Austin

Wow what a nice day in Austin it is today…the temperature is about 75 and its low humidity and bright sunny skies. What a difference from the rainy/snowy Seattle! I decided I would take advantage of the nice weather today to go out for a run by Town Lake (really a river through Austin). Unfortunately I've been feeling like I'm coming down with a cold all day, so my energy level left much to be desired. In fact I have to say that the run felt physically very tough…I was coughing and just not feeling great. But mentally, its nice to get outside during the first week of December and enjoy such beautiful scenery. Austin is clearly a very fit city given the number of people out running, cycling and walking. The trail I ran on went right by an outdoor pool and even that was filled with swimmers doing laps. I had a bigger than normal lunch, so even if my run didn't feel great, I was glad to be able to run off some of the extra food I had at lunchtime. Now if I can get some good sleep tonight I'll go for a run again tomorrow, albeit indoors… I don't think I'll be back to my hotel before dark and I also have a breakfast meeting starting at 7am, so before work won't work out either.

Well I feel totally safe now…

And now for an off-topic rant. I'm on my way to Austin for a business trip and I decided I did not want to check my bag since I am arriving quite late. I packed the same contents into the same bag as I have done all year long for something like 15+ trips. That includes some toiletries in a zip loc bag. So the TSA agent had an issue with the fact that I used a gallon bag, despite the fact that it was clearly ¼ full …if that. So strike #1 for Michel. Then she takes my hair gel which is in a 3.5oz container and informs me that I must take only 3.4 ounce containers. I know she is only doing her job but this really annoyed me… I have travelled with the same stupid hair gel container 15+ times now. So should I be offended that it takes that many times to get it confiscated or should I be offended that this TSA agent had nothing better to do than to enforce rules 0.1 ounces at a time! (By the way, there was clearly less than 3.5 ounces in the container but she didn't bother to look. That's not in the TSA manual.) One thing is for sure, I will definitely get a quart sized bag and fill it with 3.4 ounce containers from here forward.

Which makes me think…is the Ziploc bag company increasing their sales because of these rules? What if I had brought a Canadian or European metric sized bag?? What happens then? Am I only permitted the use of US manufactured Ziploc bags for the carrying of hair gel? That's going to affect global trade for sure. Protectionism at its best… our plastic is special and is the only plastic permitted on a US based airline.

Maybe I should focus more on eating less and exercising- the true reason for this blog. Its much less exasperating!

Ah Paris

Weight: 184lbs

Well, we are back from Paris, and after a week of eating cheese and foie gras and other delicious French food, I'm glad to see that my weight only increased about a pound… I consider that a success. It probably had to do with all the walking we did in Paris. Since there was a transit strike, there really was not an occasion to take the subway or train anywhere. So we walked. To the Champs Elysees. To the Latin Quarter. To the Jardins Luxembourg. To the Marais.

Now that I'm back in town, I'm having a great exercise week…its really helping me with my jetlag (which is pretty much gone by now). On Monday I ran for 45 minutes and then cycled for 50 minutes. On Tuesday I ran for 20 minutes, cycled for 10 minutes and then did some strength training for 60 minutes. Wednesday I ran for 55 minutes and tonight I'm planning on cycling for at least 60 minutes, and hopefully if I'm up for it 90 minutes. It feels good to get right back into the routine, and the best thing is that my blood pressure is reacting favorably to the daily exercise.

Still Good

I've been very good this week in terms of eating and exercising. I was very good at my business dinner the other night and did not over-consume and passed on the wine, sticking with water. Yesterday I got in a good bike ride for 40 minutes and then did some strength training. Yesterday's strength training consisted of a lot of core and balance exercises. Its actually a lot of fun… at various times I was pushing flat weights or other heavy items across the floor in push-up position. That really stretches me out and I can feel my deep muscles straining. There was one balance exercise that was really difficult..imagine a piece of free standing equipment that is flat on one side and a half-sphere on the other side. The spherical side is facing the floor and I had to balance on the flat side while doing squats. The squats weren't that difficult once I got my balance, but getting my balance was very difficult. The problem is that the flat surface is rubberized and so my shoes would not slide very easy to the outer parts of the surface where they needed to be. In fact I got thrown off of it on my first try…nothing injured except my pride.

Going back to the gym tonight after work and running for an hour and doing some more strength training. Today will likely focus more on discrete muscle groups rather than the core, but you never know what Michael the trainer has in mind…(if you are reading this, be glad I didn't call you any names! J)

Good Workouts

I tried to do a long run on Saturday this past week and after three miles I couldn't go further. The first two miles were largely downhill, though on a gentle slope, so I didn't really notice how tired I was until the third mile along the lake shore. By the time I realized that I was zapped of energy I was three miles away from home, so I walked back home, leading to a total of 6 miles, even if it was SLOOOOOOW. On Sunday I just didn't have the motivation to even try a long run or any exercise for that matter. I was content to park my butt on the couch watching football and movies.

So on Monday I decided that the weekend was a complete wash in terms of exercise so I got up early and went to the gym before work and cycled for an hour. It felt good to sweat out the toxins of the weekend. Although we had decided to go to the neighborhood pub with some friends to watch Monday night football last night, we decided on a change of plans to ensure that we ate healthy and had no drinks. I cooked up a delicious flank steak with stir fried Bok Choy ( a first time for me) and sliced small potatoes, and felt good about my healthy consumption for the evening. Watching Seattle thoroughly beat San Francisco was also fun!

I got up again early this morning and went to the gym where I did some light strength training and then ran for 45 minutes on the treadmill. Just to make that run interesting, I threw in 4 3 minute hill climbs into that run at the same pace I was running the flat portion. It was definitely hard, but I feel good for having done that. I have a business dinner tonight, but I'm feeling adequately motivated to keep my consumption healthy.

Gainesville Homecoming

What a Homecoming weekend. Starting with Wednesday night in Orlando for a Halloween party dressed as Dog the Bounty Hunter (now considered a racist)…. That was so much fun though the wig was a bit hot. Then Thursday we stopped in Ocala to taste some cakes for the wedding, which was quite fun. Unfortunately, I was so dead tired, I couldn't even think about exercise. I did make up for it by running/walking 7 miles on Friday… two miles of it were in a race "The Gator Gallop", with the rest of the mileage getting to and from the race.

The game (Vanderbilt vs Florida) was a bitter disappointment…my Vandy team did not look like they showed up to play a game. This is the curse of a Vandy football fan… everytime we think we can have a winning record and do well for the season, we have a horrible game like the one this weekend. 49-22. Ugh. At least we had yummy Mr Han's Chinese food last night and I was relatively good… I avoided the greasy stuff and had steamed veggies and white rice. I did have some pepper steak and shrimp, but not an excessive amount.

Today I had an awesome run. I started out running with my future sister-in-law, who is training for a half marathon… we did the first 7.5 miles together, averaging 10mins/mile. Then I split off to do an extra 2 miles, but ended up running 12.44 miles total in 2 hours flat. I walked back to the house and all in all, I had covered 13 miles in 2 hours and 9 minutes…quite a good pace and I felt great for the whole run. It was a beautiful day- as I started the run it was in the low 50's with brilliantly sunny skies…by the time the run ended, it was around 65 degrees…perfect running weather. Now I'm really looking forward to my next half marathon… I should be in great shape.

A good Weekend

I now feel better than I did a week ago. Last weekend I didn't exercise a bit and that held true for Monday and Tuesday as well. It was primarily a question of motivation and the result of being on the go so much that I was worn out. I successfully navigated a Saturday of College Football without over consuming. I ran a long run yesterday and then when I came home I cooked up a huge pot full of beef stew. Probably not the kind of beef stew that most people are familiar with…technically, I don't even know if it officially counts as "stew"… I start with stew beef from our local store, add two potatoes (large), 1 turnip, several carrots (sliced), Celery, Frozen peas, frozen corn, and spices. Then I take the pot and fill 1/3 with beef broth and 2/3 with Water, and let it cook all day long (5 hours or so)… very slowly, I don't boil it. Then I add some brown rice and some corn starch to thicken it up. So, all ingredients are good for me, and not fried. So I ate quite a bit of beef stew, but I feel good for it. I did have some drinks while watching football, but I kept it to Miller light and very watered down Vodka and club soda…really just a dash of vodka and mostly club soda… that way I could feel like I was partaking without really consuming a lot.

Today I got up early and went to the gym… I had an hour of strength training followed by an hour spinning class. The spinning instructor informed us that she would stay for 90 minutes, so I decided I would try to make the 90 minutes. But the class today was all about power/hills so my legs were pretty dead by about 75 minutes, so that's where I ended. Finally, I got on the treadmill for 10 minutes for a light run. I got home around 11:15, ate, took a shower and then promptly took an hour and 15 minute nap!! Very relaxing… wish I could do that every day! Maybe I should set up a nap area in my office…. Not quite enough room unfortunately.

Holy Meteor!

I had a great run today… it was a fantastic crisp fall day here in Seattle. It was sunny without a cloud in the sky. At this time of the year the sun doesn't rise quite as high in the sky as in the summer, so it felt like the sun was directly in my eyes as I headed South along Lake Washington. There were a lot of people out running and cycling, taking advantage of what is likely to be one of the last nice days of the year. I ended up running 8.3 miles, but really slowly so that I don't suffer too much tomorrow. I have a lifting appointment at 8am followed by Cycling at 9am, so this looks to be a great exercise weekend.

