Well, I finished my first tri of the year yesterday. It wasn't pretty, but considering the lack of training and the fact that I tried to talk myself out of it Saturday night, I am happy.
My partner kicked my butt, but what can you do. The cycle was the hardest thing I have ever done. Felt like I was on a constant up an down roller coaster, and I my legs about gave out. I was riding past guys and girls that had to get off of the bike to make it up some of the hills, and I honestly thought I was going to have to do the same.
I am again motivated to get after these, and I have already decided I want to do at least one more, probably 2 before the end of this season. Laura was a wonderful cheerleader, but she now wants to buy a cowbell.
I guess that's it for now, but I am getting back on the triathlon horse!
Monday, July 12, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
2 Weeks to Get Going
Well, we have no kids in the house for 2 weeks, and as miserable as that seems for us, we have decided we are going to have our own version of fitness 2 a days. I actually have a triathlon this weekend, so I am hoping this will help me get ready to finish the race on Sunday.
Laura and I are going overboard while the kids are at Granny Camp in Arkansas and Dallas. Our food is all healthy and we are both getting back into big workouts. I actually worked out twice today and hope to do it tomorrow. It's the only day this week I didn't have meetings all day, so I grabbed a lunch time run and an after bike. Not great, but a great way to get back into it.
Today I ran into an old friend, who has had a great weight loss experience similar to mine. We were talking about his brother who is heading down a very dangerous path and we don't know the best way to help him. I am hoping I can find a way to break through and help him realize that being the Yes man for everyone to go drinking and eating with is fun until you look up one day and your health is in critical place. I know he can do it, it's just trying to find the way to motivate him.
I am hoping in this 2 weeks to get into a habit of blogging daily again. I will keep trying. Going to sleep to get my first work out in before I drive to College Station for the day.
Laura and I are going overboard while the kids are at Granny Camp in Arkansas and Dallas. Our food is all healthy and we are both getting back into big workouts. I actually worked out twice today and hope to do it tomorrow. It's the only day this week I didn't have meetings all day, so I grabbed a lunch time run and an after bike. Not great, but a great way to get back into it.
Today I ran into an old friend, who has had a great weight loss experience similar to mine. We were talking about his brother who is heading down a very dangerous path and we don't know the best way to help him. I am hoping I can find a way to break through and help him realize that being the Yes man for everyone to go drinking and eating with is fun until you look up one day and your health is in critical place. I know he can do it, it's just trying to find the way to motivate him.
I am hoping in this 2 weeks to get into a habit of blogging daily again. I will keep trying. Going to sleep to get my first work out in before I drive to College Station for the day.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Nutrition Challenge
Well, I just got back from a nice night time bike ride and swim at the gym. Probably makes Laura more nervous when I do that than anything else I do, but when you want to spend time with your kids, crazy times of the day are the only times you can actually work out.
When I got on the scales at the gym I was reminded that working out is great, but your diet is still the driving force behind maintaining weight as well as losing weight. Three years ago, I was perfect, I didn't stray and for 2 years it paid off. Last year after doing my triathlons and adventure races I thouhgt I could start eating whatever I wanted and could work out hard enough to balance that food. It's impossible.
When I started losing weight, I had so many people giving me tips along the way. The funniest tip I ever received came from my uncle. At one point in his life, he weighed over 300lbs as well and one day decided he was going to make a change. He just quit eating and has never changed that philosophy. He doesn't exercise and still believes that not eating is the only thing you can do to maintain or loss weight. At the time, I totally disagreed and now I only partially disagree. I do think you have to cut back on the amount of food you eat. I think I normally eat around 3500 calories a day. Over time, that starts to add up. If I am able to keep my calories taken in per day closer to 2500 then I can consitently lose weight. For those of you who don't like counting calories, do it for a month and for the rest of your life you will have a decent idea of the calories you are consuming with your favorite foods.
Either way, no matter how hard I work out, I have learned that as much as I want to eat a burger a week, I can't. I have to eat fish, eggs, veggies and I have to stay away from my wife's amazing baked goods. Today was a wake up call, so hopefully I take advantage.
