Well that's the end of week one. Overall pretty good, we'll have to wait for the scale tomorrow, but no matter what it says I know I've started making real change this week.
Lots of people help me with this journey, and every Monday I intend to recognize some of them. Today I want to talk about the guy who has developed the workout program I am following.
Robert Foster, Owner of www.trainersonsite.com , and his wife Michelle are a potent health combination. Robert is an accomplished Personal Trainer, Michelle a Registered Holistic Nutritionist. Between the two of them is a ton of knowledge about the human body and how to get it healthy.
I met Rob through Karate a couple of years ago, and quickly recognized the intense passion he has for physical training. Rob keeps himself in top shape, working out daily in addition to Karate, and delivering training sessions for clients. He does all this while still finding time for his wonderful family.
Rob and Michelle have been cheering me on as I try to get healthy for the last while now, and their help in this 100 day challenge cannot be understated.
Besides designing my workouts to maximize what I can do, while avoiding exercises that could trigger old injuries I deal with, Rob has given me a program I trust, at a level that provides sufficient challenge for change. He checks with me on a regular basis to see what is working and what isn't, he calls or emails just to let me know he is there to help me achieve my goals.
The passion these two have for fitness, the energy they bring, the belief they show in me being successful is infectious, and I am forever grateful for having them help me start this journey.
Today's Workout
TRX and Strength
Calories Eaten - 2222
Calories Burned - 3240
Monday, August 26, 2013
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Day 6 - Reflecting on the first week
First and foremost, what a response! The number of comments from friends and family who've been reading this has been great, and it has helped to keep me motivated and accountable.
Please, keep reading, and feel free to forward on if you think it has value.
As I said, I was going to be without Internet for a couple days, and while the camping trip didn't quite go as planned (sick child), it was a valuable lesson in the advantages of planning.
I came home and worked out first thing on Friday. I could have left it to later, but later has a habit of never arriving, so while it meant delaying our departure a bit, I got my workout, my priority, done. More on this workout tomorrow. But it also meant arriving a bit later at the camp, fortunately we had planned for that with an easy dinner cooked over the open fire.
Saturday was a scheduled off day, but that didn't mean doing nothing. Tearing down the campsite to bring the ill one home meant not cooking the healthy breakfast we had planned, but we had planned lots of fast healthy stuff too, so not an issue. Came home, and with no scheduled workout just went for nice 3k or so walk to make sure I still did something.
Today, back to workouts, a rowing one this time, and with it my first Non-Scale Victory (NSV) As the workout end approached, I didn't want to stop. I had more energy still! I stopped anyway, as too often i have over trained and injured myself, but what a great feeling to end the first week on.
Looking back at the week, that's the main thing I am taking from it. I haven't gone out and started a wicked, unattainable workout plan. I haven't gone on severe calorie restriction diet. I've simply started to take some action, with food, with exercise.
And I feel amazing
100 days of action, 6 of them done and I feel great already. No matter what the scale says tomorrow I know I'm doing the right thing
Join me.
- remember tomorrow, and every Monday, I will profile a personal role model around fitness, health, or generally living life with action. Stay tuned for the first one tomorrow.
Numbers for the weekend
Friday
Workout - Strength and TRX
Calories eaten - 2040
Calories burned - 3960
Saturday
Workout - Off Day
Calories Eaten - 2833
Calories Burned - 4250
Sunday
Workout - Row 3km
Calories Eaten - 1750
Calories Burned - 3460
Please, keep reading, and feel free to forward on if you think it has value.
As I said, I was going to be without Internet for a couple days, and while the camping trip didn't quite go as planned (sick child), it was a valuable lesson in the advantages of planning.
I came home and worked out first thing on Friday. I could have left it to later, but later has a habit of never arriving, so while it meant delaying our departure a bit, I got my workout, my priority, done. More on this workout tomorrow. But it also meant arriving a bit later at the camp, fortunately we had planned for that with an easy dinner cooked over the open fire.
