Happy new year

This week has been pathetically busy. I've been covering for two people at work.

I still managed to work out every day (three days c25k, two days wii). My food diaries may be hit and miss, because it was so busy I haven't really had time to keep track of it. I didn't do too bad on the diet at all; just remembering what I ate will be bad from Wednesday on, since I stopped keeping track on Wednesday.

Monday
Breakfast
Two eggs with ham and cheese
Smoothie

Lunch
2 ham & cheese sandwiches

Dinner
2 cups of taco soup

Snacks
6 pieces of taffy
2 nonfat yogurt
Handful of carmel popcorn

128 oz of water

Tuesday
Breakfast
Two eggs with ham and cheese
Smoothie

Lunch
PB&J sandwich
One piece of bread with peanut butter
8 oz of skim milk

Dinner
Six-inch oven roasted chicken breast sandwich with pepperjack cheese on jalapeno bread

Snacks
Three cups of popcorn
2 nonfat yogurts
Six pieces of taffy

96 oz of water

Wednesday
Breakfast
Smoothie
Two eggs with ham and cheese

Lunch
PB&J sandwich

Dinner
Footlong oven roasted chicken breast sandwich from subway with pepperjack cheese on jalapeno bread

Snacks
Two nonfat yogurts
1 cup of popcorn
Six pieces of taffy

96 oz of water

Thursday
Breakfast
Smoothie
1 cup of oatmeal with 12 oz skim milk

Lunch
Two PB&J sandwiches

Dinner
Six inch oven roasted chicken breast sandwich with pepperjack cheese on jalapeno bread

Snack
1 nonfat yogurt

96 oz of water

Friday
Breakfast
Smoothie

Lunch
Piece of bread with peanut butter
8 oz milk

Dinner
Chicken breast
1 cup of mushrooms
1/3 cup of spaghetti sauce
About 20 spaghetti noodles

Snacks
Half a stick of summer sausage
Half a block of block cheese
15 pieces of taffy
rum and diet coke
half a bottle of champagne

1 beer

So hungry

I have been so hungry today, and I ate when I was hungry. There is no way I lost any weight this week. I ate way too much. But it's been almost seven weeks now since I started, and this was my first bad weekend. I go back to work tomorrow, and work brings routine, which also should help stay on the plan.

Here's my food diaries from yesterday and today.

Saturday
Lunch
PB&J sandwich

Dinner
Three small pieces of turkey
One small piece of ham
Eight small meatballs
Small serving of cheesy potato casserole
Small serving of green bean casserole
Spoonful of green fluff (basically marshmallows, whipped cream)
Large serving of dressing with a dab o' gravy

Snacks
1 chocolate chip cookie
1 chocolate covered macadamia nut cookie
2 chocolate covered coconut cookie
6 oz of egg nog
12 oz iced tea

64 oz of water throughout the day

Sunday
Breakfast
1 cinnamon roll

Lunch
PB&J sandwich
8 oz milk

Dinner
Two grilled chicken breasts
Medium-sized serving french fries
3 battered and fried boneless wings

Snacks
10 pieces of taffy

64 oz of water throughout the day

Holiday binging

I did so much worse on my diet yesterday than I anticipated. There was just so much good food at both places we went to, and my stomach finally revolted against my six-weeks of dieting. I don't feel I binged per se, but I ate WAY more than I wanted to.

I did, however, manage to get the c25k workout in before our whirlwind day yesterday, so yesterday wasn't a complete and utter loss.

Christmas was exceptionally great. I am fortunate to have great families. It was a very difficult year for us financially, and I feel bad we couldn't reciprocate all that was given to us.

Here's the last three days worth of food diaries.

Wednesday
Breakfast
2-egg omelet with ham, jalapenos and cheese
Smoothie

Lunch/dinner
3 cups of taco soup

Snacks
14 saltwater taffies
2 non-fat yogurts
1 Shiner bock holiday brew (delicious, fyi)

128 oz of water throughout the day

Thursday
Breakfast
Smoothie

Lunch
2 ham and cheese sandwiches

Dinner
3 cups of taco soup

Snacks
2 giant pretzel sticks with a tad bit o' chocolate on them
2 mini chocolate-covered pretzels
1 non-fat yogurt
4 taffies

128 oz of water throughout the day

Friday
Breakfast
1 cup of oatmeal
1 smoothie

Lunch
3 pieces of rib meat
3 hot wings (baked, and skin removed)

Dinner
2 ham & pimento cheese roll-ups
2 deviled eggs
6 oz of egg nog, complete with rum

Snacks
24 corn chips with bean dip and guacomole (with lunch)
A metric asston of chex mix (with dinner)

96 oz of water throughout the day

This week's workouts have been hard

I still think I'm recovering from Saturday's 5k. This week has not been fun workout wise. Plus, the office Christmas luncheon was yesterday, and I ate more than I wanted to there, as well.

