why wait?

The holidays are here. And for most people this can be a disastrous time for their diets. As far back as I can remember the holiday treats usually translated into a few extra pounds. This year I resolved to stay clear of the Holiday treats which is hard becuase I love Egg Nog. But I am aware that with the new year I will be making the resolution to keep up the weight loss program. So why start in the negative? Why try climbing a mountain by digging a hole first that makes no sense. So I am steering clear of the goodies. I mean we can still enjoy the holidays, just be aware that you will regret any extra wieght that you will gain come the new year. So always keep the goal in mind, to get healthy. So I say start that New Years Resolution now!!! Go run, pick up wieghts, do yoga , do whate ever you were planning on starting with the New Year. Get a head start !!!Hit the ground running.....Feel free to leave me some advice on getting through the holidays.

Im back...

I have been really busy this last month. So I have not had time to update the blog. But I will say that I was really happy with my Halloween pictures, it is the first time I noticed how sizeably smaller I am. I was happy to see my pics as opposed to dreading them. Well I will get back on the blog ASAP. You can subscribe to them ,that way you dont have to check here to see if I have written anything.

set high goals...

Ha ha ha one of my buddies who read this blog suggested that we all plan on taking a hiking trip next year. I like the idea becuase my goal is not only to lose wieght but to be in good enough shape to handle a hike in the mountains. Last night when I was discussing the trip with another one of my friends, he suggested we try to do Mt. Whitney, thats only the highest point in the continental US. I guess its worth a try why not aim high. This got me imagining how hard the hike will be, and what it will be like to finish it. I have done this hike once before. It would be nice to revisit the spot. I guess what Im trying to say is that its important to set goals that inspire us. I know one buddy who needed to drop fifty pounds in order to go sky diving. He used that as his motivation to get moving. Whatever it takes I hope that we can all find something that inspires us. P.S. bethany my email address is pdmsnvrdies@gmail. I would like to get to know who you are.

the nice thing about waking up and going......

So these last few weeks I have woken up and gone for a jog in the morning. I should say that I don't do this everyday but the days I do it are great. Its nice to get that exercise session out of the way first thing. It is something I have found very helpful on those days where I am feeling extra lazy. There have been those days when I feel a great disdain for my exercise routine, and I spend the whole day dreading it. Today would have been one of those days, but I woke up crawled out of bed , strapped on my shoes and my mp3 player and took a run.
I enjoy running to a spot that has a pay off. I have several routes I take that all end with a nice view. This morning I ran to a spot and watched the sunrise. I walked home but is was a good way to wake up.

Sometimes weekends are bad

I love to play video games. In order to keep the games from taking over my life I have yet to buy the XBOX 360. So on weekends I go to my buddies house and play some online Halo 3. Nothing like online gaming to burn develop a thirst. The gamers drink of choice is Mountain Dew, loaded with sugar and caffiene, and of course you need Nacho Cheese Doritos to wash it down. Well its hard to avoid these things when Im hungry and there is nothing else around. So yeah sometimes I give into temptation and eat some of the worst possible stuff around. In the past I these are the points where I would just give up. Mostly I would feel a sense of guilt and helplessnes like I could never change. Or I would feel like I just ruined a weeks worth of working out with one night of indescretion.
Now when I have these slip ups I just get back at it the next day. I keep going and moving forward. Its all I can do until , I eventually have the will power to completely avoid sugar ridden drinks and calorie packed nacho cheesiness. Will that day ever come I dont know. It seems like I develped a taste for junk food, its hard to let it go. But I have also developed a taste for feeling better, and being able to excercise and not feel like dying. So I have to opposing desires. I think I have heard somewhere that if you feed one you starve the other. Well I think If the majority of the time I am making the right choices eventually that side of me will win .

Sweat is my new best friend...