Yesterday I was heading back from the gym and driving south along Lake Washington when all of a sudden a HUGE meteor crossed the sky directly in front of me. It looked like a smaller piece had broken off as there were really two streaks. The funny thing is that I was listening to the radio, and at that time there was a commercial on about a show on Sunday on the History Channel about Nostradamus' final prophecies including the "end of days". Right when that commercial finished is when I saw the meteor and I immediately thought there was going to be an explosion because I was certain it was going to hit the earth… My heart was really pumping hard! Of course it burned up quickly and there was no explosion, but wow was I startled!!

Stressed out

Morning weight: 182.5 lbs. Today's target : 182.0 lbs
Target for Wednesday October 31: 180.5 lbs

I did not reach my target this week, but I got very close, and so I am declaring success. I'm really stressed out this week...I've got too much going on and not enough time to do it. I will hopefully get a good workout in tonight...I'm going to need it! It will feel good to do a hard run and some lifting. I will need to focus my stress on working out rather than eating...it would be really easy right now to overeat some really unhealthy stuff, so I will be conscious of that and avoid the bad stuff. That's all for today... no time to write!

Photoshoots are dangerous!

I went to Portland this weekend to attend a photoshoot for an ad campaign I'm putting together. Saturday and Sunday on set with a number of really creative people. What I learned is that a photoshoot can be very dangerous for your diet if you are not careful. I started Saturday very well… I had a healthy breakfast of eggbeaters, fruit and multigrain toast. Though the stupid waitress gave me regular coffee instead of the decaf I had specifically ordered. Boy did I feel jumpy! I got to the shoot and very soon afterwards, they served lunch for the crew, which included ribs, rice, veggies and cheesecake. I restricted myself to one rib, some rice and veggies and no cake. So far so good. Then came dinner with the creative agency…. Sushi starters and then salmon and skirt steak. Yum…but the portion was on the high side.

Sunday I started again well with a Frittata with onion, potato, zucchini and tomato…. The potatoes were in some cases very undercooked, so I picked them out of it. Lunch on set was Pork BBQ and buttered corn with a wide selection of treats. I was quite hungry because my breakfast didn't turn out to be enough and so I overdid it on the pork. And I had desert, which I normally pass up, but it was a yummy lemon square. I had a decent dinner last night of sirloin steak (from Omaha steaks…yum) and green beans, but I think Lunch did some damage.

But back at home today and I'm doing well on my diet…hope this week turns out to be a good weight loss week…. I'll do some running to get some exercise in… I wasn't able to run over the weekend.

And the worst thing is that at work right now they are doing a giving campaign and today they have a HUGE spread of food for everyone at the end of my hall...they keep sending emails out to encourage people to show up and eat some food. I'm going to have to avoid that entire part of the building...my lunch salad isn't cutting it for me!

Progress is Progress

Morning weight: 183.2 lbs

I actually lost a little more than a half pound in the last week. Last Thursday I weighed in at 183.8lbs…I'm surprised because I had gone back up in weight as I lacked motivation over the past weekend, but it looks like I wasn't as bad as I had feared. I'll take the progress, but know that most weeks I will need to lose more than just a half pound. It would take me 40 weeks to get to my goal weight if I only lost half a pound a week, so I need to do better. I've been very good since Monday, tracking everything and hitting my calorie goals and exercising. I'm still feeling sore from my Tuesday weight training session, so it will be interesting to see how tonight's weight training goes.

I got into a good groove yesterday on the indoor cycle. I ended up doing 22 miles in an hour, at least that's what the cycle said I did. I was listening to some new music I had downloaded from the Zune service…for $15/month, I can download unlimited tunes onto my Zune, and the catalog is quite good (though not as good as iTunes, but it is cheaper!) One thing about it being cold, dark and rainy again in Seattle: the gym is incredibly crowded in the evening now. In fact, at 6:30 yesterday it took me 12 minutes just to get out of the garage and onto a city street. (Normal time is less than a minute)…it was so backed up. The gym needs to do a better job of directing traffic flow out of the garage…I was only on the first level below ground…maybe I'll look for a spot near the top tonight.

Goal: Missed

Morning weight: 184.0 lbs. Goal: 182.3lbs

New Goal: 182.0lbs, Wednesday October 24

So I missed my goal for the week, solidly. However, I am down almost a pound from last Wednesday so I won't feel too bad about it. I'm getting back into the rhythm of exercise…the past week was tough because I was mentally and physically tired, so that led to lackluster exercise and poor nutrition habits. Not that I was eating food that was bad for me per se, but I was just eating too much of it. But I had a great workout last night… I ran for 45 minutes (just shy of 5miles) and then weight trained for an hour. I am definitely feeling sore today, particularly my triceps, my shoulders and my pectorals as well. I will cycle for an hour tonight and then I do some more weight training tomorrow. One thing that was exciting to see yesterday was that my blood pressure was quite low for me… 124:72… Normally I'm in the 130:86 range, so this was good. I have to work all weekend in Portland this weekend, so maybe I'll be able to keep my diet under control a bit better than a normal weekend of lounging around…

blah

Morning weight: 185lbs

My official weigh in is tomorrow morning, but I think I blew it this week with lack of discipline. I had ribs on Friday (I didn't eat most of the fries that came with it though), Paella on Saturday and Pizza last night. I did do some exercise during that time, partially mitigating the damage, but not totally… I ran 40 minutes on Saturday (wanted to run an hour but didn't have it in me), and yesterday I ran 30 minutes at a fast pace and cycled for 30 minutes. Tonight I'm going to run 45 minutes and then weight train. And I have to be disciplined with what I eat today and the rest of the week. I'll do a lean cuisine for dinner and no drinks!! I think in the end I will likely be equal in weight to what I was a week ago, so at least I haven't gained, but that's not a success.

Spinning

Morning Weight: 183.8 lbs Goal for 10/17: 182.8lbs Goal Attainment: 50% New goal for 10/17: 182.3.lbs

So I dropped another pound overnight. I don't think that's 100% real weight, but I will give myself some credit for being really good about my diet over the past four days, and there has to be some "real" weight loss component to it. So I'm going to revise my goal for the coming Wednesday to a half pound more. So instead of 182.8lbs, my goal will be 182.3lbs, that way I can still keep myself somewhat honest over the weekend. If I were to drop a pound over the next three days I would achieve my original goal and still have half a week left.

Yesterday I went to an hour long spinning class. My goal from the class was just to flush out my legs a little bit without overdoing it and getting them more sore than they already were. Well, the instructor of the class clearly had a week by week and even day by day plan, and this night was his tough hill climb night. That's one thing that I don't like about the Pro club… They have fantastic schedules for all sorts of fitness classes, but there's such variability in a class like spinning…they had three classes yesterday. It would be helpful if they list the type of class its going to be (hill vs strength vs endurance). In any case, I ignored the instructor at many times in order to keep my heart rate within the zone that I had set out for the ride and to keep my legs from getting sore. The result was great. I got a great workout but didn't overdo it, and my legs were actually less sore after the ride than before…I guess that's because I had them stretched out and used the muscles again. Today I will be going to the gym mid afternoon and walking briskly at 8%grade for 30 minutes followed by the stepmill for 30 minutes. I hate the stepmill, so this will take real motivation to complete!

Goals

Morning weight: 184.8lbs Goal for October 17: 182.8lbs Goal Attainment: 0%

OK, so you can see with my new heading line that as of today I am beginning the weekly goals and charting daily my attainment of those goals. So Wednesday will naturally be 0% attainment because that's when the goal new goal begins. My goal is to lose two pounds per week from here on out until I hit my ultimate goal weight. I'm glad to see that I've lost a little bit more than two pounds over the last two days, clearly indicating that I was retaining fluid post race. So if I lose the weight evenly (which I likely won't) I can expect .28lbs/day to get to my 2lb goal. So tomorrow if I end up losing more than a half pound, I may reset my goal for the coming week, given that I may still be flushing out excess water.

I've been very good on the nutrition front for the past two days, and I'm tracking my meals in Calorie King again, which is naturally helping me to think about food choices during the day. It also helps to be completely in control of my diet because I'm not travelling. As for the recovery from the race, my legs are still sore, but way less so than they were on Monday. So tonight I will resume going to the gym…I'm going to take a spinning class… I haven't done that in several years, so I'm excited to do that again…I hope there is a good instructor with good music because I think this is going to be my Wednesday evening plan for at least the coming week as well…

Recovering

Morning weight: 186 lbs

I am starting to feel a bit less sore today, especially as I walk around. However, after sitting around for an hour or so, the first few steps are definitely difficult, as is walking down steps! But it almost feels like I have a bit of "Runner's high" going on… I'm feeling very positive about my effort in the race and looking forward to the next one already. Definitely feels better than when I finished the Vancouver half in May… it took quite a few weeks for me to feel better. Its also funny to me that I dropped a full pound overnight… I drank a huge amount of water during the hours after the race on Sunday and I think that my body was going into preservation mode post-race and not releasing much of it. I wonder if that's normal? I'm going to do some research on that. I'm supposed to do some strength training at the gym today, but I think I'm going to pass on that and work on setting up a good training schedule for my next race instead. With my soreness, I'm not so sure that I'd get a great workout in today anyway, and I certainly would not be ready to do legs or even abs for that matter… actually that's one area that is the sorest on me right now… Anyway, this overall feeling is great right now, so I'm going to do my best to stay motivated.