All around, a pretty shitty week so far. I hope I can make it through Christmas and not suffer any setbacks.

Running late for work, so this is short. Posting the last two days' worth of food diaries.

Monday
Breakfast
Smoothie
Two-egg omelet (cheese, jalapenos and ham)

Lunch
Two ham and cheese sandwiches

Dinner
7 oz of dehydrated green beans
9 pieces of saltwater taffy

Snacks
Two non-fat yogurts

128 oz of water

Tuesday
Lunch
Serving of stuffing with a tad bit o' brown gravy
Two pieces of ham
Two pieces of turkey
1 deviled egg
1 dozen ritz crackers with cheese ball
1 diet dr. pepper

Dinner
Three cups of taco soup

Snacks
1 nonfat yogurt
4 pieces of saltwater taffy

96 oz of water

I did the 5k

I did the 5k, and I did it in under an hour. However, I didn't make my goal of not walking. There was this hill ... it was long and massive. I ended up walking up it.


My family was there, and they made signs. I felt really good afterward. Then we went for my birthday dinner. I wasn't very hungry. Until I ate a chip. Then I was famished. I ate more than I wanted, but it was my birthday.

I was pretty sore an hour or so afterward, however. And was still a little sore today as well. Thankfully, tomorrow's workout is a relatively simple one, so I should ease right back into my routine.

Anyway, here's the food diary from Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday
Breakfast
Smoothie

Lunch
2 PB&J sanwiches
12 oz skim milk

Dinner
Chicken fajitas, with three flour tortillas and about a tablespoon of sour cream
24 tortilla chips with guacamole

Snacks
About 3/4 cups homemade icream (holiday nog ((which is low-fat egg nog) skim milk and cream)
Small piece of german chocolate cake

48 oz of water
16 oz gatorade
about 28 oz of a club special (vodka and sprite, I believe)

Sunday (wasn't very hungry today at all)
14 pieces of egg nog saltwater taffy
3 cups of chicken taco soup

64 oz of water

Today is the day

I'm about two hours away from my very first 5k. Just finished getting my ipod all ready with an hour's worth of songs, capped by "Going the Distance" from the Rocky franchise. I have two goals: 1. Don't walk. 2. Finish in an hour or less. No. 2 is most likely doable, but No. 1 may or may not be. We'll see!

Here's the last two days worth of food diaries, including a completely terrible Friday, which was when we celebrated Christmas with my mom.

Thursday
Lunch
2 PB&J sandwiches
16 oz skim milk

Dinner
2 fried eggs
Two cups of refried beans

64 oz of water throughout the day

Friday
Lunch-ish
12 oz KC strip
1 plain baked potato

Dinner
Two beef tamales
Two egg rolls
 
Snacks
Three pieces of salt water taffy
Three dried green beans
A handful of chips with fat-free spinach dip
A handful of chips with low-fat beef chip dip
1.5 peppermint sticks

About 64 oz of water throughout the day

Vacation = less blogging

I'm way behind on blogging and food diaries, but I will allow myself some slack, since this is my vacation week. Granted, I had to work Monday, but the last two days have been glorious days of doing absolutely nothing (except Wednesday's workout!).

In approximately 48 hours, I will be about to start my first 5k. I'm not sure what to expect. My goal is to not walk. However, since this is twice as long as any activity I've done since I started the c25k program, if I have to walk, I will. Wednesday's run was challenging, and the doubts started to creep in. Tomorrow's workout calls for a two-mile jog. I obviously am not doing that tomorrow, instead doing the 5k on Saturday (which happens to be my birthday). I told my brother about my plans, and now, the whole family is coming down to cheer me on. It's not that far of a drive, since we're doing Christmas at my mom's house tomorrow, and that's where everyone (except me) is staying the weekend. Afterward, assuming I'm not in the hospital (and hopefully after a shower) we're going out to eat to celebrate my birthday. I might allow myself a small sliver of cake.

My brother took me out to dinner last night. He was craving Chinese food, and he assured me he could order me something that wouldn't be too bad for my diet. He ordered me the moo goo gai pan, with white rice instead of fried rice. I'm not sure how it was prepared, but there was white chicken and lots of veggies. Hopefully it wasn't fried too extensively. But I ate that up. And a bowl of egg drop soup (about three cups total, I am estimating). It was delicious.