A few years back there was this commercial for Tabasco sauce, it showed a fat sweaty guy eating pizza on his porch. The commercial was not very appetizing. There is nothing appealing about a fat sweaty guy. I know cuase I use to be that guy, the guy that was sweating while doing nothing at all. I hated my seemingly uncontrollable sweating. Sometimes I would get nervous around certain females, forget about it, the buckets would come down. One of my favorite movies is a movie called Angus about a fat teenager. In the movie he is always sweating, he ask why am I always sweating, some one yelled cause your fat ! I think fat people sweat more cause the extra pounds keep their bodies warmer. On the bright side after shedding some pounds these episodes of Katrina like moisture happen less. I believe the reason is simple, since I have less fat on me, my body is cooler. I have always hated sweat, its caused me a lots of embarrassment.
Today while doing my workout I challenged myself to make the workout a little more intense , you know by adding a little more weight doing the reps a little more quickly. I was soon covered in sweat, sweet beautiful I burned a whole lot of calories sweat. There seems to be a difference with this sweat, it feels good. I feel better, i feel healthy. I think sweat is a good indicator that I am working out at the appropriate intensity. I feel like a guy who just accomlished something when I am covered in this type of sweat. I don't feel like that fat sweaty guy.. I love this type of sweat and I do it on every time I can.
walk mile
bench press
incline press
decline press
dumbell flyes
curl bar curls
isometric dumbell curls
hammer curls

take the compliment...

It always seems to be my natural reaction , that when some tells that I am looking thinner, I usually blow it off and say something to the effect of " oh Im just in black" or " I am letting my hair grow". The thing is that I am always with me and I may not notice the changes in my appearance like they do. Yesterday I received a lot of wow you are losing weight type comments. This after I spent Saturday convinced that I had gained weight somehow. So the lesson learned is take the compliments. Say thank you tell people about your workout routine and nutrition habits. This may help to motivate them to make some healthy changes in their lives......
feeling a bit ill
took it easy and stretched .

Happiness is a journey not a destination....

I have to say that one of I have noticed that when the chips are down I reach for that bag of Doritos. Yes I don't drown my sorrows in bury them in calories. There are those days when I am feeling so down, that I just want to lie in bed , and eat all day. I used to get that way on weekends. It has to do with the fact that at my age most of my friends are married by now. Which means weekends can get pretty lonely. I don't feel like strolling to the clubs all by myself, or take in a movie being the fat lonely guy with tubs of popcorn and ten dollar diet coke. When I am feeling this way , for some reason I dread working out. I think about lifting weights or taking a walk and I just get the urge to sleep, then eat. What a bad combination. I have started to counter act this formula for being the huge guy stuck in his house, who has to be removed by a crane and ten volunteers. I just make myself do it, I get up and get moving. Lately when I get the weekend blues, I force myself to stick to my routine. I get up and do my weight training, and you know what once I start exercising I feel great. You see exercise makes the body feel good , it starts to lift my spirits. Taking a walk along the harbor in the sunshine always makes me feel good.

reg bench presss
incline bench press
decline
dumbell flyes
curls
incline seated curls
isometric one arm curls
walk on the harbor

making progress

So I have to say that I was delighted this week when I woke up and went for a run. I try to do various types of cardio. I have a stationary bike, a heavy bag and a speed bag. Cardio is about raising the heart rate and working up a good sweat. I have even done some of the thirty minute workouts that you can see for free on fit tv. But I have never really been able to run for an extended period of time. But this week I have felt the urge to try and run. So monday morning I woke up and took a run. I soon noticed that it was not as uncomfortable as I remember it being. I should say that I did invest in some good running shoes but , my knees were not killing me and my lower back did not hurt. Im going to throw running in the mix, along with swimming walking biking and boxing. Personally I think it is important to change workouts as to not get bored

Squats
Leg Extentsions
Calf raises
Bent over Rows
Bent over Flyes
Thirty Minutes Heavy bag

Be the bear....