Setting Goals

Morning Weight: 187.0 lbs

Its been quite some time since I've been blogging regularly, and in the interim I have been travelling a ton. The problem with travelling is that I get out of my routine. When I'm on a routine I do really well about making smart food choices and keeping my consumption under control. But when I travel, that all seems to go out the window. I'm not sure what I'm going to do to keep myself honest during travel periods, but I do know that for the next three weeks I don't really have any travel scheduled. True I will be in Portland for three days, but the nature of that trip is different than most work trips and so I think I can do well while there. My travel over the past weeks was too meeting intense to really include much exercise, and add in the fact that I had a pulled hamstring from chasing Lucy when she escaped, and I didn't reduce my intake accordingly. In fact, with my travel, I have gotten out of the habit of counting calories.

Excuse excuse excuse. Well, At least I know exactly the reasons of my lack of loss, and so now I just need to address them. So I've thought of a new way to look at goals. Previously I've been looking at long term goals such as being under 180lbs by the end of the month, being 170 lbs in another 6 weeks… I'm going to change that and start tracking my goals on a weekly basis. It's too easy for me to rationalize bad behavior by thinking that I'll make it up before the end of the month. If I am true to myself about weekly goals, then I will be more strict about my intake so as not to mess up the weekly goal. So on Wednesday this week I will set my weekly goal for the coming week. Why Wednesday? I don't think my weight today is a true starting point…I'm sure that with two days of being good I will flush some water weight out, and so I want to set a goal based on a true weight, not an inflated weight.

The Victoria half marathon was yesterday and I did ok. I cut three minutes off my Vancouver time from May, so that's progress. In fact I was on track to run a good sub 2hour half but by 9.5 miles I had to slow down significantly. I think the hamstring pull I suffered a few weeks ago really kept me from being in the best shape for this race, though I was definitely in better shape than Vancouver. I'm super sore today, but that's likely to reduce over the coming days. So on to the next race… Lane and I will be looking into a race in the coming months….perhaps the Rock n Roll ½ marathon in Arizona on January 13. I ran a 1:57 there in 2006 without much training so it would be cool to see what I can do this time…

Reading, UK and Copenhagen

I’ve been in Reading, UK and Copenhagen this week and I am flying back to Seattle today. Its been a rough week work-wise… its always tough coming over here. By the time you are done with a day full of meetings the team in Seattle is just starting to work, so emails start flying. I could let them go and wait until the next day to respond, but then I’ll have a huge mountain to go through and decisions will be made without my input. So last night I stayed in my hotel room- I arrived back at 5pm, but ended up working until 9pm. I ordered “Penne a la Bruschetta” which was described as Penne with fresh tomato tatar and basil. Yes there was pasta, yes there was basil. There were even some ripe red tomatoes. What kills me though is that they put in a bunch of green tomatoes which kind of ruined the whole thing for me. Not to the extent that I didn’t eat it..I was really hungry from not having had any breakfast (preferred sleep to food at that hour) and a small lunch. I’ll be happy to be back in control of what I can eat! On Monday night in the UK we went to an Asian restaurant that was “highly” recommended by a UK colleague as “excellent” Asian food. I think my Danish colleague put it best: “If that’s their best Asian food, then I don’t want to know what their mediocre Asian food is like!” Other delectable dishes this week included prawns on a bed of Rice (with tomatoes and beans mixed in)…sounds good, but it was only ok…very bland. I avoided the haggis at the hotel yet again….Someone must eat that stuff because each time I have gone to this hotel in the past 8 years, its being served in the buffet, and it looks as though someone has had some. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Haggis, here’s how Wikipedia describes it:
“sheep’s ‘pluck’ (heart, liver and lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally boiled in the animal’s stomach for approximately an hour.” Yum yum yum…think I’ll quit my day job and start a fast food chain centering on Haggis…sure to be a crowd pleaser at any county fair!

What a week

This week has been extremely busy…I've had a ton of work things going on, and with my departure tomorrow evening for Europe again, it seems like I'm not going to have much of a weekend. I've been eating well all week and sticking to my calorie goals for the most part. But I haven't done any exercise this week at all. Earlier in the week it was because I was sore from my long run on Sunday, but once Tuesday arrived I no longer had that excuse. With all my work, I haven't been eating enough during the day and so by the end of the day I've been exhausted. But I am going to leave work early today to go do a run.

We are now the proud owners of a home theater system… All day Wednesday the technicians were crawling around in my attic crawlspace and cutting into my living room ceiling to install surround sound speakers. We watched a movie on it last night and it was fantastic…there was a scene in the rain, and it really sounded like it was raining in our living room!! Can't wait to watch some serious football on that!!

Recovered

Morning Weight: 182.8lbs

I took the day off yesterday from exercise as my legs were feeling way tired after the 11 mile run on Sunday. Overall, I think the Endurox recovery drink did a good job- my legs were not really all that sore after the run and on Monday…just tired. I think that's what the Endurox is supposed to do- speed muscle recovery.

I made a chicken/pork/sausage Paella on Sunday night and it was delicious. The recipe said that it would feed four people, but both Lane and I thought that was a bit off…this thing could have fed 6-8 people. We were initially shocked at the caloric value- something like 2800 calories for the full dish, but when we divided into portions each 1/8 of the total we realize that it's a very healthy 350 calories. And I have to say it tastes great as a leftover…I had another portion of it last night for dinner.

So I am excited because I came out of the weekend weighing less than what I went into the weekend, and I know that my weekends are normally my problem times. I guess getting a really long run in helps to burn some of the excess calories from watching football, but also going to the football game with a clear understanding of what to avoid and still watching my portions helps.

LSD and Kool Aid

I just did some great LSD. Now before you all start worrying that I am dropping acid or taking heroin, you should know that LSD in this case is the runner's acronym for Long Slow Distance.  I started from my house and went south into the Mount Baker neighborhood of Seattle. I hadn't ever run on some of these roads but it was really nice. The temperature was perfect for running- about 60 degrees. I wound my way down to the lake and found that this is a "Bicycle weekend" meaning that the street right by the lake was closed to vehicle traffic. Thus it was just some bikers and myself in the road. Very quiet for a change and no vehicle exhaust. 

By the time I turned around at Seward Park it started raining, but nothing too heavy. The only downside to the run is that since I live on a hill, I always have to climb back up a hill right at the end of a run to get back to my house. I walked that part, but I'm not going to feel bad about that because that was only the last .10 mile and I ran 11.2 Miles already today!

The run really felt good...I was nice and relaxed through the entire run...I got into a good pace and just went with it. I certainly wasn't breaking any records- my pace was around 10-10:30/mile. 

I just bought a huge container of Endurox R4 sports recovery drink, so I tried it out after my run. It is Fruit Punch flavored, but it tastes like a sweeter version of Kool-Aid. ( I can just imagine the Kool Aid guy from the commercials come crashing through the wall now saying "Oh Yeah") For those of you who do not know what I'm talking about, here's a link to the original commercial as well as a link to Dane Cook the very funny comedian talking about it. 

Anyway, I hope that this Endurox stuff helps me recover because I have a feeling my legs are going to be in pain! :)

Original: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBeUGqeYsQg

Dane Cook: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP1USaPMXp

Football Saturday

I started out this morning thinking that I was going to go cycling with some folks...I was supposed to meet them partially into their ride at a location convenient to my house. Well some mixed signals occurred and so I did not meet up with them. So instead I thought I would go on a long run. Well I got a mile or so into the run and realized that my lack of good sleep last night was going to hinder a long run. So I ran 3.5 miles and called it a day. Hopefully I'll sleep well tonight and will be able to run 2 hrs tomorrow.

As it is autumn, we went to Sidelines to watch the Florida Gators football game today. They were playing arch-rival Tennessee in Florida, and the results were fantastic- 59-20! Then we came home expecting to see my alma mater Vanderbilt play Mississippi on my computer (streaming over the internet). Well it turns out that ESPN has some special deal with certain internet providers to stream this video, but not Comcast cable in Seattle. So I spent 20 minutes trying to get it to work, but it wouldn't. I had to appease myself by playing XBOX 360 football instead. In any case, Vanderbilt ended up winning the game 31-17! So that's two teams I care about winning today. Then I started looking at other scores and my undergrad school Lehigh beat Princeton today. Its nice to score the Trifecta! :)

The good news is that I didn't really over-consume today while watching all that great football. Tomorrow I am planning on making a Paella, but I will try my best to eat only a reasonable portion of it and save the rest for later in the week.

Analysis

I just installed Windows Live Writer as my blog writing tool. As you install that you also get the opportunity to install other Windows Live applications, such as Windows Live Mail. Windows Live Mail downloads all my feeds and I had the opportunity to re-read many of my blog posts from early August. Truth is that I lost a bunch of weight in early August but I plateaued in mid-late August and haven't made much progress since then. I really need to get to below 180lbs by the end of the month. This blog turns out to be good because of its permanency. In the past I may have been able to rationalize the gain of a few pounds, but if I look at the trend, i need to make more progress.

 

Enough analysis. Tonight I bought a kick-ass Flat Screen TV and home theater system for my house. I will be fully equipped with high-definition flat screen TV next Wednesday, and I cannot wait! So as long as I use it while riding on my stationary bike then I'll really see some weight loss progress! :)

Feeling Great

Morning Weight: 183.2 Lbs/83.27 Kg

I'm happy to see my weight declined again… it really amazes me how much water I retain in certain periods. But I'm glad to see that my trip to Florida and Canada did not really have a lasting effect on my weight.

