Birthday Reflections & Goals

March 6, my birthday! 39 years young. And all I can think about today is the goal I set for myself a little over 6 months ago. 180 lbs by the time I hit 40. 6 months ago, it seemed that I had forever, now it seems so close!

I was over 300 lbs. That's what triggered my change in lifestyle. I'm now hovering around 260 lbs. 40 lbs lost in 6 months. Not bad, but not as extreme as I was planning. I'm keeping at it, and not getting frustrated.

Now, a little history of myself and my wife. We met on my 30th birthday at a beer festival in Boston. We were young and in the best shape of our lives. Earlier this week, we made a pact; we will celebrate my 40th birthday, our 10th anniversary of meeting, at the same beer festival next year. AND we will each weigh less than when we met. Here is a picture featured on Harpoon's website, only minutes after we met:

She is my greatest birthday present ever. We owe it to each other to get in better shape, for each other and for our two beautiful kids. I'm psyched to have a fabulous partner on my journey towards self improvement.

By the way, open invitation to St. Patties Day at Harpoon Brewery in March 2014!

Thanks for all the continued support and birthday wishes!

 

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Vacation

We just returned from a fabulous family vacation in Ft. Myers, FLA. We spent some quality time with Lindsay's parents, who are spending the winter down there. The kids got to swim and play outside, and I got to golf (that's right, in February!!).

My goal for this vacation was that I needed to workout every day I was down there. The complex that they live on is a private golf course, so the roads were not busy at all with traffic; ideal for jogging. The community also had a clubhouse with a fitness center. I would be crazy if I didn't take advantage of it. I "jogged" 2 of the days, in the morning. It was brutally hot and muggy, even first thing in the morning, and my fragile new jogging style was not really ready for it. But I did complete each of the 2 days, so that was good. The other days I spent in the gym. The first day at the gym was a simple elliptical machine day. The last day, the day we flew home, I tried a workout recommended by Andrea, my SIL. That deserves a whole post to itself, I just need to say that my legs are still burning a whole 36 hours after the workout!

The other thing that you do on vacations is eat out a lot, which we did. I'm still watching my calories, and adjusted my diet accordingly, kinda. I'll explain... I'm not as extreme as those that you see on TV when ordering from a restaurant (hold this, no that, substitute this for that, etc.), but I did adjust my meal option. We went out to a cool fish restaurant, and I SO wanted the fried clam basket with fries. I was almost there for ordering, but I changed it to the shrimp tacos. The shrimp were grilled, not fried, and I didn't use any tarter sauce, which I would have if I have had ordered the clams. So that saved on a bunch of calories, and the tacos were excellent. I also tried to limit my portion size, we went to an Italian place, and I could have housed my pasta meal, but I saved some for lunch the next day. So baby steps in this category.

The overall results, which showed up on the scales today.... I was DOWN overall!! Only 0.2 lbs, but still, in the past I would have gained a bunch on a vacation like this. So the vacation was such a success. It proved I could go and have a great time with my family, eat out, exercise, and still meet all my goals even though I'm away from home. Good vacation indeed!

New Diet

I have a brand new break through diet! It guarantees that you only consume half of what you have when you sit down to eat, so it naturally limits your caloric intake.

What is this miracle diet, you might ask?

I call it the Ellery Diet. Both Lindsay and I are on it, and it is working great!

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Boot Camp

I've never really been a huge fan of the group exercise classes. I've taken them in the past, but I much prefer to work out on my own, at my own pace. But with this plateau that I've found myself on, I decided to mix it up a little and attend a Boot Camp class at the gym at work. I have taken some classes in the past, mostly yoga and spinning, but that's about it. The Boot Camp kicked my butt!! This class was scheduled for an hour. I got there 10 minutes early to stretch and get myself mentally ready. The class started promptly at 3:30, and by 3:45, I found myself on my back, struggling for breath, right outside of the studio. I was light-headed, and I've had a history of fainting, so I know when I need to take a break and just lay down. After 15 minutes of just laying there, I got dressed and headed home with my tail between my legs. As I was driving home more than halfway there, I looked down at my clock and noticed it just turned 4:30. How could those other poor souls have survived that whole hour? I'm using this as a humbling learning experience. I'm happy that I've lost over 40 lbs. I'm happy that I feel better and have more energy. But I still have a long way to go to get where I want to (and need to) be. I'm not letting this experience derail me on my journey, I'm trying to use it as motivation to work harder so that I CAN get through that whole class. Not the next time I take it, maybe not the 5th time I take it next, but I will get through that whole class! I now have a new goal! I mentioned that I participated in yoga classes in the past. These weren't just any normal yoga, it was the type that they have the class at elevated temperature. This was back when I was in good shape, when I was single and trying to pick up chicks :) My first class, I lasted 2 positions. So that class, I lasted 2 minutes, and I stayed in child's pose for 58 minutes. No joke!! But the instructor checked on me every 10 minutes, told me to stick with it, and to come back again. I did, and by the end of about 10 classes, I was able to complete a bridge! This was HUGE for me. I was still never able to complete a WHOLE class, but I did last 40-45 minutes into the hour long class. So I jump headlong into these new experiences. I should probably smarten up and take it easy until I'm used to these new positions, moves, muscle groups, etc, pace myself. But I know I'm not going to. I don't know if it's pride, competition, or if I'm just scared that I'm going to look like a quitter or a slouch. Whatever it is, I'm sure it's not going to change any time soon. And I don't think I want to change THAT portion of my life.

