Today was just another stressful day. There's no doubt I'm a little more short tempered at work since I quit smoking. Quitting drinking isn't going to help either. You know what though... I really don't care. I'm not going to smoke or drink or overeat just so I'll be more likely to spare people's feelings. To be honest I'm starting to wonder if I was a little too nice to people and most took advantage of it.
Anyway, not what I really wanted to talk about. I know that I'm taking this journey day by day, but I couldn't help to think forward a little towards March. By March I will have quite smoking for almost 2 months and I will have quit drinking for several weeks. If I want to have a chance at 100 pounds lost this year (my third and final goal) I feel like I'm going to need to add more focus to weight loss. So far I'm trying to contain the damage while I focus on the smoking (and now the drinking), but I have to start sometime. So far I've only lost about 5 pounds.
I'm thinking about dedicating March towards getting back on my carb cycling diet. I figure if I go hard all month I could probably drop about 30 pounds especially since I'm taking a week off during the month to remodel my bathroom and bedroom; activities that will require some hard physical labor. I also think it's a good time as spring begins to show signs of coming and my mood generally improves when that happens.
Like the rest of this journey I'm actually thinking things through instead of just making arbitrary decisions. There are some pros and cons to doing my own "March Madness":
Potential Benefits
A successfully 30 day stint could jumpstart my weight loss and help carry me through the year. 30 pounds (or even close to 30 pounds) would be noticeable and help boost my confidence. Additionally, shifting focus away from smoking and drinking could be a welcome distraction and adding exercise to my already busy routine could prove to be a stress reliever. I have no big projects or travel plans so the month of March would be a good one to start.
Potential Drawbacks
Even if I'm successful, it could backfire on me if I feel burned out afterward and go right back to eating like a pig. I might lose a bunch of weight in March only to gain it back and get depressed in April. Also, I have to ask myself if I'm ready to add the weight loss burden. Worse than not losing weight would be if I fell off the smoking wagon in the process. That would hurt me mentally right now.
March might be a little too soon, but then again I might be giving myself excuses and not pushing it a little. I know that I do much better when I get out of my comfort zone.
Anyway, I still have another full week next week to think about it. Leave me a comment and tell me what you think.
Stay Strong!
Showing posts with label 30 day challenge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 30 day challenge. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Day 20 - Weight Loss Results
Starting Weight – 330
Day 10 Weight – 322
Current Weight – 319
Period Weight Loss – 3 Pounds
Overall Weight Loss – 11 Pounds
3 More pounds! I'm happy, though I had set the period goal at 4 pounds and didn't quite get there. One thing I forgot about, since I'm weighing in every 10 days instead of every week there will be some periods where I will go through 2 weekends between weigh-ins. I've said before that weekends are my toughest time, and I probably should have taken that into account this time. Regardless, I have lots of good things going on right now and there's still lots of opportunity as well.
What went well
My first highlight of the period has to be my performance on the Friday (1/18) right after my last weigh-in. On the day before (The day I posted my last results), Virginia had a pretty severe snowstorm. Well, not actually severe in my book (I lived in Maine for a while), but definitely enough to wreak havoc in the area. No kidding, I had literally just posted my 10 day results and was getting ready to go read some of the blogs I'm following when the power went out at my house. I live in a rural area and given the magnitude of the wet, heavy snow, I figured we might be getting ready to see an extended power outage.
By morning, my concerns appeared to be coming to reality as we still didn't have power and it was pretty cold in the house. I had to go to work so I took a shower in the dark with what was going to be the last of the hot water. It's funny, I didn't even think about healthy eating until after my shower when I suddenly realized that I couldn't cook my oatmeal and didn't dare open the refrigerator to get out some hard boiled eggs. Not only that, but I didn't have any snacks or a lunch to bring either.
Now folks, let me tell you that these types of events in my life are exactly what I use as an excuse to stop eating healthy. When I look back at my past failures, you can definitely see a pattern of me utilizing changes in my routine (vacation, special events, new job, etc) as a great excuse to stop living a healthy lifestyle. What has me so proud is that this time I recognized it and told myself that I was going to have to find a way to deal with it.
I stopped at the local Sheetz for breakfast. I was thrilled to discover they sold oatmeal at their deli; I got 1/2 cup of oatmeal with dried fruit, a small veggie breakfast wrap, and a cup of coffee. For lunch it was back to Sheetz for a roast beef wrap, an apple, and a banana (I never even realized they sold fresh fruit!). At dinner time I took the family to Red Robin and I had a plain burger with lettuce and tomato and a side salad instead of fries.
Fortunately, by the time we got home that evening the power had been restored! I didn't even try to estimate the calories, but I suspect that If I did go over my 2500 calorie limit, it wasn't by much. I might not have hit my calorie target and I certainly didn't get to spread my calories out over 4-6 meals, but this was a small battle that I won that could have had huge consequences if I had made different (poor) choices.
Although overshadowed by the power event, another aspect that went well for me was the beginning of establishing my morning routine. I know I said I was going to write it out and put it on my bathroom mirror, but I didn't. However I did see progress and I believe that by the end of the first 30 days I will be well on my way to following my morning routine every single day. In fact, I actually got up this morning (on a Sunday) at my normal work week time and followed my morning routine.
Areas to Improve
As I said above, there is still plenty of room for improvement. For starters, my water intake slipped a little. I missed my water target 5 of the last 10 days, but what was more troubling to me was that I missed it for 3 consecutive days during the week. I know my body and I know that the weight does not come off that well if I don't get my water in each day. I actually believe I would've lost another pound and hit my target for the period if I had done better with my water consumption.
The other area that needs improvement is exercise. Daily exercise is not a full blown habit for me just yet. To be honest, I believe I only exercised on 4 of the 10 days this period. As I lose more and more weight, it will get much harder to keep moving forward if don't establish daily exercise as a habit. However, I am far from beating myself up over this. 50 days ago I quit smoking! 20 days ago I started eating healthy! I know I can't be perfect and change everything at once and I already have a lot of change going on right now. At the moment my philosophy is this: Any exercise I do each day is better than what I used to do. Some day soon I will need to work on this, but that day is not today.
Moving Forward
Like last time, I don't see the need to make any changes to my plan just yet, but their may be some small tweaks on the horizon (after my first 30 days). I did hit my target for sticking to plan; I stuck to all the individual elements of my plan 76% of the time. This was a little less than last period, and was mainly due to exercise (40%) and water (50%).
I'm setting this period goal at 4 pounds again. I'm actually excited to get through these next 10 days; if I can lose the 4 pounds I will have lost 15 pound in my first 30 days. Not too shabby, in fact I only managed to lose 17 pounds during a 30 day weight loss challenge and I was starving myself and miserable the whole time. This time I'm much happier and so far (knock on wood) the change hasn't been too difficult. Good luck to everyone out there!
Thursday, January 10, 2013
What Went Wrong?
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" - George Santayana
OK, so I have no intention of dwelling on the past, what’s done is done and I can’t go back. However, there is something to be said about understanding what went wrong and then learning from it. That is the point of this post; to evaluate my most recent failure and determine what adjustments I can make to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
Failure #1 – Un-sustainable Path
Have you ever been in a triathlon? If you are reading my blog regularly, then probably not :) but I’m sure you’ll still follow the analogy. Triathlons are one of the most grueling endurance races out there. Many entrants never even finish; occasionally you will see highlights of people who literally just collapse… their bodies are done and they can’t move one more step forward. These people failed because they were on an unsustainable path, the pace they set for themselves was too much for their body to handle.
When I look back at my past posts, I see that I started at 297 in November 2009 and ended up at 270 by the end of March 2010. 27 Pounds in in 5 months doesn’t seem unsustainable, but if you look closer, I was at 288 at the start of March 2010. I lost 9 pounds in the first 4 months and then 18 in the last month.