A few years ago when I signed up at the gym, the owner John asked me why I was joining it. I didn't really have an answer just told him that is was time to lose weight. He leaned back and said " Come on you are doing it for the broads " . To which I responded , yes. I do have to say that recently I ran into an old friend..I have lost about thirty pounds since the last time she saw me, which was like four years ago. This time she was a little different, her body language had changed. I could tell that she was somewhat attracted to me. This suspicion was confirmed by my buddy who told me that she seemed to be interested in me. Amazing. I think one of the most important changes is in my confidence levels. I carry myself in a different manner I don't shy away from women as much as I used to. In fact I try to get as many smiles as possible.
Weight loss is not the only way to gain confidence, but the activities associated with it build confidence. Taking up swimming for example. I like to talk about swimming and how much it relaxes me. People always seemed impressed by the fact that I swim. It feels good to get some recognition for it. I also believe that you should dress to impress. Dont wait until you are skinny to try and look good in your clothes. Spend some money buy one outfit you look good in, maybe you will only wear once or twice but at least you can have a couple of good night of confidence boosting fun. I love to dress up, I cant wait to be thin a look really good in my suits .. I mean I look good in my suits , just cant wait to look better. So when it comes to the oppossite sex
I hear confidence goes a long way, a lot of women I have asked told me that they are attracted to confident men. To borrow from the movie swinger I say " be the bear". Go talk to that women you want to talk to. Learn how to dance salsa. Learn to be charming. Get ready for that one day when you are in your thin suit......I mean you want to have game by then right? So practice now.

ran mile
shoulder press
shoulder extentions
pull down
tricep extention
skull crushers
over head dumbell raise..tricep extention.

Keeping and eye on the goal...

I have to say that I can feel the changes happening. Its hard to imagine going back to my old lifestyle. Although I still crave sodas and sweets sometimes. I remember there was a time when I used to drink at least a liter a day of soda. Now I choose herbal or green teas when I want a flavored drink. Not hot most of the time I just drop a tea bag into a bottle of water and take it with me on my walks to the beach. I don't add sugar. I never used to consider the added calories that all my soda intake would give me. I was taking in huge amounts of calories with sweet drinks. Now I prefer light tastes in my water, chamomile and mints taste good in water with out sugars. And green teas are often touted as excellent drinks for those who are trying to lose weight. They are full of anti oxidants and are said to help control hunger. Losing wieght is ultimately about taking bad habits and replacing them with good ones.
shoulder work outs
Modified Pull Up 4 sets of 12
Military Press 4 sets of 12
lateral shoulder raise 4 sets of 12
shoulder pull down 4 sets of 12
Skull Crushers 4 sets 12
Over head dumbell raise 4 sets 12
pull down extension 4 sets of 12
thirty minutes cardio on a stationary bike

the problem with daily calories....

I had a friend recently visit me. He had started using his bike to get to and from school. It was a fifteen mile round trip and a good part of it is up hill. He was a bit frustrated that in spite of his new daily bike ride he has not lost any weight. We talked about what he was eating, when he was my roommate he seemed to live off of hot dogs and chili. He told me that his diet was poor consisting of mostly Taco Bell. I told him that was his problem. Then he told me that is was usually his only meal all day long. It was probably around a two thousand calorie meal.
I did not know what to tell him two thousand calories is about what a person should be taking in right? Well I thought about it for a long time. I realized that it is a mistake to think about caloric intake in terms of a whole day. It is better to think about calories in terms of the next few hours. If someone skips breakfast and lunch then has a big dinner this confuses the body. See after not having the fuel it needs for the morning and afternoon the body may go into famine mode. Meaning that since there is no plentiful source of calories, it will automatically save the calories, this is bad because it gets stored as fat. Another down fall is that in the evening he will not do enough activity to use up two thousand calories, the excess calories will also become fat. My buddy was shooting himself in his own foot because of his poor diet. I now think of food in terms of the next few hours. When I need the extra fuel for swimming or wieghtlifitng I use a more generous portion of my daily intake. I try to divide up my daily calories for what I need. I always pack a snack when I go to the beach to restore glycogen and have fule for the walk home for example. So this way of thinking had helped me immensely to understand food and its proper consumption.

Learn from others....

Okay I am down another four pounds. So I am optimistic. Things are going good. I have reached the point that when I don't work out I feel like I need to . I used to be able spend a whole day sitting at a desk or playing video games. Now when I don't do the exercise I feel restless. I realize that I'm making a lifestyle change and I like the possibilities of the new lifestyle. I am watching National body challenge and I am learning a lot. But not from the host , Im learning from the families. I see their negative attitudes and realize that I am the same way sometimes. I believe that people who fail at their attempt to live a healthy lifestyle, don't understand that they have to give up things they love, and replace it with new things they love. I love the beach. I want to surf that is my goal.
I guess one thing that is really affecting me is how people on these shows are starting out enthusiastically but losing steam after a few weeks. They get such a negative attitude towards eating right. Being someone who used to eat fast food almost everyday. I can say that I dont miss it. ha ha ha ha .Well I havent worked out yet, but I do plan on my walk to the beach and doing the swim.

this weeks progress

Allright over the period of two week I have lost six pounds. That is eleven total since I started this blog three weeks ago. My fitness advisor Peter Gunz told me that nutrition is the most important element to living a healthy lifestyle. He is gives advice on fitness on his blog. http://web.mac.com/peter_gunz/Site/Fitness_Tips/Fitness_Tips.html. You are what you eat.

