Day 6 & 7

The weekend is here and though it has been fun and relaxing I haven't done much in the way of working out or eating right. Yesterday Felicia and I went to see the Purge at the Warren Theater. They have a balcony which serves food during the movie. I ordered a cocktail and a very cheesy chicken quesadilla followed by a turkey, cranberry and brie sandwich with fries.

At Plaza Towers Elementary School

After the movie we went to check out the tornado devastation around Plaza Tower's Elementary School. Felicia got a T-shirt. I got to check out a clients old home which, amazingly, still stood with major damage but it wasn't wiped clean off the foundation like their neighbors houses.


Something needs to give. I'd be lucky if I lost a pound this week. Honestly, I feel as though I may have gained weight. Zachary woke up at 6:00 a.m. this morning and I'm kicking myself for not using that opportunity to go for a run. Instead, I went back to bed for another hour and a half. There are 83 days left in this journey and I need to make the most of each and every one.

Day 5

Today was a decent day. I woke up early (only hitting the snooze once) and got outside for a short run. Stopped off in a local church parking lot and did some power jumps, pushups, mountain climbers, and high knees, then ran/walked back home.

I didn't eat good today. Felicia and I had Red Baron pizza and some custard from a local place down the street. That's the problem with Oklahoma. There are too many food options. When we visit family in Pennsylvania or in Florida there aren't half the options there are here. Within one mile of our home there are 3 Mexican restaurants, 4 Asian Restaurants, a doughnut shop, McDonalds, KFC, Raising Cains, Burger King, Sonic Drive-In, the custard place, 3 pizza places, Long John Silvers, a BBQ place, a cookie shop, a cafe, 3 sub sandwich places, and a Jamba Juice. All but 2 of those places I just listed exist on the same intersection. It's ridiculous!

I finished the day with some weight lifting. Mostly dumbbell curls and triceps extensions. It won't counteract the calories I took in but at least it's something active. Here's to the weekend!

 

Reasons to get healthy

Usually you can find me slumped on the floor with the ipad or laying about watching some TV or a movie or even playing a few hours worth of video games. This habit of laziness coupled with poor eating habits is what has made me fat. It's also made me a lot of other things. I snore horribly loud. I suffer from acid reflux which sometimes gets so bad at night that it wakes me up, gagging for air, and eventually throwing up. My back hurts after laying flat on it or on my stomach. Felicia says it might be because of my large gut pressing on things. I have little to no energy at the end of the day. My flexibility (which was pretty impressive 10 years ago) is at a level so low I can barely bend over to touch my knees without feeling a burn in my legs, back, or sides.

Besides what I am affected by currently, there are a host of concerns that may appear in the future; notably, diabetes and heart disease. But despite all that there is one big reason for me to get healthy, this guy...

That's my son. He's almost a year old and getting more active by the day. The biggest reason to get healthy it to be there for him. I want to be active and play outdoors, sports, play fighting, etc with him. I don't want him to suffer through childhood watching his father get sick from things I should have controlled. I want him to have a good example of how to have healthy habits and control your cravings. And most of all I don't want to leave him because I was too stupid and lazy to have saved my life. Every other reason to lose weight is superficial to this.

Day 4

Well, I slept in this morning.

I had my shoes, socks, shorts, and shirt waiting for me. The weather was beautiful. I was semi-well rested. And I didn't hear the alarm clock go off. Four days have passed and I haven't had a good workout yet. Something needs to change. I need a swift kick in the butt. I'm going to work out tonight. This is what I'm going to force myself to do:

Super Set ONE
Pushups: 5 x 10
Burpees: 5 x 5

Super Set TWO
Goblet Squat: 3 x 10
Dumbbell Curl to Overhead Press: 3 x 10

Dumbbell Twenty Ones: 1x




 UPDATE: I did this!

