Day 324: Discouraged

Well it's Thursday and I haven't worked out at all yet this week. I've been so busy with freelance work which is a good thing, but at the same time, When I have to work until 1am in the morning, I am not sure where to find the time to workout.

I'm feeling a little discouraged and seem to go through this when I get really busy at work and with freelancing.

Hmmmm...

Day 319-Weigh-in Day: 309.8lbs

WEEK 43

Start Weight: 365.4

Last Week’s Weight: 310

Current Weight: 309.8

This Week’s Weight Loss: 0.2lbs

Total Weight Loss: 55.6lbs

Miles Biked this Week: 0

Total Miles Biked: 2101.4

Miles to Go: 5398.6

GEOGRAPHY (Where I'd be on the map having started at my house in Salt Lake City, Utah, heading for Tokyo):

Pacific Ocean (1390 miles off the west coast. I am heading for the Hawaiian Islands)

This Week’s Workout

Monday: Rest

Tuesday: Rest

Wednesday: Rest

Thursday: Rest

Friday: Rest

Saturday: Rest

TODAY:

This week ended up being a very busy week. I made the choice to no work out at all. There was just too much going on, with too many things going on every evening…it was a bust. I did however continue on my healthy eating this week, trying to stay away from carbs after lunch. Again, having food at work was a lifesaver and allowed me to stay consistant.

I have continued to take the stairs at work, and try to take advantage of each opportunity to walk a little more.

The results of not working out weren’t terrible…I lost a whoppin’ 0.2lbs. Oh well. This week will be another busy week, but I can’t let another week go by without working out and riding my stationary bike.

I see a person riding their bike on the road here and there, but I just can’t make myself ride outside when temperatures are between 10-20 degrees. When I pass the biker, I look at their face and can tell they have an ultra-frozen-red face! Sorry, I don’t want to get sick and then deal with that. I’ll take the gym for now.

Not much to share with you this week. This frozen world I live in really puts a damper on things. I can hardly wait for warmer weather!!! Even 32 degrees would be great!

I will have better things to report to you next week!

Happy movin’

Don

Day 312-Weigh-in Day: 310lbs

WEEK 42

Start Weight: 365.4

Last Week’s Weight: 320.8

Current Weight: 310.0

This Week’s Weight Loss: 10.8lbs

Total Weight Loss: 55.4lbs

Miles Biked this Week: 60

Total Miles Biked: 2101.4

Miles to Go: 5398.6

GEOGRAPHY (Where I'd be on the map having started at my house in Salt Lake City, Utah, heading for Tokyo):

Pacific Ocean (1390 miles off the west coast. I am heading for the Hawaiian Islands)

This Week’s Workout

Monday: Rest

Tuesday: Rest

Wednesday: Gym + 20 miles

Thursday: Rest

Friday: Gym + 20 miles

Saturday: Gym + 20 miles

TODAY:

I have some Good News and Bad News…

First the Bad News…

I did not keep my commitment by going to the gym 5 times this week and cycling 100 miles. I went to the gym 3 times, and cycled 60 miles. I am accountable for not getting 5 workouts in the gym this week. I can blame it on many things, but I am the one who “chose” not to go. I did plan on the tail end of the week to go hit the gym twice in a day, but life doesn’t always allow for that. It’s my fault. I personally was embarrassed about committing and then not coming through.

Now the Good News…

I went to the gym 3 times and rode 60 miles! It’s been a while since I have put that much mileage in over a few days! I as usual have been doing about 30 minutes of resistance training also. This week I lost 10.8 pounds! The exercise was important, but I did some interesting things with my eating this week. Here is why I lost so much weight, and what I did differently…

1.    Inflammation. I have come out of the holiday season of eating bad. My body has been inflamed with all the sweets and processed carbs that I’ve been eating. If you ever feel bloated, it’s because you’re eating too much crap out of a box. I got rid of the inflammation this week.

2.    Sodium. With all the processed crap we eat, there is a lot of salt for taste and for preservatives. Salt causes you to retain water, so you carry a lot of water weight around. Whenever you start a new diet, you will always see big results. That’s because you’re losing water weight. You will soon see a leveling off. Next time you listen to a commercial for weight loss and hear someone say, “I lost 10 pounds the first week!” just know that much of that was water. Not a bad thing, just the reality of how the body works. This week I’ve been eating low-sodium.

3.    Low-grain. This week I ate about 50g of processed grain each day. That is equivalent to a bowl of cereal +/-. I ate no bread, no sweets. All my other carbs came from complex carbs such as fruits, vegetables, and beans, etc.

4.    No PM Carbs. I didn’t eat any grain after lunch. In Bob Harper’s book, “The Skinny Rules” he encourages eating no carbs after lunch. This was a hard thing to do. I had carb cravings! I didn’t realize how addicted to bread/cereal, etc., one can be.