Juice...

uI have to say that I am a huge fan of the Jack Le Lane Juicer. It is a convenient way to get a few servings of vegetables in. I try not to juice fruits because of the high sugar content. I can get a good amount of juice from carrots , tomatoes and celery. I also like to add ginger. So I asked my friend how to count servings from juice, she told me that it is counted in ounces like two or three ounces is a serving. So why do i juice, because I like it, but I also have a hard time taking in enough vegetables, I don't like to eat them. Carrots for example hurt my stomach for some reason but when I juice them they dont bother me.

Thirty Minutes of Cardio.

My own worst enemy....

For some reason today I felt that my efforts have yielded little fruit. While I was walking I thought about how people have been telling me that I look slimmer. But for some reason I tell myself that they are just being nice. Or that I look slimmer because of the way I am wearing my hair. I think the sometimes my self perception is a bad thing. I think that I have hit points in the past where I was not making as much progress as I would have liked to and simply gave up. But tonight I went to a baseball game with my father and brothers. We took pictures and I noticed that I am looking a bit more vertical and not so horizontal. I could see my progress, I am smaller. The results of my efforts are noticeable . I guess I will have to learn to keep going inspite of my own discouragement.

walked 30 minutes

Why I dont want to work out sometimes...

Like many people I have done the whole I want to work out song and dance every year. Inspired by shows like the biggest loser I would engage in a week or two of rigorous exercise. But I would lose steam and slump back into my old ways. Today as I was walking back from the beach, I thought about some of my friends who just started gym memberships. One of whom told me that they have not been there in two weeks. I have been on a consistent exercise program for the last few months. I thought about what has stopped me from doing this before. I think that answer lies in that fact that I was overzealous. I was basically going from doing nothing to working out everyday. This was foolish, my body retaliated and would get really sore. After a week or two of torturing myself. I would take the sit on the couch option. One of my friends told me that initially we need to build up the ability and tolerance to work out. I started slowly with twenty minute walks and light weights. After about a month of light workouts I started to step it up. My body composition is changing, and I can handle more strenuous workouts now.

walked 4.4 miles
swam 30 minutes

the war is made up of small battles...

I realized that reaching my ultimate goal takes making good decisions. I often ask myself am I heading toward my goal or away from it. I have many a times put down those oreo's and traded it for a plum or some other sweet fruit. My personal war on unhealthy wieght is a bunch of small everyday battles. And lately a bunch of small victories. Just last friday , I attempted surfing. I had always been weary of trying this becuase it requires good physical conditioning. I was really intimidated by the dreaded pop up required to stand on a surfboard. My friends wife Kristen took us out . We practiced the pop up. I had lost enough weight to do this move. I was happy. She helped me to paddle out and taught me how to try to catch a wave. It was all very hard and very strenuous. I cuaght a couple waves but did not manage to stand up and really surf. But I am not as scared of it as I once was. In fact the whole experience boosted my confidence that with more training and conditioning I will be able to surf. P.S. Sorry that i have not posted in a week. I had a friend in from out of town, we spent all of our free time at the beach.Where else am I going to get a beach body?

weekly progress..

So I lost five pounds this last week. Thanks to those who stopped by and left comments I hope you come back. I should also thank Mr. Contorversy Himself Peter Gunz. He is where I get alot of my nutrional information from. You can ask him health and fitness questions at http://web.mac.com/peter_gunz/Site/Welcome.html . Okay So I should say that many times I have not turned to the scale to check my progress. I have been hearing good things ,people telling me that I am looking like I am losing weight. They often ask how much wieght have you lost. My answer is I don't know. I usually track my progress by how well my clothes fit. Or by how good I feel. The reason for that is that is muscle weighs more than fat. The scale does not give an accurate depiction of ones real progress. Muscle gain may make it look like I made no real progress. Or even worse a person may lose muscle and think they are getting fitter cause they are losing wieght. But for the purposes of this blog I will count my pounds lost.

