Week 78 Weigh-In

Last Week's Weight: 249.8 lbs.
Yesterday's Weight: 247 lbs. (-2.8)
Total Lost: 133 lbs.

Fat Ratio: 23.1%
Lean Mass: 189.9 lbs.
Fat Mass: 57.1 lbs.
Waist: 47.5 inches

So far, everything seems to be on track with Phase 2. If I lose again next week, I will officially declare that I have broken through this plateau.

I went back and figured out my 10% body weight loss marks. I took my original 380 and subtracting 10% giving me 342. Then I subtracted 10% of 342, and so on down to my goal weight. This was to give me some more benchmarks. I added these weights to the right, and I have officially passed the next 10% benchmark.

Sunday, we took the kids to their cousin's birthday party down in Taylor. It was at a place called "Pump It Up!" Basically, it was this room with 4 inflatables. The only thing they had when I was a kid was the moon walk at the fair. There was a giant slide, a basketball court, an obstacle course ending with a giant slide, and a gladiator ring with giant boxing gloves and some padded fighting sticks. My sister rented this place, so it was just our group. The best part about it was that the adults were allowed to play on it too. The kids dragged me on it immediately. I had a blast. We had a lot of fun. If you click on the link, there is a short video about it.

"Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude."--Thomas Jefferson

Living Fit Is My #1 Job!

It's What's on the Inside that Counts!...Right!?????

Dealing with my own obesity most of my life, I was always annoyed that people were so hung up about what's on the outside. Everyone says that it's what's on the inside that counts. Yet very few people practice this universal sentiment (including myself as I have discovered). I now realize that it was one way to continue in denial about my problems. I guess I felt indignant that others would not ignore my problems because I didn't want to feel guilty about ignoring them. As an adult, most people don't say anything to your face. This makes it all the easier ignore my problems.

What's on the inside does count. Now, I realize this truth in more than one way. Fat is on the inside. While on the outside, we may see the results of excess fat. That fat itself is on the inside, marbled in our muscles, crowding and constricting our organs, and of course spilling over our frames for all to notice.

The person on the inside counts. We want that person to stay healthy for as long as God has given that person to walk on this earth. That is why we must not ignore the fat on the inside. That fat leads to heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, and a whole host of other problems. IOW, that fats leads to tragedy for the person on the inside.

If what's on the inside counts, and I think it does, then we must count everything on the inside.

Living Fit Is My #1 Job!

Realage, Fitday, and Recipe Calculator

Inspired by my friend Sayre, I tested my Realage. Being obese and all, I expected my realage to be much higher than my actual age. I was quite surprised and pleased to find that my realage is 37.5, a whole 2 years YOUNGER than my chronological age. Therefore, I am giving up exercising and heading to the Golden Corral because I figure I have 2 extra years with which to skate by. Okay, I am kidding, but it was a nice little boost to see that number.

Concerning Fitday. This is a nice tool to use because you can add any food or dish as long as you have the nutritional information. Once you enter it in, it remembers it. The problem is that I find myself manually entering in most of my foods. It never seems to have an exact match. Then, what do you do with a recipe. Some cookbooks come with nutritional info, but even then, we often substitute.

The answer is Recipe Calculator. You just add in your ingredients and it spits out the nutrition. The only thing you must do is figure out what a portion is and how many it makes. Otherwise, it is quite handy.

Living Fit Is My #1 Job!

Week 77 Weigh-In

Last Week's Weight: 253.0 lbs.
Today's Weight: 249.8 lbs. (-3.2)
Total Lost: 130.2 lbs.

Fat Ratio: 23.1%
Lean Mass: 192.1 lbs.
Fat Mass: 57.7 lbs.
Waist: 47.5 inches

Can't complain about that, except that I have been there before...then down...then up...then down...then up... Anyhow, it's going in the right direction. Tracking my food has been a real eye opener. I have a better idea of what I am ingesting, and in turn, I am better able to eat healthy. I hope that is what is reflected in the scale numbers.

The 12k (7.5 mile) race went well. I finished with a 9:50 pace. Now it's time to gear up for the next race. I have about a month to prepare for a 10 mile race. That's right 10 MILE, not 10k. I think I will be ready. If I finished that with a 9:50 pace, it would be a miracle. I am shooting for 11:00. My daughter ran the 5k last Saturday. She did pretty good. She keeps improving. She stuck it out despite problems with blisters. She is a real trooper. I am constantly amazed by her.

BTW, our trip last month was fantastic. We played in a water park attached to our hotel one day. That was a lot of fun. In St. Louis, we went to Six Flags, Cahokia Mounds, the zoo, and Meramec Caverns. We ate too much, spent too much, and rested too little.

When we got back, the work was piled up for me as well as several other obligations. I have been crazy busy trying to everything as well continue training. Nothing is slowing down, but I will try to post at least with my stats once a week.

I addition to the Labor Day Challenge, I have a personal challenge. I would like to get down to 235 by August 11th. That's how much I weighed 19 years before when I got married. I thought that I would have hit that by now, but it didn't work out. It's a lot to lose by then, so I won't beat myself up if I don't. It would be kinda nice though.

"Perseverance is failing nineteen times and succeeding the twentieth."-- Julie Andrews

Living Fit Is My #1 Job!

Sorry for my absence

No, I haven't moved into the donut shop. I haven't given up. I haven't stopped. I just became incredibly busy. Training for a Triathlon takes up a lot of time. Just for the swimming, it takes me 40 min. to get to the pool, 45-60 min in the pool, and the trip back. That's more than 2 hours three days a week. I ran a 5k race last Saturday in which I did all right. I could have done better. Oh well. This Saturday, I will run a 12k race, the longest race yet. While on vacation, I ran 10 miles one day. That was a new record for me. My physical activity has been pretty good.

Healthy eating has been more or less on track. My weight has been fluctuating between 248 and 253. I have reached my first official plateau. Therefore, after almost 18 months, I have moved to phase 2 of my healthy living plan. I knew I would get here, but I was hoping not as it is more time intensive. Phase 1 was NO measuring, NO counting calories, fat grams, carbs, proteins, etc..., NO deprivation, NO Dieting. Simply eating a healthy mixture.

Phase 2 is basically the same, but with the added task of tracking what I eat. Yes, it is counting and measuring, but not to stay within a certain perimeter. Instead, it's to makes sure that I really am eating the way that I think I am. I started doing this Monday, using FitDay. Two things surprised me right away. First was how much fat I ate. I thought I was doing pretty good watching my fats, but in reality I was consuming much more than I thought. This fat mainly came from peanut butter (the natural kind) and walnuts which I put in my morning cereal. The second thing that surprised was how many calories I burn each day. For example, it calculated that I burned 4730 calories on Monday. Wow! I thought it would be between 2 and 3k. Anyhow, tracking what I eat is a useful tool. I am getting a more realistic picture of what I am eating. Like I said, I knew this day would come. Now, I just need to incorporate tracking into my daily habits.

As far as the 4th of July challenge went, I concede. I didn't weigh in then. I really have no idea what I weighed. In fact, I haven't had an official weigh in since before vacation...well at least until this past Monday. My weight was 253lbs. on July 14, 2008. I am game for the Labor Day Challenge, and will use that as my starting weight. I am optimistic that with my phase 2, I will blow all challengers out of the water.

I will post more when I can.

"The fact is, that to do anything in the world worth doing, we must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in and scramble through as well as we can."--Robert Cushing


Living Fit Is My #1 Job!