Monday, November 29, 2010

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

Sunday, November 28, 2010

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

Saturday, November 27, 2010

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

Friday, November 26, 2010

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.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

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

Monday, November 22, 2010

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.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

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.

Friday, November 19, 2010

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.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

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.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

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

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

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.

Monday, November 15, 2010

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!

Sunday, November 14, 2010

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.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

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.