Monday Cat Blogging

Talking Trash

I think it's a guy thing. Get some guys competing against each other and the trash talking starts to fly. Though, now that I think of it, I've known some women that could hold their own in these verbal pissing contests.

One such bout is starting up with the challenge that I mentioned in the previous post. My wife was looking over my shoulder as I was trading jabs with Brad (feel free to go over and visit him on YouTube to make fun of him) on Facebook and was convinced that we were angry at each other for some reason.

Heavens No!

I like Brad. More so...I admire him as well. I've been watching him for quite awhile now and know that he's come a looooong way. Lotsa people talk about change (like me) but he has actually done it, and continues on.

But...this is a challenge. Dares have been made. Money has been put into mouths. All's fair in love and war and make no mistake, when boys play, it is war. Talking trash is how we show affection and support each other. It may seem screwed up but, as I said, it's a guy thing.

If you do zip over to laugh at Brad, go ahead and stop by to visit this girlie man He does a great rendition of "I'm a Little Tea-Pot".

No Challenge Challenge?

Terry mentioned in a comment a while back that perhaps I ought to forget doing challenges and just...well...just do it. That was some pretty good advice and I've been really mulling it over the past couple of weeks.

There is an inherent flaw in fitness challenges. It's very easy to quit because...who the hell would know? There is no investment in money or reputation. There is not much urging on by others in the challenge because the ones that are still in it want to win too. It's a lonely pursuit and, as anybody knows that has tried to do something difficult, the reasons to quit a goal can quickly multiply and seem fairly reasonable.

But that last reason...the isolation of attaining personal fitness goals...is also a good aspect of challenges. If you can find a group of people that are supportive, that want you to succeed and need your support as well, that will hold you accountable because they want the same; well, then you have something positive going on. You have a circle of people that become more than competitors; you have friends that share your goals, your failures, and your successes.

One such challenge is being started up by a couple of fellows, Brad and Jason. I've embedded Brad's video clip describing the details. Yes, there is money involved. $25 to put in a pool...but really...that's not a lot of money and it does ensure that YOU are serious about being a part of this group. There are prizes but that's nowhere near the reason to enter. Do it for yourself.

You will meet some great people. Make solid friends. And, at the very least, you will look and feel better in three months.

Yeah....right

I'm noticing a spat of commercials recently touting the harmless nature of high fructose sweeteners in foods. Take, for example, the commercial above. A children's party and one of the moms is filling a glass with some type of bright red slop to give to the little darlings. The other mom expresses concern but can't seem to come up with a reason other than she had heard that high fructose syrup isn't all that wholesome. The other mother counters that the high fructose is just like sugar, it's all natural because it comes from corn, it's perfectly okay in moderation, and surely the benevolent corn industry wouldn't sell something that would be bad for the kiddies. The needlessly worrying mom realizes she was mistaken about her preconceptions of corn syrup and, I suppose, gives a brimming glass of goodness to her own overweight kid that comes waddling over

What utter bullshit!

First of all, high fructose corn syrup isn't the Karo syrup that grandma used to bake pecan pies. This stuff is the result of a lot of manufacturing and is about as "natural" as a styrofoam cup. Your body doesn't treat it like sugar, which is metabolized by the cells in your body, high fructose sweetener is metabolized by the liver...which can cause all kinds of nasty things. This stuff came out in the late 70's and we saw the beginnings of skyrocketing levels of obesity and diabetes at the same time. Just a whacky coincidence, I know.

As for use in moderation...well...that's pretty much impossible these days if you buy your food at a grocery. See, high fructose corn syrup is CHEAP and it is in everything...and I mean every processed food you buy. That cup of punch the lady is pouring has about 7 teaspoons of the stuff. A slice of bread is loaded with the crap. Think you're staying on your diet by eating low fat foods? Guess again. They are crammed with more sweetener that you can find at any desert bar. We literally eat pounds of this sweetener every day. Saying that this stuff isn't any more harmful than sugar is like saying that Winston is no more harmful than Salem. Sugar is not good for you in great amounts. High fructose corn syrup is not good for you in great amounts. The food manufacturing business guarantees that you will will receive insanely high amounts of high fructose with nearly everything you eat.

The corn industry....and it is an industry, not farmer Brown growing a few acres of corn and taters for the local market....is selling us a bill of goods. They don't give a rat's ass about your health, or your kids, or the fact that you're getting fat as a hog and might die thirty years before you should. It's about money.

Do I have an answer?

Hell no. Short of growing my own food, I don't know how to get around not eating stuff with high fructose sweeteners. Maybe if more people demanded less in the foods there would be a market for foods without the sweeteners.

I kinda think that's why the corn industry has started spending millions on these ads....to convince you that you have nothing to worry about.

Signs

Monday Cat Blogging

Is It Worth It?

Oh Har-de Har Har

It's really starting to piss me off. Some people that I work with making cracks about my gut. Kidding me that I must be enjoying married life and eating well. Poking me in the belly and asking me "when is it due?".

Jokes? Humor? Good natured ribbing?

Well.....

Oh, I laugh. I smile. I go along with the joking. But...ya know what? It hurts and it's embarrassing.

You know what the real kicker is though? The same ones that are getting their cheap yucks at my expense are the same people who were unsupportive while I was trying desperately to do something about my weight. They were the ones who seemed to take delight in every chance to sabotage my efforts. It was like...trying to get healthy was a direct challenge to them and they spared no effort to help me fail.

The reason I bring this up is because it occurred to me; some people will support you in your goals, some people will want you to fail because it will make them seem successful. Spending any time with the later is a waste because the only way you will please them is to continue to fail.

Do what you do for yourself. Those that care about you will rejoice. Those that don't...screw em.

I ain't laughing along anymore.

Dance Like Nobody is Watching

If this doesn't make you feel at least a little happy...you have my sympathies. This is for Terry, someone I am gently badgering to make a dancing video showing his stuff.

Switcheroo

There's a store in my town that sells used CD's. I pop in there once in a while because the CD's are always in great condition and I can usually pick up some hard to find things for a fraction of the cost. I was really pleased to find Muddy Waters Hard Again album.

Well...I get home and proceed to pop it into my player and instead of Muddy Waters, I find myself listening to John Lee Hooker. Evidently, they put the wrong CD in the jewel case at the store when they checked me out.

Not too disappointed. Hooker is pretty cool too.

Monday Cat Blogging

Whut Happened?

