Wow, this blog is going to get pretty boring real fast if I just keep on posting my runs and not much else. Oh well, no time to do anything too exciting now. Here's my run for today:
What is it about running that I'm willing to get up at 6 am on a Saturday to make sure I get my run in? Hmm...not sure really. I know it's something that can't easily be explained and most people don't get unless they come down with the running bug themselves. I enjoyed the latest podcast from Phedippidations during my run. I really like listening to this podcast by Steve "Runner" because it makes me feel somewhat connected to other runners, though I'm mostly running alone. Steve Runner has a real gift for putting thoughts to words and I identify with a lot of what he says.
This afternoon we took a 3 mi. walk through McAllister Park. So that brings my total mileage of the day to about 9. Not bad, and good thing after I didn't go anywhere yesterday and didn't get swimming in this week. Through today, I'm inches away from putting in 60 miles so far this year. That breaks down to 2.3 miles a day. I'd like to get in a few more miles a week, but I'm happy with how I've done so far.
No update on weight this week. I'm staying off the scale until February. I should have an update on the competition between my sister and me next week. Eating-wise, I'm been doing fairly well and I don't fee guilty about what I've eaten this week. Today, we went to a nice cafe called Quicksands. My meal wasn't too bad, and better than it could have been, but I did indulge in a marvelous piece of carrot spelt cake. Mmm...
I'm looking forward to another good week next week, and hopefully a good checkin on the scale.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
Running in the rain
My run for today took me to McAllister Park. I didn't get up early like I was planning, but it worked out better since I went for 6 mi. rather than 3 or 4. I took Elliot and he slept the whole way. It was about 50 degrees and a little drizzle, so I had to run without my glasses, but I felt great afterward. Doing a 10:43 pace pushing a stroller is making progress.
Yesterday, I took the day off and ate one bad meal. It was Championship weekend in the NFL, so I had a couple slices of pizza (small - Kashi), one brat and lots of chips and Queso, oh, and one beer. I didn't feel guilty, seeing how I'm not trying to follow a diet, but I know I'll have to be good for a whil again before I can eat like that. I'm shooting for two weeks of good eating, with Superbowl Sunday being open for any foods.
Tomorrow I'm hoping to go swimming ini the evening, so I get to sleep in again!
Saturday, January 19, 2008
First Two Weeks
I didn't want to make this blog public until I had already put in some time working on the goal. It's been two weeks since I weighed in on my sister's scale. She and I are competing (Biggest Loser style) to see who can lose the biggest percentage of weight in the first three months of this year. Winner gets their car cleaned and detailed by the loser.
I initially weight in at a whopping 244 lbs. I know, that's a lot! I hadn't been that heavy in about 5 years. I've managed to do several runs, 2 six milers, some walks and one trip to the pool in this two weeks and I'm already feeling much better. I've been eating much healthier as well and I"m remember what it feels like to be hungry (a feeling I had almost forgotten after spending a week back at my parents with my mom cooking and cookies freely available.
When I stepped on the scale today it read 232.5. Now, this was a different scale and it was in the morning rather than the afternoon, so there's usually some fluctuation, but 10 lbs or so is a pretty good start, so I'm feeling good.
I'm using a Nike+iPod pedometer to help me track my runs. You can follow along, my ID is Nate in SA. Here are my two 6 mile run graphics:
I've also been eating quite a bit better than previously. I'm not doing any specific diet. I've done diets like South Beach before and had good success, so I've incorporated much of the same ideas, however, I didn't go through the two week extremely low carb phase to send my body into "ketosis." So, I'm eating a lot of whole grains, greens and lean meats, and skipping on the sugars and simple carbs. Then I'm trying to use the novel idea of leaving the table a little bit hungry, or at least not completely full. I've signed up for a service called dinnerplanner.com that gives us great menu ideas with a grocery list. We're doing the healthy option and we really like it. I'll review it more in a separate post.
I initially weight in at a whopping 244 lbs. I know, that's a lot! I hadn't been that heavy in about 5 years. I've managed to do several runs, 2 six milers, some walks and one trip to the pool in this two weeks and I'm already feeling much better. I've been eating much healthier as well and I"m remember what it feels like to be hungry (a feeling I had almost forgotten after spending a week back at my parents with my mom cooking and cookies freely available.
When I stepped on the scale today it read 232.5. Now, this was a different scale and it was in the morning rather than the afternoon, so there's usually some fluctuation, but 10 lbs or so is a pretty good start, so I'm feeling good.
I'm using a Nike+iPod pedometer to help me track my runs. You can follow along, my ID is Nate in SA. Here are my two 6 mile run graphics:
I've also been eating quite a bit better than previously. I'm not doing any specific diet. I've done diets like South Beach before and had good success, so I've incorporated much of the same ideas, however, I didn't go through the two week extremely low carb phase to send my body into "ketosis." So, I'm eating a lot of whole grains, greens and lean meats, and skipping on the sugars and simple carbs. Then I'm trying to use the novel idea of leaving the table a little bit hungry, or at least not completely full. I've signed up for a service called dinnerplanner.com that gives us great menu ideas with a grocery list. We're doing the healthy option and we really like it. I'll review it more in a separate post.
