Happy Friday!

Happy Friday, everyone! Even though the weather in Chicago today is dreary, rainy and chilly, I feel pretty good today. Allergies have cleared up a tad after a two week-long barrage of sniffles, sneezes and snorting; I got in some treadmill time at the gym for the first time this morning, and work is slow (which means blogging time is prime)!

As I get started on this half marathon training, a couple things come to mind. It's been awhile since I've purchased a new pair of running shoes, and I feel my dogs are going to be barking for more comfort sooner than later. That may have to be addressed when the time comes since most monetary income is going to bills, student loans and other forms of debt. Not thinking that 'running shoes' rank high on the "Needs List," unfortunately.

 

I also was running the numbers on my attempt to lose reach 240 pounds by the day of the Chicago 13.1 Marathon in early June, and as I figured, it's going to be an intense 2+ months if I want to reach my goal. It's looking like I'll have to lose about 4 pounds per week if I want to register for the Chicago Half Marathon in September. (I really want that third medal!!)

I've also been concerned about how the old feet and ankles will hold up during this vigorous stretch of training time both on and off the treadmill (eventually). I have a lot of weight bouncing around on these feet (and my knees are a whole, different story!), and I want to make sure that I'm treating them how they need to be treated so they will treat me nicely in return come race day(s).
Thankfully, I was contacted by the folks over at the HealingFeet.com recently, and they let me know about their blog. There you can find numerous entries on things from how treadmills can negatively affect your feet to different foot injuries for different types of athletes and even to how wearing flip flops can affect your feet! I'll be referencing some of their articles in the future and encourage you to go and check out all their helpful tips!

Ambitious Thinking Is My Downfall

As I was perusing WebMD.com recently, I came upon an article that hit me like a lightning bolt, turned on that lightbult above my head and slapped me two ways to Sunday. It pertained to something that I'd had a slight hunch about in the recent months, but never had scientific research to back it up.

In my on-going, attempted, 3-year weight loss journey I've always been one to lay down the total number of pounds I aim to lose and give myself a timeframe in which I want to lose said pounds. The number is usually HUGE (50-80 lbs) and the timeframe is usually not as huge (5-8 months). While this kind of weight loss IS possible, I need to remember that I'm not the superhuman weight loss machine known as Greg.

As a result of my lofty goals, I usually fizzle out, get discouraged and put all the weight back on. For a while I figured that I just wasn't mentally focused enough or didn't "want it enough." Turns out that it has an actual, diagnosed name... "false hope syndome." (click for full article)

"Weight control experts call it the false-hope syndrome -- when dieters have unrealistic expectations about exactly how long it will take to shed excess pounds.

Unfortunately, research shows that unrealistic expectations boost the risk of dropping out of a weight loss program. And though at least one study has found that dieters may temporarily eat less if their expectations are too high, that undereating may be replaced by overeating at the very next temptation."

WHAT?! I have a SYNDROME? Lock me up in the asylum! I'm done for!

Ok, so MAYBE I'm being SLIGHTLY over-dramatic. But the article is spot on in describing my weight loss patterns. I set a huge goal, try to accomplish it, slip up, and binge uncontrollably because I slipped up. Writing it like that seems kind of sad.

Either way, it's time to buck this syndrome and kick it back to where it belongs - anywhere but with me. If you saw my last post, you know I can't afford to slip up again if I want to score a second half marathon!

But then again, setting that goal to lose 40 pounds in 2.5 months kind of falls right back into the same pattern described in this article...crap.

13.1 Miles ... x 2?

Alright, come in close, everyone.

As you know, I've recently signed up for the Chicago 13.1 Marathon on June 9th. Well, I also found out that there's this thing called the Windy City Challenge.

The Windy City Challenge consists of the Chicago 13.1 Marathon (6/9/2012) and the Chicago Half Marathon (9/9/2012). If a person accomplishes running BOTH races this year, you are awarded a THIRD medal! When I read this, I knew I just had to do it!

Well, rather than just simply pay the entrance fee to get my name in the running, I decided to make it a little more challenging. If I weigh less than 240 pounds by the date of my first race, I am allowing myself to sign up for the second one. That means...

I have two and a half months to lose approximately 40 POUNDS! 

Let's do this, shall we? :) Is anyone else participating in the Windy City Challenge?

Want to Win Zumba Classes?

