Don't Let The Lack of Posts Fool You.

"I'm alive and doing well" ~ Five Man Electrical Band "Signs"

I'm on track this week... just haven't managed to post anything.  Don't ever eat here:

Picture this anytime you start to think about the Golden Arches... BTW, I'm over 40 days without Fast Food and over 60 Days without Pop.

Blazing a Trail

"Yay me." ~ BornSquishy

I'm so proud of myself today. I went for my regular 5.9 km walk, but I decided to really push myself.  I started off walking as fast as my legs would carry me.  I didn't really intend to blast through the whole walk, but that's exactly what I ended up doing.  My poor calf muscles and shins were screaming at me to slow down, but I dug down deep and power through the pain.

Here's what I have to show for my effort:

I managed to set an average pace of 6.75 km/h or 4.19 mph which is pretty dam quick for walking.  I have no intentions of trying to beat this time for at least another 3-6 months.  To be honest I don't think I can walk any faster unless I grow longer legs or start doing that crazy speed walking.

I didn't think it was possible to sweat sooooo much from walking.  People watching me must of had a good chuckle seeing my arms pumping like mad, and the look of pained determination on my face. 

Easter

"Close only counts in hand shoes and horse grenades" ~ Bryan Wells

Yes..... I actually said that this weekend. The sad thing is that the above quote was more successful than I was in regards to my eating. I was really off this weekend and I let my emotional eating get the better of me. It didn't help that we were at Sherri's parents place for the weekend, because there's tons of stuff there that I wouldn't of eaten if we were here. Chocolate, cookies, crackers, and chips were the main culprits.

I haven't been blogging lately, but that's primarily because I've been working on my new webpage. My progress was pretty much at a stand still over the last couple of weeks, but I'm hoping to start fresh again tomorrow.

Lots of stuff to do this week.... report back soon.

Day 2497

"Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall" ~ Confucius
If you're wondering why today's title is "Day 2497", it's because today is Day number 2497 since I first started this blog. My memory is pretty blurry at the best of times, but I believe somewhere along the way I reset the day counter back to zero..... maybe even more than once. I can't remember my reasons for making such a decision, but I'm sure it felt like a good one at the time. Part of the reason I'm where I am now is that I failed to acknowledge the path I took to get to here. Getting lost on a path is nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed about. Being lost, realizing your lost, and consciously trotting along blindly is another story. So today is actually Day 2497...... enough said.

I added a few movies to my movie section, which you can always access from the movie button above. There's a ton of other documentaries on Flixster that I'm planning on watching, so there may be a few more links/trailers/reviews in the near future.

Daily Recap:

So my appointment to participate in the study today was a bust...... and it was my fault. I showed up at 8:15 when my appointment was at 9:15 which really didn't matter since I forgot that I was supposed to fast for 12hrs prior to the test..... opps. Luckily they didn't mind and were more than happy to book me another appointment. I haven't found out when that is yet, but I'll definitely pay a bit more attention to the details this time.

So apparently I'm my strength is better than my cardio, according to today's morning workout. My performance this morning was pitiful to say the least. Beyond the copious amounts of sweat, I had to deal with poor coordination, and a complete lack of balance. I also jiggle a lot more than I realized. Although it wasn't pretty, I managed to complete the cardio session, but there was nothing left in the tank for the ab part at the end. The fact that I woke up at 6am and made an attempt is good enough for me at this point. Hopefully in a few weeks/months I'll be able to look back at my first week on the Power 90 program and laugh.

I have more to tell, but alas it's getting late.... or at least late for me, and I'm pooped. Off to bed so I can wake up for day 3 of the Power 90.

Rusty Is Putting It Lightly

"I Exercise. I run my mouth, push my luck, and jump to conclusions" ~ Unknown

Well Monday was more of a shock than I expected. I knew I was overweight. I knew I was out of shape. I knew Monday's first workout was gonna be rough. I knew that I was most likely gonna be sore the next day. What I didn't know is just how out of shape I was, how hard the workout was going to be, and just how sore/stiff I was going to be the next day.