I dunno. I'm trying to figure it out. I'm trying to decide what to do next or if I even want to do anything more with this challenge stuff. I was going along with a full head of steam, then it just unraveled. Tremendous amount of pressure from work, a loss in my family, and some illness put exercise and diet on a back burner. Before I knew it....a week passed....then another....then a month.

I'm pissed off...mostly at myself.

I'm thinking that, maybe, I just don't want to transform as much as I say all the time. Perhaps I'm not really willing to do what it takes. Perhaps I'm lazy.

Today I am fat, lethargic, sick, and smoking again. I feel like shit. I'm sitting here wondering what it will take to get me to do what I know I need to do.

Monday Cat Blogging

Day 39

This is just peachy. I've had a very sore back all week which is making it pretty hard to do anything at all. I'm fairly certain I didn't do it with exercise. Maybe it's just one of the things about being over fifty I have to live with. Maybe it's the weather.

I dunno. I just know it sucks.

Something to Make You Smile

Day 31

One month over. My weight is still hovering around 215 but I am noticing differences....small things that probably nobody else does but, nonetheless, pleasantly surprise me.

Such things as being able to put on and take off my jeans without unbuckling my belt and unbuttoning and unzipping. Just slip them off like a pair of pajamas. I'm also starting to sport that baggy britches look that is popular among some young folks.

And...this morning.....as I woke....I had my hand resting on a bicep and couldn't even believe it was my own arm.

Changes are happening.

Monday Cat Blogging

Day 25

I may not be posting much in the next few days. I'm pondering a change in the look of this place. It's a slow process for an old fart like me. I have most of the bad qualities of a geek without any of the expertise.

Any suggestions at all will be needed and welcome.

Day 24

Inspiration. Where to get it? From a book? Another person? How do you get that push to be motivated to implement drastic changes in behavior and lifestyle?

I believe motivation has to come from one's self. All too often it seems that we want to find somebody that will make the changes for us. We search high and low for someone who will move us, alter us, enlighten us, plan for us....do the work for us. And we are willing to shell out big money in this quest. There are many folks in the world who will gladly take your money and tell you to do what you can tell yourself. Heck; send me a hundred bucks and I'll tell you a sure-fire way to lose weight.

Inspiration is fine. Being motivated by the actions and advice of others is okay. Yet, in the end, it is you that gets up in the morning and decides how to spend the day. It is you who decides what to eat. It is you who commits to working out. All the diet and exercise gurus in the world will not "make" you lose a single pound nor add one inch of muscle to your body.

It's up to each of us to deliver our own swift kick to ourselves.

Day 22

A bit of a crimp in my exercise plan for today. I have to hang around the house and wait for the delivery of a new bed. Until then....I can get in a bit of a workout by using the old bed as a trampoline.

Day 18

Six well balanced and portioned meals a day. That's the BFL plan and it goes with the idea that giving your body what it needs every two or three hours during the day keeps the metabolism at peak efficiency, as opposed to loading down with calories that your body cannot use and therefore stores as fat. Pretty reasonable idea.

But what happens when you just are not wanting to eat that last meal of the day?

This is something that I'm struggling with. My 6th meal comes around 9pm and I'm not wanting to eat it because I'm not hungry. Plus, I generally go to bed at 9 or soon after....I'm old and, besides, I get up very early to exercise in the morning.

I don't know what to do about this or if I should even bother worrying about it at all. After all...I don't wake up hungry.

Day 16

I love my gym! Anytime Fitness....I wish I had joined a long time ago. Since it's open 24 hours a day, I can go anytime I wish and it's hardly ever full of people when I do go. I think that the most I've ever seen in there at one time was about four. The best part is that those that are there are busy with their workouts so that you can concentrate on your won. Most times I'm there alone. It's like having my own personal gym.

Another great thing about this place is the equipment. It is state-of-the-art and ergonomically perfect. No joint pains. It is a joy to use the equipment for my old bones.

Finally! I now look forward to going to the gym.

Day 15

I know a guy on YouTube, Sean (visit him, he's a helluva inspiration) , who in an effort to eat more healthy decided to go vegan. In fact, I think he is into vegan raw...which means he prefers to eat unprocessed and uncooked veggies and fruits. One of the things he has run across though is the old "war" people have about eating meat versus not. Sean seems to have the right attitude; namely, he's eating what he wants and everybody else can do the same. Sean prefers not to eat meat and that's cool. At one time I was a vegetarian and I was for several reasons that are still valid to me.

1. Americans eat way too much meat. We really do. I've been to a lot of other countries and the average American eats more meat in one sitting at the dinner table than most other families have in a week.

2. The factory raising and slaughter of livestock to supply all that tonnage of meat to Americans is cruel. We can go on and on about whether it is reasonable to project human standards to how we treat animals; but the bottom line is that inflicting cruelty and pain on a creature that can experience it, I believe, diminishes us as humans.

3. Meat is so full of hormones and chemicals as to render it toxic...especially in the amounts served. Good grief; people die from eating hamburger at fast slop places.

4. Humans are not carnivores. We have no fangs. We do not chase down prey. Without our technology, in fact....we ARE prey.

Now...let me clarify. I am no longer a vegetarian. I eat meat. I like meat. If there is no BBQ in heaven, I don't want to go. What I have done is take in mind my considerations about meat.

1. I limit the amount I eat. Not every meal must have a meat. I do not need meat every day. Even the guidelines with BFL suggest only a serving of meat about the size of a deck of cards. That's not much folks.

2. When I buy meat, it is from independent producers that treat their animals well. Open range beef and cage free chickens. A happy animal is a tasty animal. It costs a bit more but it's worth it.

3. As above, only animals and dairy products free from growth hormones and not fed god-knows-what kind of swill just to fatten them up for sale. As for fast food......bleeeeech! I would just as soon share dinner with my cats.

4. Actually, humans are scavengers...like buzzards. Way back in primitive times, the only way a human got any meat for his dinner was to find some carcass rotting in the sun. In fact, I think that's why fire started being used to cook meat...to kill the bacteria. Cavemen who cooked their road kill didn't die from explosive diarrhea like those that ate it au natural. Cooking also masks the aroma of rotting flesh. Today we use catsup.

I think the best way to go is just be conscious about what you are putting in your mouth. Grains, veggies, fruits, and nuts should be the overwhelming basic of the diet. Toss in a bit of meat protein once in awhile to give the amino acids that can't be found anywhere else.

