Goal Reached--Well kinda

So I've reached a goal of sorts....
I'm going to lay it out...I was big, heavy and unhealthy! No other way to put it. I had wanted to be under a certain weight by this birthday. I was a little apprehensive about admitting my weight on this here interwebz because, well, it'll be out there for everyone to see. However, if everyone can see it and my progress then I can be accountable and continue to stride toward my over all goal of awesome!

So here it is kids...I wanted to be under 200 lbs by my B-day(which is next week). Well, unless by some miracle or level of divine intervention that is NOT going to happen. HOWEVER I choose to focus on the positive. Since Dec 1/09 I have lost a total of 38 lbs and a whopping total of 15 inches! I'd say hooray for small victories but those victories are huge. I have come further in the past 8 mos then I could have ever imagined. I still have 8 lbs to go but as long as they are off by December 1 this year I'll feel pretty good. I did plateau a bit, as anyone does in their journey but I am sticking with it.

I hope that if you are reading this that you realize that anyone can get healthy. I am a testament to this. I am about as 'broken' as a person can be and I managed to do it. All you need is a positive attitude and some friends to help you along the way. This is NOT lip service. I am known for my brutal honesty and right now I speak the truth.

Now I think it's time for me to be setting some new goals--I'll keep you posted on my path to Awesome.

Crunching Some Numbers

So...if I take a week off running, it adds about 2:oomins to my 4.6kms time. It takes me a week of running (3x4.6kms) to gain a minute back. So for every week off it takes two to recover. Gee, I think I'm done taking weeks off!

On the other hand, my hard/long run is now my easy run and the new hard/long run is... hard...and long!

Still on track to run 10kms in the Yellowknife Marathon on August 15th. Although not as far along as i thought I would be, after a motivating conversation with my brother, I've revised my goals for this run. Will update later as they may change again!

Happy run, run, running!

I am on life Fail!

Remember when I posted my list of goals and I mentioned that I had 2 conflicting facets of my personality? Yeah, well, lazy/procrastinator is winning. I'm totally calling myself out on this because by not doing it I'm just lying to myself and you can really only do that for so long before it gets tired.

Confession 1--Exercise Fail

I haven't worked out since football workshop 2 weeks ago--to be fair I couldn't really do more than waddle for the first 4 days afterward but I could have done some yoga(my poor excuse for a practice on Sunday does not count)

Confession 2--Diet Fail

I haven't eaten a proper amount of food for a day in a while--I've been a carbotarian mostly which is terrible--totally need to revisit the food guide and my "How it All Vegan" to ensure I'm getting proper protein.

Confession 3-General Attitude Fail
I'm starting to defeat myself because I no long feel those goal are attainable due to my schedule. I'm finding my life is getting in the way of me living. I fail at me time.


So I am asking you to remind me (not lecture me) as to why I'm doing this and encourage me to keep going.

Goal… To Achieve

Since a nasty ankle injury removed me from the pool back in early  winter of 2002, I’ve not been quite as active on the workout front though the appetite seemed to think different. I was a 185 lbs frame that was swimming 400 Individual Medley just under 4 minutes and 30 seconds, training between 6 and 12k per day in the pool, and likely consuming at least 8,000 calories in the same period. Literally it didn’t matter what I ate, I just burned it away in time for the next slice. As such, my exodus from the pool was met with a weight increase, topping out at a pudgy 220 at my heaviest. Since then my “fitness” goals have been more associated with losing weight than trying to achieve. This time around I’m adding a new page from an old book to help me stay on the fitness band wagon: Achievement.

Setting the Goal of Achievement

It’s simple really instead of saying, “Okay, I’m going to work out until I’m X’lbs”, I’ll be focusing on milestone achievements. So here were my goals prior to last week’s initial test:

Push-Ups: 83 consecutively.

Sit-Ups: 57 in 60 seconds

2.4km Run: 9 minutes

After the initial test it became clear that the sit-ups needed to be adjusted. The push-ups almost seems manageable after the initial test results (45), though adding another 37 is going to hurt a bunch! The run is what’s going to break me – I've not gone under 9 minutes since age 16, and then I only went an 8:40 at what I would have considered one of my peak times for fitness level. But that’s beside the point, here are my goals going forward:

Push-ups: 83 consecutively

Sit-Ups: 65 in 60 seconds

2.4km Run: 9 minutes – or at least 3 minutes ahead of Chappell at the end.

Training to Achieve

So in replace of the calorie counting journal (though I’m keeping a nutrition journal as of this week – something I suggest to all), I’ll be setting weekly goals thanks in part to a training program I’ve started called P90x (the “X” is for Xtremely Cute Basket of Puppies – or more appropriately the X is for this) which will likely destroy me thanks in part to the muscle confusion and sheer core intensity of the program.

So week 1’s goal was to finish week 1 – which I did. Because the program makes you record your workouts (how many reps, weight, etc.) I will be aiming for a modest 25% increase in chin-up and push-up reps, while maintaining my rep count in weighted exercises but increasing the weight by at least 5lbs.

Accountability

One of the things that has always bit me in the end was not having someone there to keep me accountable. When swimming, I had a coach who could tell when I was putting in the effort, logging the weight room time and things like that, but when working out on your own you don’t really have that driving force there. So I’ve set-up a Google Calendar with another friend who will be doing the P90x program with me. We log our workouts each day we’re supposed to, and when one doesn’t the other gets on their case – oh, and this staff challenge and blog thing doesn’t hurt either.

Stay tuned for next week’s update on my P90x-a-thon and I might even take you on a little tour of the “gym”.

 

Mather out.