A friend of mine is in the process of adopting a daughter and is trying to raise funds to make it possible. At the same time, she's giving away prizes to those who donate to the cause. This week's prize is free Zumba!

To get your name in on the drawing, visit Natalie's blog and read the instructions on how you can donate to bring her new daughter Sara home. The more money you donate, the more chances you have to win! And if $100 is raised, you get FIVE free Zumba sessions! The free sessions are located in the Southwest Suburbs of Chicago, but if you're not in the area feel free to still check out the blog - she's giving away more great prizes for the foreseeable future!

Giveaway WINNER!

I know I said I was going to wait until April 2nd to reveal the winner to my half marathon registration giveaway, but as I was writing up my training schedule for the race, I realized that the recipient of the giveaway may want to get started as well. So I've decided to name the winner TODAY!

So let me just cut right to it - congratulations to Mark Boys! And an early congrats on the arrival of your second child! I'll be sending your registration code in the email, so keep an eye out! I also dug around and found a picture of Mark at last year's Urbanathlon downtown. A race I'm hoping to run in 2012!

Thanks so much to everyone who participated in this giveaway! I'm so grateful for your readership and feedback. I'm hoping to have more giveaways in the future, so keep checking back!

That being said, I'd like to ask you all for a little more feedback.

What are some things that interest you in the health/fitness realm that you'd like me to write about? Moving forward, I'll be reporting on how my half marathon training is going as well as how my weight loss is progressing, but there's MUCH more to the arena of health and fitness, so let me know! Any products you'd like me to try out or foods/recipes you'd like me to try? I'm open to anything!

Let's Get It Started!

Well, if you've seen my last post you know that I've suddenly decided to run a half marathon this June. I know, pretty unexpected for me too! But when I got a free registration code offered to me for this year's 13.1 Chicago Half Marathon I saw it as a great opportunity to give me some structure to my workouts.
As of now I was half-heartedly doing a Couch to 5k program at the gym during the week, but really didn't even have a 5k event in mind at the conclusion of my program that I could participate in. I was really just using it for the sake of having a structured program. Without a final goal I didn't see a huge urgency to get my miles in or push myself, to be honest.

However, now that I have a flippin' HALF MARATHON staring me in the face in just over two months, I don't have any choice but to get my miles in and stick to the program. I am in NO way ready to run a half marathon and I refuse to embarrass myself since this is my 5th race of this distance. By this time I should be able to train well and compete well - if nothing else compete with my own PR of 2:20:20 (easy to remember, right?)

So if I had to set a goal for this race initially, I would say that I want to beat my current PR. Even though I don't have a FULL 3 months to train for this, I do plan on being at least 30 pounds lighter (unless the endless supply of snacks in the break room at work have anything to say about it), and hopefully the "lighter load" will help the old knees push out a sub 2:20.

That being said, I plan to report to you all on my training as it progresses. It's been around a year since my last race, and I can't afford to deviate from my schedule this time around if I want to knock it out of the park. And I get to take one, lucky reader along with me!

So if you aren't already registered for the Chicago 13.1 Half Marathon and want to add it to your 2012 schedule, visit my prior post and leave a comment with why you want to run! Winner will be chosen on Monday, April 2nd! But if interest seems to plateau sooner, I'll pick one sooner so they can get to training!

Free 1/2 Marathon Registration Giveaway!

Attention all runners! Or...people who want to be runners!


I've been granted a fantastic present to give away to one, special reader of this here blog, and it could be YOU! It's real simple, I promise!


The 13.1 Marathon® Series is making a stop in CHICAGO on Saturday, June 9, 2012 and YOU could participate...for FREE! You could join 5,000 runners on the streets of Chicago as they run along Lake Michigan  for a beautiful 13.1 miles (with 20 party stations along the way), and then attend the Michelob Ultra 13.1 Marathon® post-race party to quench your thirst and celebrate your accomplishment!

You could also find me since I'll be there running it too!

And I know you're saying, "Jordan, how can we be eligible for this unbelievable prize?"
Well let me tell you. All you need to do is leave a comment below convincing me why you should be awarded the free registration. Also, make sure you'll actually be available for race day - we don't want anyone winning and then not running! This contest is open to ANYONE from ANYWHERE in the world! 


So let the comments fly! I'll be choosing a winner on Monday, April 2nd - so make sure to get your name in the hat now! 