But above all....pay attention to what you eat and don't waste time preaching to others what they should eat. Be an example rather than a preacher.

Day 10

Ever hear of a guy called Dave Freeman? He wrote a travel book titled 100 Things to do Before You Die. Freeman also died a few weeks ago at the age of 47 due to an accident in his home....only managing to do about half of the things on his list.

Bummer.

...or is it? He did, after all, pursue his life as he wanted rather than wait for "someday" to come around before starting.

Yeah, it is too bad that Freeman died at a fairly young age. I'm sure it was unexpected to everybody close to him. Certainly it came as a surprise to him. Death usually does for most of us, and that is my point today.

Most of us don't think about dying. We don't get up in the morning knowing that it might be our last. In this entirely human characteristic of denial about our own mortality, we also tend to have a nonchalant attitude about living. Tomorrow will always be there. We'll do that later. I'll put that goal on hold for awhile.

If you knew this was your last day, what would you do?

If you are thinking of a lot of things you would feel an urgent need to cram into the next 24 hours...you aren't living right now.

Day 3

A little change up for today. Usually, on three-day holiday weekends, I take Wednesday off as my holiday since my work schedule has me off on Mondays anyway...but I have a couple of meetings this morning that I really can't afford to miss. So, I'll go into work and take the afternoon off and probably the afternoon tomorrow as well. Rather than going to the gym early this morning, I'll drop by after lunch and spend a bit more time than scheduled. I want to go through all the machines and document what settings I need so I don't have to fiddle with them every morning from now on.

Dieting going well. Ground turkey breast is God's gift to fat men.

Day 2

So here it is, another year.

Change?

None. I'm still fat. I'm still out of shape. I'm still taking before photos and I'm still starting challenges.

But...then again.....

I haven't gained any weigh in the past year. I know more now than I did last year. I eat healthier. I live healthier. Maybe that should count for something?

9-1-08
216 lbs
40% BF

New Gym

Well...at least new to me. I have griped and complained about the YMCA for some time now. Crowded, noisy, long drive from home, closed on every holiday imaginable, and generally just not very enjoyable anymore. I've driven by this place every morning on my way to work and thought about joining. My interest was prodded along by my friend Boyd who joined up in his neck of the woods.

So I took the plunge and went to check it out.

Nice place. Friendly. Clean. Equipment is top of the line. Not crowded and those that are there are there to work out and are not interested in fashion or social posturing. And it is open all-the-time.

I should also mention that membership is fairly cheap. I got a family membership for $35 a month. The YMCA is about three times that cost.

The one draw-back is that the cushions on the weight machines are all some type of weird purpley-pink color; but what the hay, at least they aren't patched up with duct tape.

Spare Time? What Spare Time?

I know I haven't posted much recently, certainly not on a regular basis, but I've been putting in some serious hours at work. My agency had an accreditation inspection this week that required everything from medical charts to the waste basket to be just-so perfect. On top of that; the agency decided it would also be a good week to switch over to our new computerized paperless system....which ran about as smoothly as a three legged hog on a frozen lake.

I've been spending long days at my desk at my laptop until my eyes are spinning and I can hear the faint sizzle of my brain frying.

The week is almost over though. I just need to hang on...so to speak.

New Toy

These are so cool! They are called Perfect Pushup and you can get them in a lot of places. I picked these up at Wal-Mart for about $20.

What they basically do is allow your arms to rotate while doing push ups. Now...that may not seem like much but the workout these little doo-hickies give the chest, shoulders, abs, and arms is amazing. It takes old-fashioned push ups to a whole new level.

Obesity...the 21st Century Disabiliy

I was at the grocery store today, completing my weekly challenge of finding healthy foods amid all the high fat, high sodium, high carb, low nutrition, and overly processed crap that fills most of the shelves. While wandering up one aisle and down the other, I noticed something.....there were a lot of people whizzing around in those little electric carts that stores provide for those folks who have difficulty walking.

The strange part though...the part that really made me go "huh?"...not one single person in the carts was old, feeble, paralyzed, or even looking as if they just felt a bit under the weather. They were mostly young. And by young, I mean 20 or 30 ish....maybe a couple of the advanced years of 40.

They were all, however, fat. Not chubby. Not overweight. Immense! (the above is stock footage, I wouldn't be mean enough to actually take a picture of these huge shoppers). It's really strange when you think of it. Morbidly obese people who are so out of shape that they cannot even walk to get the junk they eat to maintain their massive girth.

Now...don't get me wrong. I'm not condemning these people. I feel sorry for them. What a lousy way to live. How dreadful to have an existence dependent upon a machine to haul you around because you are unable to carry all the fat hanging on to your body.

But for the grace of God though....

I walk. I run. I bike. I even dance.

because I get to

How Much is Too Much?

Is there such a thing as too much exercise?

This is a question that was put to me by a friend the other day when I mentioned that I was hoping the rain would hold off so that I could get in a little jogging or bike riding in the evening. I had explained a bit about the program, alternating weightlifting with cardio during the week. My friend noted that I had done weights in the morning and was suggesting that it might be bad to do cardio the same day AND do it again the next morning.

I forgot to mention that this friend is about a hundred pounds overweight and would rather cut off a finger than take a stroll around his block.

I can agree that too much of anything is not a good idea. At my age, I certainly pay attention to what my body tells me when I'm lifting weights or slinging around a kettlebell. I can't recover from injury like I use to and pushing beyond my limits could seriously put me out of action for weeks. Cardio is the same, I suppose. I mean, I don't want to push to exhaustion but I'm finding that my body enjoys the activity. It needs to move. It needs to sweat. The whole point of doing this thing is to be more active...after all.

I dunno. Still....how do you answer people who give fitness advice that they obviously do not take themselves?

Without hurting their feelings of course.

Blended

One of my most important piece of equipment in this transformation is a blender. I gotta have it because my biggest problem is eating. I love to eat. I love food. That's not a bad thing but, over the years, I've been pretty indiscriminate about quantity and quality. I would eat carrots or cheesecake with equal pleasure and abandon. Now, with the goal of losing lotsa weight, I have to be careful about what I eat during the day. Every calorie counts since I'm limiting myself on how many to take in every day.

That's where the blender comes in. A couple of my meals every day consists of a Myoplex shake mixed with some fresh fruit. It's quick. It's easy for a cooking impaired person like myself. Clean up is a breeze. It's relatively cheap. It's very nutritious, probably the most balanced meals I have most days. And...it's yummy!

