Day 42..An Inspiration and a mad fatfitman

First and foremost I want to say congratulations to the entire @trainersonsite Tough Mudder Team.

This team trained hard, worked together, and conquered a grueling 17 km, 21 obstacle course. I could not have been prouder to have acted as their photographer all day, and try to provide some encouragement along the way.

It was incredibly inspirational to watch my wife, my friends, and all the competitors work to overcome the challenges. Old, and young, fit and injured, they persevered. At the end of the day, Rob handed out his own Trainersonsite medals to everyone, including me.

I couldn't accept it.

I didn't earn it.

While they were battling the obstacles and elements, I was fighting a battle of my own. This was the first time that being this out of shape had actually kept me from doing something I desperately wanted to do. No matter my size or condition I've played golf, hockey, tennis or participated at karate. I haven't been as good as I could have been if I was fitter, but I never had to say "No, I can't do that"

Yesterday, I had to say it. And it pissed me off.

It hurts, deep down it hurts a lot. I love the outdoors, I love this kind of activity. This race and it's ilk are the kind of thing I lived for when I was fit. To watch these amazing people and photograph their remarkable day was incredibly painful.

I've had a very unfocused week. Haven't worked out as much as I should, eaten a bit sloppy, gained a small amount of weight. But yesterday brought that focus back. Now I'm mad. Mad and very very focused

I don't like the sidelines. I'm a participant. Next year I am one of these guys.

Again, congrats to my wife, my friends and the entire team who finished. You guys kicked ass. You're my Monday motivators. I hope you're back there next year, so I can truly join you.

Day 36...Vacation is from work not workouts

I travel a lot for work, and travel has specific problems for people trying to lose weight. Restaurant food, long hours, and the lack of easy to access healthy options can lead to a brutal diet.

Conversely, business travel has some big advantages too, most hotels have good workout facilities, you don't have too many demands on your time when your workday ends, so scheduling a workout shouldn't be too hard.

However, that's not what usually happens. Usually we do the bad, (eat eat eat) and make excuses around the good. For me I get back to my room and I don't want to get out to the gym again, I settle in, start on my laptop or tv and that's it.

Enter Rob Foster and TRX.

TRX is a suspension workout device that can be hooked over most doors and create the foundation for a ton of resistance and core exercises. It folds down to nothing in your travel bag.

Rob created a bunch of TRX workouts I can use when I travel, easy for me to do right in my room, yet all the challenge of working out at home

My wife and I are on vacation for a few days right now, and as I am blogging, she's is doing a great TRX exercise set, I'm up next.

We can always find excuses, and pass them off as reasons, but sometimes if we are properly motivated, we instead start searching for solutions. We start to enjoy the task as we see the results of our hard work.

I'm starting to really see and feel the results of my hard work, and so for the first time in a long time a trip away from home didn't lead to an easy excuse. It lead to a workout, it lead to careful choices in restaurants. All these little choices, leading to success.

Make your little choices good ones, turn your search for excuses into a search for answers. 

P.S. No spotlight blog yesterday as I am away, but it will return next week.

Day 33...249 and beyond!

I stepped on the scale this morning, just as kind of a mid-week check in.

249.6  down about half a pound.

Let me give that number some context. I last blogged on Tuesday.

Wednesday - Karate, back starts acting up part way through class I have to stop

Thursday - back is sore, no workouts

Friday - Osteopath and Personal Trainer meeting. Determine best course of action is no Karate for 1-2 months. Also have to limit squats and lunges, cornerstones of my program.

So by today I'm pretty upset. Feels like a huge setback. But what a difference having my food in order makes. Despite these challenges, I'm still going the right way. That's hugely encouraging.

Also, below 250!  I haven't been below 250 lbs since about 4 months after I shattered my right tibia in a hockey accident. That time I got below 250 because I literally couldn't make it to the fridge. This time the measures are far less extreme.

So challenges ahead, but I'm well set up to handle them. I have a great team working with me on this.

Could I do this alone? Maybe, but I cannot begin to express how helpful it is to have people like my personal trainer Rob Foster, and my osteopath Mindy Parmar, working with me and with each other to find solutions to some of these challenges.

