February 8, 2008

Went to the gym last night... 15 minutes on the elliptical, and three weight room circuits. I worked myself pretty hard, and rewarded myself with an after workout soak in the hot tub at the Rec.

I've been thinking about setting a short term goal, something that I can work toward.

Run Through the Vines is an annual 5K race (they have a 10K, too) held at Messina Hof Wineries, a local vineyard in Bryan. I'm going to run the 5K this year on April 12. That gives me nine weeks to get ready. I am inviting anyone that wants to come and run this thing with me.

February 6, 2008

Getting back into my groove. Spent 20 minutes on elliptical tonight with a heart rate of around 152.

February 2, 2008

Okay, so I took a week off.... unfortunately not just from posting. I got a bit off track, and missed the gym for a solid week. Not good.

On the bright side... when I did get to the gym on Tuesday, I had lost an additional 2 pounds, so maybe my better eating habits paid off a little there. I have cut WAY back on sodas and am trying to eat better, particularly at lunch.

I'm trying now to find my groove. Unfortunately, I'm not sure evening workouts are going to fit anymore... it's too easy to be "too tired". Mornings are not my thing.

January 17, 2008

Eating: Had tamales for dinner. Not a terrible thing, but did make my workout a little uncomfortable.

Exercise: Had to get in a good workout, since Christy is leaving town on Friday night, and I won't be able to leave Craig... plus we have to finish the Pinewood Derby car. So I spent 15 minutes on the elliptical, and two circuits around the weight room... and added in two more exercises for back and abs.

January 16, 2008

I did okay eating on Wednesday, but didn't make it to the gym. My son's pinewood derby race is Saturday, and we went to a friend's house to work on the car. By the time we got home, it was too late.

January 15, 2008

Tuesday Weigh-In: 296 lbs. 2 more pounds lost... not bad, considering my horrible weekend.

Eating: Off to a good start, oatmeal and a banana for breakfast. Lunch was a sandwich and some fruit. Dinner was tacos. Light string cheese (what else?) for a snack.

Exercise: Pushed my self a bit harder tonight. 20 minutes on the elliptical and two weight room circuits.

January 14, 2008

Eating: Had a fairly good day, though I did not eat breakfast. Had a sandwich for lunch, and dinner was chicken and dressing (a recipe Christy found and it was very good) and some squash.

Exercise: Elliptical for 20 minutes with an average heart rate of 155. Rough, as I was still sore from the lifting the day before.

January 13, 2008

Eating: Subway for lunch: turkey and ham, no cheese, no chips and water. Dinner was a baked rigatoni from the Weight Watcher cookbook. I also snacked on a light string cheese (those things are good) and a handful of wheat thins in the afternoon. Pretty good day. Tomorrow I am returning to the Weight Watchers plan.

Exercise: First full workout in. I spent 15 minutes on the elliptical at a heart rate of around 155, and then did two circuits around the weight room. My goal is to increase this amount every week until I get to 20 minutes on the elliptical and 3 circuits. I am removing the walking counter from the blog. My cardio will now be completed on the elliptical, as it gives me the intensity that I was not getting with just walking.

January 11-12, 2008

Full disclosure... this weekend was bad. Really bad. On Friday night, my daughter had a sleepover birthday party... with pizza, which I think may be the worst thing on the planet. Now, I'm sure in limited quantities, pizza is fine, but I have a large appetite and I typically overeat when that's the meal. To make things worse, I thought I would eat less during the day to compensate for the pizza, but that instead made it worse, I was just more hungry for the pizza. I think pizza may be the first thing on the "can't have it at all" list. I also did not work out.

Saturday was better on the eating front... I avoided the leftover pizza in the fridge (it's calling my name) but I still did not workout.

Time to get serious.

January 10, 2008

Eating: Missed breakfast but took a sack lunch to work: chicken sandwich, chips, light string cheese and cinnamon applesauce. Having a Diet Coke with it... not so good, but better than my usual. Dinner was grilled chicken, squash, and brown rice.

Exercise: Gym was open, but weight room was still closed due to floor repairs being done. Did 20 minutes on the elliptical at a heart rate of about 150. Will add in the strength training next week.

