Token Fat Guy...on a path less traveled

A Few Days Off

2011-08-09T12:14:00.001-04:00

I'm taking a few days off from work while I try to get my head straight.

I ordered a new exercise bike so I can get in some cardio. With the problems I've been having with my foot I'm not going to be be able to run for a while. So I need a replacement activity. The bike was delivered a few days ago.

Workout number 1: The first workout was getting the bike into the house and down the stairs without killing myself.

Workout number 2: The second workout was putting the thing together. So much sitting down, getting up, crawling around, lifting.blah blah blah. But then it was done and my new exercise bike was ready for use.

The Schwinn 240 Recumbent bike..nice, huh? Looking good.just one problem. The display doesn't work correctly. Its like everything that can light up, does. If you hold your head just right, you can see what is supposed to be displayed but with the rest of the display also lit up, its not easy. So I'll be calling today to get a replacement display board. But at least I can start using it until the new board arrives.

Workouts 3 and 4: When I was going to the gym regularly on my 'bike days' I was doing about 45 minutes on the thing. Starting all over again.I can handle about 5 or 6 minutes. And after that my legs are wobbly for the rest of the day. So I'm starting small and working my way up. My workouts are now like this.

6 minutes of bike
5 minutes of rowing
Bench presses
Seated rows
Military presses
Lying tricep extensions
Standing curls

Its not the best workout I've ever put together but it isn't supposed to trigger a lot of muscle growth or anything like that. This is just to get my muscles and my cardiovascular system to wake up. Once I'm used to the activity level again, I'll start taxing my system like what I used to do. For now I just need a boost to get my motor running.

Food.I'm still not eating right. I'm doing better but still not right. I'm taking some of the blame on this but a big stack of blame goes to the morons at Sears. My fridge (a side by side unit) started acting up a while back. The bottom half of it freezes anything I put in there. So I can only use the top half. I've had the Sears repair people over THREE TIMES so far and its still doing it. Its hard to eat right when you have limited storage space for food. I want to have raw veggies but they are useless if they are frozen.

Anyway, parts are on order and they are coming on Wednesday to fix it.at least that's the plan. Of course I'll have to go shopping after its fixed. I know just who to take with me!

I ordered some new straps for my Body Bug. That's the one bad thing about the new Bugg, the straps for the old one don't fix. I think they do that on purpose to get you to buy more stuff.

I like the new design but thing about the straps really bugs me.get it? Bugs me..

Hey.these are the jokes, people.

Anyway, that just about catches me up. Time to sign off and go do my workout.

A General Restart (coming clean on my fall from grace)

2011-07-24T13:47:00.001-04:00

I did it. I actually beat the odds and did it. I'd gone from being a person that was pushing 300 pounds to being a lean 199 pounds. So what happened?

It was easier than you'd think. And what's worse, I couldn't write about it until now.

Any of you that are still checking my site for updates (and how I love you for it) know that I had a major event that just completely turned my life upside down. I couldn't talk about it at the time. But now its 'let the cat out of the bag' time.

A number of years ago, my lovely wife Heather had some odd twitching issues when she slept. It wasn't major. I'm a pretty deep sleeper so it had to get to a certain level before we even knew it was happening. And when It did, I'd put my arm around her and just hold her still until it either passed or I fell asleep. It was kind of cute at the time. I just viewed it as one of those quirky things that made her so unique.

However, as time passed it got worse. And it became increasingly harder to hold her steady. Initially we thought it was probably something like restless leg syndrome. But we were wrong.

Heather started going to doctors. I didn't like any of the things they were telling us. I'm not fond of doctors in the first place and the idea of my wife/best friend having something going on inside of her that we didn't fully understand.well.that scared the hell out of me.

But no one was giving us a definite answer. Tests.tests.more tests.wait..monitor.compare scans. It took years. And meanwhile the twitching was getting worse. I couldn't hold her when it happened. I think that's when I started to really freak out about it. No matter how strong my weight training was making me.I wasn't strong enough and would NEVER be strong enough to hold my wife still when she got her night shakes.

What good was all this training doing if I couldn't even perform this simple task? I was starting to drift off my path.

Then we finally found out.we finally learned what the problem was. The neurologist had us come in for the news. Heather has multiple sclerosis (MS). My whole world shank to the size of that room. I remember them talking about options, treatments, reading material.what the future had in store. But I couldn't tell you any of it. I didn't hear much past the diagnosis. It just kept ringing in my head.

To my wife's credit, she took the news surprisingly well. Later there were issues but at the time she took it well. I didn't..I couldn't. No cure.NO CURE.I couldn't stop thinking about it. I couldn't focus.

No, I didn't deal with it well at all. I am humbled to admit it but everyday I drove to work I cried in the car where she wouldn't see me do it. It was as if all the joy had been stolen from my life and I would never ever feel any other way. No, I wasn't dealing well with it at all.

And to make it worse, I couldn't tell anyone. Heather didn't want people to treat her differently. I told my manager because I had to take time off work occasionally but after that.only a few close friends knew. And blogging was completely out of the question. Which is way I stopped writing. If I couldn't write about what was on my mind.well..what else is there to write about??

My life up-ended, I slowly started putting weight back on. Now I'm worse off than I was. Along the way I made some half hearted attempts to get myself back on track but until I could deal with the real problem, they were all doomed to failure.

Luckily Heather went public a while ago.so I've been free to start up again. But then.well it was embarrassing really. "So.you put all your weight back on? Not such a big shot in the weight loss community anymore, are you?" I just didn't want to face it. At least not until now.

You know what? I don't care if someone wants to give me a hard time over this. If that's the type of person they are, then they aren't the type of person whose opinion I care to put stock in. Hey, I'm Token Fat Guy..I don't care what other people think. Wait a moment.I'm Token Fat Guy! When on Earth did I start caring if someone thought I looked silly or not?? I post my weight on my shirt for all the world to see.

What the heck has been wrong with me all this time? I just needed to get it down on paper.er.virtual paper..whatever. Yeah, that's right. Now I'm feeling better. And what's more..I'M BACK!!!!!

WHAWHOOO!!!!!!!

Now here is a cute kitty because that's the type of thing I like..

And just like THAT I remember how to write a blog!

Test Post

2011-01-20T10:08:00.001-05:00

This is a test post. The test posted. I'm not sure what I'm doing now. I just haven't been writing for fun anymore and I miss it. I don't know if I'm going to keep TFG going or not.

Mostly I just wanted to see if my accounts were still active and I remembered how to blog post to the site. Everything seems to be working.

I'm not sure what I'm doing.

June 28, 2010

2010-07-18T10:00:00.001-04:00

Un-Fun-Run

It was Saturday, the day of my long run. I got up early, suited up, and headed out to the track. My plan was to do 6 miles following a pattern like.

Walk .25 miles

Run .75 miles

Walk .25 miles

Run .75 miles

..and just keep doing that for 6 miles. I did something like that last week but with .50 mile run segments. It was taxing but within my abilities. This time, I would be reaching for something I wasn't entirely sure I was ready for.

But I failed to properly factor in one important thing.the heat. Charlotte is in the grips of a nasty heat wave, baking the residents in the high 90s..with a side order of oppressive humidity. Not good running weather.

I had my bottle of water. My old water belt doesn't fit (yet). So I've been just carrying a bottle in my hand. It isn't a big bottle, just 1 pint. And its all I needed last week.

Unfortunately, I burned through that bottle before I made the 4 mile mark. But I was feeling okay.hot but handling it.

I crossed the 5 mile mark and thought to myself, "I'm home free.just 1 more mile."

Things changed pretty quickly after that. I hadn't made it to the 5.25 mile mark and everything got blurry.REAL BLURRY. At first I tried to tough it out. I've just got less than a mile left. My legs are fine.I can run this.

Then it was 'out of the frying pan and into the fire'. Dizziness set in and my vision was getting worse and worse. I knew I was suffering from heat exhaustion. This was only going to get worse if I tried to push past it. It would be one thing if I had some water left.

So close.the temptation was so strong to just try to push it. But I've had heat stoke before. I'm not going down that road again.

So I found a nice shady spot and sat down. Fortunately I wasn't alone. Another runner stopped to check on me. I got some water from him and we walked for a while. I stopped and let him continue alone. And I just kept that up until I got back to the car. Stop for a while, walk for a while.

Anyway, I bought a new water belt and I think I'll start doing my long runs at the indoor track at the YMCA until this heat breaks.

So a warning any other runners, listen to your body and stop if you have to. There are things that you can tough it out with but overheating isn't one of them. This is especially true for fat runners. Our bodies have to work harder to regulate temperature. Its just a fact of life.

Here's a pretty good link on the affects of both head exhaustion and heat stroke.

http://www.medicinenet.com/heat_stroke/article.htm

For me, once I got back home, I finished rehydrating. Then got a shower in cool water and camped out in front of the A/C for a while. After that I was right as rain. Today (two days later) I went out and did my short run (3.1 miles) with my new water belt and didn't have any issues. But it is still too darn hot out there.

Progress report

My weight loss has been continuing and I made a major milestone. I'm currently down 40 pounds! Did you see that? Nice round number...40 pounds...yeah! Hmmm, that's how much those giant bags of cat litter weigh. Not the little ones..the BIG ONES!

Pick one of those things up and carry it around for a while. See what my life was like back in January.

How much more do I want to lose? I'm not sure to be honest. If I can lose another 40, I'd be in a good place. I'd keep going but it would be nice to get down to that sort of weight again.

How do I feel? Pretty good most of the time. I'm at a point now where if I pay attention, I can see some of where I've lost weight. My face, neck and legs are all thinner now. I can tell with my neck as my collars don't really fit anymore.

