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.

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!

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.

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.