I also want to ask anyone that is reading this to say an extra prayer for the Sutton family in Dallas. Pat Sutton is a close friend of mine and he and his brother lost there mom this week. She is in a better place, and she was able to see both of her boys start wonderful families.
When I got on the scales at the gym I was reminded that working out is great, but your diet is still the driving force behind maintaining weight as well as losing weight. Three years ago, I was perfect, I didn't stray and for 2 years it paid off. Last year after doing my triathlons and adventure races I thouhgt I could start eating whatever I wanted and could work out hard enough to balance that food. It's impossible.
When I started losing weight, I had so many people giving me tips along the way. The funniest tip I ever received came from my uncle. At one point in his life, he weighed over 300lbs as well and one day decided he was going to make a change. He just quit eating and has never changed that philosophy. He doesn't exercise and still believes that not eating is the only thing you can do to maintain or loss weight. At the time, I totally disagreed and now I only partially disagree. I do think you have to cut back on the amount of food you eat. I think I normally eat around 3500 calories a day. Over time, that starts to add up. If I am able to keep my calories taken in per day closer to 2500 then I can consitently lose weight. For those of you who don't like counting calories, do it for a month and for the rest of your life you will have a decent idea of the calories you are consuming with your favorite foods.
Either way, no matter how hard I work out, I have learned that as much as I want to eat a burger a week, I can't. I have to eat fish, eggs, veggies and I have to stay away from my wife's amazing baked goods. Today was a wake up call, so hopefully I take advantage.
I also want to ask anyone that is reading this to say an extra prayer for the Sutton family in Dallas. Pat Sutton is a close friend of mine and he and his brother lost there mom this week. She is in a better place, and she was able to see both of her boys start wonderful families.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Getting Back Into It
Today was a day to start over. Start eating better and getting back on the daily exercise routine. I did some of this, so I consider that a good day.
I had a small breakfast, a busy day at work that didn't include my small meals in b/w breakfast, lunch and dinner, but my meals were overall very healthy. Sea bass from PF Changs was incredible as usual for lunch and the lite plate at Chuy's is hard to beat as well. It's the damn chips and margaritas that I can't say no to.
I did tell Natalie she would be able to scold me if she caught me with a beer. I have decided to give up beer for a few months while I get back into this. I am only cleared to drink at Mexican food places and parties that she approves.
I did have a huge exercise portion today, especially compared to what I have been doing lately, but with the triathlon coming up in a month, I have no choice. I ran outside the gym and then had a nice half hour swim. I will be feeling it tomorrow, but a long walk with Laura tonight while my in-laws put the kids to bed finished off the day with a bang.
I am starting to get back on track, and can't wait to get back to the a year ago when exercising was fun again. I am still at the point where it is necessary, a pain in the rear but something I feel better doing.
I had a small breakfast, a busy day at work that didn't include my small meals in b/w breakfast, lunch and dinner, but my meals were overall very healthy. Sea bass from PF Changs was incredible as usual for lunch and the lite plate at Chuy's is hard to beat as well. It's the damn chips and margaritas that I can't say no to.
I did tell Natalie she would be able to scold me if she caught me with a beer. I have decided to give up beer for a few months while I get back into this. I am only cleared to drink at Mexican food places and parties that she approves.
I did have a huge exercise portion today, especially compared to what I have been doing lately, but with the triathlon coming up in a month, I have no choice. I ran outside the gym and then had a nice half hour swim. I will be feeling it tomorrow, but a long walk with Laura tonight while my in-laws put the kids to bed finished off the day with a bang.
I am starting to get back on track, and can't wait to get back to the a year ago when exercising was fun again. I am still at the point where it is necessary, a pain in the rear but something I feel better doing.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
I'm Back
Well, I took a few months off, and decided to start the blog again to add motivation for my training as well as continue to help get the word out about changing your lifestyle.