Anyway, here's the food diary from the last three days:

Monday
Breakfast
Smoothie
One cup oatmeal with 12 oz skim milk

Lunch
Two ham and cheese sandwiches

Dinner
Three cups of leftover taco soup

Snack
One fat-free cherry yogurt
One fat-free orange yogurt

128 oz of water throughout the day

Tuesday
Lunch
Two PB&J sandwiches with 16 oz skim milk

Dinner
Three cups of leftover taco soup

Snack
Two spoonfuls of peanut butter

64 oz of water throughout the day

Wednesday
Breakfast
Smoothie

Dinner
One order of moo goo gai pan with about two cups of white rice
3 cups of egg drop soup

About 36 oz of water throughout the day

Doubts about the 5K

Just finished Day 1 of Week 5 of the c25k. It was a rough one. I feel great now, about an hour afterward, but during the run I was having doubts if I could do a complete 5k. Right now, the most I've completed is 1.6 miles -- a little more than half of a 5k.

Apparently my family is coming down to cheer me on as well. Maybe that's why the doubts are creeping in, since there will be an audience. I just hope I can do it.

Anyway, short blog, running late for work. I work today and then am off the rest of the week.

Weekend food diary:
Saturday
Lunch
5 ham and yogurt stuffed miniature jalapenos
1 giant ass pickle

Dinner
Two fresca bean burritos from Taco Bell

128 oz of water throughout the day

Sunday
Lunch
Chicken fajitas from Chili's (three flour tortillas, about two tablespoons of sour cream, and about 1 chicken breast it looked like)

Dinner
Three cups of homemade taco soup. I was just toying around in the kitchen and made it.

About 80 oz of water throughout the day


Here's the recipe for the soup:
32 oz chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup (with the one can of water as well)
1 package taco seasoning
2 cans of mexican style Rotel (juice and all)
25 oz canned, pre-cooked chicken (juice and all)
8 oz fat free plain yogurt
1 cup uncooked rice
Bring everything but rice and yogurt to a boil. Add rice and yogurt, reduce heat and stir well. Let simmer until rice is cooked.

I did a rough count of the recipes in the soup and it was about 1,200 calories for the entire pot. Both my wife and I ate a good-sized bowl and there's still plenty left, so it's a pretty low-calorie, healthy meal.

Next time I make it I'm going to add beans. With the beans, I think it'll be perfect.

One month since I started

It's been one month since my journey to try and lose weight started on Nov. 11. If I didn't have so far to go, I think I could feel good about losing 21 pounds. But since I have 79 pounds to go, it's realistically just a drop in the bucket. I have to admit it's a tad frustrating, and I sometimes think it's not worth all the effort I'm putting out. I'm still too fat for the wii fit, for fuck's sake! (Although it's getting closer and closer to the day I can kick its ass for all those times telling me I exceed its weight limit).


I am seriously contemplating accelerating the c25k plan just for one day, so I can run a 5k one week from today, which happens to be my birthday. My very first goal was to run a 5k by my birthday, which I thought was an achievable goal because when I started, my birthday was six weeks away. Well, i was wrong. It was five weeks away. However, next week's schedule on the c25k program calls for running two miles with no walking on the Friday workout. So I am contemplating making my Friday workout a Saturday workout and going for broke and doing the 5k. If I have to walk, so be it. But I really want to do this.

I swear, one of these days I'm going to update my food diary daily just so I don't have a big, three-day's-worth-of-food wall of text at the end of every post


Wednesday
Breakfast
Smoothie
One cup oatmeal with 12 oz skim milk

Lunch
2 PB&J sandwiches

Dinner
Two cups healthy request chicken gumbo (from a can)

128 oz of water throughout the day

Thursday
Breakfast
Smoothie
Two-egg omelet with ham, cheese and jalapenos, wrapped in a flour tortilla (that was the last tortilla! Goodbye extra calories!)

Lunch
Two ham and cheese sandwiches

Dinner
Two cups healthy request italian wedding soup (from a can, 220 calories)

Snacks
8 restaurant corn chips with salsa

128 oz of water throughout the day

Friday
Breakfast
Smoothie
1 cup oatmeal with 12 oz skim milk

Lunch
Two PB&J sandwiches

Dinner
Six-inch club sub with pickles, jalapenos, mustard and pepperjack cheese on jalapeno bread from subway

Snacks
1 low-fat cherry yogurt
1 low-fat lime yogurt

128 oz of water throughout the day

It's getting better

A funny thing is happening this week. My aches and pains are practically non-existent after workouts. It doesn't feel like I need a full day's recovery time. I didn't hurt at all yesterday, and even now, after doing Day 2 of Week 4 of the c25k program, nothing aches.

Today didn't start out so grand, however. After being gung-ho and looking forward to Monday's workout (which went fantastic), I nearly decided to skip today's. I have been doing so good and haven't skipped one yet was my reasoning. I finally did go to workout, obviously, but not until a full hour after I had planned to.