It goes back to this. We all face tough times. We all face things we cannot, at that moment do. But do we give in? For me the answer has to be no.

The answer lies in what we CAN do, not in what we can't. It lies in finding the help we need, or accepting it when it comes up. We're not weak because we seek this help out, we're strong for recognizing when we need it.

Day 29...Soooo Close, and a thank you to my readers

Weigh in day.

I was really hoping to drop below 250 for the first time in years, so onto the scale I stepped.

249.8....250.0

damn, hang on, stupid scale. Lets try that again

250.0

Grrrr..

Okay, down a pound again. Nothing wrong with that at all, but did the scale have to taunt me?

Anyway, it is what it is, and its still moving the right way.

I want to take a moment to thank all of you who read this. I get comments through Facebook, Twitter, and here on the blog from some of you, others talk to me in person, and some just show up and read. But I know you are there.

Why does this matter? For nights like tonight.

It's been kind of a long evening, and I really did not want to go downstairs and hit the weights. Tonight was a night I did it because I really didn't want to have to write a blog that says I didn't.

Any kind of self-improvement journey has to be done because the person wants it, not to impress or satisfy others. But every so often accountability to others can help.

Tonight you all helped me, just by being there.

Thank You.

Day 28...Food is everything

Sorry for the brief hiatus. I got away from the blog, and honestly the weight training for a few days. I shouldn't have but I did, so back at it now.

Which is not to say I did nothing. Actually I rode in a short bike tour on Sunday, which was amazing. I had hoped to post some pictures from it, but I couldn't fit my phone anywhere in my bike gear, so I had no camera!

Tonight was my return to hockey. I've played every year for along time, and was looking forward to hitting the ice a little thinner this season. I felt better than in the past, but not as good as I'd hoped. More work to do I suppose.

It's easy when you are writing a blog alone at your laptop to forget that there are real people reading it. Walking into the dressing room tonight was a reminder. A lot of "hey it's the blogger!" "hello fitman!". All good-natured stuff, and a couple guys commented on the slimming. I won't forget anytime soon that people are reading this!

I'm doing a pretty good overhaul of my routine to achieve my results. But sometimes it is smaller changes that bring about massive improvements.

Today I want to spotlight TG, another colleague of mine from work. TG has worked out pretty frequently as long as I have known him. He also is a big time foodie, great guy to travel with as he will have done all the research you could ever need on local eateries.

But TG wanted to get a bit healthier. So he found a website, www.myfitnesspal.com and started to record his food.

All of it, Everyday.

He kept working out, still ate at great places, but when logging his food he noticed a few things. For example, he had a favourite after-work snack. What he didn't know was how calorie filled a snack it was. Logging showed him, he changed his behaviour, and bit by bit the weight has been coming off.

TG at one point logged all of his food for 420 STRAIGHT DAYS. An incredible run, broken only when he had to travel to India for work, got caught in the time change madness of travel, and according to the website, missed a day. I think he's logged everyday since

What did this lead to? Over 35 lbs of weight loss, really just because he logged his food. That's it, it was that simple.

TG, through his dedication to this small change, reminded me that exercise can't outwork a bad diet, and we can't really judge our diet unless we accurately account for what we do. So now you'll find me on www.myfitnesspal.com , working to come close to the level of success he has had.

There are a lot of tools out there, some free, like myfitnesspal, some that will cost you a bit more, like www.bodymedia.com, there's people out there too, like Rob from www.trainersonsite.com or maybe just friends who can help. People who have been there, and know the way out. The point is they are out there, tools and people alike, all ready to help us get fit. All ready to give us guidance, assistance, hope.

Utilize them, any of them, all of them. You don't have to do this alone, you don't have to struggle in solitude.

Pickup the phone, surf to a webpage, read a book. Arm yourself with the tools that are there, apply them consistently (420days!) and success will come.

Weigh in tomorrow, talk to you then.

Day 24...The results are in!

So last night and this morning I faced the scale, the rowing machine, and the tape measure.