When I did the 30 day challenge, my diet and exercise regimen became unsustainable. It became more important for me to win than it did to be healthy. By the time I was done with that challenge I was completely burned out emotionally. What you don’t see in the blog is that Big D. and I started a second challenge in April. We didn’t even finish because we were so burned out; we just both agreed to stop about 2 weeks in.
Failure #2 – Loss of Accountability
Why did I start blogging in the first place? I started blogging for several reasons, but one of them was to add some more accountability. I truly know quite a bit about losing weight (just not keeping it off), but you can’t write about weight loss if you’re not losing weight. Somewhere along the line I convinced myself (in the midst of being burned out from the 30 Day Challenge) that I was spending too much time blogging and not enough time focusing on losing weight. What a crock! Once I stopped writing it became easier and easier to cheat. In fact, after about a month, I stopped weighing in altogether. Not only did I lose the accountability from the blog, but then I started losing accountability to my family and friends, and eventually to myself.
Failure #3 – Failure to Stop the Backslide
If the unsustainable path was the first domino in my failure, then failing to stop the backslide was the last. The road to weight loss is never a straight line. Think about how many times you’ve said to yourself “If I can lose 2 pounds every week for a year I will have lost over 100 pounds!” Ever know anyone to do it that way? Plenty of people have lost 100 pounds in a year, but I can guarantee you no one did it by losing exactly 2 pounds per week. Weight loss has its ups and downs.
After I was burned out and after I stopped blogging, there was a time when I could see myself backsliding into the bad habits. Instead of choosing to get back on the wagon, I used my small failure as an excuse to keep on failing. Have you ever said to yourself “well I already cheated today and blew the entire week (on Tuesday), I might as well enjoy it and start fresh next week.”? That’s what I did, but weeks actually turned into months and eventually 2 years had passed.
Failure #4 – Forgetting Your Priorities
I ‘ve mentioned it a few times before, but my heaviest weight ever was 349. When I hit 349 it was still just me and Mrs. FogDog; the little tikes hadn’t shown up yet. At that time I vowed that I would make my health a high priority in my life. Then all this other stuff starts to happen to you; kids, career changes, moving, etc. Just a few months after I stopped blogging, I actually received a big promotion. It was a completely different kind of job than I had in the past and it involved managing others. I’ve been successful my entire career because when I get into something, I tend to bulldog it until I do it near perfectly. This job was no exception and the next thing you know I was working 60+ hour weeks and pretty much ignoring everything else around me except for my new job. That lasted for just about a year. With all this going on, I still had other commitments as well, so my health became the casualty. The results show, not only did my weight take off, but now I’m on blood pressure medication from all the stress at work.
Learning From Your Mistakes
As I said, I’m not going to dwell on the past, but I do intend to learn from it:
1. No more challenges, contests, or visions or “Biggest Loser” type weight loss numbers. Just stick to a sustainable plan that I can live with
2. Keep Blogging (Even if no one is reading) and keep holding myself accountable
3. Prepare for failure! Eventually I will have a backslide so I need to be prepared now. Once it happens, accept it, get back on track, and move on.
4. Don’t forget your priorities. Every morning when I take that BP pill I remind myself why my heath needs stay near the top of my priorities.
OK, so I have no intention of dwelling on the past, what’s done is done and I can’t go back. However, there is something to be said about understanding what went wrong and then learning from it. That is the point of this post; to evaluate my most recent failure and determine what adjustments I can make to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
Failure #1 – Un-sustainable Path
Have you ever been in a triathlon? If you are reading my blog regularly, then probably not :) but I’m sure you’ll still follow the analogy. Triathlons are one of the most grueling endurance races out there. Many entrants never even finish; occasionally you will see highlights of people who literally just collapse… their bodies are done and they can’t move one more step forward. These people failed because they were on an unsustainable path, the pace they set for themselves was too much for their body to handle.
When I look back at my past posts, I see that I started at 297 in November 2009 and ended up at 270 by the end of March 2010. 27 Pounds in in 5 months doesn’t seem unsustainable, but if you look closer, I was at 288 at the start of March 2010. I lost 9 pounds in the first 4 months and then 18 in the last month.
When I did the 30 day challenge, my diet and exercise regimen became unsustainable. It became more important for me to win than it did to be healthy. By the time I was done with that challenge I was completely burned out emotionally. What you don’t see in the blog is that Big D. and I started a second challenge in April. We didn’t even finish because we were so burned out; we just both agreed to stop about 2 weeks in.
Failure #2 – Loss of Accountability
Why did I start blogging in the first place? I started blogging for several reasons, but one of them was to add some more accountability. I truly know quite a bit about losing weight (just not keeping it off), but you can’t write about weight loss if you’re not losing weight. Somewhere along the line I convinced myself (in the midst of being burned out from the 30 Day Challenge) that I was spending too much time blogging and not enough time focusing on losing weight. What a crock! Once I stopped writing it became easier and easier to cheat. In fact, after about a month, I stopped weighing in altogether. Not only did I lose the accountability from the blog, but then I started losing accountability to my family and friends, and eventually to myself.
Failure #3 – Failure to Stop the Backslide
If the unsustainable path was the first domino in my failure, then failing to stop the backslide was the last. The road to weight loss is never a straight line. Think about how many times you’ve said to yourself “If I can lose 2 pounds every week for a year I will have lost over 100 pounds!” Ever know anyone to do it that way? Plenty of people have lost 100 pounds in a year, but I can guarantee you no one did it by losing exactly 2 pounds per week. Weight loss has its ups and downs.
After I was burned out and after I stopped blogging, there was a time when I could see myself backsliding into the bad habits. Instead of choosing to get back on the wagon, I used my small failure as an excuse to keep on failing. Have you ever said to yourself “well I already cheated today and blew the entire week (on Tuesday), I might as well enjoy it and start fresh next week.”? That’s what I did, but weeks actually turned into months and eventually 2 years had passed.
Failure #4 – Forgetting Your Priorities
I ‘ve mentioned it a few times before, but my heaviest weight ever was 349. When I hit 349 it was still just me and Mrs. FogDog; the little tikes hadn’t shown up yet. At that time I vowed that I would make my health a high priority in my life. Then all this other stuff starts to happen to you; kids, career changes, moving, etc. Just a few months after I stopped blogging, I actually received a big promotion. It was a completely different kind of job than I had in the past and it involved managing others. I’ve been successful my entire career because when I get into something, I tend to bulldog it until I do it near perfectly. This job was no exception and the next thing you know I was working 60+ hour weeks and pretty much ignoring everything else around me except for my new job. That lasted for just about a year. With all this going on, I still had other commitments as well, so my health became the casualty. The results show, not only did my weight take off, but now I’m on blood pressure medication from all the stress at work.
Learning From Your Mistakes
As I said, I’m not going to dwell on the past, but I do intend to learn from it:
1. No more challenges, contests, or visions or “Biggest Loser” type weight loss numbers. Just stick to a sustainable plan that I can live with
2. Keep Blogging (Even if no one is reading) and keep holding myself accountable
3. Prepare for failure! Eventually I will have a backslide so I need to be prepared now. Once it happens, accept it, get back on track, and move on.
4. Don’t forget your priorities. Every morning when I take that BP pill I remind myself why my heath needs stay near the top of my priorities.
