Sunday, October 21, 2007

Book suggestion anyone?

I am really jonesing for a good book... I've been on this intense murder-mystery/thriller binge lately, and I'm pretty much done with that genre.

I picked up "How To Be Good" by Nick Hornsby (the guy who wrote "about a boy" and "fever pitch"). It's pretty humorous, introspective, but it just isn't gripping me like I want a book to do.

Does anyone have any suggestions? I'm looking for a good fiction that makes you think, but has humor in it as well. What have you read lately?

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Saturday, August 4, 2007

I'm back

After almost a month off, I'm back on the running circuit. I'm up to 2.5 mile runs... I really need to drop some weight though. But it's good to be out and active again. My knees and shins are filling great...

I'm going to run 3-4 miles 3 days a week, then a long run on saturday...so I guess today is my long run.

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Another milestone

Well, I did 4.5 miles without walking today. It had a pretty massive hill, and it took me about 48 minutes, but I did it. I feel so much better these days. It's hard to describe, but even the little things like climbing into a truck bed or getting out of a recliner are easier now having trimmed down a little and increased my cardio vascular capability.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Goals

Buddy...I need to weigh myself and set some goals. Maybe the first is to get a scale. Next diet, next workout schedule. We should run at least once a week together buddy.

It doesn't always feel awesome

Today didn't exactly feel awesome as my wife and I pounded out 3.5 miles. I had to walk twice...once at the 1.75 mile point, and once at about the 3 mile mark. My body felt a little heavy... I'm kinda frustrated that I'm not thinner than I am, but I'll keep pushing on. The no S plan is pretty good, but I need to do a little more if I expect to lean up by 10K time. I feel better of course now that it's over...That's what I believe runners refer to as the "runner's mellow".

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Gradual changes

I think it's really important to remember the whole "rome wasn't built in a day" philosophy. Both I and my wife get frustrated because as we mentally decide to be skinny, our bodies are slower to adapt. It's important that as we go through this journey of change--whether it's physical changes, or emotional, or work related, or whatever--that the worthwhile monumental changes that impact and shape our futures, are tackled one day at a time.

This whole weight loss thing is a prime example. I really want to lose 3 pounds a week. This last week I drank more water than I have in a long time, was pretty good about keeping active, and stopped eating at 9. I didn't eat any sweets all week, and still haven't lost 3 pounds--but rather stayed the same. It doesn't compute, unless I take into consideration that a life built on these habits would produce a much more healthy version of me than the one that is currently walking around. It's important to adopt these habits, and sit back and let them shape who I become. I know I'll like the outcome.

Thursday, June 7, 2007

Simplifying Change

This website's name, simplify change one step at a time comes from my older brother Mark--who accredited his 50 lb weight loss to doing one little step at a time. Or in his words, "start with something you can do". He'd do one little step at a time: Parking farther away, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, cutting out mid-afternoon snacks, etc. Each week he'd add an additional step, which would be worked into his habit, and over the course of 8 or 9 months, he dropped about 50 lbs. I may be off on the timeline here, but you get the idea.

No one would tell it better than Mark here, so I've invited him to be an author on this blog as well--not only to outline what he's been able to do, but we welcome any other posts of his regarding any other changes or progress he is going through!

Wednesday, June 6, 2007

Now 6.5 weeks into it...

I went jogging again today, I did 3 miles fairly easily--well, I did walk 3 times, but all in all I felt pretty good. My weight is down to 241.5--which means 8.5 pounds in 6.5 weeks!--which is a great change!

The 5K really whetted my appetite for the racing world...and the next step is to run the 10K exactly 4 weeks from today.

My goals for that event are the following:

Weigh 230
Run it in less than an hour
Run it continuously without walking

The most important is the bodyweight goal. Logic states that if I'm lighter, I'll run faster and farther....

To increase my fat droppage from 1.3 pounds/week to 3 pounds per week I need to make some small changes. My no-S plan has done pretty well so far, but looking back, I never actually dropped soda completely. I dropped SUGARED sodas during the week, but continued drinking diet sodas. I'm not sure how everyone else does out there, but for me that satisfies my thirst a lot more quickly than is probably healthy, in other words, I think I drink far less liquids overall when I drink soda. Since every report I've read on weight loss says drinking more water = more efficient metabolism, I need to drink a LOT more water.