I am so glad I did. I feel great right now. In the past when I used to workout, I always felt great after finishing. I always wished you could bottle that feeling and drink it so you could have that feeling going into the workout, because starting always has been hard for me.

But ever since I started this a month ago, I never felt great after working out. I loathed it going in and loathed it after each workout. And when I realized I didn't have that "feel great" feeling after a workout, I loathed it even more.

But today was different. Thankfully. And here's hoping that feeling carries forward from here on out.

Here's my food diary from Monday and Tuesday:
Monday
Breakfast
Smoothie
Two-egg omelet with cheese, ham and jalapenos, wrapped in a flour tortilla

Lunch
Two PB&J sandwiches

Dinner
Leftover taco "salad." (About 20 baked tostitos scoops and less than 2 cups of ground turkey and rice, a slew of green salsa and a healthy dollop of plain, low-fat yogurt.

Snacks
One low-fat orange yogurt
One low-fat blueberry yogurt

128 oz of water throughout the day

Tuesday
Breakfast
Smoothie

Two-egg omelet with cheese, ham and jalapenos, wrapped in a flour tortilla

Lunch
Two PB&J sandwiches

Dinner
Two ham and cheese sandwiches

Snacks
Four bites of stuffing
One bite of cherry parfait

96 oz of water throughout the day

Been a slacker ... but only at blogging!

Closed down the week with a pretty good workout Friday. It was Day 3, Week 3 of the c25k program. I was pleased with how it went, except for the last leg of jogging. My left leg, especially my knee, starting hurting pretty bad. But my recovery time has continued to get better. I was sore most of Friday evening, but yesterday I felt good. And again today.

And for the first time, I think I'm actually looking forward to tomorrow's workout.

I also weighed Friday. I lost another five pounds. I totally was not expecting that. I didn't think I'd lose any, to be honest. I was ready to be frustrated. That brings the total to 19 pounds.

Got a lot of catching up on my food diary. I CANNOT fall this far behind again.

Wednesday
Breakfast
Smoothie
Two-egg omelet with ham, cheese and jalapenos wrapped in a flour tortilla

Lunch
2 ham and cheese sandwiches

Dinner
One boneless/skinless chicken breast
Half a cup of white rice

Snack
One low-fat orange yogurt

128 oz of water throughout the day

Thursday
Breakfast
1 cup oatmeal

Lunch
2 PB&J sandwiches

Dinner
2 ham and cheese sandwiches

Snacks
1 lowfat blueberry yogurt
1 lowfat lime yogurt
6 chips with salsa

96 oz of water throughout the day

Friday
Breakfast
Smoothie
Two-egg omelet with ham, cheese and jalapenos wrapped in a flour tortilla

Lunch
2 PB&J sandwiches

Dinner
1 six-inch club sub with pepperjack cheese and pickles and jalapenos on jalapeno cheese bread from Subway.

Snacks
1 lowfat blueberry yogurt
1 lowfat lime yogurt

96 oz of water throughout the day

Saturday
Lunch
11 baked tostitos scoops with salsa
Half a peanut butter sandwich

Dinner
2 giant-ass pieces of sliced turkey
1 giant-ass sliced piece of roast beef
2 giant-ass serving-sized spoonfuls of stuffing
1 roll

96 oz of water throughout the day

Sunday
Lunch
One bite of peanut butter
10 baked tostitos scoops

Dinner
Tacos. Basically it was a giant-ass plate of ground turkey taco meat, about 25 baked tostitos scoops, mexican-style rice, four tablespoons of plain yogurt and an asston of salsa. It was delicious.

64 oz of water throughout the day.

Catching up

I haven't blogged in about three days and that's not good. I mostly am blogging to keep a food diary every day so I have somewhere to write down what I eat on a daily basis.

Monday's workout was decent, as was today's. The lower half of my body still isn't cooperating with my brain, however. I think my "jogging" is slower than my walking. My brain keeps telling my legs to move faster, but my legs just can't do it. There was a glimmer of hope on my first jog, as that is the best I've felt in awhile. But by the time the second jog rolled around, my legs were back on strike.

I also found four pennies in the parking lot, all head's up, after my workout today. So I got that going for me, which is nice.

