Off Track On A Good Weekend

In a epic struggle to get at least something right I am going to post to my fatsphere. Last weeks food and my sloth like ways continued to dominate my life. At this point I am not sure what is going to flip the switch and get me headed into the right direction. We did see allot of cool sights this week while we had people in from out of town. Did some salmon fishing and caught a 12 pound silver salmon, rode the OHSU tram, and toured around Hood River OR wine country. My wives grandparents are getting back on the train today to head back to WI so things schedule wise should get back to a little more "normal". I guess at this point I am hoping to flip my schedule on its head and get back to a healthy regimented lifestyle. 2011 is coming really fast and I would like to end 2010 on a good note. Tonight I am planning on either running or doing P90x chest and back, doing either would be a step in the right direction. Happy Monday bloggers.

Epic Fail and 200 Posts

Well I really didn't hit many of the goals I set out to hit last week. I did work out 2 times (run) but my diet was pretty bad for the most part. Saturday was my official b-day and I am now 36. Its amazing how time flies and how you get older really quick. For you younger readers enjoy your youth cause it doesn't last long, don't take if for granted. Get in the best shape possible now don't wait for tomorrow when your old. I guess I sound like I turned 80 or something but 20s are way different then 30s and now I am closer to 40 than I am 20 (that sucks). Anyway, I know several "young" 50 year olds so gotta keep that in my sights. Stay in shape = stay young....

This week is going to be really tough to manage on a health front. My in-laws are in town for the next month or so and grandparents are coming into town today and staying with us for a week. They are also staying in my workout room so I am going to have to get creative for exercise. Might have to go outside or to a friends to workout.

On a side note my blog just turned 200 posts. That's allot of rambling for someone who doesn't write well ;). Just seemed like some kind of landmark so thought I would mention it. Thanks to those of you who have commented and struggled through reading my half ass attempt at blogging, I do appreciate it.

Its Monday peeps, lets make this as good of a week as possible.

Because I Said So....

Well I said I was going to post 3 times this week so here is blog number two.. I didn't weight myself this morning but I did get a run in last night. Only 2 miles cause we had some unexpected guests show up. I wont lie the run was brutal and I have definitely lost allot of my stamina and ability to jog. Diet yesterday was sub par but I did think about what I was putting in my pie hole, so that's a good thing I suppose. Tonight we have a dinner for my nieces b-day which means bad food most likely. I still want to try and get in a workout after we get back from dinner though. I am still punching and kicking and trying to get back to good.

Commit to being Commited

Well I finally weighed myself and I hung my head in disappointment (222). Truthfully it was about what I expected but once again I find myself so far away from where I want to be. I put together another weekend of bad eating and drinking. Sitting here on a Monday wondering wtf I was thinking is beginning to become to common place. I really dont understand why I am so careless or reckless with my body and health. The sad thing is my kids catch the collateral damage in the food choices I make. I wish I had a reset switch of sorts.. Anyway I know having a pity party or beating myself up for past choices has very little positive effect if any.

This week I am going to eat better, get in at least 4 workouts, and post 3 blogs. My wife wants to do a 5k and I told her I would run with her so I am publicly committing to that right here and right now. She has a fair amount of weight to loose and allot of training too if she is going to do a 5k (never has before). I found her a 9 week couch to 5k program that she is going to follow. The best way for me to support her is to lead by example. Tonight I am going to run 2 miles without stopping (wish me luck). We are setting out sights on a turkey trot.

Time for this guy to get off the ground, wake up, and open my eyes (yeah that's me in the pic a little over a week ago, beached whale in Rockaway OR).....