Meghan asked via a comment about my speed workout… I start with 15 minutes at a 6-6.5mph pace (9.6-10.kph). Then I run a half mile(little bit more than 800 meters) at 7.5mph (12kph) followed by two minutes of walking. Then I repeat that six times and then cool down for 10 minutes at 6mph. Wow… this metric stuff is hard! J

Today Lane and I will try to actually purchase our TV and Home Theater…I'm trying not to get too excited because I'm sure that Best Buy will do something to tick me off, but it really is going to be cool. A 46" flat screen and speakers that will be mounted in the ceiling will be amazing for football, basketball, hockey eh (Canadian sport), and movies! Of course it will probably take a month to get the stuff installed, but still I'm excited.

Hopefully I will get to do some strength training (something my anorexic German friend should try to build up a little bit of mass!) and go for a run.

Speed Intervals

Just got back from the gym- I had a GREAT hour long speed interval workout. I ran 6 half mile repeats at speed, and it felt great. This was the best interval day I've had so far, so I'm really happy about my progress. Yes, I'm gushing, but it was really such a great workout and I feel great. Must be all those endorphins!

Oktoberfest?

Morning Weight: 184.4lbs

Yee ha! Weight is still heading in the right direction…it's nice to see what a little bit of discipline will do. Speaking of which, I just got out of an early morning meeting and it looks as though I will be heading back to the land of mushy peas and boiled burgers in a week and a half. That is not concerning, but then my colleagues suggested that we hold some meetings in Munich on the 25^th and invite our customers to Oktoberfest. Yes Oktoberfest…home of the HUGE beers and temptation of delicious German food. Will I have the willpower to resist?

Looks like strength training is off for tonight, so I will do speed intervals in preparation for Victoria. Then maybe I'll head back to Best Buy to attempt to buy a TV again. Last night we spent about an hour there, picking out all our components, inquiring about installation. Then we inquired about their 3 year, no interest financing option that they had been advertising heavily. We were then sent to the customer service desk with a complete list of items we wanted to finance. The customer service rep did not look at the list and approved me for a standard amount. To which we complained that that would not cover the full list of items we wanted to purchase, and therefore amounted to false advertising on their part. After a long wait and a phone call things were cleared up. But when we went back to the TV area, the sales rep that was working with us was nowhere to be found. Another sales rep informed us that he had left for the evening and that after helping other customers he would be able to help us. Then he disappeared. All I can say is that I am not exactly a fan of Best Buy's in-store execution at this point. The sales rep should have been able to help us with the financing … the customer service rep had demonstrated absolutely no expertise in that area other than pushing a form into my face for me to fill out. The sales rep should have told us that by 8pm he would be gone…

We ended up leaving because by this point we were very hungry and it looked like there was one sales rep helping 3 or more customers ahead of us…not worth the wait. Please excuse my rant, Best Buy, I was only trying to purchase something from you and take advantage of the offer you advertised. I can always go to a competitor!

OK Rant over.

By the way, I am addicted to Placebos. I could quit at any time, but it wouldn't make any difference.

Morning Weight: 185.0 lbs

Its very motivational to step on the scale in the morning and find that you are almost a pound down from the day before. I realize that this is a result of my body releasing water that it was conserving, but hey I don't care what the reason is! I realize though that I have not really cooked anything myself in a long time. Sure I've done some grilling, but I haven't made any home cooked foods in a long time. Not that its an issue in the summer when its hot- the kitchen tends to get very hot, so cooking in summer is not always pleasant. But as the days are getting shorter and will eventually get cooler, I'm thinking again about cooking all sorts of delicious things. But I'll have to determine how to limit portions!

Beautiful day today here in Seattle..this is really the nicest time of the year, so I will do my best to take advantage of the nice weather. Cycling and Hiking come to mind as great activities for this upcoming weekend assuming the weather holds. Of course cleaning the house and watching football may win out.

New Week

Morning Weight: 185.7 lbs

So yes, I am up in weight vs my last weigh-in on August 24, but all in all, I'm not too disappointed. I really haven't been closely monitoring my intake while I was in Florida and Whistler, and I'm sure that part of the increase is water weight which will be released in the coming days. I'm looking forward to my workouts this week. Tonight I will hit the indoor cycle to help flush out my legs…my hip flexors and quads are very sore from all the hiking over the weekend! Tomorrow I'll do a run and then some strength training- its been about a month since I last hit the weight room at the gym…time to get back into it!

So my new goal is to be around 177lbs for the Victoria half marathon on October 7^th. I think I can make it and I'm going to work very hard to get there… I really want that race to go well, and I'm really looking forward to it.

Back in Town

Just got back into town from what seems like an eternity away....at least I was having fun! Lane and I went to Whistler this past weekend to do some hiking and some biking. Whistler is such a great place... great town, beautiful scenery, friendly people. On our hike we saw some pretty cools stuff. Including Black Bear Poo. I'm not kidding...the friendly Canadians apparently found it less time consuming to make a sign saying "Black Bear Poo" and stick the sign into the poo rather than clean it up and keep people from stepping in it!

Apart from the poo, we were amazed to see how much snow was still left over from past seasons. We both stood in front of a wall of snow that was 4-5 times as tall as we are. To think that in the winter time we would be 10 feet higher in the same spot at times because of all the snow!

Anyway, I'm glad to be home again...its time for me to redouble my efforts at weight loss. I was pretty good while away in terms of exercise, but of course I was eating too much. No worries though, I'm back and ready to get started again!

Heavy Florida Air

I went for a 3.8 mile run this morning here in Gainesville, and the thing I noticed the most was the heavy air. In Seattle, even when it is warm, the air does not feel like its weighing you down. The sun can feel very hot for sure, but the general atmosphere is not heavy. Here in Florida that's completely different. The first two miles felt pretty good and I was keeping a fairly good pace. Just after the turnaround point it felt as though someone had added about 5-10 pounds to my legs, despite the fact that at this point I was going downhill! By the time I got back to the long ¼ mile driveway to the house I was ready to walk! I guess it will just take some getting used to.

So far the diet has been fairly good here in Florida. Yesterday we went to Gator's Dockside, which is a typical sports bar atmosphere along with the food of a sportsbar. We all split some mozzarella sticks to start, but after that I was careful about what I ate. I had a cobb salad, minus all the cheese. I used oil and vinegar as my dressing so that I could regulate that. In the evening I had wonderful Chicken Divan, but that's not too bad calorie wise (I hope J) .

Good Run

I just got back from a long run- I ran 8.5 miles and averaged less than 10 minutes/mile. I'm getting faster!! There was a stiff wind from the south so my mile times heading south were a little bit slower than after I turned around and headed back north. I probably should have had a bit more to eat this morning though as I was not feeling all that strong, but hey, 8.5 miles is pretty good!

Going Sailing

Morning Weight: 3,000 lbs. Just kidding, I didn't weigh myself.

Yesterday I cycled (indoor) for 70 minutes quite vigorously. I hadn't really had that much to eat during the day, so I came home quite hungry. I made the conscious decision to not worry about my caloric intake and ordered a pizza from our local pizza place (literally two blocks away) and had them deliver. It was delicious, I had four slices. I also had some alcohol, but not a lot. This morning I entered all the food I ate into calorie king, along with my exercise for the day, and low and behold, I was still about 100 calories under my net calorie goal for the day (thanks to the exercise!) So on a day I was really trying to be bad I ended up not being so bad!

Today should be a fun day. I am going to do a 90 minute run by the lakeshore with some hills at the beginning and end (that's what you get when you live on a hill). Then later this afternoon, we are going sailing with some friends including a work colleague from Canada, eh. Let's hope the weather cooperates…right now its kind of dark and cloudy…not what someone would consider traditional sailing weather!

Happy Friday

Morning Weight: 182.4 lbs    

Friday is here and I am feeling pretty good about myself. I'm down a full 10 pounds since I started this diet…yes I was down to 181.8lbs a few weeks ago, but that was while I was sick and hadn't eaten much for two days…not a sustainable weight at that point. But now I'm down while eating healthy and exercising. I have to say that at this point, we have been eating healthy and exercising for a month, and its now pretty much routine. That's probably the hardest part of the diet- breaking the routine of eating poorly and not exercising enough. The big test will of course be going to Gainesville next week with Mr Han's on the menu, Gator's dockside for the awesome Mozzarella sticks and of course all the football food! If I come back weighing the same or perhaps one or two pounds more, I will consider that a success. Then it will be right back to the routine as I get ready for the Victoria half marathon. Speaking of which I had a GREAT speed workout yesterday…my heart rate is much lower these days when doing that speed workout (this was the fourth time I've done it) and it didn't seem as hard as it did four weeks ago. Probably means that I will soon have to increase the speed at which I do the repeats, but I'll wait until mid-September to do that. I'm excited about the half marathon, because if I can get down another 5-10 pounds that would mean a difference of 15-20 pounds since my last half marathon in Vancouver in May. I'm SURE that I'll notice a major difference!

On Track

Morning Weight: 183.5 lbs    

Happy to see that this morning my weight is down from my Monday weigh in. Looks like my diet was good in Austin, even if my exercise was nonexistent. I slept very well last night so I'm feeling rested and energetic today, so hopefully that will translate into a good speed repeat workout this afternoon. I can definitely tell that the speed workouts I have done over the past month helped my 10K race, so I'm really looking forward to seeing how what effect they will have on my half marathon time in October.

