My Answer To The Pirate Situation

Well, this post is a little different than my typical health & fitness post, but I hope you'll all bear with me.

If you've been paying even scant attention to the news you should be aware that the Somali pirate attacks seem to be back on the rise in the last little bit. I don't know if that's because there is an actually "Pirate Season" or if they have just been kind of laying low since their last failure when three of their buddies ended up on the bad news end of some Navy SEAL sniper rifles.

Given my current employment in the field of national security and anti-terrorism, I was brainstorming the other day, and wondering what could the USA and her allies do to combat this problem. Let me first of all dispel any misinterpretations that may come from the picture I posted above. Let's be clear and identify this as the terrorism that it is. I think it's important that the UN and the USA classify them as terrorists instead of pirates. The word pirates in today's culture carries too much of a Hollywood branding of adventure seeking, peg-legged, hook-handed swash bucklers cruising the Caribbean in cool ships flying the Jolly Roger and drinking rum while singing, Blow The Man Down.

Alright, so here's my solution to the problem:

These terrorists are cowardly criminals, and it has been demonstrated they will tuck their tails and run if a crew demonstrates any form of a stiff resistance. So, if I happened to own a shipping company that was forced to sail in these dangerous territories, I would hold a meeting with all the other owners of similar shipping companies and propose the following: That we take a normal looking tanker and convert it into a disguised war ship. You could do things like have what would seem to be normal shipping containers on deck, that can actually collapse away to reveal 20mm cannons and .50 cal machine guns. Outfit the tanker with a small, fast and deadly attack boat. There's a lot of different options I'm sure.


Hire a regular crew to run the ship's day to day operations, but also have a secret crew aboard, maybe some guys out of Blackwater with special training to use the provided weapons as well as trained in close quarter combat and armed to the teeth that can deal with a boarding if it comes to that. Then just run the ship around through the normal shipping lanes, acting all innocent until they are attacked by pirates. When the pirates attack, strike back with no mercy. You fire on them and pursue until you've destroyed them. Maybe let one get away once in a while to spread the news. Change the appearance of the ship from time to time. I don't think it would take long for word to spread.


Right now the reason it has become so popular for these pirates to engage in their business is because companies and nations have been willing to pay ransoms much of the time. They have grown rich without little risk to themselves. At least until last year when they found out what a SEAL sniper can do from a fantail. But, if they knew that any ship they attacked could turn out to be heavily armed with experienced warriors aboard who will not only defend the ship and repel the attack, but will pursue them to their utter destruction, then my guess is you will see a sharp decline in these activities.

The problem is cost, but seriously, how much are they paying in ransoms and lost cargo every time a ship is hijacked? It would seem to be a cost saver in the long run. And if you're like me, the cost to benefit ratio wouldn't be all that important. I'd be willing to take some loss to be able to strike back at these cowards of the sea and send them to a watery grave.

The latest Roadblock

Well, it looks like over time, I've developed a case of plantar Fasciitis in my right foot. Here's a little explanation of Plantar Fasciitis:

The classic symptom of plantar fasciitis is heel pain when you take your first steps after getting out of bed or after sitting for a long period of time. You may also have:

• Stiffness and pain in the morning or after resting that gets better after a few steps but gets worse as the day progresses.
• Pain that gets worse when you climb stairs or stand on your toes.
• Pain after you stand for long periods.
• Pain at the beginning of exercise that gets better or goes away as exercise continues but returns when exercise is completed.

It's a condition that I've been aware of for a while, but has not been severe enough to impede my daily life. . . until recently that is. It may have been the backpacking trip in September that pushed things over the edge. It has gotten to the point where the pain doesn't fade away after a few steps in the morning, but stays with me every single step throughout the day.

This condition has really put a damper on my cardio workouts since I really like to run on the treadmill almost every day. Now, I've come to the conclusion that I really need to address this situation and can no longer just grit my teeth and run through the pain. The only thing to do is to let it rest and heal as much as possible. I've gained five pounds now due to this whole thing, and I take full responsibility for that. I'm the one who came to the conclusion that if I can't run, then there's no point in working out. . .and if I can't workout, then why bother eating right either? a dangerous dangerous thought process right?

Well, I've snapped out of that and am drawing a line here and now. I am not going to let Plantar Fasciitis cause me to gain back all the weight I have worked so hard on getting off. It's been two weeks since I've jogged now, and there is a HUGE difference in the pain now. It's still there, but it seems that I'm on the mend. I have to substitute other cardio in the place of running, and this has been a psychological challenge for me. I've just had it so ingrained in my head that running is such an optimum form of cardio, that anything else just isn't worth doing.

This week however I forced myself to stay off the treadmill after my lifting and did all my cardio on the elliptical and spinner bike. I even had a couple of cheat meals, and voila! I lost two pounds! So, I'm pleased. This was a big milestone for me mentally, because I was able to demonstrate to my subconscious that weight loss is indeed just as achievable with other cardio besides running. Now to just keep it up until the heel pain is gone.