Food diary:
Monday
Breakfast
Smoothie
Two eggs, jalapenos, cheese wrapped in a flour tortilla

Lunch
Two PB&J sandwiches

Dinner
Two ham and cheese sandwiches

Snack
One giant-ass dill pickle

128 oz  of water throughout the day

Tuesday
Breakfast
Smoothie

Two eggs, jalapenos, cheese wrapped in a flour tortilla

Lunch
Two PB&J sandwiches

Dinner
Two cups of potato soup (kind of fattening; 610 calories and more than 20 grams of fat, I believe. But it was a week expired; my wife bought it seven weeks ago. It has been sitting in the fridge ever since, and I hate for food to go expired)

Snack
One low-fat blueberry yogurt

128 oz of water throughout the day

Day 1, Week 3, here I come

I am about 30 minutes away from my Day 1, Week 3 c25k workout. I am almost finished with my breakfast smoothie, and my legs still feel a tad weak, but nowhere near how they felt on Friday. I've been away for more than an hour, so I hope that morning stiffness has completely worn off.

Today's, Wednesday's and Friday's workouts call for:
5 minute fast warmup walk
90 seconds jogging
90 seconds walking
3 minutes jogging
3 minutes walking
90 seconds jogging
90 seconds walking
3 minutes jogging
3 minutes walking
The three minutes jogging is where the test is going to come in. I'm hoping my knees and legs cooperate with my brain.

Yesterday was another mini-hit to the diet, as my brother came in town and took my wife and I out to dinner at Chili's. I did OK for almost the whole thing, but there were leftover french fries and I kept grabbing two and shoving them into my mouth. Finally, the waitress came and took the plate away.

Anyway, here was my food diary:
Breakfast
1 cup of oatmeal with 4 oz milk

Lunch/dinner
30 baked tostitos scoops with salsa
One boneless hotwing
One stick of celery (puke)
25 french fries
Four bites of burger (meat only)
Half a turkey and provolone sandwich
1 cup of chicken and rice soup

48 oz of water throughout the day

Feeling better today; looking forward to tomorrow's workout

I weighed yesterday. Down another two pounds since last Friday! I lost two pounds during Thanksgiving week!

I am now nine pounds away from being able to do the Wii Fit. That was my first goal. I might as well name them. 1. Get below 330 and do the Wii Fit. 2. Get below 300. 3. Get below 250. I think I'll be able to achieve my first goal by my birthday, which is three weeks away.

Here is yesterday's food diary:

Breakfast
None

Lunch
Two PB&J sandwiches

Dinner
13 oz (pre-cooked) fillet mignon
1 medium sized baked potato with salt and pepper

Snack
6 bites of pistachio fluff (super high sugar stuff. Mother-in-law makes it and I love it. Marshmallows, coolwhip, pistachios and pineapples.

64 oz of water throughout the day

So sore

Post-workout yesterday and even today, I am still sore. My knees are killing me. At least I can bend them today. I couldn't really bend them yesterday. Today is a little better, but my legs ache. I don't really want to take a day off, so I plan on pushing through it. No pain, no gain.

I have been stretching, and I plan on doing a little wii boxing later to stay limber and loose. It seems like the more I stretch my legs and work my knees, the better they feel.

Here is my food diary from yesterday.

Breakfast
Smoothie

Lunch
Small serving turkey
Small serving ham
Giant serving of stuffing
Slightly larger than average size serving of green bean casserole
Small serving of green beans
Larger than average size serving of mashed yams

Dinner
Foot long chicken breast sandwich from subway on flatbread with spinach and jalapenos

Dessert
One small slice of sugar-free blueberry pie

96 oz of water throughout the day

Worst workout yet

I just finished Day 3 of Week 2 of the c25k workout plan.

Worst. Workout. Ever.

I am not winded at all. But I can't feel my legs. The lower half of my body went on strike yesterday and didn't tell me. Either that, or they were protesting they were on the track on a chilly morn' instead of taking advantage of super-low prices on HDTVs and weaving through Black Friday shoppers.

Whatever the case, it sucked today. I couldn't bend my knees; my running "pace" was better than a crawl. It was very frustrating, especially after keeping Thanksgiving day. The lower half of my body did not want to work, and I rarely -- if ever -- got winded today.

I am hoping two days off does the trick and gets my body back in shape. If not, I am repeating Week 2 again.

Here's my Thanksgiving day damage. I didn't do as well as I had hoped, but I did MUCH better than normal, especially considering we had two Thanksgiving dinners to attend.

No breakfast

Lunch
Two slices of turkey
One giant slice of ham
Small spoonful of green bean casserole
Normal-sized serving of stuffing
Small serving of mac and cheese
Two small pieces of yam

Dinner
Large piece of ham
Nice-sized piece of prime rib (and man, it was DELICIOUS)
Normal-sized serving of stuffing
Small serving of green bean casserole
2.5 servings of mac and cheese
2.5 servings of corn salad (corn, jalapenos and cream cheese)

Dessert
Less than a thimble full of pumpkin moose
Two bites of sugar-free blueberry pie
One tiny bite of buttermilk pie

48 oz of water throughout the day.

