September Goals

Well here we are, with yet ANOTHER month behind us in 2012, and ANOTHER month closer to the end of the world as we know it (if you're Mayan). That means we're also at that time where I lay out my goals for this coming month.

I know, I know... I still have yet to reach many of my past, monthly goals. Believe me, I'm more disappointed about it than you are! At the end of each 30 days, it really is kind of depressing to see the lack of progress in my weight loss journey. But the past is the past, and I can only focus on today! So here we go!

1. This may sound crazy to some of you, but I really want to be able to do away with soda this month. Some days it is a really big struggle to stay away from the carbonation when it's free for the taking (and unlimited) here at work, so I really want to buckle down and eliminate that. Going to be tough!

2. I also am going to start incorporating weight lifting into my workout routine this month. Once my race is finished on Sunday, I'm planning on focusing more on full-body fitness rather than just being able to log enough miles for a race.

3. I'm also going to work out 5 or 6 days per week (Mon-Sat). Even if I have weird work hours due to international shows, there's still no reason I can't find time to sweat a bit.

4. I also want to improve my stature as a blogger (see previous post). Instead of simply reporting on my progress, I want to improve my knowledge in the realm of health and fitness and therefore will be reading articles and such, and will be giving my response/thoughts on facts or articles I read. Let's get some knowledge, people!

5. Oh yeah, and let's lose 15 pounds this month, shall we? (would take me down to 260)

I also made a YouTube video today talking about these as well, enjoy!

Company Generosity - Good or Bad?

Now that I've been working at my current job for almost six months, I've come to see many of the perks of working for the company. But one of the aspects that I first considered as the best thing since a comfy desk chair, I've come now to view as a burden and curse.

 

 

As you can see, the company is more than generous with their supply of free snacks and drinks... The fridge is also full or MORE drinks as well as string cheese - LOTS of string cheese.

But here's the thing - turns out that some of my biggest temptations / weaknesses come in the form of things like Mountain Dew, Orange Crush and Sun Chips - things that are not in short supply here.

Now I'm not going to stand here and blame the company for my lack of weight loss - that'd be silly. But let's be honest...it'd be much easier for me NOT to eat / drink all these things if they weren't sitting there ready to be consumed.

So this is one of my main goals heading into this next month of the year (September) and in the future. To walk right past this closet and only focus on my lunch in the fridge and the water cooler in the corner.

Business Trip Highs and Lows

For my job, I sometimes get to take 2-5 day long trips around the country. Who knew being a webcasting engineer was so posh? Well, before you start ooh-ing and aah-ing, let me tell you that this latest trip was to the 'metropolis' of Bloomington, Minnesota. Hold your applause, please.

While the short trip (Wed - Thurs) was mostly work (who woulda thunk it?) - setting up cameras, checking microphones and testing our webcast stream, my coworker and I were able to get out of the hotel and visit the Mall of America for a whopping 5 hours! We walked around for the first two hours simply looking at all the different restaurants, shops and amusement park rides and logged almost 12,000 steps! Makes me wish I would have thought ahead and worn my running shoes rather than flip flops...

But unfortunately, the temptation to eat crappy food was prevalent due to the fact that we get a $50 a day just for meals - not to mention that one of the two lunches was paid for by a separate client... So while we were at the mall we stopped at Famous Dave's for some nice BBQ and  then moved onto Buffalo Wild Wings for some beverages - and sports, of course! And don't get me started on how tasty (and probably unhealthy) the other few meals were...

We also stopped at the Nike Store so I could check out a few things and drool uncontrollably over the running gear they had stocked to the celing. I could have walked out of there with a few, full bags of shoes, shorts, shirts and everything else they had! They also had a sweet decoration on their ceiling - dozens of racing bibs from all over the place. So cool!

But now I'm home and back to reality where I don't get to sleep in a king-sized bed by myself and my meals aren't paid for. And I'm also getting back to the gym! I'm looking to have another 365-Day Transformation update to you later this week! See ya then!



My (Slightly Belated) June Goals

One of my reoccuring downfalls on my weight loss journey has been setting all my final, big picture goals up front and then rarely setting smaller, more bite-sized goals along the way. As a result, every time I stumbled on my diet or gain a few pounds here or there, I saw my progress through the lens of the larger goal and found myself getting discouraged because I had "such a long way to go", and would forget that one, bad day doesn't ruin everything and that I just needed to forget yesterday's failure and focus on winning today. I've never been good at that...

So in an attempt to combat this cycle from rearing its ugly head anymore, I'm going to take some time at the beginning of each month to set some goals for myself for the upcoming 30 days. I think I'll give a few, different kinds of goals: weight, nutrition, activity and maybe something unrelated to weight loss.

Before I get into my June goals, let me backtrack a little and talk about May. My efforts - on a scale of 1 to 10 - probably registered only about a 4.5 last month. I had a couple weeks where I ate well and got to the gym 4-6 times a week, but the other half of the month I avoided the gym, at donuts for breakfast and enjoyed way too much soda. However, I still managed to lose 8-10 pounds last month despite my efforts not to, haha.

For June, I've found a new source of motivation to help me through the summer. Some of the women at work started a Biggest Loser type of contest and asked me to join! The prize is yet to be determined, but I'm still really excited about it. I'll get more into that at a later date. On to the goals!

By July 1st, here are some things I want to say I've accomplished:

- Lose 15-20 pounds so I can get myself back into the 250s
- Avoid all non-diet soda
- Be able to run 5 miles without stopping
- Gain 50 combined Twitter followers/YouTube subscribers/Facebook page 'Likes'
- Blog at least once a week
- Read one Runner's World and one Men's Health

I like the list I've put together here! They encompass a lot of the different areas I want to work on and allow me to make smaller steps forward in all of them! I'll lose weight, develop healthier habits by dropping soda, work towards my goal of 'being a runner,' improve my online presence and gain knowledge my reading! Man, I love these!