So my new goal is to do water only during every day but the weekend nights when I go to a movie or whatever. For now, I'll allow myself ONE twelve ounce diet soda per day, which is a huge reduction--and drink at least 10 glasses of water per day.

The second small change is to stop eating at 9:00, period. No more late night binges. I don't need food after 9:00.

The third small change is to have one S day... Sunday. That's good enough for the 4 weeks before my 10K, after all, I'm in training!

To remind myself, I'll hang reminders on mirrors and the pantry, and write these goals down daily...

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Nice Run

Nice run bu-huddy. My next Milestone is to wake up tomorrow and act like my legs are not going to fall off. That was a great run, but I am certain I will suffer for trying to run at your level after having not ran in a while.

I look forward to making some goals and running more with you buddy. I am not sure about a 10k but I need to get more fit. What a good influence you are on me. I am thinking about getting into biking so I dont have to have knee surgery at age 50 or take double the recommended dosages of Pharmanex Cartilage formula.

Next Milestone

My next milestone is a 10K which I'm going to run in about 6 weeks. July 4th, to be exact. I'm excited to run this one...now that I've completed my first race, I'm really excited to train for the next one. All in all, I feel leaner, a lot more fit, and more capable--having completed my first milestone.

From this point forward, I'm training and running at my own pace. Up until this point, I was running and training more at Ange's pace--because we decided we'd run the first event together. The next one is going to be done at my own pace though, which I'm excited to see how fast I run things naturally.

I bought new running shoes today. I got some more Asics, though this time around, I went a step up from the Cumulus I usually buy. I may regret it, but these were particularly soft on the feet, so we'll see how they do.

Well, I'm off to hit the road with Jake. He said he'd go with me... so I'm going to run 2.5 miles with him this evening, then come back and relax for the rest of the evening.

Sunday, May 27, 2007

My first race

This morning I ran my first race. It was a 5K up at the Homestead in Midway. It was AWESOME. If I'd known it would be this good, I would have started jogging WAY sooner. My three goals associated with this were to 1. Run it in less than 30 minutes, 2. run it at 240 lbs, and 3. run it continuously, with no walking. One out of 3 isn't too bad, I suppose. I ran it in 38 mintues, at 244 lbs, but I ran it nonstop.

The goals changed quite a bit a few weeks ago when my wife and I decided to run it at the same pace. That will go for this race, but for the rest of the training and the next races we are going to do, I'll do it at my own pace--which is closer to a 10 minute mile.

The 3 miles included some up and downhill battles--but the scenery was AWESOME. At about mile 2.5 I had this massive rush of happiness--it was weird. I guess it was a "runner's high" as they say, not sure. Aftewards, I really enjoyed the awards ceremony, seeing all of the different people finish their half marathon was inspiring as well.

It was just such a cool feeling to wake up at 6:15, head up the mountain with my wife and her bro in law Travis, and get up there to compete in an event like that. After the race, we ate Dairy Keen burgers in the Heber City park. It was a great day.

One of my observations was that all of these competitors were in the same place, but there were hardly any egos there. Everyone had this mutual, "I'm a runner, you're a runner" respect. It was kind of a brotherhood or something. It was great to be involved. Everyone was really encouraging and uplifting. I am definitely excited about being a runner, and participating in more races and events in the future!

Saturday, May 12, 2007

Day 6 of week 2

Well, I passed a milestone today, in that I ran for 17 minutes nonstop. It was only 1.5 miles, but I did it...which is about 1 mile more than I could have done about 5 weeks ago. I'm feeling athletic again, which is such an unbelievably good feeling. I remember about 5 months ago, signing up for a personal trainer at the gym and one of my goals was just to feel like I could run a mile or two again, so it's good to feel that again.

I ran for a total of 26 minutes, which took me to 2.6 miles...so I'm at 10 min miles, which of course is slow, but considering the fact that there were hills involved, and I've only been jogging for 5 or 6 weeks, it's pretty darn good.

