Weekly Update #2

If you haven't heard, I'm doing weekly progress updates on my YouTube channel. Now I've tried doing this type of thing before, but I would just cowardly fade away once I started doing poorly. Let's not let that happen this time around, shall we?

Anyway, I'm just about done with quite the whirlwind of a week, and unfortunately it took a toll on my activity levels and discipline along the way. Had a wrench thrown in my routine - had to take a personal day off of work due to a death in the family, was asked to work from home twice this week, and even worked from a different office for a day. All these things threw curveballs at me and I wasn't ready.

When I can settle into a routine and know ahead of time what I have coming up, it gives me a better chance to plan out my meals and gym times. When things get kind of hectic and are thrown off-kilter, it gives me less time and warning to plan things out. With less time to plan, I'm more susceptible to giving in to spontaneous temptations (snacking, sleeping in) and therefore sabotaging my goals.

But the B-Side of that is that when I DO give in to the temptations of immediate gratification, I continue to give in the next time, and the time after that - each instance where I display a lack of discipline makes it easier to give in the following time. That's where the change needs to happen.

I mean, let's face it - no one rarely anyone can keep on point 100% of the time. We all mess up at one time or another! It's how we respond to that lapse in discipline that defines our journey and self-control. For me, it's been a week of good, followed by a bad Saturday, followed by a bad week, which turns into two weeks... You get the point.

That is the piece of the puzzle that I need to figure out for when these lapses come. Once I learn to stop the bleeding once the cut occurs, I'll be in great shape when the next temptation comes around.

Happy 50th Post!

First off, I want to say that you all must be pretty special or something, because I don't think any blog I've ever started has reached this many posts! I have a bad history of starting something with good intentions - "Oh man, I have the best idea for a blog, and I can't wait to write everyday!" - only to fizzle out after a couple of weeks and leave it laying (lying?) in ruin - R.I.P. my sweet, sweet Xanga...

Either way, I'm glad that I've kept this blog up because health/fitness-related topics are things that have really caught and kept my attention as of late - mostly because I'm in the process of losing mucho poundos and are doing a lot of reading/research in the same field. It also helps that all of you are interested in the same thing!

Now if I were to head up a blog about the many uses of Post It Notes, this whole ordeal may or may not have been as successful - or maybe it would - who really knows? Maybe the Pinterest crowd would jump all over that! (I call dibs on PostItMagic.com!)

I actually also have a large passion for all things sports, and most things Netflix (currently watching River Monsters as I type this), so some of you may be glad that I've chosen to write about running and eating healthy rather than the latest Fantasy Baseball rankings or the addition of "Rango" to the Netflix Instant Streaming list. Shout out to my fellow Netflix junkies!

*Deep breath* But moving on to something pertinent to the health/fitness realm...

As most of you may know, this coming weekend is Easter weekend - a weekend not only known for remembering the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but also for the plethora of family get-togethers and delicious victuals. It's this imminent spread of food that worries me...a lot.

The whole "endless-food-cannot-NOT-be-in-my-stomach" tendency is strong in this one. Food that is free and plentiful is definitly my kryptonite. (How about that! A Star Wars AND Superman reference in the same post!) Easter at grandma's house is just one, long, 7+ hour grazing fest filled with ham, Jell-O, desserts, sloppy joes and endless candy. The only healthy redeeming quality of the day is that we usually run around outside (basketball, football) for a couple, good hours. But this year I'm going to be a good boy.

As I may have mentioned, my wife constructed some sort of present for me which I will receive if I can string together two weeks of healthy, controlled eating. I'm still going strong, and I don't want something petty like Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs (oh, yum!) to take that away from me! So you can count me on me making some forward progress on this day known for its food comas.

90-Day Fitness Challenge: Day 2

Many times I look back at the last 2.5 years of my weight loss journey and kick myself because I know that if I had just stuck with it, I'd be where I want to be! Imagine the damage and progress I could have made if I would have just kept my eyes on the prize - I'd look great!

But alas, that is not the case. Today I still find myself overweight and looking intently into the future dreaming about what I may or may not accomplish by next summer. But I'll never reach my goal if I don't focus on TODAY.

That's actually the point of Phil & Amy's Day 2 challenge. Here's what their book says:

"Often, we don't rise to meet challenges because of the time it will take to finish the task. Many things we want to do take a lot of work and usually more time than we anticipate. This can be very frustrating. Here's a little secret: time moves on with or without you.... Promise yourself to live one day at a time. (On some days it'll be one hour at a time.) If you do this, eventually you will reach your goals."

They also suggest maybe finding a positive Bible verse or quote that is inspiring and/or meaningful to you. Memorize it and repeat it to yourself whenever your day is getting tough and you're being tempted to stray from your goals. 

SIDE NOTE: In the introduction of the book, it encouraged the idea of taking "before stats": measurements, pictures, etc. So I busted out the measuring tape and recorded all my stats. After 30 days I will take my measurements again and let you know my progress!

- J