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.

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".

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.

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!

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...