The "Power 90" workout was great. I didn't find Tony as annoying as others, but that could be because I went into the workout expecting the worst. The workout is at a good pace, but by no means a crazy one. The first day was circuit training that was supposed to utilize dumb bells or resistance bands. Since my resistance bands haven't arrived yet, I went without..... and I'm sad to say that it was just as well since my body weight was enough to push myself. I can't even begin to describe how weak I've become. I even had to resort to doing pushups on my knee's because the regular ones turned out to be too much. I completed the entire workout, and even though I didn't push myself too hard, or have any resistance bands, the workout still turned out to be a challenge for me. The fact that I completed it felt good in itself.

Today I woke up at 6am to do workout #2 and I couldn't believe how stiff/sore I was. I decided to let me body recover a bit by taking the day off. Tomorrow I'll start the day 2 workout, which is cardio. I'll let you know how that goes.

Tomorrow is also my appointment for the "Gene Find Project" discussed in my previous post, and I'm excited to see how it goes. I'm actually surprised that I'm excited to have a machine and a doctor tell me that I'm obese, and give me pictures to prove it. I'm curious to see just how out of whack my body fat scale is. While I know I'm obese, I still have a hard time wrapping my head around the 37% body fat that my scale says I am. I'm hoping the reading is high, but I'm not hoping too much just in case it's correct, or even worse reading my body fat lower than it should.

On a different note, I'm trying to clean up my blog a bit, but time has been pretty tight lately. I've updated my weekly results, and removed a few blog links that have gone silent, but there's still a lot of stuff to fix..... like my chart links. All in due time I suppose.

Anyhoo, I hope everyone is off to a great start this week, and I'll report back soon.

Quick Update

"Whaddaya at? This is it." ~ Common Newfoundland question & reply

I've been some busy lately. Between work, guests and errands, I've had little time to do anything else after I get home from work. I've been weighing myself in the morning, eating decent, and going for 30+ min walks during my lunch.

I've ordered a few things to help me ramp up my exercise regiment, but they won't be here for at least a few weeks...... more details to come. During the next few weeks I plan to keep at my current daily routine to help develop a bit of consistency.

It's late. I'm tired. I'm going to bed....
but I'm glad I took a few mins to post a quick update.

New Job

"Find a place inside where there's joy, and the joy will burn out the pain." ~ Joseph Campbell



I Don't think there's ever been enough joy inside me to burn out the pain my body has been going through this last week and a half. I found a new job, that consists of 11hr days that are physical grueling. I realize that I'm really out of shape, but it's more than just shear exhaustion and muscle fatigue/soreness. My knee has really been sore over the last few days and it seems to be bothering me more with each shift. I'm enjoying this job, but I'm really worried that I won't be able to continue abusing my knee like this.

FYI: part of the reason I picked the Joseph Campbell quote is because I'm reading "The Power of Myth" by Joseph Campbell..... great book.

Anyhoo..... as I already stated I'm absolutely exhausted, and I'm packing it in for the night...... and it's only 8:20pm..... wow..... I can't believe I'm going to bed so early.

Day 1756

"Men talk of killing time, while time quietly kills them." ~ Dion Boucicault

Where is the week going? I've finally caught up on my food log, but there just wasn't enough time to post the two "Week(s) In Review"... or at least what little time I had available I wasted on other less important tasks.... *sigh*.

Other than catching up on my blog posts I'm doing well. It looks like I might have some decent results this week. It's late now and I should be heading to bed soon.... but I'm going to put in 20-30 mins on the elliptical first before I turn in for the night.

I hope everyone is having a great week!

Day 1730: Part 2

"Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion... I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward." ~ Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

Last night was one of the most challenging moments of my life in a long, long time. It was also one of the more embarrassing moments... and from a person who excels at embarrassing moments that really saying something.

