Best Whole Chicken in a Crock-Pot

http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2011/02/25/recipe-the-best-whole-chicken-in-a-crock-pot/

Working out while the baby is sleeping

Christmas 2013

My family had a wonderful Christmas. It was a "delicious" Christmas as well which means I at way too much but planned on doing it and am back on track now. I had Monday and Tuesday off so was up before 5am and ran over 4 miles each day. It is insane how quick your body and mind can revert back to its old ways if you are not very careful and don't plan and execute.

With weightloss aside this was my favorite Christmas so far because I was able to spend it with my family. With us adopting my son just a little under 6 months ago it was a Christmas I will never forget that is for sure!

Running Vlog

Gear for outside run

Lately I have been doing a lot of running outside here in Utah. As I am sure you have guessed it is freezing outside. There has only been one day above freezing since December 3, 2013. As long as there is not snow on the streets I go outside to run. To be comfortable though you will need warm clothes. This post is going to be about the gear I wear when outside running.
 
On 12/16/13 I woke up before 5am and ran. Before I started I checked the weather on my phone and it stated that it was only 9 degrees outside. I was a little weary of starting but decided that it was for the best. I stayed so warm that I even sweat a fair amount in freezing temperatures.

#1
 My favorite and most important part of the gear is the base layer. My choice is the Under Armour Cold Gear. It is a little pricey as it will run you about $50 for the top and another $50 for the bottoms but it is definately worth it. The pair that I have and wear are skin tight and keep you toasty warm. I use them throughout the year at different sporting events that are cold too so definately worth the money spent.



#2
For most people their feet freeze when it is cold out. I am lucky and I have never had that problem. Through snowboarding in highschool to sitting in snow at BYU football games my feet have always been nice and toasty. I am lucky enough to be able to wear ankle high socks in the cold. I do, however, wear wool ones in the winter. It adds just that little bit of cold protection that I need to stay warm. I will say that the difference between running socks and regular socks have made a difference. The support and little bit of extra cushion makes my feet feel a little bit better than usual.

#3







 

If you know me at all you will know that I am a huge BYU fan of all sports. This means that I have to support some kind of BYU gear when I am running. This Nike Jacket is the one that I generally wear (as long as it is clean). In my opinion it offers just enough wind resistance to keep me warm. It is light enough to not be a burden while running and doesnt get in the way. Every once in a while I like to vlog myself running as well and in that senario there is a front pocket to put my camera. Also a big thing to me is that my armband that my iphone sits in fits around the arm without any problem. It is thin enough to be able to do that.

#4

This is a definate must have. It keeps you so warm and is breatheable. It covers enough of your face to make it bearable in those 9 degree temperatures I was talking about earlier. I just wish there was a fix for my forehead sweating so bad because the sweat was running down to my eyes and getting on my eyelashes and then turning to ice. It wasn't a huge deal. Actually, it was kind of cool to tell people that I was working out hard enough to sweat outside in freezing temperatures and it would turn to ice. If you do not have one of these it is time to go invest in one stat.






#5

Gloves are a must have and are up with the base layer as being considered most important. While you run your hands are moving back and forth in the wind and can becoming freezing cold. This is something I don't go cheap with. I make sure to get a good pair of gloves that are not too bulky and are more importantly comfortable. Another thing that is important to me is that they are "smart" gloves so I can use them with my iphone to change the music or check how far I have ran with MapMyRun.









The fact of the matter though is dress as warm as you can but if you are dressed fairly warm and are still cold you just need to work out harder. Take it up that extra notch and get warm yourself. You can do it. If you have any other tips or recommendations feel free to leave a comment and let me know. I am always looking to become more prepared and a better runner.

Work giving me a fitbit for free

I heard my work is buying our while department any fitbit that we want. How cool is that? If it comes to fruition I may sell my beloved body media and get that money back and use the other one for free! Love my job!

5 mile run in 9 degree weather

It has been over a week since I last ran and worked out because it has been "too cold". What a great excuse! Also over the last 3-4 days I have not been eating all that well. There have been Christmas parties and family get togethers. The good thing is I think I have learned that every once in a while I can splurge just a little bit but get back on track immediately after. I work up bright and early and decided it was time for a run. When I took the covers off of me I could tell it was extra cold but I had slacked long enough. 