I guess that's enough for this post. Everyone remember to stay hydrated!

June 22, 2010

2010-06-22T01:11:00.001-04:00

Product Review

Hi everyone. First thing I want to do is get this out of the way. Then I'll get back to the subjects you probably tuned in for.

Normally I only do reviews on products or services that have to do with health and weight loss. This time I'm going to step out of that role and review something else. I'm providing this review as a service to my readers that live close to me. Those of you that are outside the Charlotte area should skip to the stuff where I talk about running.

Advance Painting and Roofing

Let me tell you about my experience with this company. Normally, I don't respond to cold calls. Actually, I don't respond WELL to cold calls. Truth of the matter was I really needed my gutters cleaned out and with the summer heat on us, I'm not doing it myself. So when they called offering to do gutter work, I asked them for a quote.

Now this part is my fault. I should have stuck to my modus operandi of getting at least 2 or 3 quotes, but some heavy rains were coming soon and I wanted to make sure the work was done before then. Later, when I talked to another company, it was plain to see that I'd been over charged for the work.

First, I want to say that the gutters were well cleaned. They actually did a good job with that. Its what came along with it that I have a problem with.

1. I was promised that they would leave an invoice when the work was complete. They did not.

2. Later I was promised that an invoice would be mailed. I still haven't seen it. Finally, they did email it to me.

3. I was promised that they would clean up after themselves. This was done poorly. Parts of my back deck were left dirty from them dropping debris onto it.

4. They did not let me know they were starting the work. If they had, I would have moved my cars. By the time I noticed that they were on the roof, it was too late and both my vehicles were covered in gunk.

5. And the worst part of the experience was something I just happened to see. My house is a split level and has a window between the highest part of the roof and the section below it. I just happened to be walking by and looking out that window when I saw someone JUMP from the top section to the lower one. And I'm not talking about putting your hand down on one section to lower yourself down. This leap was something Spiderman would have been proud of. This guy caught some serious air doing it.

Later, when I brought this up with the company, I got the usual "oh we don't condone such behavior" story out of them. But I didn't so much get the impression that they would really do anything about it. In fact from their tone I don't think they really believed me. I think I would have gotten more out of it if I were talking to my running shoes.

In conclusion, I do NOT recommend Advance Painting and Roofing. In my personal opinion, on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being the lowest, I'd give them a 2. They DID clean the gutters after all. But I don't feel that I can trust them to work without me watching out for damage to my property. They violated that trust and I will NEVER use their service again.

NOTE: I'm really toning down how angry I am.

Okay.enough of that.

Running

People sometimes ask me, "why running?"

Let me tell how I got started running and why I now enjoy it so much.

It started the last time when I dropped all that weight. One of the things I used to do was talk walks close to the end of the day to keep my caloric burn at a fast rate. I already had my Body Bugg. So I could see how much the walks were helping. Slowly, over time, I noticed that as lost more and more weight, I wasn't getting as much out of the walks as I used to. It was still helping me, but not nearly as much as it used to.

Part of that was that I'd lost so much weight that walking was just plain easier. If you walk around as a 250 pound man you have to work harder than if you were a 220 pound man. Carry around an extra 30 pounds for a while. It gets hard, faster than you'd think.

Anyway, I was out walking one day, and I thought, "Hey, what if I just run to the corner, then do the rest of my walk normally?" I was thinking that the run would help jump up my burn rate and then walking on top of that would help to keep it up. So I tried it. And I was amazed at how many calories were burned by running. I've run on a treadmill.lot of times..but this was different. Running outside is hard.really hard.

So putting a bit of running into my walks became part of my normal routine. And every now and then I'd increase how much I was running while decreasing my walking time. Eventually, I was running more than walking. And I felt fantastic.

One of my coworkers asked me when I was going to run my first 5k. I hadn't even considered it until then. The idea of running in a race just sounded insane. I'm a big fat guy.the Token Fat Guy..what business did I have showing up for something like that? I have to admit that I was curious about it though. I found out that it wasn't the elite group that I'd envisioned and I would almost certainly NOT be the biggest person there.

The race was great. I had a blast and got some great pictures of me crossing the finish line.

But what is it that keeps me running? It is a combination of things. Here's a list.I like lists.

1. Running is cheap. Once you buy your shoes, clothes, water belt.you are pretty much done. You don't have to pay a subscription to run. Unless you sign up for Runner's World. No memberships are required.

2. No age limit.'nuf said

3. You can run just about anywhere.at any time. I have my favorite spot to run at, but I don't always go there. The only time I really can't run is when it gets too hot. That's why I try to run in the mornings.

4. The view is great. I run on in a natural area. It is very peaceful.

5. Bragging rights! "Yeah.I ran 6 miles last Saturday." It sounds awesome.non runners think you are crazy.

6. You can be as serious about it as you like. Some people are out there using heart rate monitors and have special plans worked up to maximize the benefits of every mile they run. Others just put on their shoes and lose themselves in the run.

7. Did I mention you burn a ton of calories?

8. Despite what people think, fat people CAN run. We just typically aren't very fast at it. And the best thing is we can only get better at it.

9. It doesn't take much to be a 'runner'. If you can run for 2 steps (1 for each foot), then you are a runner. I don't care if you walk for the rest of it.if you run two steps, then it was a run.and you are a runner.

10. Wakey Wakey! Have trouble waking up in the morning? Put on some shoes and run 3 miles. You will be ready to attack anything the day throws at you.

Lastly, I think running helps me deal with stress. Such as the stress caused by the folks at Advance Painting and Roofing using my roof as a trampoline.

That's all for now..go run your cares away!

Happy Birthday to Me

2010-06-07T13:20:00.001-04:00

Here it is June and I'm down 31 pounds. I'd really hoped to be much farther along than this but 31 pounds in 6 months really isn't that bad. Plus, I had a number of distractions during that time. I'm hoping the second half of the year will go better.

Running

I'm running more now. This last Saturday I pushed my long run out to 5 files. There's a fair bit of walking in there (half) but still, its 5 miles. I'll spend the next few weeks reducing the amount of walking and increasing my running.

My short run is staying at 5k (3.1 miles). This week I'm pushing the amount of running that I'm doing within that 3.l miles to about 2.25 miles. So it is like this.

Walk .25 miles
Run .75 miles
Walk .25 miles
Run .75 miles
Walk .25 miles
Run .75 miles

The extra .1 miles I walk or run, whatever I feel like doing.

This is making my run segments so long now. Going from running .5 mile segments to .75 mile segments is rough at first.

Water

I've finally cut almost all the soda out of my diet and switched to water. I still have a couple on my cheat day, but that's when I'm allowed.

Metabolism

According to my Body Bugg, my metabolism has finally started to kick into high gear. So I've got the right mix of activity and calories. I had one day last week that I almost burned 4000 calories. I'm not always burning that much but that's a huge number.especially for a man in his.<sigh>..mid-40s.

Speaking of the Body Bugg, it now allows you to post your numbers to Facebook. So if anyone wants to see what I'm doing, I'm on Facebook.

Okay.keeping it short this time. I've got stuff to do before my wife gets home.

Now get out there and do some running! It will get you in shape for when the zombie apocalypse begins.

Technical Goo

The company I use to post my blogs (Blogger.com) has changed some stuff and no longer supports FTP posting. Since this was always my primary way of accessing TokenFatGuy.com this is messing up how I post. So I'm not sure when I'll be able to get this posted.

Actually, it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. The directions were just funky. Just had to change my settings and create a quick DNS cname record. And to be honest it allowed me to create a subdomain for my blog. Which is something I've been wanting to do for a while. This just forced me to do it.

Now people can get to my blog by using the subdomain. So instead of going to..

http://www.TokenFatGuy.com/bblogg.html

.now you can just go to.

http://blog.TokenFatGuy.com

The old link still works.sort of. It won't take you to any of my newer posts. Which means I need to go back and verify all my old links. But I needed to so that anyway because of other issues I was having.

Plus, all my front page links are busted. But its all fixable.

Oh.and I suppose I should put a zombie picture so I can test the functionality of posting pictures.

I love this fan!

For My Cousin Barb

2010-05-04T10:08:00.001-04:00

Hi everyone! This blog is in response to my cousin's request for information about weight lifting. So sorry if I'm covering the basics that most of you already know.

Why Weight Training?

Despite what some people will tell you, weight training is GREAT if you are trying to lose weight. Now just stick with me here..I know you are probably thinking, "HEY WAIT A MINUTE! How is building muscle going to make me LOSE weight? That doesn't make any sense!"

If you look at it that way, it doesn't make sense. Muscle does weigh more than fat. And you won't burn as many calories as you will doing cardio.

However, the important fact is that..muscle burns calories. The more muscle you have, the more calories you will burn..even while you are at rest.even while you are sleeping.

Also, a good strength training in the morning will keep your caloric burn up all day. While the rate of caloric burn from cardio will drop off quickly an hour after you stop.

What do I base this off of? I keep a pretty close eye on my caloric burn while wearing my Body Bugg.

So how does one get started lifting weights? You could just walk into the gym and ask for help but you will get so much information that's all new to you that you aren't likely to remember it. Best that you walk in with a plan.

Terminology

Rep - Short for 'repetition', this is typically the round trip of lifting once. Lift up, down.that's one rep.

Set - Reps are grouped together into sets of 12, 10, 8, whatever. "I did a set of 12 reps at 25 pounds"..I lifted 25 pounds 12 times, then rested. There is usually a tiny rest period between sets to allow the muscle to recover.

Group or Muscle Group - The chest, triceps, biceps, etc.

