Details, Details, Details

I've never been diagnosed, but I'm pretty sure that I have a twinge of O.C.D. I mean, I do some things that - when I'm finished - I step back and go, "Now why did I do that? Was it really worth all that extra work?" Can anyone relate with this?

For example, I have a Netflix Instant Queue with hundreds of movies, documentaries and TV shows in it. If I have a TV show in the queue, I 100% intend to watch the entire show completely from the beginning. I've restarted "Lost" three times now because "it's been too much time since I started it last time" and watched the entire series of "Prison Break" because I never saw the last season. I write and rewrite and rewrite my To Do Lists so they looks cleaner, and I'm also the guy that would completely rewrite my class notes in college because I didn't think it looked neat enough. I'm also currently listening to a September 7, 2012 episode of a daily podcast that I like because I am trying to catch up (doubt it'll ever happen).

So why doesn't this exhausting process carry over to the health/fitness portion of my life? In recent introspective sessions, I've often pondered this question. And I think I've found the answer...

For me, it's easy to organize and control the physical surroundings around me. It's easy to pick up my laundry, make the bed, organize my desk  or do the dishes. But when it comes to organizing and aligning my mindset and my actions towards a healthier life, that's not as easy... It requires much more effort and dedication and my mind wears out well before my body does. So how does one go about conquering this giant?

That's what I'm still trying to figure out. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that I have a switch that I can flip that automatically turns on self-control, discipline, motivation or commitment, so I guess that means I'm going to have to go it alone. Yikes, that definitely hasn't gotten me anywhere since I started back in 2009... But I'm making the attempt once again to kick this healthier lifestyle into gear, so we'll see how it goes this time!

What have you found that motivates you to commit to life-long, healthy changes in your life? Was it a life event, a particular person, a new-found passion for running? Let me know!

Come Along With Me

I hope this doesn't come off as being overly vain, but since I started my weight loss journey back in January of 2009, I've wanted to be able to document my progress (actual progress, not treading water) as I lose weight, and show people what I'm accomplishing, how I'm changing, and hopefully inspire some people along the way.

At first I tried doing weigh in updates on YouTube and then those eventually fell off when my progress slowed and eventually reversed. I tried joining challenges and contests on YouTube as well, thinking that it would provide a new kind of motivation and encouragement in an 'online community' sort of environment where like-minded people would push me in the right direction. Those would start off with enthusiasm and effort (and results!), but then also taper off before the contest would finish.

I've also joined weight loss Facebook groups with friends, hoping that our words of support and personal challenges would get me over the hump - but that just turned into a place for people to feel less guilty about admitting they had a terrible weekend (and gained 5 poiunds) and then still just recieved the "aww, you'll get 'em next time" type of response. Not helpful. And now finally, I've been using this blog as a means of sharing this part of my life with you.

To date, my progress during the life of this blog has been up and down at best. I'd sign up for races and then slack during my training, only to downgrade the race distance the week prior. I'd let you all know about how I'm embarking on this huge, 365-day transformation journey only to fizzle out in less than a week and hope you forgot about the original post.

So I don't blame any of you if you've stopped reading or paying attention to my sorry attempt at weight loss.

But this time it feels different.

Rather than trying to put myself on a diet that doesn't allow me to eat certain things (Atkins, South Beach, etc), I've begun making smart, lifestyle choices in my nutrition that I find to be much more sustainable and less restrictive and suffocating. Most of the time I try a diet, I find that the fact that I cannot eat certain things, makes me crave them even more. And as the pressure builds up, it's only a matter of time before I erupt and binge on things like fast food, soda, chips, etc. But now I realize the need for moderation and if I have chips, I just grab a handful, or I make a smart choice at the fast food restaurant (something I haven't had to face YET), or I just drink water instead of hitting up the break room fridge for Pepsi!

