We ate there a lot on the trip down and back. If there is anything healthy on their list, the other food is just toooo tempting to pass up for it. Their biscuits are pure evil. (Yet, my mouth is watering just thinking about it).
3) Many of the other chain restaurants have decent healthy choices like Applebees, Bennigans, Big Boys, and others.
4) I am bringing all my running gear for any weather condition. I am also bringing my swim trunks. I don't care who I gross out anymore. I am going to swim with the kids and play with them all I can.
5) We are packing lots of healthy snacks for the trip such as apples, oranges, nuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, low-fat yogurt, water, carrots, celery, etc... This is to avoid feeling starved when we do stop to eat.
6) I will bring tea. This is what I drink in evening to relax. It also takes the edge off any hunger pains or cravings.
7) Telling everyone who reads my blog that I am going to continue to live fit on vacation. This way I have to do it in order to save face.
8) I am bringing my scale with me.

Hopefully, thinking this through and planning ahead will help me stick to my goals on this vacation. I don't plan to write a post on January 28th saying I had the best of intentions, BUT... Not But's, accept the nice looking ones on the beach.

Friday, we need to drive 1.5 hours to rent a van that will fit my family and my father then drive 1.5 hours back. Pack the van. Pick up my dad. Then head out, hopefully by 2 pm Friday. The plan is to drive through the night and hopefully make it to southern Georgia or the Florida border by Saturday night. Between my dad and the kids, we will need to make lots of stops along the way. We will spend Saturday night in a hotel, and then drive the rest of the way to our hotel. We are staying in the Tampa/St. Pete area. We will stay there until Thursday when we start driving back. We plan to get to Cincinnati on Friday. We will stay there for a little excursion until Sunday the drive the rest of the way back. That will be quite a challenge.

I don't know if I will have the chance to post before we leave so wish us luck and good weather.

Living Fit Is My #1 Job!

Week 50 Weigh-In

Last Week's Weight: 267.8 lbs.
Today's Weight: 265 lbs. (-2.8)
Total Lost: 115 lbs.

Fat Ratio: 26.4% (-0)
Lean Mass: 195 lbs. (-2.1)
Fat Mass: 70 lbs. (-0.7)
Waist: 50 inches (-0.25)

This was a nice loss to see on the scale. I have reached another weight milestone. This is the weight I reached five years ago. Now it's time to push forward. It won't be easy because we are leaving on a trip to Florida at the end of the week. I am trying to plan some preemptive strikes so that what would normally be a time of horrible eating and non-existent exercise will be an opportunity for healthy eating and lots of exercise. I will write more about that in another post.

I should probably more excited about this milestone and big weight loss, but I just found out that I didn't get the job. @#$!!! I was trying to gear myself so that I wouldn't be too disappointed, but it didn't work. My wife's reaction didn't help my mood much either. It's hard to take when some one is so gleeful about the news that brings you such disappointment. I suppose I will get over it, but for now I am in a pretty crappy mood.

"Experience is a grindstone; and it is lucky for us, if we can get brightened by it, and not ground." - Josh Billings

Living Fit Is My #1 Job!

I Have Been Here Before and Failed!!!!!!!!!!

Since the beginning of my journey, I repeated to myself that I am not on a diet. I simply just eat healthy now. There is no way to fall off the diet, blow it, backslide, or whatever since I am not on a diet. Now and then, I can have a piece of cake, or some nachos, or a slice of pizza. That is okay. That worked pretty darned good...until Christmas.

So I had a couple of cookies...no big deal. Who cares? I still exercised. I ate healthy otherwise. Then a few days later I had a couple more. It was okay. I worked hard. A couple more cookies wasn't a problem. Then we went to my in-laws for a couple of days. They made pancakes and bacon for breakfast and had desserts after every lunch and dinner. I ate in moderation.

Then we came back home. I started eating little treats each day. Some chocolate here, some cookies there, some ice cream over there. Again, it was not without abandon. I was not eating like I used to.