2:15 AM is no time to get out of bed

That's what time I had to get out of bed this morning (Seattle Time, though in Austin where I was it was 4:15). I had a 5:40 flight to Houston and on to Seattle, so I had to get up ugly-early. This is the first time I have felt jet-lagged just going to Austin and back. I did manage to take an hour nap this afternoon, though so that felt good. Lane and I went for a run together and did 48 minutes/4miles. My legs are still somewhat sore from the 10K race over the weekend…I could definitely feel that about a mile into today's run. With the run today I should be well under my net calorie goal for the day, which is nice. Although I was good while in Austin, I was right at my calorie limit and I could have eaten more…but without exercise that was not an option. Now…back to a regular exercise schedule for the next week. Ah……

Oh and because Annette has been nagging me to post a better looking picture I've gone ahead and done that. I have to say, I reallly feel transformed by this diet and exercise plan! :)

Austin is tough

Wow, I had great ideas about me getting some exercise in while in Austin this week. At least I'm heading back to Seattle tomorrow, and with that back to my normal schedule. I arrived in Austin last night at about 9:00PM. Of course I was hungry at that point, so no going to the gym. Instead I went downstairs and had a relatively healthy wedge salad… compared to all the tempting tex-mex on the menu, this really was a healthy option, despite the bacon bits and blue cheese.

So I thought I would at least get a run in today (Tuesday). But I had to be at a coffee shop to meet my team at 8:15AM and that was a half hour away. I couldn't get out of bed at 6am to run, so I figured I would run at the end of the day. But at the end of the day, I didn't have ANY energy because I had nothing healthy to snack on after lunch, which was at 11:30AM. And a colleague wanted to go out for dinner early and so I caved. At least I ate healthy- I had a sushi roll appetizer and then blackened ahi tuna as the main course.

There's a moral/lesson to this story. The sad thing is that I have learned this lesson countless times before. I have been travelling heavily for business since I joined this company in 2000, so you would think I would abide by my lessons. I'm hoping that by writing it down here I will remember the lesson the next time I travel. (And hopefully, I can get some reminders from my good friends who are reading this! J )

The lesson is simple: Bring healthy snacks with me when I travel so that I can eat a snack midafternoon and be energized enough to exercise when I get back to the hotel. This is soooooooo simple, and it has worked out well when I have done it. The key will be to choose snacks ahead of time and then bring them with me, but let's face it…after a month of planning what I can and cannot eat, this should be relatively easy. I just have to do it. Nike WAS right….JUST DO IT! J

Time to get serious

Morning weight: 185.8lbs.

OK I haven't lost any weight in the past week, not that I'm all that surprised. I didn't hold to my diet this weekend at all really. I guess the good news is that the damage is limited since I didn't really follow my diet at all this weekend. So I will get back on track starting today, which will be easy since I will be in an airplane for much of the day!

Lane and I went on a bike ride yesterday afternoon- my legs and abs are very sore from the 10K on Saturday, so we took it rather easy, though there were a few hills. I had grand plans to go and do a bike ride this morning before heading to the airport, but it is pouring rain outside right now...not good weather to go out and cycle. I hope that I'll be able to get a run in tomorrow in Austin, and I'll be back in Seattle on Wednesday morning, so I'll be able to go to the gym in the afternoon. My goal for this week is to be two pounds lighter by next monday...no cheating on the diet this weekend!!!

Covey Run 10K

Morning Weight: 183 lbs

Now that I'm back at home I'm restarting my morning weigh-ins. I'm glad to see that I remained stable over the past week…I didn't expect to lose much due to hotel food and not much exercise. I started this weekend right by running a 10K run this morning. I actually finished with my best 10K time ever. Now before you get too excited, I should probably note that this is only my second or third 10K ever. I don't normally run this distance…I'm not really sure why. It's a faster race than the half marathon that's for sure. I started out too fast actually, running a 7:30 first mile.. I was not likely or able to keep that pace going for the next 5 miles. But I did average a 8:15 mile for the full race, so that's pretty darn respectable! I finished in 51 minutes, 39 seconds. It was a pretty flat course, so that was helping. My heart rate was in the low 180s the entire time..that's actually too high, but I didn't feel winded as I would normally feel at that heart rate…

Lane ran the 5K and did an awesome job as well. So we're both feeling pretty good about ourselves this morning. Now we'll lounge around for the afternoon, probably nap a little bit and then head to the baseball game this evening to watch the Mariners kick some butt against Chicago. Go Mariners!

British Food

British food is much maligned (often by me). The fact is, a lot of British food does really leave much to be desired, but I've found this week that it can be quite decent. I arrived on Monday and I didn't eat anything on Monday because I wasn't really hungry- I had one bottle of Ensure Strawberry Shake and three beers with a colleague. I brought a 6-pack of Ensure with me to the UK so that I could avoid their heavy calorie breakfasts (and the Haggis that usually is sitting there scaring me). Tuesday I had two Ensure shakes to start my day, then I had a boiled chicken breast over lentils and fresh salsa for lunch. That was actually quite tasty and not high in calories/fat. Last night I had a chicken breast with herbs served over snap peas and rice…again…not that bad!

For today I had something that resembled a ham steak over cabbage for lunch. I cannot remember the word for it, suffice it to say they didn't call it Ham steak. My colleague with whom I had lunch informed me that it was a typical Irish dish. Again, it was actually quite tasty. I've just ordered Spaghetti Bolognese and a side salad for room service Dinner. I don't expect it to be great, but maybe I'll post again after dinner to correct myself. But maybe not.. I would think that I'm about due for a traditional British meal at some point…like the boiled, waterlogged hamburger I oh-so-enjoyed my first trip here for work in 2000. After tonight, its just Ensure and airplane food until I'm back in Seattle!

Travelling this week

Thursday through Saturday I didn't really stick with my diet. I didn't consume mass quantities, but didn't track meals and nutrition. I also didn't weigh myself either Saturday or Sunday morning. But I did one good thing this weekend- I went for a 55 mile bike ride on Saturday. And it was FULL of hills. I basically rode several of the major hills in the "Seven Hills of Kirkland" annual ride that gets a lot of attention around here. It felt good to get some real exercise in again after being sick for the week.

Now I'm sitting in the British Airways Lounge in Seattle waiting for my flight to London to leave. There are all sorts of snacks and drinks available here, but I'm being good. I had two small finger sandwiches to curb my appetite and had some sparkling water. I'm avoiding the free beer/wine/spirits and chips and cookies. I'll be in the UK until Thursday afternoon, so not really a very long trip. I brought my workout gear and hope to get at minimum a speed day workout in. Hopefully I'll have the motivation and time to do a few more workouts than that. I shouldn't be too tempted by the food… standard Brit fare.

Forgot my shoes

So I was supposed to work out at the gym this afternoon. I left work around 3:15 with hopes of doing an hour on the cycle before doing an hour of lifting with my trainer, Michael. So I get to the gym and open my bag, and I find that I'm missing a key ingredient to a great workout. Workout shoes. I picked today of all days to wear loafers to work instead of my sneakers. And I forgot to put shoes into my gym bag. I felt idiotic. I saw Michael an hour before my appointment and told him that I wouldn't be able to work out because I stupidly forgot my shoes. 

Tomorrow I will probably cycle for a few hours to make up for today's lethargy. Plus the fact that we went to Sostnaza's the awesome Italian restaurant in the neighborhood that we went to for Lane's birthday. I had carpaccio and arugula salad to start and then rigatone with venison and pork. YUMMY!!  I didn't eat much during the day, so I don't think I exceeded my caloric intake. Of course it would have helped to work out, but I guess that wasn't in the plan today. 

I'm posting my photo from today... I think it shows the weight loss I've had to date quite nicely. :)

.8 is in

Morning weight: 183.8lbs

I find it interesting that many times when I weigh in, my weight is 18x.8… always .8! I know its not a problem with the scale – it does measure out tenths of a pound. But it is funny.

OK, its not, but I'm grasping for humor here. I'm feeling tired because I stayed up later than normal yesterday. It was my birthday afterall. I finally got back to the gym yesterday and cycled for 45 minutes. Then when I got home Lane and I went to the Bluewater Bistro down the hill from our house for a birthday celebration. I had an awesome Ahi Tuna over Greek Salad and a couple of drinks. Then we had a couple of drinks as our neighbor came over to wish me a happy b-day. She also brought rainbow sherbert with her and waffle cones. I definitely went over my calorie goals for the day, but it was worth it for my 38^th. I suspect my weight is retaining water after having alcohol last night.

Birthday Post

Morning Weight: 181.8lbs

Happy birthday to me, I'm down another pound. I would have thought that as I start to feel better and eat more, that my weight would have remained more or less stable. Well I guess not. I'm not complaining. Its normal for me to drop weight while I am sick, but I am usually pretty quick to pack the pounds right back on as I resume my normal eating habits once I am well. We'll see if this new diet will change that…so far it seems to be.

I got my first compliment from someone at work today- a colleague told me I was looking good and asked me if I had lost some weight! I proudly told him "yes, about 10 pounds over the past month".

