The last 3 weeks

Weeks, 19, 20, 21 -

I did some traveling the past 3 weeks (was away from home for a total of 10 days). During this time, I tried to play by the rules...but only did an average job of eating right, hitting the gym, etc., etc.

Anyhow, during the past 3 weeks, I probably did B-/C+ job. Partially because there was no gym at my disposal most of the time and partially because I was in the mid-west (land of delicious comfort food) with no planned grocery shopping/recipes ready to go for the week. It was a little tough getting back into the swing of things last week, but I think I did a much better job leading up to the end of my 4-week arc.

Just as a reminder - I planned out 4 weeks of eating right, working out (with increasingly hard work outs), and whatnot - with out any weigh-ins. This last Saturday was the final day of the 4 weeks...and I weighed in at 190 lbs. So, I pretty much maintained the 30 lbs loss. Which isn't too bad for the average effort I put forth. I just don't want to be all fat-assy and whatever. Here's hoping I can stick with it.

Next up - a couple of weeks of interval training designed at hitting the FAT. There is still some left and the intervals make for a good way to bridge work out arcs. So, I started intervals last night.

Also, soccer was a good time this last weekend (missed 2 weeks w/ travel). This weekend was the last day of the session - with no new session in site - and we had 'play-off games. It was all set up like the first rounds of the world cup and we had to play a little round-robin action. This meant we had at least 6 games ahead of us. If we win, we play more. Unfortunately, we sucked rocks and lost ALL 6 GAMES! Wow, not so good. But whatever, I had a really good time and the guys on the team are a lot of fun. It was tough taking the loses, but was fun enough to make me want to keep playing.

FINALLY -
With the idea of making this whole thing a permanent life change, I will probably be winding down the blog real soon. I am going to put together some before/after pics and what not. So, for those of you that still care...stay tuned for the last update!

eeeeiiiigggghhhhtttteeeeeeeennnn

Holy crap-tasticical pain!

My freakin' body hurts...it hurts...it hurts...dang it. Two Saturday's ago, I only played one soccer game (my first in a while) and I was hurting after it. But nothing like this week. I am pretty sure that there isn't an inch of muscle fiber that doesn't feel like complete shit. This past week we played 3, 40 mintue games. I am feeling every step on the gym floor; every lunge for the ball; every kick; every knee in my thigh; and every run. Dang it I suck. To top it all off, all 3 games were against KIDS. Trying not to sound too old...but these really were kids. The first and last game (same team 2 games) our opponent probably averaged 15 years old...these kids couldn't even drive yet! The middle game the team average was probably 16. That is freaking crazy. These kids would not stop running. Unfortunatly for our team I am one of the youngest players...one dude's son was there and he is probably ~16 yrs old, but whatever. Everyone else is well into their 30s.

Regardless of how my body has felt since late Saturday, I can honestly say that I had a great time playing. Two Saturday's ago, I was a little caught up in getting used to the game (we play on a gym floor with a small-deflated ball...strange) and wasn't really having fun. This week, I was creating, making runs, and using a little more skill. It felt good. I even scored a goal and got about 3 or 4 assists. And a ton of exercise!

Now, how did I do last week with the *new* task-based goals? I think I did OK. I screwed up a couple of things, but I think overall I am on track. However, I do think I need to change one goal - the gym. I think 5 days a week just isn't going to happen. There is always something that knocks me out of a couple of days at the gym...last week it was my taxes...they screwed up Monday for me...and dinner plans. This week it will be travel...Maria and I are heading to KC to see family and friends. So, there is no way I am going to be hitting the gym over the weekend. Then next week, I am in Omaha, NE on business. I should be OK gym-wise as the hotel has an exercise room. But that following weekend, I am back in KC...so, no gym there either. Needless to say, I need to make the goal a little more realistic. So, I am (retroactively) knocking it back to 4 days a week.