It was only 15 mins into the class and I was already starting to drip with perspiration... and we hadn't even finished warming up & stretching. As we were doing the various stretching, (such as neck rotations) my bones were making popping noises, almost as they were saying "WTF, I haven't moved like that in eons".

After 30 mins I was sweating profusely and struggling to keep the sweat out of my eyes. Akido is definitely not an easy thing to pick up quickly. The movements are very complicated and need to be honed over a very long time. I couldn't believe just how uncoordinated I have become over the years. Beyond the lack of coordination, I've also become far more right hand (and foot) dominated which meant that I struggled that much more with any movement involving my left side. It's been over 15 years since I've participated in any kind of sport which requires coordination of both sides of your body equally.

Somewhere shortly near or after the 1 hour mark I wasn't sure if I was going to make it through the full 2 hours. I was out of breath, my t-shirt was nearly saturated with sweat, my muscles were burning and even more embarrassing than all of that some of the extreme twisting, bending and muscle excretion was causing me to fart... although thankfully I wasn't the only one it happened to.... not that that fact makes it any less embarrassing.

Around the 1 1/2 hour mark I was proud for not stopping early, and I was even more determined to complete the entire class... although my body wasn't very impressed with that decision (especially today).

Ultimately I completed the entire class. I have to admit that I couldn't really describe it as fun, because of my embarrassment, lack of physical fitness, and my complete lack of coordination... but it was very much worth it. It was an incredible workout and I have no doubt whatsoever that Aikido will help me increase my strength, flexibility, coordination, and overall level of physical fitness. The only problem that I foresee is that Aikido really is hard on my knee. It involves a lot of time doing ground work, rolls and falls; all of which put quite a bit of strain on my knee.

I plan to attend the next class on Sunday, so I'll see how I fare after that class before I start to make any plans for the future. Regardless of what happens, I'm proud of myself for attending the class and experiencing something new and challenging.

Day 1730

"Everyone has a spirit that can be refined, a body that can be trained in some manner, a suitable path to follow. You are here to realize your inner divinity and manifest your innate enlightenment." ~ Morihei Ueshiba Founder of Aikido

I'm soooooo excited. Not only is today the opening ceremonies for the Olympics, it also marks the day of my first ever Aikido class (later today). Before I was a teenager I took Judo for about a year or so, and I absolutely loved it. Ever since I can remember I've thought about joining some for of martial arts, but for one reason or another (primarily my knee in later years) I never fulfilled that dream.

I chose Aikido because it's primary focus is on self-defense, fundamentals & techniques.

Aikido was developed in the early 20th century by Morihei Ueshiba (1883-1969), often referred to as O-Sensei (Great Teacher). He was a gifted martial artist who had trained extensively in ju-jitsu, kenjutsu (sword arts) and sojutsu (spear arts) and then combined and modified techniques from each to reflect his personal convictions concerning self-defence, peace and harmony. Consequently, the purpose of Aikido is not the destruction of an enemy but, rather, the control of difficult human aggression. Peaceful resolution of conflict is the ultimate goal of Aikido. These aims are reflected in the name which is made up of three characters: Ai (to meet or harmonize), Ki (energy, spirit or mind) and Do (the way). Combined these become the Way of Harmonious Spirit.

I'm so proud of myself for finally fulfilling this dream.

Day 1718

"Those who think they have not the time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness." ~ Edward Stanley

Yesterday Sherri and I went skating at the local arena... which is a huge milestone for both of us since it's been over 15 yrs since we've both done so. Sherri's been wanting to go skating for a really long time, but a few things were holding us (me) back. I was really worried about injuring my knee, but more importantly, I didn't even own a pair of skates.

I'm not sure if I've blogged about this yet, but just before I returned home from Ontario I finally purchased a custom made knee brace. I'll have to blog about my knee brace in more detail in the future, but for now lets just say that it goes a long way in helping to alleviate my fear in participating in physical activity.