January 9, 2008

Missed my blog post... so here's the sum-up, ate fairly well, missed breakfast but ate healthy for lunch and dinner. Did not exercise... will hit the gym for the first time when it reopens on the 10th.

January 8, 2008

Tuesday Weigh-In: 298 lbs, lost 4 lbs. Not bad for the first week, when I haven't even really started the nutritional stuff, and only worked on consistency of workouts that included only walking. I expect to see even better results when I kick other efforts in!

Eating: Granola bar and a banana for breakfast. Mexican food for lunch... don't shoot me. Had some deer sausage, mashed potatoes and green beans for dinner. Very light dinner, as I found I don't like deer very much. Lots of water today!

Exercise: Walked 2.0 miles.

Other stuff: Like I mentioned at my other blog, this fitness/health effort is a family wide initiative. My sister, Jamie, has started her own fitness blog, and somehow figured out how to make the Don't Break the Chain calendar purple. Sweet! I've linked it over on the right under Family Fitness Blogs. If anyone else starts one, I'll link them there.

January 7, 2008

Eating: Ate breakfast today! Bowl of cereal (Smart Start) and a banana. Chicken sandwich, chips and a light string cheese for lunch. Dinner was the last of the leftover chicken spaghetti.

Exercise: Walked 2.5 miles. Same route as last night but backward.

January 6, 2008

Eating: Much better day today. Still didn't get breakfast for sleeping too late... we got in after midnight last night and I didn't feel well this morning. Tomorrow, I will eat breakfast. For lunch I had leftover chicken spaghetti. Dinner was chicken tortilla soup. Snacked on a light string cheese.

Exercise: Walked 2.5 miles.

January 5, 2008

Eating: Had a Granola Bar for breakfast. Lunch was a little bit of leftover ham because we we eating an early dinner with he family. Dinner was Turkey and dressing, green beans and mashed potatoes. Yum.

Exercise: Due to a three and a half hour drive back home, I dropped the ball and had no workout.

January 4, 2008

Eating: Still not good today. Fast food lunch with the kids. Hoping to get in a better pattern once I get back to work.

Exercise: Walked 2.0 miles.

January 3, 2008

Eating: Rough day. Slept too late to eat breakfast. Ate Sonic on the way to Denton. Spaghetti and Italian sausage with a salad for dinner.

Exercise: Walked 2.5 miles.

January 2, 2008

Eating:

Had a bowl of cereal (Oat Cluster Cheerios Crunch) and an apple for breakfast.

I honestly don't ever remember eating lunch. I did eat breakfast kind of late. I think I broke that rule again.

Right now I am eating a 6 inch turkey and ham sandwich from Subway with lettuce, tomato, olives and deli mustard. No cheese. No chips.

Exercise:

So I went to the Rec Center at A&M, where I have a seldom-used (until now) membership. I attended a class called Total Training. Here is the description:

Total training experience including 15 minutes of cycling, easy to follow high energy step for 15 minutes and BOSU, kickbox and jump rope for 15 minutes. Weights for upper body, abs and stretching included. This is an hour and fifteen minutes of sweat from the warm-up to cool-down stretch.

The 15 minutes of cycling was actually 25 minutes. After that, a short walk to cool down, then onto the BOSU. The BOSU is half rubber ball looking thing that you jump on. At this point I should note that I'm the only male in the room, and the only one over 150 lbs. Grace and balance is apparently NOT my thing. Failure. Got through most of the stuff on the floor. Then more track jogging to cool off, and then strength training with a body bar and stretching to finish.

I got through the full hour and fifteen minutes, but it was not pretty.

The instructor told me (after it was over, of course) that Total Training is the hardest class the Rec provides. She did say that when the university classes start back up, that all Rec classes are free for the first two weeks and that I could use that time to find something a little more my speed.

Of course, I did make it through the first time... we'll see how I feel in the morning.

January 1, 2008

Eating:

No breakfast. Broke one of the rules.

Had a chicken sandwich and potato chips for lunch.

Dinner was chicken spaghetti, green beans, and Brussels sprouts.

Snacked on some summer sausage in the afternoon. Not too proud of that.

Exercise:

Walked 3.0 miles. (update 1/2/08 - I recalculated the route that I walked last night... it was actually 3.0 miles and not 2.5)