182 days and a 25 pound uprising

Wow I really hadn't realized that I have let approximately 6 months go by without writing a peep on my blog. I knew it had been a long time but 6 months??? really??? I need to hit rewind to really look at the last year in my life as it has not been very productive when looking at weight/health happiness. My 36th birthday is coming up and a year ago I weighed about 20 pounds less. There is no one thing to blame my weight gain on as usual, it was more or less me sliding back into old bad habits which equates to eating more and working out less. I am the perfect example of 99% of people where I loose the weight and then put it back on. I have cycled up and down like this for the last 16 years of my life. Even my blog trends a few of my ups and downs. From a mental standpoint I don't understand why I work so freaking hard to turn around and throw it all away. I don't know if I will ever figure that out but as I have said before I really have no option but to press on, that's what life is. I have gotten back to a point where I don't feel good about myself, my clothes are getting tight, I dread taking my shirt off *moobs*, my knees are bugging me, my foot has been sore, heart burn has been bugging me, workouts are painfully hard, I'm tired all the time, I get winded doing things that used to be easy, etc etc. All these things say "Hey Dumb Ass start working out and eating less/healthier".

I haven't really got a plan of attack yet but I thought this blog would be a good place to start. My wife and I have been reading The Primal Blueprint which pretty much outlines a paleo diet with a few different twists. Pretty much a caveman diet and I know many of the people that might read this are doing a similar diet or have at least heard about them. The theory/book/lifestyle makes allot of sense to me as does the diet. However, I am having a hard time excepting a low carb diet because I love dairy, some complex carbs, and beer of course. I do realize that its pretty much impossible to follow any style of diet 100%. I need to find a nice % that I can live with (maybe 80% as Mark suggests). I also know that I need exercise in my routine. I loved p90x but find it almost a little over the top for my current physical fitness level. Part of me thinks that its me just sandbagging and that I should man up and just do the program but in truth it is pretty extreme workout regiment. To truthfully figure that out I think I need to outline some more solid goals. I know my main focus is to loose weight/body fat. That has always been my number one goal. So I know I really need to focus on my diet first and exercise second....

I haven't stepped on the scale more than a handful of time in the last 6 months. I truthfully don't know what I weigh right now. I would guess around 220.

Well this "I have been gone to long" post is getting to long so I will stop writing now. If anyone's still out there throw me a comment, it really does help having your support.

Whole Lot of Nothing....

Thought I would write a quick blurp since a few of you wonder where the heck I am. I started a new round of P90x on March 1. So far I have hit every workout and ate pretty well during the week. I did fall off the food wagon a little over the weekend when we went to really good Moroccan dinner and the following night I had pizza. I even pulled off a double on saturday where I ran a 5k and did KempoX which between the two burnt 1250 cals (same night we went out to dinner so I probably nullified it). I also had some drinks over the weekend which I am sure slow my progress too. So diet/mental issues are kind of keeping me in the same place. I keep trying to find the switch to turn back on the super mental motivation/dedication but am having a really hard time finding it. I hope the workouts are at least helping keep me in maintain mode.

I did get my blood work done and everything looked really good so that's a good sign.

So in short I am still here and still trying. As I have said before I have no other options but to continue on my journey of health and wellness.

Thanks to those of you who stopped by and left me a comment.

Trying to Return to Old Form

Well the last few days have been good in both the food and exercise front. Its been kind of weird trying to get back to normal eating. I have been hungry but thats probably due to at least a 1/3 less calories in my daily diet. I was looking at one of those calorie king books and was appalled at the number of calories in dinners from restaurants. I knew they were high but none the less it was a eye opener and showed me why I have been gaining weight. This week I am trying to conform to my low carb on cardio days and little more normal carb intake on weight days to help with muscle repair and building. Today is a low carb day and I can already feel the effects of it (less energy). I have also been trying to make realistic portions for my food and that is daunting too... 4ozs, is that really all I get?!?!?. All I know is I need to correct my path before it gets too far off course, so that's what I am doing. So I have to re loose 14lbs or so before hitting new lows. I am back and this time I am going all the way.

On a disappointing note a 14 pound increase in scale weight equated to 6% body fat increase via my stupid scientific scale. It had the audacity to tell me my BF is 30%..... makes me sick. I also went from 10 to 12 in the visceral fat scale (10 is considered healthy range and 12 is bad). BMI is at the high end for the overweight zone nearing obese at 29.... So via that piece of shit scale I have allot of work to do/re-due. So that is what taking time off has done for me.... (FYI, i know the scales are not 100% accurate given hydration etc but it gives me a good baseline.)