You'll recall from the Day 1 blog that I knew this couldn't be about JUST losing weight. As important as weight loss is, it takes time. All change does. And the fickle nature of the scale (up 1lb one day down 2 the next, back up, wash, rinse, repeat) can really get you down thinking no progress is being made

But I believed if I could measure some other things I would be able to see improvements in many areas. I thought that maybe this would serve as more proof that I was on track, and encourage me to keep going.

I was right.

Lets take a look

First up weight.

Day 1 - 255.4
Day 24 - 251. 2

Change -1.6%

A good start. Over 4lbs down. This also means my BMI drops to 34.1

Waist down 2 inches to 43
Hips down .5 inch to 43.5
Chest down 1 inch to 42
Thigh down .5 inch to 27.5

Total loss is 4 inches. Again, a pretty good start

So my body is changing, slowly, but changing.

What really excited me though was the performance numbers.

Day 1 Pushups to exhaustion - 18
Day 24 Pushups to exhaustion - 29!

2000M Row
Personal Best prior to these 100 days: 8:46.5
Personal Best now:  8:33.7

Recovery from exertion (500m row at 1:58 pace) . Today's values in bold

Peak HR -          190    175
After 1 minutes - 147    130
After 2 minutes - 132    113
After 5 minutes - 110     98

In just 24 days I have seen substantial differences in my performance in all areas. Not just the scale, not just one spot. Everywhere.

I know I don't look a lot different yet. That will come, but this hard work is paying off. I'm stronger, my heart is healthier, and I feel better.

The past 24 days have not been perfect either. I have worked out 19 of 24 days. Not bad, but I can do better. I have logged my food only 15 of those days. I can do a lot better there.

So on to the next 25 days, hopefully in good health. I feel energized, proud, ready to keep this rolling. I can see results, and I know I can improve even further.

I can feel this way because I didn't measure just one thing, I looked at lots of things, make sure you do the same. No matter what your challenge is, find a way to measure all the successes along the way. Four pounds lost in almost 4 weeks wouldn't be a huge lift to me, but these other numbers are.

What other successes can you measure to help keep you going?

Day 23, results of the first 25 days coming up

So day 25 is Friday, and as I promised every 25 days we'd check in and see how I was doing, I am ready to face the measuring tape and some of those exercises I did back on Day 1.

Unfortunately I have an appointment with my Osteopath on Monday, which means no working out, so tonight and tomorrow morning is when I'll have to go through the routine. A bit early,  but that's ok.

Yesterday was a challenge for food. I was asked to go the Jays game last night, which was great (lost, damn). I know when I go to the ball game with my friend TG (you'll hear more about him, he his an upcoming Monday profile), I know we will go out to dinner.

Going out to dinner is not a problem, there are lots of good choices on a menu. But I did something kinda dumb. I also went out for lunch.

Now don't get me wrong, I made good choices at both. But I'm a food addict, and eating 2 meals in a row out starts a little engine inside of me that cries out for more fuel. I don't need anymore food, but man I want it. I managed, with some help, to get through the ballgame without having another bite, but it wasn't easy. Fortunately I had some great distractions to keep my mind off of food.

It is another lesson on this journey though. We all know what can knock us off track, and we can pretend afterwards that it was inevitable, but the fact is we know, and since we know, we have a duty to ourselves to deal with it, avoid it, overcome it.

I'm happy to have had a fun night out. I'm glad I did it without over-indulging. Not over-eating did not detract from my night at all. I'm getting to that place where I don't need food for fun, and it's an awesome place to be.

I'm going to subject myself to my rowing machine, to the tape measure, to the scale. I do so knowing I've had a pretty good first 25 days. I know I can do more in the next 75, but this has been a great start.

Check back tomorrow and see how it's shaping up.

Day 21 - Monday's Spotlight

Weigh in tomorrow. I'm looking forward to this one. I've had a good week, back pain be damned. I've done my workouts, with a huge thank you to Rob from @trainersonsite  the modified workouts allowed me to keep this body moving.

I've been good with food, the back is feeling a bit better, all signs point to a good morning.

No Spotlight last week with the holiday, but today it's spotlight #2

I first met JB about 10 years ago at my office. As long as I have known him he has been fit. How fit you ask? This is a guy who runs duathlons, which is like a triathlon for non-swimmers. When we would travel for work together he would wake up in the morning, very early, and run 5k or so to get his day started. Then he'd be back on the treadmill or elliptical before dinner. I'd get my workout raising a glass to my lips.