The only obstacle now is, the only piece of cardio equipment I have at home is a treadmill. My workouts at work are the good ones where I have the other equipment available to me, including a stairmaster. I have to wrestle with a decision now. I want to get something for home, but can't afford an elliptical and a bike. So, which one for now? Eventually I'd like to have both. Especially because I think it'd be great if the wife and I could workout side by side at nights after the kids were in bed while we watch our TV shows on the DVR. We could go twenty minutes on either machine, and then switch and do twenty more. I see myself getting an elliptical first at this point. Seems like you get just that much more out of an elliptical than a bike, what with the arm movements and all.

Well, until any further developments. . . over and out.

Rocky Mountain High

I just wanted to dedicate a blog post to the recent backpacking trip I took with good friends into the Boulder White Cloud Mountains of the Sawtooth Recreation Area in Central Idaho. We covered about twenty five miles in four days through some of the most beautiful and rugged scenery on planet Earth. It was great to have my brother along this time, and though we ran into our share of problems, all in all it turned out to be a success in my thinking, although there are some who would probably disagree.

For starters the route I had planned out for the group is a seldom used route where the trail isn't always clear, safe, or not there at all. We were discouraged by a forest ranger to go this way, but of course, we just had to do it anyway.

The major mistake was at Baker Lake where the trail forked and we were at a loss. The map we had didn't show that the trail forked. I was pretty confident that we needed to go right, but there was one in the group who thought we should go left. He volunteered to hike up ahead on the left trail to scout it out. Upon his return he reported that left was indeed the way to go. I still didn't feel right about it, but thought I'd give him the benefit of the doubt, as he is older than the rest of us and to my thinking has had a lot more of this type of experience. This turned out to be a big mistake.

To make a long story short we ended up on no trail at all, following a stream up into a steep, God-forsaken canyon strewn with giant boulders, massive fallen trees, twisted gnarled brush, and to my delight. . . bear crap everywhere. Down in the trees I couldn't see the peaks around us, but as soon as we got up out of the tree line, I realized that something wasn't right. I dug out my map and compass and quickly discovered we had over shot our intended destination, known as Slickenside Creek, basically a waterfall that tumbles down a steep gorge we wanted to climb to get to Noisy Lake.

This mistake cost us a day of hiking. The next day proved to be difficult as we had to climb the Slickenside Creek gorge and up and over 10,000 ft Windy Devil Pass all in one day. This turned out to be a monumental challenge to the group, straining muscles and relationships along the way. There is no trail up to the pass and we had to bush whack our way following my map and compass. There were still questions and disagreements about which way to go, but this time I refused to let anyone sway me from where I knew we needed to go. At last we came to the top of the pass and were rewarded with a tremendous sight of the Boulder Chain Lakes over the other side.

The rest of the hike went without a problem, but this was an amazing trip. I could sit here and write a small book if I really went into detail, but I'll let the pictures do the talking for me. I think I will do this hike again some day. I think it could be much more enjoyable without the mistakes and arguing.

The Intrepid Explorers ( I'm the one with the white T-shirt)
Castle & Merriam peaks beckon behind us

Yours Truly at the top of Windy Devil Pass feeling elated

The final push up to the top of Windy Devil Pass

The clear blue mountain waters of Noisy Lake greet
us after a grueling climb up Slickenside Creek

The treacherous path up Slickenside Creek
one wrong step and you'd roll all the way down

The shimmering waters of Baker Lake, last of the
clear, well marked trail

Castle & Merriam peaks stand as sentinels almost
defying you to continue onward

We hiked into the evening every night trying to make
up for lost time from mistakes and getting a late start

Sometimes Life Just Happens

Well, thanks to that pretty little thing on the right, I haven't been able to do much, and that includes working out. Let me introduce the world to Macy, my fourth child and second daughter. She was born on August 9th, and life has been a whirl wind ever since. Between family and friends helping out by bringing over meals and snacks for our family, and just having little to no sleep at night, the whole work out / eat right routine has been majorly interrupted. I am happy to say that I have only suffered the gain of a few pounds, which isn't bad considering the glutton I've made out myself sometimes. I don't just fall off the wagon, I jump off, doing flips in the air and laughing insanely all the way to the ground.

This is exactly what happened the last time I was on a successful path to fitness, and we had a baby. The difference this time, is I have been monitoring what's happening to me, and basically, I'm just not letting myself off the hook this time! Today was my first real day of working out and eating right, and it feels good. It feels good to know that I'm back on track. Maybe I'm not at the same cruising speed I was at before, but I AM back and slowly increasing the accelerator. It should take a couple weeks to get back to where I left off.

One thing motivating me is my backpacking trip coming up in a few weeks. My buddies and I, are doing a 20 mile four day hike in the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho. It's high altitude and rugged terrain. I don't want to be the guy at the end of the line that everyone else has to stop and wait for. So, there's some motivation for me to lose as much weight and get in the best shape I can by mid September.

Well, more to come eventually.

Over and Out.