Here are my results for last week:

1. FOOD
a/b/c. Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner - OK. I ate out 3 times last week for lunch, but none for breakfast and only 2 for dinner. Need to do better on lunch this week.
d. Snacks - Did terrible on the fruits. 3 days I had none, but did have carrots on those days. Nuts every day.
e. All meals (including eating out/ordering in) - I think all my meals were healthy, but one. Sunday I had this awesome "sandwich" from "Juniors" (a famous NYC deli/restuarant). It is called "Something Different" and is a pile of beef brisket between 2 potato pancakes - AH, it was good. Only ate 1/2 of it that night, the other 1/2 for lunch on Sunday, so that should've helped spread the calorie intake.
f. At least 8 cups of H2O per day - I am really good at drinking water during the week, but suck on the weekends...need to get better.

2. VITAMINS
Same as the water intake...great during the week, suck on the weekends.

3. BOOZE
2 nights. Friday and Sunday (a bunch on Friday, only a couple on Sunday)

4. BOOB-TUBE
Did OK sticking to this. I caught myself watching LIVE TV a couple of times, but overall I did well.

5. GYM
a. Visits - made it 4 times, which fits the new goal (Monday did taxes, Friday had dinner plans). Worked out Sunday, Tuesday, Wednsday, and Thursday + Soccer on Saturday.
b. Workouts - 1 interval; 3 full (on target for the new goals)
c. Weekly increases - Will increase for the first time this week - Ug.
d. Speed - Always had an eye on the clock and never let my rest periods last more than 30 secs...which makes a huge difference in the work out...keeps the heart pumping and really makes everything seem more effective.

So, I grade myself with a B+ for the week. Week 19 will be tough with all the travel and what not...but I'll try.

Btw, the new gym goals will be:

a. Visits - 4 days/week
b. Workouts - 3/4 must be "full" work outs; 1/4 must be "interval" training; any extra must be "interval"
* Everything else remains the same

Later. JV

Week "something like 16 or 17 or something"

Alrighty...vacation: Was awesome. Was sunny. Was warm. Got sunburnt. Got my drink on. Had a great time. Some much needed relaxation. Yay.

In my mind, traveling/vacations are "outside" of normal life. So, the "lifestyle" (read: diet, drinking, exercise) can kind of be "outside" the norm (the "new" norm, in my case) as well. There is always more indulgence when on vacation. And I fully par-take in the additional indulgence. However, I did make it the gym a couple of times and tried to make them meaningful work outs. The hard part is getting back on track (see: the holiday posts). For example, I got back on Tuesday night...I haven't been back to the gym yet and Maria and I have ordered out dinner Wednesday and Thursday. Time to give myself a kick in the ass.

On vacation, I read a couple of articles in "Men's Health" that got me thinking about my progress, my current place in this "journey", and moving forward. One thing that stood out was the fact that I have reached a point where weight measurements and goals can get too discouraging to do any good (see: the last 3 week's updates). I would say that the 30 lb or so loss to date is pretty good...not the original goal, but whatever. I also think that I can hit the original goal (or close to 185) by changing a couple things...especially my goals.

My original goals were all weight loss based (3 lbs/week, 2 lbs/week, 180 by 1/27, etc.etc.). And that worked for the most part. It gave me a consistent way to understand "where" I was in the process. Now, I know "where" I am and don't need the weekly reminder of how much I weigh. I am going to NOT weigh in (after this coming Saturday) for 4 weeks. That's right 4 weeks. Weight will now just be used to regulate where I am and play a much smaller role. All my goals are now going to be "task-based". In that, I mean, I am setting up some goals for the next 4 weeks dealing with the tasks around working on this new "lifestyle"...keeping Jason 2.0 progressing.

GOALS:
1. FOOD
This really a continuation of what Maria and I have been doing for the past couple of months. But I am making it an official goal now:
a. Breakfast - Eat pre-purchased breakfasts 5 of 7 days/week
b. Lunch - Same as breakfast
c. Dinner - Smae as breakfast
d. Snacks - Eat at least 1 peice of fruit (apple, orange, or banana) each day; Eat a 1/2 cup of nut mix each day
e. All meals (including eating out/ordering in) - must be "healthy" - protein-filled, very little bread, very little potatoes, more fruits, more veggies
f. At least 8 cups of H2O per day
We will continue to decide on a dinner "menu" for the week and shop for all (my) breakfast, lunch, and (our) dinner ingredients on the weekend. This gives me/us 2 days per meal to eat out or order in.