Friday, March 26, 2010
30 Day Challenge - And the winner is...
First, a review of the rules: The purpose of the 30 day challenge was to see who could lose more weight in a month; me or my good friend known as Big D. The idea was to create a challenge that was tough, motivating, and also allowed both players to be in control of their own destiny. The result was setting a goal of 15 pounds. If both players lost at least 15 pounds, then whoever lost more received $1 (for bragging rights). If however the goal was not met, then the loser paid $20 for every pound short of 15! The stakes were high but as long as you lost 15 pounds, the most money you could lose was a buck. Both me and Big D. had advantages and disadvantages which made it an interesting bet. Could my family support and stable schedule beat out Big D's youth and his advantage of not already being on a diet (everyone knows when you start a diet you get great 1st week numbers)? The answer was discovered at 7:00AM this morning...
My performance over the month was very good. My wife helped me to remain accountable for ALL my calories and I learned that in the past I have grossly underestimated what I was taking in. For the duration I held my calories constantly at 2000-2100. I did go out to eat twice during the challenge but on both occasions I behaved reasonably well. As far as exercise went, I did start to slack off a little in the end. In week 3 I missed a few workouts, but only in the name of doing other activities that required exertion. In the last week I caught a nasty chest cold and didn't workout one bit. I should probably cut myself some slack because it was a really bad cold, but I do think I should've found a way to get some exercise in. The lack of exercise in the last week really had me nervous, but there were some signs of doing well such as people noticing I looked thinner and being able to adjust my belt in one notch.
Big D's performance was also very good. He avoided fast food completely and also only ate out a couple times during the event despite making 2 trips to visit his girlfriend in NY. He ate several small meals each day, got plenty of protein, drank lots of water, and avoided salt as much as possible (I did actually give him some advice before we started and was happy to see he listened). For exercise he walked his dog every day and went to the gym as much as possible to workout on a bike (he even went to some spin classes with his girlfriend when he was out of town). At the start of the challenge he was walking 3 miles each day and by the end he was up to 6! I was actually amazed at how much Big D. changed his ways during the challenge.
When Big D. arrived at my house this morning we both talked about how we thought we might come out. I thought maybe I hit about 10 pounds. I had been sick all week and felt extremely bloated like I might be retaining a bunch of water. Big D. thought he might hit about 12 pounds but said there was no way in the world that he hit 15. Then he accused me of trying to mess with his head and he mentioned that several people at work had noticed I lost weight. I did truly think that I only lost 10 pounds (12 max). We flipped a coin and I lost so he made me get on the Wii scale first...
FogDog Starting Weight - 288.1
FogDog Final Weight - 270.9
FogDog Total Loss on the 30 Day Challenge - 17.2 Pounds
You could have knocked me over with a feather! Of course now Big D. was convinced that I had been messing with him (truly I was not), but he congratulated me on hitting such a high number.
Next was his turn; after posting such a big number, clearly you could see he was really worried that he was going to lose...
Big D. Starting Weight - 256.4
Big D. Final Weight - 235.0
Big D. Total Loss on the 30 Day Challenge - 21.4 Pounds
The winner by 4.2 Pounds ... BIG D.!
To be honest, I was thrilled to see how well he had done, and was happy to give up the dollar. I had told him a few days before that he deserved to win. Don't get me wrong, I worked hard to lose my weight, but I was already on that path; I simply amped up my efforts. Big D. made a total transformation and to me that was quite impressive! More importantly, I think Big D. recognizes what he needs to do to keep the weight off and that's a victory in itself.
Although I lost the bet, I still have plenty of things to celebrate and I am thrilled with the results. This weigh-in brought me a bunch of victories all at once:
To my other friend DJ (whom I have a longer term bet with) I'll say this:
I might be way ahead of you now, but don't give up! All it takes is a spark to get it going again and I know you can do it. If you need a little incentive, just start thinking about how much money you are going to owe me if you stay where you are at. I'm going on vacation in Maine in July and if I can keep it going, I might just be stopping by your house to collect!
To all the rest of you out there, I hope this story inspires you to keep on going. It may be hard and it may be slow, but the small victories are what keep us going. Just keep chipping away at it and don't let the setbacks rule your journey. If you don't give up, you too will get to feel what it's like to hit your halfway point. Trust me on this, after hitting that mark, my resolve to see it through to the end has never been stronger!
Now I'm off for a vacation so I probably won't be back in the blog world until next weekend. My goal is to not gain any weight while I'm gone and I will be resuming my normal weekly weigh-ins (and catching up with everyone else's blogs) starting next week. Good luck and stay Strong!
My performance over the month was very good. My wife helped me to remain accountable for ALL my calories and I learned that in the past I have grossly underestimated what I was taking in. For the duration I held my calories constantly at 2000-2100. I did go out to eat twice during the challenge but on both occasions I behaved reasonably well. As far as exercise went, I did start to slack off a little in the end. In week 3 I missed a few workouts, but only in the name of doing other activities that required exertion. In the last week I caught a nasty chest cold and didn't workout one bit. I should probably cut myself some slack because it was a really bad cold, but I do think I should've found a way to get some exercise in. The lack of exercise in the last week really had me nervous, but there were some signs of doing well such as people noticing I looked thinner and being able to adjust my belt in one notch.
Big D's performance was also very good. He avoided fast food completely and also only ate out a couple times during the event despite making 2 trips to visit his girlfriend in NY. He ate several small meals each day, got plenty of protein, drank lots of water, and avoided salt as much as possible (I did actually give him some advice before we started and was happy to see he listened). For exercise he walked his dog every day and went to the gym as much as possible to workout on a bike (he even went to some spin classes with his girlfriend when he was out of town). At the start of the challenge he was walking 3 miles each day and by the end he was up to 6! I was actually amazed at how much Big D. changed his ways during the challenge.
When Big D. arrived at my house this morning we both talked about how we thought we might come out. I thought maybe I hit about 10 pounds. I had been sick all week and felt extremely bloated like I might be retaining a bunch of water. Big D. thought he might hit about 12 pounds but said there was no way in the world that he hit 15. Then he accused me of trying to mess with his head and he mentioned that several people at work had noticed I lost weight. I did truly think that I only lost 10 pounds (12 max). We flipped a coin and I lost so he made me get on the Wii scale first...
FogDog Starting Weight - 288.1
FogDog Final Weight - 270.9
FogDog Total Loss on the 30 Day Challenge - 17.2 Pounds
You could have knocked me over with a feather! Of course now Big D. was convinced that I had been messing with him (truly I was not), but he congratulated me on hitting such a high number.
Next was his turn; after posting such a big number, clearly you could see he was really worried that he was going to lose...
Big D. Starting Weight - 256.4
Big D. Final Weight - 235.0
Big D. Total Loss on the 30 Day Challenge - 21.4 Pounds
The winner by 4.2 Pounds ... BIG D.!
To be honest, I was thrilled to see how well he had done, and was happy to give up the dollar. I had told him a few days before that he deserved to win. Don't get me wrong, I worked hard to lose my weight, but I was already on that path; I simply amped up my efforts. Big D. made a total transformation and to me that was quite impressive! More importantly, I think Big D. recognizes what he needs to do to keep the weight off and that's a victory in itself.
- I met the 30-day challenge goal
- I hit my mid term goal of 275 and now get my reward (bring on the mountain bike!)
- I helped to inspire a friend to make some healthy changes
- I have now reached a weight that I have not seen since before my freshman year in college
- Finally (and this is the biggest one for me) I have now crossed over the half way point in my journey to 199! I started at 349 a couple years ago so 275 was a big number for me. I cannot, and will not be stopped!
To my other friend DJ (whom I have a longer term bet with) I'll say this:
I might be way ahead of you now, but don't give up! All it takes is a spark to get it going again and I know you can do it. If you need a little incentive, just start thinking about how much money you are going to owe me if you stay where you are at. I'm going on vacation in Maine in July and if I can keep it going, I might just be stopping by your house to collect!