So Close No Matter How Far

Well, I haven't written much lately, because not much lately has happened. Since the 4th of July I have been plagued by the inability to really get back into my program with full force. I've been eating correctly for the most part, and I have been exercising here and there, but I've been indulging too much in bad food over the last couple of weeks. The good news, is that I've been maintaining my weight loss. I haven't gained any weight back and so I'm happy with that.

I've been thinking that maybe I have been hitting it really hard non-stop for a while now and that a little break is called for. Just some time to step back, look at my goals, guage my progress, and recharge the batteries. If I can do this without gaining weight or getting seriously out of shape than I don't see the problem with it. Like I said, I'm probably still doing my program at 90% and I'm pretty much maintaining.

The key is to get back into full swing shortly. I can't allow myself to become complacent now. And that would be easy to do. I'm so close now to achieving my goals. I can't suddenly lose focus and drive on accomplishing the end result that I want and desire. NO! Good enough, will not be good enough this time!

Also my Accumeasure body fat calipers arrived the other day, and I measured my body fat percentage. It was around 24% which falls in the "average" category for a male my age. So, I have a new short term goal, and that is to get that percentage into the teens ( falls into the ideal category ) within the next five weeks, and about ten pounds to go along with it. That is going to be difficult since baby number four is coming to the family in about four weeks. I'm going to have to really focus to not let all that interfere with my program. Sure I probably won't get to workout and eat exactly right for a few days whent the baby comes, but I will do what I can.

Its kind of funny how I'm almost in exactly the same situation as I was the last time we had a baby, three years ago. I was five weeks into Body For Life and had lost about ten pounds and was crusiing along great in the program. Then my son Bridger was born. It threw me off my program. People were bringing by meals for our family and treats, etc. I never got back on program and three years later I woke up and had gained all my weight back and more. So, here I am facing the same scenario again, except this time I'm actually five pounds lighter...And this time I WILL NOT GET THROWN OFF TRACK!

Dividends

When my oldest child was born eight and a half years ago I was 265 + pounds. I had stopped counting after 265. My three children have never known me as anything but overweight and breathless. Although I'm not at my goal yet, I am now down to 215 pounds and in the best shape my children have ever seen me in.

Last night at my parent's house I got to reap some of the dividends of my hard work. At one point in the evening while inspecting my dad's garden with him, my daughter stole the ball cap off my head and took off running, giggling insanely as only little girls can do. A few years ago my reaction would have been to call after her to give me my hat back. But, instead I took off on a sprint right after her! When she saw my hot pursuit, she squealed for her brother to help. My six year old son joined forces with his older sister as they played keep away from the old man.

We ran and ran around the back yard, as I hunted them down one at a time, the kids giggling and screaming with delight. Eventually we all ended up on the trampoline where a giant wrestling match for the hat ensued. In the end we all lay panting on our backs looking up at the lavender sky as the summer sun slipped under the horizon.

It felt good. It motivated me to continue on this journey and see it to the end. I want to be there for my kids. I want to be active and healthy for them. It's moments like last night that motivated me to start this difficult process in the first place. And I gotta say. . . it has all been worth it.

Milestones

I've let a while go without posting to my blog, so here's a brief recap of what's been going on. First of all, I am glad to say that the weigh loss has been coming along pretty good. I think I've been averaging about two pounds lost a week. The last time I weighed in a few days ago I hit 214.8 lbs. I was pretty stoked to hit under 215 lbs. It's kind of a mile stone for me. A few years ago, I did Body For Life for five weeks and was doing great. Then for some reason when my last son was born I just completely walked away from it, and gained all my weight back. Well, I have officially passed by the weight I was at when I abandoned my last attempt. So, this is a major milestone for me. Now to keep pounding away at the fat.

This week is going to be pretty tough though. There have been a lot of call ins at work and we are very short handed which has forced a lot of overtime on those of us left. I will be working about 40 hours overtime this week by the time it's all done. Not much time for getting workouts in. I am trying to continue eating right for the most part, but have had a couple free meals. Plus, I am not getting good sleep which I hear is essential for good weight loss and muscle building. For example: I got forced to work a twelve hour shift (not counting the two hours it takes to commute back and forth) yesterday - Father's Day. I wasn't very happy about that, had to miss my Dad's BBQ. Then while I'm here, a guy calls in for the night shift which caused a split shift. Basically what that means for me is I got to go home at 7pm but had to be back by 1am to start an eighteen hour shift. So yeah, going to get about two hours of sleep out of the next thirty six hours.

These types of things happen in life once in a while. I'm expecting that this week I probably won't be losing weight. I'll be happy just to maintain, but I won't be surprised if I gain a pound or two just because of the hectic circumstances and lack of time to plan out good meals and working out. That said, the key is I'm not all down and depressed about that fact. In the past, a week like this would have been enough to knock me off the wagon for weeks. But, this time I feel so much more in control of things. There's not this desperate feeling that I'm losing control, or an overpowering pull to give in. I know that when these awful days are behind me, I will unceremoniously and quietly slide back into my regular routine and move on with my weight loss goals.

For now, here's to reaching a milestone!

Over and out.