And making these smart, small choices every day gives me confidence in its potential sustainability. It also gives me a sense of pride that I can in fact do this without breaking, and momentum to keep moving in the right direction. And as you can see by my "Progress" stats below my picture on the right, so far so good!
The key will be to see how things continue once I'm two, three, six weeks down the road. It's been quite a while since I've been able to sustain constant weight loss for more than two weeks, so the moment of truth is still ahead of me. And if the day comes where I do end up binging on something, I need to have the control to realize it's only one day and get back on track right away. Unfortunately, I'm used to letting one bad day turn into a week of bad choices...

But I hope that your waning faith in me can be restored in the near future as you read about my progress - and hopefully see it physically as well (I'll be adding a stats page to this blog soon)!

A 365-Day Transformation?

On days such as this (my birthday), I find it hard not to evaluate the year that was, and the potential of the year to come. Unfortunately - and only due to a result of my own efforts - I haven't seen much progress in the health & fitness arena since I turned 27 last year. But I'll get back to this in a second...

The rest of my life, however, has changed quite a bit! Back in September of last year I married my wife and best friend, and in March I started my first, official full-time job in downtown Chicago (after a few years of freelance/part-time gigs). Even scored a new car last month! Just about every other aspect of my life has improved since my last birthday. So why not this last part?

Now don't get me wrong - this isn't me lamenting about how bad my life is AT ALL. I am so happy for all the blessings I have received between 8/6/2011 and 8/6/2012 and I wouldn't go back and do a single thing differently. As far as weight loss goes, the past is the past - and now it's time to only look at today and set goals for this next year of my life.

My primary verse for the next 365 days

I'm a big fan of Chris Powell and his show Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition on Sunday nights. Instead of a 'ranch' format of group training a la Biggest Loser, he takes on a client one-on-one for an entire year to completely transform them. Now I'm not looking to lose half of my body weight (thankfully I haven't let myself go THAT much), but I am going to aim for my goal weight by my birthday next year - so I have 365 days to do so.

So beginning tomorrow, I will weigh myself, take pictures and measurements and establish my official "starting (over)" position. More details will come in tomorrow's post pertaining to my plan on how I will approach the next 365 days.

Let me know what things have worked for you that you think I should include in my plan!

June 2012 Report Card

A few weeks ago I wrote a post listing some of my goals for the month of June 2012. Now that we've found ourselves in July, I figured it'd be a good time to step back and look at how I did! I'm going to be doing something like this each month using the title of "Report Card" - I think it'll be fun! Well...unless I end up with a big, fat "F"

Below I have listed the goals that I stated back towards the beginning of June. I've graded each individual goal (kind of like as if they were their own class in school). *GULP*

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


OVERALL: C

So let's walk through these in a little more detail, shall we?

1. I gave myself a D+ for losing weight because I have lost about 5 of those 15-20 pounds. Percentage-wise that probably warrants an F, but I know the effort I've been putting in lately. Definitely room for improvement!

2. I've been doing pretty decent on the soda, but a few times in the last month I gave into the orange Crush in the fridge at work. Free stuff is so hard to pass up sometimes!

3. I'm just kicking off my half marathon training, so the endurance isn't quite there yet for five miles. I've logged a lot of treadmill time in June, but wasn't pushing myself hard enough to increase endurance. Kind of just settled for the running/walking pattern.

4. These numbers SHOULD be easy to track, but then again, I failed to take note of where all the stats stood when the month started...whoops! I have, however, upped my Facebook and Twitter 'likes'/'follows' quite a bit, because I've seen all the notification emails that have come through my inbox. Thanks to everyone for joining me!

5. I think I've stayed pretty on top of this one. I think things here at the blog are really gaining some momentum, and I'm really looking forward to seeing the opportunities that come from this here site.

6. The closest I got to reading my mags was packing them in my backpack last weekend when we went camping. I have them on my person a LOT, but have never found myself unoccupied enough to bust them out and flip some pages.

Looking back, this month hasn't been anywhere near a TOTAL loss. I've made some solid steps forward, and plan to carry the progress over into July. And don't worry, I'll have a July Goals post up REAL soon! (Probably later today)

Setting Up My Summer Plan

Well now that my 'big race weekend' is behind me, it's time to focus on what REALLY needs the appropriate attention - losing the weight.