Believing In Myself

For the first time this season, I felt that the "theme" of this week's Biggest Loser was actually legit and helpful. To be honest, this has probably been one of my least favorite seasons of BL. Not only did the contestants start out a bit smaller than in seasons past, they're also losing less weight as a result. Now I'm not saying that I only enjoy 400+ pound people getting wasted by Bob Harper, it just seems like the producers are trying a little too hard to have a "theme" to the entire season - "No Excuses."Although it was humorous to see someone voluntarily go home after Week 1 (because he'd 'learned all he needed to know'), and to see the first contestant EVER simply walk off the show (in a season toting 'no excuses'). Ha!

Past episodes this season seem to have stretched themselves a little thin just to try to prove common excuses wrong such as "I can't afford organic food," "I can't lose weight at home" or "I can only work out at a gym." Some of the in-house dynamics and actual workouts (complete with Bob & Dolvette words of wisdom) are the best parts of the show! I don't know...maybe I'm just overreacting.

Either way, I finally appreciated this week's theme - "I don't believe in myself." Maybe because it struck a chord deep within me and actually gave me something I felt I could relate to. Because to be honest, I think my self-confidence and doubt are my biggest hurdles in my weight loss journey.

I think problem #1 is that I look at my past performance - and there's nothing to brag about there. So after tallying up the number of times I've gained back all the weight I've lost, or thinking about how many times I've epic failed all over some fast food, I've wasted 45 minutes and missed my gym window. D'oh! And then repeat that patter at least a few times per week. Then it snowballs into resenting my laziness from the morning and eating junk for lunch, and yadda yadda yadda...I gain more weight.

But how about this - I start a brand new, higher-paying job in downtown Chicago on Monday (ballin, right?), and therefore feel more like an adult. Feeling more like an adult causes me to think that I need to ACT like a responsible grown-up. Thinking that I need to ACT like a grown-up puts pressure on me to actually give off the vibe that I have my shtuff together. And in order to show people that I can, in fact, BE RESPONSIBLE...I really need to stop being lazy!

Therefore, along with a whole, new work schedule will come a new gym schedule, a new focus on healthy (and controlled) eating and hopefully new results. Ready for the ride? I am!

Just an update - weekly weigh ins and measurements will begin NEXT Saturday - March 24th.

Weekly Accountability

While self-control and discipline are two things I lack in my weight loss journey (obviously), accountability is also something that isn't a huge part of my journey either.

Now, I understand that I have become friends with numbers of you from the YouTube Weight Loss Community, and that we all are rooting for each other to reach our goals, but there's minimal accountability in my personal life coming from family and close friends. I have a very small number of friends who are trying to lose weight, and therefore lack a gym buddy or someone to check in with on a regular basis.

So in hopes of putting myself out there a little more, I'm going to report weekly here on my blog with my weight and body measurements (a la Jess' blog). I don't have something terribly accurate with which to measure body fat, but hopefully I will be testing myself sometime down the road as I did a couple months ago to get some new results. 

I'll write up my first report today, but am planning on doing weekly updates on Saturdays from now on. (My next update post after this will be Saturday, March 24th). So let's see where we're starting!

Starting Weight: 278 pounds

Measurements:

Chest: 48"      Waist: 48.5"      Hips: 48"     Calves: 18"

Thighs: 29.5"     Biceps: 15.5"      Abdomen: 52"

Body Fat: 35.0%

Total: 259.5"

My body fat % is taken on my scale at home - probably not the most accurate thing...

In everyone's best interests, I will not be posting pictures every week like Jess does. She is MUCH easier on the eyes than I would be if I were to pose without a shirt on. I have taken "before" pictures, and once I feel that enough progress has been made visibly, I will start to post those on here. If I can stay on my game, I aim to post pictures every month. 

Are there any body parts I should add to my measurements? Any other things you'd like me to report each week?

Business vs Pleasure

STOP! If you'd rather WATCH my video instead of READ my post, click here!

Mindset is KEY to forming new habits and lifestyle changes. Bottom line.

Fellow weight loss vlogger Greg talks often on his YouTube channel about 'minding the big picture' and making sure that your mind is on board with your efforts when trying to lose weight. By keeping the overall goal in mind, your actions should then follow suit and guide your decisions day-to-day, meal-by meal. And (theoretically) each decision should get easier and more engrained in your daily efforts as you continue to make good choices. (It's no wonder he destroyed 80+ pounds in under a year with insight like that!)


And eventually, when you see progress from all your efforts, everything starts to seem more like fun and less like hard work!