The Real Power of The Mind

Well, today was the big weigh in. According to the scale I lost one pound this last week, bringing me down to 219 lbs on the dot. That brings me to a total of about 13 lbs since I started this seriously. One pound doesn't seem like much, but it's still a loss, and I will take what I can.

On the bright side, I think I had one of those weeks where maybe I traded a little fat off for muscle. I'm really feeling it this week in the fit of my uniform and gun belt this week. I think I lost inches this time around as opposed to just weight. I really need to invest in a body fat calipers, or at least just start taking measurements to guage my progress as well. In a way I guess I do take measurements. I always am aware of what hole on my belt I'm using, and how close I am to graduating down to the next hole. Or how much looser other clothes are beginning to fit. But, that is going just by feel more than actual numbers. I will have to make an effort on my next days off to get the measuring tape out of my wife's sewing kit and at least take some measurements.

I wanted to take some time to write more about the mental side of things. Just that, this morning I was listening to a radio talk show, and there was a phsychologist on as a guest. He was talking about the power of the mind, and here's a couple very interesting points he brought up: Apparently they've done some tests on people with multiple personality disorder and discovered some extremely strange things. For example: Some schizophrenics actually have thier eye-glass prescriptions change from personality to personality. And, while one personality can be really allergic to cats, when they switch to another personality the allergy is gone!

Stuff like that! Sounds hard to believe, but what does that tell us about our minds? It kind of goes along with what I've read in Tom Venuto's writings about reprograming our brains, and convincing our subconscious minds of what we are supposed to look like. I wonder how many weight loss enthusiasts are out there, that are aware of just how much our mind power can come into play when trying to get into shape and lose fat. I am just beginning to chisel at the tip of the iceberg, I think, but it's a subject I intend to explore more deeply.

By the way, the picture above is of Norman Bates from the Hitchcock movie, Psycho. He knew the power of the mind. = )

We Are What We Think

It's still a few days away from my weigh in, but I'm feeling pretty good. I had to put on my Sunday go to meetn' clothes this morning, which I haven't worn in about a month and I was pleasantly surprised by the fit of my pants. They were nice and loose. I had to put my belt on the third to the last notch. I could have gone one more really. So that was cool.

I'm pretty proud of my compliance this week to my program. I've stuck to the meal plan pretty good, and have been getting my workouts in too. Good ones.

Which brings me to my other thought. The importance of visualization. It's important to continually visualize what you'd like to see yourself looking like. The other day, I was running on the treadmill while listening to the Beowulf movie score on my ipod. I know it sounds a bit silly, but for some reason I really was getting caught up in the music. As I ran scenes from the movie played in my head, and I just kind of got stoked, pumped, energized. . .whatever you want to call it.

In this newly motivated state, (maybe it stems from my viking heritage) I bumped up the treadmill to a faster speed. It wasn't long before the sweat started to flow. the muscles started to burn, and my lungs were heaving for air. With the thunderous strains of the music score roaring in my ears, I locked my own gaze in the mirror. For a moment in my mind I became Beowulf. I wasn't running on a treadmill anymore, I was locked in mortal combat with the monster Grendel.

It's funny now to think about it, but I can't deny the powerful effect it had on me at the moment. I was pushing myself harder and longer than I normally would have. Since then, I've been thinking about how much of a mental game this all is in the end. How much of our ability and potential are hidden and locked away behind doors of self doubt, fear, laziness, or complacency. It's all a mind game. Our bodies are merely robots that only react to the input we give them. Calories in vs calories out. Over eating is a mental problem. An inactive, sedentary life all stems from our minds.

Just some things to think about I guess.

Over and out.

No Time For Contentment

I have now reached a point in my weight loss and fitness efforts where I have been before. I am far from my ultimate goal of six pack abs, but have also come kind of far too. You have to understand something about my personality. Something about myself that I have known for years. I am laid back and easily content. I am not typically a hard driven, goal oriented person. I have to set a goal just to set goals.

My current fitness level is about as far as I usually get before dropping off the program and gaining my weight back. Not because of discouragement. It is my own success that is my enemy. At this point I am feeling pretty good about my accomplishment so far. My clothes are fitting much more loose and I can see and feel a difference. And there is a part of my personality that now says, "Alright that's pretty good. Let's settle down and take it easy now for a while." Basically there is a part of me that is content with my current fitness level.

The problem is I know that deep down, I know that this contentment leads to complacency, and that leads to failure. Thankfully, this time around I am aware of these self sabotaging tendencies of my past. This time around will be different. Not only am I shedding pounds of fat, but along with that fat in a way, I am also attempting to shed some of the old me. That part of me that back in high school just barely got good enough grades to keep my good student discount for my auto insurance, even though I could have gotten straight As if I had wanted to. That part of me that has never bothered to set goals that are too hard, or venture out of my comfort zone.

So, I'm writing this particular post to myself. Do not sell yourself short by deciding to be content with where you are at now! In the end it is a cop out. For once in your life get out of that comfort zone and actually believe in yourself! Believe it and you will achieve it!