As I said, fit. But it doesn't stop at just being fit. A little over a year ago he decided to focus on his fitness even more. The results are incredible. He's down another 30lbs. I would never have guessed he could lose 30lbs, but he has. He looks incredible.

How is he doing this? Well, he's watching his diet, even more carefully than he used to. He runs frequently, then for a second workout it is almost daily bike rides with his teenage son (another fitness buff)  through the hills around their home, or if the weather is no good for riding, they are doing the "Insanity" workout DVDs. On the weekends its 80-100km of road biking.

What makes this even more impressive is JB commutes from Guelph to Toronto everyday. This is a guy in his forties, in the car for a long drive home, and instead of collapsing in front of the TV and eating something packaged, has a healthy meal and then works out twice!

As if this isn't enough on it's own, JB has more personal integrity than any one I have ever known. He genuinely cares about the plights of his friends and co-workers, you will never meet a better listener, or confidant. He also gives back to his community, having been a hockey referee for over 20 years

We could all stand to be more like JB, not just for his healthy living, but for his strength of character. I would love to live in a world populated by people displaying his caring, dedication, and commitment.

So thanks JB, I'm motivated to be more like you in every way!

Day19 - Enjoying the little changes

I want to lose 65 lbs, be faster, stronger, fit in stylish clothes and do athletic activities well again.

But that is a long way off.

The trouble with getting healthy the right way is it takes time. We are bad at patient. We have fast food, drive-thrus, minute rice, and are always looking to be quicker

We want results now. We used to wait a day for someone to call us back, a week for a letter. Now if we call someone and they don't instantly answer we're annoyed. E-mail? Even that's too slow, so we invented instant messaging.

But a healthy change takes time.

Note I didn't say weight loss.   You can do weight loss fast. Many have. And many (though not all) are right back where they started or worse.

My example? I have lost 65lbs, twice, on a well known and well advertised weight loss plan. Both times the program worked as advertised. But it is not a sustainable lifestyle, at least not for me, not for most. I gained all that weight back, plus some extra.

The goal here is to do it right, normal eating, add exercise, avoid the pitfalls of too many treats or "cheat" days.

But how do you stay motivated? When I was on that weight loss program, it was very  motivating to see 5lbs a week coming off. (and very depressing to watch 30lbs go on in one month at one point)

My weight loss to date is much slower than that, so I can't look to the scale for the drive. So where is it?

It's in the small things. Here's 2 from the past couple of days.

1.     Went to the Mandarin last night for Dinner. Normally that would be 3 plates of food, plus desert, at a minimum. But I'm just not that hungry anymore. Over 110 days since I dramatically overate, my body understands full again. So after plate one, I just couldn't go again to the buffet. I didn't want to, it would have felt gross to do so. That is a huge improvement. That is motivating.

2.     We do Karate as a family. All four of us have a great time at our dojo. We had taken the summer off, and returned this week. I was shocked at how good I felt on the dojo floor. From leading the warm up, right through the katas, I felt amazing. More energy, more flexibility, less tired.

Two small Non-Scale Victories (NSVs). Two things I felt good about, that will help keep me going.

We can't always get the big change we want right away. Most journeys are ones of hundreds, thousands of small steps.

Don't sabotage your goals by looking for the quick fix. There are no shortcuts.

Find your joys in the journey, and the journey will seem short on its own

Day 17 - One more day

So I saw my Osteopath Tuesday, things aren't too bad, but I am going to need at least another day or two to recover before I can go back to full working out.

It's disappointing, but not disheartening. I was able to do most of a Karate class yesterday, my Son's first, which was awesome. Then I came home and hit the new TRX workout I had. Still need to make some minor modifications to avoid further aggravating the back, and certainly rowing tonight is out of the question. I just tried and it seems I'm not quite there.

But that doesn't mean the journey stops. It means tomorrow I do Karate again, another Strength workout as well, mostly focusing on Arms and Chest. It means being super careful around food, so that I don't start undoing my gains.