My weight with the No-S plan is around 245, which is 5 lbs less than I started. I feel good. I'm not craving sweets as much, but more importantly, I'm not craving that binging that occurred so frequently at 10 pm at night.

Monday, May 7, 2007

Week 2

Week 2 began today with a nice run...It felt really good to be able to run 24 out of 30 min--because today was the start of the 4 min jog, 1 min walk stage of our program. It feels SOOOO good to start the day with a Jog. I came home, read a chapter in the Book of Mormon, and now it's time to review my goals.

I really think you need to train for the half marathon with us. I know it's hard on the knees, but think about how you'd act if you were training for something. I certainly am thinking differently about the stuff I shovel into my mouth now. Speaking of, I did take a day off of worrying about things nutritionally and had some chocolate cake and some other treats yesterday... i could definitely tell this morning when my weight shot back up to 250. That's a temporary weight though, a more accurate is around 247--cause it seems that I've lost about 2-3 pounds last week. But it's my understanding that you retain a lot of water when you eat a lot of simple sugars.

My goal is to weigh about 240 for the 5K, and about 210 for the half marathon. That's about 2 lbs a week loss, which is totally manageable...

Well remember what it says in 2 Nephi, chapter 2--there is opposition in all things--but we are free to act, and not be acted upon. God intended for us to navigate through our lives, and live our lives with decision and determination, not letting any obstacles stand in our way from achieving our goals.

Carry on in progress my friend,

Craig

Saturday, May 5, 2007

Routes

This week is still the 3 minutes run, 1 min walk...next week we are upping it to 4 min run, 1 min walk. Our route today was to run the big Circle from fox run, pass the two churches in pheasant pointe, then in front of the elementary school on 3200 and back down. It worked for having the wind blocked by most of the houses.

Now that I have an overall objective (the half marathon) and milestones, (the 10k and 5K) I feel like I have so much more direction and a REASON for eating healthier...ya know? I encourage you to register for one or more of the events, and we'll always remind ourselves we are "in training" so we can't eat garbage.

BTW, this book I'm reading about this guy who runs 100 milers is insane. He follows the "no whites" rule--outlawing white sugars, flours, and white shortening--reminding me of Mr Ricks.

Sweets are the enemy.

Well I had a pretty good no S week. Except an occasional snack which we defined earlier in the blog is ok for now. I did have some homemade ice cream when offered at the Valdez home earlier this week. Sometimes people are such sales people. She talked about it first. Then Jamie Valdez had her husband Victor get it out. Then she started scooping it into bowls. (This is when I knew I was in for it and had no clue how to get out of eating the massive bowl she scooped for me) Since my bowl was the first one she handed to anyone I had no choice but to eat it all. Other than that, I found myself turning away from urges to eat unnecessary sweets. Cookies, chocolates, and other treats that the wife leaves around. These sweets have the goal of turning my body into a pile of useless flabber and low self esteem. Sweets are the enemy to my body.

I was able to head to the gym yesterday morning as I fought mind over mattress and won. I worked on my lower body since I worked out my upper body two weeks ago on the cruise. I have been slacking on the running practice and need to pick it up. I also need to figure out if we are going out of town the weekend of the 5K.

Where do you guys run when you jog outside in the snow and hail?

Ok, I'm committed

I've officially registered for the half marathon taking place Saturday, September 1st which is officially 17 weeks from now. To do so, I've got to start taking my nutrition more serious, and my training schedule.

I also posted links to the official "No-S" diet website--and active.com over to the right.

Week 1 day 6

I've been reading this book called "Ultra Marathon Man" by Dean Karnazes--a memoir by a guy who runs ultra long distance events--100 mile runs, etc. It's a great book, albeit completely crazy for anyone to run that far. It's inspirational though, to read how he pushes through the pain and the lack of motivation to train for these huge events, and it's already inspiring me to push through my own motivation issues to train for my own events.

Today, my wife and I went jogging for the first time in a little over a week. My last time was a week ago from yesterday (today is a Saturday). Last monday, I injured my knee and back trying to unload a basketball standard with my neighbor--by stepping out of the trailer too fast, so I took the week off to let myself recover. It felt great today though, even though it was snowing during parts of it. My wife and I felt like we were ultra-dedicated, even though we were only going about 2.5 miles, but getting out there when it was cold, rainy/snowy, on a saturday afternoon was our own personal achievement. It felt good. It feels good.

