October 30, 2008 - Measurement Day

Day 29 - 336 Days Remaining

It's been a long week. Despite medical issues, training going only moderately well, and an overindulgent dining out night it ended up okay.

Starting Weight: 284 pounds
Week 1: Lost nine pounds / nine overall - 275 pounds
Week 2: Lost six pounds / 15 overall - 269 pounds
Week 3: Lost two pounds / 17 overall - 267 pounds
Week 4: Lost three pounds / 20 overall - 264 pounds

It's been a month so I'll take my waist measurement again tonight to compare with my initial measurement.
Starting Waist: 50 inches
Week 4: Lost three inches / three overall - 47 inches

I think my biggest challenge to date is getting enough sleep followed closely by my second biggest challenge of diligently following my training schedule. These two things are related in my mind.

One of the side effects of not taking my medicine is that I suffer from insomnia. Since sleep has been an issue anyway, that isn't a good combination. Now that I've gotten my medical situation in hand again I'm setting three micro-term goals:

Micro-Term Goal #1: Go to bed and wake up on time (10:30PM - 6:30AM) for one week.
Micro-Term Goal #2: Do my run/walk workout on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.
Micro-Term Goal #3: Do my circuit training workout on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

I'm removing my doubled-up workout days for a week to help me get back on track for Short Term Goal #2. I'm still adjusting my daily routines to accommodate my training and the extra time needed prepare my meals. Michelle has been extraordinarily patient and helpful this past month, but I need to get my routines adjusted so that she doesn't have to do so much. Hopefully, having some extra time this next week will give me the push I need to get it figured out and implemented.

Day 26 - Tired

Not taking my medicine is mixing me up. I couldn't fall asleep last night and then I couldn't wake up this morning. I'm getting a doctor appointment today, but need to get in my workouts too.

Breakfast
1 whole egg and 2 egg whites [2P]
1/4 cup cheese [1P]
1 banana [3C]
10 1/2 whole almonds [3.5F]

Day 25 - Rest Day

Rest day.

Day 24

I went for a long bike ride this morning, but skipped my workout last night. I had hoped to make it up tonight, but am just too tired. I ran out of medicine on Friday and I usually get tired if I miss it for very long. I'll be making a doctor's visit next week to get my prescription refilled.

Breakfast
3 slices turkey bacon [1P]
1 whole egg and 2 egg whites [2P]
1/2 cup 1% milk [0.5P/0.5C/0.5F]
1 slice whole wheat bread [2C]
1/2 tbsp. grape jam [1C]
9 whole almonds [3F]

Lunch
2 1/2 ounces ham [2.5P]
1/4 cup fat free cheese [1P]
1/2 cup 1% milk [0.5P/0.5C/0.5F]
1 1/2 cup grapes [3C]
18 peanuts [3F]

Afternoon Snack
1 stick low fat string cheese [1P/1F]
1/2 cup grapes [1C]

Dinner
A kind of pot pie from a cookbook that worked out to [3P/3.5C/3F]
1/2 stick low fat string cheese [0.5P/0.5F]

Evening Snack
1 stick low fat string cheese [1P/1F]
1/2 cup grapes [1C]
I was really in the mood for grapes today.

Day 23

I got up and did my morning run/walk as planned. It went well, my knees didn't act up at all. Jogging for two minutes wasn't as bad as I'd feared and knowing that a three minute walk was upcoming helped mentally.

Breakfast
1 whole egg and 2 egg whites [2P]
1/2 cup fat free cottage cheese [1P]
1 cup applesauce [3C]
10 1/2 whole almonds [3.5F]
We were out of milk and I didn't feel like hassling with the extra 0.5P/C...

Lunch
I bought a deli sandwich today on ciabatta bread. Threw away the top piece of bread and ate the rest.

Afternoon Snack
1 stick low fat string cheese [1P/1F]
1 tbsp. raisins [1C]
Who knew raisins were so carbohydrate laden?

Day 22 - Measurement Day and Goal Review

I lost two pounds last week for a total of 17 pounds overall. After losing nine pounds followed by six pounds, two pounds seems like I didn't put much effort into it. And, truth be told, I was pretty lackadaisical last week. I didn't measure a lot of my meals, ate fast food, s'mores, and missed a lot of my workouts. So, all things considered, I think I'm pretty happy with two pounds!

I almost didn't do my morning workout again today, but managed to get motivated enough to go for a 30 minute bike ride. My goal wasn't distance, but to just keep peddling for all 30 minutes. Other than a few downhills where my speed was too high I managed to meet that goal.