It would be a simple matter to just stop now, like I have so many times before. But I'm sick of back pain, I'm sick of injuries, and the only way to get better long term, is to allow a bit of short term healing and then get right back to it.

So, I'll do what I can, instead of stopping completely, I'll focus on what I can control instead of worrying about what I can't.

How much better would we all be if we just did that? Simply focused on the things we can control, and not try to force the things we cannot. I can't make myself get better, but I can control what I do in the meantime. I can't change the weight causing me back pain today, but I can control how I act today to keep it from hurting in 6 months.

What are you trying to control right now that is actually uncontrollable? Are you worried about something that hasn't happened yet? Focus on what you can do, leave the rest to whatever happens happens.

We only control ourselves, believing anything else is foolish, and a recipe for resentments

Day 15 - Could have been a real downer

First off the weight, as expected up slightly at 254 lbs. That's ok. I know why, I know how to deal with it mentally. I'll be alright.

Except that my back has started to hurt. Now normally I'd be concerned here.

Here's what my normal response to some back pain would be.

1) Cease all exercise
2) Get depressed that once again injuries had derailed my attempts at health
3) Rest back
4) After back has healed, stay lazy for at least 6 weeks thinking about working out again.

Now this time we're going to do something a little different.

Last night, as soon as I felt it flaring up I contacted Rob, my Personal Trainer from @trainersonsite . I advised him of what was happening, and within a few hours I had a new workout routine, one that won't stress my back in anyway while it heals. He included some specific instructions on supporting my spine while doing some of the routines.

So tonight I'll go see my Osteopath, who has been a miracle worker for me in the past. With any luck the back will be normal shortly.

But again, such a key lesson, when faced with a challenge, how do we respond? Do we sulk? Do we turn to Dr. Internet and hope we can find reasonable advice? Or do we turn to experts, like Rob, like Doctors, like other professionals in our fields, and ask them for help?

We cannot do all things by ourselves, there are powers and knowledge higher than ours, we have the ability to tap in to those to help ourselves.

So that's the lesson for today, whatever ails you, whatever stands between you and your goal, whatever it is, there is someone out there who can help, someone who knows a way forward.

Don't be afraid to ask.

Day 14 - Feeling good, but that scale awaits...

Last day of summer really. I know not officially, but tomorrow the regular routine begins again.

I'm not all that different from a school kid tonight. This past week I have been on vacation, relaxed, doing lots of fun things, all outside my normal routine.

On the one hand tomorrow marks the end of that, back to work, back to the stress of deadlines, projects, back to waking up early and braving traffic.

On the other hand tomorrow also marks the return of familiar patterns, routine. When you're trying to make a lifestyle change like I am, routine is your friend.

This past week I've kept a nice routine with working out. I've not shied away from putting the work in. But to be honest my food, especially the last few days has been a bit sloppy. Being away from routine will do that. Its too easy to grab an extra snack. I'm on vacation and I'll take a drink or two, eat a few things I shouldn't.

Now in the past I would have had quite the feeding frenzy over the last few days, this is nothing like that. This is more normal small indulgences. That said, it still has an effect.

Tomorrow, aside from being the first day back to the routine, also marks my return to the scale. I am not going to be at all surprised to step on it and find no decrease or even a slight up tick.

Will I be disappointed? Sure, a little. Will I say to hell with it and take a giant leap backwards?

I will not.

I'm 14 days into a 100 day start to the rest of my life. I do not expect this to be a perfectly smooth journey. No one should, whatever you are trying to do in your life, success looks nothing like a straight line. If Michael Jordan can get cut from his High School basketball team, I can handle a minor setback on my trek to health.

Tomorrow, no matter what it says, I will blog about it, I will workout, I will re-enter my routines.

What I won't do is look at the scale and say I failed. I said a couple weeks ago, this is not just about weight loss. This is about a long term change. This is about a lot of things.

Tomorrow is one measure, 15 days later at the 30 day mark is a whole bunch of measures.

But the real measure is at Day 100. And it won't be in inches, pounds, or a personal best time at something. It will be in how I feel, how consistent I was, and how many of you I have inspired.

Stick around