The trick is to make sure you have really warm workout clothes (I will probably post on that in the next day or two). As you can see from the first 2 photos It was FREEZING. 9 degrees does not feel all that great especially with snow on the ground. You know I was working hard when you are sweating in 9 degree weather. My forehead was completely wet and then turned to ice on my eyelashes. The best part of the whole thing is I ran just under 5 miles and it felt great. I think I could have gone for another 1-2 miles for sure. Isn't it incredible how our bodies respond to us when we want them too. It is even more true when we train them accordingly. Let this be the motivation you need to get out and do the little that you need to get your life back on track. It really is simple. Eat better and move more. Do your body a favor and take care of it.  

What to eat on graveyards

It has been weird and a little tough to determine what to eat and when while on my graveyard shift. It would be different if I worked this shift consistently but that is not the case. What I decided is that I would not eat anything very filling while working so my body didn't get way confused on why I was eating. To fill myself up I have been eating oatmeal, apples and oranges. Not only does it keep me full but it also gives me more energy so I can stay awake. I say this all the time, isn't it crazy how good healthy eating makes you feel.

40 Pounds lost

Before I came into work tonight I jumped on the scale and hit 40 lbs lost. Crazy feeling! I am hoping to hit 50 lbs lost by the end of the year. I think I can hit that goal. I will just have to stay consistent with my diet and workouts. It has been several days since I have worked out hard, I plan tomorrow to run about 4 miles outside since it is finally good enough weather to get out. The nice thing is my wife is off work tomorrow and is taking our son with her to have a girls day so I can get some good sleep when I get home from the graveyard shift and then get a good workout in. It is crazy how great I feel. There is so much energy inside and I feel like I can do anything. There have been several times that I have had a cheat day and I feel like absolute crap after eating. Don't get me wrong, the food tastes delicious and all but the bad type of calories puts my body into a slump.

Healthy eating while on graveyards

On a graveyard shift this week here at work. In times past when I have done a grave it has been a complete binge fest. I prepared and bought fruit, veggies and low sodium chicken noodle soup. The trick is I didn't bring anything else to tempt me. The 1st day is always the hardest to get through but tonight hasn't been bad at all I guess sugar coma effects you just a little bit. 

Winner winner salad dinner

Got the email today that I am an official winner of round 1 of the November-May dietbet. It isn't a huge amount of money but I think it is awesome that I can win money while getting healthy. Best hung ever. The part of dietbet that I love most however is the community there. Is is wonderful how everybody is cheering others on. 

Winner of Round 1 Dietbet

 I won the first round of the dietbet. I am so proud of myself. This dietbet is exactly what I needed to push myself to get healthy. Not only for this time but for my lifetime. I need to take care of what was given to me. We are on day 2 of round #2 of the dietbet and since I lost so much weight in the first round I only have to lose 2.6lbs to make the goal for this next round. I am kind of excited to see how much money I am going to win also from round #1. The cool thing about this group of people on the dietbet is each and every person is cheering eachother on to get healthy. You would think that with money involved people would want to win for the prize but it is a little community where people are there to care about and for each other. I have met and talked to several people that motivate me and push me to do more every day. I am down to 297.2 lbs and have lost a total of 38.6 so far. My goal is to get down to at least 220 lbs but it all depends on how 220 is on my frame.                                                                                                


 

 Wanna know what is extra cool? This morning while I was at work I was walking around doing some things that I do every morning. One of my coworkers stopped me and said "you are losing weight aren't you." This is the first person that has said anything so far. Dang it feels good to know that others are starting to notice the difference. I can't wait until I am down even more weight and see someone that I have not seen for a long time. That will be so cool.

Thanks for all of you guys that have followed and helped me out throughout this process by encouragement and support. It has certainly helped me push harder and harder each day.