This time will be different. I am not going to be content and stop here. I have much more to do. I can do it, and I will do it. I will continue to attack attack attack, until the enemy is utterly destroyed. This isn't a diet or a program that I am doing temporarily to shed a few pounds. This is my new life. These are new habits I am forming for life!

Over and out!

Damage Report!

Well, I weighed in last night, even though I was thinking about avoiding the scale after this week's debauchery with food and travel. My thinking was that I had probably gained weight, and I didn't want to depress myself by seeing the damage on the scale. Then, I realized that what I was actually doing was avoiding accountability. In Tom Venuto's book he talks about being accountable. And that lack of accountability is one of the biggest reasons people fail on diets.

I mulled it over in my head, as I stared at the scale in the corner of the training room at work. I was already dressed down for my nightly PT session. Then, I just decided, that I was avoiding accountability and responsibility for my actions if I did not weigh in. So, I stepped over to the digital scale, turned it on, and stepped on. To my surprise and relief I can say the damage isn't too bad. Looks like three days of complete abandonment of my eating principles cost me a gain of about 1.6 lbs.

Of course I'd rather have seen no gain at all, but I'm not going to complain. That's not a bad price to pay. And I can see how my new lifestyle is starting to embed itself in my brain and becoming habit. I know in times past a three day departure from my routine would have usually ended as a complete abandonment down the road of everything. This time, it wasn't even a struggle to get back in step with my new way of living. In fact, this time it was a relief to get back in the swing of things. I couldn't wait to get home, back to my healthy food. I couldn't wait to feel the pump of swollen muscles in the gym, and a sweat soaked t-shirt clinging to my skin as I pushed for one more minute on the treadmill, bike, or elliptical.

Am I obsessing about my health, nutrition, and weight loss? I hope so! That's what needs to happen to fully reach my goals. . . an obsession! Priority number ONE!

Goal for this week: I am going for two more pounds on the scale. By the time I workout on Tuesday morning at work, I am 218.2 lbs or under. I am two pounds lighter of fat because, I have eaten correctly and stayed with my program of working out. I have pushed myself this week to make sure I get those workouts in and that I am giving it 110% in the gym. I have also dutifully kept track of my calorie intake in my food journal. This has given me the baseline I need to keep track of my progress and to know where I stand at the end of each day.

Over and Out.

The Comeback Workout

I just wanted to note real quick the great workout I had today. I'm proud of myself for getting in there and getting it done. I'm calling it my comeback workout, because it's the first time since being back from Oregon that I Felt really good. I don't know if it all came from a deep desire to punish myself for the days I was off my routine and program, or if I just started to really get off on the endorphins.

I was busy all day long. I had to get the kids' inflatable pool set up, and I had to assemble the boys' basketball pole and hoop, which took all day pretty much. And on top of that, I had to try to do some repair work to my truck. I was getting kinda down as I saw my window of opportunity slipping away for a workout. I wasn't even going to do it, but around 8pm I just suddenly got a burst of will power, and I went for it. I just did weights, working chest, biceps, and forearms. I really got a good pump, and felt great at the end.

It was like I stood up in defiance or something. I know that most likely the scale is not going to love me tomorrow night, but I've decided I don't care this week about the scale. The main thing is, I'm feeling back on track, and with the program again. In fact, I might just skip the scale for a week, and just set a goal to work really hard every day. I also got my eating back in check today, and I'm feeling great about that.

I'm recognizing my mistakes this week, and why I made them. A main mistake was I didn't really set a goal for this week. I knew that I would be falling off the wagon when I went to Oregon, and I think on a subconscious level, I actually planned to fail this week. I never made a plan for success during the trip. Now, that I know that, I can plan better in the future for life's disruptions.

So, here's to another week. I might have taken a couple of steps back, but now I'm going to charge ahead. . .like a linebacker, and plow through into the next week.

Over and out.

Back in The Saddle

I'm trying to keep a positive attitude about this week. It's been one of those weeks where a wrench was thrown into the gears of my routine. I had to fly to Portland, OR. to help my brother move here to Idaho. We got up early Wednesday and flew to Portland, spent all day sweating and grunting as we loaded up all his stuff into a U-Haul. Then straight away, we took off, trying to beat rush hour traffic. We ate once at a sandwich shop at around 11am before loading the U-Haul, and I don't think we stopped to eat at a Wendy's until around 6pm maybe. By this time I was ravenous and there was no way I was settling for a salad. So, I went for some big burger and fries. At the gas station we bought chips and licorice, and we didn't stop again till 2am to check into a motel.

The next day, right back on the road until we got burgers again at a Jack in The Box at around 11am. I didn't eat again until I got home around 5:30pm that night. I was dying for something healthy. I immediately made and consumed a chicken wrap with tomatoes, I guzzled water all night, and snacked on some carrot sticks. I have to say that for two days, I basically broke all the rules and went against everything I know about losing weight, I'm not going to beat myself up about it too much since a lot of the main factors were out of my control.