213.8 lbs this week.

and my pants are loose again

Mouth - Stomach Synchronization

The interesting thing about trying to achieve a transformation is that I get to take a long look at myself and, especially, my body. I'm trying to figure out why my body wants one thing while my brain is wanting something else. It's complicated.

Fer instance.

I'm eating well. No starvation diets for me, I eat plenty of good foods all during the day. But...even though I'm basically full, not hungry, my belly is satisfied...my mouth still wants to chew something. Snack attacks! They are with me all the time. I sit at my desk at work and have incredible urges to eat chips, sweets, whatever I can find (and it's really easy to find too).

I dunno. Maybe it's an emotional need. Maybe I'm bored. Or stressed. Or just want to do something else besides write some twenty pages of reports.

Two for one

I'm finding it is possible to push away my plate at a restaurant and ask for a doggie bag.

I can't avoid eating out. Earlier this week, my new sister-in-law came to town for a visit. Now, being a new member of the family and wanting to be a good host, I couldn't very well offer Myoplex's all around or go all out with a bit of tuna and brown rice. So yeah, let's go out to eat at a nice place.

What's that? Oh, she likes Mexican food. ummmm....okeedokee

Get to the place. I order something that, while not exactly low fat, at least is low in carbs. The waiter plops down a platter piled high with more food than I have right now in my fridge. It was good too. I ate half. Okay...I ate a little more than half. I then put the rest into a carry-out carton for lunch the next day.

Then yesterday, my team at work wanted to go out for lunch and do a little bonding. Where to? Why an Italian place. ooooooohhhhhh.

Same thing. Order the best I can that was available. No pasta. Eat half and save the rest for an evening meal.

It's not the ideal way to eat but it keeps me from completely going of the tracks when I have to divert from my carefully planned meals

whoopee doopee

I lost one fifth of a pound last week.

I think my trouble might be the free days. I still think it's a good idea, but perhaps I need to be a little less free....as in not trying to cram a week's worth of junk down my throat in 24 hours.

I need a new movie maker.

I swear, either this movie maker of mine is a piece of junk or I'm just too stupid to figure it out.

If you're placing bets...I'd go for the latter.

Two Weeks Completed

I know I haven't been keeping up with this blog like I should. It just seems like time is flying by. Why...already two weeks have passed.

My weight today is 215.2 lbs. That's only 0.8 lbs this week but still almost five from my starting weight. Plus, my bodyfat percentage is going down.

Got Milk?

I've never really liked milk all that much. I don't hate the stuff, just not wild about milk. One of the things I'm trying to do, however, is find some variety to my diet...to help me stay with it. Milk is a good food source loaded with good protein, vitamins, and minerals. Trouble is, milk has a lot of fat and I cannot stand no-fat, skim, or 1% milk.

I do like chocolate milk.

So I came across this soy milk at the grocery the other day. All the goodies of milk with none of the animal fat and chocolate to boot. "Worth a try", I thought to myself.

It's good! A great treat for myself that I can have every day without drifting from my plan.

Lost Four Pounds

Only 46 lbs to go. At this rate, I can get there in the next eleven weeks.

Of course, I know that isn't the way it's going to happen. I just love starting a program because the first week is always dramatic. The body really responds to being treated well....good food...activity and such....so just about everybody loses at least a couple of pounds almost immediately after starting any type of program. That's what sells diet schemes.

The trick here is to not think that, since I've lost a chunk of weight, I can slide back into some bad eating habits or slack off on the exercise. I'm readying myself for much less impressive weight losses, or even slight gains, for the next few months.

It's all about the big picture.

Whine

Okay...I know that it's a familiar whine and really no excuse, not really....but my job sure makes it hard to stick to a BFL schedule.

I spent a lot of time planning out the day's meals. Packed them all in a cooler and headed off to work, thinking of when I would be eating what during the day. I get to work and up pops an email saying that I need to attend a mandatory training at another building across the city for half the day....at a location where I cannot take the cooler, or any food, or even have a bottle of water.

Of course, everybody gets the assumed "lunch hour" at high noon but I miss two meals.

It's bullshit. I'm going to get a few Myoplex bars even though I really don't care for them all that much (I'd rather eat some real food) and DEMAND that I be allowed to eat one every two hours or so no matter what the location or situation.

I'm fed up with living in a three-meal-a-day world. Let everybody else adjust to my six for a change.

Can't Do Squat

I suppose I must have gotten a fairly good workout with my hike yesterday because my legs feel like there are a thousand tiny hammers pounding away on them. Not able to do much of a lower body this morning, little more than agonizing stretching, but I did do some abdominal crunches.

Like the Doodah Man

Cardio day...and what to do. I'm pretty much out of shape and didn't really want to go to the gym to hop on some piece of equipment, with the chance of hurting myself this early in the challenge. I also needed to go to the store and pick up a bit of cat food since the cats are certainly not restricting their caloric intake.

So I thought to kill two birds with one stone. The store is about a couple of miles with several hills in between. I timed my walking speed and hit several high points along the way as planned with a cardio. When I returned home I was drenched in sweat and my heart-rate was in a good zone, so I guess it worked.

By the end of this challenge, I would like to be able to do that same four mile walk...but running.

Beginning Stats

weight --- 220.0 lbs
body fat percentage --- 38.0 %

neck --- 16 in.
chest --- 45 in.
bicep --- 14 in.
forearm --- 12 in.
waist --- 50 in.
hip --- 44 in.
thigh --- 21 in.
calf --- 15.5 in.

Crossing the Abyss

This is the new Body for Life book just now out in a bookstore near you. It is, in a word, fantastic. The book outlines in great detail how to transform your body, and ultimately the way you feel.

Those that know me know that I'm into psychology and counseling people struggling to deal with mental health issues...particularly depression. I'm a firm believer in the theory that mind and body are an intricate part of the same system; that is, what effects one effects the other. In other words, we can have a great deal of control over our bodies as well as our emotional state. All to often we fall in the trap into believing that we have control of neither; that outside forces cause us to be fat, to be depressed, that it is not within us to change, that it can only be repaired through surgery or medication.

The book describes this mindset as crossing the abyss. Some call it taking a leap of faith. It's making the conscious decision to transform. To no longer accept the status quo of your life. To take charge of your body and your mind and attain the quality of life you want.