Saturday was a scheduled off day, but that didn't mean doing nothing. Tearing down the campsite to bring the ill one home meant not cooking the healthy breakfast we had planned, but we had planned lots of fast healthy stuff too, so not an issue. Came home, and with no scheduled workout just went for nice 3k or so walk to make sure I still did something.
Today, back to workouts, a rowing one this time, and with it my first Non-Scale Victory (NSV) As the workout end approached, I didn't want to stop. I had more energy still! I stopped anyway, as too often i have over trained and injured myself, but what a great feeling to end the first week on.
Looking back at the week, that's the main thing I am taking from it. I haven't gone out and started a wicked, unattainable workout plan. I haven't gone on severe calorie restriction diet. I've simply started to take some action, with food, with exercise.
And I feel amazing
100 days of action, 6 of them done and I feel great already. No matter what the scale says tomorrow I know I'm doing the right thing
Join me.
- remember tomorrow, and every Monday, I will profile a personal role model around fitness, health, or generally living life with action. Stay tuned for the first one tomorrow.
Numbers for the weekend
Friday
Workout - Strength and TRX
Calories eaten - 2040
Calories burned - 3960
Saturday
Workout - Off Day
Calories Eaten - 2833
Calories Burned - 4250
Sunday
Workout - Row 3km
Calories Eaten - 1750
Calories Burned - 3460
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Day 3 - Planning the Weekend
First an admission. I had a meeting to go to tonight, had an errand to run after it. Got home late.
Did NOT want to go do my row. No matter how brief the rowing workouts are right now as I build my form and stamina for longer sessions, I just had no desire to do it.
But I did. I went downstairs and did my planned session.
Why?
Because I got myself into this mess partially by taking shortcuts. Taking the easy way. Letting my bad planning become an easy excuse to not workout, or make a good meal choice, or just be lazy as a husband, father, son, friend.
This is about action. This is about seeing things through. So to the rower it was.
Speaking of planning, I'm away this weekend, so there will likely be no update until Sunday. I'll be off with no Internet access.
Does that mean no workouts? Bad meal choices? No accountability?
HELL NO!!
My DW (darling wife) has been hard at work making sure that I will have the right meal choices with me. It's amazing the support I get from her.
I've planned my workout schedule around my weekend. Friday, before I leave I have a strength workout from my friends @trainersonsite. Then Saturday is a scheduled rest day, and Sunday I'll be back in time to get my rowing workout in again.
It's this planning that's key. When we just react to what is happening we don't always leave ourselves enough time to do the right thing, so we do an easy thing.
I can't do that anymore, it lead me to misery, so I have a plan for how to maximize what I can. Sure the unpredictable happens, but we pretend it happens way more than it does. We know Sunday traffic is bad coming home from the cottage, but we pretend to be surprised when we get home at 10pm, too late for a workout. (For the record I am leaving early and expect to be home mid afternoon, lots of time)
Don't set yourself up to fail. Have a plan. Take action. Give yourself your best chance at success for all your goals.
See you Sunday with a recap.
- by the way, every Monday I will be featuring someone who inspires me to push myself, these are friends and family that I admire for their own stories, efforts or support. Be sure to check in on Mondays to see who is featured each week.
Today's Workout
Rowing 2400m
Calories Eaten - 2163
Calories Burned - 3448
Be well!
Did NOT want to go do my row. No matter how brief the rowing workouts are right now as I build my form and stamina for longer sessions, I just had no desire to do it.
But I did. I went downstairs and did my planned session.
Why?
Because I got myself into this mess partially by taking shortcuts. Taking the easy way. Letting my bad planning become an easy excuse to not workout, or make a good meal choice, or just be lazy as a husband, father, son, friend.
This is about action. This is about seeing things through. So to the rower it was.
Speaking of planning, I'm away this weekend, so there will likely be no update until Sunday. I'll be off with no Internet access.
Does that mean no workouts? Bad meal choices? No accountability?