I have leftovers from the mother-in-law to eat today, and I am looking forward to it.

Frantic update

Despite just about everything working against me, I had another good workout today. Day 2 of Week 2 of the c25k program is in the books.

But I don't feel so great right now. My legs are shot. My knees hurt.

I'm not sure why, but I'm blaming the lack of electricity for an hour this morning. I awoke at 7:30 a.m. not being able to breathe. I wear a CPAP machine. If there's no power, it's hard to breathe in that thing. I couldn't get back to sleep. The power finally kicked back on at about 8:30 and I went back to sleep. But I awoke about 11:30 a.m. -- which is the time I usually start my workouts. After seriously contemplating not running today because it was going to be a super busy-ass day at work (and it was), I talked myself into running. So I bolted out of bed, threw on my workout clothes and headed to the track.

I normally get up about 10:30 and make a smoothie on the days I workout, so I can have some energy in my system for about an hour. Plus, that gives my old body time to wake up and loosen up.

I could tell I was stiff when running, despite my stretching beforehand. But time wasn't on my side and I just powered through it. It was a very good run/walk. I can feel my body adjusting to it. Tomorrow is two weeks since I started.

Tomorrow also is Thanksgiving. I plan on kicking Thanksgiving's ass this year and not eating approximately 700 plates of food, including a tall glass of gravy to wash it all down. Portions and moderation are my friends tomorrow. I've done superb for two weeks, and I know I can do it again tomorrow.

I also am behind on my food diary, so here is that before I relax for the rest of the evening.

MONDAY
Breakfast
Smoothie
1/2 cup oatmeal with 8 oz skim milk

Lunch
Two ham and cheese sandwiches

Dinner
3 cups of homemade chicken gumbo (that's the last of it!)

Snacks
1 lowfat orange yogurt

110 oz water throughout the day

TUESDAY
Breakfast
Smoothie
Two-egg omelet with jalapenos, ham and cheese wrapped in a flour tortilla

Lunch
Two PB&J sandwiches

Dinner
Foot-long chicken breast sub from subway on flatbread with jalapenos, pepperjack cheese and spicy mustard.

No snacks

Only 64 oz of water throughout the day

WEDNESDAY
Breakfast
Nothing, no time. :-(

Lunch
Two PB&J sandwiches and 16 oz skim milk

Dinner
Foot-long chicken breast sub from subway on flatbread with jalapenos, pepperjack cheese and spicy mustard.

Snacks
1 low-fat key lime yogurt
Two bites of Thanksgiving ham
Five bites of stuffing

Very encouraging workout

Day 1 of Week 2 of the c25k training program was outstanding. It went SO much better than I was hoping. I even did an extra 30 seconds of jogging and 1 minute of walking at the end of the workout I felt so great. I could've done more, but I didn't want to push it.

I believe my body has fully adjusted to jogging in 1-minute increments. Because it seemed like I was OK the first 60 seconds of jogging, but once it got to 60 seconds, it was a bit of a struggle to get the next 30. But overall, I was very pleased with the workout. I didn't get completely worn out until my final 90-second jog, and I have to say that was a mighty struggle. It was up an incline and into the wind. My workout was to end with a 2-minute walk, but the Rocky theme song came on my ipod during that last part, and that was motivation enough to squeeze in that last 30-second jog. I have a rotation of about 17 songs on shuffle on the ipod that are kind of up-tempo, and that one had not cracked into my workout yet, much to my dismay. And while that one isn't up-tempo, per se, who doesn't feel like moving when that song is on? I wasn't going to waste it.

It was windy as fuck and unseasonably warm today as well. The weather was nice; the wind, not so much. It seemed no matter which way I was facing, I was running into a stiff wind. Must've been about 20 mph.

Will update later with my food journal.

Another lazy Sunday

Not much to say here. Went to my brother's house to watch football. He made hot wings (baked), guacamole, and a chicken casserole with chicken breast and light cream of mushroom and cream of celery soup with rotel and corn chips.

I didn't do too bad. I had 8 wings, two helpings of the casserole and 12 chips with guacamole. That was all I ate today. Only drank about 40 oz. of water, too.

I need to get to bed. Day 1 of Week 2 of the c25k program is less than eight hours away.

Relaxing Saturday

It was nice to lounge around all day today and do practically nothing. Even more amazing is I really never was hungry today. Now granted, I've been getting super hungry after 10 p.m., and it's just now 10 p.m. I just realized I hadn't even eaten dinner yet. So I just ate some veggies.

Still dreading Monday's workout. But I'll tackle that when it gets here.