End of round 1

Tomorrow is the weigh in day for the 1st month of the November - May dietbet transformer. I am under goal and almost to 100% of round number 2. Excited to see what I am finally at tomorrow morning. :) Wish me luck

Break Walk

Today was one of the first snowstorms here in Utah.  I was pretty sad just because it will make it harder to workout outside. During work today I decided that why is the weather stopping me. It was time for my break here at work and I went outside and walked just under 1 mile. It was cold and it was still snowing but it felt so good to get in some movement. Hopefully it is good enough weather to go running tonight. I just love my life

 

12-2-13 3.22 mile run

Thanksgiving Point Pilgrim 5k

About a week before Thanksgiving I decided I wanted to run another 5K. It had been almost 2 years since I ran my first 5k. The first one was also at Thanksgiving point but it was by the water tower where this one was by the gardens and the golf course. This course was a lot harder because of the elevation difference. I ran the whole thing without stopping. It is such a gratifying feeling to finish an actual race rather than running outside all by yourself. My favorite part is that my wife and son did the 5k with me. It was her very first 5k. I am so proud of her of completing it. We have decided that we want to make this a tradition every year. 

100 mile goal

Lately I have been running more than ever. I was looking around on the mapmyrun website and found that I can create goals. It may sound crazy but I want to log 100 miles by 12-31-13. That gives me 35 days. I think it is doeable though because it is just under 3 miles per day on average. I have also set the goal to log at least 20 workouts during that time which should be a given if I log the 100 miles.

Eating like crap=weight gain

The past 2 days I have eaten straight crap. Don't ask me why but for some reason I did. After weighing in this morning I found that I gained about 6 lbs. It is so frustrating knowing that all of the work I put in to get down was lost in 2 days of eating. I know I can and will be better. One of the main reasons is I have not worked out the last several days because my wife has been working nights which in turn means that I have been in charge of watching my son each night. I am thinking of going and buying a jogging stroller so I can get out and run with him. He loves being outside and so do I. Wish me luck in this journey as I wish you luck in your own personal journey.

30 days and 31 lbs

Yesterday I hit 30 days in a row logging into myfitnesspal. Myfitnesspal has been an integral part of me being healthy. Holding myself accountable for everything I put in my mouth is what makes me successful. The cool thing is I hit 31 lbs lost this morning when I jumped on the scale. I am so proud of myself but still have a long way to go. 

The infamous CHUBRUB

Wanna know what's kinda weird and funny. One of the biggest reasons I want to be fit is to never get the nasty horrible painful chub rub again! If you don't know what I am talking about you should be thankful. I will explain. 

In the urban dictionary it lists chubrub as:

noun The meaning for hot, sweaty and clampy skin on the legs as a result from the large masses of fat on the bodies of ugly girls and little boys.

Usually to avoid the nasty chub rub when working out I wear under armour underwear. However, yesterday for some weird reason I forgot to change out of the regular underwear I wear. When I got home from a 4 mile run I was in pain. I kept thinking how stupid can I be. The rest of the night and most of today I have been paying for it. Sometimes during the summer as a fat kid even when you are not working out you sweat and the cub rub starts. 

This is one of my motivations to get healthy. I was reading articles online before I wrote this by fat people. Each of the articles that I read wrote things to prevent getting the infamous chubrub but none of them simply said to get out and lose the weight. It really is as simple as that. Finding motivation in the littlest things is what has helped me though this journey so far. Find what can help you make it and get out and move!

Running Motivation

I was looking for motivation today on youtube and ran into this video today!



My favorite quote in this video went something like this , " whether you think you can or you can't, you are right"!

I CAN AND WILL DO WHATEVER I PUT MY MIND TO

Put your fork down between bites

I have always devoured all of my food so quick that I almost don't even taste it. This has gotten me into trouble because I used to shovel it into my face so quick that I would get so sick and always eat way too much food. I have found that if I put my fork down in between bites I chew my food slower and enjoy the food. In turn, my stomach can tell me when it is full rather and just filling it way more than I should. If it is something I eat with my hands I have been making a concious effort to put the food down inbetween bites as well. I don't pick the food back up until I have completely chewed the food and swallowed. I read somewhere that most of us can eat a meal in 10 minutes, yet it takes our stomachs at least 20 minutes after we're done eating to signal our brains that we're no longer hungry. When we slow down we give our stomach just enough time to catch up with our brain, which in turn helps us eat less. So, next time you eat try it and see how it works out for you because it certainly works for me.