HELL NO!!
My DW (darling wife) has been hard at work making sure that I will have the right meal choices with me. It's amazing the support I get from her.
I've planned my workout schedule around my weekend. Friday, before I leave I have a strength workout from my friends @trainersonsite. Then Saturday is a scheduled rest day, and Sunday I'll be back in time to get my rowing workout in again.
It's this planning that's key. When we just react to what is happening we don't always leave ourselves enough time to do the right thing, so we do an easy thing.
I can't do that anymore, it lead me to misery, so I have a plan for how to maximize what I can. Sure the unpredictable happens, but we pretend it happens way more than it does. We know Sunday traffic is bad coming home from the cottage, but we pretend to be surprised when we get home at 10pm, too late for a workout. (For the record I am leaving early and expect to be home mid afternoon, lots of time)
Don't set yourself up to fail. Have a plan. Take action. Give yourself your best chance at success for all your goals.
See you Sunday with a recap.
- by the way, every Monday I will be featuring someone who inspires me to push myself, these are friends and family that I admire for their own stories, efforts or support. Be sure to check in on Mondays to see who is featured each week.
Today's Workout
Rowing 2400m
Calories Eaten - 2163
Calories Burned - 3448
Be well!
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Day 2 - It's more than the scale.
I want to clear something up.
This is not about weight and weight alone.
When this blog started back in January of 2010 (that long ago, wow) I set two goals, one was a weight loss one, the other a performance one.
But over time I've realized it is about way more than that. It's about a journey. Trying to get back to being a person I remember. Active, happy, friendly, confident. And while I'm at it, lets make some improvements about me along the way.
Why both? Ever heard "you can't love another unless you love yourself?"
What if you don't like who you've become? What if you can't identify with the guy in the mirror? Can you still love others? Can you truly act towards the rest of the world in a decent manner if you are mad at yourself?
Probably not.
I'm a decent guy, at least I like to think I am. But as I have become less happy with me, its become harder to keep that going. I'm less patient, less caring, quicker to anger and frustrate.
Will losing weight cure it? Maybe, but what if the weight loss is slow? How will I react?
That's why its key I'm measuring things other than weight. I have other numbers. Inches, performance in physical tests. All designed to show me progress in case that bathroom bearer of bad news, the scale, decides to annoy me.
But it even goes beyond that. I finished my workout tonight (TRX and weights for about 45min), and yes I was tired, yes a little sore. Very sweaty.
And one other very strong feeling when I finished....Powerful
I felt like I could take on the world. I felt energized by the idea of doing this for 100 days. I felt amazing.
I felt, like I always used to.
I could get used to that. I know not every day will be like today. I know there are hard days waiting out there.
But if that's the price I pay to go back to feeling strong, confident, happy. If that's the price I pay the price I pay to stop feeling mad at myself, and regain the patience, caring and calmness I used to be known for.
If that's the price, I'm ready to pay it.
Its not just the weight, its not just the inches, its not just the measures.
It's the feeling I am doing something about it. 100 days of "acting on life instead of reacting to it." That's the biggest victory I'll have
The victory of trying, of persevering, of not sitting down and letting it happen.
100 days of action...Join me for them.
Today's workout
45 minutes of TRX and Weights
1Km on Rower
Calories Eaten - 2027
Calories Burned - 3562
See you tomorrow!
This is not about weight and weight alone.
When this blog started back in January of 2010 (that long ago, wow) I set two goals, one was a weight loss one, the other a performance one.
But over time I've realized it is about way more than that. It's about a journey. Trying to get back to being a person I remember. Active, happy, friendly, confident. And while I'm at it, lets make some improvements about me along the way.
Why both? Ever heard "you can't love another unless you love yourself?"
What if you don't like who you've become? What if you can't identify with the guy in the mirror? Can you still love others? Can you truly act towards the rest of the world in a decent manner if you are mad at yourself?
Probably not.