Daily food intake:

Breakfast
Two-egg omelet with cheese, ham and jalapenos, wrapped in a flour tortilla.
My goal is to do away with the tortilla after I run out of them. Basically the only reason I use them is because it's less dishes to wash, and I'm pretty damn lazy.

Lunch
Two PB&J sandwiches, 8 oz skim milk

Dinner
Steamed peas, red peppers and potatoes

No snacks today, and only 64 oz of water (so far).

Tomorrow will be another test as I'm going to my brother's house to watch football. He is a great cook and always makes good food. But he knows I'm on a diet and running, so I think he'll help me stay on track.

My Friday

Posting this on Saturday, because when I got off work, all I wanted to do was veg. So I played world of warcraft until I went to sleep.

Anyway, I have now completed the first week of the c25k workout. Friday's run was the worst I've felt during running since the first day. It was HARD to do. My legs where white-hot rays of pain about two minutes in. Monday is a brand new challenge for me. Week 2 calls for 90 seconds of jogging followed by 2 minutes of walking, repeated for 20 minutes. I can just now barely finish 60 seconds of jogging. I am not sure how I'll be able to go 90 seconds. I am hoping my body does some serious adjusting on my two days off this weekend.

I also was hungry late last night. I didn't eat anything, thankfully. But I foresee this being a problem if this trend continues.

For some reason, I decided to weigh yesterday. It was against my better judgment, because I don't want to get discouraged. Thankfully, the opposite happened. I am down 12 pounds in 8 days. I know that pace won't keep up, but it was nice to see my work is actually working.

No plans for Saturday.

Friday's food diary:
Breakfast
One PB&J sandwich on wheat
One piece of wheat toast with peanut butter
12 oz. skim milk

Lunch
Two ham and cheese sandwiches

Dinner
Three cups of chicken & rice soup

Snacks
One lowfat blueberry yogurt
One lowfat orange yogurt

160 oz of water throughout the day.

A step back?

So not looking forward to running tomorrow. Today marked the one-week anniversary of me starting the program.

My brother was in town and wanted to go eat, so we did. I tried to do good, but I didn't really. I didn't do really bad, but I didn't do good. We went to Chili's and I got the fajitas. They have ZERO semi-healthy appetizers. He ordered chips and salsa. I had 20 chips. I wanted to stop at 10, and did, albeit briefly. But they were taunting me and I had to eat them. I managed to stop at 20, but it wasn't easy. We actually told the waitress to take them away.

Anyway, on to my food diary:

Breakfast
Two-egg omelet with jalapenos, ham and cheese, wrapped in a flour tortilla
Smoothie

Lunch
Two ham and cheese sandwiches

Dinner
20 corn chips and salsa
3 fajitas (chicken, sour cream, salsa, black beans, rice, bell peppers and flour tortilla)
One-half of one of my brother's french fries.

Snack
One blueberry lowfat yogurt

96 oz. of water throughout the day

I'm off to bed now.

A Wednesday update on a Thursday

I was too tired to post last night, so I will cram my Wednesday observations into a post now.

Running was a little easier yesterday, but it still sucks. Sucks bad. I am half tempted to do Week 1 of the c25k again next week, but I need to push myself, so I will move on to week 2.

Free pizza day at work came and went and I did great! I work a swing shift, and the way they do it at work is they'll bring some in at noon for the day people and 7 p.m. for the night people. When I get to work, there's always leftover pizza from the noon session. ALWAYS. So I would go eat that and then eat fresh pizza at 7. I probably eat around 12-15 pieces on free pizza day. But not yesterday. I resisted the leftover pizza and at 7 p.m., I ate two of the tiniest pieces in history of cheese pizza. I hope I continue to have this willpower with the holidays coming up.

I decided to go ahead and do crunches on the days I run too. I did 115 last night.

Daily food diary:
Breakfast
One piece of peanut butter on wheat toast and 8 oz of milk (before running)
One PB&J and 8 oz of milk (after running)

Lunch
Three cups of chicken gumbo (recipe I made)

Dinner
Two pieces of cheese pizza

Snacks
One low-fat raspberry yogurt
One low-fat blueberry yogurt

128 oz of water throughout the day


Surprisingly wasn't hungry at all yesterday until LATE at night after work. I resisted eating anything however, since it was close to bedtime.

I've added crunches

 I feel like I should be doing something on the days I'm not running. I started doing crunches. Two minutes. Not a lot, but about all I could do. I'll go from there.

Tomorrow at work is free pizza day. I am gonna try and not eat any, but turning down pizza twice in one week may make me clinically insane. We'll see how it goes. Normally I'll eat at least 12 pieces.

I also run tomorrow again. Here's to feeling better after running tomorrow than I did on Monday!

