First 7 Days - Habit #1

I am happy to report that my first 7 days have been successful.  Every day after work I changed into workout clothes.  I know this might seem silly to you that my goal is to just simply change into my workout clothes, but the idea is that I'm focused on building a habit, not on actually working out.  I'm teaching my brain to think about exercise automatically everyday after work.  Even though I didn't have to I also decided to extend my routine into the weekend and on both days I was successful.

Of course just because my daily goal doesn't include exercise, that doesn't mean I'm not allowed to get some.  In fact this week was probably the most active week I've had since we moved here:

On the first day I was already in my workout clothes, so I decided to get on the elliptical and run out a mile.  Then on Tuesday and Wednesday the family decided to go play tennis after dinner.  1 hour each day running around in the sweltering heat (we've been in the high 90's all week).  Thursday my daughter had soccer practice so no time to work out, but as soon as I got home I changed into workout clothes, then I proceeded to change right out of them and get ready for bed.  Friday brought more tennis as well as a bonus round on Saturday.  Today was 3 hours of yard work during the day.  No tennis tonight, but as I'm writing I'm in my workout clothes :)

It's important to note that not only do I make sure to change into my workout clothes each day, but I've also stopped to think about how I feel meeting that goal each day.  It might be a simple goal to meet, but the reward is that I completed it every day.  That feels great.  Not only that but on the days that I got out and exercised I also made note of how satisfied I felt afterward.  Again I'm teaching myself that my habit brings positive feelings.

My goal is to put on my exercise clothes every day after work.  In the first week I met my target, did it for an additional 2 days on the weekend, and also got close to 6 hours of activity in that I normally would not do.  Not too shabby!

I'm sure some who read this just won't get what I'm doing, but it makes sense to me.  14 days to go!

A New Beginning, A New Way of Thinking – Building Healthy Habits

Greetings fellow bloggers! I can’t believe my last post was 18 months ago. A lot has happened in my life since I did the 180 in 360challenge.  I can honestly say that when I look back at 2015 it will likely be one of the most pivotal points in my life.

So where have I been for the last 18 months?  Glad you asked.  For starters I can say my health has still been a primary focus in my life.  I am happy to say that I have completely kicked the alcohol dependency!  In fact in the last year I can count how many times I’ve had a drink on one hand.

I have also managed to stay away from tobacco.  I still use an e-cig, but the nicotine level is so low now that I’m starting to question why I even use it; I think it’s just out of habit now.

And what about the weight?  Well I’m happy to say that I have NOT put the weight back on that I lost in 2015.  At the end of 2015 I was at 300 pounds.  I don’t weigh myself very often these days, but at last check I was somewhere around 305.

Now you might be wondering why I’m back and I’m calling this a new beginning.  Well, for starters I just finished moving my family to NC and have taken on an exciting new challenge in my career.  I’m excited; My wife and I lived in NC about 12 years ago and now we finally made it back here.  We have moved around quite a bit in my career, but now that the kids are older the plan is to make this area permanent for the foreseeable future.  The last 6 months have probably been the most stressful that I can remember, yet I have not succumbed to the usual bad unhealthy habits that usually overtake me and force me off the wagon.

We’ve been here now for about 3 months.  Now that the dust has settled I’m ready to take my healthy living to the next level and maybe drop some more weight while I’m at it.  However, I know what happens when I go on a diet; I’ve yo-yoed myself too many times to think that anything would be any different this time.  It’s time to change my way of thinking…

I’ve decided that instead of focusing on losing weight or focusing on exercising more, I’m going to turn my focus towards building habits.  The way I see it, if I can teach myself how to create habits then I can choose to develop habits that will help me to be healthier.  I’m also hoping that as I learn to create habits, I might stumble across certain Keystone habits that will even accelerate my healthy living.

The Plan

I’ve already read quite a lot about creating habits; Most people agree that you need to start small and that it takes at least 21 days to make a habit.  Ok, so I’m going to pick 1 habit and I’m going to start small.  Since this is all about my health the first habit I want to establish is an exercise habit.

Now remember, I’m focused on building a habit, I’m not focused on exercising or losing weight.  The first thing I want to do is establish a routine.  I know from experience that I am not a morning workout person.  In fact I want to save my mornings for focusing on my mental health (after I establish this first habit).  I’m going to start with building an exercise habit after work.  My objective is real simple:

For the next 21 days I will change into workout clothes after work 

That’s it!  No more requirements other than to change into workout clothes.  If I choose to exercise that’s fine, but it’s not required.  By changing into those clothes I’m going to begin programming my mind to prepare myself for exercise.  I’m going to begin building the exercise habit.

Notice I’m not talking about how much weight I’m going to lose or how much exercise I’m going to get.  I want to exercise and I want lose weight and be healthy, but to get there I need to teach myself to create habits that give me those results.

I welcome you to follow me as I see how this experiment plays out.  After 21 days I will add another habit and/or increase the requirements on one of my existing habit declarations.  Over time I am hoping these habits will stick and become a normal part of my life.  Wish me luck!

[Photo: Flickr / dierk schaefer]

Day #150 - I'm Done Trying to Lose Weight

Today marks the end of 5 months of focus on improving my health with 7 more to go!  So far I've managed to quit smoking and drastically reduce my alcohol consumption.  Today I add something new, I'm going to quit trying to lose weight!

Yes you are reading correctly, I said that I am giving up on trying to lose weight.  Now don't get me wrong, I'm overweight and I recognize that I need to lose close to 150 pounds.  I haven't stopped caring about my health and I have no intention of staying at my current weight, I've simply decided to shift my focus.