Free weights - Weights that are not part of a machine.

Pre-workout Prep

Before I got up this morning, I knew what I was going to lift today. I know what I'll lift later this week. I keep a record of it all.and you should to. I don't use this anymore but for beginners I always recommend downloading the Body For Life workout sheets. Use these to keep track of what you are going to do. Don't just show up at the gym without a plan. You need to have a record.so you know what to do.

Body For Life Workout Schedule (Excel format)

If you don't have Microsoft Excel on your computer, you can download the free viewer. It won't allow you to make changes, but you can view and print the schedule.

Excel Viewer from Microsoft Site (Free)

Here is an example from the worksheet of one group (chest).

The first thing I'd do is to pick two exercises that target the chest and fill this part out like so..

I've chosen 'Inclined bench press' and 'Flat bench press'. These both target the chest, and while they look similar, they work the muscle differently because of the different angles.

Next I fill in what weight I plan on lifting. There is some rules I use to determine these amounts, but for now I just want you to see how to fill it in.

Here's how I get these weights..

1. The first two sets (the 12 rep and the 10 rep) are simply warm up sets. I can do them without too much effort. They are just to get the blood flowing and prep the muscle for something actually heavy. My rule of thumb is that the '12 rep set' is about half the weight of the '6 rep set'. It doesn't always work out like that, but most of the time it is a good place to start.

2. The third set (the 8 rep) should be something I can feel. I know I'm lifting a weight, but I'm not burning myself out doing it.

3. The fourth set (the 6 rep) should be a weight that is all I can do. In fact if I FAIL and only do 5 reps, I know I'm at the right level. If I can lift the fourth set 8 times, then it is too light. I'll make a note to increase the amount the next time I do this group.

4. The fifth group ALWAYS is the same weight as the third group. The idea is that the very heavy forth group gets the muscle prep'ed as much as it can, then its time to go the distance.

5. The sixth group is what is called a 'super set'. Unlike all the other sets where you get a minute or two rest between them, you don't with a super set. You do the fifth group then straight to the sixth group.no rest. Again, if you fail at around 10 or 11 reps, you have the weight correct. If you can finish it easy, you need to increase the weight next week.

Keeping all that in mind, you might be wondering, "But won't I have to actually start lifting before I can know what I'm able to lift?" Yeah, you would be correct. My first week on the plan is usually me trying to find my limits. But I also keep a list of all the workouts I've done before, so if I return to this exercise again at a later date, I have a record of how much I lifted the last time.

Once you've completed this group, you move on to the next group. And keep doing that until you completed your plan. Then you hit the showers.

So taking a mile high look at the plan, you work each group once a week, splitting the groups up into three days. So it looks like this.

Monday

Chest
Shoulders
Back

Wednesday

Quads
Hamstrings
Calves
Abs

Friday

Triceps
Biceps

The Body for Life sheet would have you doing Chest, Shoulders, Back, Triceps, Biceps all on the same day and do that twice a week. You can do it that way but I'm a big fan of only working each group once a week. Doing it my way, your workouts will be sorter and you are less likely to work your muscles past their point of exhaustion. In fact you can move the groups around how ever you like. For example, I'll do chest and triceps on the same day because most chest exercises also work the triceps. So I can skip the first two sets of the triceps because the muscle is already prep'ed for lifting.

What exercises should I do?

There are basically two types of exercises that you can do, compound and isolated. Isolated means that it hits the targeted muscle without involving anything else while compound means that other muscle groups will be hit as well (but to a lesser extent). Body for Life will tell you that you should use isolated exercise for the first five sets and a compound exercise for the sixth set (the super set), but I don't do this. First I find it is too hard to balance a workout routine if you do that, and second if I'm only doing each muscle group once a week, I don't care if my compound exercises hit other groups. I'm not very likely to overdue it. It might be a different story if I was doing full body workouts.

If you are doing your workouts from home, you probably have some manuals that come with your home gym that will give you ideas on what exercises to do. My home gym consists of a Bowflex Ultimate.

.a set of Bowflex Selectechs.

.and a Bowflex adjustable bench.

The manuals have lots of exercises that I can chose from but I don't limit myself with that and neither should you. One of the best sites for helping you put together your routines is BodyBuilding.com.

www.BodyBuilding.com

The only thing I don't like about it is that they have SO much stuff on the site, if you don't know where the list of exercises is located, it can be hard to navigate. Use the link above to go straight to the exercise list. You just click on the group you want to work and it will give you a huge list of things to try. And finally some of my exercise come out of magazines.

If you are going to a gym instead of working out at home, I recommend that you print out a copy of each of the exercises that you are going to be doing and keeping them with your workout routine. So if you forget the proper form, you can check your notes to see what you should be doing. You might be the only person at the gym with a clipboard, but don't be self conscience about it. I used to do it all the time and no one ever laughed at me. They did look.and a few offered suggestions. But that's good too.

Why so many different exercises?

One of the big pitfalls of weight lifting the people get stuck on is they put the time into creating a routine and then they never change it. The human body is an amazing machine. It is very adaptive. After SIX WEEKS of doing the same routine your body will adapt to it. This is great but you don't really get the same benefit out of a routine once you adapt. If you want to change your body, you've got to change your routine. I swap everything out every six to eight weeks.

Between sets

You might be asking yourself, "What do I do in the minute or two between sets?" That's really up to you. As long as you don't lift with the targeted group, you can do whatever you like.

1. At the gym, I've seen (and have done this too) people run from the weight area to any cardio machine and just do cardio while waiting.

2. Some will run in place.

3. Since I workout at home, I'll actually do some housework. Do a set.vacuum three stair.do a set.vacuum three stair.do a set.

4. Most people just rest. That's normally when you can catch them watching you. It isn't you, they are just looking for something interesting while they wait on their muscle recovery.

5. I'm actually writing part of this blog while between sets.

6. Update your workout sheet.

I won't get into the science of what's happening but think of it this way. Say I'm doing curls and I'm just starting with my set of 12 reps. My muscle is cold and not prep'ed. So I can't lift as much. So I do a set and while I rest, my body sends nutrient enriched blood to my biceps to fuel the activity. By the time I get to my fifth and sixth sets, my biceps are as strong as my body can make them. That's when I lift the most.so I can really blast them.

Why would I want to BLAST my muscles? That doesn't sound good

No.it doesn't sound good. And what's really happening sounds worse. When you lift in this manner, you are causing tiny micro fractures in your muscles. Make no mistake, you ARE damaging them. But that's the whole point.

Damage the muscle (like this) and your body will respond by building BETTER muscle. This is how muscle growth happens. So as long as you don't pull or tear your muscle, you will be fine. And you will prevent pull/tear by following good form for every exercise that you do.

Proper form is VERY important. I've talked to people at the gym and watched them (when I'm between sets). Here's an example.

Guy doing barbell presses is on his last set. He's doing a weight that is new for him and just a bit beyond his range. So instead of dropping back and going with a lighter weight, he twists.and squirms.wraps his legs around the legs of the bench.shifting around so he can incorporate other muscles into helping him. All because he wants to be lifting a weight he's not ready for yet. Ego trumps safety.and at the risk of all kinds of injury.

If you can't lift a weight, stop.and drop to a lighter weight. You can try it again next week if you want. And if that's not enough to convince you, then remember this. You aren't going to lift ANYTHING if you hurt yourself.

While I'm on the subject of form. Another common mistake that people will make is that of speed. I've seen people pick up a dumbbell and knock out a bunch of reps at top speed. BAM BAM BAM.yeah.

If you want to get the most out of your lifting, you need to take your time. A slow lift will give you that sweet sweet stress that you are after. It isn't about how many reps you can do or how much weight you can lift. Its about hitting that muscle stress that encourages muscle growth. And remember each rep is a lift up.and a lift down. Don't relax on the down part. Put it down slowly.in a controlled fashion. Is it hard doing it that way? You bet it is. And that's what you want!

Lastly.don't EVER hold your breath while lifting. This can spell disaster. Just don't do it. BREATHE!

Okay..one more. Eventually, you are going to come across an exercise that just doesn't work for you. Either you can't hold the position or it inflames an old injury or whatever. I knew a woman at the gym.tip top shape. But because of a rotator cuff injury, she couldn't do most exercises that involved her shoulders. You do what you can.and see your doctor if there is any question.

That covers the workout. Let's move to the post workout.

Post workout

"Hey this one should be easy. I hit the showers and that's that."

And it really can be that simple if you want it to be. Weight lifting is one of those things that can be a serious or as light as you want. You don't have to follow it all. Put a weight in your hand and lift it with good form while breathing. That much you have to do. Everything else is optional. It really depends on how serious you want to be.

One thing you can do to increase your results is to take a bit of protein after you lift. "OH NO! He's going to tell us to use those weird powdered drinks!" You bet I am! What you want post workout is a protein that your system can munch on and helps to suppress your desire to totally binge eat everything you see. You can pick whatever you want but what I use is a called Matrix 5.0

Out of all the protein mixes I've tried, this one works the best for me.mostly because of the taste. If you buy a mix that you won't drink because you dread it.then it doesn't do you ANY GOOD! Out of the flavors that Matrix does, I've tried two.and they are tasty. I started out with just the plain vanilla and dropped in a banana for extra flavor..pretty good. But then I accidentally ordered their 'cookies and cream' flavor. Oh.its like drinking an Oreo shake. It is just that good. I haven't tried the chocolate yet. I'm not a big fan of chocolate mixes. I've yet to have one that delivered on its promise of taste.

So that's the basics. Kind of a long post but I wanted to give my cousin a good start. I'm sure I've left out some stuff and my good friends at SparkPeople.com will probably let me know. But for now.here's a fun zombie video.