I've actually set sort of an 'unofficial goal' of September 1st as the date that I'd like to really make strides in my weight loss efforts. I don't want to assign a specific goal weight to this date, but since that is me and my wife's anniversary weekend, I'd love to be able to look back on our first year of marriage and see the healthy changes that I was able to make - for the better. And I want to be able to share a 'before and after' comparison with you using my wedding photo!
So what kind of plan am I going to put into place to make 'skinny Jordan' a possibility? That's a good question...

I think I've gotten to the point where I've almost read TOO much material on workout plans. Like dieting, it seems like everyone has their own method that's worked for them, and swears that it'll 'work for everyone!' So understandably, I'm kind of confused as to what might work best for me.

My goals are to not only lose six dozen pounds, but also to slim down my wasitline, flatten my gut, deflate my thighs and get some solid arms and shoulders. I also want to vastly improve as a runner!

But first things first. One day at a time. Sure, I have lots of goals, but they're all going to take time to accomplish. Another goal is to make weekly videos updating you on my progress. I'll videotape my weigh in, talk about my week's accomplishments and failures and give you an insight into my mind and how I'm handling the hard work that lies ahead of me. I'll also take measurements every few videos and post them here as well.

So I would love it if you checked back here on a weekly basis to see the progress that will be happening on this site. I'm excited to share my journey with you and show you what I'm capable of. And if you have any workout program tips, please let me know!

Time to Get A Raise!

I was reading this article on Yahoo! and I knew I just had to say something about it, especially due to recent observations at an on-site gig I had for work. I won't go into everything in the article because I think it's an interesting piece to read for yourself, but I'll touch on a couple things.

First off, I went to a Chicago company this week to do an on-site video gig for work. (I obviously am not going to give details since what we do is 100% top secret and confidential...not really.) The is my second time we've visited this company, and the first time I was there a co-worker and I both commented on how fit and attractive 90% of the employees are.

We wondered: "Are there health/fitness incentives at this business?" "Do they only hire beautiful people?" "All they do is sit on the phone all day, why does it matter how attractive the employees are?"

We were baffled at what we saw. But after reading this article, maybe this company knew a thing or two about who to hire and why.

Fit, attractive people tend to be more confident than overweight, self-conscious people. FACT. Being healthy boosts mental function. FACT. In shape people are usually in a better mood. FACT

So why wouldn't a company want to hire people like this? It makes perfect sense! And it makes sense that if someone were to go from "flab to fab" while employed at a company, that their productivity and attitude would increase, thus possibly earning them a raise.

Not that I'm complaining concerned about how much I'm currently making (especially since my amazing wife just landed a great job of her own - so proud of her!), but if getting to the gym and losing some weight magically makes the numbers on my paycheck higher, than I think it's worth trying!

What do you think? Do you think that this supposed link between fitness and salary is legit? Or even better, have you been a beneficiary of this study as a result of your fitness?

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? :)

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.

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!

"Obese" & "Poor"

I have a history of thinking that certain things don't apply to me. When I was in 6th and 7th grade, I unfortunately didn't think that my teachers' or parents' rules were things I needed to follow. As a cameraman at sporting events, I figure that regulations and boundaries on regular spectators don't include me, so I can walk all over the football field. 

And for the last couple of years, I thought that the BMI Scale didn't apply to me.

But after visiting Trinity Christian College's new Human Performance Lab and getting some vital statistics tested, I think I need to take off my blinders and face the music...

I'm a big guy.

At Trinity, I found out my Body Fat % (41.7%) and my VO2 Max score (33).

Body Fat % Categories

VO2 Max Norms for Men

After looking at these charts, you can see that my Body Fat % puts me WELL into the "obese" category, and my measly score of 33 for my VO2 Max puts me on the border of "poor" and "very poor." 

But...but...I've run four half marathons! How can I find myself labeled obese and poor?!

I think either I've been lied to all these years, or I've just refused to believe it. 

So what does that mean for today? Tomorrow? 6 months from now? It means that every decision of every day is valuable. It means that my health should be near the top of my list of priorities (behind finding a job and loving my wife), and that it should be a focal point of every day - and especially every meal. 

So here goes nothing!