A new record (and not a good one)

After a several month hiatus, I am back. I stepped on the scale this morning and I am quite surprised that it didn't break. I am now officially the heaviest I have ever been, and I do not feel good about that. Of course I totally understand why I got to where I am, but that doesn't help matters. I knew I would not like the results already- I have been feeling the gain in all my clothing- none of it fits well anymore and that makes things quite uncomfortable.

So I am back to tracking calories in Calorie king. I am back to watching what I eat and following some simple rules on eating: measure my portions, eat natural foods like fruits and veggies, do not eat out much, do not eat bad snack items like chips etc… Its no wonder after three straight weeks of basically eating out that I would have gained so much, but now I need to buckle down. My new motto is : "Put the fork down, fatboy!" J

Need to start being serious about exercise too. This weekend I didn't do any exercise whatsoever. I guess it doesn't help that the weather in Seattle was miserable, but that shouldn't prevent me from going to the gym after all! So no more lying around. Hopefully next week at this time I'll have something positive to write…

Chugging along

I've been very good this week thus far so here's hoping that will continue. I've had salads for lunch the last two days, which have kept the calories down and yet they are very tasty. Yesterday I went to the gym and did 30 minutes on the cycle, 30 minutes on the stepmill and then strength trained for 60 minutes. Let me tell you, the stepmill is about the most boring piece of cardio equipment you could ever hope to work out on. It took a lot of willpower to finish those 30 minutes…even with 4 minutes left in my 30 minute routine I was soooooo tempted just to jump off and call it a half hour…but I persisted. The good news is that on my schedule I only have to do the stepmill one time each week, so I think I will be able to manage it.

I'm getting a new attitude about working out and weight loss. I spend a LOT of money each month to get personal training sessions that are really excellent. However, in the past few years I have basically negated that by over-indulging on the weekends and when I travel. I need to view the personal training as an investment, for which I should expect a positive return. I haven't been viewing them that way, and reminding myself that they are an investment can hopefully help me out when I get a craving to eat or drink something I don't need. Yesterday in our coffee/kitchen area at work someone had left chocolate covered pretzels and someone else left three packages of Japanese rice crackers. I was very tempted, but then I remembered the Ellen Degeneres on TV saying "What….like you aren't going to be able to have this food whenever you want?" … So I left them alone.

Chamomile Tea at 2AM

I woke up at around 1:15 this morning after almost four hours of sleep. I had a nightmare about a dog attacking me that I just really couldn't shake. Then of course my mind started to race with all sorts of thoughts- about work, about the wedding... about everything. Why is it that when all you want to do is sleep your mind doesn't cooperate? After 45minutes of laying there completely awake I decided to get up and make some chamomile tea. I really hope that this will make me drowsy again.... I want to get back to sleep. There's only so much mundane websurfing you can do at 2:30 AM! Maybe I should count sheep...

Rest Day

I went to the gym yesterday and set up my January cardio schedule with my trainer. Since it is January, I fully expect the gym to once again become way overcrowded, especially early in the week. So I am taking Mondays off, since that's the worst day of the week. I'm strength training on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the evening, and that's going to be tough with the crowds. I think I'll go to the gym in the early morning on those days to get my cardio in… Yesterday I did 70 minutes on the indoor cycle. The first 50 minutes were at my normal resistance (13) and then I dialed it up to 15/16 for ten minutes. After almost an hour of cycling, that was pretty tough, but I made it through...so I'm glad that today is a rest day on my legs. Between the cycling and the workout on Friday, my legs are TIRED!

Maybe I’m NOT in good shape!

Yesterday I went to the gym to go for a run. The good news is that makes three cardio sessions this week. The bad news is that I did not feel great on my run yesterday…I had hoped to run 45 minutes but I could barely muster 30 minutes. I may not have eaten well yesterday because I definitely felt weak at the end of the 30 minutes…not just tired. Well, that's alright…as long as I remain consistent and keep exercising on a daily basis I'm sure that I will get my cardio shape back quickly…its not like its been THAT long since I've done consistent cardio. I'm about to head to the cafeteria for lunch now and I think I will make a large healthy salad for myself. Looks like its sushi tonight so overall a good day of healthy eating! Now on to the weekend and hopefully my willpower will continue!

2008

Well, now its 2008 and its that time of year when I put down on paper some ideas for the new year. I have not achieved my goals for weight, so this seems like a great time to redouble my efforts and re-commit myself to losing weight. The good news is that I am still in great shape overall…I can run for miles, I can cycle for hours, I have a solid cardio base. However, I can use some work when it comes to muscle conditioning and overall weight.

So now that it is January here is my plan:

1. Eat sensible lunches and dinners. For lunch I will have either a salad or the Vietnamese Pho soup from the cafeteria. For dinner, I will be eating 3-6 ounces of lean meat (lean beef, chicken, fish), fresh vegetables and salad. No beer, wine or alcohol for the time being. No junk food, no crackers, no cheese, no chips, no dips, no fried food, no bacon/egg sandwiches…. I will be eating enough healthy foods so that I shouldn't be hungry, and I know that after a week of doing this I will begin to have fewer cravings for the bad stuff… the first week is always the most difficult. Most important will be the weekends since that is when I tend to binge and eat/drink the wrong things at the wrong amounts.
   
2. Exercise- minimum 5 days a week cardio including a balance of running and cycling (indoor for now). Minimum 2 days/week of strength training…. Even if meeting a trainer is not possible for both those sessions, I have to commit myself to going into the gym and strength train on my own. I have been doing so for years, so I do know a number of excellent strength training exercises…I just need to do them.
   

That's it…this is not a complicated plan, nor do I need a complicated plan. I just need to follow the plan carefully and consciously.

I do not know my starting weight today, and that's not important. I know I must have gained weight in December due to travel/lack of exercise/eating. I'm going to give myself a week to shed the initial water weight before weighing myself…that way I won't get overexcited at the loss of several pounds in the first week only to cheat on my diet after that first week. What will count will be solid consistent weight loss in the weeks after the first week. So essentially, whatever I weight next Wednesday will be the starting point for my tracking.

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!