Another thing to note on is my workouts are definitely harder and I have noticed little aliments (sore knees, sore back, etc etc) that I used to have when I was heavier are starting to become more present. hopefully a month or two back in I will see those things going away again.

My short term goal is to hit <200 again by the end of Feb. Maybe a little aggressive but I think its doable if I really batten down the hatches and kick azz. Wish me luck!!

Vacation, Flu, & PDXlan

Well the last week and a half have not been what I imagined they would be. I have managed to skirt around my diet and exercise for another almost 2 weeks after having 1 good one. So this week I need to reset my internal compass and get back after the holy grail of weight loss.

So the 7, 8, 9, and 10th we were down at Mt Bachelor with another family that we have been friends with for a long time. We did some snow skiing, played games, swam, laughed allot, ate lots of food, and drank some drinks. My son took his first lesson on the slopes in Mt Bachelors Little Rippers program. He did great and had a great experience with their staff. However skiing is really starting to become a rich mans sport. We dropped about $300 bucks between 2 lift tickets, class admission, and some food. Pretty crazy for one day of skiing if you ask me.

Late on the 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th I was pretty sick with the flu. Ran a temp for all 4 days and didn't have much of a appetite nor the energy to workout. (guess you shouldn't workout when your sick). Returned to work on the 14th and 15th.

15th, 16th, 17th and 18th PDXlan event was on and in full effect. Lots of sitting in front of your computer playing games hanging with friends. I believe its one of the biggest LANs in the northwest and happens twice a year. Over 500 people attend and drag there computers from all over the states and beyond. It was a great event but once again sitting on your butt and not eating great is not really in my plan for loosing weight. Like I said it only happens twice a year and I really enjoying hanging and playing games with some good friends so I will be back at it next July at PDXlan 16.

Tonight I have a cardio workout planned along with some abs and stretching. Hope this finds everyone else doing well.

This Blog, 2009 & 2010

Well I haven't blogged in over a month and that's a long time for me. Probably the longest hiatus I have taken from blogging in a long time. Having a hard time staying motivated and wondering if this blog is worth my effort anymore. There used to be a huge community and that made it all worth while to me. I Guess I should still give it some thought since I have posted to Learning to Live for almost 3 years now. Even if I do decide this blog has run its course I would still like to stay in touch with a handful of friends/readers that have always been around to support me.

Lets see 2009 was a good year in life in general. I saw some ups and downs on the health front. I recorded my lowest weight of 194 back in June. Sadly if I look back on my blog to January 2009 I was weighing in at 204. Today I weighed in at 211 which is attributed to months of bad diet and slacking on the workout front. The last 2-3 months have pretty much sucked for me in regards to loosing weight. To me these stats are mentally draining and defeating.. Through allot of 2009 I gave up a ton of time (working out) and food to try and get to some magical number. Its so hard for me to not go extreme to one side or the other. I have been trying to get off this roller coaster for a long time but I must have a life long pass to ride. I just wish I could have ended 2009 on a good note weight wise. However I cannot complain to much as the rest of my life is good. I have a wonderful wife, boys, extended family, job, home, etc etc etc.... so I'm super thankful for that.

So onto 2010... I am not big into new years resolutions and believe anytime is a good time to set new goals. I guess the changing of a calendar year does make one reflect on the past year (why I am writing this I suppose). My wife and I have been talking about trying to get back to basics, back to what worked before. Time to really start meal planning again, eating out less, and communicating more about diet/fitness. She is the only consistent thing in my life that I believe really effects my health (that and of course #1 is myself). I need to try and surround myself with like minded people too. It seems hard in my life to do that as most people I know are either skinny (in shape) or fat and don't give a shit about diet and exercise. I have a few friends that can definitely be resources and I need to lean on them a little harder. I still think the beachbody programs (p90, p90x, insanity, Chalean extreme etc) are really good and fit my lifestyle well. So at this point my exercises regimes will use those programs with some running and boxing mixed in. I just started sparring with my neighbor across the street recently. I have never done any violent combat sports until now. I have found it to be a great exercise and fun given you have a good partner. We both agree to only go at about 60% and we have proper gear (headgear, gloves, mouth guards etc).

hope this finds all of you well and best of luck in the new year.