Plateau

I haven't posted for a while, because I'm stuck. Stuck in the mud. Things have been going well, but I have no results to show for it. At least no results on the scale. I feel great. I have more flexibility and stamina. But I've hit a plateau like never before. I've hit 40 lbs lost, and I just can't break through any further. I've changed up my exercise routine. My SIL has set new monthly workout challenges. I've been training for a 5K. But nothing seems to be helping. I've been watching my calories, trying so hard not to cheat. But that doesn't seem to help either. It's just getting very frustrated. I'm sticking with it, and not giving up. I'm must afraid that my body thinks this is where it is supposed to be now. And it's not where I want to be. Far from it. So I'm going to continue. If anyone has other recommendations on how to move forward, I'm willing to try anything!

16 Weeks

I thought it would be a good time to update everyone, for a couple reasons. First, I'm home in bed with the stomach bug that caused both of my children to vomit on me this weekend. Second, it's sort of a milestone - 16 weeks. 3 months, for everyone not doing the math :). And the last reason you'll have to wait for (not long, don't worry).

So, how am I doing? I've lost 31.2 lbs. It doesn't seem like much, but it has made a major change in my life. I have much more energy, I workout (almost) every weekday morning. I don't find myself as winded as I once did when climbing the 3 flights of stairs to get to my office. And I find that working out is a little addicting, not wanting to go but NEEDING to go in the morning.

The last reason that it's a good time for an update is because of all the compliments that I've been getting. There have been lots of family functions in the past couple months, and everyone has been so positive with their support. I physically feel the positivity each time I workout. Lindsay is even getting in on the action, going to the gym at night when I get home. She is looking outstanding, if I do say so myself.

Now for the check in with my progress, since I now have to satisfy the engineer inside me with some good 'ole data analysis.

• 31.2 lbs / 16 weeks = 1.95 lbs/week
• My goal was 2 lbs/week, so I'm close

• 63 weeks left until I turn 40
• At my current rate, 1.95 lbs/week, I will achieve 180 lbs in 45.6 weeks (very accurate!)

So, keeping on my slow and steady pace, I will achieve my goal. It has been a little slow for my taste, but I've been told that this pace will help keep the weight off when I finally achieve my goal.

 

So even though I feel horrible today, I have been making good progress, even if I'm horrible at providing updates! More frequent updates to come, I promise :) maybe next time with 3rd grade math (haha).

 

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Month 1 - Progress

Well, it's been a month. I haven't posted in a while, I warned you at the beginning that I wasn't much of a writer. But just because I haven't posted doesn't mean that I haven't been working. A steady workout routine and a diet that I've been pretty good about following has been my M.O. lately. I've not followed the diet all the time, but I just get back on it the next day/meal. In the past, I let a bad day throw me into the diet death spiral which I would never recover. This time, I get back on track and get myself re-motivated.

As for working out, I've changed up my routine from what I've done in the past. I've gone away from the weight lifting and done more cardio-based exercises. It has helped me with my energy, and with taking the pounds off. I started out with a couch-to-5k running program, but I had to put that on hold for a little bit and switch to the elliptical machine. I'm so afraid that I'll get a couple of months into this and get injured, and that will be the end of it. I don't think about it often, but it does cross my mind.

Anyways, now for the big reveal...

17.8 lbs in one month!!! YAY!!

A huge "Thank You" to everyone that has read this blog, sent messages of encouragement, and followed my diet and exercise on wee.myfitnesspal.com. I'm going to keep charging forward, and get that main goal of 180 x 40!

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