To all the rest of you out there, I hope this story inspires you to keep on going. It may be hard and it may be slow, but the small victories are what keep us going. Just keep chipping away at it and don't let the setbacks rule your journey. If you don't give up, you too will get to feel what it's like to hit your halfway point. Trust me on this, after hitting that mark, my resolve to see it through to the end has never been stronger!
Now I'm off for a vacation so I probably won't be back in the blog world until next weekend. My goal is to not gain any weight while I'm gone and I will be resuming my normal weekly weigh-ins (and catching up with everyone else's blogs) starting next week. Good luck and stay Strong!
Friday, March 19, 2010
30 Day Challenge Week 3 : Fringe Blogger
In case you haven't noticed, I've started to become what I call a fringe blogger. There just aren't enough hours in the day to do all the things I want and need to do, so something has to scale back. I do truly enjoy blogging and I hope my articles inspire others, but for now I've decided to scale back a little. Where I used to write 3-4 articles each week, for now I'll be trying to get out 1 or 2. This would bother me if not for the fact that I'm backing off on the blogging mostly because my physical activity has really taken off! This 30 day challenge was a great tool for me, I really feel great these days. That has translated into a lot more activity around the house and that is just helping me all the more!
However, even though I'm scaling back on the writing, you can be assured that I'm still reading the blogs I'm following. I haven't been commenting lately because I'm having issues with my work PC, but I try to keep up with everyone's blogs during my lunch hour.
On the weight loss front, I would like to mention that yesterday I had to adjust my belt up a notch! My wife says that my weight loss is noticeable and I'm dying to find out how much I've lost. One more week to go on the 30 day challenge; we weigh in on Friday morning.
I mentioned before I started the challenge that I was dropping from 2500 calories per day to 2000. Since then I've discovered that I am quite satisfied at that level (assuming I post a big loss next week). I really haven't felt like I was starving and I really haven't noticed a big difference in how much less I'm eating. In the second week I tried dropping down to 1800 calories for a couple days. I ended up feeling run down and generally miserable by the 3rd day, so I quickly went back to 2000. Figuring out how much you should eat is a process and is as unique for each person as a fingerprint. To all of you out there who are still struggling to find your "zone" I would stress "just be patient and listen to your body".
As far as my exercise routine goes, week 3 has been a little slack. I've missed a couple workouts, but I don't feel all too bad because the misses were in favor of doing other active things. Granted 30 minutes on the elliptical is probably more rigorous than a round of golf but I need to enjoy the exercise I'm getting too.
Eating in week 3 has been exceptional! I've stayed in between 2000 and 2100 calories all week long. I also had a couple small victories that made me proud and had my wife believing that I truly have changed my ways. First, she bought a dozen cookies for the kids early in the week. I considered having one a couple times in the evenings, but at 190 calories each I just couldn't do it. I'm happy to say that the kids ate the last of them last night and I never did have one. The second victory came on Wednesday; we got a free lunch at work for hitting our monthly targets last month. We each got a sub, chips, and a big cookie and there was soda to drink. I'm happy to report that I ate my 6" sub and chips, had water instead of soda, and brought my cookie home for the kids. The total for lunch was only 585 calories (the cookie itself would have been another 480). All afternoon that cookie was begging me to eat it, but I refused and it felt great to be able to bring it home instead.
So now I'm into the last week of the 30 day challenge. During this last week I plan on exercising as much as possible. I'm playing golf on Saturday and the weather is supposed to be nice all weekend so I'm planning on making the most of it and getting a lot of outdoor activities in. I might not hit the 15 pound goal, but I'm sure going to give it the college try. Stay Strong!
However, even though I'm scaling back on the writing, you can be assured that I'm still reading the blogs I'm following. I haven't been commenting lately because I'm having issues with my work PC, but I try to keep up with everyone's blogs during my lunch hour.
On the weight loss front, I would like to mention that yesterday I had to adjust my belt up a notch! My wife says that my weight loss is noticeable and I'm dying to find out how much I've lost. One more week to go on the 30 day challenge; we weigh in on Friday morning.
I mentioned before I started the challenge that I was dropping from 2500 calories per day to 2000. Since then I've discovered that I am quite satisfied at that level (assuming I post a big loss next week). I really haven't felt like I was starving and I really haven't noticed a big difference in how much less I'm eating. In the second week I tried dropping down to 1800 calories for a couple days. I ended up feeling run down and generally miserable by the 3rd day, so I quickly went back to 2000. Figuring out how much you should eat is a process and is as unique for each person as a fingerprint. To all of you out there who are still struggling to find your "zone" I would stress "just be patient and listen to your body".
As far as my exercise routine goes, week 3 has been a little slack. I've missed a couple workouts, but I don't feel all too bad because the misses were in favor of doing other active things. Granted 30 minutes on the elliptical is probably more rigorous than a round of golf but I need to enjoy the exercise I'm getting too.
Eating in week 3 has been exceptional! I've stayed in between 2000 and 2100 calories all week long. I also had a couple small victories that made me proud and had my wife believing that I truly have changed my ways. First, she bought a dozen cookies for the kids early in the week. I considered having one a couple times in the evenings, but at 190 calories each I just couldn't do it. I'm happy to say that the kids ate the last of them last night and I never did have one. The second victory came on Wednesday; we got a free lunch at work for hitting our monthly targets last month. We each got a sub, chips, and a big cookie and there was soda to drink. I'm happy to report that I ate my 6" sub and chips, had water instead of soda, and brought my cookie home for the kids. The total for lunch was only 585 calories (the cookie itself would have been another 480). All afternoon that cookie was begging me to eat it, but I refused and it felt great to be able to bring it home instead.
So now I'm into the last week of the 30 day challenge. During this last week I plan on exercising as much as possible. I'm playing golf on Saturday and the weather is supposed to be nice all weekend so I'm planning on making the most of it and getting a lot of outdoor activities in. I might not hit the 15 pound goal, but I'm sure going to give it the college try. Stay Strong!
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
30 Day Challenge: Week 2
I can't believe it's been almost a week since I posted on my blog! Sorry folks, I've just been real busy these days. The good news is that I've been real busy staying active which should pay some real dividends at the end of the 30 day challenge.
Week 2 was a great week for me. I can almost feel the weight falling off as I have stuck to my diet and have increased my exercise considerably. My wife has been making some great meals and we have avoided dining out altogether. That is until this last Saturday when we decided to go out for Chinese buffet. I am happy to report that my trip to the Chinese restaurant was mostly successful. I did eat 2 full plates of food, but 1 of them was nothing but sushi and peel-n-eat shrimp. The second plate had a lot of my favorites, but absolutely no fried foods like chicken fingers or egg rolls. Desert was a bowl of assorted fruit. I might have eaten more than I should but it wasn't bad for a cheat meal and I could've done a lot worse.
As far as exercise goes, I've really made an effort to increase my activity level. I completed all of my 1 hour workouts during the week, and in addition I walked 3 miles on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. On Friday I painted my living room ceiling, on Saturday I walked another 6 miles, and then on Sunday I helped Big D. run electrical in his basement. By far this is the most activity I've had in a while!
Big D. is also doing pretty good. All of those extra walks I did were with him and it's a challenge just to keep up with him. He's now up to walking almost 4 miles a day with his dog, and he's still eating healthy. Hid big test will come this Friday when he travels up to New York for the weekend. If he can eat healthy on the road, then he's got a legitimate shot at hitting the 15 pound mark. Time will tell!
So now we are into week 3. Unfortunately I've missed my last 2 workouts; I missed Sunday because I was helping Big D. and then I missed yesterday's because I had to go to a soccer meeting (I'm coaching soccer this season). Although I've missed a couple workouts, I'm still eating really well. Tonight I get back on the wagon and I'll get a good workout in.