2. VITAMINS
Again, similar to whats been going on, but stated as a goal, now:
a. Take 2 Ola Loa vitamin packs/day every day (been slacking on the weekends)
b. Take 1 Omega-3 pill every day
c. [may add in a protein supplement in the next week or so]

3. BOOZE
No more then 2 nights w/ drinks per week - easy enough.

4. BOOB-TUBE
No LIVE television - all tv watched needs to be recorded on the DVR, On-Demand, or DVD. Exceptions: [1] sporting event (Read: KU basketball and English Premier Football) and [2] gym TV (I gotta have a distraction while on the bike).

I spend way too much time in front of the TV...it's my favorite way to pass time. But it breeds laziness. I have done this before and got things done. So, I am adding it to the list. WE DVR a number of shows, so it doesn't get rid of all TV, but it reduces the whole "sit on the couch-watch crappy shows-shuffle through 100 channels-get fat" time wasting that I have come to enjoy.

5. GYM
This is the big one. If I can hit the gym-goals then everything else will be A.O.K.
a. Visits - 5 days/week
b. Workouts - 4/5 must be "full" work outs; 1/5 must be "interval" training; any extra must be "interval"
c. Weekly increases - Each week non-warm-up reps must increase (based on exercise) over the next 4 weeks; Intervals must get longer (see the work out chart below)
d. Speed - Keep "rest" periods (between reps and exercises) less than 30 seconds (another tip from an article in Men's Health)

THE WORKOUT:
(The exercises are the same...the increases, etc. are different)


So, week one looks like this:


(Click the images to enlarge)

You may notice that Saturday is filled with "Soccer". That's right. Finally. Starting this Saturday (2/3), I am joining an indoor league. It is sort of strange because we play 2-4, 40 minute games a week...but that is A.O.K. with me. This was one of my big goals for the year and I am freakin' stoked to be playing again...can wait to hit the pitch.

There are a few other "big ticket" goals that I want to take care of this year as well. But I will save them for another post.

Later.

Testing 1,2,3

For some reason the blog is this morning and I wanted to see if creating a post would revive it...did it?

XV

My original goal was to be 180 by this coming weekend...1/27. I spent the weekend coming to terms with the fact that it just isn't gonna happen. But that's ok, I guess. I'd really like to get down to 180 to say I got there...from that point I think I will be able to give myself a break and live somewhere between 180 and 190. That would be good.

OCD Returns
So, the last couple of posts have detailed my inability to really get momentum going after the holidays. I was stuck at 192 and seem to have entered some sort of weight plateau. The down-side of all of this stuff is, that no matter how much I have lost/changed up to this point, it doesn't seem to matter to me if I don't have results on a weekly basis. My OCD wired brain starts to really drive me crazy by mid-week and everything seems to drive toward worrying about the scale. I have talked about this in previous posts (way back to the ediets days), but this is the first time it has returned since the trays of food went away.

Maria suggested that I need to change something up as my body might have been getting used to the patterns I had established. The eating and the work-outs were pretty much the same since I started (with minor tweaks through out). I felt like I couldn't really cut out anymore calories from my diet (with out just going for a full on fast). So, as I said in my last post, I upped the work-out...and continued that level for the whole week. So, what started out as a punishment on Saturday, became my pattern busting change week. And it looks like Maria was right...

Infinite loop no more:
Initial Weight: 220
Week1: 214 [6 pound loss]
Week2: 210 [4 pound loss]
Week3: 206 [4 pound loss]
Week4: 204 [2 pound loss]
Week5: 199 [5 pound loss]
Week6: 196.5 [2.5 lb loss]
Week7: 198 [1.5 lb GAIN] - Boo!
Week8: 195 [3 pound loss]
Week9: 193 [2 pound loss]
Week10: 191 [2 pound loss]
Week11: 191 [0 pound loss] - *Sigh*
Week12: 195 [4 pound gain] - CRAP!
Week13: 192 [3 pound loss]
Week14: 192 [0] - hm.
Week15: 189 [3 pound loss] - OUT OF THE 190's!!!

