Health & Fitness

Ok, so I am back on The Diet (Hi Colin!)  for real.  I have even joined an organization called “Lighten Up Iowa” to provide an even more intense “team” feeling to help lose weight.

Since the original diet, I have fallen quite a bit.   I gained a lot of weight back when I was directing a play because I would go from work, to McDonalds, to rehearsal.

So I started last week at 239, and this week and at 234.  So I am officially restarting “the diet” again.  My weigh ins will be on  Fridays.

Please don’t delete me, Colin!

Technorati Tags: the-diet, fitness, Colin Devroe, Lighten Up Iowa, weight loss

Almost a year and a half ago (has it been that long?)  I participated in a weight-loss “group” with some bloggers and epreneurs headed by Colin Devroe.  During the summer, combined with both the group and preparing for the renaissance festival, I did indeed lose about 15-20 lbs over the course of the summer.  Not bad.

But like all good things, I got lazy.  Especially during the winter, and then last year I wasn’t working out swordfighting, so I’ve grown and grown.  And now, I seem to be a proud owner of a blue Rubbermaid storage tub that I have dubbed “The Fat Tub.”  It contains all of the clothes I was “so proud” to wear a year and a half ago, but now cannot fit into.

I want to empty that tub.

I have some other health related things going on right now (I Think) that I want to take care of before I start a new program, but by Hook or by Crook, that tub shall be sank by this summer.  Or better yet, replaced by “clothes that are too big.”

Do you have a ‘Fat Tub” or “Fat Pile” or maybe its called your “Thin Pile” or “stuff I can’t wear anymore” pile?

Technorati Tags: Colin Devroe, the-diet, fitness, fat clothes, Troy Rutter

This is my third time going to the gym, in the 4 days since I joined (I skipped one day, Sunday mebbe?)  I was going to not go tonight, since I had a meeting that didn’t get over till shortly after 9.  I feel kind of bad not giving “someone” a proper goodbye tonight, but I needed to get out of there and hit the gym!

What?  Did I say that?

Yes, in only the three days that I have gone I have noticed a change in physical, mental, and financial fitness.   I am more relaxed at night and in the morning, (ie: sleep and stress), I feel better about myself so I started my Roth IRA and another Savings account that offers 5.5% interest, and I just plain feel better.

The results don’t seem to be showing on the scale yet, but working out and actually sweating is something I haven’t done since gosh… since I coached basketball at Iowa State Basketball Camp.  Now I DO sweat, but usually that is because Im wearing 10-20 lbs of black Renaissance Faire garb on 100 degree days.  Sweating due to exercise is somehow… cleansing.  I know, it sounds counter-intuitive… but it is.

A side effect is also the nightly shower after working out.  Which means my water bill will be going up since I will be showering (at least) twice a day.  But I think I can live with an increased water bill if I lose weight and live longer.  Sounds like a fair trade.

Speaking of water, I’m thirsty, so until tomorrow – gnite!

Technorati Tags: the-diet

Ok, Colin – I’m back in.

But, I’m going to press the reset button one more time… and restart at Week One.
So next Monday I will post the results of “Week 1″  – Ive got some serious catching up to do.

Technorati Tags: the-diet, Colin Devroe, Troy Rutter, diet, fitness

Ive read on the Internetwebs that it takes between 21-30 days to forge a new habit.  Which, is why some people were still writing the year as 2006 until a little over a week ago.

Yesterday was the beginning of my “get back in the habit” of eating well and >gasp< exercising.  I had fallen off the wagon (so to speak, not the usual way) of eating well and exercising since probably November, due to high stress and the holidays.  Now that most of the stress is gone due to my little trip last weekend, I set a date of February 1 to start again.

And it is basically starting over, as I am right back at the weight that I started with when I started the diet with Colin Devroe oh so many months ago.   The problem I am finding is I really want to go shoot baskets or something at the gym, but we really do not have a basketball gym (pay or otherwise) that you can just stop in.  Sure if I was still an ISU student, I would have access to the facilities there, but if you aren’t, all you have is an “open gym” time at the city hall type place, and that is always full of pick-up games.  I like just going and shooting around.

sigh

I guess I can take a class at ISU and get my ISU card updated.  LOL.   I could possibly just go to the State Gym, Beyer or Forkner buildings and take a chance nobody will question me, but I have ALWAYS been the one scared to even sneak from one movie theater to another for fear of getting caught.

Anyway, so yesterday was day one, and I had a salad for lunch and a lean cuisine for dinner, with a cup of yogurt in the morning and a snack bar dealio in the afternoon.   I have never liked salad, but back when I did this originally, I remember getting used to it so at least my mind looked forward to >something< at lunch.

We’ll see how this goes.  According to averages, I only have 20 days left to build the habit.

I could blame it on the holidays, stress, gift certificates from family, the weather, lack of a reasonably priced gym, uncomfortable walking shoes, or any number of reasons.  But the fact remains that in terms of the weight loss goal I started with a bunch of fellow bloggers last year – I’m back to square one.