My entire adult life has been spent focused on trying to drop pounds on a scale.  I've tried weight loss plan after weight loss plan.  Some have been successful (for a short while) and some have been total disasters.  Ultimately the one thing they all had in common was that eventually, whatever weight was lost came back and in some cases a few pounds more.

The best way to solve a problem is to focus on, and eliminate the root cause.  For years my focus has been on losing weight, but in reality, my weight isn't my problem.  My weight is the result of the problem, not the problem itself.  I've spent so much time trying to fix the effect instead of focusing on the true problem.

So what is the true problem?  The true problem is that I do not treat my body with respect.  Because I do not treat my body with respect I am overweight, I have sleep apnea, I have knee pain, etc. 

So why don't I treat my body with respect?  Well, that's what I need to focus on.  For one, I don't think my life is fulfilling.  I also don't deal with stress real well.  There are probably a great number of things that I need to work on and hopefully in the months to come I will identify them and work on getting better.

So what do I mean when I say I'm not going to try to lose weight and instead focus on treating my body with respect?  It means that I will no longer spend time developing restrictive eating plans to follow or exercise regimes.  It means that I will no longer obsess about what the scale reads and I will not zone in on just one measure of my health.

I'm trying something new; my belief is that if I can focus on treating my body with respect and fix the things that cause me to abuse my body, then the weight (and all my other health problems) will begin to take care of themselves.  I know this might seem a little hokey to some, but is it any crazier than trying over and over again to lose weight only to end up with the same result.  

In the days ahead I will post more details about where I'm going.  Your welcome to come along for the ride... who knows where it's going to end up.

Stay Strong!

Day #92 - Just 10 Minutes

Recently I mentioned that it was time to add some cardio and strength training.  I know that I need to step it up if I really want to drop 100 pounds by the end of the year.  Today when I was walking at lunchtime (I got in 2 miles) I started to think through it.  How will I fit it in with everything else I've got going on?  Should I try again in the morning?  No, I've been down that road before.  I'm not a morning person and I just can't get myself out of bed to do it. 

Instead I decided to go with a plan I call "Just 10 Minutes.  The idea is that no matter how busy my day, I should at least strive to get in 10 minutes of rigorous exercise.  Here are the basics:

• I'm committed to getting at least 10 minutes of either cardio or strength training in a day.  This is in addition to any walking I might do at lunchtime or any other activities I do that could be used as an excuse to not do these 10 minutes
• I will alternate between cardio and strength training each day
• I will have 1 day each week for rest

That's it, simple huh?  Everyone can spare 10 minutes each day.  I get home from work and I'm usually waiting 30 minutes just for dinner to be done.  When it's done it's usually another 10 minutes just listening to the kids fight over who's going to set the table.  Even on soccer practice days I can find 10 minutes to do something.

The point is, when I'm feeling good and I have the time I can do more, but at the very least I can do 10 minutes.  That's 10 minutes more than I'm used to doing.  Maybe in the near future I'll bump it up but for now it starts the habit for me.

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Another great Monday (used to be my worst day of the week).  I kept to my eating plan, got in my gallon of water, walked 2 miles at lunch, and even got my 10 minutes in on the elliptical machine.  Actually it was closer to 12 minutes as I set the machine for 1 mile.  I feel like all the pieces are now in place, I just need to keep executing.  Another day done, on to Day #93.

Stay Strong!

[Photo: Flickr / Jurgen Leckie]

Day #77 - Incredible Achievement - Hail to the Hiking Queen

8 Year Old "Hiking Queen"

As an adult, the longest I've ever hiked in a day is 7.5 miles.  Mrs. Fogdog and I did it 12 years ago when I was 30 and we didn't have any kids.  I remember we were camping and by the time we were done we were all exhausted.  Even our dog (who was a puppy at the time) looked worn out. 

We love hiking in the woods and we do it quite often, but our typical hike is usually somewhere between 3 and 5 miles.  Once we started having kids it got a little trickier, but we got those backpack carriers.  We would let the kids walk until they got tired and then we would carry them the rest of the day (I always considered it an extra workout).  Once we had our third child, we started "rotating" them through the carriers, but from the point my youngest could walk it was clear she loved to hike. By the time she was 3 she stopped riding in the carrier even as her older sisters would beg for rides. 

As they have gotten older we've pushed farther and farther each year.  In 2013 we completed 5 miles and last year we completed a 6 mile hike.  Yesterday we decided to push the limit a little further.  We chose a 6.5 mile hike.  It was mostly level through woods and fields so we figured we had it covered.  As usual my oldest moaned about the distance but my youngest was clearly thrilled.

The one thing I didn't anticipate in this adventure was the horrible trail markings at the park we went to.  After 5 miles I was starting to question the decision.  My knees hurt and my two oldest were starting to get on my nerves.  My youngest still had plenty of pep in her step and was still running up hills (like in the picture above) to show that she is the hiking queen.

By the time we hit mile #6 I knew something was wrong.  Somewhere we missed a turn and we suspected that we were on the wrong trail.  If you've ever been in this situation, it can be tough; do you push forward until you can confirm you are on the wrong trail, or do you head back hoping to find something to put you on the right path?  I was pretty sure I knew where we went wrong but it was a mile back to confirm; we decided to turn back.  That turned out to be the right decision and we were able to find our way back onto the path.