4-16-13 4 Mile run

Party Temptation

Last night was a win for sure. We were celebrating my wife's step mother's 50th birthday. We all went out bowling. We all know what comes with a party though.... FOOD. I was really proud of myself because while everybody else was ordering food I respectfully declined but had 1 eclair when the desert was passed around. WIN. The best thing is when I woke up this morning I jumped on the scale and had lost 3 lbs from the previous day! woot woot

Winner and another 6 month diet bet

Got my confirmation email this morning from the Dietbet that i won $43.14. I am so excited. I have never won any kind of bet that has to do with a diet or getting my life back. It has been such great motivation that I signed up for the 6 month November-May diet bet where you are supposed to lose 10% of your body weight in the 6 month period. I am already about 10 days behind so I have to pick it up.

 

25 lb mark

This morning I jumped on the scale and was surprised to have hit the 25lb mark! woot woot. That is a great milestone. This is about 1/4 of what I want to lose. I pray that motivation continues not only until I am fit but throughout the rest of my life.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

I FINISHED THE SHAYLOSS DIETBET. Not only did I finish it, I won. I ended up losing just over 23 lbs in 29 days! I feel great. I have a long way to go and will do this.

 

Final Weigh-in photo for the dietbet (dont mind me looking like a dead zombie, it was 4am and I have a mustache for MOvember)

Crappy Sundays and weigh in tomorrow

Yesterday was a tough day. My wife and I were out and about a lot of the day. It made it tough to eat healthy. I ate several things that I probably shouldn't have and the scale showed that this morning as well. Sundays are going to be the tough days to stay healthy because we have family dinners 3 out of the 4 weeks. I don't have much of a choice over what is cooked. I guess I will just have to be more careful and restrain more. Here is to a good week.

I am excited for tomorrow! It is the day that I get to weigh in for the final of the dietbet that I got to be apart of. I lost over my 4% and will be making some money. I have no idea how much but will be excited to see how much. Now to decide if I want to reinvest it into another diet bet over the next month or cash it out. :)

I am proud of myself today

Wasn't feeling it much this morning when I woke up for my run. It was about 7 am and a brisk morning. I threw on my jacket and under armour warm gear for my head. I was all excited to see if I could beat my last time on the same 3.8 mile run. I started up mapmyrun and my bodymedia app on my phone and got my workout mix going. I ran my fastest 1st mile yet. The crazy thing is I have beaten my legs so much this last week that they wouldnt take the pounding today. I ran about 2 miles straight and had to walk about 1 1/2 miles straight after that and ran the last .8 miles. I was really disappointed in myself throughout a lot of the time I was walking. However, towards the end of the run I reminded myself that I was doing laps around everyone that was still sleeping or watching college football pregames. With time I will be able to run without stopping each and every time but I can consider today a win because I didn't shut off my alarm and go back to sleep. That would have been way easy to do. It took some mental power and motivation to get up and do work. I can say:

I PROUD OF MYSELF TODAY!

Feeling guilty

Feeling really guilty tonight for letting myself get to where I am. To allow myself to get to 335lbs is pretty sad. Do I not care about myself, my wife or son? Really depressing thinking about it. It has taken me 26 years to get to where I am. I have to remember it's going to take me a Lon time to get me back to where I want to be. 

Dont let the voice tell you to quit

 

I have found this quote to be very true the last couple of week. More than likely I will find it more to be true in the future as well. When I started running again last week I ran 1 mile stopped for about 15 minutes and then ran back the other mile. I was completely gassed (or so I thought). Our bodies can do so much more than our minds. If you push through that initial pain your body will understand that it can do it and you WILL succeed .