Still on Track

2010-03-31T08:48:00.001-04:00

Caught a cold a couple of weeks ago and had to slow down on my running. Didn't want a repeat of what happened to me last year. But after a week and some antibiotics I was back out at the track again. I'm up to 3 miles, 2 of that is running.

Progress Report

Stepped on the scales for my Saturday weigh-in and saw a 278! That's down 29 pounds so far. Its been slow going but I think it is starting to take off now.

Diet - My diet is still not where I want it yet. I've increased my protein intake but not as high as it should be and I'm not getting near enough veggies yet.

Workouts - Along with my running, I'm doing my weight training. The weight training up until this week has been kind of lazy. I'm just doing the same routine over and over and over again. I haven't changed it out since I started it up again. So this weekend I put together a completely new routine that will challenge my muscles. I'm expecting good things from that.

Water - I'm drinking more.but still not enough.

Website - I've been studying lately and haven't put much time into the site.

I'm going to keep it short this posting. Just wanted to get something out there to let everyone know I'm still on track. In fact as soon as I post this, I am GOING TO THE TRACK. Get it?

Now go get some work done!

26 Pounds

2010-02-28T04:13:00.001-05:00

Okay.I finally got off my lazy butt and got SharePoint Designer configured on my new computer. This means.ZOMBIES ARE BACK!! That's right, up until now only my blog was functioning and could be changed. So be sure to check out the home page and get your zombie fix.

Well, I've been enjoying wearing the new pants that I got last week. Its nice to not have to pull them up every 5 minutes.

As of this Saturday, I'm down 26 pounds. And something I like to do from time to time is to point out a few things that weigh as much as I've lost. So here is a small list of things that weigh 26 pounds.

This box of Arm & Hammer kitty litter.26 pounds!

This bag of Huggies Little Swimmers.26 pounds!

This Earthlite Luna ultra light massage table..26 pounds!

Makes me feel so much better when I think about it that way. :)

Anyway, Enjoy the zombies on the front page. See you in a week or two.

Spare the Knee, Spoil the Child

2010-02-16T08:27:00.001-05:00

Walk/Run

My knee is slowly getting better. It started when I was at my mother in-law's house setting up her replacement computer. I was down on my knees and there was a load POP! It hurt like crazy but it started feeling better right after that. I'm still taking it slowly but I think I'll be okay. I ran a bit this week and it was just stiff. No real pain. I'll dial it up next week and see how that does.

Loving the new phone still. Since it has the weather, I check it before I get dressed to go to the track. Its still pretty cold here in the mornings but sometimes a warm morning will sneak up on you. I hate having to get dressed twice for my workout.

I'm still not tracking my food as closely as I should. I'm better but not where I should be yet. I start out strong in the morning but by the time midday rolls around, I'm just letting it slide. I'm still eating the stuff I'm supposed to. I'm just not tracking it. This is something I'll work on.

Speaking of walking/running, I finally got my gym membership updated. I got up this morning and it was pouring rain. I don't mind running in snow and ice but I really don't like running in the rain that much. So I got my membership paid up and used the indoor track. Waiting in line to fix my membership was a pain. There is always a rush on gyms after the new year. It normally dies down around March or so.

As some of you know, I wear a Body Bugg to track how many of my calories I'm burning. One of my coworkers asked me how I was burning so much. My answer.running..nothing burns calories like running.

Here is a shot of how yesterday played out for me.

For the most part, I burn about 1.7 - 2.0 calories per minute. That's the steady, low parts of the cart. There are always some spikes from taking the trash out or that one at 3pm when I went to the store. But the most dramatic change comes from when I went for my run. You can see that my caloric burn jumped up to about 13.2 calories per minute.

Progress Report

Two notable things happened. First I dropped another pound.yeah! And second I had to buy some smaller pants. My old ones were falling off me.

As for the web site, I continue to repair the archives. I don't have half of it done yet. So be patient with me. As soon as I fix that, I'll try to fix the front page.

Anyway, all done for this week..get out there and burn some calories!

BAHHHH!!!

I completely spaced and forgot to extend my ownership of www.TokenFatGuy.com! I thought my renewal date was next month. Anyway, the bill has been paid and in a few days the site will show up correctly again. I'm such a goober.

Anyway, sorry for the inconvenience. I think the site has been offline for about a week.

Two Weeks of Weird

2010-02-07T17:50:00.001-05:00

The last couple of weeks were odd..okay they were weird.

I've got my FTP setup the way I like and I'm going back and correcting the issues with my blog links. Imagine having to manually edit years of blog entries. I have a method of doing it but its still slow going. I apologize to anyone trying to read my older entries. I'll get it sorted soon..well.eventually.

This second week was a mess. We had a visiting tester at work. So for a week I had to adjust to his schedule. But that's over now and I can get back to normal. It sort of worked out because the weather got all nasty. I wouldn't have been able to run anyway. Which puts another thing on my list of things to do...renew my gym membership. I'm going to go do that tomorrow.

I was surprised at how many of my readers returned as soon as I started blogging again. I sort of assumed that they would have written me off. I feel better knowing that I still have their support.

And the big news on the technical side is that I finally gave up on my old phone after months of battling with it and Verizon. So I took advantage of a deal I got through work and got an HTC Pro2.

I absolutely love this phone. One of the cool things it does is that it has OneNote Mobile on it. So when I stuck in boring meetings at work I can pull it out and work on my blog. Then when I get back to my desk or back home I can sync it with my PC, pull the text out, and drop it into my blog. In fact some of this week's blog was made while in just such a meeting.

Anyway, enough about my phone.at least for now.

My weight has been holding steady as last week was really a wash. But I jumped back into my routine Sunday. So I'm hoping things will get back to normal this week.

I have noticed that some of my weights I've been using are going up pretty regularly. So my muscles are responding to being in use again.

One thing that did happen that I'm a bit worried about is that I tripped over some stuff last week and twisted my knee a bit. Its been hurting but I won't try to run on it until tomorrow. We will see what happens. I might just walk it tomorrow. I'll see how it feels.

Anyway, that's about it for now. Thanks for reading!

January 18, 2010

2010-01-25T10:51:00.001-05:00

Put Title Here

I couldn't think of a clever title this week. Oh.wait.that IS kind of clever!

Last week went okay. I didn't miss any workouts and kept to my diet. And weight is starting to come off.which is good.

Diet - For the most part I'm getting in 5-6 small meals every day. I'm still not eating completely the way I should but I'm getting closer. I've added back in some raw veggies.

Working out - Running 4 times a week and lifting 3 times a week. I might need to change out one of my shoulder exercises as it hurts my back to do but we will see how that plays out. My running is getting better. What I'm doing is at the start, I would just walk 3.1 miles (5k). Next week, I put in a bit of running and walked a bit less. Then more running, less walking.and so on. I'm up to 1.5 miles of running.so about half. I'm not up to the point where I need to start taping my feet or anything fancy. But I burn a ton of calories. Nothing burns calories quite like running.

Sleep - This is where I need some improvement still. I'm getting around 6-7 hours sleep a night. This isn't really enough if I want to lose weight. I need about 8-9 hours. But I'm getting better at it.

Web site - This thing is really a mess. But I'm sorting it out bit by bit. The bad news is that I lost my weight chart that kept track of my progress. The good news is that I found a backup that had an older version of the chart and I still have all the workout sheets that I made the contain my weigh-ins. So using all that I was able to construct an up to date chart. I'm still adding in some of the older dates but it is close enough for me to use for now.

Although I did fix a problem with posting pictures to the site from my blog program. That seems to be working now.

Computer woes - I'm decommissioning my old server and giving it to my mother in-law. So while I get all that sorted out, I don't have access to the new server. This is making getting my web site stuff working a bit problematic. But I'll get there. But no new zombie humor for now.

Progress - Stepped on the scales Saturday and got a pleasant surprise..287 pounds. So I'm down 20 pounds so far. Its really coming off fast but I know that won't last. Eventually it will calm down and I'll start losing about 1-2 pounds a week.

That's about all for this week. I need to get out and do my run for today. So everyone have a great week and I'll see you in February.

What? Still here? Looking for that joke I throw in at the end? Ah.huh..then let's see here.uh.how about some immature toilet humor? Yeah, that's the ticket.

Now go run your butt around the block of few times!

January 18, 2010

2010-01-18T10:31:00.001-05:00

Baby Steps

Well, I'm still on track after a couple of weeks. I'm making small changes in my lifestyle. One of the things I did learn in my last attempt at weight loss is that you have to start out small. If you make too many changes at once you end up with a plan that is so regimented that you won't follow it long term. The best way is to make small changes.baby steps.

So here is a list of things I've changed so far in the last couple weeks.

Meals - 5 per day instead of 2. This is one of the most important and hard to grasp concept for many dieters. The whole secret to losing weight is based off the single principle of 'burning more calories that you consume'. To that end, you want to keep your metabolism as high as you can for as long as you can. Eating twice a day just slows your metabolism down to a crawl. Then when you do finally eat, you tend to over eat and you body just stores everything up as fat. Eat 5-6 small meals, spaced out about 3 hours apart and you will keep your system running high all day.

Exercise - I'm starting to lift weights and do my walk/run thing again. I'm not doing it as often as should but I'm getting there.

Water - I'm still not drinking as much as I should but I'm drinking more than I was (how vague is that?!). What's important for now is that I'm getting away from those sodas that I would chug so much. I'm down to just one a day. Soon I'll cut that out to but again.baby steps.

Body Bugg - So I can keep track of how many calories I burn all day, I reactivated my Body Bugg.

