It can change back so quick

It is crazy how quick I can put weight back on. I went about 3-4 days straight of not eating on diet and not exercizing just to rehab my IT band and I was up about 10 lbs last evening from about a week and a half ago. It was an evening weigh-in when I usually weigh in at night but regardless that is sad. I am going hard from here on out. I want to be the best person I can be not only for myself but my family. I know that most of it is water weight from all of the sodium but the fact of the matter is I slacked off!

The Good and the Bad

I have been really frustrated with myself the last 3 days or so but at the same time so proud. Isn't it crazy how our mind sets can change so quickly. The last 3 days I have made really bad food choices. On Monday night my wife and I ordered Pizza and last night we went out to Sizzler. Why is it that putting food in your mouth is so hard to resist. The difference is in the past it never used to bother me. As I sit here typing this out today I am discusted with myself for my poor decisions and know I will be better. I have not lost a dietbet game thus far and I dont know where I am right now with my weight. It is going to be tough to make the goal of getting down to 238.1 lbs. I need to stay consistent from here on out with my workouts and my nutrition or you will get to split up my $35.
Back about 4-5 years ago I lost about 50 lbs and was feeling good until I sprained my ankle REALLY bad. I couldn't walk on it for about 2-3 weeks at all and took about 3 months to get back to regular. This caused me to stop working out and start eating like complete crap again. About a week and a half ago I was out with our local running club putting in my long run. At around mile 6 I started to get a pain in my right knee but thought nothing of it and kept on running on. I should have listened to my body because at mile 11 I had to stop because of the pain and walked about 1 1/2 miles back to my car. I was extremely sore for about 2-3 days but it got better. So, smart me, decided this past Saturday I would go out with the running club again and do the 14 mile route. When I started I was feeling incredible and was even in front of everyone that was running (about 10 people that morning). My wind and cardio was really good. at mile 9 we got to the bottom of the steep hill and I decided right then and there that I was going to make it to the top and was not going to stop. I was trucking up the hill and believe it or not I actually felt really good when I hit the top. I turned around to go back down and that is when it hit me. My right knee in the exact same location as the week previous. I started walking immediatly because I didn't want it to get worst. I did some research when I got home and it is my IT band that I am having issues with. I have decided with research and getting other opinions that I am going to take 1-2 weeks off of running to let my IT band heal and get back to 100%. It is really frustrating and scary because I have come so far and have almost hit the 100lb mark. I do not want this to be a repeat of so many failed attempts in the past. That is why as of right this minute I am getting back on the wagon and going hard. I am going to eat on diet 100% and find other cross training excersizes other than running to do until I can get back out there.
Last night I was asked to go fill in for a player on a fast pitch softball team. It had been years and years since I have played any kind of fast pitch baseball and never softball. I said that I would go help out and boy am I glad that I did for a couple of reasons. I had a blast being outside and being active. It didn't even feel like a workout because I was having so much fun. I even did decent and never struck out. I at least made contact with the ball each time I was up to bat. The best feeling about going out though is I could tell a huge difference moving around with the weight I have lost. I could move around freely without any problem all. I didnt get winded. I actually felt as if I was a tiny bit athletic as well.
What I have learned today after sitting down to write this is. I am always going to have ups and downs with my journey towards health. It is all about the mindset that I have and being able to realize that I can constantly get better. Just like my favorite quote from Vince Lombardi goes. "The only place success comes before work in the dictionary." Get out, get moving and we WILL have success in our lives.

New Years Day (the day after too)

It feels good to feel good

Over the past couple weeks but especially today I have started to feel different. Usually it feels like I have a huge spare tire around me (which I still do). However, I can tell that my stomach is starting to thin out a bit. That is where I carry almost all of my weight so for me to feel a difference there it is huge for me. Sometimes I wonder why I am doing all of this work for these slow changes but this is why. This is the motivation I have needed for the last 2 weeks. During the holiday season I had several "cheat days" and the scale reflected that each and every morning after. The good news is I am at 49.2 lbs lost right now and am hoping to hit 50 tomorrow or Sunday with some good workouts. It has been so great meeting others in the same shoes as me through myfitnesspal as well as dietbet. It is an insane amount of motivation to watch others become healthy and pushes me to continue for myself. I just have to say thank you very much.

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.

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.  

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.



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.

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

4-16-13 4 Mile run

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!

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.