I am going to try to go to the gym tonight again. I won't overdo it, but I want to ease myself back into my exercise regime. My biggest worry is that next week while I am in the UK I may not have time to exercise a whole lot. I'll try to sleep the whole flight to the UK so that when I arrive I can go to the hotel gym immediately.

 

Breakfast: Oatmeal

Starting to get better

Morning weight: 182.8 lbs

I didn't really eat a lot yesterday, but a three pound drop is not what I expected. My body must have eradicated a lot of water weight, though I certainly do not feel like I am dehydrated- I basically drank Chamomile tea all day yesterday. Anyway, I'm feeling somewhat better today despite a terrible night of sleep due to the cold medicine I took. It basically kept me from getting deep sleep until it wore off at about 6am. I'm hoping that my recovery continues and that I can start exercising more vigorously in the coming days. I miss running and cycling!

Eating well still:

Breakfast: Oatmeal and a chicken breast.

Lunch: Spicy Tuna Rolls (sushi)

Wishing I was playing Hooky!

Morning Weight: 185.8lbs.

I am sitting at home today because I am still sick. I wish I was staying at home playing hooky! Speaking of Hooky, I looked up hooky in Wikipedia, and they came back with the following terms: bunking off, bobbing, wagging, dogging (Scotland), skiving, beaking (Northern Ireland) or Mitching, going on the hop or going on the lang or "mitching" or "going on the mitch",playing hooky, jigging, ditching, skipping, pipping, sluffing, dipping, kidding, cutting class or a self-motivated field trip, bunking, cutting class, pawning, poning, sculling,wagging, bunking, ditching or jigging.

I had no idea there were so many words for it! Well in any case, I am not Mitching… I am staying at home drinking Chamomile tea and keeping the Kleenex company in good business.

Being Sick Sucks

I've been sick now since last Thursday, and this evening I really feel nasty. The thing is, I understand in the middle of winter when I am run down why I get sick…my defenses are down. But in the middle of summer, when I've been getting plenty of sleep and I've been eating well? I guess that my immune system must have relaxed and then caught a bug. I'm feeling really lazy because of it…I haven't had any good exercise in days…not that I have the energy to exercise vigorously, but I feel lazy for it. It seems that once I had made all sorts of plans to race in different races, that's when I got sick…right when my motivation was at its highest. What a bummer. I'm sure that I'll be fine again by the weekend.

Lunch today: Pho Soup with Steak and Flank

Dinner: Grilled Chicken over salad with green beans and kidney beans and a mustard vinaigrette dressing. Also one skinny cow Chocolate ice cream sandwhich (yum).

And I'm still under for my calorie goal, so I should see what else there is! J

Back on Track

Morning Weight: 185.8 lbs

After a day off the diet on Saturday I returned to my better ways yesterday, and I'm happy with my overall results for the week: 2.2 lbs lost. Considering it was a week where I was sick for most of it and didn't do much in the way of exercise, I'm pleased that for the most part I was able to restrain myself and stick to the diet. It is a bit hard when I don't exercise, because my net calorie target of 1800 is quickly reached.

Anyway it's Monday morning and it really feels like it. Although I slept 9 hours last night I still feel very tired and I'm still sick. I do truly regret bragging to a coworker that I hadn't gotten sick in a long time. She had just taken a week of sick leave with Strep Throat. While I do not have Strep, there must be something else going around- there are plenty of people who have been sick lately.

Breakfast:

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal

1 Morningstar Farms Veggie Sausage Patty

Never go to a party hungry

Morning Weight: 188lbs

I went to a party yesterday afternoon to celebrate Seattle's Seafair and watch the Blue Angels perform their show over Lake Washington. The view was fantastic and I took a ton of great photos. The only problem is that I showed up to the party hungry. So I grazed the entire afternoon. I know I went way past my caloric limit for the day, but I'm right back on to the plan today. No parties and no grazing today. I also know that the change in weight today is water weight gain, so I'll drop it again over the next few days.  

Weekend is here

Morning Weight: 186.2 lbs

I spent the better part of yesterday sleeping. I'm still not feeling great today, but better than yesterday and the day before. I came home around 1:15 yesterday and by 1:30pm I was asleep. I slept until 4:45, read email (only three had come in all afternoon, so I'm glad I didn't just hang out at work!), played some X-box, watched a Sopranos episode and then Lane came back from the gym. During this time I was (mostly) not eating, which is definitely a change in behavior for me…normally I would have been munching on something. We went out to a friend's improv show last night and then came back and went to bed and slept for another 8 hours. So yeah, my day yesterday consisted of sleeping!

Today I'm going to attempt some exercise, albeit light. I'll ride a stationary bike for an hour and see how that feels. Not the three hour bike ride that I had scheduled for me today, but there's no way I have the energy to complete that today.

Breakfast:

• Oatmeal
  
• Morningstar Farms Veggie Sausage Patty.

Finally

Morning weight: 186.2lbs

After spending most of the week at the same weight, I finally saw a difference when I stepped on the scale this morning. I think Lane's theory about me retaining water was true. I'm still feeling kind of crappy, so no exercise again for today. (it felt like exercise this morning just walking up the stairs in my house!) I am going to go home early today and take a nap again this afternoon- that definitely helped yesterday. Of course with the road of the Blue Angels practicing for their weekend Seattle Seafair performance, I may not get much sleep!

Breakfast today:

• Oatmeal
  
• Morningstar Farm Sausage Patty
  

Lunch: Pho Soup (eating as I write here)

Still Steady

Morning Weight: 187.8lbs

OK, many people have now commented to me that I shouldn't weigh myself every day because it will be discouraging. However, the fact is that since Monday (57% of a week) my weight has essentially not changed. I can certainly understand day by day fluctuations or lack thereof, but it seems strange to me that for four days my weight has not budged. I know that I have not been over-eating as I have measured my calories and know that I'm coming in at or under target. The biggest unknown for me every day is the Pho soup with Steak and Flank I eat for lunch. I think I've made a reasonable estimate for it calorically, but maybe not.

I have two theories, one supplied by Lane. She thinks that I am losing weight but at the same time retaining water from having too much sodium in my diet. This is certainly plausible… Although I have been tracking sodium, I haven't counted a few things like the beef broth or 1-2 dill pickles I have in the evening. The calories in both are very very low, but Lane is right…the sodium is not. So that could be one explanation.

The second explanation has to do with something Michael said to me on Monday- when your body is recovering from a hard workout (or several) water is stored to help the muscles heal. I had intense workouts on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, so maybe my body is still recovering. I still feel a slight soreness in my legs from Tuesday's run, so that may be.

In any case, I will make some efforts today to avoid sodium…I'll have a salad for lunch and some lean meat and veggies for dinner with no salt. Then I'll see if there's a difference tomorrow. I'll keep to my calorie goals, but just try to eat differently.

Breakfast today:

• Grilled Chicken (I had made it a few days ago and didn't want it to spoil)-3 oz
  
• Slice of 12 grain toast.
  

 

The other thing that's going on with me today is that I started to feel like I was coming down with something last night- I have a ringing in my ears and a sore/phlegmy throat (boy didn't you just want to know all that!)… I'll take today off and try to head home early from work to get some extra rest… I would like to kick whatever this is quickly.

Nice Rest Day

The end of a nice rest day... it was nice to not have to exercise today, though the downside was having to spend 1 hour in traffic. But at least we carpooled so we could chat on the way home. 

For Lunch I had my traditional Pho soup with Steak and Flank and a banana. My snack was an apple and a half portion of almonds. 

For dinner, I was lazy, but kept to my goals. I had a Lean Cuisine Lasagna with meat sauce. Delicious. I also had a bag of popcorn and a popsicle. I entered all of this into Calorie King and I was 104 calories under target and very well balanced in terms of carbs, proteins and fats, without going over on any of them. 

Upcoming Races

One of the major reasons I want to reduce my weight (beyond just the "I'm Too fat" reasons) is that I want to regularly enter some races. Thus, the lighter I am the less pounding on my legs and knees during the race and the faster I will be. I already ran the Vancouver half marathon this year, but that was at my current weight and on a cold rainy day where I was not wearing clothing appropriate to a cold, rainy day. So I've entered a few races and am looking forward to even more.

The two I've signed up for thus far:

• Covey Run 10K in Woodinville, WA on August 18
  
• Victoria Half Marathon in Victoria, Canada on October 7
  

I'm getting excited at the prospect of running a PR half marathon in Victoria…I would have to beat a time of 1:52. My Vancouver time was I think around 2:06. I ran a 1:59 with almost no training in January 2006 (at my current weight-ish), so getting back to 1:52 seems feasible.

Races are funny because every time I sign up for one I get very excited to run it. Then on race day as I drag my butt out of bed at some "ungodly hour" (to quote my Mom)I think to myself, completely bleary-eyed, "Why did I ever sign myself up to do this?" But by the time I start running I know why. But then when I'm done and feeling miserably sore and cold (like in Vancouver this year) I start thinking again why I had signed up for the torture. You can ask Lane- I even told her to remind me of how I was feeling after Vancouver the next time I had the idea to sign up for a race. But two hours later I had already started voicing interest in signing up for the next race.

No Movement

Morning Weight: 187.6lbs

 

For the second morning my weight has not budged (ok 0.2 lbs, but that's negligible). Seems very strange to me, because I almost never weigh exactly the same from day to day, but I guess that's how it goes. I did sleep fairly well last night, but I am still very sore from my Monday workout. Two days after a rough workout seems to be the peak of soreness, so I should be better tomorrow, especially since this is a rest day.