But then it hit me. Deja vu. I was in this place before (five years ago). I had turned my life around. I was eating well. I was exercising. A little treat here and there soon turned into an every day thing. Then came the binges. I would eat a lot one day then lay low for the rest of the week. The scale wasn't too bad to me. Soon the binging was more frequent. Then next thing I knew, I was eating tons of horrible food every day, not exercising and weighing 115 lbs. heavier. I had been here before and failed!!!!!!!

So how is this time going to be any different? Thankfully, most of the junk has been consumed...no not by me, by the kids...well some by me. But I have stopped. No more little treats here and there each day. I need to get that crap outta my system. Rebalance the chemicals and all that crap. I am not so sure it's resolve or willpower. I don't put much stock in those. I think it's fear. The recognition that I had been here before and failed, scared me. Of course, it didn't change anything for a few days, but now it has. I can't let all I have done go down the tubes now.

I think the blogging has helped too. Though I originally was using it as a way to be accountable to myself, I must admit that there is a bit of pride involved. I would feel too ashamed to come so far publicly to publicly fail. I don't want to be like those bloggers who are gung ho for a little while but then fade away and eventually shut down their blogs. I want to be a success. I want to continue to be fit. I want to lose the excess poundage.

Besides, I have thrown away my old clothes and cannot afford to buy them again...because, I already have new clothes. I was thrilled a couple of weeks ago when I walked into a GAP and could buy clothes off the rack. Granted they were 2x, but GAP is like a regular clothing store. Also, my wife bought me an XL button down shirt and size 42 pants for Christmas. She bought them to be incentive to keep losing weight. She was a little miffed that I could already fit into them. Sure they were a little tight, but doable. I decided not to wear them into February. Hopefully, she will feel a little better about that.

I am getting pretty close to a couple of goals. I am close to 265 lbs. which is what I got down to last time. Actually, I think I have been there because that was my weight according to my old spring scale which currently weighs me around 261. The digital scale is the one I take my readings from now and I believe that it is more accurate. My other goal is to wear pants sizes that start with a 3. I hope to get to the first goal by the end of the month. The second goal by summer.

With all these things going on, I plan to succeed where I previously failed especially because now...

Living Fit Is My #1 Job!

Weeks 48 & 49 Weigh-Ins

Week 48-December 31, 2007
Weight: 271.2 lbs.(+2.6)
Total Lost: 108.8 lbs.

Week 49 - January 7, 2008
Weight: 267.8 lbs. (-3.4)
Total Lost: 112.2 lbs.

Fat Ratio: 26.4%
Lean Mass: 197.1 lbs.
Fat Mass: 70.7 lbs.
Waist: 50.25 inches

Sorry, I missed posting last week, but time was not on my side. I would like to thank everyone who comments on my blog. I do read them all and they are helpful to me. I have always intended to reply to all the comments and make comments on their blogs. I will try to do better. Some of the comments are so nice and thoughtful. Some sound like they are talking about someone much better than me. I appreciate all that everyone says.

The last month was up and down concerning weight. I broke even which isn't too bad. Part of the issue was the interuptions to my eating habits. That was a good thing because it's just life, and I need to learn to deal with those things in a healthy way. I didn't do great, but I didn't do terrible either. I kept up with my exercising for the most part, at least as far as running and cross country skiing. The weight training did get a little messed up when we went to my in-laws.

Originally, I intended to post on my blog 2-3 times a week. I intended to journal about more than just my stats, but lately that seem like all that I have time for. Too bad I can't blog while I am exercising. That seems to be when I get all my blogging ideas. By the time, I get to the computer, I don't have the time to flesh out my thoughts.

Here are my two New Year's Resolutions (and I usually avoid making these resolutions at all costs):

1) To be more responsive to those who comment on my blog.

2) To blog 2-3 times a week.

Some topics I would like to address are:

I have been here before and failed, body image, my emotional state, those annoying comments, what is an athlete?, I am NOT Super-weight-loss-man, nature's Alli.

I hope everyone is having a fantastic New Year.

“Many of life's failures are men who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” Thomas Edison

Living Fit Is My #1 Job!