The main problem was allowing myself to get too hungry. When you go as long as we did between meals it is almost impossible to resist temptation when you're standing there at a Wendy's to order food. It's also impossible not to reach into those chips and licorice when you're really hungry. I'm used to eating every two to three hours, so my body was wondering what the heck was going on! The other bad thing is, that getting that hungry, was probably putting my metabolism into "starvation protection mode" and slowing waaaay down to conserve energy. Then when it was suddenly bombarded with high fat calories, the sensible thing to do was to store as much of that energy as possible.

On the bright side, I think I expended a lot of calories loading and unloading the truck those two days. What effect it had, I don't know. I am feeling a bit apprehensive about my weigh in Sunday night. I'm afraid I might have done enough damage to negate some of the progress I've made up to his point. The good news is I have two days before my weigh in to try to recoup back some of that two days of debauchery. Honestly, I will be pleased if the scale just stays the same and shows no loss, but no gain either. I have a feeling at this point though, that I might be showing a couple of pounds in the plus column.

I just need to plow forward. Get back in the saddle so to speak. And that's going to be the difference. In times past, I might have given up after a week like this. In times past, two days of debauchery would have led to an entire week of it, and then eventually to an entire abandonment of my plan altogether. I may have gained a couple pounds this week when all is said and done, but that is not going to stop me or discourage me from continuing onward. I knew when I began this, that not every week would be perfect. I knew I would suffer from set backs and some disappointments. The key is going to be to not let those set backs and disappointments discourage me, and cause me to self-sabotage.

Arighty then. . .enough typing now, it's off to the basement for a workout. Back in the saddle!


Over and out.

Another Week Down. . .In weight that is.

Alright! Today was weigh in day, and it turns out I was pleasantly surprised with a weight loss of 3.2 lbs! I'm pretty stoked about that, but to be honest that's losing more in one week than I really should. Anything more than two pounds a week, and you're running the risk that some of that loss is lean muscle, and I DON'T want to sacrifice lean muscle just to feel better on the scale.

I was surprised because I was not adhering as strictly to my program as I have before. At least in terms of working out I wasn't. Unless you count playing paintball for a day, and working hard physically in my garden and yard as working out. I did get one official workout in out of four days. The one thing I did do right was stick to the correct eating plan pretty well. That reaffirms what I've been told before; that what you eat is 90% of how effective your weight loss plan is going to be.

Anyway, this next week will be tough to keep it up. I have to fly to Portland on Wednesday with my brother, and then we're driving back Thursday. Staying with any kind of program those two days is going to be pretty tough. I'm expecting we'll be hitting McDonald's restaurants on the road and crap like that. I'm trying to come up with a plan where this little trip will have the smallest impact possible on my current fitness gains. I hate to go backwards after the hard work I've put in over the last several weeks. We'll see how it goes.

For now I'm just reveling in my new level of leanness, and enjoying the success thus far. I can see into my future and I know I'm on the right path. I'm armed with the right knowledge and I have the will power to stay on this path until I have achieved my goals.

Over and out!

Exercise Can Be Fun

This morning I went and played paintball with some of my friends for a few hours and had a super fun time. And talk about a workout! Lots of running, crawling, ducking, etc. I've been playing paintball now for about twenty years, so this wasn't like anything new to me, but I've never looked at it as a form of exercise. It was just something I did.

After today I thought to myself that I would be in great shape if I found a way to play paintball every day! And it wouldn't even be a task, or a chore. It'd just be plain ole' fun. I would just have to watch my calorie intake is all.

I think that's part of being fit and in shape. Not just spending time in the gym and counting calories, but living a more active lifestyle period. On top of working out and eating right, I could play paintball more often, maybe start up mountain biking again. Stuff like that.

Well, that's my thoughts for the day. Today is supposed to be my back workout, but I'm struggling coming up with the drive after playing paintball. Maybe later tonight. My weekly goal of losing two more pounds is quietly whispering to me in the back of my mind, "Don't skip your workout. . . .don't skip it."

Trust me you get plenty of exercise trying to avoid one of these welts!

This Week's Goal

I'm at work while posting this, so I'm going to have to be quick and to the point. I just want to jot down my goal for this week. I think I'm going to chance it and go for another two pounds on the scale.

So, during this week, even though I have four days off starting tomorrow . . . I am not changing from my routine. I am not slacking off just because I have done so well so far. I am continuing the attack. I'm kicking the fat while its down. I am eating five to six low calorie high nutrient meals a day. I am eating on average between 1700 and 2000 calories a day. I am maintaining a strict training schedule where I work out every day, and on Saturday when I come to work I am weighing two pounds less on the scale, or I'm noticing definite changes in how my uniform and gun belt are fitting.

BOOOYAAAAH!

Over and Out

Two more pounds. . . outta here!

Well, despite all my ranting and raving in the previous post on how I'm not going to let the scale determine how I feel about my success this week, I am happy to report that I did meet my goal by losing two more pounds! And it feels great. The scale tonight officially read 221.8 lbs. Which is close enough for me.

That makes a total of about nine pounds lost in about a month. That's right on track with Tom Venuto's two pounds a week rule for sure long-term weight loss. I'm feeling pretty good.

