Archive for September, 2008
Getting Back In The Game
Tuesday, September 30th, 2008Much to my delight, actually, I’ve plateaued in my weight loss. Why am I so happy? Well, for one - I haven’t gained any weight since my 25 pound milestone in July, and two - I’ve maintained it with very little effort and a lot of bad eating. Not that those things are good in themselves, but it shows that my body has adjusted to it’s new weight rather than wanting to regain every pound back and then some.
My past diet successes were very short lived as I would quickly gain back double what I’ve lost in short time. I think the major difference here was that I lost my 25 pounds with just sensible eating (even upwards of 2000 calories a day!) and physical activity - which I’ve continued until now.
My goal is to lose another 20 pounds during the course of this hockey season which ends the first week in March. Even though my activity level has gone up with playing hockey 3 days a week, working out at home, and working on my feet 40 hours a week, I will have to face many weekends of nasty restaurant food - the main staple of a travel hockey player’s diet. So my goal is to carefully monitor what I put in my mouth during the course of the week, and hope that I can counteract the weekends.
What’s interesting is that it seems for many people trying to lose weight, their “diet” is the constant, and exercise is thrown in to make the difference. For me, my physical activity and exercise seems to be the constant, and my food choices are what’s going to determine if I lose or not. I suppose it’s not a bad thing.
What’s gone so far are the snacks and lunches from the coffee truck which shows up at my work place at 10:20am every day. In their place are fruit, a Luna bar, and a bagged lunch. Also out are my several times weekly chocolate runs! Okay, well, chocolate isn’t on my forbidden list, but I’m no longer devouring Hershey’s bar 6-packs… 2 bars at a time, of course. I admit it… I’m a bit of a junkie. Also changed for the most part are my dinners. I’m no longer so exhausted after work that my only choice is home delivered pizza. I’m back to grocery shopping a couple days a week so Jen and I can eat real food. Breakfast is a given. I’ve been a breakfast eater for years, so no arm twisting there.
Jenny
Friday, September 19th, 2008Do you remember when you were a kid? I remember living what was more or less a carefree lifestyle. I lived at home with my mom, and I never concerned myself with how the electricity stayed on or how food got on the table. Even my clothes, entertainment, and hobbies were underwritten by Mom (and Grandma) First National Bank. My mom woke me up in the morning to make sure I went to school; everything was more or less done for me. Even when I did finally get a job, the money went towards extras. I bought a new car, had a record collection, and had as much play spending money I could earn each week. Living at home and not playing the role of the adult was fun.
Even looking into the future, my sense of reality was a bit skewed. My mom made real life look easy. She had a good job, and we never struggled (that I knew of.) As a kid, a teenager, and as a young adult, my look into my own future was extremely unrealistic. My dreams consisted of a fun job, a nice car, a big house, and a lavish lifestyle of free time, entertainment, hobbies, and retirement at the age of 65. Afterall, isn’t that the way it’s supposed to go?
When was the last time you heard a kid wonder to themselves, “hey, what are the chances of me dying of renal failure at the age of 36?”
Reality.
Last night my cousin Jenny died after a 10+ years of battling a diseased body. It was put upon her by no choice of her own. Even in those younger years of daydreaming and unrealistic expectations, the reality of what was to come was laying dormant in her genes. She was a month and a half short of her 37th birthday, and is survived by a daughter, both parents, and a younger sister.
My Review: The Schwinn 231 Recumbent Bike
Saturday, September 13th, 2008
THE DECISION TO BUY A BIKE
I discovered the joys of riding a recumbent bike when I had my gym membership. I know there’s a lot of naysayers out there who insist you can’t get a real workout on one, but as far as I’m concerned, they’re full of crap. In terms of cardio, as long as you get the heart pumpin’ and you’re workin’ up a sweat, what’s the difference if you’re standing up or sitting down?
A recumbent bike had been on my wish list for quite some time, even before I made the decision not to renew my gym membership. The first thing I did was to look up info on my favorite bike at the gym, the Nautilus NR3000 Vertical Commercial Recumbent Bike, but for the Amazon sale price of $1849, it was a bit out of my price range. So I shopped and read reviews of other brands, non of which compared to the features of the NR3000, that was until… I stumbled upon the Schwinn 230 at Dick’s Sporting Goods.
Buddy’s Contest: Grand Prize Drawing
Wednesday, September 10th, 2008
Finally! It’s a week late, but tending to my blog hasn’t exactly been a priority lately between work, building my gym equipment, and hockey tryouts.
Here’s how the final drawing was determined: 1) it was open to Entrecard members only, since the prizes are ec’s, 2) each qualifying commentator from each of the 4 weeks was entered - so in other words, people who participated all 4 weeks were entered into the final drawing 4 times, 3) the randomizer was used to select the winners.
The contestants in the order they entered were:
1. Sassy Mama Bear
2. Fitness Diva
3. milet
4. Blue Workhorse
5. Purrprints
6. Workout Mommy
7. Michael Aulia
8. Julia
9. Sherry
10. Sassy Mama Bear
11. Sherry
12. Sassy Mama Bear
13. Greener Pastures
14. Viveca
15. Julia
16. lvs
17. Blue Workhorse
18. Get a Grip, Mom
19. Margaret
20. Sassy Mama Bear
And the winners are… drum roll, please…
17. Blue Workhorse - 1000 ec’s
15. Julia - 450 ec’s
16. lvs - 325 ec’s
12. Sassy Mama Bear - 225 ec’s
I want to thank everyone who walked with me and Buddy for the month of August, and I want to encourage everyone to keep it going (so long as weather permits).