Even with my attempts last night to have a smaller dinner, it was still the largest (Calorically) meal of the day. And despite my attempt to consume more carbs during the day, the dinner I had was still protein heavy and thus kept my overall balance fairly the same. So today I am going to start the day the same way, with the same breakfast and lunch, and then I'm going to try to eat some veggies for dinner with very little meat to keep the protein down. I also want to go from a 700 calorie dinner to more like a 450 calorie dinner. And I need to increase fiber.

Breakfast:

• 1 Morningstar Farm Veggie Sausage Patty
  
• 1 Slice of Orowheat 12 grain bread
  
• 1 tablespoon of lowfat peanut butter
  
• 1 packet of Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal
  

 

OK, now I need to get to work…

Worn Out

I ran a speed workout today. Where I was supposed to do 6 x 0.5miles at 8min/miles, I only was able to do 5, but that's still one more than last week. As the day progressed I was more and more sore from my workout yesterday so that by the time I did my run I was really sore. My hamstrings are always tight and today was no different. But I am going to try to alleviate that by stretching more during the day. I stretched my hamstrings twice during the day so that did help a bit. 

Anyway, I'm dead tired now and looking forward to my rest day tomorrow. It will be very nice to sit back after work! 

Diet wise I did well today, though I was trying to take in a bit more carbs and I'm not there yet.

Lunch: Pho Soup with Steak and Flank and a banana. 

Afternoon Snack: half-serving of almonds and apple juice.

Dinner: Lettuce, Grilled Chicken, Chickpeas, rice, olive oil. 

Total consumed today: 1854 calories. (gross, not net of exercise)

Holding Steady

Morning weigh in: 187.4 lbs

My weight this morning is exactly the same as it was yesterday morning despite a heavy exercise day. I'm ok with that…I'm sure that I consumed a lot of water yesterday and that not all of it has made its way through my system just yet. I had another good night of sleep, so that will help me with today and with my exercise this evening. Speaking of which, its speed day again which means that I'll be doing a 15 minute warm-up followed by 6x 0.5 Miles at 8min/mile pace with 2 mins rest in between. Then a 15 minute cool down. This is an increase of two speed repeats over last week's speed day, which went very well, so let's see how I hold up under the pressure today!

I'm going to make a conscious effort to eat a bit more carbs today than I have been. On average over the past week I have netted out with 40% of calories from carbs, 30% from fat and 30% from protein. That's fine if I'm not exercising heavily, but on heavy days I will need to bring my carbs up. So I started this morning with a little bit bigger of a breakfast than I have been doing. My dinners, while healthy, tend to be late (after 8pm) and so I am going to try to eat smaller dinners, which means my breakfast and lunch consumption will have to increase a bit.

So for breakfast this morning:

• 1 Morningstar Farms Veggie Sausage patty
  
• Quaker Instant Oatmeal – Apple and Cinnamon
  
• 1 slice of 12grain bread toasted
  
• 1 tablespoon of reduced fat Jif Crunchy peanut butter
  

So far this morning I still feel full, despite having eaten about three hours ago. Normally by three hours post meal, I'm getting hungry, so the addition of toast with Peanut Butter obviously had a good effect (in terms of keeping me going). I'll have to think about what I add to my lunch since I normally have the Vietnamese Pho soup, which is really healthy and tasty. Maybe I'll add a slice of bread for extra carbs, or some fruit…but the fruit in the cafeteria here lately has not been great. Maybe apple juice… any thoughts out there for some extra carbs for lunch??

GREAT workout today!

I worked out with my trainer Michael and then did a 40 minute bike ride on the stationary bike, and it felt absolutely great. My energy level is up, and my recovery time is decreasing. In fact, I was only going to do 30 minutes on the bike and I felt so good I kept adding time because I wanted to keep listening to my tunes! Finally I realized that if I didn't stop I would be eating dinner at midnight, which would not be conducive to sleeping well.

I ate very well again today.

Breakfast: one Morningstar Veggie Sausage Patty and Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal

Lunch: Vietnamese Pho Soup (Steak & Flank Steak with rice noodles)

Snack: Almonds and Apple Juice

Dinner: Broccoli, Chicken, Salad, Rice, olive oil.

Daily Photo

I've been taking a (almost) daily photo to document my weight loss. I posted my first photo of a week ago and then also my Friday photo right after I chopped my hair off. It seems to me that there is a noticeable difference in the photos, but in reality I was only down about 2 pounds at that point. I think it has to do with the angle at which the photo was taken as well as the lighting conditions. So from here on out, I will only be taking photos of myself from my good side! J

One Week In

Morning Weigh-in: 187.4 lbs

So now I am back in the weight range that I was in early June. So put it this way, if I had paid better attention throughout June/early July, I would have started my renewed weight loss efforts at this weight. Well, in any case, it's been a good week overall, and I'm settling in to some much better habits. Even if Saturday was a bit off the norm for what I should be doing, it's still way better than what a typical weekend would have been. And I got right back into the groove for Sunday with a healthy breakfast, a two hour bike ride (after the rain ended) and then Lane and I went to "The Harvest Vine"- a Spanish Tapas restaurant in our neighborhood. The good thing with that restaurant is the small size plates and the fact that they are delicious. We started with a small plate of Serrano Ham very thinly sliced. Then we had a demi-tasse (very small glass) of gazpacho soup. It really was about three sips worth…just enough for a nice taste. Then a fresh beefsteak tomato sliced incredibly thin with olive oil, vinegar and garlic (a bit too much garlic for me). Then we had two hot tapas: Atlantic Cod and Duck breast over potato. The two hot plates had about three bites for each of us, which was perfect to get a great taste, but not overdo it. Although the Harvest Vine has a fantastic wine list of reds, whites and sparkling wine from all over Spain, we stayed with water. A perfect dinner to end the weekend. Had I not done the two hours of cycling, it would have been a bit too high in calories, but not terribly so…it was probably 700 calories.

Now to settle into week 2: I started well with a good breakfast, so I'm on the right track.

Saturday Slip

Morning Weigh in: 188.0lbs

It's now Sunday and I guess it feels a little bit like Catholic confession on Sunday… I did slip yesterday, though not in a terrible way. Yesterday was one of those great Seattle summer days. The temperature was in the low to mid 70s. We went to see the Seattle Mariners beat the Oakland A's. As with any ballgame, there's an abundance of ballpark food and drink. At least I chose the best ballpark food I could- I had a grilled chicken sandwich and I chose the least calorie/alcohol content beer available: Miller Light. I didn't eat all of the Kaiser roll that the chicken came on, so I did save a bit there. But here's a beef I have with the concession stand- the sign clearly states "Grilled Chicken Sandwich with Fries". It did not say "Grilled Chicken with Cheese…" In fact they only put one miserable slice of swiss cheese on it…. I couldn't even TASTE it! So why do I have to consumer the stupid calories if I can't even taste it. Believe me, if I'm going to splurge, I darn well want to taste it!!! By the way, I threw away most of the fries.

So far, the day was going ok…not really a slip yet. But the day was young. We went to a BBQ at our neighbor's house for dinner. I did resist the tasty hummus and pita bread (I did take a little nibble for taste) but that was about the only self-restraint I exhibited. At least foodwise, the stuff I was consuming was healthy- steak, salmon and greek salad. It was the fact that I had beer and wine (not a ton, but enough to regret it) that ruined my overall day of self-restraint.

Now looking outside its kind of a typical rainy Seattle day. Usually, we don't have rainy days in summer, so it must be due to global warming/el nino/la nina/rabid penguins/overspending in the dept of education/pick your excuse here. I don't know how I'm going to get my 2hr bike ride in…guess I'll just get wet.

**Duh**

I had one of those "duh" moments today as I went out on my run. It occurred to me about half a mile in that I was feeling great. My heart rate was lower than normal for the same effort/speed. I hit a hill and although my heart rate climbed, it peaked at about 163 as opposed to 175 which is what it normally does on that hill. So I started to think what was different. I normally run that course on Saturday or Sunday mornings, so the timing was not the difference. The difference is that I've had two great nights of restful sleep. I didn't have any beer or wine last night…although the night before a run I may not overdo it on beer or wine, the fact is that with even a few glasses of either I just don't get as restful sleep.

The other difference is that I ate very healthy for the last few days consistently. Its not like I eat bad stuff all the time, but when I do, I tend to do it on the weekends, starting Friday night.

I knew that eating and drinking has adverse effects on how I feel in general and in particular when I exercise. But seeing it on my heart rate monitor really made me think to myself.. "well, DUH!"

Saturday is here

Weigh in: 190.0lbs

First thought was disappointment that I only lost 0.2 lbs last night when I know I did well on my diet and came in at 1700 calories. But then I remembered that I did not do any exercise yesterday so it really was a day where I was about 600 calories below my basal metobolic rate, so the 0.2 lbs makes more sense in that context. I shouldn't be retaining water anymore...my sodium intake has been good and I've not eaten any junkfood or had any alcohol- two thing that can assist in water retention. 

The reason I am concerned with water retention is due to my elevated blood pressure. Because of that there's something about my body that tends to retain water any time I do not eat healthy. So if I gain a pound or two overnight (as I have done), I know its due to water retention and then that's  a great clue to me that something was not right food-wise the day before. 