Blogging - This was an important part of my plan last time. It allowed me to get my feelings out in the open instead of keeping them locked up in my head where they'd do the most damage.

Blog Doo Doo

My whole website is a mess.not just my blog. I've been away for so long, I've forgotten how most of this stuff works. And all my web admin stuff is still on my old computer. I haven't moved anything to the new computer yet.

The only thing I have working is a new install of Windows Live Writer. That's what I use to write and publish my blog. It took me a couple hours to sort out that part, and I still have some big problems I need to fix. The first was to get my pictures to save to the correct location so they would sho up on the blog. And that's done at least.

One of the biggest problems is that I dropped one of my domain names. Back when I was still doing this regularly, I had two domain names, strangedos.com and TokenFatGuy.com. They both pointed at the same site. However, I dropped strangedos.com as no one was getting to my site using that name anymore. However, there a ton of references to strangedos.com in my blog's archives. So now that the domain is gone all those links are broken. And to fix this I need to get on my site and start looking at all my archive pages. This is going to take a while. And its going to drive me crazy since I hate it when I'm on someone else's site and their links aren't all working. Lazy web admins!

Progress

I've only been on the plan for a couple of weeks but already I have some encouraging news. I weighed in Saturday and found that I was 292 pounds. That means I'm back to the starting point I was at when I came up with the whole TokenFatGuy idea. Also, it means I back below 300 pounds.

I guess that's all for now. I'm going to go ahead and post. I need to get to the track..today is running day.

January 12, 2010

2010-01-12T20:12:00.001-05:00

Coming out of the Closet

I bet I have your attention now! But no.I'm not gay.

I'm not really coming out of the closet.more like coming out of the pantry.

Over a year ago, some things happened that turned my life upside down. I won't get into it but it caused me to lose focus. And it went unchecked.I allowed it to completely derail me.

Oh sure, there were timed I regained my focus for a moment. I even managed to do a 10k run back in September. But as soon as the run was over, I fell pretty hard.

One of the worst parts about it is that I felt I couldn't really share what was going on with anyone because after losing 93 pounds, I was sort of a celebrity. I had articles written about me, and people were asking for my help all the time. I just really felt like if I let it be known that I gained back any sizable amount of weight it would let down those that were looking up to me.

So I suffered in relative silence. Became reclusive and stopped taking care of myself all together.

This is one of the reasons my brief attempts at regaining focus would be so short lived. It was like I gained back the weight and now I not only had to hide the fact, but couldn't step out into the light again until I fixed the problem.

So I'm about to come clean. Like Erik Chopin (Biggest Loser winner that gained it back) I'm going public.

Erik, you da man!

I stepped on the scales a couple of weeks ago and found to my horror that I weighed 307 pounds.

307 pounds.

There I said it. That's the heaviest I've ever been. But I'm done hiding.it is so NOT the way I lost the weight in the first place. TokenFatGuy has always been about putting myself out there and making society understand that while I was fat I was also a 'work in progress'.

So for all of you that have wondered, "Whatever happened to TokenFatGuy", well.I've been eating. But I'm done now. I'm back on the road to fixing what is wrong with me.

Now I just need to figure out how to post this to my blog. I forgot how all this stuff worked.

As a final note.just writing this stuff down, I feel better. I feel free. Except I guess this means I need to start looking up more zombie stuff for my front page.

August 1, 2009

2009-08-01T11:43:00.000-04:00

Fighting the Losing Battle

It was October...Something happened...then stuff kept happening...more and more stuff...stuff I can't go into...it just kept happening....my world turned upside down.dreams shattered.hopes turned to dust. My world changed.

Since then, I've really let things slide. I've tried to get back on top of it...tried to recapture the magic that I used to drop all the weight in the first place but 'stuff' just kept derailing me.

So I'm starting at the beginning. Not literally. I didn't put back on ALL the weight, but I have to come clean and admit that I did put a sizable amount back on. Perhaps this is the universe's why of keeping me in check. I was getting really cocky about my weight loss there for a while. Perhaps I needed this to humble me. Maybe this is the next lesson. The lesson of the 'rebound'.

What really happened?

Stuff...stuff happened. I can't be any more specific than that. But all kinds of stuff...it was small at first but since I didn't deal with it right away, it quickly spiraled out of control. And like an idiot, I went running back to food for comfort...ignoring everything I'd learned in the last 3 years. What's scary is how easily it happened.

So where am I now? I have to be honest....I've put on about 40 pounds. There I've said it...I've admitted it to what is left of my audience. And now that I've admitted it, I can deal with it out in the open, like I used to. Instead of sneaking around and not owning up to what happened.

New week 0-1

Last week, I cut out the sodas and resumed my running. This week, I'm doing some of my strength training. Then next week I'm putting back on the Body Bug. That's about as much change as I want to do in a couple weeks. Any more than that, and I'm doing too much at once. Baby steps were key to my success last time. So we are going to do it again.

I'm keeping it short this week. My running is mostly walking with a quarter mile run in the middle.

But what is really important is that I finally took some time to sort things out in my head. With my thoughts in disarray I couldn't keep the focus I had before.

Progress

I've already dropped 3 pounds. So I'm working in the right direction now. I guess we will see what we see.

February 18, 2008

2009-02-18T10:59:00.001-05:00

Back in the Saddle

Hi everyone! I'm back. Okay, I know some of you are wondering what happened to me and where I've been. So I'm going to be brutally honest about it.

I burnt out...badly.

I've been doing the online weight loss scene for a while now and it was getting to be so much work. Answering questions, reading posts, writing the blog, postings, countless hours of research....and so on. I'd spend far more time doing that than I did working out.

So one day I just said I was going to take a week off...and a week turned in to a month...and months. Its my own fault really. I have a tenancy to obsess on things I like doing until I squeeze all the joy out of them. Then I keep doing them out of habit until I resent the time lost to the once enjoyed activity.

Anyway, I'm back and I'm working toward a new goal....the Chicago Marathon. Last year my daughter, my step father, and I agreed that we would try to run it together this year.

While on hiatus, I let my distance runs shorten up. So my first order of business is to increase my distance up to 8 miles. Right now I'm just doing around 3 miles. Which brings me to this past weekend's activity. I ran another 5k. This was a first for me because I've never raced in the rain before. It doesn't sound like it would be that different but it was. I was freezing by the time we started. I should have worn a long sleeve shirt.

Speaking of shirts, I did wear on my my TFG shirts. Which lead to a funny story. One of the younger runners was there with his dad. I could hear them behind me. The boy was having trouble keeping a good pace. So his dad told him, "just keep up with that fat guy". RUDE!

Every time he got rested, he'd start running again, catch up with me, then slow back down to a walk for a while. Then closer to the finish line he started running past me, slowing to a walk, then running ahead again when I caught up. Meanwhile, I'm keeping a steady pace the whole race, keeping my reserves ready for the finish line.

Once the line was in sight, I said out loud the thing I always say, "The breaks are off!" And I started to burn my reserves in a sprint for the finish....blowing by the young runner. His father speed up too, trying to keep up but I could hear his footfalls getting farther behind me. I pushed harder, passing as many runners as I could.

Never underestimate the fat guy!

Here's another fat guy that you shouldn't underestimate...

Fat Guy Playing Dance Machine - The most amazing videos are a click away

NOTE: Friends visiting from Spark People be sure to check out the home page to get your humor fix. And those of you that are hitting the site from elsewhere, check out my page on Spark People.

December 09, 2008

2008-12-09T17:09:00.001-05:00

Got sick

This month has been weird. I was on week 4 of the P90x program and I got sick pretty bad. It took me a couple weeks to get back to normal. Then I got hit with having to tear up our living room so we could get our furniture reupholstered, and playing way too much World of Warcraft...my workout schedule was seriously compromised.

So I had to make the decision to either pick up where I left off or to just call it a false start and start over again. If it had just been a week, I probably would have just picked up where I left off. But this was really too long a break in training for me to get the full impact that I was after. So I started over again.

Last week was week 1. And I'm getting better at these push-ups. There are some different kinds that you will do in a single workout...

Standard pushups
Military pushups
Wide grip pushups
Diamond pushups

...just to name a few.

I can't do as many as the people in the video but I do try to do more every time I try. Last week I wondered how many I was doing total, so I added them up. In a one hour workout routine, I'm able to do 103 pushups.

I was amazed.

I'm still hating the plyometric workouts. They are great for the legs and buttocks but I'm still nervous about all the jumping around. Although I have to admit that my knees are getting stronger having to deal with it.

The fabric

When we got our furniture redone, we special ordered our fabric. At the store they asked if we needed a cart to take this bolt of fabric out to the car. After looking at it for a moment, I said, "I think I can lift it." So with one fluid movement I hoisted it up onto my shoulder. After a moment or two to adjust to it...I was fine. So I'm carrying this huge thing down the aisle while other customers are watching. It was pretty cool.

Halloween

I know Halloween has come and gone. But I haven't posted any pictures yet. And since I spent most of my time in Wow (World of Warcraft), here's some pictures of me in game wearing the various costumes we got during the events.

This is me riding a bat and wearing a pumpkin head mask.

Close-up shot...

And on a flying broom....

And as an undead pirate....

Dancing ninja with trick or treat bucket...

Pirate goblin...

Leper gnome with a pumpkin head mask.... (I'm the one on the left)

I think that's all for this week. I'll try to post again soon. Now get out there and do some jumping jacks!

November 10, 2008

2008-11-10T13:11:00.001-05:00

Week Two (P90x)

Well, I survived the second week of the P90x program. With the first week, I'd sum up the experience with just one word...sore. But the second week, I'd have to use the word...drained. Seemed like I was tired all the time.