Oh...it sounds easy.

It ain't. If it were, I suspect there would be no problems with obesity or depression in this country and I would be out of a job. It requires work, tremendous amounts of work. It will be my project for the next 12 weeks to transform my body as well as my mental attitude....to cross an abyss of my own making. Photos may tell half the story. Hopefully, the writings here can tell the other half.

Home Again, Home Again

A wonderful trip. First real vacation that I've had in years, but it's good to be back home. Actually....it's just good to no longer be on the highway with all those crazy-assed drivers.

Did I exercise? Nope. I was on vacation, remember? I did do a lot of hiking through woods and in caves. Did I eat clean? Well, kinda. Missouri is not known for its cutting edge culinary delights. The actual eating out at a nice restaurant experiences were a bit disappointing. Mexican and Italian places were a disaster because they have no concept in that state about spices or flavors. It looked mighty good but I've had TV dinners that tasted better. One Mexican restaurant had a course of bland food with salsa that was little more than watery catsup. I requested hot sauce and the waiter had no clue what I wanted or why. Another place seemed to have salt as their only spice along with some undercooked shrimp and gooey pasta.

So, I didn't really chow down much on the trip.

I did read though, and I'm going to be talking later on about what.

Honeymooning

Really difficult to stick to any type of eating or exercise plan right now...and I'm not really trying. Have finished reading the new BFL book (what would you do on a honeymoon?) and have to say it is amazing! I can't wait to get back home and get started.

I'm fired up!

Day ?

The days are flying by, so much so that I'm losing track. This wedding thing is pretty much consuming all my time and energy, getting worse the closer the big day nears.

Speaking of consuming....the above photo is one of the trays of chocolate truffles and fudge that will be available at the wedding. Of course, I will just sit with this in front of me and not even touch a crumb. I'll probably be sipping on a Myoplex while everybody around me in gorging on all the delicacies.

yeah, right

I'll have some work to do once this thing is over.

Day 7

Well...I've gotten through my first week and it has occurred to me that I never did put out my starting weight. My beginning weight was 216.4 lbs and 38.2 % bodyfat. After a whole week of eating right and working out, it is now....dah dah da da dahhhhhh.......216.4 lbs and 38.2% body fat.

Not even a decimal point in change. Weird!

The way I can explain this is that I'm not starting cold, so I'm not able to get those groovy drops in numbers that everybody gets excited about. I am going to have to push my cardio more and get that damn bodyfat percentage down though.

Day 5

My intent was to write about this transformation every day; but with my work schedule, marriage planning, severe weather, and just day to day chores....I can either sit at the computer or I can exercise. I choose the latter.

I'll be in with a full update in a couple of days.

Day 2

I've been thinking of the several times I've started challenges over the years. It seems that I've drifted away from what BFL is about and focused on the challenge instead of what the challenge is about. The original purpose of the challenge was a dare....Bill Phillips dared people to follow his plan for 12 weeks as a means to transform, well, everything about themselves.

I've been so focused on doing a challenge I have forgotten what it is that I am challenging, so here it is:

I believe that it is possible for a fifty year old, fat, and out of shape man to transform into the best physical condition of his life. I believe that this can be accomplished in a few short months without drugs, crazy diets, or surgery. I believe that it is never too late to discard bad habits and develop good ones.

I believe that I do not have to live the way I do. I believe that I have the power to transform myself.

Transformation Day 1

Today I started a challenge, though I'm calling it a transformation. I will be a different person inside and out in twelve weeks.

Began with a rainy day but as I said, no excuses....so I'll be posting update and stats tomorrow.

No Excuses

This is my mantra for the coming challenge...quit making excuses. I'm great at making excuses for why I'm not doing something. Certainly better at it than actually, oh, I dunno, actually following through with what I say I'm going to do. I've used them all at one time or another and it usually convinces me, for awhile.

Eating:
"I don't have time to eat as planned today, too many meetings"
"One donut isn't going to make any difference"
"There's nothing on this restaurant menu anyway"
"I'll just make this a free day"
"I can have double (or triple) portions because I skipped a couple of meals today"

Exercise:
"I'm too embarrassed of my body to go to a gym"
"My gym is full of stuck up yuppies and I feel out of place"
"I'll go to the gym tonight after work"
"I'm too tired and sleepy to exercise this morning"
"It's too rainy, snowy, dark, or whatever to drive to the gym"

Transformation:
"No one knows if I fudge the challenge"
"I'll make up for it next week"
"I either have to smoke or snack all the time"
"I'm not getting support from my friends"
"I can always start another challenge"

Pretty damn pathetic as I write those excuses out. There are lots more but these seem to be the primary ones I've used with myself time and time again. I'm not like this. Really. I have more character than this, more drive, more ambition, and more ability than to just sit on the sideline and whine about why I'm failing at something without even bothering to complete the task.

No more excuses.

None.

Before Photos

I have a considerable collection of before photos. Thanks to the convenience of digital cameras, I actually have a couple hundred of the horrid things floating around in my computer. I started looking through them this morning after hearing a fellow challenger, Brian , mention that he had loads of before pictures....each looking a bit worse than those earlier.

I'm kinda in the same boat. Part of the whole challenge is to take before and after photos of yourself. I mean, you can use all types of weight and measurement statistics to gauge a transformation but...let's face it....the proof is in the visual difference between the start and the end. As well, looking at an unflinching view of one's body is a hell of a motivator and wake up call about your physical condition.

Still; I have no after photos.

I seem to be documenting a transformation...but not in the direction I had intended.

Addictions

THE big obstacle to achieving a healthy lifestyle. If it was easy to give up destructive behaviors, few people would continue to abuse themselves day after day until they keel over from the results.

We all have our particular monkeys to face with varying degrees of success. In my youth, it was drugs....lotsa drugs, couldn't get enough, and it damn near destroyed me. I left that scene because I didn't like what drugs were doing to me. I didn't like the type of person I was as a drug user. I made a conscious decision to change my lifestyle and never looked back.

Easy?

Hardly....and not a quick change either, but a change it was and a change that nobody could do for me. I had to do it all myself. For myself.

I'm spending this year, once again, changing my life and, once again, I have an addiction that I must get rid of to reach that change.

Smoking.

Oh, I quit for awhile. Then started again, slowly at first, but gradually working up to almost the level I was before I stopped.