Mentally, another huge wall has been broken by getting into the 180's. I think my OCD will relax this week. Yay.

This week will be much more relaxing as we are heading south of the border for vacation! I am so ready to take it easy on the beach, in the sun. So, a couple days of working out/eating right, then a few days of pure enjoyment of life...but of course sticking to some of the rules.

Thanks to everyone for the messages this week - it always helps to keep me on task.

Week number fourteen - An Infinite Loop

So, it looks like I am stuck in a infinite weight loop. I am not sure what happened last week, but nothing changed weight-wise for me...and I wasn't very happy about it. It looks like I am going to make a bit of a change in the work out or food consumption...but since I can't really reduce the food too much more, I am going to really alter the structure of my work out. Which I have already started doing...

To punish myself, I freaking went for it on Saturday. I basically worked all of the 'core' and 'stregnth' exercises into a single work out. Usually, the 6 core exercises are split by 2's exercises over 3 work outs and the 7 strength exercises are split 4 and 3 over 2 work outs. On Saturday and again on Monday (took Sunday off), I did 'em all. Here is what the work out looked like:

WARM-UP:
20 minute bike ride
20 paces forward: Walking Med-Ball Rotations
20 paces backward: Walking Med-Ball Rotations
5 lunges forward per leg: Med-Ball Lunge and Reach
5 lunges sideways per leg: Med-Ball Lunge and Reach
5 lunges @ 5'oclock and 7'oclock each: Med-Ball Lunge and Reach
25 paces foward: Band Walk
25 paces backward: Band Walk
25 paces each way shuffle: Band Walk
25 paces: Band Monster Walk (walk while squating)
SPEED/RECOVERY:
10 minute bike intervals - 30 seconds jogging/30 seconds sprint
CORE:
10 reps each way (left and right): Med-Ball Wood Chop
10 reps each way (left and right): Med-Ball Situps
20 reps: Med-Ball Wall Throws - Overhead
20 reps: Med-Ball Wall Throws - ChestPass
6 reps: Med-Ball Wall Throws - b/t legs & overhead
6 reps: Med-Ball Wall Throws - Squat & throw
STRENGTH:
3 sets of 6 reps: Dumbbell high pull
3 sets of 8 reps: Dumbbell squat press
3 sets of 20 reps: Deep Squat
3 sets of 20 reps: Step up
3 sets of 10 reps: Incline Pull up
3 sets of 12 reps: Incline Push up
3 sets of 8 reps: Dumbbell Pull over

I think tonight, I am going to continue the full work out...probably starting to bump up the reps and what not. Can't think of what else to do to get my body back on track with losing the weight.

I think I may start publishing my belly measurement as another way to tell if anything is going on...hm...

Anyhow:
Initial Weight: 220
Week1: 214 [6 pound loss]
Week2: 210 [4 pound loss]
Week3: 206 [4 pound loss]
Week4: 204 [2 pound loss]
Week5: 199 [5 pound loss]
Week6: 196.5 [2.5 lb loss]
Week7: 198 [1.5 lb GAIN] - Boo!
Week8: 195 [3 pound loss]
Week9: 193 [2 pound loss]
Week10: 191 [2 pound loss]
Week11: 191 [0 pound loss] - *Sigh*
Week12: 195 [4 pound gain] - CRAP!
Week13: 192 [3 pound loss]
Week14: 192 [0] - hm.

Don't get me wrong, I am happy with the overall weight loss, I am ust frustrated with getting to 180. Poop.

Later.

Bonus Track

Nothing related to my fatty-fatty-fo-fo-fatty arse...

I just wanted to put out there that my big bro's band, The Mighty Weaklings, are going to be on the boob tube this weekend. Their song "Rocketship" is premiering on Jack's Big Music Show this Saturday, January 13th @ NOON. Check it out, it is all kid-fun and junk.

Wheee!

By the way (couldn't get a way w/o saying something aboot my chunky delights), I hit the gym hard last night and did a bunch of deep squats. Can barely sit on the turlet to do the deed...ouch.

Until Saturday.