The big news about the Ab Ripper X session, I was able to complete one of the exercises that I couldn't previously do. The wide leg sit up....

Before, I just couldn't do it. But this week I got it in my head that I was going to push it...and surprise! I actually did four of them. So there's progress!

Another thing that I was able to do was one of the poses in Yoga X called 'Warrior 3'

I was only able to hold it for a second...and my form was awful.

Week Three

It's hard to believe it has been three weeks already. I've had a couple of challenges this week that I didn't have on the previous two.

First, my extended vacation was over and I had to go back to work. Keeping up with my workouts was easy when I didn't have anything else important going on. However, it was more challenging having to divide my time with work. The good news is that I didn't miss a workout.

Second, I resumed running. Since experience is quite draining, I put my running on hold for a bit. But I started running again this week. This led to a really rough Thursday. It was Legs and Back day....and it was running day. So I ended up doing THREE workouts. Strength training for legs and back, the Ab Ripper, and my running. When I got up Friday morning, it felt like I'd gone three rounds with The Mighty Thor. But by Saturday, I felt fine.

One big thing I noticed this week was the difference in how I felt after doing the kenpo workout. The first two weeks left my lats feeling really sore. This week I didn't much notice it. In fact that over all soreness feeling is pretty much gone.

Another yoga pose that I tried was 'crane'....

I wasn't able to hold it but for a moment...points for trying though. Also, points for not falling on my face.

Speaking of yoga, I picked up some yoga blocks and they make some of the poses easier when you have to reach for the floor and can't quite make it. People that CAN reach the floor can steady themselves with that hand...but people that can't are putting extra strain on their backs and then there is all the wobbling and wiggling. With a block I can reach the floor without having to bend quite so far.

Weird thing I'm starting to learn about yoga is that I'm not getting good at it so much as I'm getting more to a point that I can try more...and push farther. I know I've been anti-yoga for years. But I can't explain how great it makes me feel.

Plus, there is something else I've noticed. As some of you will remember I wear a Body Bugg calorie counter that tells me how many calories I'm burning at all times. Anyway, here are some things I've noted about different types of workouts....

1. Strength training - Doesn't burn tons of calories DURING the workout. But my rate of burn stays up for about a couple hours.

2. Cardio training - Burns tons of calories during the workout and then drops off fast about 30 minutes afterwards.

3. Yoga - Burns lots of calories...and keeps my burn elevated all day. My body tends to burn at anywhere between 1.4 - 1.7 calories per minute while I'm at rest. On yoga days I'm burning 2.0 - 2.3 calories per minute. That might not seem like much but when you add it up for the whole day it makes serious difference.

Those 'wide leg sit ups' that I could just barely do in week 2, this week I did 14. And the 'warrior 3' pose...I was able to hold it for a few seconds on each side before collapsing.

In the kenpo class, I actually finished the class. Before I'd flaked on the last 10 minutes because I was just thrashed...but I made it to the end this time.

I'm beginning to notice some changes in the mirror. Also, some of my newer running shirts that were snug on me when I got them are getting more loose in the midsection. I'm going to try to get some pictures posted next week. In fact I'm running behind on my annual Halloween shot.

Chinese Crested Pirate says...."ARRRRG! Now go get ye some exercise, ye scurvy dogs!"

NOTE: Friends visiting from Spark People be sure to check out the home page to get your humor fix. And those of you that are hitting the site from elsewhere, check out my page on Spark People.

October 27, 2008

2008-10-24T08:39:00.001-04:00

Week One

The comments and emails I get (most of which come from my good friends on Spark People) often ask about different diet and exercise products. I do check them out from time to time to see what's good and what's just junk. One product that I've been getting more and more questions about is P90x.

The P90x program is a series of DVD workouts that you do in specific order to maximize what they call 'muscle confusion'. The idea is that, unlike other exercise programs where your body learns the moves and then stops getting the full benefit from them, you never do the same exercises long enough for the body to fully adapt to them. You are switching things out so often that you should never plateau.

In order to minimize plateau effects, I already switch my exercises out every six weeks or so, I was very interested on how they were doing this. Also, I've been craving more intensity in my workouts as they seem to have gotten flat lately.

So I picked up the P90x series DVDs (around $200/new or $70/used on Amazon.com). Also, I picked up a pull-up bar that they recommend. While I can't so the pull-ups just yet, it can also be used as a push-up bar on the floor.

So this was my first week on the program. And I've got to tell you, the intensity is really high. Here's a breakdown of what I've been going through...

Day One - Chest and Back/Ab Ripper

This was a back-to-back workout day. One for the Chest and Back and then the Ab Ripper X. The chest/back exercises were very challenging. If it wasn't for the fact that I focus pretty hard on my chest already, I don't think I would have been able to keep up with them.

Most of the chest exercises were different forms of push-ups and pull-ups. So I was glad I got the bar. Using some sort of push-up bar keeps your wrists straight rather than bending them at 90 degrees and risking injury, all while giving you a better range of motion.

The one thing I did miss was using free weights. They used them but not as much as what I'm used to.

For those of you that are like me and currently unable to perform even one pull-up, they show alternate ways of simulating each move with an exercise band. I didn't have a good place to anchor my band, so I just used the lat bar on my Bowflex.

At the end of the Chest and Back I was pretty drenched. In fact I'd already drank more water that I normally do during a strength workout. Now it was time to move on to Ab Ripper X.

This was something I dreaded. Admittedly, I don't like to work my abs...so they are the weakest part of me. I have this fear of over developing my abs. I've seen people that have done it. That bulging six pack looks fine without a shirt, but put the shirt back on and you can't tell the difference between a bulging six pack and a big ol' beer belly.

So here I am trying to do these really serious ab exercises with my under developed abs...after an already intense session with my chest/back. I looked like a fish flopping around on the mat. But I kept with it and didn't drop out. Did what I could...pushed as far as I could safely go.

Good for me...

Day Two - Plyometrics

Wikipedia defines 'plyometrics' as:

A type of exercise training designed to produce fast, powerful movements, and improve the functions of the nervous system, generally for the purpose of improving performance in a specific sport. Plyometric movements, in which a muscle is loaded and then contracted in rapid sequence, use the strength, elasticity and innervation of muscle and as it was supposed to be surrounding tissues to jump higher, run faster, throw farther, or hit harder, depending on the desired training goal. Plyometrics is used to increase the speed or force of muscular contractions, often with the goal of increasing the height of a jump or the speed of a punch or throw.

The P90x definition seems to be to spend as much time as possible in midair. Because of problems I've had with my knees I've tried to avoid anything high impact. But with my recent bent toward running, I'm stuck wondering how much I can really do with my knees. So I gave this workout my best.

NOTE: If you are prone to knee injuries, you will want to do the 'modified' versions of the exercises. They are still intense but are much lighter impact.

By the end of it, not only was I drenched, but I knew I'd need to wipe down my mat as well. This was all sorts of serious intensity. The big proof was when I got up the next day and felt it in EVERY PART of my legs. From gluts to calves, I was sore...real sore. Like I was the day after the first 5k that I ran.

Day Three - Arms and Shoulders/Ab Ripper

Despite being sore, I dutifully got setup to do Arms and Shoulders. And while you can do this session with exercise bands if you chose, I was happy to see more free weights in this session. The one problem I had with this DVD was there isn't enough transition time from one exercise to the next. I had to use the PAUSE button quite often, where I rarely had to on the other DVDs so far. Of course some if it was just me moving slow because I was sore. Ouch...ouch...ouch

Like on Day One, this was a back-to-back workout session. By the time I moved on to the Ab Ripper, I was nearly spent. Plus being so sore, I had problems getting into the start positions on each exercise. Again....total fish flop on the mat. But I did go all the way to the end.

Day Four - Yoga

Okay...I have come clean about this. I've always believed that yoga was one of the more wussy workouts. It's just posing in different positions. How hard can that be?

Well, I want to officially apologize for everything negative that I've ever said or even thought about yoga. Yoga is hard...and the P90x's Yoga X is intense...really intense.

If you try this, I recommend you get a good yoga mat. I put my yoga mat on top of my main mat for maximum comfort. You might want to get a couple of yoga blocks too as it make reaching toward the floor easier.

NOTE: I didn't discover this until the next day, but there was an unexpected benefit from the yoga. I threw my back out about a week and a half ago and was about to make an appointment with the chiropractor to get an adjustment. The morning after doing yoga, I realized that I'd put it right during the workout.

Day Five - Legs and Abs

While I have always done a day of leg exercises, there are two that I've stayed away from....lunges and squats. Of course this is MOST of what they hit on this day.

By the time I finished with the two workouts, my legs were shaking. This was the best lower body workout I'd had since I was in high school.

Day Six - Kenpo

Okay...by this point I'm sore from head to toe. But I tried my best to 'bring it' on this new workout. Make sure you have plenty of room.

The workout consists of blocks, punches, and kicks...and of course combinations. I followed along the best I could...had to backup several times on the DVD....and some of the combos I never could quite get.

The next day brought a new soreness in my lats (latissimus dorsi) from all the punches and blocks.

Day Seven - Rest or Stretching

I had planned on running this day at the Airport 5k. I had to cancel. The tops of my calves were too sore, I'd strained my left hamstring, and I could barely walk...much less run.

Week one = sore

What's Next?

I have to do two more weeks of the same. Now I might not report back again until those weeks are complete and I move on to the next phase. But that's just two weeks off so you won't have to wait long to find out what's happening.