It's been a crazy 6 months. Most of my time during the week has been working and playing with my crazy kids. Needless to say, that hasn't left any time to workout for myself or Laura. We have been so exhausted by bedtime that we can't workout at night, and we both have issues getting up early in the morning, so our workouts have been lacking.
I was slapped in the face this year when the CapTex Tri rolled around and I realized that one year ago I was able to complete the Olympic Distance in that race and I now was exhausted after running 3 miles. So, we are back to being motivated and back in the business of training for some upcoming events.
My buddy has signed me up for the Couples Triathlon in Austin in a few weeks, so that will really tell me how far I need to go. I am still looking down the road and wanting to find another Olympic Distance race before the end of the season. I have also signed up for an exciting Tough Mudder race in Dallas. This course was desingned by ex-Navy Seals and ex-British Special Forces. Should be tons of fun, and it's all about the team you are racing with.
As of today, I am trying to focus on getting my running back to a place I am happy, and I also need to start eating properly and try to drop about 20lbs before the end of the summer. I slipped and put back on about 15lbs of the weight I had lost, but I am ok with that as long as it doesn't get any more than that.
That's it for now, we will talk about improving food again later, just wanted to get started again.
It's been a crazy 6 months. Most of my time during the week has been working and playing with my crazy kids. Needless to say, that hasn't left any time to workout for myself or Laura. We have been so exhausted by bedtime that we can't workout at night, and we both have issues getting up early in the morning, so our workouts have been lacking.
I was slapped in the face this year when the CapTex Tri rolled around and I realized that one year ago I was able to complete the Olympic Distance in that race and I now was exhausted after running 3 miles. So, we are back to being motivated and back in the business of training for some upcoming events.
My buddy has signed me up for the Couples Triathlon in Austin in a few weeks, so that will really tell me how far I need to go. I am still looking down the road and wanting to find another Olympic Distance race before the end of the season. I have also signed up for an exciting Tough Mudder race in Dallas. This course was desingned by ex-Navy Seals and ex-British Special Forces. Should be tons of fun, and it's all about the team you are racing with.
As of today, I am trying to focus on getting my running back to a place I am happy, and I also need to start eating properly and try to drop about 20lbs before the end of the summer. I slipped and put back on about 15lbs of the weight I had lost, but I am ok with that as long as it doesn't get any more than that.
That's it for now, we will talk about improving food again later, just wanted to get started again.
Monday, January 11, 2010
The Small Changes
Well, it's Monday afternoon and I didn't blog all weekend. 2 sick kids and some great football took up most of the time. I got a long run in on Saturday and a short one yesterday. P90x showed up today, so Laura and I will start that tonight. Might not be able to walk tomorrow, but the misery should be worth it in the end.
The last thing I wanted to do in explaining my all around change was discuss the small things. I never realized, but there are so many things that effect your health, but you never take the time to think about it. I am just going to list these with a quick explanation if required and that will be it for today.
1. Never park near a store. No explanation needed, just don't be lazy and park as far away as you can. This frustrates Laura some b/c we always have the kids, but it is an easy thing to do and will hopefully teach our kids to do the same when they are older.
2. Have 5 meals. Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, but you have to throw in snacks to keep your metabolism going. It's hard to do while in and out of meetings and in the car, but truly makes a difference in the long run.
3. Don't eat dinner after 7pm. I know I mentioned this before, but once this becomes a habit it truly works.
4. Take your daily vitamins
5. Quit depending on advil/tylenol to make you feel better. Stretch, drink more water and quit sitting around in 1 position all the time. If you get up and move around, your neck and back won't hurt. De-hydration is a large part of headaches, so drinking the proper amount of water helped stop that problem.
6. Find someone to talk to about the change. It's amazing how much better your feel about all the work you are putting in if there is someone to tell about it.
7. Include your spouse. Let them help you, if they are enjoying the change then it just makes sure you enjoy the change.
8. Make tons of small goals in the process.
9. Find one item of clothing that becomes a goal (or one store that has certain clothes you like)
10. Change your fitness routine as much as possible. Keeping it interesting keeps you excited about the fitness piece.
Those are the little things that kept me going. Tomorrow we start discussing triathlon training and you get a report on the first day of P90X!