By the time we got back to the car it was 5PM and we had walked 8.75 miles!  I was completely exhausted, there was nothing left in the tank.  My 12 year old dog looked like she could fall over at any minute.  The hiking queen showed no signs of slowing down and could have probably walked for another hour.

So we set a new family record for hiking yesterday; 8.75 miles.  That in itself was a pretty darn big accomplishment, but to me the real acknowledgement goes to my hiking queen.  My phone said that I walked 19,000 steps.  My youngest is 8 years old and takes 2 steps for every one of mine.  She hiked 8.75 miles or 38,000 steps and never once complained.  To me that's one incredible achievement for an 8 year old.  She inspires me to lose more weight so we can hike even farther some day.  I'd like to see just how far she could go.  Is there someone like that who inspires you?

Stay Strong!

Day #64 - Missing a Baby Blue Shower

Ugly Baby Blue Shower

Have you seen this shower?  It's missing and presumed dead.  It was last seen hanging out in my master bathroom looking old and dated.  It's been known to consort with it's little brother; baby blue toilet (which is also missing).  If you find this shower, please do not call me.  Instead feel free to contact the 80's; I'm sure they would be happy to take a blue shower and toilet back.  If they do, please tell them to call me as I have baby blue tile that they can have as well.

You would not believe the amount of work it takes to get a one-piece fiberglass shower out.  I spent the entire day tearing the whole stall area apart and then I had to carry all the debris downstairs to my garage.  Needless to say I got plenty of exercise in, and I'm feeling it right now.  I also got all my water in without any problem; demolition always gets me sweating.

A really great start to my first day of vacation.  I'm working hard and I'm eating well.  On top of that it was 65 degrees and sunny today!  Most of the snow is gone and it's supposed to stay this way all week.  Tomorrow I go to the hardware store to pick out a shower basin and all the other stuff I need to prep the walls for tile.  One day at a time.


Stay Strong!

Where did it go??



Day #63 - Some Monumental Exercise

Not a Cloud in the Sky!

What a beautiful day!  Almost 60 degrees and not a cloud in the sky.  I'm getting excited about spring.  Anyway, we have the in-laws visiting and since the weather was nice we took the opportunity to go into DC.  I got a lot of exercise walking around, first we walked to the Washington Monument (and learned that you need to get there really early to get tickets to go into it), and then we went to the National Air and Space Museum.  All in I think I walked close to 5 miles (and I was definitely feeling it at the end).

By the time we finished, it was 2:30 in the afternoon and I was starving since I hadn't had anything since breakfast.  My wife was smart enough to pack us lunches so we wouldn't have to stop somewhere to get fast food (thumbs up to Mrs. Fogdog).

I didn't get as much water as I should have today, but all in all it was a pretty good day.  I only ate 3 meals which is not really my traditional eating style, but I made do with a house full of family. 

The weather says it's going to be nice weather all week long and I'm officially on vacation.  Bathroom demolition starts tomorrow;  It's going to be a great week!

Stay Strong!

Day #59 - The Search for a Good Walk

It was 50 degrees today; the first such day in a long time.  The warm weather along with my recent healthy eating left me feeling pretty good at lunchtime so I decided to take a walk.  I also decided that I would try to find myself a new place to walk when the weather finally turns better.  There's an unused section of road right near my work that is almost exactly 1 mile if you walk down and back.  While it's ok, it gets boring pretty quick.  I enjoy nature so finding a trail through some woods or something with scenery is preferred.

Anyway I did a quick check online and discovered there's a civil war park within 5 minutes of where I work.  I drove over at lunch time to check it out.  Unfortunately it was way to muddy and there's still snow all over the place, but it looks like it will be a decent trail.  Even better, it's a loop so you don't have to walk down and back (I hate down and back).  It's also 1.25 miles; I walk at about 3 miles/hour so I will have enough time to walk it twice during lunch and get 2.5 miles in. Now I'm excited for the weather to turn so I can walk this trail.

Since the trail was too muddy I decided to improvise and I walked in the major housing development that was adjacent to the park.  With all the looking around at the park I only had time to go 2 miles.  It was nice; Those that have been following would remember that in the beginning of this journey I was trying to walk at lunch time whenever I could.  That sort of fell by the wayside as I put more focus on the smoking and drinking.

All in all it was a pretty good day, my third with focus on eating just healthy food.  Another day in the books; on to tomorrow... Day 60 (and the promise of a big snowstorm!)

Stay Strong!

Day #57 – My LEGO Tower of Health

When I was a kid I loved to play with LEGOS.  I had a big plastic tub of them and I would spend hours using my imagination to build great structures.  My favorite thing to do was build a tower; I built some really cool towers in my day.  In order to build a cool tower you need 2 things: Materials and a Plan.  You need to take stock of what you have available to work with and you have to craft your plan based on those materials.  I started many towers only to get halfway there and realize I didn’t have enough blocks to finish it.  The plan you create doesn’t have to be exact, and you can improvise along the way, but you at least need the basic framework.  Once you have your basic plan and parts, you are ready to put it all together. 

Even though today is day #57, there’s a part of me that feels like it is more like day #1.  The other 56 days have really been spent getting myself ready to build my tower, and today I’m finally starting to put it together.  That’s when the fun starts right?  You put the plan together and you got yourself ready for the big build.