Day 3

The third day has passed and I managed to exercise a little bit more than yesterday. I think the problem is that when I wake up I find it harder to get dressed and put my shoes on than it is to simply roll back into bed and sleep another half hour. I'm going to do a little experiment. I'm going to put my shorts, socks, shoes, and t-shirt right beside my bed so that when I wake up I won't have to go looking for anything. The next step will be getting outside. The last few mornings there have been thunderstorms that have kept me from going out. Tomorrow morning should be dry, mildly warm, and as long as I'm prepared I will have no excuse but to do some hard training.

I have to remind myself that regardless of how well or how horribly I stick to my diet and exercise that today is still day 3. Day 90 will come no matter how I do and once this is all over I can either be the man I want to be or I can be the same as I am today. I make that choice. I decide if I want to change or stay the same. It's a choice that I make every single morning and through my actions during the day. What I need to get better at is being more aware of the decisions I make.

BTW, I skipped breakfast again. Ate a healthy lunch and then had Chick-fil-a for dinner including a cookies and cream shake, and later a blue coconut slush from Sonic.  

Day 2 & A Comment on Training

Day 2 and I still haven't even begun to work out. I mean, I threw some punches into the air and did some small squats for about 10 minutes this morning but that was it. I find it difficult to get up when the alarm goes off. I find it just as difficult to move in the morning. This morning was particularly difficult for some reason. I stood there in front of the TV and sort of dozed off while standing. Then it was time to get ready for work.

Do I need a gym membership? I don't believe so. There is nothing in the gym that I cannot do on my own in the real world. Why run on a treadmill when the world is free to traverse? Why use machines to work on a crazy number of tiny isolated muscles when I can push, climb, and pull heavy objects in nature? When I think of the gym versus no gym I picture Rocky IV. Busting ass in a soviet barn, pulling rocks on chains, plowing snow, chopping wood, doing situps from rafters. Just the thought of it spikes my testosterone!

But there are mornings like this one, where it's raining outside and I'm just in too much of a slump to get moving. Surely a gym would motivate me. Surely I would get some work done. If I didn't go to a gym then what? There are a number of at home workout programs that promise amazing results. If the gym isn't for me then maybe one of them are? I've seen the infomercials for Insanity, P90X, TurboJam, Rockin Body, Asylum, Shakeology, JNLFusion, and DeltaFit. But do I need a program to follow at home? Yes, but I don't think it has to be one of these programs. I should be able to get the same results if I put forth the same intensity and this I believe is where the problem is: I'm not intense enough. Hell, right now my intensity is at 0 and I need to be at 11. Buying into a program won't correct this problem. I can give up easily either way.

Day 1

Today is officially Day ONE of my 90 day challenge to lose weight.

Here is how the breakdown should go:
Day 1: June 3rd: 217 lbs
Day 30: July 2nd: 198 lbs
Day 60: August 1st: 182 lbs
Day 90: August 31st: 165 lbs

Of course this timeline is very optimistic and I'll be lucky to even lose half the weight I plan to in that amount of time. Still, this is the goal and I will bust my ass to accomplish it.

Every transformation story needs a before picture. This is so embarrassing but necessary: here are my before pictures...

Last Bad Meal

Homemade Blueberry Sauce!

Today I start eating right. Today I will begin to eat light, healthy, nutrient rich foods. But before this I have to have my last bad meal. Everyone should be able to have one last night of extravagance, full of fatty and sugary foods. Unfortunately, every meal seems to be my "last bad meal". I wish that today I could have started eating right. I wish I could have said that the margarita queso chicken and shrimp from Applebee's with the sampler trio of beer cheese dip and pretzel sticks, BBQ boneless wings, sliders and fries from last night would have been my last horrible meal. I also wish I didn't start out the morning with a stack of pancakes and blueberry sauce, followed by snacking on brownie fudge ice cream and oatmeal raisin cookies, then chase that with lunch at McDonald's of three cheeseburgers and fries. I'll most likely end the day with some more ice cream and pizza. Felicia says we are addicted to bad food. That we have an eating disorder. I'm inclined to think this is true. How can we overcome this disgusting dependence on something we are utterly and truly dependent on?