The only thing I needed now was a pair of skates.... which I received as a Christmas present from Sherri (thanks baby).

So, knee brace on, and skates in hand, Sherri and I headed off to the local arena for the "Adult Skate" from 10-11am. I was really surprised by how easy it was after all this time. Don't get me wrong... I was anything but graceful, but it wasn't nearly as embarrassing as I had pictured .

We didn't break any speed records, but more importantly we didn't break anything. We didn't stay for the full hour, but we both worked up a bit of a sweat... and more importantly had a lot of fun.

We're already planning to return next week.

Day 1714

"An ounce of performance is worth pounds of promises." ~ Mae West

Yesterday was probably my toughest day this month. I felt a bit tired and mopey, which I allowed to translate into inactive and emotional eating. Sherri was kinda feeling the same way (she had a really busy work week & as a result she was exhausted), and this allowed us to play of each others weakness.

I've been doing an amazing job this month with controlling my cravings, emotional eating and binging.... so I'm not too concerned with yesterdays outcome. The most important thing is that even before the end of the day Sherri and I talked about the way we felt, the actions we took (or didn't take) and how we might approach a similar day next time.... which makes yesterday a success in the end.

Before I turned in for the night I said "tomorrow's a new day".

As for today.... I'm back on track. I had a healthy breakfast & lunch, and I've already put 32 mins in on the elliptical.

Day# 1707

"A vigorous five-mile walk will do more good for an unhappy but otherwise healthy adult than all the medicine and psychology in the world." ~ Paul Dudley White

I had a great day yesterday. I woke up had a good breakfast and felt like going out for a walk. It was a beautiful sunny day, with little wind, but it was a might bit chilly @ -16⁰C (3⁰F). It felt great having the crisp, clean air in my lungs, and the warm sun on my face. I ended up walking a total of 4.4 kms (2.2 miles) and returned to have a nice lunch.

After a healthy dinner I went over to my brother-in-laws to watch our Toronto Maple Leafs lose yet again, but on a upside, I walked for 30 mins on the treadmill. I wouldn't be surprised if I beat my record for # of steps in a single day, but I won't be able to find that out until I return home to hook up my BodyMedia armband.

Sherri and I will be returning home sometime shortly after lunch, and although I can't speak for the drive home, this weekend away from the comfort and structure of home was a complete success.

Day 1706

"When preparing to travel, lay out all your clothes and all your money. Then take half the clothes and twice the money." ~ Susan Heller

Sherri and I are heading to Gander for the weekend to visit her family. This is going to be my first real test since I started living healthier only 22 days ago. I've been on a great roll this week..... exercising, eating well, getting enough sleep, waking up on time, and getting stuff done. I'm really hoping for my hard work paid off when I step on the scale Monday morning.

My ambitious goal this week was to lose 2 lbs, which would bring me down to 243 lbs..... my original weight when I first started this blog.

Today I managed to get quite a lot of exercise. I shoveled the snow off the driveway and immediately after I finished I jumped onto the elliptical for 30 min session..... and man did I push myself.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Day 1626

"Life is a series of surprises, and would not be worth taking or keeping if it were not." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Life has been extremely busy lately. My parents are slowly improving..... which is great, but they still have a long way to go before I can return home to Newfoundland.

I just returned home from a brisk walk and I feel great. I've managed to keep on track over the last few weeks even though I'm under an incredible amount of stress, and typically finish each day exhausted. I'd be lying if I didn't say that I'm surprised by my commitment under these circumstances.

I have a few posts on the go saved as drafts, and if all goes well I'll try to complete them tomorrow. I also need to update my sidebar with last weeks results. As for now, I'm heading to bed.