I'm a decent guy, at least I like to think I am. But as I have become less happy with me, its become harder to keep that going. I'm less patient, less caring, quicker to anger and frustrate.
Will losing weight cure it? Maybe, but what if the weight loss is slow? How will I react?
That's why its key I'm measuring things other than weight. I have other numbers. Inches, performance in physical tests. All designed to show me progress in case that bathroom bearer of bad news, the scale, decides to annoy me.
But it even goes beyond that. I finished my workout tonight (TRX and weights for about 45min), and yes I was tired, yes a little sore. Very sweaty.
And one other very strong feeling when I finished....Powerful
I felt like I could take on the world. I felt energized by the idea of doing this for 100 days. I felt amazing.
I felt, like I always used to.
I could get used to that. I know not every day will be like today. I know there are hard days waiting out there.
But if that's the price I pay to go back to feeling strong, confident, happy. If that's the price I pay the price I pay to stop feeling mad at myself, and regain the patience, caring and calmness I used to be known for.
If that's the price, I'm ready to pay it.
Its not just the weight, its not just the inches, its not just the measures.
It's the feeling I am doing something about it. 100 days of "acting on life instead of reacting to it." That's the biggest victory I'll have
The victory of trying, of persevering, of not sitting down and letting it happen.
100 days of action...Join me for them.
Today's workout
45 minutes of TRX and Weights
1Km on Rower
Calories Eaten - 2027
Calories Burned - 3562
See you tomorrow!
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Day 1 - Where are we at?
WARNING - if you find images of overweight men disturbing, stop reading now
When we talk about getting healthy its always about weight....Always. We tell ourselves we need to lose 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 lbs.
Here's the problem with weight...It goes on a lot faster then it comes off. So we get discouraged, we don't see results.
We stop.
Well, I can't stop, because I committed to all of you to do it for 100 days, but how else can we measure besides weight.
Exercise and being healthy is more than a number on a scale. Its how healthy our heart is. How well our bodies can perform different tasks, so I spent Day 1 compiling a few different numbers
Pushups to exhaustion - 18
Pushups are a good measure of muscular endurance, so lets see how that improves over the first 25 days and over the 100 total.
I don't run, not with this gut, so I row. I have a concept2 rowing machine. I used it for a few of the baseline numbers too.
2000m time = 8:46.5 A good measure of cardiovascular fitness.
I also did a 500m rowing sprint and measured my heart rate at various times.
Peak = 190bpm
After 1min = 147
After 2min = 132
After 5min = 110
This gives me an idea of how fast I can recover from exertion
Comparing future results to these will let me see beyond the scale, if the scale doesn't move, but these numbers get better, I'm still making improvements, I don't have to feel discouraged just because one number didn't move,
Now for the ugly part...the body measurements and before pictures
Weight = 255.4lbs
BMI = 34.6 (Obese) - this used to be worse! Used to be Class II obese!
% Body fat = 42.4 %
Waist - 45 in
Hips - 44 in
Chest - 43 in
Thigh - 28 in
Every 25 days along this 100 day journey we will revisit these numbers, to see if we can effect more than just the scale
Well that's me right now. Day 1 is drawing to a close.
Tomorrow the real work begins. Rob Foster from Trainersonsite.com has sent me my new workouts, so we'll report back on them
Today's workout
Rowing - 2741 meters
Swimming - 1 hour leisure
Pushups to failure
Calories eaten - 2100
Calories burned - 3500
Check back tomorrow!
When we talk about getting healthy its always about weight....Always. We tell ourselves we need to lose 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 lbs.
Here's the problem with weight...It goes on a lot faster then it comes off. So we get discouraged, we don't see results.
We stop.
Well, I can't stop, because I committed to all of you to do it for 100 days, but how else can we measure besides weight.
Exercise and being healthy is more than a number on a scale. Its how healthy our heart is. How well our bodies can perform different tasks, so I spent Day 1 compiling a few different numbers
Pushups to exhaustion - 18
Pushups are a good measure of muscular endurance, so lets see how that improves over the first 25 days and over the 100 total.