Food intake:
Breakfast
1 cup of oatmeal with 4 oz. skim milk
1 smoothie

Lunch
Two ham and cheese sandwiches

Dinner
Udon noodle soup
Steamed veggies (sugar snap peas, new potatoes, red pepper)

Snacks
1 banana popsicle
1 low-fat blueberry yogurt
1 low-fat raspberry yogurt
1 blueberry newton

100 oz. water throughout the day

Food diary and other thoughts

I am so tired right now. Completely exhausted.

I went from being ecstatic I did the entire workout earlier today to crashing back to reality not an hour later, when getting dressed for work, I could barely button my pants. It was disheartening.

Work was terrible, but I'm not sure if that was because I was so run down, or if it just really sucked. My job leaves me completely mentally exhausted at the end of every night. Right now, I am mentally and physically exhausted. I feel completely out of sorts.

One positive note is I did NOT eat any pizza tonight at work. I know I shouldn't deprive myself of any food, and if I am really craving something to eat it in moderation. But I wanted to test myself to see if I could do it. I nearly caved on the last piece. There was one piece left for more than an hour. I opened the box a couple of times to look at it. When it was first delivered it smelled so fucking good. But I managed to resist.

Anyhow, here's what I did manage to scarf down today:

Breakfast (eaten after running)
Smoothie (8 oz fat free vanilla yogurt, frozen strawberries, peaches and pineapples, one banana, a splash of V8 berry splash).
Two-eggs, ham, jalapenos and cheese wrapped in a flour tortilla.

Lunch
1 PB&J sandwich on wheat.
1 piece of wheat bread with peanut butter.
12 oz. skim milk.

Dinner
One ham & cheese sandwich.
Two pears.

Snacks
One fat free blueberry yogurt
One fat free orange yogurt

96 oz of water throughout the day.

I will be going to bed early tonight. I look forward to a good, deep sleep.

I DID IT!

On my third attempt, I did the full first-day c25k workout.

The workout calls for: 5 minutes brisk warm-up walk, followed by 20 minutes of jogging/walking (60 seconds jogging followed by 90 seconds walking). My first day I crapped out after 10 minutes (not including the warm-up walk) and my second day I crapped out after 17 minutes (again, not including the warm-up walk).

Tonight presents a big challenge at work. I won our weekly football pick-'em contest ($55). Before the season started, three of us in the contest agreed that if one of us won the week, we'd buy pizza for the others. This will be the fifth pizza dinner of the season for us. Hopefully it will be the first one I have the willpower to pass on. I am going to buy one less pizza as a result.

I have to be at work in an hour, so I am now going to make and eat breakfast and pack my lunch and dinner.

Keep your fingers crossed I pass on the pizza!

Lazy Sunday

No running planned for today. I am hoping to go to bed early and wake up and run tomorrow.

Just did some grocery shopping and picked up some chicken, veggies, yogurt, wheat bread and milk. A light shopping week, because I already have a lot of food here.

Food diary for today (so far):
No breakfast; I slept it.
PB&J for lunch.
Chicken stir fry and noodles for dinner.
One giant-ass pickle.
4 milk duds.
12 oz. sierra mist cranberry splash.
64 oz. of water.
If I get hungry later, I will eat a pear.

Daily food intake

Here's what I ate today:

One smoothie (8 oz fat free vanilla yogurt, one banana, frozen strawberries, peaches, pineapples, a splash of V8 splash).

Two PB&J sandwiches with 16 oz. of skim milk.

Dinner was a breakfast burrito: Two eggs, ham, jalapenos, cheese, flour tortilla.

Four milk duds.

64 oz of water throughout the day.

And so it begins

I'm not sure why I decided to finally stop being a fat ass, but I have.

And after two workouts, I'm not sure if I made the right decision.

I set a goal out of nowhere on Wednesday to run a 5K by my birthday. I found a site called "from couch to 5k" and figured that was right up my alley.

Apparently, I need a "from couch-ridden fat fuck to 5k" workout, because Thursday, I couldn't even complete half of it. I did workout 2 of it today, and did better -- 17 of 20 minutes. But still not great. I think I am going to have to do week 1 twice. I imagine this is what it must have felt like to be held back in the third grade not because you can't quite grasp multiplication and division, but because they are foreign and frightening concepts.

I am thinking my goal might have been a little too aggressive, even though I have about 7 weeks to prepare.


I'm also not sure how frequently I will be updating this blog or why I even started it, except for maybe, on some level, I might actually succeed and look back on how fat I once was. But it most likely will become yet another monument in the failed weight loss shrine that has been my life for the last two decades.

I also took one of those embarrassing, horrible, topless pictures of myself after my first workout Thursday. So here's that for posterity.

I hope I go for day 3 on Monday. Keep your fingers crossed for me.