Weigh In - Week 2

No change. Mixed in a bit of bike riding, trail running and some Wii Fit. I couldn't overcome a weekend out though. With 3 or 4 good meals over the weekend mixed with many a beer I just couldn't lose any weight. But, again, I think I gained some strength which will help me keep losing some weight. I've already been at 216 this week so I'm hoping my weigh in for week 3 will be around 215. I can easily run/walk 4.5 miles on the treadmill in under an hour. I can run 2 miles on the trail in just under 30 minutes. But, trail running absolutely kills me. I won't feel good about much of anything until I can run 3 miles on the trail.

Weigh In - Week 1

218...2 pounds lost. That seems like a lot of work for 2 lousy pounds, but hopefully I did it the healthy way. If I can lose 2 a week I'll hit all my goals or come close enough to make me happy.

I went for about 3.5 miles, much of it uphill and fast thanks to trainer module 6, the second toughest one I've found. Today, I went for a standard 3 mile run and got it done in a hair under 33 minutes. Still feeling really good, while I don't look skinnier, I definitely feel skinnier.

Week 1 Recap

I've been toying with the trainer modules on the treadmill doing 2-5. They're each a 30 minute workout mostly uphill walks. But #3 and #5 have some quick runs in them and I had to slow them down a little in spots. To get my calorie burn up to 450-500 I've run usually about a mile after the trainer module is done. Day 6 I ended up walking/running 4 miles in about 45 minutes burning 600 calories.

I don't think at my weekly weigh in tomorrow morning I'll have lost much weight, it was just 2 pounds this morning. But, I think I've started to build a little muscle that can burn some fat a little better. Weeks 2 and 3 should see better weight loss than this week. But, 2 pounds a week will get me pretty close to my goal of 200 by Memorial day. I just need one pretty good week of weight loss to get me there and 2 or 3 pounds every other week.

Best of all, though, I don't have much pain during the day and I actually feel better overall. Some of the beer belly might be shifting into other parts of the body or getting burned off entirely. Who knows, but this was a pretty successful week

Day 3

Changed it up a bit this morning, ran a quarter mile at 5.2. Then screwed with the trainer modes and accidentally started Training Module 1 which turned out to be a brisk uphill walk ranging from an incline of 7 to 10. I ended up walking/jogging about about 1.75 miles. I wasn't satisfied with only burning 330 or so calories I took off on a mile run at 6.0 and got a 10 minute mile in. Got my overall calorie burn up to 480. The uphill walk really helped my calves though, I'm going to have to do that a couple of times a week.

Day 2

Went a little faster today starting at 5.1 and incremented up to 5.5. I didn't think I was going to get 3 miles in. The inside of my shins and groin are hurt quite a bit last night and don't feel that great now.

It Started

3 miles, a little over 35 minutes (it took a couple of seconds to take the picture) at 5.0 with the last half mile at 6.0. Not much of a problem, I think I can do this everyday. 464 more calories burned than I normally would have burned. A pretty good start, I won't feel good about myself until I can run 10 minute miles.

Symptoms

So it started this morning, the process of getting myself under 2 bills. I weighed in this morning at 220 which is just downright shocking since I spent much of my 20's around 150. When I moved to KC, after a steady diet of working 80 hour weeks for 9 months and maybe eating 1 meal a day, I was at 135. I'm nearly 6'1 so a pretty good weight for me and my body type is about 175. I'd like to get under 190. But I'm not going to drastically change my diet which isn't that bad. What I am going to add is a run everyday.

Stella, my wife if you don't read KC Beer Blog or Hot Blog on a Stick, my Twitter or any of the 10 other ways to follow me, started a program last June "From Couch to 5K". It really worked for her as she's lost all the weight from bringing 3 children into the world, turning 30 and whatever else makes you a little rounder than you wish to be. She is now skinnier than when we were married.

She thought it would be good for me to start that program, but I can already run a 5k. Just a couple of weekends ago, after a winter of no exercise or anything, I hopped on my bike and rode 20 miles with what would have been little effort if it weren't for the horrible headwind on the way home. And this is on a mountain bike not built for distance riding. Last summer, I could ride 25 miles pretty easily, fairly regularly. It culminated in the Tour de BBQ where I rode 35 miles and learning that I could get virtually anywhere in town on my bike if I really wanted to. Bicycling is my preferred method of exercise, but I can't do it everyday because of the weather and watching my kids.

So I've decided to run on Stella's treadmill, mix in some bicycling when I have some time, and try to burn enough calories and build some muscle to burn enough calories so I quit expanding. I've been fairly active for the past 5 years so I don't think I would ever be able to expand to 3 bills or even 250, I'm as heavy as I feel can be comfortable. I've been to 230 before and that was fairly awful, so I'm at my tipping point.

This blog will be about my journey back into the 100's, high 100's, but 100's nonetheless. My goals are to be at 200 by Memorial Day, 190 by August and 175 by Thanksgiving. I think that's pretty modest, 45 pounds in 8 months.  The first  goal will probably be the hardest. I'll adjust my diet accordingly after a couple of weeks.

As far as the exercise goals go, I think I'd like to ride the 60 mile course at the Tour de BBQ this year and maybe a 10k over the summer. I've always wanted to be able to say I've run a marathon. That may be something to work towards, we'll see how much I enjoy running. The absolute apex would be to do a triathalon. If I become that fit crazy I'll let you know, but that might be fun to do as a 40 year old, a little over 2 years from now.

That's it for now, I'll probably read this in a year and think one of 2 things; "what a wuss" or "wow, if I'd actually done what I set out to do, I'd be getting ready for a marathon right now, oh well I'll just eat this bucket of KFC". I hope it's the former.