Barriers to Progress

I'm calling this a pre-week, where I just get the feel for the idea of working out and eating right. I'm doing this so that I can ease myself into the 90 day challenge. It won't even last a full week--maybe I'll start my 90 days this Saturday or Sunday. If I started today or Monday I'd already feel like a failure from how pathetic my workout has been and from how horrible my diet has been. I'd have given up this journey too but this pre-week is also like a "cheat week"; a week of instant forgiveness and learning where the pitfalls are going to be and how I plan to work around them.

Already I see that temptation for bad food is great. At work co-workers will offer me thier unwanted fast food fries (and how can I resist when it's complimented with Raising Caine's sauce?). At this very moment there is a half a bar of chocolate with almonds sitting on my desk--a cheritable donation by a co-worker--and I am going to eat it. After I officially begin my 90 day challenge I won't be allowed to cave. I'll have to reject their leftovers. Potlucks will be veritable minefields of unknown calories I'll have to navigate. I won't always be at the office or be able to go home for lunch and will need to plan to eat in the vans. Fast food will be the most accessible at work.

Home won't be much easier either. I'll have to contend with daily fatigue pulling me away from making my own meal instead of eating out. The meals will be boring, bland, and uncomfortable; begging to be dressed up in butters, creams, and delicious fats. I'll fight with my wife over what horrible meal to make next, always pulling her from the same temptations I find myself lured by, hopeing she can drown out the siren's call just long enough for another day to pass. Will we be strong enough?

On Motivation

I see motivation as being the hardest thing about losing weight. It's dynamic, covering every action of the process. First one must have the motivation to get up, then to get dressed. Next is stepping outside and moving forward or just moving, period. I've awoken in the morning determined to go for a run only to slide back into bed and smash snooze a couple dozen times. I've even made it to getting dressed and ready for a run but back out last second, turn on the news, and zone out until it's time to get ready for work.

So how can I find the motivation to succeed in working out?

I've made the steps below to build and maintain motivation. I'll stick to it to see what works, what doesn't, and tweek it as time goes on.

Step 1: Create a journal to track progress

Step 2: Make your plans to lose weight public

Step 3: Find at least one supportive partner in the process

Step 4: Establish a set time and place for working out

Step 5: Have a plan for the work outs.

Step 6: Create a meal plan to follow so that you don't cheat

Step 7: Know what you will do in the event of illness or injury

Step 8: How will you plan for bad weather?

Step 9: Take up a fun, active sport or activity to stave off burnout

Step 10: Embrace the pain and hunger to come

Introduction

This is the beginning of a 90 day challenge to lose weight. If you have stumbled across this blog please visit back each week as I make the journey toward achieving my fitness goals.

I've decided to make this journal to give myself some accountability for my actions. I want to lose weight and for the past few years my actions have run counter to this desire. Currently I weigh 215.8 lbs which is considerably more than I should be. Ideally I would like to weigh 160 lbs. Hopefully by documenting my successes and troubleshooting my failures I can gain some motivation and steamroll some momentum toward finally defeating my weight problem. 

My plan is simple: eat right and exercise. This is what we always hear will make us lose weight. Intuitively it can be thought that the way I gained fat was by eating horribly and being lazy so doing the opposite of this would be the way to lose fat. Obviously there is a lot more to this but I don't want to get bogged down in complicated science.

Eat Right: Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. Limit fatty, sugary, and starchy foods. Take in enough proteins. Drink a lot of water.

Exercise: High Intensity Cardio 3x a week alternating with lifting weights 3x a week. Active rest on whichever day isn't cardio or weights.

Ideally I should be burning more calories through daily tasks and exercise than I consume throughout the day. Seems simple enough. Now the hard part is sticking to it...