A couple of weeks ago, the 7 month vacation from my weight loss journey ended. It was time to get back on track. It was time to re-engage my brain and make the right decisions. IT WAS TIME!
As I stated in the end of my last post, I had started using MyFitnessPal.com and had started back full force at the gym. So how should I start this post? I guess I should start with how I am doing with getting back on track.
Let’s start with MyFitnessPal.com. For those not familiar with what this site is, think FaceBook for weight loss people. It provides you a place to enter your food and exercise diary’s, as well as track your weight and measurement progress. They also have a place to blog about your journey and a community area with forums and groups. You can become friends with others and track their progress in your daily feeds as well as take part in challenges with other users. I have several friends using this site, so I was familiar with it. At this point I am only using it to track my food and exercise, which is helping to keep me accountable. I really like being able to see the impact certain choices I make have on my daily totals. For instance, while salad is great for you, I can see the 120 calorie per tablespoon of dressing I put on the salad turned it into a very unhealthy choice. While a turkey sub from Subway may only have 5g of fat it is has a TON of sodium! As I have mentioned before, Sheri and I already plan out our meals on the weekend for the following week so this is just an extension of our planning. Using this website has really helped me re-engage my brain and start thinking about the pros and cons of my decisions. I have taken it one step farther and started looking at websites of a few of our favorite places to eat. Now I am able to “pre-plan” what I will have when I go, so there is less of an “on the spot” decision.
As for the gym, I am back in there full time. I am making it to the gym 4-5 morning’s and 3-4 evenings. My morning workouts are all about goal achievement. I am following my Couch to 5k program on Mon, Wed, and Fri mornings and am on the stationary bike on Tue and Thu. Currently I am run/walking 1.8 miles in 25 min and biking either 7.5 miles in 20 min or 11 miles in 30 min (depending on how much time I have). In the evenings Sheri and I are doing weight training. We have started increasing the weight and pushing ourselves to work harder.
Before I get to the weight loss update, I want to talk about how I am doing mentally. The last couple of weeks have been absolutely amazing! In my Things to Come post back in March, I mentioned I wanted to Walk more 5k’s and I was already signed up for the Katie Ride (and walk) for Life. The walk took place last Saturday and it was an unbelievable time for me. Back in June of last year, I walked my first 5k and finished it in just over 57 minutes and Pete (who walked with me) finished his in about 52 minutes. I remember thinking after the walk, “someday I would be able to walk a 5k in Pete’s time”. So for this 5k, my goal was to finish it in 52 minutes. Well, I beat that time and finished it in 47:30!!!! WHAT?!?!?!? 10 minutes faster than last June??? I cannot even begin to explain the high I was on Saturday morning. I actually started believing I could do anything. I felt invincible! As a result of this, I have had a renewed vigor in everything I am doing. I find myself wanting to go to the gym more. I have started upping the weights or the resistance on the cardio machines to start doing more. I am also starting to think more about what else I can do that I have always avoided because of my size.
Because I now feel unbeatable, I have decided to sign up to RUN my first 5k, which will be the Never Quit Race here in Jacksonville. I have mentioned, I am doing the Couch to 5k program to get me ready to run a 5k at some point, and my original plan was to look for a race in the October or November time frame. My reasons for later in the year were twofold. First, it is HOT and humid here in Florida during the summer so I wanted to wait till it cooled off to run. Second, doing it at the end of the year gave me more time to work on running. If you clicked on the Never Quit link already, you will know I am not following my plan. This race takes place on June 9, 2012, which is 44 days from now. It is also my 44th birthday. I am going for sooner and hotter. Oh, and it is a beach run so I am going for harder too. Am I out of my mind??? Well, maybe a little, but I have realized I have been setting goals which, while achievable, are not pushing me. So this will push me to be ready to run a 5k by June. Ultimately I want to be able to run a 5k in less than 30 minutes but that would not be a realistic goal for this race. Because I have proven I can walk a 5k in 47:30, I should easily be able to run it in 45 min or less right now. I am not sure, however, how the heat and the shifting sands will impact my time, so I think I am going to make my goal time 40-45 min. While I am pushing to be able to run a 5k in 40 minutes, this goal range will allow for the unknown variables of heat and footing.
After my last post, I got an email from a dear friend. It stared off like this:
I read your blog and I get what you are going through. Good for you for not accepting excuses and for owning your bad decisions. I want to put this thought “out there” and I want you to just ponder it. I don’t even care if you never respond to this and just file it away as food for thought. Are you in the cycle of regain that has happened to you in the past? I see some of my own weight loss cycles in your journey and I wouldn’t be a friend to you if I didn’t ask this question. You see, I’ve lost and regained the same 100 pounds at least four times since I was 20 years old.
As I have said before, I love the fact I have friends that will say the tough things or ask the hard questions, and this is a constant thought that goes through my head. Having been on the vicious weigh loss and regain cycle for well over 20 years myself it is one of the biggest struggles any weight loss person goes through. Will history repeat itself? Will I give up on this journey again and gain back all the weight I lost and then more? Will I once again fail at what I am doing? Will I once again let my family and friends down. Or will this be the time that I win once and for all?
I gave the best answer I could, which was:
Am I in a cycle of regain? I was. As of this morning, I have lost 11 lbs for the week and am back on track so only time will tell if this “it is time” mentality will stick.
After the breakthroughs I have had this week, I would say this is shaping up to be the time I win.
Now onto my weight update:
Weight recap:
- Week 62 Weight – 4/25/12 – 308.2 pounds
- Week 61 Weight -4/18/12 – 313.8 pounds
- Week 60 Weight -4/11/12 – 313.4 pounds
- Week 59 Weight – 4/1/12- 323 pounds
- Starting weight -2/13/11 – 384.8 pounds
Week 60 Weight loss – 9.6 pounds
Week 61 Weight gain – 0.4 pounds
Week 62 Weight loss – 5.6 pounds
Total Weight loss - 76.6 pounds
In addition to training to run the 5k on June 9, I have decided to set a weight loss goal of losing 23.4 pounds by race day. That will put my weight loss total at 100 pounds.
Failure lies not in falling down. Failure lies in not getting up. – Chinese proverb
Filed under: Diet, goals, Health, Inspiration, Journal, Journey, Losing Weight, Mens Weight Loss, Other, Overweight, Personal, Uncategorized, Weight Loss | Tagged: Couch to 5k, diet, Goals, health, inspiration, journal, Journey, Losing Weight, Mens Weight Loss, Never Quit, Obesity, other, Overweight, weight loss | 3 Comments »