The Goal
I believe that one of the best things a person can do for themselves is set personal goals. My friend Chris has a list of 100 things he wants to accomplish/do before he dies, kind of like the Bucket List movie out there, except he's young and not planning on dying anytime soon. I like to choose a few goals to focus on at once and this blog is to document my progress toward achieving the goal of good (or at least better) health. Now, as a school psychologist I learned about operationally defining goals and writing them so that they are measureable and attainable, so the goal "Good Health" doesn't quite live up to that. Here's how I'm going to define the goal of good health for me: I'd like to lose weight, I'd feel a sense of accomplishment if I get to 210, but I'd love to weigh under 200 lbs. I'm not very keen on just making a goal about weight. I don't like to focus on the scale and would rather not weigh myself that frequently because it's going to be a long process and I don't want to lose heart. So, I've come up with a couple other goals for me to focus on that will help me to reach my goal weight.
1) I want to set a personal best in the 10k
2) PB in a half marathon
3) Compete in a triathlon
In a future post, I'll hopefully talk about each of these goals and give history/times for each one, but I'll have to do a little research before i can do that.
1) I want to set a personal best in the 10k
2) PB in a half marathon
3) Compete in a triathlon
In a future post, I'll hopefully talk about each of these goals and give history/times for each one, but I'll have to do a little research before i can do that.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Why?
Well, I'll tell you why...
Why...what exactly?
Why am I trying to lose weight and get down to 200 lbs.? Well, it's not so much the number, but that number has always been in the back of my mind. I think I remember being in maybe 6th or 7th grade and stepping on the scale and seeing 197 lbs. and vowing to myself that I wasn't going to pass 200. Then the next time I stepped on, it said something like 205. I remember being pretty discouraged then, but I never really changed any behavior in order to lose weight. The heaviest I remember seeing on the scale was 277 when I was a senior in high school.
So, this has been pretty much a lifelong battle and it's not at all healthy to be as overweight as I was, or even as I am now. Elliot provides even more motivation to get healthy. I know that I'm not guaranteed to live long and prosper if I lose weight and eat right, God may take me at any time. But, if it's up to me, I want to be healthy so that I can spend as much time with my family as I can and do so with energy and life. Other, less consequential reasons I have include turning 30 this year and a nagging lower back/sciatic nerve issue that I'm sure will be somewhat ameliorated with less stress, i.e. weight, on it every second of the day.
Why...what exactly?
Why am I trying to lose weight and get down to 200 lbs.? Well, it's not so much the number, but that number has always been in the back of my mind. I think I remember being in maybe 6th or 7th grade and stepping on the scale and seeing 197 lbs. and vowing to myself that I wasn't going to pass 200. Then the next time I stepped on, it said something like 205. I remember being pretty discouraged then, but I never really changed any behavior in order to lose weight. The heaviest I remember seeing on the scale was 277 when I was a senior in high school.
So, this has been pretty much a lifelong battle and it's not at all healthy to be as overweight as I was, or even as I am now. Elliot provides even more motivation to get healthy. I know that I'm not guaranteed to live long and prosper if I lose weight and eat right, God may take me at any time. But, if it's up to me, I want to be healthy so that I can spend as much time with my family as I can and do so with energy and life. Other, less consequential reasons I have include turning 30 this year and a nagging lower back/sciatic nerve issue that I'm sure will be somewhat ameliorated with less stress, i.e. weight, on it every second of the day.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
The Quest
This is the first post of what I hope to be a long and fruitful endeavor. My sister mentioned to me the other day, that when someone gets to a goal weight or to a threshold, the likes of which they haven't seen before, they call it "Wonderland." We were talking about this because for me, 200 lbs. was wonderland and I had briefly obtained it about 16 months ago. It had been the culmination of about 3 years of off and on work both with diet and exercise. Since then, I've slowly, but surely, packed the weight back on. Sure I've got excuses...I started working a full-time job which was stressful and didn't leave me with much time to exercise during the week; my right foot began to hurt and kept me from running those long runs that had helped me keep the weight stabalized; and of course, I had to eat extra to gain sympathy weight for Violi while she was pregnant.
Well, I've come to a point where my desire to change has increased enough to actually do something about it and I want to use this blog as a mode of accountability.
I've had this post up now for a couple days trying to get time to write and start off the blog with a bang. But I just decided that I need to just get it done and post my other thoughts as we go a long. This will be a long process, so I'll have plenty of time to write.
Well, I've come to a point where my desire to change has increased enough to actually do something about it and I want to use this blog as a mode of accountability.
I've had this post up now for a couple days trying to get time to write and start off the blog with a bang. But I just decided that I need to just get it done and post my other thoughts as we go a long. This will be a long process, so I'll have plenty of time to write.
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