A day of rest,

Six days thou shalt labor and on the seventh thou shalt rest. God knew what he was doing, he designed us. One important part of working out that is very important to consider is the resting part. Our body needs time to recover and rebuild. It is important to take days off to let it do this. When doing things like resistance training ,the body will grow muscle to compensate for an increased work load. Also the impact from running or walking creates a need to rebuild bones. Or bodies have a whole lot of work to do when we are finished working out. At first I needed to work out one day then rest the next day. I have built up my endurance so that I can work out more days in a row. But there are some days when I am still wiped out from the previous days workout. On days like this I rest, I take a nap and let my body do what it needs to do. Resting is important so that we do not over train. Over training may actually slow down or metabolism and really impede the progress we have made. So I rest and I make sure I give my body what it need to rebuild stuff, mainly protiens. I will often have a peanut butter sandwich with a glass of milk before i go to bed.

what is working out...

Like most people many of my past attempts to lose weight often involved getting a gym membership. Like many people I would take my two free training sessions and use my membership for like a month. I don't currently have a gym membership. Like with food my philosophy on exercise has changed. About a year ago I saw a news report about a black guy that would train people in Central Park. These people were losing weight lots of weight. This guy would basically hold play sessions. He and his group would run around and basically pays simon says. It looked like a play session. The people looked like they were having fun. And they were losing weight. So I I left the gym behind. I once tried Tai chi. I was sweating by the time I was done. I have even tried some Yoga. I now use a variety of exercises that I enjoy that keep my heart rate elevated. I basically believe that exercise can be fun. No need to suffer. There are so many resources online to learn different fun exercises. The strategy is simple the more I enjoy the excercise the likelier I am to stick with it.

walked today forty minutes

do as i do ,.

I have to admit that today after my swim I wanted a cheeseburger really bad. I actually came up with a way to deter myself from giving into this craving. Lets say I'm at a fast food chain, I look around and see who is eating what. I tell myself that if I eat the same thing they are eating I will look like them. I ask myself do I want to look like these people. So alot of times the answer is no so I decide to take the healthier alternative. I bought myself some fruit had a little salmon to hold me over and then made a vegetarian minestrone for dinner.

walked 2.2 miles
swam 30minutes

Food Philosphy and My workout today.

I had realized that one of my biggest set backs to getting to a healthy weight was my food philosophy. I basically viewed food in the same way I do entertainment. It was all about pleasure and an escape from boredom. This led to constant over eating and over indulgence. I am trying to view food in a different manner , I put my food into two categories, one is food for building blocks the other is food for fuel. The there are two types of fuel one is a slower burning long lasting fuel ( complex carbs) the other is a quick burning fuel (simple carbs). Building blocks are the vitamins and minerals we get from food, another very important building block is protein. Protein is basically what makes muscle on our bodies. I started to view my body as a machine. I wanted to make my machine using the best materials possilbe, ie fruits vegetable and light proteins. Also it is important to fuel up with the apropriate fuels. I will discuss this in later blogs
Jaque le Lane Juicer Rules.
workout for today
consisted of resistance training for the back and shoulders
then followed up with a 20 minute cardio workout using a heavy bag
I did not use my cardio and a warm up this depletes fuel for resistance training

excersise log Wed July 30th

I walked today 3.2 miles takes me about an hour and a half. I had to work my way up to the distance I remember I could only handle about a mile before my feet started to hurt. It took a few months of walking regularly to build up to my current distance. Walking does provide me with a good cardio workout and it is easy on my knees which feel like they are going to shatter when I run.

Five servings of fruits and vegetables..

I called a friend who was working as a nutritionist one day and told her that I was trying to lose weight. I asked her for some advice. She told me right off the bat eat five serving of fruits and vegetables everyday. So my next question was what is a serving? She told me a serving is about the size of your fist, an apple could almost be two servings. She also told me to make sure I ate plenty of vegetables along with the fruits. A combination of the two give us essential vitamins and minerals. this website is usefull as an educational tool. http://www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org/