I also have to say that I'm dying to get on the scale and see where I'm at. My guess is that I've probably lost around 7-9 pounds so far, but that's really just a guess. You never know how the scale will treat you until you actually get on. Only 10 days to go before the big weigh-in, so I guess I can hold out until then. Stay Strong!
Week 2 was a great week for me. I can almost feel the weight falling off as I have stuck to my diet and have increased my exercise considerably. My wife has been making some great meals and we have avoided dining out altogether. That is until this last Saturday when we decided to go out for Chinese buffet. I am happy to report that my trip to the Chinese restaurant was mostly successful. I did eat 2 full plates of food, but 1 of them was nothing but sushi and peel-n-eat shrimp. The second plate had a lot of my favorites, but absolutely no fried foods like chicken fingers or egg rolls. Desert was a bowl of assorted fruit. I might have eaten more than I should but it wasn't bad for a cheat meal and I could've done a lot worse.
As far as exercise goes, I've really made an effort to increase my activity level. I completed all of my 1 hour workouts during the week, and in addition I walked 3 miles on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. On Friday I painted my living room ceiling, on Saturday I walked another 6 miles, and then on Sunday I helped Big D. run electrical in his basement. By far this is the most activity I've had in a while!
Big D. is also doing pretty good. All of those extra walks I did were with him and it's a challenge just to keep up with him. He's now up to walking almost 4 miles a day with his dog, and he's still eating healthy. Hid big test will come this Friday when he travels up to New York for the weekend. If he can eat healthy on the road, then he's got a legitimate shot at hitting the 15 pound mark. Time will tell!
So now we are into week 3. Unfortunately I've missed my last 2 workouts; I missed Sunday because I was helping Big D. and then I missed yesterday's because I had to go to a soccer meeting (I'm coaching soccer this season). Although I've missed a couple workouts, I'm still eating really well. Tonight I get back on the wagon and I'll get a good workout in.
I also have to say that I'm dying to get on the scale and see where I'm at. My guess is that I've probably lost around 7-9 pounds so far, but that's really just a guess. You never know how the scale will treat you until you actually get on. Only 10 days to go before the big weigh-in, so I guess I can hold out until then. Stay Strong!
Sunday, March 7, 2010
30 Day Challenge: Week 1
It felt strange not to weigh in on Saturday, but part of our rules on the 30 day challenge include only weighing in at the beginning and the end. All in all I have to say it was a pretty decent week. For those of you who follow regularly, you know the start of my week was pretty tough. I did manage to fight through the issues and I can say that although I felt terrible, I didn't waver on my diet and exercise.
Last Saturday I started a new workout program just for this challenge. The timing was perfect as I had just finished 6 weeks of my last workout program and was looking to change things up a bit. I'm now doing 1 hour of exercise each day for 6 days followed by a 1 day break. I started on Saturday so my day off is on Fridays. I've always been a fan of having my day off on the weekend, but I have to admit it's easier to get those weekend workouts in.
My workout now consists of both strength training and cardio work every day. I start with 30 minutes of strength training and then I do 2.5 miles on the elliptical. For the strength training I have 3 different workouts; one for upper body, mid body, and lower body. I rotate through these workouts so as to give my muscles 2 days of rest before working them again. So far the workout has been going well.
As far as eating goes, I've been tracking my calorie intake and trying to hold at 2000 calories. My wife has been helping out and has been keeping me accountable for what I really eat. I'm amazed at how I underestimate everything, but she's been making me measure it. I bet when I'm estimating I probably eat 200-300 more calories than I realize.
When this weekend hit, I was over my depression and it was perfect timing as the weather has been great. I can actually see grass now and I took full advantage of it taking the kids to the park to let them ride bikes. I probably walked an additional 2 miles on top of my normal workout.
As far as Big D. goes, he also did very well this week and he says that he's feeling great. He was off work in the beginning of the week and decided to go the NY, but his girlfriend was very supportive and helped him to eat healthy, fresh foods. Now he's back to work but on day shift so it's not too stressful on his system. We are actually going to walk our dogs on a 3 mile loop later tonight.
I do have one sad (well not really) piece of news to report. Over the weekend I had to retire my last 3XLT business shirt. I've actually been in 2XL shirts for a little while now, but this was my favorite shirt and I've been hanging onto it for way too long. You may have noticed that I said I went to 2XL from 3XLT. I used to buy shirts for tall people so the extra length could make up for the circumference of my belly. When I hit 2X, I didn't need that extra length (go figure). Anyway, when I came home from work my wife commented that my favorite was starting to look like I was hiding under a tent. I've always wore loose fitting clothing, but this was beyond the normal fat person trick. I think when you can stuff a basketball under your shirt and it's still loose, you probably need to retire it. So goodbye favorite shirt... Here's to finding another one in the 1X size (I don't plan on being in 2X long enough to find a favorite).
Anyway I'm feeling better, doing the right things, and looking forward to winning this challenge. This week I'm going to try to get a post out with some suggestions for easy and healthy snacks and I am hoping to continue discussing ways to lose weight without starving yourself. The next discussion will probably be about ways to help boost your metabolism. Good luck to everyone out there. Stay Strong!
Last Saturday I started a new workout program just for this challenge. The timing was perfect as I had just finished 6 weeks of my last workout program and was looking to change things up a bit. I'm now doing 1 hour of exercise each day for 6 days followed by a 1 day break. I started on Saturday so my day off is on Fridays. I've always been a fan of having my day off on the weekend, but I have to admit it's easier to get those weekend workouts in.
My workout now consists of both strength training and cardio work every day. I start with 30 minutes of strength training and then I do 2.5 miles on the elliptical. For the strength training I have 3 different workouts; one for upper body, mid body, and lower body. I rotate through these workouts so as to give my muscles 2 days of rest before working them again. So far the workout has been going well.
As far as eating goes, I've been tracking my calorie intake and trying to hold at 2000 calories. My wife has been helping out and has been keeping me accountable for what I really eat. I'm amazed at how I underestimate everything, but she's been making me measure it. I bet when I'm estimating I probably eat 200-300 more calories than I realize.
When this weekend hit, I was over my depression and it was perfect timing as the weather has been great. I can actually see grass now and I took full advantage of it taking the kids to the park to let them ride bikes. I probably walked an additional 2 miles on top of my normal workout.
As far as Big D. goes, he also did very well this week and he says that he's feeling great. He was off work in the beginning of the week and decided to go the NY, but his girlfriend was very supportive and helped him to eat healthy, fresh foods. Now he's back to work but on day shift so it's not too stressful on his system. We are actually going to walk our dogs on a 3 mile loop later tonight.
I do have one sad (well not really) piece of news to report. Over the weekend I had to retire my last 3XLT business shirt. I've actually been in 2XL shirts for a little while now, but this was my favorite shirt and I've been hanging onto it for way too long. You may have noticed that I said I went to 2XL from 3XLT. I used to buy shirts for tall people so the extra length could make up for the circumference of my belly. When I hit 2X, I didn't need that extra length (go figure). Anyway, when I came home from work my wife commented that my favorite was starting to look like I was hiding under a tent. I've always wore loose fitting clothing, but this was beyond the normal fat person trick. I think when you can stuff a basketball under your shirt and it's still loose, you probably need to retire it. So goodbye favorite shirt... Here's to finding another one in the 1X size (I don't plan on being in 2X long enough to find a favorite).
Anyway I'm feeling better, doing the right things, and looking forward to winning this challenge. This week I'm going to try to get a post out with some suggestions for easy and healthy snacks and I am hoping to continue discussing ways to lose weight without starving yourself. The next discussion will probably be about ways to help boost your metabolism. Good luck to everyone out there. Stay Strong!
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Don't Give Up!
