Why this time will be different.

I was going to title this post "Back at it", but then I saw the last post, from March, is titled "Back in the Saddle". So...

The question can be asked, why will this time be different? I've started and stopped so many times. Why will this be the time I make it happen and stick with some sort of fitness routine?

One is, I'm starting to find the fun in it. I recently started Yoga Camp on Youtube. I am five days in. It's been thirty minutes each time. The instructor is good, very calming. One thing I really appreciate is that she tells you to find what feels good. A lot of times with fitness workout videos, you feel that if you don't hit a certain mark , you miss out on something. Maybe you do, but there is a lot to be said about finding your own way and putting in the effort.

One other thing that I enjoy is that each day is different. I have a yoga DVD, but after awhile, it becomes too similar and boring. Changing up the routine provides a challenge and keeps it fresh.

I haven't decided if I'll do yoga before school or after school. We shall see what works starting next week. At any rate, I discovered this morning that I can touch my toes, so...something is working.

I will also add in the elliptical and kettle bell workouts as well. Some free weights. I was thinking I would 30-60 minutes of something when I get up in the morning, plus some when I get home.

One thing that I know that I have to do is carve out time for this. And frankly, that will be as hard as I make it. And if I am finding the fun in exercise, then it shouldn't be too hard. "I'm going to go have fun," shouldn't be a hard thing to do.

I have to commit to myself. But, that said, I have to recognize that I am not perfect.

Will I miss a day of workouts? Yes. Will I have a day where I eat too much? Yes. In the last, I let one day become one week, and then the progress of a month is wasted. No more. Mistakes will happen, but they can't define me as I try and redefine myself.

I try to be a positive person. I wasn't for a lot of years, and it wasn't all that fun. So, I try to be positive. But, I have to admit that this summer was disappointing. I didn't put in the work. I let there be too many bad days.  I talked a big game, made lots of plans and promises, but in the end, I didn't come through.

At this point, I need to come through. I need to carve out the time. Because, one of these days, I won't be able to talk myself into jumping back on the wagon unless I make some changes now.

Back in the Saddle Again

2016 started well. I lost seven pounds. I was tracking food. I was working out consistently.

And then February happened.

OK, so maybe I can't say that 2016 had started well if the second month of the year knocked me off my game, but I mean, seven pounds. I was seeing results. And then, two trips helped me slip back into bad eating habits.I gave in to temptation and picked up pop again. I got sick with a flu/cold/schools are the testing labs for biological warfare and that zapped my motivation for working out.

Of the seven pounds lost, five have come back. This morning's weigh in was an eye opener for sure.

So, I've climbed back into it. Starting today. I did the Anarchy workout from Men's Health this morning. I'll have a smoothie for breakfast. I'll work back to a good lifestyle and see results again.

Losing the same five pounds

I spent New Years Eve in Seattle with a few friends. As we sat around, drinking champagne, we talked about resolutions. Not an uncommon discussion point. But then, we decided to do something different: we gave each other resolutions.

My friend Kira (one of five people to actually read this blog) gave me the resolution to keep up with My Sweaty T-shirt. It seemed like a pretty great resolution.

Haha, I am terrible at resolutions. Here it is a month later and this is the first post of 2016.

So, here is what I've been up to:

-I have made an effort to ellipticize more often. Seriously, an elliptical is my favorite workout.

-I have found a simple kettlebell routine that I like.

-I attempted yoga. I will do this again and write about it. It went hilariously.

-Yesterday, I tried a light weights circuit that I enjoyed.

-I have lost five pounds.

Now, I am very excited to have lost five pounds in the month. If I lose five pounds per month, I will lose sixty pounds this year. That would be quite the achievement. That's the sort of thing one could write into Men's Health about and have them write you up as a success story.

However, I looked at my Timehop yesterday. For those who don't know, Timehop shows you your social media posts on that day for as long as you've had, for instance, Facebook. So, I open it yesterday and two years ago, I announced that I had lost five pounds.

So, I'm good at losing five pounds, or at least pounds 250-245. Now, I have to push through more to continue the trend. I really, really don't want to be here a year from now being all ecstatic that I'm down to 245.

One thing that I'm doing now is keeping track of my food in take. That has had a big impact on my diet. For one, I don't drink as much alcohol. Not that I was putting back gin by the gallon, but I did enjoy happy hour. Now, I have a drink on the weekends.