The dang thing is....I KNOW BETTER! I know what smoking does to the body. I know it is insane to keep putting poisons in my body every day and expecting good health to somehow magically fall into my lap. I know better. Alas, that is the nature of addiction.

I'm tired of being controlled by this addiction. I start a new challenge on June 2nd...one in which I am actually entering the contest. The real challenge for me starts today.

No more.

C1W9D2

Well...for a month now I seem to be staring at this brick wall in the challenge. 213 lbs...no more...no less.

I feel pretty good.

But dang...I wish the scale would move.

C1W7D4

I'm excited! I caught a glance of myself in the mirror this morning while I was dressing. Now, usually I avoid doing this because I don't like what I see and it was totally accidental that I peered over and caught my shirtless image....and saw abs.

Not a six-pack by any means, but some prominent ridges and bulges along the sides and down the middle. Also, this was relaxed, no flexing or tightening at all. I just stood there slack-jawed for a few minutes.

I credit the kettlebell with doing this.

C1W6D5

I feel really old this morning. Mostly, it's the aftereffects of the tree chopping ordeal of a couple of days ago...but I'm also wondering if it might be from pushing too hard too fast. I have a tendency to ignore the limits of my body in trying to attain what my mind wants. It's probably a male ego thing. We are wired to do things, accomplish things, get 'r done. I have to remind myself constantly to be patient. No quick fixes. No fast solutions.

But I want it all.

And I want it now.

C1W6D3

The time had finally come. The accused was judge guilty and by decree from the great and powerful Vicki...condemned to be struck down from her holy gaze. The blade was raised high, glinting in the morning sun, then brought down with a powerful and decisive blow.

And again.

and again and again and again and again and again and again.....

One hour later...."sunuvabitch, where's my damn power saw!"

Finally, with the waning sun, the mighty tree creaked and began it's slow decent to the dirt from which it sprang. Landing right on top of my fence and into my neighbor's back yard.

shit

really great workout though

C1W5D7

FREE DAY!!!

This is the end of the half-way mark of the challenge.

C1W5D2

Bodyfat sucks. It wasn't a problem when I was young. I was svelte and thin, downright scrawny actually. I ate like a horse. Sneered at diets and people who were on them. I didn't see the point in watching calories or fat. I tried at times to actually gain weight....but never put on an ounce.

Then one fine morning I took a look at myself in the mirror. WTF!!!!

I ain't a David anymore. I kinda look like my Dad. Jeeze...nobody told me that I'd wind up being fat if I kept eating like there was no tomorrow and avoided exercise with passion.

I guess I'm looking to see myself some morning in the mirror and find it all magically gone. Slow process. Real slow.

C1W5D1

Crap!

crap, crap, crap, and more crap

I'm depressed today. The scales that I've been using were pretty old and a bit unreliable. So...I moseyed over to the store and bought another. It's a good one. Very accurate. Today I weight 213.6 lbs with 37% body fat.

crap

I don't know if I gained weight last week or if my old scale was just measuring low.

Either way, it sucks.

C1W4D1

One month! Here are the results so far: 211.5 lbs 35.5% bodyfat.

That's a drop of 13.5 lbs, which is a bit more than my goal of three pounds a week. My bodyfat percentage is still way high but dropped from the 40 I started with.

Overall, I'm pleased.

but I need to work on that bodyfat.

C1W3D3

Well...dangitall...I gained some weight. Not much, about three pounds up from last week to 214. I'm really not all that surprised since most of my weight loss had been due to not eating much and not keeping what I did eat down. I figured that once I started eating properly again I would put on a few pounds. The good news is, my bodyfat percentage is down to 36.5.

So I must be doing something right.

I'm looking at some kettlebells to spice up my workouts with. I haven't decided what sizes to get though. I don't want to get some that are so light that they won't do any good...and I don't want some so heavy that I won't use them since that wouldn't be much good either. I might try and get ahold of Terry and see if he has any suggestions.

C1W2D4

Today I'm facing one of those challenges I have with doing the challenge. I'm spending the day at a work related conference in another city. All day sitting in a chair listening to whatever speaker is up, interspersed with breaks for donuts and a lunch run at whatever greasy spoon restaurant happens to be close by.

Impractical to lug around my own food so I'll probably just eat very little as opposed to settling for junk food all day. Maybe I can find something healthy at lunchtime but I doubt I will get a chance to eat the mid morning and mid afternoon meals suggested by BFL and ignored by the rest of the working world in favor of just a honking big lunch in the middle of the day.

Shouldn't matter. It's not like I'm going to be working out my body much today anyway.

C1W2D3

Whew!

I think this bug is has finally wound it's way through my body. My voice is still a bit croaky and my energy level is a little on the low side, but I feel ready to rejoin the living.

This was a good opportunity to see if I could continue the Body for Life even when my body didn't feel like it had much life in it. Though I was sick, I continued to eat healthy. Of course, I didn't do any intense exercise but I tried to stay as active as possible.

These things happen. Just because you are trying to live healthy doesn't make you immune to illness or injury. What I've found that is important is to not just throw up your hands and say "screw it" because things aren't working out as planned.

I'm back on track and getting stronger. My weight is down to 211 from 225. My motivation is high. I'm achieving my goals.

C1W1D7

My Gawd!

It wasn't a cold folks...it was the flu in all its dreaded glory.

I lost over 12 pounds this weeks. Not too hard when you can't eat.

I feel almost human today.

almost

C1W1D3

I'm sick. What a great way to start off the challenge.

C1W1D2

What better way to start off the challenge than with a cold? Coughing, wheezing, sneezing, and generally feeling like crap.

Does that mean I don't exercise the best I can with clogged up sinuses and achy body? Does that mean I forgo my eating plan and sooth myself with comfort foods all day?

Not on your life....or rather, my body for life.

I Can Cook!

And believe me, if I can do it anybody can. My cooking expertise has been generally limited to nuking crap in the microwave or charcoaling animal parts over a fire. Both handy skills but not conducive to preparing healthy balanced meals for the challenge. So...seeing as I either needed to try my hand at actually preparing and cooking meals or be forced to settle for ready to eat or drink thingies; I whipped up this tuna casserole from a recipe I found in the Eating for Life cookbook.


Not bad if I do say so myself. No smoke alarms were triggered and Vicki did not gag while sampling a bite.