I don't run, not with this gut, so I row. I have a concept2 rowing machine. I used it for a few of the baseline numbers too.
2000m time = 8:46.5 A good measure of cardiovascular fitness.
I also did a 500m rowing sprint and measured my heart rate at various times.
Peak = 190bpm
After 1min = 147
After 2min = 132
After 5min = 110
This gives me an idea of how fast I can recover from exertion
Comparing future results to these will let me see beyond the scale, if the scale doesn't move, but these numbers get better, I'm still making improvements, I don't have to feel discouraged just because one number didn't move,
Now for the ugly part...the body measurements and before pictures
Weight = 255.4lbs
BMI = 34.6 (Obese) - this used to be worse! Used to be Class II obese!
% Body fat = 42.4 %
Waist - 45 in
Hips - 44 in
Chest - 43 in
Thigh - 28 in
Well that's me right now. Day 1 is drawing to a close.
Tomorrow the real work begins. Rob Foster from Trainersonsite.com has sent me my new workouts, so we'll report back on them
Today's workout
Rowing - 2741 meters
Swimming - 1 hour leisure
Pushups to failure
Calories eaten - 2100
Calories burned - 3500
Check back tomorrow!
Monday, August 19, 2013
100 Days
100 Days. Little more than 3 months.
How much has changed in your life?
How much of your life have you changed?
100 days ago I had a huge eating binge. How huge? 14579 calories.
14579. No that's not a typo. That includes at one point 5536 during a 40 minute car ride home from downtown.
Can't live like that. You cannot go out and eat a weeks worth of food in a day and expect life to be grand.
100 days ago I had my last binge. I'm proud of that. But what can I do with the next 100?
What could I do to change the fat man by November 26th?
I made a commitment 100 days ago not to go on any more crazy binges. I've battled binges all my life, and 100 days later I've been successful so far.
So lets lay down a new challenge.
A good friend of mine Rob Foster is the owner of Trainersonsite.com. Rob is a great guy and he's been trying to help me for a while now. Despite my struggles he has maintained his energy and drive to see me through it all.
So what if I made this commitment. I'm going to follow Rob's program he's given me for the next 100 days.
In the last 100 days I helped myself. Now lets start getting help from experts. I'm going to take advantage of people who want to help me, like Rob. I'll use tools like bodymedia.com and Myfitnesspal.com to track my food for the next 100 days, making sure I finish in the negative at least 6 days out of every 7.
Lets spend 100 days and start reversing this fat man. Lets spend 100 days together and see what happens.
100 days ago I had my last binge. Today starts the next 100 days. Join me, see how it goes.
Check back here frequently, my goal is to update as often as I can, daily whenever possible so that people can see the progression.
How much has changed in your life?
How much of your life have you changed?
100 days ago I had a huge eating binge. How huge? 14579 calories.
14579. No that's not a typo. That includes at one point 5536 during a 40 minute car ride home from downtown.
Can't live like that. You cannot go out and eat a weeks worth of food in a day and expect life to be grand.
100 days ago I had my last binge. I'm proud of that. But what can I do with the next 100?
What could I do to change the fat man by November 26th?
I made a commitment 100 days ago not to go on any more crazy binges. I've battled binges all my life, and 100 days later I've been successful so far.
So lets lay down a new challenge.
A good friend of mine Rob Foster is the owner of Trainersonsite.com. Rob is a great guy and he's been trying to help me for a while now. Despite my struggles he has maintained his energy and drive to see me through it all.
So what if I made this commitment. I'm going to follow Rob's program he's given me for the next 100 days.
In the last 100 days I helped myself. Now lets start getting help from experts. I'm going to take advantage of people who want to help me, like Rob. I'll use tools like bodymedia.com and Myfitnesspal.com to track my food for the next 100 days, making sure I finish in the negative at least 6 days out of every 7.
