Finally, below 180 for the first time in 3 years! Feeling good for the most part, loads of energy but the day to day food urges are still there.
I’ve noticed that my drysuit fits a lot better now and I don’t have a problem lifting or moving my gear. In short, I feel about 10 years younger…but it could be the two shots of espresso I just drank.
When I started getting healthy again, I started looking at every aspect of my life to see if I need to make any changes. The two main levers I settled on were decreasing caloric intake (diet) or increasing caloric use (exercise).
Like more and more of corporate America, I work on a computer and don’t move that far from my desk on a daily basis. But I couldn’t quantify how sedentary my current job might be, so I bought a pedometer, which measures the amount of steps you take. I figured that walking and/or number of steps that I take, should give me some idea and a data point on how sedentary my daily life might be.
I wore the pedometer for two weeks, the results were eye opening.
I was taking approx 2500 or 1/4, of the recommended 10,000 steps a day. A number of health organizations recommend at least an hour of activity each day, which works out to about 10,000 steps.
A normal occasional 20 min walk with the dogs: 2500 steps. So basically, a short 20 min walk with my dogs was more movement than I was getting all day at work. Damn, no wonder I gained all that weight, I was barely moving at all.
But I’m not alone, according to a 1997 CDC study, 40% of Americans lead completely sedentary lifestyles meaning they NEVER engage activity during their leisure hours and little, if any, at work. It also doesn’t help that we’ve built most of our cities around cars and that work is typically typing on a keyboard.
So, here is some advice:
St. Patrick’s day screwed up my weekend and I fell off my diet. Weekends are always tough but holidays that revolve around food and drink, like St Patrick’s day, kick my ass. We marched in the San Diego St Patrick’s Day parade and then went on a pub crawl with the Emerald Society. I drank lots of Guiness.
I had every intention of Saturday being my one and only ‘cheat day‘ but what I didn’t count in was the intense cravings you get when you have a mild hangover and this hangover wanted junk food.
So, I not only ate horrible this Saturday but this Sunday as well. I guess I’ll be doing some extra cardio in order to work that off and stay on my goals. Thankfully, we’ve removed the scale at my house so I wasn’t tempted to weight myself this morning.
This is such a great holiday and this year, it falls on a Saturday so it’s bound to be an interesting time in Downtown San Diego.
Have some a Guinness or 6 and maybe an Irish Car Bombs and enjoy the sweet, comforting effects of alcohol.
Oh yeah, and celebrate Irish and American culture.
The whole weight loss thing seems to be working. 2 months ago, as began this quest to get in shape, I had some things measured like body weight, fat %, lean muscle mass, etc .
The results weren’t encouraging. I was heavy, out of shape and nearly 30% of my body mass was fat.
I had them remeasured this morning and what a difference 2 months make. The numbers speak for themselves.
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Now, it’s not just numbers, I’ve dropped from a 36 inch waist to 34 inch waist and I no longer fit into most of my clothes without them feeling baggy on me. I have more energy, I’ve been feeling better and don’t feel as stressed out any longer.
When I tell people that I have a personal trainer, they always say, “Isn’t that expensive?” I always answer, “Yup, but my body is worth it.”
You spend your youth accumulating wealth and later your wealth trying to get health. I’d rather just have it now.
For me having a personal trainer is a necessity, not a luxury, to stay on my fitness goals. I find that staying motivated, working consistently at the right intensity, and monitoring my progress is time consuming and difficult. A personal trainer solves this by keeping me motivated, monitoring my progress and making changes as needed.
This isn’t to say that I haven’t tried everything else, like: working out on my own, buying a treadmill, working out in classes, and working out with friends/family. None of them worked. I get bored, start slacking and quit going all together. The only thing that’s worked for me, so far, is having someone design my workouts, design my diet, tell me what to do and keep me motivated.
I go to my personal trainer 3x a week (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays) in the morning before work for an hour. I’m one of those people who needs to work out in the morning, it just works for me and it’s a great start to my day.
But it’s not cheap; having a personal trainer ranges anywhere from $30 to $80 a hour.
I got a call from my gym that my personal trainer was going to be out for a few months and that I would need to switch as she was having emergency back surgery. Yikes!
I’ve been working out with my previous trainer, Christy, since January and wish her a speedy recovery before her wedding next month.
Anyway, I now am working out with Antoine. He ran me through a workout this morning and I think he’s going to be a great replacement. He commented after the workout that, “You’re in better shape than I thought, so now I gotta push you.”
That really made me feel good.
Does anyone else need that sort of feedback to keep you going?
This weekend was TOUGH on me. I didn’t have a cheat day, I had a cheat weekend.
My wife and I went to a fund raiser on Friday at a bar, an Irish bar, with Guinness and I love me some Guinness. I sucked down beers, ate slices of pizza and sang Irish songs like a frat boy. And no, I don’t get workout credit for singing or lifting pint glasses. The only upside is that Guinness Stout is a good beer and lower in alcohol and calories than Coors or Bud.
On Saturday, my wife was competing in the Guacamole Bowl, which is a fund raiser for the Special Olympics. I ate guacamole and salty tortilla chips for two hours, it was good.
Later that day, we went to another fund raiser for homeless/runaway teens which was in yet another bar. What is it with fund-raisers and bars? I drank a couple of vodka tonics and ate really bad bar food and tried not to think about my diet. I got horrible heart burn, ya think, later that night.
On Sunday, my wife and I did a couple of chores, watched our Netflix queue of movies and I, again, ate like crap.
I have to be good this week, I have to be good this week, I have to be good this week because next Saturday is St. Patrick’s day.
I’ve gone from 196 to 182 (14 pounds) since Jan 1st. I have yet to get my fat content rechecked but at the beginning of the year, it was in the 30 percentile range. I’m assuming that it’s lower now until next week when I get it checked. My current target weight is still in the 170ish range.
How I’ve accomplished this so far:
I guess the Wii might be working after all as I’m still working towards my goal of 170 by summer. I didn’t think that my weight would drop this weekend, as I spent the weekend at my In-laws in Warner Springs, where I gorged myself on food and wine.
Sticking to the diet is still a struggle, especially at work where they stock the cupboards with snacks from Trader Joe’s and order fat lunches most days. I was teased that I would gain 30 pounds this tax season but my goal is actually the opposite, to lose 30 pounds instead and I’m half way to my goal.