Now I have to go back and read my food and fitness journal I've been keeping and read about what I did this last week to make it a success. Like how many calories did I average a day, and what foods did I eat, etc. I pretty much already know, but it helps to go back and review while planning for the coming week.

Now to think about what kind of goal to set for next week. Do I dare go for another two pounds? Why not? what's the worst that could happen?

Another post to follow when I have it figured out.

Over and out.

Staying Positive

Well, tonight when I get into work is when I have my weekly weigh in to see how I'm doing. Last week, I weighed in around 223.5 lbs and I set a goal to lose two more pounds by today. I'm a little bit nervous about it because I cheated yesterday a little bit an weighed myself on the bathroom scale at home and it didn't seem to show that I'd lost. If anything the bathroom scale shows I may have gained! I will just have to wait and see what the digital scale out at work says and go from there.

On top of all that though, I've been thinking about this past week. I set that goal and I have to admit that it did wonders for motivating and driving me to eat right and get my training in every day. Tonight, perhaps the scale will not reflect the past week's efforts as I fear, and that's the danger of using the scale only to measure my success. So, I'm going to do my best to not allow the scale to determine how I feel about this past week.

In Tom Venuto's, The Body Fat Solution, he talks about how from day to day our body weight can fluctuate as much as five pounds, factoring in just water retention and things like that. To feel successful, all I really need to do is look back on this past week. I feel really good about how I ate, and trained all week. I stayed motivated, and had a strong will power. The other thing going for me, is I can feel for a fact that I've lost some fat as my clothes are fitting looser than before. I got to work last night and strapped on my firearm and duty belt, and it all felt a little looser than a week ago. And that's the true measure of success In this whole get into shape business. It's quite possible that I've been adding muscle and losing fat simultaneously and they've been canceling each other out.

The scale is good tool for measuring some success, but it shouldn't be my primary motivation from week to week. Of course, it eventually has to reflect my efforts. If I can get down to less than 10% body fat, I sure as heck will weigh less. Man look at my rambling rant today! You'd think I'd already weighed and found that I'd gained ten pounds by the way I've gone off today.

Regardless of what the scale says tonight, I'm going to just continue to charge forward with the same plan. I'll have to reset my goal and try again for next week. It's probably time to take some measurements as well. I'll update when I get the scale results as soon as I can.

Over and out.

Guilt-Free Hamburger & Tator Tots

About an hour ago I got back from one of my favorite local burger joints, Leo's Place, in Idaho Falls. At Leo's I enjoyed a big ole' half pound burger and a plate of tots, plus a diet Coke. And the awesome thing is, I can honestly say that I didn't "cheat, fall of the wagon, depart from the program", etc. In times past I'd probably be sitting around feeling guilty for such a decadent pleasure as a burger and tots.

But since my recent enlightenment I know that little free meals like mine tonight can be enjoyed occasionally and I can still continue to lose weight. The danger in times before would have been a feeling of guilt, which would lead to a feeling of failure, which would in turn lead to a feeling of hopelessness, which would eventually lead to a binge. . . causing more feelings of guilt and hopelessness and probably abandonment of the program entirely.

Those days and those feelings are in the past now. Tom Venuto believes in living life. We aren't robots, we are human beings. We require variety in our lives and simple pleasures. This isn't an excuse to eat whatever I want all the time. But, as long as I don't over indulge by stuffing myself, and ninety percent of the time I eat only the good, healthy, nutritious foods, and stick to my training program, then I will be fine. The weight should still come off. Maybe slower than a lot of programs out there, but it will be for sure and life long.

Tomorrow will be like any other day for me ninety percent of the time. Get up, eat a good healthy breakfast, workout, etc. I weigh myself on Saturday. That gives me plenty of time to get the burger out of my system.

Just about through this day

So far today, I'm hanging in there. Today is a day off from work. I have to have extra will power on these days not to eat bad for me foods. The bad part is, I work rotating twelve hour shifts, so I get four days off in a row. That makes it harder to stay good all those days. My wife made some banana bread, and chocolate chip cookies the other day, that have been calling my name all day. So far I have been able to resist their call. I keep remembering the goals I wrote down in the last post and how by Saturday I want to be down two more pounds. I think it has really helped me through this difficult day. Tom Venuto may be on to something with this idea of putting your goals in writing and reviewing them often.

This morning was a day off from lifting, but I jogged on the treadmill this morning for about thirty minutes. twenty minutes of H.I.I.T (high intensity interval training) and then ten minutes of moderate jogging. I burned about 450 calories according to the treadmill. Not bad.

It is 8:15PM and I'm only up to 1400 calories eaten so far today. That's not enough. I need to eat something soon with about 300 calories in it and that should be good for me today.

Tomorrow I am planning on a leg workout. I'd like to actually get down to the gym and do some free-weight squats if I can since I don't have a squat rack in my basement gym. But, if I must, I can do dead lifts and dumbell squats in the basement. Either way I have to make it happen. Maybe tomorrow I'll allow myself a free meal. Nothing out of control, just something I'll enjoy, but a decent portion.