So there ya go! Let me know your thoughts on my goals, and I want to know what YOU want to accomplish in June! I'm real pumped about this, can't you tell? :)

Back from a Business Trip

Don't worry, I haven't left you. Sure, it may be customary of online/YouTube weight loss participants to suddenly go all Ghost Protocol when they've had a bad week, but I'm a seasoned veteran - I've had many of those weeks and therefore no longer fear the backlash.
Last week I found myself in Richmond, Virginia on a business trip Tuesday thru Thursday. Now thankfully, the metropolis of Richmond isn't known for any, particular, mouth-watering, belt-busting foods. Rather, it's known more for its history, which isn't really up my alley, but was directly up my coworker's alley. Therefore, we needed to 'see the sights.'

Visiting the Virginia State Capitol

Thankfully, that entailed lots of walking around the city. Even more walking was added as a result of his shoddy navigation skills (and the pathetic, illustrated map of downtown Richmond). Like I've mentioned, I do have a Nike+ FuelBand on the way (tomorrow?) and I really wish I would have had it for the trip. LOTS of walking.

But unfortunately, the company's $50/day per diem just "HAD" to be used! We didn't have breakfast any of the 3 days due to early call times for the conference we were videotaping. One day I grabbed a bagel w/ cream cheese & a piece of coffee cake from the in-hotel Starbucks around 10:00am though. Lunch was usually a $15 burger or sandwich of some kind with the hearty dinner to round off the day - chicken sandwich one night and ribs the next. I definitely could have been more careful...
The scale 'only' showed me a three pound gain this morning, and I think I have the downtown walking to thank for that. This week my goal is to get to the gym before 5:30am so I can knock out a good hour and a half of training miles. Hopefully I also have a normal work schedule this week so I don't have to move that workout time around much. I like a routine and structure. Start shaking that up and all goes wrong.

Watching the over 2,000 runners take off!



Men's winner flies by me on his way to the finish line!

Also was able to watch the First Midwest Bank Southwest Half Marathon in Palos Height, IL on Sunday. It's a race I've run twice ('09 & '11), but this year I was there to watch my sister run it for a second time. Before the race she said she hadn't trained as she'd wanted to, and her fiancee agreed. However, she managed to knock it out in 2:27:21 and I'm real proud of her! I'm sure we'll be running another one together some day - I just need to get faster so I can keep up! (Her half marathon PR is around 2:12 while mine is at 2:20:20)

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 3

It's Day #3 and already I'm so excited to see the progress I can make over these three months! I've already achieved a milestone today - my wife and I went out for breakfast and I made a healthy choice! Even though Panera Bread lists the calories of each item on the wall (which is an amazing idea), I researched their breakfast options ahead of time online and already chose what I wanted before I got there! I wound up having a ham and egg sandwich on whole grain bread - only 340 calories. Yeah, I'm pretty proud of myself - didn't even look at the donuts and other pastries!

Anyway, in today's challenge, Phil & Amy stress the idea of making yourself a priority:

"As children we dream of what we're going to do or be when we grow up. As we get older we have so much to do that sometimes our dreams get lost in the shuffle. Don't let this happen to you. Realize that taking time for you is a good thing.... Block out at least three to four times a week for exercise. Put it in your calendar and organize your day around this time. You have to find the time to make working out a priority. It just might save your life."

I'll be honest, putting myself first is not part of my nature. I find it important to care for and love those around me before I think about what I want to do. Well, I may think about what I want to do, but I'll mostly just default to what they want to do or to their schedule. Probably not the best approach...

For that reason I've started getting up around 6:00am and heading into the gym before work. That way, I get my "me time" in bright and early and can still spend all night with my wife after getting home from work! So far it's been working out really well - especially since we're usually in bed and asleep between 10:30 and 11.

Three days down, 87 to go!

A Real Eye-Opener

Have you ever watched those weight loss reality shows where they take overweight contestants to the supermarket and tell them to run through a "normal" grocery-buying session? They're pulling donuts and candy and chips and soda off the shelves left and right - and smiling obliviously the entire time. The host then turns around and calculates all the calories of the items or shows them how unhealthy the items are.

Well today I visited TacoBell.com to take a peek at what my usual, drive-thru order from my favorite fast food joint would cost me health-wise. Take a look at these numbers! And this isn't eve including the 42-oz. Mountain Dew (with no ice) I would have along with it!

If the picture is too small to read, that graphic reads that my meal of one crunchy taco, one chili cheese burrito and two chalupas would supply me with 1,280 calories! (And like I mentioned, the Mountain Dew - at least another 500!) That kind of knocked me back in my seat when I read that today.

And that's only one meal! Now of course, I'd feel gross and lethargic after that, but sometimes it wouldn't stop me from hitting up ANOTHER fast food place for dinner! (Usually McDonald's or Panda Express) I can't believe the number of calories I'm capable of consuming! It's frightening, to be honest.

It's also healthy to see these numbers and realize the negative impact they had on my body, but it's MORE important to learn from this and make much healthier choices. Now I can't say that I won't ever eat at Taco Bell ever again, but I can tell you that I won't be consuming 1,280 calories if I do! Mostly because I wouldn't want to run the two hours it would take to burn that all off!

What are some of the unhealthy things you've eaten that helped you gain weight? I encourage you to check the calories and see how much damage it costs you