I've been struggling... I've been struggling a lot lately! The last few weeks have been really rough for me. Not just the diet and exercise, but really my whole life in general. I just can't seem to get into the right mindset and because of that I've been really depressed. I'm not surprised, this is the toughest time of the year for me. The end of winter always seems to bring out the worst in me. I actually moved from upstate New York to Virginia to escape the late winter, but this year mother nature is not cooperating. By now I'm usually dusting off the golf clubs and planning my next yard project, but with a barren wasteland of snow still sitting in my backyard, I've got to wait a little longer this year.
Right now I'm just trying to hang on for a little longer, but this week has been especially rough. My wife is in the same boat. Our house is a mess and every single one of our kids has an illness. My oldest has Strep Throat, my middle one has a bad cold, and my youngest is still recovering from being in the hospital for Lyme disease. The parade of doctor visits, the lousy weather, and the fact that I'm in a funk has caused her to feel just about as good as I do.
To make matters worse, I'm in this 30 day challenge which is just adding more stress to my already busy life. Now don't get me wrong, I'm still doing what I need to to lose the weight, I just don't feel good about it. I thought this challenge would help me out of my funk, but it's only made it worse.
Yesterday morning I woke up and thought "why even bother to get out of bed". I seriously considered calling in sick and spending the day laying in bed except to occasionally get up and smoke and feed my face. Had I not had an important meeting, I probably would have done it, but instead I rolled out of bed and tried to get my day started.
Every one of by backslides has started in this same fashion. The only difference is that this time I feel worse. As I stood there staring into the bathroom mirror, I couldn't help but think this was the beginning of a major backslide for me. I had it all played out in my head:
First I would lose the 30 day challenge handily causing me to fork over some serious cash. That setback would cause me to give up on my diet and go on a weeklong eating binge (I'm going on vacation the week after the challenge is over). After coming back and discovering a major weight gain, I would climb into a hole and stop doing all the things I like to do. This would probably include giving up blogging because who wants to read a blog about weight loss when the author is gaining weight. By summertime I would be back up to 300 pounds and wondering "How the hell did I end up back here?"
I must have stared into that mirror for about 5 minutes, when I finally said out loud "NO!". No I will not backslide! No I will not accept this as my destiny! No I will not lose the 30 day challenge! No I will not let this weather beat me down! NO I WILL NOT GIVE UP!
I went into the living room and got a piece of tape. I grabbed a scrap of paper and a black felt tip pen and I scribed 3 words on it. I took the paper and the tape and I attached the paper in the upper right corner of my mirror. The 3 words were:
Right now I'm just trying to hang on for a little longer, but this week has been especially rough. My wife is in the same boat. Our house is a mess and every single one of our kids has an illness. My oldest has Strep Throat, my middle one has a bad cold, and my youngest is still recovering from being in the hospital for Lyme disease. The parade of doctor visits, the lousy weather, and the fact that I'm in a funk has caused her to feel just about as good as I do.
To make matters worse, I'm in this 30 day challenge which is just adding more stress to my already busy life. Now don't get me wrong, I'm still doing what I need to to lose the weight, I just don't feel good about it. I thought this challenge would help me out of my funk, but it's only made it worse.
Yesterday morning I woke up and thought "why even bother to get out of bed". I seriously considered calling in sick and spending the day laying in bed except to occasionally get up and smoke and feed my face. Had I not had an important meeting, I probably would have done it, but instead I rolled out of bed and tried to get my day started.
Every one of by backslides has started in this same fashion. The only difference is that this time I feel worse. As I stood there staring into the bathroom mirror, I couldn't help but think this was the beginning of a major backslide for me. I had it all played out in my head:
First I would lose the 30 day challenge handily causing me to fork over some serious cash. That setback would cause me to give up on my diet and go on a weeklong eating binge (I'm going on vacation the week after the challenge is over). After coming back and discovering a major weight gain, I would climb into a hole and stop doing all the things I like to do. This would probably include giving up blogging because who wants to read a blog about weight loss when the author is gaining weight. By summertime I would be back up to 300 pounds and wondering "How the hell did I end up back here?"
I must have stared into that mirror for about 5 minutes, when I finally said out loud "NO!". No I will not backslide! No I will not accept this as my destiny! No I will not lose the 30 day challenge! No I will not let this weather beat me down! NO I WILL NOT GIVE UP!
I went into the living room and got a piece of tape. I grabbed a scrap of paper and a black felt tip pen and I scribed 3 words on it. I took the paper and the tape and I attached the paper in the upper right corner of my mirror. The 3 words were:
Don't Give Up!
Now I'm not going to fill you with a happy ending about how it sparked some great feeling inside me that instantly made me feel better and caused all my problems to go away while simultaneously melting 10 pounds of fat from my body. But that little piece of paper did help me a little bit.
I wish I could tell you that everything is fine now, but the truth is I'm still hanging on. Since the paper, my mood has been slightly elevated. I've stuck to my diet and exercise and I've accomplished more at work in the last 2 days than I probably have in the last 2 weeks. My hope is that yesterday was my low point and that I've got better days ahead of me now. Even mother nature is helping out, I saw a chance of 60 degree weather this weekend.
I'm leaving the paper there for now until I can get out of this funk. It serves as a reminder of how on one day I stared at the option of just giving up and instead I chose to fight!
No matter how bad it is and no matter how badly you want to stop, the only advice I can offer at this time is DON'T GIVE UP!
Here's to better days ahead. Good luck and stay strong.
n
Sunday, February 28, 2010
30 Day Weight Loss Challenge
(Editor's Note - The original post had the goal set at 20 pounds in 30 days. Originally the challenge started at 15 pounds in 30 days, but due to male egos, some last minute discussions caused the ante to be upped to 20 pounds. Since then reality has set in and the original agreement of 15 pounds in 30 days has been re-instated)
Ok, I've talked about this in my last few posts and now it's time to share it. A good friend and I have entered into a 30-day weight loss challenge. The challenge is tough and the stakes are high. What makes this one interesting is that my friend and I have quite a few differences that give us advantages or disadvantages in the challenge. I'll go through some of them in a minute, but first let me lay out the details of the challenge.
The goal of the challenge is for both of us to lose 15 pounds in 30 days! To make it more challenging, it's not even 30 days. We weighed in Thursday evening and our final weigh-in is on the morning of March 26 so it's really 15 pounds in 28 days. I know it seems like a lot but we will both lose 5 pounds in water weight this first week (I've put on 7 pounds this week but most of that is just water retention). After that initial big loss, it will still be hard to get to 15, but certainly possible. Also because of schedule problems we had to weigh in on Thursday evening and our final weigh-in will be in the morning so you can expect another pound or 2 just from weighing in at a different time of day.
Now of course we are men and a challenge isn't a challenge if money doesn't change hands. If we both meet the goal and lose at least 15 pounds, then the only money to exchange hands is $1. Whoever loses the most gets it. However, if only 1 person meets the goal, the person who doesn't make it has to pay more. If someone doesn't make it they have to pay $20 for every pound short of the goal. This means someone has the potential to lose $300. I like this style of challenge because you are in control of your own destiny. Regardless of how well the other person does, as long as you do what you are supposed to do and reach the goal the most you'll be out is $1. If neither of us makes it, then it's still $20 per pound but it's based on the difference between our losses. So for instance if I lose 14 pounds and he loses 12, then he owes me $40.
So here's a little breakdown of the challengers:
FogDog Background - Most of you know my story, but I'll offer a brief background anyway. I'm married with 3 kids and have been overweight most of my life. At my peak I hit 349 pounds and several years ago I started focusing on improving my health. I've come a long way and I've learned a lot about losing weight, but have always seemed to struggle with the mental side of the weight loss equation. Most days I eat a very healthy diet, but I'm definitely not as active as I should be. My goal is to break the 200 pound barrier before I turn 40.