Water...the other drink

As a culture we don't think much of water. For most of us, clean and safe drinking water comes out of any tap we choose. It's pretty much always available; unlike a good part of the world where the simple act of finding water that will not scour out your intestinal tract is a bit of a challenge. Heck...we have so much potable water we bathe in it and even throw hundreds of precious gallons on our lawns.

As a result, most of us seem to forget how much we actually need this miracle liquid every day. We drink soda pop, coffee, tea, kool-aid, and even beer..but not a simple glass of water, especially with meals. Even when we do drink water, it tends to be in a bottle flavored and sweetened by chemicals with sometimes a bit of carbonation for kick.

Water isn't cool. Water is boring. But water is absolutely critical for your body to function. There are a lot of things that, doing without, will kill you. Air is at the top of the list. After a few minutes your body will start to shut down without oxygen. Food is another, though it will take you several days or weeks before you keel over by not eating. I seem to remember reading somewhere that you can live about a week without water; though the last couple of days will be extremely unpleasant.

We need water. Every cell in our body is made up mostly of water...and we continually lose it just by breathing, not to mention if any of us are engaging in any activity such as exercise or simply walking around. Many of us are chronically dehydrated. Have headaches? Sore muscles? Tired? Depressed? It may be as simple as not having enough water in your body to efficiently carry out all the thousands of processes that go on.

So before I grab that protein shake, before I take that supplement, before I eat that well balanced and proportioned meal....I'm going to drink a nice tall glass of plain old water. At least ten of them every day.

Here's mud in your eye.

Pre-Challenge Gorging

A lot of people do it. I'm tempted and I can understand why. You want to have the worse before photo possible so you can show a really dramatic change at the end of the challenge. And...after all, you are going to be eating correctly for the next three months, so may as well cram it all in while you can.

There are a few fallacies with this line of thinking though.

The main one is, that by gorging a couple of weeks prior to your official start date of the challenge, you will pile on a lot of fat that will just take that much longer to get off again. So you really don't get an advantage. Sure, your before photo looks like hell...but your final photo won't look that great either...or at least not near as good as what it could have been if you didn't waste the first month or two getting rid of that couple of weeks of binge eating.

A second one is habit. The body for lifestyle is really pretty simple. It's just a matter of habit. It's much better to develop those good habits before you get down and dirty with a challenge rather than trying to wing it along the way. Believe me...I speak here from experience. Things go much smoother if exercise is part of your daily routine. Eating healthy is a no-brainer if you develop a taste for good foods. Staying on track is easy if that is a lifestyle rather than a diet.

And that's really the whole point. The challenge is just something we do, to set goals and track progress. Eating well, exercising, making healthy choices...that's a lifestyle that we should be interested in keeping for life, not for 12 weeks, not for a contest, not for money, not even so we can look great naked.

It's all about taking care of yourself so you can enjoy yourself and the people around that care about you.

I get knocked down

Much less pain today. The high repetitions with itty bitty weights seem to be doing the trick in toughening up the muscles in my shoulder and rib cage. I am bitterly disappointed that I'm knocked out of schedule for the challenge but I'm looking forward to starting with my friends over at Body for Lifestyle on February 11th.

Join us. You won't find a more supportive and inspiring group of people.

DAMN!

You know how it is that you can never really escape your past? Well.. back in my youth I was in an incident that banged me around pretty good and, among other things, I cracked a rib along with some good thumping along my arm and shoulder. It took a while to heal but heal I did, and pretty much had forgotten about the whole painful ordeal.

Trouble was....I never really healed. I didn't build back up the muscles supporting all those abused bones. I had been content to let them slowly atrophy and replace them with some flab. Now here I am trying to get fit again by exercising and I was presented with a very poignant reminder of that long ago injury.

So....no BFL exercise for a week or two. Slow, low weight, high repetition lifts to rebuild that portion of my body.

Sucks, but I'm still sticking with the eating plan and planning on getting totally back on the challenge by February 11th. I'm not giving up... just taking a detour.

Day 9

I'm not really all that bubbly first thing in the morning. In fact, it's usually wise to avoid being around me before I've had my first cup of coffee. I don't mean to be grouchy and I take care not to snap at anybody...but until I've had a dose of caffeine, I ain't exactly a ray of sunshine. People who know and love me understand this and tolerate my morning moodiness. The last few days, I've felt even more like a tyrannosaurus getting out of bed. Exercise has stiffened up my arms so that I have to kind of clutch them to my chest....so I wander around the house in the mornings looking somewhat like the toothy fellow above.

With a good case of bed head to boot.

Day 8

Well now.....after my first week on the challenge, I'm down to 218 lbs. Three and a half pounds. Not bad. Actually, a bit surprising since I'm eating more than usual. Of course I'm eating better food and exercising every day; but still, a pleasant surprise. I am having difficulty eating according to plan and I think I've figured out why.

I'm not hungry when it comes time for a meal.

Think about that for a minute..."not hungry". For years I've been eating for the reasons most people eat, cuz I was hongray. When I did eat I didn't stop until I was no longer hungry. Pretty simple diet plan but one that didn't work out too well for me in the long run. The main problem is that my mouth can go about twice as fast as my brain; so when my brain says "you've had enough", I've already polished off my third helping.

The new paradigm (hot damn, finally got to use that word) in my lifestyle is that food is fuel. Now that doesn't mean I can't enjoy eating, just that I need to be more efficient in what I shovel down my throat every day. With six small balanced meals a day I keep my brain and stomach in sync. I don't get hungry. In a strange way I now enjoy my food even more.

But I still have to remember to eat on time or it will all collapse into an gobble orgy of whatever I can find.

s'cus me while I go make myself a Myoplex shake.

Day 5

One problem I'm noticing is that, several times a day, I get an overwhelming desire to eat something. Not really hungry. Just get the munchies...usually for something crunchy, salty, and loaded with fat and empty calories.

It's probably boredom. I primarily use my brain at work (I know, I'm overpaid) and I think that the rest of my body gets bored and wants to do some stuff too. So it sends a signal up saying "hey, howzabout a snack?".

When this happens I've found that getting up and walking around tends to make the urge go away fairly quickly. I don't have that much will power but I can distract myself pretty easily.

Day 4

Well hell....Another snowstorm right on cardio morning. A bit more risk than I want to take driving to the gym and I need to start off for work early in hopes that snowplows have been out last night.

So I fell back on my boot camp memories and did a little P.T. this morning. Push ups, sit ups, double time in place, just general calisthenics. Not the best cardio but better than sitting around complaining that everything is not going perfect for the challenge.