Progress Report

It's a funny thing. I feel that my body is changing but the scales have a different story to tell. However, I did pick-up some off session shirts and pants and found that size 32 pants and a size LARGE shirt seem to be where I'm at currently.

In addition, my arms feel different...and I could be fooling myself but I think I look different too.

But that darn scale...well...I don't want to focus on that too much. But darn it, just the same.

Happy Halloween

Look closely at this cat and remember...don't humiliate your pets this season. They know where you sleep.

"I will destroy them for this..."

NOTE: Friends visiting from Spark People be sure to check out the home page to get your humor fix. And those of you that are hitting the site from elsewhere, check out my page on Spark People.

October 14, 2008

2008-10-14T15:55:00.001-04:00

Random Stuff (again)

Sometimes I just don't have enough to make a full blown blog. But I do have a bunch of smaller disconnected thoughts that I like to give time to as well. So here goes...

On Vacation

Thanks to my annual Halloween vacation, I'm free to go back to the YMCA and attend my old 'Stay Fit' class. Had a killer workout. I'll probably be sore for a couple days. I checked out their website a couple of days ago, expecting that my picture and blurb would have been replaced by now, but found that it was still there....

http://www.ymcacharlotte.org/ballantyne/bvhomepage.aspx

It was nice to see everyone there again. I even got a couple compliments on my progress. One member told me that he didn't recognize me at first. I really miss seeing the staff. They all seem genuinely interested in talking to me about how I'm doing.

Run Fat Boy Run

I had pushed my long run up to 9 miles then I messed up my ankle a while back and had to stop for about three weeks. After that, I've been starting over and increasing my miles again...more slowly this time. I'm up to five miles on my long run. Not too bad.

Last weekend I did another 5k (3.1 miles). They didn't have chip times so I have no idea how well I did. I have my gun time but I was pretty far back and it took me a few minutes just to get to the starting line. But it felt good to run another race after having been out of the game.

The 'Lung Strong' race is this coming weekend. I'm thinking of doing the shorter 5k option (I'm not ready for the 15k yet). I'm not decided yet.

Race Day Pictures

I finally located my camera's USB cable. So I can show some of my race day pictures. Here's a couple from my first 5k. In this first one you can see me a bit behind the woman in the lime-green top. I'd just passed several people and was trying to catch up to her on the final few yards. At this point it was me, then her, then the finish line.

Then here is me using up the dregs of my energy in a last stitch effort to pass just one more person and finish strong. Notice the Token Fat Guy shirt.....

And here's me crossing the finish line. Oh...where's number 231? Crying her eyes out over being smoked by Token Fat Guy! Not really....I'm sure she's fine. NOTE: The displayed time is my gun time. My chip time was only 33:27.

Now let's look at last weekend's 5k. I'm the guy in the back in the red/black. I'd already started my death run. According to my wife I almost knocked some one over. Sorry about that. When it happened, I had thought I neatly side stepped her. But I was a sweaty mess...so I might have been sloppy about it. The funny thing about this finish is the numbers. I'm wearing 902...the woman in the red/black is wearing 903. Anyway, you can see I'm behind a few people here.

This one's a bit blurry....I guess I was just moving too fast (joking). Anyway, I'd pushed passed this group of slow pokes and had a pretty good speed going at this time.

And 902 passes up 903.....

No finish line shot. And I did pass a couple more on the way there. The area around the finish line was pandemonium. This was a WAY bigger race than my first 5k. My first race had 463 people that finished. The one from last week had 819 people finish. No telling how many people couldn't finish either race. I saw people drop doing both of them.

Extra special thanks to my lovely wife, Heather, for coming out and taking pictures for me.

Anyway, that's all I have for this week. And if I don't do another entry before Halloween, have a happy one!

NOTE: Friends visiting from Spark People be sure to check out the home page to get your humor fix. And those of you that are hitting the site from elsewhere, check out my page on Spark People.

September 22, 2008

2008-09-23T09:54:00.001-04:00

Just Not Write

I've been offline for a few weeks. Nothing wrong, I just haven't really been in the mood to write. For a while there, I could crank out a blog every week or so, but I'm just not feeling it lately. So don't be surprised if you see a few weeks go by without hearing from Token Fat Guy.

The other reason that I haven't been inclined to write is that my weight remains at a standstill. Seems like I hit 199 and that is a hard wall for me. I've hit it a couple times but just can't get past it. But I know it will eventually come. It might help if I'd stop eating cake. But this one was pretty good.

The main reason my weight loss hasn't picked up late is creatine. How's that for a setup on today's subject?

Creatine

If you are an athlete of any caliber, you've probably heard of the supplement called creatine. It has a few functions in the body, the most noteworthy are...

Production of energy
Muscle growth
Muscle repair
Muscle hydration

The science behind it is pretty basic. Energy in the body is created by popping a phosphate molecule off a adenosine triphosphate (ATP). The resultant byproduct is a adenosine diphosphate (ADP) which must be paired with another phosphate molecule to again form a adenosine triphosphate (ATP).

This is where creatine steps in. In the body it is stored as creatine phosphate. Which gives you a ready source of phosphate so you can replenish your supply of ATP.

Not sounding that simple? Look at it like this....

ATP - P = ADP and ENERGY
ADP + P = ATP
Creatine = supply of P

So that covers how creatine supplies you with additional energy. Let's look at what it does to increase muscle size.

When the body has an a surplus of creatine phosphate, it stores this excess in the muscle. This causes the muscle to take on more water to allow for this process. The muscle becomes super-hydrated. Some added benefits of this is that it facilitates muscle repair and helps to prevent muscle breakdown.

Sound too good to be true? Well, if you haven't seen the problem yet I'll point it out in two simple words....weight gain.

This has caused my weight to increase for two reasons. First, my muscles are getting stronger and bigger. Second, my muscles are retaining additional water and again are bigger.

Now don't start thinking I've turned into some muscle-bound meat head. No. If it were that easy to put on THAT kind of muscle, more people would do it. But it does make a difference. Which is why I've stayed away from this supplement. However, I promised myself that if I ever hit 199 pounds, I'd give it a try and just deal with any weight gain.

So yes, my weight has been bouncing between 209 and 199 for a while now as my body sorts out what it wants to do. I have to admit, I've noticed a difference in performance...and my arms seem to be growing in size. But I'm going to wait a bit longer before I measure to see if it is true or if I'm just imagining things.

Side Effects

I'm not going to tout the wonders of this supplement without a warning on its side effects.

As already stated, it WILL make you gain weight. But it really isn't that bad. My weight shot up about 10 pounds but I expect that when my fat loss catches up to this, I'll get back down under where I started. If you aren't in a place where a 10 pound gain is something you can ignore, I'd hold off on this for a while.

Ah...how can I put this next one? Your first week on creatine, you might want to make sure you aren't very far from a bathroom. Some people (myself included) have reported some easy flow bowel movements when they first start taking creatine. In fact that's why some people stop taking it. But those that stick with it seem to agree that this is temporary. For me, after my first week, I haven't had a problem since. And even when I did, it wasn't that bad.

This one is pretty serious....so I'll use all caps....DEHYDRATION! By its nature, using creatine causes the body to store more water in the muscles than normal. So if you aren't drinking suffient amounts of water, it will rob water from other parts of the body....leaving you in a dehydrated state. So make sure you are drinking at least 1-2 ounces of water for every kilogram of body weight you have.

There have been other side effects reported like kidney and liver problems but these are usually due to lack of water intake. So again, make sure you are drinking enough.

Some sports have banned the use of creatine, such as boxing and wrestling (at the professional levels).

As always, check with your doctor before embarking on any change to your supplement plan. And make sure it is a doctor that does his homework.

Well, that's about all I have to report this week. So here's a dog with an important message.

Bald dog says, "Never lose a fight with a weed eater!"

NOTE: Friends visiting from Spark People be sure to check out the home page to get your humor fix. And those of you that are hitting the site from elsewhere, check out my page on Spark People.

August 27, 2008

2008-08-27T20:57:00.001-04:00

Friction

Hi everyone! Sorry I'm running so late this week but I've been really busy with one thing or another. Anyway...this week's topic is friction.

As a new runner, I'm having to deal with friction more and more. From the universal problem of thighs rubbing together to runner specific problems like runner's nipple, body friction can seriously hamper your workout enjoyment. So today I'm going to make three recommendations based on what I've learned.

Body Glide - This stuff is amazing. I'd not heard of it until about two months ago. It is kind of like a stick deodorant in shape and how it is put on. I got it after the first time I ran 5 miles....and one of my nipples got all inflamed.

Since using this product, I haven't had a problem. Now I put it on my feet too. It helps protect the skin on my feet from all most of the friction that comes with running.

Body Glide! Good stuff!

Compression Shorts - A while back, when I got too small for my old XXL sweat pants I went out and bought a few of these and some shorts to wear over them. I wish I'd tried this MUCH earlier in my journey. One of the problem big people have when they start exercising is their thighs rubbing together. I've suffered from rashes, gouging, and boils....just from all the fiction of my legs rubbing together.

But no more! Not a single problem since I upgraded my workout gear to include compression shorts.

Duct Tape - You heard me....duct tape. About a month ago I got a REALLY bad blister on the back of my heal. This blister is partly due to a deformity of my heal bone. I have extra bone back there and it sticks out. So any running shoe that I get CONSTANTLY rubs on that spot...and to make matters worse, I have to wear a shoe that is slightly bigger so as to have room for this super bone. So again, my shoe slips around in the back and rubs that small, boney protrusion.

I have a pretty good callous there but it can only protect me from so much. When my running mileage started to increase, this became more of a problem. Lately, I've been worried about more blisters...causing more hang-ups in my workout schedule.