When I look at past weight loss failures I see a common thread (besides the obvious that they all failed).  I notice that I never really took time to make a plan and take stock of my materials.  Usually it was just a spur of the moment type decision that I was going to flip the switch and instantly become a health nut.  My plan was always the same:  I’m going to track my calories, eat less than 2000 each day, and exercise for at least 30 minutes 6 days a week.  Does that sound familiar to you?  That certainly wasn’t a great plan and I didn’t even bother to check to see if I had the materials needed so ultimately I got halfway into the tower and then realize I couldn’t complete it.

Now when I talk about gathering materials needed to execute my plan I’m talking about more than something physical.  I’m talking about gathering knowledge about who I am and what will (and won’t) work for me.  I’m talking about gathering a little bit of confidence through some small victories and compassion through some failures.  I’m talking about gathering the mental strength I need to complete my tower.

For the first time, I feel like I’ve done what was needed to start building my tower.  I didn’t just dump out the box of parts and start building in random fashion, I took my time and prepared.  I’ve got my parts and my plan; time to start building!

 

[Photo: Flickr / Matija Grguric]

Day #40 - Perspective

I like my new "one day at a time" approach.  It makes it much easier to reset after a bad day.  No regrets, no looking at the difficult challenges ahead, simply reset the day and go.  I have noticed this approach does bring a lot of frequent ups and downs though, but I've realized it's really all about perspective.  It's not like I'm succeeding really well one day and doing terrible the next, but yet my perspective changes based on my mood.  Yesterday I felt like I was doing a terrible job this week, but today I feel like the week went quite well.  Nothing really changed except my perspective.

If I can keep reminding myself it's about my perspective then it stands to reason that I can choose what perspective to use.  Even if I'm in a bad mood I can tell myself to keep things on a positive perspective.

Tomorrow I weigh in; I'm not expecting a big loss, but I think I should lose something as I've done pretty good eating.  My water intake was a little off late in the week so that might hurt.  Monday is a holiday for me, so I get to enjoy a nice 3 day weekend; I'll be rebuilding the ceiling I fell through so I should get plenty of exercise.

40 Days of my journey are now behind me.  From a long term perspective that's one ninth (1/9) of my total journey this year.  However, as I've said from the beginning it's not about the whole trip, it's about tomorrow.  On to Day #41.

-Stay Strong!

Day #14 - Burning Calories the Old Fashioned Way

I burned a lot of calories today... I worked really hard.  I bent over, I twisted, I got on my knees, I got back up, I got on my knees again.  For 2 days straight I have been working incredibly hard remodeling a mustard color room.  Today I installed a brand new ceiling fan to replace some tacky track lighting.  I also painted all the trim, mounted all the new door hardware for 3 doors, and finished the first coat of paint on those doors.  I can't remember the last time I got up and down so many times in a day; I hate painting trim.  I feel exhausted and sore, but I also feel pride.  Pride that I'm not just laying around for another three day weekend.

It's funny, as I was working today I couldn't help but think about how easy our lives have become.  In the old days, people didn't get on their horse and buggy and ride in to town to find a Gold's Gym and hit a treadmill for an hour.  They worked! they worked hard every day.  They walked where they needed to get.  They pushed and pulled and lifted on the family farm.  They didn't have to worry about being overweight because they burned a ton of calories everyday.  Oh how soft we've become.

Tomorrow I have to finish painting the doors, the walls, and install all new outlets in order to call the project complete.  It's going to be tight but I'm going to do my best.  Sorry for the short post but I promised the family a movie tonight.  Hope you all are having a great weekend.

Stay Strong! 

Day #3 - Why Not?

I woke this morning convinced that it would not be a good day.  For starters I had a hard time going to sleep last night.  Despite feeling exhausted and going to bed early, I just tossed and turned and when I woke I felt like I had gotten very little sleep.  As I rolled out of bed, my second cue for a bad day showed itself; my left knee was swollen and it was hard to walk around.  I told myself “no way I’m going to be able to exercise today!” and I was OK with it.

However, as I was riding to work in the morning, I began to question a decision that I made 5 hours before I really needed to.  Why not exercise today?  I made it to my car didn’t I?  I made it into work, why can’t I exercise?  As I worked through the process I came to the realization that my knee hurting was just a convenient excuse to not exercise. 

I decided to go to the mall again.  I set out to do as much as I could at whatever pace I could do with my sore knee.  I completed 2 laps (about 1.5 miles).  Half as much as the day before, but 1.5 miles more than I originally planned; I was thrilled that I did it.

As I was walking I started to think about all the other “why not” moments I’ve had lately:

• I can’t quit smoking AND lose weight at the same time… Why Not?
• I can’t go to the mall to walk… Why Not?
• I can’t survive on 1800 calories each day… Why Not?
• I can’t Quit Smoking, Quit Drinking, Lose Weight and still be happy… WHY NOT?

When I look back at other failed attempts at improving my health I see a lot of excuses for why I couldn’t do something.  In order for me to stay committed, I need to keep asking myself “Why Not?”

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Another pretty good day.  I stayed on my eating plan with the exception of having a second cup of coffee after lunch (in the hopes that it would help me get through the day).  Today was a hig carb day so I got to enjoy some fruit and didn’t feel as hungry as usual.  I also drank my requisite gallon of water and as I mentioned above I walked about 1.5 miles.

I also hit a milestone today… it takes 3 days for you to flush the nicotine out of your system.  As of today my body is nicotine free!  I still feel like crap from the withdrawal, and I’m not getting anything done at work, but I’m hanging strong and I know that eventually I will start to feel better.  Day 3 is in the books… On to Day 4!