Big D. Background - Big D.'s story is in complete contrast to mine. Big D. is single and lives by himself. His girlfriend is in NY so he travels frequently to visit her. He's young and very active and has one of those metabolisms that I would kill for. Unlike me, Big D. has never been overweight, but the years of eating lots of junk food are starting to catch up to him and his metabolism is slowing. In addition, he had major knee surgery about 2 years ago which has slowed his active lifestyle a little bit and presents some challenges as he starts to workout regularly.
Metabolism - Advantage goes to Big D. He's younger and has a more active lifestyle. Currently he eats a ton of junk and still manages to not gain a lot of weight
Experience - Advantage goes to FogDog. I've been dieting my whole life and know a lot about what works for me and what doesn't. Big D. has really no experience with dieting. I have been coaching him a little to help him out a little, but he will need to find a plan that works for him.
Support - No advantage. I'm married and have the support of my family. Big D. is single and lives alone with his dog. The reason why I give no advantage here is that having my family to support me can be as much a disadvantage as it is an advantage. My wife can help make nutritious meals, but I also have to watch her when she decides to eat a piece of cake.
Lifestyle - Big advantage to FogDog. I lead a boring lifestyle; I work Monday-Friday and have a very repetitive daily routine. Big D. works 12 hour rotations, half on days and half on nights. From day to day his schedule changes plus he travels regularly to NY.
Determination - I'm going to give a slight advantage to Big D. I don't want to lose money, but honestly my head isn't into this as I would like at the moment. I'm hoping that as I get into it more, my determination will also increase but right now I'm struggling in my head.
Ok, I've talked about this in my last few posts and now it's time to share it. A good friend and I have entered into a 30-day weight loss challenge. The challenge is tough and the stakes are high. What makes this one interesting is that my friend and I have quite a few differences that give us advantages or disadvantages in the challenge. I'll go through some of them in a minute, but first let me lay out the details of the challenge.
The goal of the challenge is for both of us to lose 15 pounds in 30 days! To make it more challenging, it's not even 30 days. We weighed in Thursday evening and our final weigh-in is on the morning of March 26 so it's really 15 pounds in 28 days. I know it seems like a lot but we will both lose 5 pounds in water weight this first week (I've put on 7 pounds this week but most of that is just water retention). After that initial big loss, it will still be hard to get to 15, but certainly possible. Also because of schedule problems we had to weigh in on Thursday evening and our final weigh-in will be in the morning so you can expect another pound or 2 just from weighing in at a different time of day.
Now of course we are men and a challenge isn't a challenge if money doesn't change hands. If we both meet the goal and lose at least 15 pounds, then the only money to exchange hands is $1. Whoever loses the most gets it. However, if only 1 person meets the goal, the person who doesn't make it has to pay more. If someone doesn't make it they have to pay $20 for every pound short of the goal. This means someone has the potential to lose $300. I like this style of challenge because you are in control of your own destiny. Regardless of how well the other person does, as long as you do what you are supposed to do and reach the goal the most you'll be out is $1. If neither of us makes it, then it's still $20 per pound but it's based on the difference between our losses. So for instance if I lose 14 pounds and he loses 12, then he owes me $40.
So here's a little breakdown of the challengers:
Stats
| FogDog | Big D. | |
| Starting Weight | 288.1 | 256.4 |
| Height | 6' | 6'5" |
| Age | 37 | 28 |
| Goal Weight | 199 | 220 |
History
Big D. Background - Big D.'s story is in complete contrast to mine. Big D. is single and lives by himself. His girlfriend is in NY so he travels frequently to visit her. He's young and very active and has one of those metabolisms that I would kill for. Unlike me, Big D. has never been overweight, but the years of eating lots of junk food are starting to catch up to him and his metabolism is slowing. In addition, he had major knee surgery about 2 years ago which has slowed his active lifestyle a little bit and presents some challenges as he starts to workout regularly.
Advantages
Experience - Advantage goes to FogDog. I've been dieting my whole life and know a lot about what works for me and what doesn't. Big D. has really no experience with dieting. I have been coaching him a little to help him out a little, but he will need to find a plan that works for him.
Support - No advantage. I'm married and have the support of my family. Big D. is single and lives alone with his dog. The reason why I give no advantage here is that having my family to support me can be as much a disadvantage as it is an advantage. My wife can help make nutritious meals, but I also have to watch her when she decides to eat a piece of cake.
Lifestyle - Big advantage to FogDog. I lead a boring lifestyle; I work Monday-Friday and have a very repetitive daily routine. Big D. works 12 hour rotations, half on days and half on nights. From day to day his schedule changes plus he travels regularly to NY.
Determination - I'm going to give a slight advantage to Big D. I don't want to lose money, but honestly my head isn't into this as I would like at the moment. I'm hoping that as I get into it more, my determination will also increase but right now I'm struggling in my head.
Plans
FogDog's Weight Loss Plan - My plan is fairly simple... Keep doing what I've been doing but make a couple small tweaks. I currently take in about 2500 calories each day. I'm going to adjust that down to 2000 calories (this has been harder to do than I originally thought). I'm also going to increase my exercise levels to 1 hour each day 6 days each week. It will consist of 30 minutes strength training followed by 30 minutes of cardio. I will also be targeting 120 oz. of water each day as well. I will still allow myself 1 cheat meal each week, but I will not be "taking it easy" on the weekends as I have been lately.
Big D's Weight Loss Plan - Big D's plan is centered around not eating junk food. He's going to try to stay away from all the fast food joints and focus on creating healthy meals at home and buying pre-packaged healthy meals such a Lean Cuisine. For exercise, Big D. will be walking his dog everyday for 45 minutes and he will doing cardio workouts at the local gym whenever his hectic schedule allows it.
So there it is folks, the 30 day challenge has begun! I will not be posting weekly numbers for the next month as we both agreed that we would only weigh-in at the beginning and the end, but I will be posting regularly to let everyone know how I'm doing. Based on what I've written, who do you think will win FogDog or Big D.? Do you think either of us can reach the very tough goal of 15 pounds? Got any advice for either of us? Leave a comment and let me know.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Hospitals Are No Fun
It's been almost a week since my last post. Sorry for the long blackout, but believe me when I say I had more important things on my mind:
This has been one of the most emotionally draining weeks I've had in a very long time. On Sunday my 3 year old daughter was hospitalized because her knees and hips had become so swollen that she could not walk and even picking her up was enough to cause her to shriek in pain. For those of you who do not have kids, let me tell you that nothing is more heartbreaking than having to watch one of your children suffer in pain while you know there isn't a thing you can do about it. To make matters worse, I had to hold my daughter still multiple times for various blood draws and IV insertions. Every visit from the lab was meant with instant terror
and the screams and pleads to let her go home will probably remain with me forever.
Fortunately, this story does have a happy ending. After several days of testing, the doctors were able to confirm that she had Lyme disease
and they got her started on antibiotics. My wife and I were absolutely thrilled at this diagnosis; the alternatives that were being explored were all much worse! What had everyone baffled was just how fast the symptoms came on. On Friday she had 1 slightly swollen knee and by Sunday morning she couldn't move!
Anyway, I got to bring her home on Wednesday and as of today you almost couldn't tell that she had been sick. The swelling is almost completely gone and this morning she wanted to show me how fast she could run (even if she was still a little wobbly). The treatment is no picnic; a month of antibiotics
, but at least she's home and getting better every day.
So that brings me to the here and now. As those of you who have been following me for a while know, I have this tendency to look for ways to learn from everything that happens to me whether it's good or bad. As painful and emotionally draining as this process was, it did help me to see a few things about myself.
