Day 44……………………Happy New Year’s Eve!

Cross posted at Losing Inspiration

I will write this now since I will be at a friends for the New Year tonight, so I will post my intake tomorrow. I hope everyone has a fun and safe New Year’s celebration and let’s make 2009 the year we finish this Journey.

Please everyone, Don’t drink and drive.

And now a list of some changes I would like to make:

Be nicer
More courteous
Love more
Hate less
Give more
Take less
Eat smart
Eat Less
Move more
Be less judgmental of others
Give the benefit of doubt
Let people in front of me
Have more patients
Blog more
Listen more
Encourage more
Discourage more

I could probably go on forever, how about you?

What changes would you like to make?

Enjoy the Journey!

GPLongwood

Happy New Year’s Eve

Cross Posted on Pick on the Fat Kid

First of all, I apologize for the garbage I posted yesterday.  It was not a good day mentally at all.  I felt pretty good to start out, but then things just got progressively more stressful from there.  I let my work spoil what would normally be a good day.  So, no more workplace rants in this blog… I promise.  Thankfully, I stayed on track and even did an extra long walk to cool my jets a little bit

I also want to add that today I’m wearing a shirt that was too tight on me 2 months ago.  Today it is hanging on my quite nicely.  I’m also wearing a pair of pants I haven’t worn in a while.  They are pretty loose.  So, there’s some non-scale victories to brighten the day!

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So today is the last day of 2008.  Thank goodness.  2008 was pretty much a waste for me minus the last 2 – 2.5 months.  That’s when I finally got my head out of my ass and decided to take control of my life.  Since then I have lost 35.5 lbs.  Not a record pace by any means, but I’m doing it right and I feel good about it.  I’m eating what seems like a lot of food every day.  I’m exercising almost every day.  I’m burning fat and building muscle.  So I’m off to a good start.

2009 is where all the magic is going to happen.  I plan to do things I’ve never been able to do.  Or at least not since I was a kid.  Some of these things include:

• Go to concerts and ballgames without fear of fitting into a seat
• Hit the 100 lbs lost mark
• Perhaps play softball in the late summer if I’m in good enough shape
• Buy clothes from a normal store
• Become the new Anti-Jared
• Have fun…all year long

I’m sure there are a lot of new things I’ll be doing in 2009.  I’m really excited to see what comes next.  I’m also really excited to put 2008 in the rear-view.

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As for the early morning gym thing, I’m scrapping that idea for now.  I like the night time too much to make the 5:00 a.m. thing a reality.  I’ve played around with it in my head.  The main reason I wanted to do the morning times is to beat the crowds.  Right now there isn’t much of a crowd.  Monday, I’m sure that will change.  But it’s really no big deal.  The center is huge and can handle a large crowd.  Sure working out in front of all those people can be stressful at first, but I’ll get over it.

My gameplan now is to have my workout clothes with me and go to the gym directly after work.  This will allow me to still get started before some of the evening crowd gets stirred and will keep me on track.  The gym is fun.  I just need to keep reminding myself about that when I don’t feel like doing anything after a hard day at work.

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Yesterday’s meals:

Breakfast – 3 egg whites, oatmeal

Snack – Apple

Lunch – Turkey on Whole wheat, pickle, strawberries

Snack – handful of cashews

Dinner – Grilled chicken, whole wheat pasta, homemade tomato sauce

Snack – Strawberries, handful of almonds

Q&A post 2: Where’d you get your running confidence? and Marathon build-up?

I am doing a Q&A sessiong at my blog right now so that the visitors can ask any questions that they are curious about. How I lost the weight, running, stuggles, etc. It has been pretty fun. I wanted to post my answer to the second question I got so here it is.

Thanks mamawantsasixpack for taking some time out to have some fun on my blog? I appreciate the participation. Here are your questions:

1. “How long did it take you to work up to a marathon?”
2. “How fast was your first 5K?”
3. “Where’d you get your running confidence?”

I like those questions and it will be very enjoyable to answer them. So here it goes.

My marathon build up was not typical and usually (even Jeff Galloway) it is recommended that a person run for at least one year before attempting a marathon. I had none of that, I am just to obsessive for that. Anyway, it took me seven months to go from a 2 mile long run(245 lbs at this time) to my first marathon finish. Keep in mind though, I never ever missed a long run (this is the typical run you do on a weekend that is longer than others and it increase 1-2 miles every week to two weeks). What joy it was. It is possible to finish a marathon, even for a big chunky dude. By the time I ran the Portland Marathon I weighed 195 lbs.

I have yet to really run an organized 5K. I did do several practice 5k’s to try and predict my marathon finish time as Jeff Galloway recommended. I can’t remember exactly, but my time was around 38 minutes and I was sucking air bad at the end. Way worse than at the end of my marathon. I finished my first marathon in 5 hrs and 35 minutes. Pretty much all my running in the beginning was at a pace around 12:45-13:30 minutes per mile.

One concept that Jeff Galloway strongly suggests (there is controversy around this concept) is that you run the distance before you race the distance. So my last long run before Portland was 27 miles. I was confident because I knew I could make it to the finish. I was scared silly though. I had done all my running alone or with my wife. I didn’t know what it would be like with 1000’s of people rubbing up against me. I was so nervous that my heart rate was around 185 at the start and I was only walking Things got better and I realized that I was with 1000’s of regular people. That helped. Also, I read that I am the captain of my own running ship and that I did not need to run as fast or as far or smooth as anyone. I just needed to run for me. I still get shy around people who look like “real runners” though.

Cross posted at My Angle

Weight loss victory and relief: My weigh-in last night

I fight with my dog over food. I take stuff that I put into the garbage out if it looks clean. I try and hide food from myself but always seem to find it. Oh yes, I am in the battle for weight loss. The good news is that I am [...]