Also, I haven't had any pop since January 3. I know this because that was the day we travelled home and it was a long stressful day and I drank a lot of Coke. Haven't touched pop since.

I'm also trying to eat more fruits and veggies. This has been a dietary goal for years. Smoothies help. Oh, smoothies. I will write an ode to my Nutribullet one day.

So, there is progress. Its progress I've made before. Now, its time to go further.

Proof of dedication

My last post was a little pessimistic, though I would call it a realistic look at where I stand heading into the new year. I thought I might follow up with the story of today to show that I am a little more dedicated to the cause.

Well, kind of. You'll see.

Today was a fun day. My wife and I went to see Star Wars. As awesome as that was, it is not exactly a high intensity workout. Not adding to it was the late lunch at Red Robbin.

Now, I have started to re-use the Lose It App. And as much as I enjoyed my burger, I knew it was going to hurt my calorie in take. When I put in my meal into Lose It, it totaled over 1,000 calories. After I added in dinner (manicotti, my favorite) I was over my calorie budget by 1,300. Not exactly a ringing start to my new commitment.

After dinner, I felt very full and kind of gross. But, I figured I could at least attempt to do something about it. So, down to the basement I went. I stepped while listening to Serial. I then hopped on the elliptical and watched football for an hour while racking up four miles on that. All told, it was a two hour workout.

I'm not sure how Lose It figures its exercise, but I received a FitBit bonus of about 400 calories, bringing me down to just 900 over. Still a bad day, but I didn't just accept feeling disgusting and fat, I worked at it. I made a dent into it. Yesterday, I was actually 500 calories under, so I am a net positive of 400 for the week. That is erasable.

I have written before that I know the task ahead of me is large. And while I may not be off to the best if starts, I figure I should celebrate a step in the right direction.

2015 comes to a close

Here we are, the end of the year. This was the year of the FitBit, the year I bought an elliptical, the year of big proclamations about losing weight and getting back to running shape.

It hasn't happened.

As of today, I weigh 252 pounds. I get winded going up stairs. If I'm being realistic, maybe I should buy clothes in the XXL size. For actually working at a resolution to lose weight, this year cannot be classified as anything but a disappointment.

But, I see that I have two choices. One, I can accept this. I can stay fat, guzzle pop, eat fast food, let dust accumulate on my exercise equipment, and just accept that this is who I am.

Or, I can take it seriously. If I look back on the year, I don't think I did that. When I got knocked off my long streak of days with 10,000 steps, it took me forever to get back to it. I drank pop, I didn't track what I ate, I'd snack mindlessly.

If I want to see results, I need to adopt a more laser like focus on this. I need to watch what I eat. I need to cut some things out of my diet entirely. I need to push myself more when I work out
I need to add in more exercises. I need to lift weights, do yoga, focus on abs.

I'll be headed home after visiting my parents at the end of this week. I'd really like it when I came back in the summer for there to be a noticeable difference. Maybe I should put a goal on it. Or maybe, for now, what I need is to have the goal of starting a trend within myself.

Either way, I feel as if I need to get serious about it now. Or else I may never get serious about it at all.

Weigh-in Wednesday: November 4, 2015

Fall may not be the best time to start in on an intensive weight loss plan. I mean, do you know what was last week? Halloween. Do you know what I have a literal giant bowlful of? Halloween candy. Do you know how good I am at resisting temptation? Not very.

I did start a plan to do more intense workouts, so hopefully we'll see results then, but I came in at 253.4 pounds this week, so not yet. I did see myself at 251 at one point this week, but it was not a Wednesday and thus didn't have a cool alliterative option for a title.

I'll talk a bit more on the workout plan later. I'll also talk about the most worthless trip to the doctor ever. I bet you're intrigued now.

Till then,

Alan

Weigh in Wednesday: October 28, 2015

It has been, I don't know, years since I last posted a Weigh-in Wednesday. But, since I am trying to get back on the wagon, so to speak, here we go. This week I weigh...252.6 pounds.

If you scroll through the archives far enough, you can find that this is nearly fifty pounds more than I did at the height of my training.

I have come to two observations about my goals. The main one being to drop down to around 200 pounds.

1) I gained this weight over the course of eight or so years, it will not go away over night.

2) If I can lose one pound per week, and really I think losing 1-2 is the healthy way to lose weight, it will take a year to lose this.

This will be a metamorphosis, just hopefully not as Kafkaesque. It will take work, it will take time, and it will take support.

Now, let's get started.