The last thing I wanted to do in explaining my all around change was discuss the small things. I never realized, but there are so many things that effect your health, but you never take the time to think about it. I am just going to list these with a quick explanation if required and that will be it for today.
1. Never park near a store. No explanation needed, just don't be lazy and park as far away as you can. This frustrates Laura some b/c we always have the kids, but it is an easy thing to do and will hopefully teach our kids to do the same when they are older.
2. Have 5 meals. Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, but you have to throw in snacks to keep your metabolism going. It's hard to do while in and out of meetings and in the car, but truly makes a difference in the long run.
3. Don't eat dinner after 7pm. I know I mentioned this before, but once this becomes a habit it truly works.
4. Take your daily vitamins
5. Quit depending on advil/tylenol to make you feel better. Stretch, drink more water and quit sitting around in 1 position all the time. If you get up and move around, your neck and back won't hurt. De-hydration is a large part of headaches, so drinking the proper amount of water helped stop that problem.
6. Find someone to talk to about the change. It's amazing how much better your feel about all the work you are putting in if there is someone to tell about it.
7. Include your spouse. Let them help you, if they are enjoying the change then it just makes sure you enjoy the change.
8. Make tons of small goals in the process.
9. Find one item of clothing that becomes a goal (or one store that has certain clothes you like)
10. Change your fitness routine as much as possible. Keeping it interesting keeps you excited about the fitness piece.
Those are the little things that kept me going. Tomorrow we start discussing triathlon training and you get a report on the first day of P90X!
Friday, January 8, 2010
Working Exercise back into my routine
Two nights this week have been hampered by great Football games, but terrible outcomes. I wish the Horns and Frogs had pulled it off, but hopefully the Cowboys can give me something to cheer for on Saturday night.
The next thing I wanted to discuss is my decision to finally add exercise to my lifestyle change. The detail is much easier on this and doesn't require near as much history. In college, I worked out somewhere b/w 4 and 7 hours a days 6 days a week. The program was set, if I didn't do it I would lose my scholarship. Pretty easy decision for me, plus I had 50 other guys that would call and ask me where the hell I was.
When I got through with football, I made my mind up that I would never enter a weight room again and nobody would ever tell me I needed to exercise again. What a childish response to the end of a chapter in someone's life. I would occassionally play pick up football games and Australian Rules Football, but I was so big and out of shape that I would pull a muscle or be so tired that it was never that much fun.
When I moved to Austin and had the heart scare, I made up my mind I would exercise again for the rest of my life, and only injuries would prevent me from doing this. I didn't start out like a crazy man, and I sure didn't do this on my own. I paid for a trainer and I literally walked my way back into some sort of shape. Once I gained some stamina, I was able to start jogging and doing other exercises. I will start from the beginning, but tonight I will hold off on the crazy triathlon training and the hours spent playing Australian Rules football last year.
October/November 2007 - This is the time frame that I hired my trainer. I had actually signed up with another trainer, but had never met with her. I met Renee while I was walking in the pool (I was doing this b/c it hurt my knees and ankles to walk for exercise on the sidewalks) and she was working with a client doing laps in the pool. This was perfect, someone who knew pool workouts as well as gym workouts. We started talking and she seemed like the perfect fit for me and my situation. Renee was fairly new to training, but she was a good fit for me. She was eager to learn new workouts and I was willing to do whatever it took. When we first started, I could barely walk a mile much less run a mile, and swimming was extremely challenging for me.
Renee talked me into the Body Bugg from 24hr fitness, and that was one of the key tools in the weight loss. This gave me the ability to track my calories burned during the day and a website to input my calories consumed. I was able to see a big chart at the end of each day that compared the two. If I needed to burn more calories, I would take my dogs for a 2nd walk.