Back From My Trip

"No man needs a vacation so much as the person who has just had one." ~Elbert Hubbard

I'm back from my 10 day visit with my family and friends in Ontario.......and not a moment too soon. I think I left my game plan on plane, because the last 10 days were a haze of pizza, cookies, chocolate and pop. I exercised very little, ate out often...... I even had fast food once. My exercise was limited to walking around malls & playing Wii......which was a blast.

The only thing that kept me from really packing on the pounds during my visit was a 2 1/2 day period in the middle of my trip were I had a touch of the flu......which wasn't a whole lot of fun.

I'll describe my trip in more details later..... but for now I will say that I had a great time.

I apologize for not posting anything during my trip. I'm glad to be home, and I'm already back on track (I'm eating a healthy breakfast as I'm typing this).

Day 792

"Other things may change us, but we start and end with family"
~ Anthony Brandt

Happy Easter everyone.

Sherri and I are visiting her family in Gander for the holiday weekend. I spent 5hrs yesterday sledding (Ski-doing, snowmobiling....whatever you prefer), and I think I've discovered muscles that didn't previously exist on my body. My lower, middle and upper back is practically ceased up, as is my shoulders and forearms. My legs fared a bit better, but even they are somewhat sore. Hopefully Sherri will be willing to give me a massage later to loosen me up a bit.

I had 1 piece of chocolate cake and a few pieces of date square, but Jean (Sherri's mom) doesn't use very much sugar in her baking...... so I don't feel as bad. I probably only drank about 1/2 my normal amount of water as well (I didn't have access to much on the skidoo).

All in all, I'm doing well. I'm enjoying my time here with Sherri's family.......but I have to admit it's much easier to maintain my healthy lifestyle under my own roof.

I hope everyone is having a happy Easter.

Day 784: Beat my record!

"Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment." ~ Jim Rohn

When I started my jaunt on the elliptical machine today I was thinking about yesterday and how hard it was. I was also thinking about how well I did to get myself back on track today.......and then I remembered that this was the first time I had ever (well since Jan) taken more than one day of rest a week.

With that thought in my mind I pushed myself to new heights today and set a new personal record.

I exercised for 40 mins 40 secs & burned off 683 calories!

For the remainder of the day I ate well, took care of a few things on my To-Do List........an awesome day!

P.S: I even did the dishes Sherri!

Day 783: Tough Day

"For a tree to become tall it must grow tough roots among the rocks."
~ Fridrich Nietzsche

Yesterday was Day 783, and it was the toughest day in a long time. At around 1pm I took Sherri to the airport. She's visiting a niece in Halifax, and won't be back until Sunday. With Sherri out of the house my old habits were haunting me to return to their former glory. It's not often that I have run of the house......and in the not so distant past my first order of business was usually a binge on whatever I could lay my hands on. If there wasn't anything good in the house (or enough), I simply made a short jaunt (in the car) over to the local convenience store to stock up.

Most of my binging was done in secret, and an empty house for an extended period was always a house of gluttony. Even during the periods where I was eating healthy and exercising, I still struggled being alone for extended periods of time...... if you need a reminder read this post from back in July 06.

So, yesterday was a hard day for me. I struggled with cravings.....ALL DAY. I didn't eat that great........BUT I didn't eat terrible either, and more importantly I didn't binge. I really was out of sorts yesterday in general. I didn't do much of anything (including exercise) besides play video games in an attempt to ignore the cravings.

I'm happy to announce that after going to sleep late and sleeping in a tad, I'm back into my normal routine. I ate a healthy breakfast and I'm currently on my 3rd glass of water. I took the time to create this post about my struggle, which has also helped immensely. Next up.....exercising!

Have a great day everyone!

P.S: Sorry Sherri......I didn't get to the dishes like I promised.

Day 767: Quick Update.

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart" ~ Helen Keller

I'm feeling much better today.... getting closer to 100%. I managed to get a good workout, without feeling like I over did it. Not only that, but I ate well, drank my water and even did a couple small things on my To-Do List.

I'm looking forward to more of the same tomorrow!