Day #2 - A tough realization and a dose of reality

I never really thought of myself as one of those extremely overweight people.  I’ve been big my whole life but I always managed to be able to do the things I wanted; my weight didn’t really slow me down.  I remember when biggest loser came on and I made a comment to my wife about how big those contestants were.  She turned and said to me (not in a mean way) “you’re almost as big as they are!”  It was kind of surprising to hear that… I never really saw myself as morbidly obese.  It might sound weird but I always just considered myself a little overweight and I always believed I carried my weight well.

As I look back now I realize that it was more about me lying to myself so I wouldn’t have to admit that I had a problem.  I refused to accept that I couldn’t lose weight, I refused to accept that my eating was out of control.  I was only slightly overweight and all I needed was about 6 months of hard work to pull myself into shape.  I could do it anytime because I had the mental fortitude to take on such a task and I was physically strong so I could keep my metabolism revved and lose the weight quickly.

I think I started to accept reality when I turned 40 (2 years ago).  At close to 350 pounds I was morbidly obese.  I could be any one of those contestants on “The Biggest Loser”.  Over the last couple years I haven’t been able to do all the things I want.  I’ve withdrawn more and more from life as I spend a lot of time hanging out on the couch watching TV.  There have been some times in this past 2 years where I simply gave up and stopped trying to lose weight and stopped monitoring my progress.

This is my new reality… I could literally lose 150 pounds and still be at a healthy weight.  My skin will never go all the way back.  I don’t “carry” my weight well and there’s nothing special about me that makes me any better off than others of my size.  I am morbidly obese!

Day 2 really had me thinking about just how big I am and how poor of shape I am in.  I had another great day with my eating plan and with drinking water.  Knowing that not smoking is taking a lot out of me I know that it would be extremely difficult to find the strength to exercise at the end of the day, so again today I went for a walk during my lunch hour.  It snowed last night so walking outside wasn’t going to work, so I drove over to the mall and walked there.

It was a little uncomfortable for me to walk at the mall, but It was my only option.  I walked 4 full laps around the mall which ended up being almost 3 miles in about 50 minutes!  I’m proud that I walked again today even though it is what is reminding me about just how out of shape I am.  After just 3 miles of walking my knees hurt, my back hurt, and my feet hurt.  By the time I got back to my vehicle I could feel my fingers beginning to swell a little (not sure why).

By the time I got back to work I was beginning to feel stiff and sore everywhere… all from just a 3 mile walk at lunchtime.  Indeed I still have a long way to go!  Another plus, I was smoke free again today.  All in all it was pretty good day.  As predicted I was too wiped out when I got home to do anymore exercise so I’m glad I got it in during the day.  I had to cook dinner so I made fajitas for the kids and then a fajita salad for me since I can’t have carbs today.  Tomorrow is my first high carb day and I’m excited to have some fruit!  2 days in the books and 358 more to go!

-Stay Strong!

Weight Loss Priorities

Very often you read posts from other bloggers talking about making losing weight a priority, but it’s a little rarer to find a post that talks about prioritizing within weight loss.  You can’t put all your focus on  everything at once, and if you try you just end up frustrated with failure.  Below are the priorities I established for myself to help lose weight and be healthy.  The #1 priority might surprise you a little…

Priority #5 – Exercise

Daily exercise is important with a healthy lifestyle, whether it’s structured or not.  People didn’t always have gym memberships or elliptical machines at home.  They stayed fit by moving around and working hard.  It’s interesting how things are starting to come full circle, you are beginning to see a lot of structured workouts designed around being unstructured.  Pull a sled, flip a tractor trailer tire, pick up a heavy sack and carry it around.  Not much different from the days of old right?  Regardless of the method, you have to move around, you have to work your muscles, and you have to get that heart rate up once in a while if you ever have any hope to drop the weight.

Priority #4 – Water

You can find tons of conflicting information about how much water to drink, but one thing you don’t find is people telling you water is not important.  There is no dispute that water is an important part of weight loss.  It keeps you hydrated, flushes out the bad stuff, and even helps you to feel full.  Decide for yourself what the right amount is but make sure “plenty of water” is one of your priorities.

Priority #3 – Healthy Eating

You can exercise hard an hour a day but it won’t really do you much good if you eat cheeseburgers and pizza the other 23 hours.  That’s why healthy eating is at #3 priority.  There are a zillion diets out there; a vast majority of them are healthy with a few rare exceptions.  I’m not going to try to convince anyone about what the right diet is because it depends on the person.  However, I can promise you the road to successful long term weight loss includes a healthy eating plan.

Priority #2 – Proper Mindset

I bet you thought this would be #1 priority?  Nope, it’s #2.  You can eat healthy, get plenty of water, and exercise regularly and still not be successful in the long term.  Proper mindset is what keeps you on your path.  Proper mindset is what allows you to keep your promises to follow the other priorities.  Yes, you can lose weight without proper mindset, but the success will be short lived and you will eventually find yourself in a worse situation than you were before.  Without priority #2, it becomes very difficult to maintain priorities #3, #4, and #5.

Priority #1 – SLEEP!

This might surprise you, but sleep is my #1 priority.  If you do not get good quality sleep, you will be too tired to exercise (#5).  If you do not get good quality sleep your body does not function properly and your metabolism is affected as well (#4 and #3).  Finally, if you do not get good quality sleep then it becomes impossible to maintain a proper mindset (#2).  If you do not get good quality sleep then you can forget about any of the other priorities; sleep trumps then all!