This week I essentially lived in a hospital for the better part of 3 days. I was in 2 different emergency rooms (my daughter had to be transferred to a second hospital in the middle of this process), the OR prep area, and then in a pediatric ward. During all that time I saw a lot of people and spent a lot of time just sitting and thinking. There was a TV in my daughter's room, but I could only watch so many episodes of SpongeBob Squarepants
before my mind started to wander.
During my time at the hospital I came to realize 2 very important things:
The first thing I noticed was that hospitals are filled with unhealthy people - I know, shocking isn't it? What I mean by this is that during my time at the hospital, I couldn't help but notice just how many of the people there were either overweight or diehard smokers. During my stay at the 2 different emergency rooms, I watched as one overweight person after another passed by my daughter's room. My guess is that of all the sick people I saw in the emergency departments, easily more than half were overweight
.
By the time we got to the pediatric department, I was ready for a smoke. I've been on and off again with the smoking
for a little while now and stressful situations always cause me to go "on" again. For those of you who haven't been to a hospital in a while, the rules around smoking at hospitals have changed. Most hospitals now are completely smoke free. This means you are not allowed to smoke anywhere on hospital grounds. This particular hospital we were at had setup a designated smoking area across the street underneath an overpass. If I wanted a cigarette, that's where I had to go. While in that area, I was absolutely shocked at the people I saw. It was bad enough to see doctors and nurses who get to see the result of what smoking can do to you, but what was really shocking was to see actual patients! Yes, I saw patients in their gowns and slippers... dragging IV machines behind them... in the 35 degree cold... walking across the street to go have a smoke! In fact one older woman came out of the building with one of those little pull behind oxygen tanks, but they wouldn't let her bring it across the street (gee I wonder why). She came over without it, had 2 cigarettes, and then went back inside. To be honest, I am amazed that the hospital even allows it, but I guess patients have rights even if it is the right to make things worse.
My takeaway from these observations was not that hospitals are filled with unhealthy people, but rather hospitals are filled with unhealthy people that don't take care of themselves. Being an overweight smoker is only going to increase my chances of ending up in a hospital sometime in my future. I've started to make improvements and I have made progress, but I've got a long way to go.
The second realization that I came across while hanging out at the hospital was that my unhealthy behaviors could cause others to suffer. I guess I've always had the belief that my bad habits
would only hurt me in the long run, but now I've realized that isn't true. Watching my daughter in pain was one of the hardest things I've had to endure. Obviously it wasn't her fault that she was there, but it suddenly hit me that someday I could be laying there suffering from something that I could have prevented by living a healthier lifestyle. All I could think of was my loved ones being in pain as they sat around me and watched me suffer. It's one thing to be in the hospital for something out of your control, but it's another thing to be there for something that you could have prevented. I do not want to have to put my family through that so I need to do whatever I can to reduce my chances of needing a hospital.
Without a doubt it's been a rough week. During all this I did not exercise and my diet has been less than stellar. No doubt I probably added a couple of pounds, but my desire to be healthy has also been renewed. I threw my cigarettes out and haven't smoked all day. It will be tough but I am committed to seeing it through. I also started a 30 day weight challenge with my friend, but that's a whole other story. I'll tell you all about it in my next post this weekend. Stay strong people!
This has been one of the most emotionally draining weeks I've had in a very long time. On Sunday my 3 year old daughter was hospitalized because her knees and hips had become so swollen that she could not walk and even picking her up was enough to cause her to shriek in pain. For those of you who do not have kids, let me tell you that nothing is more heartbreaking than having to watch one of your children suffer in pain while you know there isn't a thing you can do about it. To make matters worse, I had to hold my daughter still multiple times for various blood draws and IV insertions. Every visit from the lab was meant with instant terror
and the screams and pleads to let her go home will probably remain with me forever. and they got her started on antibiotics. My wife and I were absolutely thrilled at this diagnosis; the alternatives that were being explored were all much worse! What had everyone baffled was just how fast the symptoms came on. On Friday she had 1 slightly swollen knee and by Sunday morning she couldn't move!Anyway, I got to bring her home on Wednesday and as of today you almost couldn't tell that she had been sick. The swelling is almost completely gone and this morning she wanted to show me how fast she could run (even if she was still a little wobbly). The treatment is no picnic; a month of antibiotics
, but at least she's home and getting better every day.So that brings me to the here and now. As those of you who have been following me for a while know, I have this tendency to look for ways to learn from everything that happens to me whether it's good or bad. As painful and emotionally draining as this process was, it did help me to see a few things about myself.
This week I essentially lived in a hospital for the better part of 3 days. I was in 2 different emergency rooms (my daughter had to be transferred to a second hospital in the middle of this process), the OR prep area, and then in a pediatric ward. During all that time I saw a lot of people and spent a lot of time just sitting and thinking. There was a TV in my daughter's room, but I could only watch so many episodes of SpongeBob Squarepants
before my mind started to wander.
During my time at the hospital I came to realize 2 very important things:
The first thing I noticed was that hospitals are filled with unhealthy people - I know, shocking isn't it? What I mean by this is that during my time at the hospital, I couldn't help but notice just how many of the people there were either overweight or diehard smokers. During my stay at the 2 different emergency rooms, I watched as one overweight person after another passed by my daughter's room. My guess is that of all the sick people I saw in the emergency departments, easily more than half were overweight
. By the time we got to the pediatric department, I was ready for a smoke. I've been on and off again with the smoking
for a little while now and stressful situations always cause me to go "on" again. For those of you who haven't been to a hospital in a while, the rules around smoking at hospitals have changed. Most hospitals now are completely smoke free. This means you are not allowed to smoke anywhere on hospital grounds. This particular hospital we were at had setup a designated smoking area across the street underneath an overpass. If I wanted a cigarette, that's where I had to go. While in that area, I was absolutely shocked at the people I saw. It was bad enough to see doctors and nurses who get to see the result of what smoking can do to you, but what was really shocking was to see actual patients! Yes, I saw patients in their gowns and slippers... dragging IV machines behind them... in the 35 degree cold... walking across the street to go have a smoke! In fact one older woman came out of the building with one of those little pull behind oxygen tanks, but they wouldn't let her bring it across the street (gee I wonder why). She came over without it, had 2 cigarettes, and then went back inside. To be honest, I am amazed that the hospital even allows it, but I guess patients have rights even if it is the right to make things worse.My takeaway from these observations was not that hospitals are filled with unhealthy people, but rather hospitals are filled with unhealthy people that don't take care of themselves. Being an overweight smoker is only going to increase my chances of ending up in a hospital sometime in my future. I've started to make improvements and I have made progress, but I've got a long way to go.
The second realization that I came across while hanging out at the hospital was that my unhealthy behaviors could cause others to suffer. I guess I've always had the belief that my bad habits
would only hurt me in the long run, but now I've realized that isn't true. Watching my daughter in pain was one of the hardest things I've had to endure. Obviously it wasn't her fault that she was there, but it suddenly hit me that someday I could be laying there suffering from something that I could have prevented by living a healthier lifestyle. All I could think of was my loved ones being in pain as they sat around me and watched me suffer. It's one thing to be in the hospital for something out of your control, but it's another thing to be there for something that you could have prevented. I do not want to have to put my family through that so I need to do whatever I can to reduce my chances of needing a hospital.Without a doubt it's been a rough week. During all this I did not exercise and my diet has been less than stellar. No doubt I probably added a couple of pounds, but my desire to be healthy has also been renewed. I threw my cigarettes out and haven't smoked all day. It will be tough but I am committed to seeing it through. I also started a 30 day weight challenge with my friend, but that's a whole other story. I'll tell you all about it in my next post this weekend. Stay strong people!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)