After 6 months of twice a day, 7 day a week workouts and 3 of those days a week with Renee, I decided it was time to go to work on my own. I maintained the 2 daily workouts, but the 2nd was typically a short walk with the family. At this point, I was able to run anywhere from 3 - 7 miles without thinking and I was able to swim for more than 1hr without having to stop. This is what gave me the idea to start training for triathlons, but I will get into the true detail of those workouts later.
My uncle (a man that used to weigh 300lbs and lost over 100 and has mainted for more than 20 years) once told me that he didn't think I had any chance at keeping my weight off just by exercising, and I agree to some extent, but exercise sure makes you feel better and gives you the ability to enjoy some of the foods my uncle has given up. I still try to exercise 5 days a week and would love to say I never miss any days, but that isn't true anymore. I miss days all the time, but I have learned how to balance and maintain on the days that I do miss.
I look forward to giving some more of the small details like parking as far away from stores as possible and learning to snack 5 times a day, but it's late and weekends are long with 2 little ones so I have to sign off for now.
The next thing I wanted to discuss is my decision to finally add exercise to my lifestyle change. The detail is much easier on this and doesn't require near as much history. In college, I worked out somewhere b/w 4 and 7 hours a days 6 days a week. The program was set, if I didn't do it I would lose my scholarship. Pretty easy decision for me, plus I had 50 other guys that would call and ask me where the hell I was.
When I got through with football, I made my mind up that I would never enter a weight room again and nobody would ever tell me I needed to exercise again. What a childish response to the end of a chapter in someone's life. I would occassionally play pick up football games and Australian Rules Football, but I was so big and out of shape that I would pull a muscle or be so tired that it was never that much fun.
When I moved to Austin and had the heart scare, I made up my mind I would exercise again for the rest of my life, and only injuries would prevent me from doing this. I didn't start out like a crazy man, and I sure didn't do this on my own. I paid for a trainer and I literally walked my way back into some sort of shape. Once I gained some stamina, I was able to start jogging and doing other exercises. I will start from the beginning, but tonight I will hold off on the crazy triathlon training and the hours spent playing Australian Rules football last year.
October/November 2007 - This is the time frame that I hired my trainer. I had actually signed up with another trainer, but had never met with her. I met Renee while I was walking in the pool (I was doing this b/c it hurt my knees and ankles to walk for exercise on the sidewalks) and she was working with a client doing laps in the pool. This was perfect, someone who knew pool workouts as well as gym workouts. We started talking and she seemed like the perfect fit for me and my situation. Renee was fairly new to training, but she was a good fit for me. She was eager to learn new workouts and I was willing to do whatever it took. When we first started, I could barely walk a mile much less run a mile, and swimming was extremely challenging for me.
Renee talked me into the Body Bugg from 24hr fitness, and that was one of the key tools in the weight loss. This gave me the ability to track my calories burned during the day and a website to input my calories consumed. I was able to see a big chart at the end of each day that compared the two. If I needed to burn more calories, I would take my dogs for a 2nd walk.
After 6 months of twice a day, 7 day a week workouts and 3 of those days a week with Renee, I decided it was time to go to work on my own. I maintained the 2 daily workouts, but the 2nd was typically a short walk with the family. At this point, I was able to run anywhere from 3 - 7 miles without thinking and I was able to swim for more than 1hr without having to stop. This is what gave me the idea to start training for triathlons, but I will get into the true detail of those workouts later.
My uncle (a man that used to weigh 300lbs and lost over 100 and has mainted for more than 20 years) once told me that he didn't think I had any chance at keeping my weight off just by exercising, and I agree to some extent, but exercise sure makes you feel better and gives you the ability to enjoy some of the foods my uncle has given up. I still try to exercise 5 days a week and would love to say I never miss any days, but that isn't true anymore. I miss days all the time, but I have learned how to balance and maintain on the days that I do miss.
I look forward to giving some more of the small details like parking as far away from stores as possible and learning to snack 5 times a day, but it's late and weekends are long with 2 little ones so I have to sign off for now.
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