5.    Small meals. I ate on average 5 small meals a day. Each meal was 300-400 calories. I have been working at eating breakfast at home, 3 meals at work, and then dinner at home. Some days I take those 3 meals with me to work, but some days I don’t have time to prepare them. This week my wife delivered to me at work, a big sack of cooked beans, greek yogurt, berries and turkey breast as a “fall back” in case I didn’t have all the meals I needed, prepared. This has been the best thing to keep me consistent!

Of course I rode the stationary bike a lot at the gym along with the usual weight training.

I have been reading a lot about Paleo/Primal diets, low carb diets, etc., and how they work or don’t with cycling. I’ve also heard, as you have, a lot of conflicting claims about all sorts of weight related information. You hear, “Eat fat, eat high protein, eat low protein, high-carb, low-carb, obese people live longer, obese people die of heart disease, fast every other day!” My gosh, there is so much stuff out there!

What is the truth?

The one principle about the Paleo/Primal diet that I like is that you are eating like the ”caveman” did. Remember in your early history class learning about the hunters and gatherers in Mesopotamia? The theory is that they ate what ever was around them. They killed animals and ate them. They ate plants, fruits, berries, nuts, beans. There was not a box of processed grain sitting there. They had no way of taking the berries of wheat grain in mass quantity, grinding them up to make bread, Ritz Crackers, and Fruit Loops. They probably did eat some grain, but not in the amounts that we eat today.

I don’t understand it all, but my wife says, “find what works for you!” I think that is really the bottom line, and the wisest advice. For me, I have found some basic healthy principles that I hope will guide me through the rest of my life of eating and exercising.

Okay, here’s this week’s commitment:

I will be at the gym 5 days this week, and I will ride 20 miles a day!

Let’s see if I can do better this week!

Pedaling in the Rockies

Don

 My new friend on the right...plain greek yogurt with mixed berries added.

Day 312-Weigh-in Day: 320.8lbs

Day 312-Weigh-in Day: 320.8lbs

WEEK 42

Start Weight: 365.4

2 Weeks ago Weight: 309.8

Current Weight: 320.8

This Week’s Weight Loss: +11lbs

Total Weight Loss: 44.6lbs

Miles Biked this Week: 0

Total Miles Biked: 2041.4

Miles to Go: 5458.6

GEOGRAPHY (Where I'd be on the map having started at my house in Salt Lake City, Utah, heading for Tokyo):

Pacific Ocean (1330 miles off the west coast. I am heading for the Hawaiian Islands)

The Weeks Workout

Monday: 0

Tuesday: 0

Wednesday: 0

Thursday: 0

Friday: 0

Saturday: 0

TODAY:

Well, I must confess my sins…

I gave no thought to eating or working out over Christmas vacation. I've been a bad boy for 2 weeks. The results of all this are that I am now 11 pounds heavier! Gee…and I can feel it. I have no excuses. I’m not going to beat myself up. But it does show what can happen over the holidays. Oh well. I have noticed that I don’t feel the greatest, I feel weakness setting in, I don’t feel the energy and stamina I felt a few weeks back. There is a difference!

I did really well during the first three weeks of December when all the parties are occurring, but when I was actually home and out of my ritual, I fell off the wagon.

A few days ago, it really hit me that Fuji is this year…in 7 short months…and I have to get 110 pounds off of me and be able to ride uphill for 2 hours. I started wondering if I should postpone the ride another year to be sure that I am down to the weight I need to be, and don’t fail at my attempt. Fear started to set in. However, the whole reason I set out to do this challenge was to put my butt on the line so that there would be something to drive me. There’s no turning back.

I am realizing that when I am not focused on the big picture, I am not dealing with the reality of the situation. As I mentioned in a previous blog entry, I am not acting like I am in training. I am not feeling the urgency. Am I really cut out to do this? Am I going to prove to myself and everyone else---that I can’t do this?

I have thought many times over the past few weeks that I have lost my will-power and motivation. What is motivation? What does one do when they don’t feel like they’ve got anything to motivate them? It actually comes down to something so simple…a decision. I’ve had a decision to make many times, and I have NOT made decisions to lead me to Fuji.

It’s nice to have a cheering section, but not too many people are cheering me on. I feel that there are 4-5 people on the sidelines clapping for me. I think all of us when we set out to lose weight need a lot of support. But the cold reality of it is that it’s really between the mirror and me. I've got to give myself the pep talk every morning, and look at a picture of Mount Fuji and ask what I am doing "today" that will get me closer to that ride.

I’ve made a lot of promises recently that I’ve half kept. It’s now time to keep the promises. This week will be another opportunity to make promises. There will be meetings and work and cold temperatures and computers and freelance and parties…the list goes on and on why I don’t have a good chance at working out 5 times this week. So I will make a commitment:

I will go to the gym 5 times this week, and ride 100 miles on the bike! And I will climb back on the wagon and eat like a good boy this week!

Let’s see what the results will be next Saturday. Will a pound or two come off? I don’t know what my body's going to do…and I shouldn’t really care, because all I can do is what I can do.

So here I go into the new year!

Don