I'm officially registered for a 5K which takes place 3 weeks from today at the Homestead Resort in Midway. I'm also registered for a 10K which takes place on July 4th in Provo. My ultimate goal is to run a half marathon, which I'd like to do sometime in August or September--maybe as late as October. But these two are my next two milestones.

I've had a pretty decent week as far as the No S's... I botched yesterday by eating some of my wife's homemade cookies, so I'm using today as a makeup day, even though today is officially an S day.

How you doing this week man??

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Day 3

Well, I certainly faced down some temptations today...sugared soda and cookies were all over the place at work, but I didn't partake of any of them. It's not an S day. In fact, my work gave us catered Goodwood, which came complete with those yummy cinnamon hard candies that are so good to eat afterwards, and even those were met by my stiff-armed declination.

The day is not over, but I'm cruising into the home stretch. How'd today go for you buddy?

Buddy Buddy!

I am looking forward to the Andre Agassi...that will be alot of fun. I'd be ready to play like everyday or everyother.

Be cautious with accidently pressing the next blog button. I thought that is what I push to post a new one and some nasty pornographia came up. I need to get some program that blocks that crapola.

Let's read between the lines buddy and get fit and rich!

Admin

I just changed your status from guest to admin...so if you wanna play around with the settings of the blog go ahead.

Today

As with the og mandino scroll...today I begin a new life. My wife sabataged us last night with her cookie baking, and I'm afraid I did step on those land mines a few too many times, but other than that, yesterday was good.

No sweets, no seconds, no sugared soda this week my friend.

Next week or the week after, basically as soon as we master this one we'll add "no seconds", and as soon as we master that one, we'll add no snacks.

One step at a time... as soon as the tennis courts or up, I'm going to go crazy Andre Agassi on you.

Day 2

No S'es buddy. How do you write that?

No sweets, seconds, soda, and sugar snap peas...just kidding on the peas. Today is the first day of the new buddys.

I have also reached a point of physical disappointment. It seems like I am at a fork of either change now or be overweight forever. I need to eat more disciplined like the no S rule except on days that start with S. I also need to start a daily workout schedule. This has proven more difficult with a baby since its my turn to feed her at 8-9am everyday, so I have to goto the gym from 7-8am if I am going to at all for the day. Speaking of which...I gotta go feed the little one.

Monday, April 30, 2007

Day 1

Today was hellish for a lot of different reasons. As far as my progress towards fitness, I slipped up a few times, but all in all I felt good. I drank one soda at lunchtime, but that was it. I guzzled a ton of water throughout the day--but the hardest part was not drinking an energy drink someone had generously left on my desk. It must have been a hint for the way I was dragging today.

Other slipups include: I ate one low fat pudding snack this evening, and accepted one buttermint that one of my co-workers offered earlier in the day. Ok, he didn't really offer. He ate one in front of me and I flat out asked him for one.

I AM committed to change. As of earlier this evening, Jake still hasn't seen this blog. Hopefully he has by now?

It begins

Well... I'm finally going to face it. I've officially let myself go physically. I have a hard time running, and my eating habits have gotten out of control. My current weight is 250, which, at 5'9" is not too good. I'd like to believe that a lot of it's muscle...but it's not. I'm probably around 33% body fat--1/3 of my body could float on water!!

I've heard it said that by "small and simple things, great things are brought to pass." Well, I would like to bring about "great things" to my own life--primarily with my physical health. I really want to change my situation financially, physically, AND socially to improve my health, wealth, and social influence but I strongly feel that improving my physical health will strongly impact the others and greatly facilitate changes in those other areas.

So this week--Starting today, April 30th, I'll implement just a few small changes. First, I'm going to not drink Soda during the week--just water. Second, I'm not going to eat candy during the week. No other major changes for now. My wife and I go jogging/walking for a few miles 3 times a week-so I'll keep that up. But for now, just these small changes. I've challenged my neighbor Jake to take on these same changes, as well as jog... so Jake, let the changes begin my friend!