Sam on Maui

A little early this week, considering I haven’t done my Friday training. That said, it’s the end of the month, so I want to see how things have progressed. I began on January 1, 2014, today is January 31, so that’s a good time period, right? Weight: 219.2lbs to 214.8lbs (-4.4) Chest: 42” to 41.75” (-.25”) Waist: 43.5” to 40.5” (-3”) Hips: 46” to 45” (-1”) Thighs: 23” to 22” (-1”) So, 4.4 pounds lighter, and 5.25” thinner! Not bad, eh? I did forget to include my bicep during my initial measurement, so I’ve had to record it as 14.5” in both the beginning and 30-day spots. Hopefully we’ll see progress there, although I’m not sure what things could/should look like. I’m getting better at doing the routine in Energy. Since I’m not fumbling about trying to keep up, I can work on doing things better. Last night I started tightening up and engaging muscles I hadn’t before, plus consciously not letting go on things as early as before. For some reason I’m having a little harder time ...

Closing in on the end of my first month, and I'm looking forward my updated measurements. This week was actually quite good! I did DDP Yoga Energy Monday through Thursday instead of just Monday and Wednesday. Unfortunately, I got busy Friday, so I didn't do Fat Burner on schedule. Wasn't happy about that! So, I did it late this afternoon, and plan to do it tomorrow as well. What's interesting is I'm looking forward to do DDP Yoga, even on the days I'm unscheduled! When I come home from work, I often excuse myself, head to the garage, and spend the next twenty minutes or so doing yoga. I'm also finding I'm enjoying my cleaner eating. I felt like I overate Saturday night at my friend's house, even though I kept myself relatively restrained. Not too much spaghetti, but too much garlic bread. Starting next week (haven't been to the store yet) I'll be bring a large salad with me on my Saturday tabletop game nights. Also, I ate at ...

I'm on week 3! Yay! I'm at the point in Energy where I can do a good portion of it without a lot of modification. Some stuff is still difficult, but overall I'm getting the hang of it. Since I'm familiar with it, I can focus more on doing things than how I'm doing things. Of course, the third session of week 3 changes everything, and Fat Burner brought a good challenge to it. I'll need to learn the routine, get comfortable, and then it should be pretty awesome :) Eating is going well. I'm not yet 100% compliant with Phase 1 eating, but that said? I'm eating more vegetables and cleaner than I have in a long time. Possible ever as an adult. So, from the 223lbs I was around December 20th when I ordered the DVDs and started working on Phase 1's menu, to January 1st's 219lbs? I'm now 215lbs. So, total of 8lbs lost over the course of 5 weeks, and only 3 weeks of which actually had me doing DDP Yoga and dietary changes at the same t...

Aaaand Week 2 check-in! I managed to practice on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday! I'm 95% sure my allergies are being seriously set off by something, so while I wasn't feeling fantastic before, after this morning's session I was pretty beat. Monday and Wednesday were fine, and I actually started doing about 50% of Energy without as much modification on Wednesday. I was surprised by how much of a difference that made in my heart-rate! Wow! Hopefully the air will clear up or something so I can be back to 100% on Monday. Eating has been pretty good. Right now I'm having a late breakfast (two eggs, seasoned black beans, and about half a cucumber). Need to find healthy beverages I like, though! Ah well, one step at a time :) (originally posted on 1/11/14)

I’ve been working on my diet lately, which has been a good thing. A recent physical had my doctor concerned about my weight, blood sugar, cholesterol, etc., so changes are in order. But, that said? There’s a few big buzzwords I’ve heard I should avoid – not from my doctor but by friends, the internet, etc. Mulling it over, some of these things are subject to good ol’ fashioned hysteria. If you listen to the most extreme of voices, they’ll kill you, your dog, and burn down your house (or something along those lines). I can sort of understand some of the more sane things said, but not being a doctor or nutritionist, nor knowing good sources to verify the claims? That’s sort of dangerous, and I don’t want to inadvertently “drink the Kool-Aid,” as it were. So, thinking it over, I’ve come up with the following reasons I'm cutting back on foods with the HFCS, gluten, and dairy..

Week 4 and doing pretty well! I’m not entirely sure how I should decide which way to really track my weight. The weekly, predictable fluctuation makes me wonder if I should pick the results from a certain day (say, Friday or Saturday) as my milestone or not.