I've been told by a number of sources...tape it up! However, I've been very skeptical. Part of it was...well...the cost...or the lack of cost, really.

I wear a nice Polar heart rate monitor, UA compression shorts, UA socks, Brookes running shoes....and you want me to wrap my feet with $3/roll duct tape? Really? You've got to be putting me on! No way....

But eventually, I gave it a try. On one of my short runs, I put a single piece of tape on the back of my heal. Then put the rest of my foot gear on. Cautiously I took a few steps. It didn't feel too weird. Yeah...I guess I could run in this.

It was like night and day. That constant rubbing on my heal was GONE. I couldn't feel a thing. The tape hung tight to my heal and took the brunt of the friction. To me, it was like my shoe never slipped at all.

Later that week I tried it on my long run....9 miles baby! No blister....no raw skin. It was fantastic!

I'm sure there are other tricks out there, and as I discover them....I'll blog them. So stay tuned....

Progress Report

I stepped on the scales and found that I'm ALMOST back to where I was before I skipped out for 3 weeks. Less than a pound to go.

As stated earlier, my long run is up to 9 miles. I might have to throttle that back a bit as I did have an ankle injury this passed week. Not during my run....but I can't help but think it might be related. Anyway, I'm thinking of toning it back a bit.

I can't add to this. Its funny on its own.....

OTE: Friends visiting from Spark People be sure to check out the home page to get your humor fix. And those of you that are hitting the site from elsewhere, check out my page on Spark People.

August 18, 2008

2008-08-19T09:48:00.000-04:00

YOINK!

That's the sound my head makes when I'm running and I 'zone out' or 'lose time'. I think of them as 'yoink moments'. I had one last Saturday.

Now that you've heard the 'setup'. Here's the story....

Alarm goes off...oh..crud...what..huh? Oh, yes...get up. Must run...

What time is it? Blurry eyes....force focus... 6 bloody AM. I really need to have my head examined some day.

As I put on my gear, I wonder what sort of fresh hell is it that I'm doing today. Oh yes, I'm going to try 7 miles. What the duce is wrong with me? I should just get back into bed and sleep like any sane person. BUT NO! I have to subject myself to this 'running thing'.

I wonder to myself, "Is this what being on crack is like?"

More awake now, I'm starting to think in complete sentences. I have everything I need. So it is out the door I go...

Yuck...the humidity. It must have rained again last night. No sane man would want to run in this. Hmmm...that's twice so far that I've questioned my sanity today. I wonder what that's all about.

But this isn't any normal humility. This sort of hangs in the air and is oppressive to your every breath. I swear I feel 10 pounds heavier than when I was back inside the house.

Then the drive to the trail shows me that I am NOT the only crazy person planning on running in this.

Stretch, walk, stretch...okay I'm ready.

The first mile goes by without much issue. My shins and calves are a bit tight and I'm waiting for that first flood of endorphins to take away the minor discomfort that comes with running.

I'm thinking about data storage structures to help pass the time and YOINK!

When my yoink moment is over and my brain engages again, I look around and I wonder to myself, "Where the heck AM I?"

I keep running until I see a distance marker. That's when I realize I'm only a half mile from finishing....from FINISHING! This is an 8 mile course! I'd run the whole thing. I've only ever run 6.25 miles before.

The Aftermath

Funny thing about adding additional mileage to your run, it seems to get easier to recover from. The first time I ran 6 miles, it almost killed me. But the day after running 8 miles, I feel just a tiny bit stiff.

On my next running day, I did my short run (4 miles). I felt a little off but not enough to cut it short. I think I was still recovering from the 8 mile run.

Progress Report

Not much to report at this time. I've dropped most of the weight I put on while I was on my two week

TFG Posts from the Past

I like to look back on some of my old posts to see what I was doing a year or two ago. Last year at this time I was also trying to lose some weight that I had temporarily put back on. Also, I had a small tirade about drivers in North Carolina.

Check it out....

Turning the Tide

Well, that's all for this week.

Dalmatian Dog says, "Hey, one of my spots just fell off and is walking around on its own!!"

NOTE: Friends visiting from Spark People be sure to check out the home page to get your humor fix. And those of you that are hitting the site from elsewhere, check out my page on Spark People.

August 11, 2008

2008-08-12T00:10:00.001-04:00

First off....

First off, I want to say 'thank you' to my loyal readers. I had been worried that taking a couple weeks off without warning would cause some of you to lose interest and drop out of sight.

Not so...

So far people have been very supportive about my two week sojourn. I want to thank you all for being patient with me.

Back to the beginning

One of the things that worried me most about taking any time off from my training schedule comes from something I read somewhere that said it takes a few weeks of 'not running' before you start to lose the distance you worked so hard to achieve.

The maximum that ever managed to run was 6 miles. If you missed the story on how that run went, then check out the blog....

TFG Runs 6 Miles

Keeping in mind what I went through just to get that far, I wasn't wild about losing it. And so it came to pass that when I started running again, I managed about 3 miles.

However, I became filled with hope when two days later I ran 4 miles without difficultly. So today when I was running I was hoping to do another 4 miles.

While I was approaching the 2 mile mark I took stock of how I was feeling. Everything felt fine...no reason to turn around yet. And the morning was nice and cool...seemed a shame to cut the run short. I bet I could do 5 miles again.

Then it occurred to me...I keep saying I'm training to become an endurance runner, maybe it is time I start acting like one. Yea Robert...surprise yourself...NO ROBERT....AMAZE YOURSELF.

So I ran out to the 3.25 mile marker....running back to the .25 mile marker. For a total of 6.25 miles....just over 10k! First time I've EVER gone that far.

So I didn't really lose anything after all. And funny thing, it wasn't nearly as painful as the time I ran 6 miles....not even close.

So now that I've run 10k, I'm not so nervous about the race I'm signing up for next month.

That's really about all for this week. So this week's blog is going to be short.

Maybe next week I'll get some help with my blog.....

NOTE: Friends visiting from Spark People be sure to check out the home page to get your humor fix. And those of you that are hitting the site from elsewhere, check out my page on Spark People.

August 04, 2008

2008-08-04T12:21:00.001-04:00

Identity Crisis

"Geez Robert, you are a machine!"

It was an innocent enough comment. One of my coworkers was making a statement about how well my weight loss had been going lately. But that statement prompted the following from me....

"Yes, I've been feeling like a machine lately."

And that's where it started.

Recently I've turned my life upside down as I've become more and more serious about my running. I've changed my diet around, changed my workout days, even dropped two of my favorite workout classes at the YMCA to make room for my new found activity.

Which was fine at first but lately I've been feeling something is amiss....something just isn't sitting right with me.

So I took a step back....stopped everything. If there is one thing my many failed dieting attempts have taught me it is that I need to have my head right if I'm going to stay on track. If I can't keep my head in the game, then I'll burn out...or lose interest.

It took me a couple weeks to really sort out what was bothering me. And it happened to coincide with the healing time that I needed for a nasty blister I got on the back of my heel...so timing wise, it worked out just fine.

The problem was that I really didn't know what was wrong...just that something was. It wasn't until I talked with one of my other coworkers about it that I realized what was my boggle.

You have to go back a ways to really understand it. For those of you that struggle with your weight, you will probably understand this more than the rest will, but being fat is....comfortable...its easy. So when I created this Token Fat Guy persona, it was an easy role for me to play. I was that fat guy at the gym with the funny T-shirt that shows his starting weight on the back...easy.

But when running, I couldn't be that guy. Cotton T-shirts and running don't mix. And all my TFG shirts are size 2XL...way too big for me to be running in now that I'm a size L. And while I'm on the subject of shirt size....I'm not really that fat anymore. Sure, I've got more weight to lose but already lost 3/4th of what I set out to do.

Plus, every time I turn around, some one on Spark is telling me that I need to change my name from TokenFatGuy to TokenFitGuy or TotallyFabulousGuy or something like that. And while I know they mean well, they are right, I'm not really that heavy anymore. I can't hide behind my fat any longer.

So that's where I am. If I'm not that fat guy any more, who am I? I'm not sure yet. I just don't know. I have some ideas....but I'm not ready to go public with them yet. I need time to sort out all of that.

However, knowing that I need to do this, I can pick up with my weight loss efforts and continue on my journey. Sunday I started lifting again. My triceps are killing me today. Today I went for a run. Nothing big, just a 3.1 miles. Both workouts felt good.

And that's something I've missed. Some of my runs and lifts were getting to be forced. I wasn't enjoying them. I think part of my problem with that was I wasn't getting a break...ever. With the new workout schedule, I was lifting 3 days a week and running 4 days. I no longer had a true recovery day. This was something I missed.

So against the advice of some of my fellow runners, I'm throttling back to running 3 days a week. I'm still a beginning runner. And I'm in my 40s. Until my body gets used to all this pounding, I need that extra day of recovery. Maybe next year I'll go back to running 4 days a week, but for now I'm listening to my body and dropping the extra day.

Lack of Progress Report

Being off diet and not working out for two weeks, I've lost some ground. But it isn't anything I can't get back. I've still got plenty of time to get my running to the level I'll need for the half marathon I want to try in December. And the small amount of weight I've gained will drop off now that I'm back on my plan.

And before you ask, I'm not telling how much I've gained back. I'll announce when I've reached 199 again, and that's it. It shouldn't take too long.

Well that's about all the touchy-feely that I can stand for today. Time to get back to doing other stuff.

Remember to increase the water you leave out for your pets during the summer...they need the extra!

NOTE: Friends visiting from Spark People be sure to check out the home page to get your humor fix. And those of you that are hitting the site from elsewhere, check out my page on Spark People.