That's it for now. Over and Out.

Vision & Goals

First of all I have to congratulate myself on a loss of two more pounds this week. I weighed today and was stoked to see I am now at 223 lbs. I was at 230 lbs about three weeks ago. What I really need to do is get a pair of body fat calipers so I can start tracking my body fat % instead of just pounds lost. I lift a lot of weights and so actual loss measured in pounds might not be as signifigant.

But for now, here's a short term goal for me: Next Saturday I am down to 221 lbs. Two pounds a week is considered the maximum you want to lose every week Anything beyond that, you are in danger of losing lean muscle mass, and I don't want that!

Tom Venuto advises that we should put our goals in writing, and read through them often, as well as re-write them several times. It somehow solidifies our intent into the subconscious. So here's a little try for me.

VISION: My vision is that at forty years old (currently I'm thirty six) I am in the best shape of my adult life. I have been staying on the straight and narrow for years now and have figured out exactly how to maintain my optimum weight, health, and body fat. I am eating healthy, nutricious meals ninety percent of the time. My energy and activity levels are through the roof, and I am an example to my friends and family of what they can achieve and accomplish with the right amount of knowlege and motivation.

LONG TERM GOAL: For now my long term goal is: I need to come up with a date, but roughly in three to four months from now, I have lost thirty pounds of fat. I weigh somewhere in the area of two hundred to two hundred five pounds, the main thing being my body fat percentage is under fifteen percent. I am fitting into clothes I haven't been able to wear in years. I am still aggresively pursuing even a leaner fitter body, because I'd like to see my six pack at least once in this life. I feel great and look great too.


Ok, well there we go. I need to come up with some more specific stuff for that long term goal, like a date and body fat numbers and weight and stuff, but I think that's pretty good for now.

Today I worked chest and biceps. I really burned them up too! Good solid workout.

My theme for a while is: "If pain is weakness leaving the body, then hunger must be fatness leaving the body"

Over and out.

I just finished reading "The Body Fat Solution" by multi-champion natural bodybuilder, Tom Venuto. I'm not new to Tom's philosophy or techniques. Last year I read his E-book, "Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle" Also known as "BFFM"

I have to say I've never read an author on the topics of health, nutrition, and weight loss that makes as much common sense as Tom Venuto. Tom immediately slices through the murk and fog out there permeating the fitness world, and gets right down to basics. Basically (pun intended) it all comes down to calories in VS calories out. If you want to lose body fat then you have to force your body into what Tom calls, a calorie deficit. Essentially, burning more calories every day than you consume. According to Tom, there is no miracle pill or miracle diet out there that will yield the kind of results promised in all the glossy ads in the fitness magazines.

A new twist however, is Tom's emphasis on the power of the subconscious and mind control. In fact the whole first third of the book deals with issues like, emotional eating, relapse, goal setting, etc. I found Tom's insights on these subjects to be invaluable to me. One of my favorite parts of the book is when Tom asks the reader to imagine that he could go into a "software" store and buy software that you could reprogram your brain with any habit or belief. . .what habits and beliefs would you buy? Then he goes on to say that this is literally possible with some mental training. Just great stuff.

So, now I'm into this BFFM and seriously going to go for it. I feel like my eyes have been opened wide and with the knowledge I've reaped from Tom it is possible for me to obtain the level of health and fitness I desire. In fact, I lost five pounds just while reading the book. It had the effect of immediate motivation on me. So, I will be using this blog as my personal progress journal. I'll be recording my weight loss, my food consumption, my workouts, my goals, etc. By doing this publicly on the net I hope to be able to force some pressure and accountability on myself. I plan to (Gulp) post before and after pictures eventually.

This isn't one of those 12 week crash course weight loss extravaganzas. It's going to take time. I have probably a good 25 - 30 lbs to lose and I figure I'll be losing maybe 2 lbs a week tops. . .that would be a good week! But, slowly and surely will be the winning strategy in the end.

So here's to success for me! And maybe down the road I will be able to help and inspire my friends and family to go for it too. Below is picture of Tom Venuto I have decided to use as my personal inspiration. Something to set my sights on.

Mind you he does not take steroids, fat burners, and all that garbage.

What's With The Gunmen?

Nothing here super in-depth or profound. I just am sitting here after reading on Foxnews.com about another gunman, this one in Alabama, going on a killing spree. This following another incident on Sunday where a gunman entered a church and shot the pastor to death.

I am a gun owner. I believe in the second amendment. And it just makes me wonder what it is about a democrat occupying the Oval Office that suddenly tends to bring out the crazies on these killing sprees!

Am I blaming Obama and the dems for this? Absolutely not. But, I just cringe when I hear these stories. Because, I can guarantee that Obama and his fellows would love to ban guns if they thought they could get away with it, and these nut-jobs running around on killing rampages just give them more ammo to propel their anti-gun agenda.

Sigh. . .

I can hear the cries for congress to take swift and decisive action on "all these dangerous guns" It's just a matter of time. One more shooting spree and Obama will "be forced" to do something "for the safety of Americans and their children".