So far, so good! I’m actually cooking at home a lot more now, which makes life easier on my wallet. I managed to survive not only a vacation but having my in-laws visiting from the mainland. Obviously, the trend is for Sunday and Mondays to have a spike in weight (Saturday is my cheat day), with it coming down by the end of the week. I am exercising on a MWF schedule(-ish), doing kettlebell swings, Turkish get-ups, and trying to walk/jog after to cool down. No idea if I’m putting on musicle or not. I do find that my GymBoss is helpful, though; I’d rather focus on form, and I have harder time doing that when I’m counting reps. I’m not training for paintball specifically, but better cardio and less weight should offer enough of a boost that I’ll be happy. I’ll definitely have to buy a copy of The 4 Hour Body later, since I need to return my brother’s copy soon-ish. For more reading? http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2007/04/06/how-to-lose-20-lbs-of-fat-in-30-days-without-doing-any...

A year or two ago I was a member of Weight Watchers. As a member, you could access their web-tools online; food lists, calculators, trackers and more. There was also a pocket calculator that you could buy in case you didn’t sit around a computer all day or have a smart phone. But, for most of that time, there was no native Windows Phone 7 app. There is now, but its tied to your active membership. If you stopped going, or had to quit due to finances, you might want another option. Two I’ve got right now are PlusPoints by HopNet Software and Diet Points Manager by johnmarkdyer. What are my impressions?

There’s an old saying, “he who fails to plan, plans to fail.” No idea who said it, but its certainly true enough. I’m sure its tossed around for great and grand ambitions, a golden brick of advice for the next Donald Trump or Colin Powell. For me, on the other hand, its very down to earth, and is something I’ve been trying to implement with my weight loss. I’ve been on Weight Watchers for about eight months now, and have lost 14.4lbs thus far. While not as impressive as the latest fad diet, that’s a steady 1.8lbs a month average, and a healthy rate of loss. That, combined with increased physical activity (thank you to everyone who worked on EA Sports Active 2 for the 360/Kinect) has been very good for me, even getting my blood sugar own! One thing I’ve had to deal with is the simple fact that if I don’t prepare my lunches ahead of time, like the night before, I am very likely to cheat. I’ve eaten at Jack in the Box more than a few times wondering, “why can’t I quit you?” It slows d...

Yay! 10/15/10 measurements: Right Upper Arm - 14" Waist - 42" Hips - 45" Right Thigh - 26" 1/18/11 measurements Right Upper Arm - 13.25" (-.75) Waist - 41" (-1") Hips - 44.25" (-.75") Right Thigh - 25" (-1") Thank you Weight Watchers! Still working towards my 5% goal, but so far so good! :D

Today for lunch I figured I would grab a salad from Jack in the Box. Their Southwest Chicken salad is actually pretty good and it had been a while since I had one. Got it, came back to the office and proceeded to eat. While munching away, however, it began to dawn on me why I didn't get the things more often. Salads are time-consuming to eat. Maybe it says something about modern culture, but the darn things simply are not fast to eat! I think I could've eaten a sandwich in half the time it took me to eat my salad. Maybe a third of the time. But its simply not a very "efficient" way to go if you're pressed to eat within a short amount of time. Be it fresh or fast food, there are a wide variety of foods that can simply downed faster than a meal-sized salad, that are just as satisfying, and can be had for the same price. One could go with something plus a side salad, but I don't see the point. Side salads are nice, don't get me wrong, but honestly as small a...

Well, I'm not quite at a monthly check-in here, but progress is being made :p Week 1 - 220.6lbs Week 2 - 221.6lbs (+1 lb) Week 3 - 216 lbs (-5.6 lbs) Week 4 - 216.6 lbs (+.6 lbs) Week 5 - 214.8 lbs (-5.8 lbs) Week 6 - 215.6 lbs (+.8 lbs) --missed a week Week 7 - 216.8 lbs (+1.2 lbs) Week 8 - 215.8 lbs (-1 lb) Week 9 - 216 lbs (+.2 lbs) ---missed a week Week 10 - 216.6 lbs (-.4 lbs) Week 11 - 214.2 lbs (-1.4lbs) Week 12 - 217 lbs (+2.8lbs) Week 13 - 214.2 lbs (-2.8lbs) Week 14 - 210.4 lbs (-3.8 lbs) My 5% weight loss goal with Weight Watchers is 11lbs (209.6 lbs), so I'm aaaalmost there. After that my 10% goal is 22 lbs or 198.6 lbs. Right now I'm not sure what my ultimate weight goal should be. Certainly, getting under 200 lbs (first time in 5 years) would be good and what the doctor ordered as a minimum, so that'd be good. According to the CDC's BMI calculator thingie (and I know - BMI doesn't take into account bone structure or muscle-mass) a healthy weight ra...