Jillian Michaels Podcast

I have about a 30 minute drive to and from work everyday. Instead of just listening to music I listen to a lot of podcasts. They are so much more educational and entertaining to me. Sometimes after a long day of work I feel like I may fall asleep. Got to keep my mind engaged. Well, yesterday during the drive to work I was listening to Jillian Michaels podcast. There was this lady that called in with a question about how to get her motivation back. She used to be about 4'11" and 110 lbs but recently got married, went on her honeymoon which was a cruise and is up to about 135lbs. She said that she had gotten lazy and her husband was happy with her. Jillian said something to the effect of how laziness is not an excuse for gaining weight and there must have been another reason. After talking to her for a bit they determined that this lady did not have anything to look forward to with being healthy and fit. She was saying that if we just workout to workout we will fail often. No one enjoys the workout, only the success you feel afterwards. She then said something that hit me. I need to think of things that I will look forward to with being healthy. Yesterday evening I kept thinking of these things. One of the main things is when I go to a clothing store and I see some clothes that I like I want to just be able to buy it no matter what. Right now I have to search to see if they even have my size. It would feel incredible to know that I am a regular size. Next, I would like to be active with my son. Over the last couple of months since he was born we have sat in front of the tv a lot. When he is able to get up and move I want to be a good example to him so he can live his life to the fullest extent and be as happy as possible. I am sure other things will come to mind and things I would like to look forward to but these are just fine with me so far in my journey. Now, I just need to succeed.

The Big Circle run

I just have to say that I am so proud of myself. Yesterday I was wanting to get out and go run but I did not think I was going to be able to do much. Running the day before made my legs way sore. Legs don't like 315lbs pounding on them while running. This is why I can't wait to get the strength back in them. When I first started running I made the decision that I needed to push myself past what I did they night before. It was going to be tough but I knew that I could and would be able to do it. About 1 mile into the run I had the idea that I wanted to make a big loop around my neighborhood. I had no idea how far it was. All I knew is that it was quite a bit further than the day before. It is so incredible how when you first start running you feel good but about 15-20 minutes in you feel like you need to stop because you are sore or tired. I have found that if you push past that point most of the time you catch your second wind (at least for me and my wussy beginner workouts). By the end of the run it was dark outside and pretty cold. When I came to the end I felt like I could run another mile at least but decided that my wife would not be too happy if the dinner got cold. Sometimes it sucks when you are working out but the feeling of pure happiness when you complete is what I look forward to.

I am going to call this run the big circle.

This is one of the most motivating things to me. When i get home I can actually see the work that I did because of my bodymedia armband. Averaging about 20 calories a minute is pretty decent in my book. How does that not make you feel great about what you just did. 

 

Slow and steady! haha. How cool is it going to be when I am able to go back and see how much I have progessed. I averaged about a 14 minute mile. Pretty sad but I just kept telling myself to keep on pushing and that I did.

 

This is the summary of my workout from my bodymedia arm band. 1061 CALORIES WOOHOO! Best calorie burn in one workout so far by a long shot.

Running like a madman

Last night I did my first run since getting back on track. The time does not show how well I did because when i got to the park I did some leg workouts like step ups and squats for about 10ish minutes. I was really proud with how well I did. I felt as if I could have ran a lot longer too but Shaileen was just finishing up dinner. I look forward to increasing my runs to be faster, longer and further. One of the goals I have set for myself is to run a half marathon and even a whole marathon. It is going to be tough but I know that I can do whatever I set my mind to. It just takes work. I just need to follow my alltime favorite quote by Vince Lombardi.

 

The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.

 

 

Shayloss Dietbet

One of the things that motivated me to start getting back on track as funny as it sounds is money. I watch this youtube channel called the Shaytards. You may have heard of them before or possibly even seen them.

Well the Dad of the family lost over 100 lbs and decided to put on a Shaytober to get everyone healthy. He also signed up for a dietbet. If you have not heard of dietbet I would definately recommend checking it out. It is a form of competition where everyone puts in a certain amount of money. In this competition it was $30. The way it works is if you lose 4% of your body weight in 28 days you make your money back plus everyone that made the goal splits the rest of the money between themselves. How cool is that? I guess on average people are almost doubling their money is what I have heard. How cool is that! After this dietbet I will probably take the money I get back and earn and put it right back into another dietbet. It has been great motivation this past month.

Back about 2 weeks ago I weighed in at a whopping 335.8 lbs. I have bever been this big in my life. When I saw that number it just about killed me that I was doing that to myself and making a terrible example for my son. To date, which is 22 days later, I have lost a total of 21.6 lbs. Got a long ways to go and I am going to do it.

 

 

Check out this video, it will tell you all about the dietbet way better than I ever could. ENJOY!

 

DietBet - Have Fun. Lose Weight. Make Money! from DietBet on Vimeo.