Priority Flip-Flop

Most people focus most of their energy on #3, #4 and #5 and give little attention to #1 and #2.  In fact many people believe that by fixing #3, #4, and #5 they will see improvement in #1 and #2.  Maybe that’s why most people (myself included) fail.  Maybe we need to put less energy into healthy consumption and exercise and more energy into quality sleep and proper mindset.  Am I suggesting #3, #4, and #5 be ignored?  No, that’s not what I’m saying; they are still important in any healthy lifestyle.  My point is that maybe our weight loss priorities are upside down.  Maybe by putting more effort into sleep and mindset you wouldn’t need so much effort in the others and they would actually become easier. 

What do you think; what are your weight loss priorities? 

[Photo: Flickr / R/DV/RS]

A Little Bit of Randomness

Most of the time I write with a specific purpose in mind, usually about some inspiration I got from someone else’s blog, but tonight I just kind of feel like being a “dear diary” kind of writer and just write a little about my week.  No related picture, no plan, just whatever comes out...

This week has been very much like the last few weeks; not stellar, but not really bad either.  I’m starting to feel like I’ve settled into this rut and I’m trying to decide if it’s a good rut or a bad one.  On the one hand I’m still losing weight every week, but on the other hand I know that I’m capable of doing more.  Do I push myself and risk overdoing it and burning out or do I stay the course and not worry about the minor infractions?

I’m still not exercising regularly.  On a scale of 1-10 for physical activity (10 being hummingbird on crack and 1 being tree sloth), I was probably about a 2 before I started this transformation.  Seven weeks later and I would probably give myself a 3 only because I’m actually spending a little time playing with the kids and doing some yard work on the weekends.  In the first few weeks I put forth some effort to work out when I had time, but as the pounds kept coming off without exercising, it became easier to just let it go.  I know eventually I will not be able to keep on losing weight without adding more physical activity, the time will come soon.  More importantly though, I want to NOT just let it go.  I want to WANT to feel like exercising, or being more active, or anything for that matter.  I’m tired of coming home tired every night; I want to come home and still want to do something.

I can’t complain much about my eating and water consumption.  Occasionally I have a small snack in the evening, but not overdoing it like last week.  The water consumption has become almost automatic; I leave work with an empty (or almost empty) gallon jug every day.  People have stopped asking me to lunch; that’s good, but it can also be bad as I feel a little isolated at lunchtime now.  I was thinking I might choose to go out lunch one of these days; maybe next week.  You know, do it on my own terms and plan it ahead so I’m ready.  My eating has almost become automatic as well.  Week to week there’s not a lot of variety.  Don’t get me wrong it’s all good tasting stuff, but there’s only so much you can do when boneless chicken breast is the cornerstone of your diet.  Mrs. Fogdog does a good job with different spices and vegetables to keep it interesting and we mix in some other meats here and there, but it can be hard to continue to come up with different snacks every single day.

Emotionally, I’m not sure where I’m at right now.  I’m having some happy days and some where I’m in a bad mood.  For the last week I’ve started pulling my CPAP off in the middle of the night unconsciously; though I don’t feel overly tired, this may be the cause of some of my moodiness.  I seem to get mad a whole lot easier than before, but then again, my job is as stressful as it ever has been and I have a very low tolerance for people who aren’t capable of making things better so instead they put up roadblocks so others won’t make them look bad.  You all know what I’m talking about, every place has them, but where I work seems to be especially full of these type of people.  It can be quite a mental drain dealing with the roadblocks.

I just went back and read this post and it does seem to have a bit of dreary or depressed tone.  I didn’t intend it that way it just kind of came out that way.  I really don’t have much to be depressed about; I’ve already lost over 30 pounds and for the first time in a long time I feel like my life is heading in the right direction, I guess I’m just a little tired right now. 

On a final note, I think this week on the scale may be my last of weekly weigh-ins.  Instead, I think I’m going to try to ignore it for a while.  I’ve talked before about my obsession with the scale and how it affects my mood when I get on it.  I’ve posted articles before about how we are not defined by a number, and I truly believe that, but still find myself not following my own advice.  This might be one of my hardest challenges, but truthfully, when I get on the scale I already know how I did during the week.  The number just confirms what I knew most of the time.  The rest of the time it just shows a number that doesn’t make sense and usually puts doubt in me when it’s not deserved.  I’m still mulling it over and I’ll share my decision on Saturday when I post my week #8 weigh-in.

-Stay Strong! 

Week #6 Weigh-In

8/24/14 Starting Weight: 347.8 lbs

 

Last Weigh-in: 327.6 lbs

Current Weight: 319.2 lbs

Period Weight Loss: 8.4 lbs

Total Weight Loss: 28.6 lbs

  
 

I have to admit I'm a bit shocked with this one!  Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled with the result, just trying to figure out where it came from.  I suppose I might have been retaining a little water last week when I only lost 2 pounds, but this is still a little out there.

It was another good week, I did an outstanding job with my eating plan again.  I'm amazed at how much easier it is to stay strong when your mind is focused.  Even with such a lousy work week, I was able to resist the temptations.

This also takes me to the halfway point of my first 12 week stint.  When I first started I told myself that I wasn't going to set crazy or unrealistic goals like I usually do.  I told my wife that my "not-really-a-goal-but-sure-would-be-cool" target would be to get under 300 by the end of 3 months.  Halfway there, and I'm amazed that I might actually have a shot.  This is going to be the best non-goal I ever had the privilege of not shooting for!  
 