TGIF-Night

At long last...Friday night! What better way to start the weekend than to get a haircut. Or rather cut it yourself with the help of your fiancee. I'm figuring that's at LEAST a pound! 

I still have 300 calories to go for today and I've already had dinner. While that sounds good, I just don't know what to eat that's healthy... I guess I could just have a little bit more chicken and rice, but that's boring. I could take spoonful of Nutella, but we don't keep any of that around. A glass of wine would do the trick, but I don't want to go there. 

So I'll just sit here and dream of different options. 

Oh and one major accomplishment from today: I had a team meeting today and we were celebrating a colleague's 10th year anniversary with the company. So for this celebration there was a MAJOR spread of food and wine and beer.... there was hummus as well as two other dips, and pita bread, chicken on skewers, all sorts of fruit dipped in chocolate, red wine, white wine, corona.... And the reason I am bringing this up is that I exhibited a HUGE amount of willpower and had NONE of it!! I resisted! I can't even believe it myself- all that free food and drink and I walked away from it!

Here was the menu for today:

Lunch: Pho Soup (steak and flank with rice noodles)

Dinner: Salad with rice and chicken and dijon dressing and two popsicles. 1400 out of 1700 calories consumed. 

Welcome Rest Day

Morning Weigh in: 190.2lbs

Things I am excited about today:

• It's a rest day for me. My legs are feeling like very heavy butter (they are hard to lift and feel like they are not as rock solid as usual!). No running or cycling for me tonight as I rest up for my weekend activities.
  
• I got a great 9 hours of solid deep sleep last night. Usually I wake up numerous times in the night…last night it was only once, at 4am and I went right back to sleep. After two days of poor sleep, I needed it. (apologies for all you permanently sleep deprived people out there… I am not someone who can get by on 6 hours)
  
• The kitchen is a mess, but the housecleaning service comes tomorrow and so they can wash the dishes (it's the little things in life that make me happy).
  
• The weekend is here and its going to be a great weekend- we're going to play tennis, go to see the Mariners stop their 7 game losing streak and start working toward capturing the AL West, cycle and finally veg out! (Oh and a weekend BBQ with the neighbor to boot!)
  
• I did well on my diet overall this week. Now to remain true to it over the weekend…
  
• I ate breakfast this morning- helping to reinforce a positive trend this week of eating a healthy breakfast to start my day.

Sleep

It occurs to me that sleep is really important (yes I am a bit slow for a almost 38 year old). What I mean by that is that I slept horribly the last two nights and it had a major effect on my run today. What was supposed to be a nice easy warmup and then three hill repeats turned into a nightmare run only 2 miles in. Before I even got to the hill... I was exhausted and feeling a complete loss of energy. It wasn't my food intake- I did well again today...I really think it was the sleep catching up with me. 

Lunch today: Pho

Snack: Almonds and Apple Juice

Dinner: Salad with Celery, rice, and chicken with olive oil, dijon mustard and vinegar dressing. 

Desert: Dreyer's fruit bar

What comes around….

…goes around. Morning weight: 191.4

This is the effect of cheating on Tuesday night… it takes some time for the body to catch up and so that's what I'm experiencing today. Water retention due to Tuesday night activities and a bit too much sodium in yesterday's diet. I'm not concerned about it, I'm still in the fine-tuning stage and will get the kinks worked out of the system. This is also why weighing yourself every day can be overkill… It makes you feel really good when you drop, but on days when you remain steady or gain back a little bit, it can be demotivational. I'm not going to let it demotivate me today, however. I know that I did a good job on my diet and exercise yesterday and I'm confident that that will be reflected in tomorrow morning's weight.

Hill repeats this afternoon (running). I haven't run hill repeats in several years at this point. (I've run rolling hill courses, but just not hill repeats).

Oh and I ate breakfast this morning, so I did the right thing to get the day going…just had to get up )#$*&(& early to do that!

Beautiful Summer Seattle Day

Today was an absolutely beautiful sunny Seattle summer day... the temperature was in the mid 70s and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. I took advantage by going on a two hour bike ride this evening on the Sammamish River trail. My legs were a bit tired from my half mile speed repeats on the treadmill yesterday, so I kept my bike in a relatively low gear and just spinned faster without a lot of resistance. Starting from Marymoor park I headed north directly into the wind. I didn't realize how strong the wind was until I turned around at the halfway point. My speed on the way back was about 4mph faster with my heart rate lower than the first part of the ride. All in all, a great ride. 

Food-wise I had a great day with the exception that I skipped breakfast again. I slept too late and had a 9am meeting. I was going to get some fruit and a hard-boiled egg at the work cafe, but I pulled into the garage at 8:55AM, so no time to eat. 

I had my traditional lunch of Pho soup and had a small filet mignon with rice and peas for dinner. I also had a serving of Hamburger Helper Cheeseburger Macaroni that my fiancee made.

I'm way below on my calorie count for today, but I'm feeling full, so I'm not planning on eating any more this evening. 

There goes the water

Check-in this morning: Weight: 190.4

That's down two pounds from yesterday. One pound equals 3500 calories, so clearly I burned off 7000 calories yesterday. Well not quite… This is the fun part of the diet. As I become more conscious of what I eat, I am eating healthier. As that happens my body releases stored water and that water weighs a lot. From past experience, my body can sometimes store up to 4-5 pounds of water, so its not inconceivable for me to lose a few more pounds rapidly. After that I will have to remain strict on my diet to continue to lose, and it will be interesting to see how much I lose on a daily/weekly basis once I've shed the rest of the water weight. Also from past experience, it only takes one night of poor eating habits to gain back the water weight, so no cheating on the diet!!

Black is Slimming

By the way, black is known as the slimming color (even though it is not a color), so that's why I chose this theme! J

End of a decent day

With exercise today I have used 1246 of 1849 calories. The good thing about that is that we went out to celebrate Lane's birthday and we made a conscious decision that we would not worry about our diets for one night. I know those of you who are reading this are going to say that this is one day after the diets started, and I agree that its bad timing. However, given that this will one day be a National Holiday (much as the 9^th of August will be as well) we decided it was OK. So even with going out to a delicious Italian restaurant in our neighborhood, we still managed to do well . Part of that is because I had an awesome day at the gym. Today was my first speed workout, and I did 4 X .5 mile repeats, and as I was driving home with Lane I commented that I felt great…sort of like I had an exercise buzz.

Anyway, dinner was great, I did cheat on my alcohol restrictive diet, but that's a one day thing I am confident and I think I will be on track . tomorrow morning when I weigh in, I may not be as optimistic, but I will at least understand why I didn't lose more than I wanted.

By the way, the rest of the day, I did very well- I had a very healthy salad for lunch which had some protein, but only a tiny bit of olive oil for fat. I had almonds and apple juice for lunch… a good combination of healthy fats, protein and carbs.

Popcorn- Deceptive Treat

Weigh-in this morning: 192.2lbs.

 

That's right folks, I've lost 20% of a pound. Woo hoo. I'm unexcited…doing the math, 20% of 1 pound equals 700 calories. That would mean that I ran a calorie deficit of 700 calories yesterday to reduce by 20% of a pound. However, I know that I actually ran much more than that given that I exercised for 45 minutes which was around 400-500 calories, and I ate around 1300 calories yesterday. I would have to eat around 2200-2400 calories a day to stay even, so that would indicate that I'm at a deficit of 1600 calories for yesterday. But of course it doesn't quite work like that. Several factors come in to play.

 

Like Popcorn. Evil Popcorn. So low in calories. So pleasing to the palate. Tempting Popcorn. I had two bags of it last night for a grand total of 60 calories. Its low in calories, its not high in sodium… BUT it absorbs water like nobody's business, so looking at the scale this AM I had the demotivational .2 pounds to deal with.

 

Experts would probably tell me that this is why you shouldn't weigh yourself everyday.

Fifteen Percent Loss Club

15% is the percent of my current weight that I want to lose. That equates to 30lbs. I have tried to lose weight for two years now, with no success. I lose a bit here and there, but invariably I gain it right back and even more. So this blog will keep me honest... I will record my daily intake and exercise and much more. 

This time I know it will be different. I will hopefully hit my goal weight sometime in October, and my plan is to continue to document my intake and exercise to maintain that weight. It will take some sacrifice, but its all about knowing why I failed in the past. So why did I fail? 

• I assumed if I increased my exercise, I wouldn't have to adjust my food intake. Wrong. On a recent week I put in 10 hours of cardio (most pretty intense) and STILL gained weight!
• I told myself that I can start next week. After two years of that, its clear that next week is not the right time to start..
• I like savory muchies - chips, dip etc.... I know that this has contributed to way overeating. 

For the next month I will kickstart this diet by consuming no chips/dip or other high-calorie/high salt muchies. I also will give up alcohol entirely for the next month to reduce the empty calories that I have been consuming. Every little bit will help!

Let's start with today... I was good today- I consumed less than my 1800 calorie daily goal and I ate pretty healthy food at that. I had Vietnamese Pho soup for lunch, some apple juice as a snack and a healthy salad with tuna, and some popcorn for desert. The one thing I didn't do today which was a major weight-loss faux-pas is I didn't have any breakfast. I got home late last night and so I was dead tired this morning and prioritized sleep over breakfast. 

For exercise today I ran for 45 minutes at the gym...a good workout with my heart rate in the right zone for a longer run. 

I started today at 192.4 lbs...that MUST be the highest reading I see in the next 3 months (and thereafter!)