Running

So, my workout this morning was running on the treadmill at the gym.
Why do I run????
The psychology of my running is something I think about. What is my motivation?
If you are not having your life threatened in some way, why the hell run??? Yet, I think a lot of it has to do with genetics and physical makeup. My son, for example, has about 2% body fat, is constantly wired, and can go from 0-60 in about 2 seconds, and doesn't think twice about it. I may start calling him Dash! Me, being on the heavy side most of my life, have typically hated running. On my mission, my companion would want to go running in the mornings, I would say," you run, I'll ride my bike along side".



I think last year sometime, I extolled my new philosophy that skinny people are runners, and I wanted to be a skinny people, therefore running must be somehow embraced. I've been trying to do that. Lately, I've been trying to get in a minimum of 6 miles per week. 6 miles isn't much, but its what I do right now. 98% of the time I run on the treadmill at the gym, like this morning. I need to change that though, and get outside more. I think I may start to try and run outside more, even though winter is coming. You can run when its cold too - you just have to bundle up more. (Note to self - get cold weather training gear).

Anyway, I plan to hit the new Legacy Parkway trail tomorrow morning. Probably just 3-4 miles, we'll see.

Speaking of the psychology of running, I found this article interesting and somewhat inspirational.

http://www.mapmyrun.com/story/713652597451/why_do_i_run

Read and enjoy. I will have to come up with some reasons why I run.
For now, they are:
-I want to be a skinny person, and lose weight.
-To push myself. Harder, faster, longer than the time before.
-To clear my head and think.
etc.....

Plateau

I think that's what I can officially call it. I've been hovering around this 270 mark for a 4-6 weeks now. Normally I would be beating myself up over the fact that I've only dropped 1 pound in the last 2 weeks, but I'm trying to stay positive.

No Donut October went pretty well until this past week. I won't say I completely blew it, but I did indulge in many tasty treats. Including just now having an iced sugar cookie provided here at work for Halloween.

Not all sweets are everything they are cracked up to be. While coming home from Oregon, I was enticed by the aroma of the Cinnabon in the airport. I thought, "what the hell". So, I proceeded to purchase that ooey, gooey, delightful morsel.

Guess what? IT SUCKED! I ate it, but can honestly say that I came away totally unsatisfied. It was really disgusting. That's the last one of those I buy.

Actually, I've had this experience with a lot of things that I've cut out of my diet. Every now and then I think I'll splurge, and partake of some goodie. And more often than not, the food does not live up to the expectations I had in my head.
So, what does this tell me? Food is just that - FOOD. It is fuel. Yes, it can taste good. Yes, it can even make you feel better. But I wonder how much I take food, certain foods especially, and put them "on a pedestal" ( or a cake stand as the case may be), and just think that they are awesome, and more than they really are. The psychology of food and how I relate to it is an interesting dynamic. I'm trying to modify that paradigm. Experiences like the one I had with the Cinnabon are helping to change how I view food.

No Pain, No Gain.
I seriously thought that all the long hours I put in working on my sister's house, and then the plethora of work I've had to do before I left and after I came home, would have compensated for missing workouts. NOPE!
I finally got back in the gym today. It's been 10 days since I last stepped foot in the gym, and thats not good. If I ever expect to reach my fitness goals, I must do better at commiting to be in the gym 1 hour/day 4-5 days a week. It felt good to work out today.

My body fat % dropped. My body fat % is down to a new low. That's good! My lean muscle mass is up and body fat down. I like that. The more muscle mass I have, the better able I am to burn fat.

Goals: Well, hitting 262 by Halloween obviously did not happen. This is the most I've ever missed a goal by. It makes me wonder if I will get to my "under 250 by Dec 11" goal. I'm sure going to work for it. I REALLY WANT TO MAKE IT!!!! I CAN DO IT!

"If you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right"

Results: Weeks 42 and 43

Week 42: Since I was in Oregon last week, I did not weigh in.

Week 43

I lost 1.0 lbs this week. ~ Any progress is good progress.

Current Weight: 270 lbs

Total Lost: 137 lbs

Current Body Fat: 27.4%

Total Body Fat % Lost: 13.6%

Current Goals:

1) Be at/under 250 by Dec 11, 2008 (20 lbs to go)

Check one off

So, I went to Oregon this weekend to help my sister and bro-in-law with their house. It was the first airplane trip I've made since losing weight.

Have you ever asked for a seat belt extender?

It sucks. It's embarrassing. Probably worse than that is the horrified look on the person's face in the seat next to yours:
"Oh no, that huge guy is about to sit next to me. $#!&!!!!!"

The asking for the seat belt extender only goes on to re-affirm to said co-occupant that you are indeed a fat mass of person, and this will be an uncomfortable flight, and that they will likely have their personal space invaded by you on countless occasions. Very self-conscious situation for those who are 'plus-sized'.

So, I have one of my "List" to check off now: *I want to be comfortable in an airplane seat, and not have to ask for a seatbelt extender.

Ding! Done! No seat belt extender in sight. Loved the flight. (OK, other than spilling my drink on the person next to me- ugh!). I was even able to 'cinch' up the standard issue belt a few inches. I had forgotten that I could be comfortable in an airplane seat. One of the many benefits of a skinnier me. Love little reminders of victory!

Random

Not that I usually forward e-mails to 10 people so that I will have good luck, or participate in any sort of internet 'games', but my sister put up a 'tag' post on her blog, and so I thought I'd do the same.
I guess the idea of this tag is to post the picture that is found in the 4th folder, 4th file in on your PC. Well, starting from where? Desktop, my documents, huh? I figured I'd start with "My Pictures" and go from there. 4th folder in is called "Cabin", and this is the 4th picture in that folder:


This is a picture of the autumn leaves up at the cabin. It was taken a few years ago, but the scenery up there is gorgeous, especially in the fall.