Highlights:

1. Sticking to eating plan - Rock solid
2. Drinking a gallon of water every day
3. Feeling great; Resisting Temptations

Lowlights:

1. Only exercised once during the work week
2. Didn't keep up with blogging this week
3. STRESS at work!

On Friday Ice Cream was being sold as part of a United Way campaign.  My boss agreed to buy ice cream for anyone in my group, as much as we wanted, on his dime.  I love ice cream but I want to lose this weight more than I ever have before, so I passed (Small Victory #20).

I am truly enjoying how my life is going right now! One of my daughters just told me that she's so glad we moved.  Clearly my whole family is settling in and I feel like I'm just starting to hit my stride.  I'm excited to be finally taking control of my life.  The journey is long, and the road is tough, but I know I'm ready for it.  6 weeks in the books, time to focus on week #7.  If I want to lose 20 pounds in the next 6 weeks and get under 300 I'm going to have to step up that exercise!

 

 

Stay Strong!

-FogDog

 

 

[Photo: Flickr / Tim Simpson]

Weekend Workout

It's been a pretty crazy week so far; I can't believe it's already Wednesday.  I normally try to get 3 posts done each week (not counting my weigh-in), but I don't think it's going to happen this week.  However, my lack of writing is really for all the right reasons...

Normally I spend some time writing on Sunday, but after feeling like I left some pounds on the table last week, I decided to try a new tact.  Instead of beating myself up, I decided to work off the extra snacking with a little yardwork over the weekend.

After my Daughter's soccer game on Saturday I decided to go to the hardware store.  I bought a pick, a shovel, a bunch of yard stones, and... a chainsaw!  I went home and proceeded to build a 4 foot fire pit with the stones.  Once I complete the pit I started to burn all the yard waste we have collected since we moved in mid July.  It took me all day, but I felt like I really accomplished something.

Sunday came and I decided to put my new tools to good use.  First, I dug up about a dozen old overgrown bushes.  I picked and I pulled and I pushed until I got all those roots out of the ground.  That took me up to lunchtime and I was already good and tired at that point, but I wasn't done yet.  After lunch I used my new chainsaw to cut down 3 good sized trees.  I limbed them, Stacked and cut all the trunks, and burned all the waste.  Now if you want to talk about a workout, you should consider taking down trees.  All the pushing and pulling and dragging and carrying put all my muscles to work.  It took me until dusk and by the time I was done I was completely whipped.

It was exactly the type of weekend that I needed!  My job has been really stressful for the last couple weeks.  In fact, that's the other reason why I haven't blogged this week.  Normally I try to write a little during my lunch hour but I've been too busy to take more than just a few minutes to eat my meal and then go back to work.  Anyway, I'm dealing with it much better thanks to having such a stress-relieving weekend.

The best part... There's still plenty to do.  I still need to cut the logs down to firewood length and then I need to split it.  Once I do all that there's still plenty more trees and bushes that need to come down as well.

Week #5 Weigh-In

8/24/14 Starting Weight: 347.8 lbs

 

Last Weigh-in: 329.4 lbs

Current Weight: 327.6 lbs

Period Weight Loss: 1.8 lbs

Total Weight Loss: 20.2 lbs

  
 

OK, so this is one of those weeks where I have to tread carefully.  On the one hand I am happy to have lost some more weight and I know that crossing over 20 pounds in just 5 weeks is a great accomplishment.

 

On the other hand though, I know that I am fully capable of much more.  During the week I could see some of my "old" habits creeping to the surface.  This early in my transformation I should lose more than 1.8 pounds and I know it.

 

However, one of my other "old" habits was beating myself up for not being perfect.  I certainly wasn't perfect this week in any stretch of the imagination, but that shouldn't be cause to feel guilty, get depressed, then go on a bender.  I recognize simply this... I wasn't perfect, but at the same time it wasn't good enough either.   I need to pick it up a little.

 

I did have couple more small victories... My Boss's Boss brought me a bowl full of homemade cookies to give to my team for all the hard work we've been doing.  I left the bowl in my office for 3 days before all those cookies were gone; I never ate a single cookie (Small Victory #18).  I also had a working lunch on Thursday.  Instead of eating a box lunch from Panera, I ate my own lunch (Small Victory #19).

 

I also reached my first milestone!  Now looking above you might think my first milestone was to lose 20 pounds, but I'm not a very traditional person.  My first milestone wasn't really about pounds (directly anyway).  My first milestone was to be able to get back on my Wii scale!  I like my Wii scale because you can't just step on it; you have to turn it on, push buttons, wait for the darn thing to tall you how fat you are, etc.  This is a good thing because you have to really want to weigh yourself if you are going to go through all those steps, it helps me to reduce casual daily weigh-ins.

 

Anyway, the Wii scale tops out at 330 and even if you're close to that number then it will give you an error (I tried last week at 329.4 and it didn't work).  Today I was able to get on it and it told me that today was my 1999th day using the scale.  WOW! that's over 5 years.  It also told me that it has been 212 days since I last weighed in.  That's how long it has been since I've been able to get on that scale, sad isn't it?

 

Highlights:

1. First milestone reached!
2. Water goal met every single day
3. Worked out several nights after work
4. Recognized the need to be accountable but also recognized I can't beat myself up either

Lowlights:

1. Nightly snacking on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday... out of plan
2. Still not exercising routinely
3. Little too much TV (see lowlight #1)

 

I did have some more victories this week and even when I slipped up a little, I did manage to contain the damage (the nightly snacking consisted of just some pretzels and a couple of granola bars).  What has me feeling good right now is that I'm beginning to recognize the things that typically derail me (like beating myself up or feeling guilty about a slip).  Feeling guilty tends to lead to more failure; instead, accept your actions for what they are, address it, and then move on.  This is why I said I have to be careful; I need to hold myself accountable without beating myself up too much.  It's a tough balancing act!

