Progress so far,,,

Okay so this blog is about accountability. I'm posting some results! The picture on the left was me in March 2007 at around 235 pounds. The pic on the right was taken this afternoon at 188.8 pounds. I think I'll put this one on the fridge :)

188.8

That's right folks...188.8 pounds. New territory!

Okay I got everything from Monday and Tuesday under control. Got my water and normal eating when I'm hungry, portion control, etc done. Today I ran on the treadmill for 15:30 will walking about 9:30 so I'm feeling pretty good about the progress there. I finished up with a 20 minute walk outside just to get some sun and fresh air.

By the way did I mention I'm down to 188.8? Monday is completely forgotten!

I guess the PMA helped!

Ugh and...well...ugh

So I got on the scales this morning before work and noticed that I was nearly 196 pounds! SHEESH!!

I'm going to need some extra PMA to get through this week because of the fact that I have a customer at work that is out of control and numerous other things I'm trying to juggle and then seeing THAT above lol.

I dunno...this is what happened to me with BFL. I got great results and couldn't keep my eyes on the prize after that because it seemed easier to juggle if the progress was always there. I'm sure this will normalize during the week, but a lot of this is about your PMA and I just need to make sure I keep that on track. Grrrrrr this is not what I wanted going into Memorial Day weekend lol.

Drive to the next goal

Well I'm not officially starting my new drive until after this weekend. Although I do plan to get some moderate exercise in, my eating will probably not be the best as I decided that it is okay for me to have a few meals that aren't exactly healthy as a small reward. However, I will be going shopping tomorrow afternoon and getting my weekly meals bought.

So what's next? Why trying to get down to 175 or if it becomes an inches game only...size 31 jeans. The last time I was down at this weight/size was...well...probably before the turn of the century lol. My fitness goals will be to run for 30 minutes without stopping (preferably 43 minutes since that is my current run/walk 5k pace!) get more swimming in, start taking a harder look at what I eat, drink more water and get more 'outside' time this summer to work on that tan lol.

I rewarded myself by purchasing some nike running/fitness shirts. They kind without the sleeves. I put them on in the dressing room and was amazed that they fit (a large this time instead of an XL) and also that my stomach wasn't grotesquely making a spectacle of itself by rearing it head from beneath the fabric. The fabric makes it way down to the tops of my hips just fine.

I want to thank those of you that have checked in on my blog. I think you for your support and I'm trying hard to keep commenting on your blogs. That's another area I'm hoping to get better with as well.

Okay I'm off for my Saturday run!

190 Baby!!

Okay it's 190.2 pounds per the scale but I'm counting it!

Whew...I can't believe I actually did it. I mean I can, but it's just been such a blast getting to this point! I've had help, encouragement and the verifiable results have just been gravy to be honest!

Well the new goal is now 175 pounds and I'm setting the due date on that by the middle of August. I haven't been that weight since probably around 1999 so it will be interesting to see the results.

So far my stomach has shrunk, I'm getting some tightness in my arms and legs and I'm hoping that I can start a little more weight workout to help that along as well. But hey it's a great day! Now I gotta think of a little reward for myself!

191.2

So this is like the night before christmas now. I'm 1.2 pounds away from my weight goal! After looking over my stats from 2005-2006 BFL challenge I'm actually only 2.2 pounds away from my BFL challenge ending weight as well. Very interesting.

191.8....sorta....

Well it's been roughly a month since I started all of the self improvements in my life and so far it's been working very well. My finances, work, homelife, eating and fitness all seem to be working in relative harmony. That's not to say there haven't been considerable ups and downs, but overall, I have tracked everything over a month and I've noticed that by keeping my daily journal it's allowed me to see where I'm developing trends and how to fix them.

What has this done? Well overall it's helped me stop eating fast food again, gain some recognition at work, keep the apartment clean, exercise most days, drastically improve the quality of my sleep and overall just give me something I didn't expect: More time!

So that's good.

Well on to the subject heading. Well I got down to 191.8 after a fairly grueling workout on Saturday morning. Aided by heat, humidity and working out on an empty stomach and unusually light eating week due to allergies and some eye and ear swelling. I'm back to around 193-194 right now which seems more apt for the weight goal that I'm at. So in roughly a month I've gone from about 206 pounds down to about 193.5 which is pretty darn good. What is the secret to my success so far?

1. Stretching
2. Getting some hands on coaching with my running
3. Mixing up the exercises (swimming, FX Machine, Treadmill, trails, outside running and Recumbent Bicycle)
4. Just getting off my ass just to do a 3 mile walk just to get outside.
5. Dream Dinners for new food ideas and portion control for retraining my body and stomach to eat smartly. Slowly cutting out most of my dairy intake and cutting off non-diet sodas and fast food entirely.
6. Daily Journaling - This helps tremendously. I can post the details to my blog but then I realized...I can omit in public. I can't lie to myself. I've found it easier when I keep myself updated.
7. Setting smalls goals and achieving them to get a taste of empowerment. Then setting larger goals back by the confidence of the smaller ones.

So far so good.

Also here are the new 5k Pace stats:

44:04 for the 5k
14:11 per mile

(based on 20 minutes of running/walking alternating ever minute)

Dream Dinners

About 2 months ago I was given a Dream Dinners gift certificate for an award at work. I had been wanting to give it a shot but just really hadn't made the time to go. Then after I started working out again and realizing I needed to do more cooking for myself I remembered the certificate and booked a session. I went with my supervisor and his wife who wanted to give it a shot as well.

All in all it was a great experience. You choose the meals, mix the sauces, marinades and other ingredients as well. It was a little pricey for about 36 servings (about 160 dollar, which didn't include the gift certificate) however, it did help me become comfortable with the food prep. I am going to try one of the meals today and give me review. Everything looks delicious and they had a sample of Chicken and Sausage Paella for next month that was AMAZING so I'm pretty sure I may be back if only for that!

At the moment I'm down to 194.8 pounds and the size 34 pants needed another notch in the belt. I'm 4.8 pounds away from my goal and I'm maintaining which is great! Hope everyone is having a great week!