How in the world does this relate to my fitness?

Well, it reminds me that I need to get outside more and take advantage of the beautiful outdoors, especially before the weather turns really cold. I was going to do a trail run last Saturday, but opted for the more comfortable confines of the gym. I do that too much.

Oh, and those 2 lbs I had gained last week - they decided to wait till Saturday to leave. I was overall down a pound on Saturday at the gym. This is why I don't get too bent about scale numbers.

%$^&"()*@# stupid scale! - Week 41

Well, this is it, the week I have been dreading for 41 weeks now. I gained this week. UGGGGH!

I know, I know, its not the end of the world, but still, it sucks. I was really good this week too. I was in the gym 5 times this week since my last weigh in. I worked out hard. I thought I ate relatively well. But sometimes, your body just says "screw you". Oh well, it just ups my determination to keep after my goals.

+2 this week (damnit)

271 current weight

28.1% BF (no change)
(actually, this means that, as part of my 2 pounds, I gained 1.5 lbs of muscle, and only .5 of fat. - so that's good - need to keep the muscle, and lose the fat.)

Motivation - My List

Truth be told, nobody makes any changes in their life unless they are doing it for themselves. You can't change for wife, or kids, or parents or peers or anybody. YOU have to find the desire to change within you and for you.

Change is hard, and we search for motivation wherever and whenever we can find it. Somewhere along the way, somebody told me to make an ongoing list of things that motivate me to lose weight, and to keep that list where I can always see it. So, I did this, and I keep it in my weekly log of weight and stats.

Here is my ongoing list, here is what I want:

*I want to be under 250 lbs when I turn 40! (12/11/2008) (this originally said "under 300 by my birthday", but I had to change the goal when I got under 300 back in July)

*I want to be able to play in an indoor soccer league *I want to see my kids grow up and have kids. *I want to be able to run with my kids and play sports with them. *I want to be able to snow ski without pain and discomfort *I want to fit in size 36 or smaller jeans again *I want to have optimal health, no diabetes, no heart disease *I want to be able to play basketball again. *I want to be able to rock climb with my kids. *I want to be able to backpack a 50 miler *I want to be able to dress up at Halloween NOT in a fat costume *I want my wife to think I'm attractive *I want to be able to jump on a trampoline and not fear it bottoming out or breaking. *I want to be comfortable in an airplane seat, and not have to ask for a seatbelt extender. *I want to be able to water ski again. *I want to be able to run a 5K in under 25 minutes And my list goes on......

Is it vanity????

I don't know and I don't care. Today I was at my 'other' office. Right now I work across town from my company's main office. I haven't been back to the 'home' office in about a month, and I had to go there today for a meeting. Knowing this, I purposely wore my new size 42 cargo pants (which make me look slim) and new XL size shirt. Now, these people all saw me only a month ago. Yet, I must have had 10-20 comments today from co-workers about how great I looked.

The one that cracks me up the most is: "I didn't even recognize you. I had to do a double take." My old boss hit me with that one as soon as I came through the front door, and I had 2 others say the same thing. But mostly, it was a lot of "you look great", "good job", "I can't believe how skinny you are". I try to be gracious and just say "thank-you".

I will say that the compliments motivate me. It motivates me to keep going, working out and working hard. Now, I hope that my self esteem is not so based on other people's opinions that when I finally get to my goal weight, that I will feel letdown due to no more comments. I think I feel pretty good about myself and what I've accomplished, so I don't think I'll miss it too much. But for now, I'll enjoy the compliments while they last.

This also has me thinking that I need to be more complimentary to others. We have a lady in our ward who has lost a ton of weight, like myself. I haven't ever talked to her about it, but I really felt on Sunday that I should. I didn't, but I will. You never know the light you bring into someone else's life through a compliment or a kind word. I know what it does for me at least.

Results: Week 40

I guess I will start doing this again. It was kind of a hassle to post these before, but I've been sending out weekly e-mail reports to my family anyway, so I think I'll pick this back up again.

I lost 1.5 lbs this week. ~ Any progress is good progress.

Current Weight: 269 lbs

Total Lost: 138 lbs

Current Body Fat: 28.1%

Total Body Fat Lost: 12.9%

Current Goals:

1) Be at/under 262 by Oct. 31, 2008 (7 lbs to go)

2) Be at/under 250 by Dec 11, 2008 (19 lbs to go)

No Donut October

So, one of my biggest weaknesses is donuts. I frigging love them. I may as well be Homer Simpson when it comes to donuts. They are, quite simply, a weakness for me.



In the past month or two I had been noticing myself slipping back into old habits of getting a donut at the convenience store when I fill up with gas, or just as a treat on the way home. My weight has not been coming off as fast as I would like, and I'm sure that this is part of the reason.

Now, I don't believe in total deprivation of any food. You will go nuts if you do this. BUT, I needed to break my addiction to donuts. So, I self-declared October as "No Donut October". Meaning that I will not have a donut, cake, cookie, pretty much any sweet, carbohydrate type bread product till the 31st of October (Halloween).

Its been working too. There have been times when I've reached for a donut in the 7-11, and thought "Nope, its No Donut October". The drawback has been that I may have inadertently increased my intake of straight sugars, like hard candy. I need to knock that off too! But for now, its about breaking the habit of donuts.

BTW, if I don't reach my goal on Halloween (happens to be a Friday and a weigh-in day) of being at or below 262, then No Donut October continues until I do reach my goal.