 

Stay Strong!

-FogDog

 

 

[Photo: Flickr / Timothy Chris Plascik]

Week #4 Weigh-In September 20, 2014

8/24/14 Starting Weight: 347.8 lbs

 

Last Weigh-in: 333.6 lbs

Current Weight: 329.4 lbs

Period Weight Loss: 4.2 lbs

Total Weight Loss: 18.4 lbs

  

 

I woke up this morning feeling like a kid on Christmas morning!  Last week I made a promise to myself to stay off the scale all week long.  I kept that promise (Small Victory #16) and this morning I was excited to see how my efforts paid off.  Another 4.2 pounds lost.  That number works for me.  It's a fair number and I feel liked I've earned every bit of it.

Today's weigh-in puts me at 18.4 pounds in the first month.  Any month that you lose more than 18 pounds is a good one in my book!  This has been a great start.  What has me even more excited is that I am doing so well (on the scale) and I still have room for improvement. 
 
More important, though, is just how I feel.  After a month of transformation effort I can say I feel great.  It doesn't feel like I'm wading through quicksand like past efforts have felt.  It also doesn't feel like I'm burning out; another problem I've run into on some past efforts.
 
An Important Part About Blogging - Helping to Gain Perspective:
 
Normally I post some highlights and lowlights with my weigh-in, but this week I gained a little perspective that I would like to share...
 
On both my restarts I was tempted to wipe everything out and start all over.  On both occasions I chose not to and I'm glad I didn't.  It's part of my entire journey and although my path has gone astray many times, it still offers me perspective and learning. 
 
Today is a great example of gaining some more perspective.  If you go back into my archives you would see that one day my best friend and I started a 30 day weight loss challenge.  I put everything into that challenge and ultimately I lost 17.2 pounds.  The posting of the results to that challenge also coincided with my last blog entry in 2010.  By the end I had become so burned out that I just simply collapsed beck into bad eating habits.  With that came some weight gain followed by hiding from the blogging world because I was so ashamed.
 
Compare those 30 days to my last, where I have felt inspired to be healthy.  I haven't forced myself to suffer all to see a number on a scale.  Instead of counting down the days "till this challenge is over" I'm looking forward to finding ways to enjoy my life as my health begins to improve. Instead of feeling deprived of something I'm questioning why I felt I needed it in the first place.  The focus is clearly much more mental than it is about the physical.  Most people think that if they lose weight it will make them happy.  I wrote an article about this some time ago (original post here), and now I'm beginning to believe it... you don't need to lose weight to be happy, you need to be happy in order to lose weight.
 
In my 30 Day Weight Loss Challenge I suffered through the whole experience.  I was miserable and couldn't wait for it to end.  Ultimately it contributed to me stopping my transformation because I was so burned out.  My reward for those 30 days was the number 17.2.
 
In my last 30 days I have enjoyed my life.  I've discovered some things about me and I haven't felt deprived in anyway.  I have more room to grow and I'm excited to see what the next 30 days brings me.  My reward for the last 30 days was the number 18.4. 

How's that for a little perspective?
 
Stay Strong!
-FogDog

 

 

[Photo: Flickr / Timothy Krause]

Weight Loss "Tale of Two Cities"

It’s been a very interesting week to say the least.  On the one hand my eating has been rock-solid, almost automatic.  I don’t know if it’s all the water I’m drinking, but I just don’t feel hungry despite a daily intake of 1500 calories (4 low carb days) or 2000 calories (2 high carb days).  I really expected the hunger to be gnawing at me, you know, whispering in my ear about how great it would be to go get a pizza. 

My best friend is back at work after a business trip and even he hasn’t had any impact on my resolve.  My best friend is the epitome of what I need to NOT do.  He smokes, drinks everyday, skips breakfast, and eats fast food the rest of the day.  Someday I’ll have to figure out how he isn’t twice my size.  Anyway, all week we’ve been going out for lunch… well sort of. 

Since he’s been out of town and since we’ve both been incredibly busy, we haven’t had much time to talk so we’ve been going out at lunchtime just to hang out.  I heat up and eat my lunch at 11:45 and then at noon we go out and he stops at some fast food joint to get something to eat in the car.  All week I’ve been going with him and not once have I even been tempted to get something (small victories 11,12,13,14, and 15).  I’m hoping when he sees my resolve he’ll start bringing his lunch; we’ll see.

On the flip side of the coin, I’ve done a horrible job at exercising.  My fear has come true, now that I’ve abandoned getting up at 5AM, it seems I have very little motivation to workout in the evening.  All week I’ve been finding excuses (such as right now when I could be working out instead of blogging.  Ohh that gives me a great idea for a blog post… the irony of sitting on your ass blogging about losing weight.  Look for it next week!  OK where was I?  Oh yeah no exercising.

I still expect to see a loss tomorrow when I get on the scale, it’s just that I don’t feel like the week was complete for me.  How can someone do so well in one area of healthy living and so poorly in another?  I noticed that I have a harder time falling asleep when I don’t exercise; I know it’s good for my body and my mind.  Oh well, one day at a time; you can’t fix everything at once.  I’ll report on my weigh-in tomorrow.

Stay Strong!

[Photo: Flickr / Pascal]