Lets spend 100 days and start reversing this fat man. Lets spend 100 days together and see what happens.
100 days ago I had my last binge. Today starts the next 100 days. Join me, see how it goes.
Check back here frequently, my goal is to update as often as I can, daily whenever possible so that people can see the progression.
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Where oh where has the fat man been?
No, I haven't been hiding in a buffet line.
Nor have I lost all the weight and am such a success I no longer need the blog.
Basically I've been an glacier, slow to move, slow to shrink, slow to change.
But there have been some changes. Anyone who has been a regular reader of mine knows about my 260lb bounce issue. Well I am proud to say I have punched through it. I am 258.6 today, this is a small victory. The larger victory is that I have been under 260lbs consistently for many weeks now.
How? Well, I eliminated certain foods entirely from my diet. What they are isn't important, but I looked at what foods I would crave, that I would drive out of my way to binge on, what foods could I never just eat a single helping of. Then I said ENOUGH! I can't eat these. Eating these never makes things better. Eating these makes things worse, makes me unhealthy, makes me want more. It was so liberating to say " I am never having (insert red list food here) again"
And I haven't...I may not have had anything approaching a perfect diet over the last while, but I haven't touched any of those foods. For the most part I don't even miss them.
Another change, is I have found a group of wonderful people who share my desire to stop living an unhealthy lifestyle, who struggle in the same ways I do. These folks have helped me immeasurably, and I like to think I have helped them a bit too. Without them I'd still be bouncing off 260. We get together every week and we talk about the week that was, our success, our failures, our struggles and our victories. I look forward to it every week.
Unfortunately that's been the only truly consistent part of this journey recently, these weekly meetings.
I haven't exercised with regularity, I haven't tracked my food with regularity. I haven't listened to the advice of experts and loved ones on tools that could help. I haven't listened to myself when I've know the right way forward. I've hummed and hawed, and tried a lot of half measures.
And I've had results that befit someone trying half measures.
What is it about this that is so hard? I know the way, I know the effort required. I know the key is consistency.
Maybe writing this will help. Maybe opening up here about the struggle is the key.
Stay tuned...Hopefully there will be more soon
@fatfitman
Nor have I lost all the weight and am such a success I no longer need the blog.
Basically I've been an glacier, slow to move, slow to shrink, slow to change.
But there have been some changes. Anyone who has been a regular reader of mine knows about my 260lb bounce issue. Well I am proud to say I have punched through it. I am 258.6 today, this is a small victory. The larger victory is that I have been under 260lbs consistently for many weeks now.
How? Well, I eliminated certain foods entirely from my diet. What they are isn't important, but I looked at what foods I would crave, that I would drive out of my way to binge on, what foods could I never just eat a single helping of. Then I said ENOUGH! I can't eat these. Eating these never makes things better. Eating these makes things worse, makes me unhealthy, makes me want more. It was so liberating to say " I am never having (insert red list food here) again"
And I haven't...I may not have had anything approaching a perfect diet over the last while, but I haven't touched any of those foods. For the most part I don't even miss them.
Another change, is I have found a group of wonderful people who share my desire to stop living an unhealthy lifestyle, who struggle in the same ways I do. These folks have helped me immeasurably, and I like to think I have helped them a bit too. Without them I'd still be bouncing off 260. We get together every week and we talk about the week that was, our success, our failures, our struggles and our victories. I look forward to it every week.
Unfortunately that's been the only truly consistent part of this journey recently, these weekly meetings.
I haven't exercised with regularity, I haven't tracked my food with regularity. I haven't listened to the advice of experts and loved ones on tools that could help. I haven't listened to myself when I've know the right way forward. I've hummed and hawed, and tried a lot of half measures.
And I've had results that befit someone trying half measures.
What is it about this that is so hard? I know the way, I know the effort required. I know the key is consistency.
Maybe writing this will help. Maybe opening up here about the struggle is the key.
Stay tuned...Hopefully there will be more soon
@fatfitman
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