That's what I'm looking forward to - seeing the gym as a place I look forward to going to rather than loathing since it seems like endless work. Each early morning wake-up is still a task, and some days I get side-tracked and distracted by Facebook and YouTube enough to where I don't even MAKE it to the gym! For some reason I allow myself to use pathetic and petty excuses to keep myself from doing the appropriate amount of sweating in the morning to get closer to my weight loss goals. 

All in all, my mind is on board with the IDEA of losing weight, sweating and having to buy smaller clothes, but for some reason my mind and actions aren't rallying together and saying, 'Hey, why don't we do all the stuff we know we need to do to not feel like a bag of s#!*?"

Waking up at 5:30am is no fun...

In reality, the only way I'm going to get in the habit of going to the gym and eventually have FUN getting up to go to the gym, is to (say it with me) - JUST DO IT! 99.9% of the time I have no real, legit excuse as to why I can't make it to the gym at 6:00 in the morning. It's not like I have a lot of things vying for that time of the day!

So for now, sure! If I have to view gym visits as business and hard work, so be it! It's something that NEEDS to get done day in and day out - just like a job. But once the clothes get looser and I can run more miles, I'll WANT to get to the gym to see how much more I can do!

It's all about your mindset. So as Matt Damon said in the movie Green Zone, (language warning -->) "Get your f'ing game face on!" 

First World Problems

Every time my fellow blogger Sara talks about her "First World Problems" I can't help but laugh. Not because of her misfortune, but because of her way of relaying the details. In no way am I trying to one-up her posts or compete with her, I'm just in love with her way of stating her differences with the world she lives in. So without further ado or drawn out reference to Sara's blog, here are my current First World Problems!

1. I may be the only one, but I can't stand it when fans or common folk decide that it's funny to purposefully be in the background of a newscast, sportscast, etc. Now don't get me wrong - I think the fans at The Today Show have the right to do so, but only when the camera is panning across the audience - not when they're making faces behind Al Roker's weather-reporting noggin. Example: the boys in this shot irk me, while the girls in the stands are being good spectators. (And this is a screen grab from a game I was actually watching Saturday). Just watch the game your parents paid for you to see. No one wants to see your tongue and peace sign,

Idiot Kids - FIRST WORLD PROBLEM!

2. So for quite a while now, I've only been working a part-time (30 hours a week) job with random freelance gigs to supplement it. It worked alright when I was single, but now that I'm married that kind of thing doesn't go over so well with Mr. Pocket Book. Thankfully, it looks like there's a new job on the way, but for now we have to think up creative and cheap date ideas. Thus, we are forced to head over to Best Buy and play video games over there. Here we are rocking the PlayStation Move.

Not owning our own gaming console - FIRST WORLD PROBLEM!

3. I don't know if it's because I'm way too heavy or because this chair is crap, but randomly my desk chair will slowly go down until I'm sitting only a few inches off the ground. Does wonders for the self-esteem...

Faulty Desk Chair - FIRST WORLD PROBLEM!

4. I'm an editor at a television station (for the next week or so). And usually I like it reasonably quiet in my office so I can edit shows. Makes sense, right? Well, for the last week I've had to endure the annoying noise of guys working in the ceiling in my office. Yes, IN the ceiling. I never got a heads up or a time frame of how long they'll be there or anything. C'mon, man!

Men in my office ceiling - FIRST WORLD PROBLEMS!

5. I live in the Chicago Suburbs. We're not known for our mild winters. However, this year has been surprisingly mild and warm for the most part! However, on the day I want to go outside and DO something rather than sit in my apartment, the weather decides to mess with me. The picture on the left was taken around noon on Saturday. The picture on the right was taken...5 MINUTES LATER!

Stupid Weather - FIRST WORLD PROBLEM!

6. Due to said lack of money (see #2), I was forced to get the "free phone" from AT&T when I signed up with them in September. This phone has been nothing but kick me in the groin ever since then. It will randomly shut off while I'm trying to send a text, or restart itself when a friend is trying to ring me. I've even had a friend legitimately worried for my safety because they couldn't get a hold of me (because I didn't know my devil phone had shut off 3 hours earlier). 

Devil Phone - FIRST WORLD PROBLEM!

Well I guess this will have to do it for my first attempt at complaining about my awful life. That was sarcasm, my life is actually pretty good. I just enjoy pointing out the small flaws in our world and hoping you laugh at it.

What are some of your first world problems?