I could tell in November I was slipping, actually before that.   I took “time off” during August and September due to the renaissance faire, when I “had” to stop at Long John Silvers for dinner almost every night on the way home.   Then with Christmas came gift certificates to fast food places, and times at work when “ooooh, Pancheros sounds good.  I deserve something good.”

So, I start 2007 again at 220.  I look terrible, I feel terrible.  To help me get back on track I added a little graphic on the side of the blog with the current weight on it.  I’m going to try hard NOT to update it once a day, but rather once a week.   When I update it once a day, I fall into the “I can be bad for a day, I lost 2 lbs” trap.

I also need to set more realistic goals that just “175″ as my final weight.  So…  here are my goals, which should be attainable.

February 1, 2007 – 210 lbs
March 1, 2007 – 190 lbs
April 1, 2007 – 180 lbs
May 1, 2007 – 175 lbs

Now the biggest jump is from Feb to March at 20 lbs in 28 days.  The reason I calculated that much, was because it is close to the start of the plan, so loss due to water weight and generally eating better will be greater.   This is counteracted after that with only 10 lbs and then 5 lbs in April.

One of the things I really need to work on is getting up and walking in the morning.  But it’s coooooold in the morning during winter.  Well, colder.  I think if I walk in the morning, rather than night, it will help tremendously.  I have read many sources that say exercising in the morning is the best for you.  Only I can’t help but think that it will make me sleepy at work during the day… which is bad.   Guess we will have to see.

Since this is January 8, that means I have one less week for the initial 10 lbs.  Better get started!

Technorati Tags: the-diet, colin devroe, troy rutter, weight loss, goals, fat, exercise, bloggers diet, fitness

ok, after I thoght I was “back on track”  – life and stress hit me about a week ago, so I am back at 215 and hating it.  Luckily, Colin has posted about The Diet again and everything will hopefully pick up.

I for one, am waiting until this weekend to officially restart my “diet” and get back on track.  There are some complicating matters, none that are able to be expressed here.  But let’s try and get this going again!

Technorati Tags: the-diet, colin devroe, troy rutter, diet channel, fitness, health, dieting

Things over at Colin Devroe’s The-Diet page have slowed to a crawl, mainly since Colin apparently reached his main goal of loss, and is now working on muscle-gain.  I congratulate Colin, but I wonder where that leaves the rest of us.  Suddenly the support system is gone since we can only comment on his past posts.  If any of the other other dieters have a place where they are talking/gathering… please let me know!

I restarted the diet yesterday, mainly due to inflating back up to 217/218 lbs after I briefly saw 210 a few weeks ago. So, basically I am going to start again on Day 1 of Week 1 and just kind of go from here.  I have started a new blog with the details, but I’m going to keep that one more under-wraps until I have some good things to post.  In the meantime, I will add a new page over on the right that says “Weight by Day” to keep track.

One of the other things I am trying this time is writing my goal down on paper, in places I will see it every day.  I have heard that this simple action works for any goal – once you see it in front of you, you are more likely to remember it when temptation hits.  It works for saving money, diets, anything… or so they say.  I will try it and see.

Yesterday wasn’t as hard to get back on as I thought.  Things are easier if we see instant gratification.  That’s why we have to spend when we acquire money, why we eat when we want to “feel good” and other things.   Problem with weight loss is, it can be weeks before you see any improvement.  So, when I saw a pound less today than yesterday… that is VERY encouraging, and is giving me another boost.

My new goal is not 190, but rather 185.  I will reach it.

Technorati Tags: the-diet

According to Chris Fehnel, this is actually week 22, so … well, there ya go.

Last week I stuck to the diet and exercise pretty much monday-thursday. Friday was my “free” day and I managed to maintain a new low – 211.6 until this morning. The last few days have been terrible, as we have had an office Halloween party and numerous candies to tempt the last few days. I also did not use the exercise ball since Thursday, so everything I did last week was pretty much reset back to zero.

Which is fitting because this week’s weight is now equal to where I started: 213.6

Now that Halloween is over, time to get back on track. However with a wedding to go to this weekend, and Turkey Day and Christmas coming up… this could be interesting.

Ok, I’m going to try one of those nifty charts everybody else is doing:

Original Weight: 225.3
Week 1: 219.6
Week 2: 220
Week 3: 215.8
Week 4: 216.4
Week 5: 213.8
Week 8-21: 213
Week 22: 213.6

So I should be proud of at least the 12 lbs I guess, even though its about where I was on Week 5.  I was really psyched when I saw 211 earlier this week, maybe I should could Tuesday’s weight instead of today’s.

Technorati Tags: the-diet, Colin Devroe, Troy Rutter, fitness, Chris Fehnel

I thought I would take a picture of myself this morning because I was “feeling good.” I wish I hadn’t. I still have a long ways to go until I am happy with my appearance. I’m not sure why the camera refuses to take a photo of my hair the way I see it in the mirror, either.

I definitely prefer the photo I used on my book cover.

Technorati Tags: the-diet, Troy Rutter