Day 3

I - am - so - sore

Day 2

ohboy...It was so hard to take my before photos yesterday. This has got to be the worst shape I have ever been in my life. Looking at the video I put on YouTube made me want to run to bed, crawl under the blanket, and hide. You see...I don't really have any mirrors in my house other than a couple that show me from the chest up. With that, it's pretty easy to squint a bit and ignore the vast gut I'm lugging around.

But the camera doesn't squint...and numbers don't lie, so here are some starting statistics.

Weight -- 221.5 lbs. This is not the most I have ever weighed, but it's damn close. Trouble is, I'm only about 5'9" and fairly scrawny in most respects. This weight does not look good at all on my small frame. I would like to get down to 180 lbs.

Body Fat Percentage -- 39.0%. That means that almost two-fifths of my body is fat, 86 pounds of it. I read a lot of what a good percentage should be and most recommend somewhere in the low twenties...at least.

Neck -- 17 inches.

Forearm -- 12 inches

Biceps -- 15 inches

Chest -- 46 inches

Waist -- 51 inches. This is four and a quarter friggin feet of gut! This is what I'm talking about when I say that, though I've weighed more, I've never been in this shape before.

Hips -- 45 inches

Thighs -- 20 inches

Calves -- 16 inches

As you can tell by these measurements, I'm shaped like a potato with toothpicks for arms and legs. My goal is to lose 40 lbs in 12 weeks. That comes out to around 3 or 4 pounds a week. That's not impossible, especially during the first couple of weeks. I know it will get harder to take it off the more fat I lose and the more muscle I add on. That just means I will have to continually step up my game.

BFL Challenge Day 1

I'm starting off this challenge with 221.5 lbs

My Gawd.

Two hundred twenty one and a half freakin pounds!

I've got a lot of work to do.

I Don't Wanna

One particular difficulty that I've had with exercising is in consistency. Oh...it's easy to start off gangbusters. When the motivation is strong at the beginning, there is no problem in putting all the needed time and effort into going to the gym for a good workout. Just look inside gyms at the first of the year when everybody is pumped with their New Year's resolutions. Standing room only.

After a couple of weeks though, the gym population starts to thin out a bit.

That's when people start waking up with the I don't wannas. Laying in a nice warm bed groggily awakened by an alarm in the early darkness...the thought of getting up, getting dressed, going someplace to sweat; my immediate thought is "I don't wanna". Well, actually, my thoughts are generally sprinkled with a few vulgarities; but you get my drift.

Here's the thing. There are a lot of activities I do every morning that I don't really want to do. I shave. I hate shaving. It's a pain in the rear, but I do it every morning because having a beard is even more trouble. I shower. I brush my teeth. I put on clean clothing (which means I wash them too). I prepare breakfast. I clean up the house a bit. In short, I do many things every morning not because I have fun doing them but because it's just what I have to do. If I skipped any of these chores, my day would be pretty crappy and....if I skipped doing them long enough, my life would quickly start to deteriorate.

So I do these things for me, for my quality of living. Exercise should be in the same category. It needs to be something I do regardless of whether I feel like doing it or not because the results are beneficial. I'm trying to develop the mindset that when I wake up in the morning and tell myself "I don't wanna"; I will also tell myself "so what, do it anyway".

I'm starting to believe that the hardest muscle to develop is the one inside my skull.

Prep Work

Okay...so I realize that I've been pretty lousy about keeping this blog up to date. You know how it is; things come up, stuff needs to be done, other priorities require attention, and the days pass by faster than you think.

Anyway, most of what I've been doing these last few days has been thinking and preparing for the next challenge. I want it to be a good one. I want my meals and exercises planned out to the letter. I want to devise a way of monitoring progress (or lack of) that doesn't allow for any fudge factor. I'm trying to get my damn computer to work with my camera and software in order to put up some YouTube videos.

I'm TRYING to get over this vicious cold!

I'm wanting to go hard-core for this challenge. By the book and by the numbers.

I'm planning on starting on the 14th.

New Year's Revolution

Well...it's 2008. It doesn't look much different than 2007. After all, it's only a date. Arbitrary. Not really meaning anything other than I have to use another calender and I'll probably be writing the wrong year on my checks for the next month or two. Still, it's as good a benchmark as any for most people to make little promises to themselves about what they will do for the next year. Resolutions.

Many people make resolutions about what they are not going to do. "I'm going to quit smoking, I'm going to quit drinking, I'm going to stop eating so much, I'm going to quit surfing for internet porn on my boss's computer"...whatever. I, however, have more ambitious ideas. I'm not going to vow to quit this or do that; I'm aiming for a revolution in my lifestyle that will carry on for however many more years I might have left in this ragged old body of mine.

I've been told that, at the mellow age of fifty, there are certain aspects of one's body that must be accepted as a given of nature. A sagging gut. Drooping shoulders. Flabby arms. Man boobs. All of which I reject as an inevitable process of aging. I can accept some things; gray hair, wrinkles, ear hair, and so on...but I believe that increased flab and decreased muscle is just a result of inattention. At my age, the metabolism slows and what my body use to be able to handle at 25 no longer works at 50. If I eat poorly, it shows. If I don't exercise, it shows. It's somewhat like this old crappy computer I am using right now. When it was new, it was fast and worked great. Now it's a bit slower, full of junk, and if I don't start taking care of it..will crash into a pile of junk.

Actually, it may be too late for my computer but I can buy another. I can't buy another body so I have to believe that I can salvage it from years of neglect and abuse.

You say you want a revolution? Well...ya know...we all want to change.

I'm doing it.

Winter Wonderland

Day 97

It's a rather strange thing and it's also a tad annoying. I find myself running into opposition about my goal to become healthy and physically fit.

Oh, it's often subtle. "Diet's don't work." "Exercise could cause you some health problems at your age." "You're no spring chicken, ya know." "How long have you been trying to do this challenge". "What are you trying to do, recapture your youth, having a mid-life crisis?" And on and on....usually from people that tell me this stuff with the best intentions in their hearts.

Well...thanks a heap, but would you kindly just FOAD!

I know I'm fifty years old. I know that I'm way out of shape. I know that what I'm attempting to do is hard, maybe close to impossible.

But it is my goal to become fit during this year. Not yours. Not my friends. Not my partner's. Mine. Succeed or fail....my goal....my dream....my struggle.