Breakfast
1 whole egg and two egg whites [2P]
1/2 banana [1.5C]
1 apple [2C]
10 1/2 whole almonds [3.5F]
I thought I was doing pretty well, but writing it down I missed almost half of my protein this morning...

Lunch
3 1/2 ounces of hamburger [3.5P]
1 cup grapes [2C]
1/2 banana [1.5C]
10 1/2 whole almonds [3.5F]

Afternoon Snack
1 stick low fat string cheese [1P/1F]
1 clementine orange [1C]

Dinner
1 veggie burger [2P/1C]
1/4 cup fat free cheese [1P]
1/2 cup 1% milk [0.5P/0.5C/0.5F]
1 whole wheat bun [2C]
9 whole almonds [3F]

Evening Snack
1/3 Zone Perfect Bar [1P/1C/1F]

My short term goals are:

1. Stick to the Zone diet for three months.
2. Stick to my prescribed workout regimen for three months.
3. Starting next week begin with step 2 of the beginning runner workout and be able to run for a full 30 minutes at the end of the program.
4. Expand my circuit training work as best I can to include more exercises.
5. Continue aerobic workouts at the YMCA as necessary as the weather turns to ice and snow, don't wimp out!

Note: My training week runs from Thursday to Thursday (measurement day to measurement day).

I'm doing well on goal #1, even if last week wasn't quite what I'd like, only the s'mores were outside the Zone diet plan.

Last week I slipped a bit on goal #2, but two circuit training workouts so far this week and a resumption of morning workouts this morning gives me hope that I'm on track to meet this goal.

I had to take a small hiatus on goal #3 to let my knees recover, but hopefully I'll be able to resume my run/walk training this week with a modified week two (walk for three minutes, run for two minutes).

Goal #4 is in progress, I plan to add a circuit to my workout tomorrow in preparation for increasing the weight I use by five pounds next week. I'm hoping to add more exercises after the weight bump.

Goal #5 hasn't been necessary yet. It is cold in the morning and evening during my workout (30 degrees this morning), but once I push through my warm-up the cold doesn't bother me enough to warrant going to the YMCA yet. I enjoy my morning workouts outside, getting to watch the sun rise is pretty neat, and my shed is cozy enough for my evening workouts. I also enjoy not having to add drive time to my workout time, getting dressed and out the door is all the preparation time I have at the moment and I don't want to give that up just yet!

My intermediate term goals are:

1. Evaluate if the Zone diet is working. Continue if it is, take drastic action if it is not.
2. Compete in the Wendy's or Antrim Half Triathlon.

Goal #1 seems to be going well, 17 pounds in three weeks (averaging 5.67 pounds per week) seems pretty good to me! Still, three months is a good evaluation time and the staying power of the diet is what's under review.

I've been jogging and I got in my first bike ride today. Swimming in the Winter isn't my favorite thing to do, but once I start going to the YMCA it becomes a possibility. Emphasis on training for the triathlon will probably wait until February-March, but losing weight is definitely part of that training.

Overall, despite a light week last week on workouts, I'm on track to meet my goals! Sleeping eight hours per night is my biggest challenge at the moment, but I'm working on it.

Day 21 - Ugh

The best intentions in the world don't do much if you don't crawl out of bed. I was exhausted this morning and slept in instead of getting up to work out. Finishing my workout last night at 10:00PM and going to bed late probably didn't help. The solution is simple to say, "Go to bed on time!" but hard to implement. I won't bore you with details, but some more parts of my lifestyle are going to have to change to free up some time. I intend to get back on track tonight with my Wednesday circuit training workout.

Breakfast
1 whole egg and 2 egg whites [2P]
1 slice of 100% whole wheat bread [2C]
2/3 tsp. extra virgin olive oil [2F]
1 1/2 cups 1% milk [1.5P/1.5C/1.5F]

Lunch
Winging it from the cafe' menu today.

Dinner
3 1/2 ounces hamburger [3.5P]
1 whole wheat bun [2C]
1 cup green beans [1C]
1 apricot [0.5C]
10 1/2 whole almonds [3.5F]
Hamburger and bun... technically the blocks are in the Zone, but they're both unfavorable.

Evening Snack
1 stick low fat string cheese [1P/1F]
1 clementine orange [1C]

My evening circuit training workout went well tonight. I think I might be able to increase the weight I use by five pounds. It would be a close thing though. Lunges and overhead press are still pretty hard using the current weight. To compromise I think I'm going to increase from two to three circuits. Doing that for a week should get me ready to go back down to two circuits and up the weight by five pounds, plus give me an extra bit cardiovascular workout for a week.

Day 20 - Update

After a great weekend hiking in Seneca Rocks, WV I'm ready to go again. My knees have had plenty of rest and held up well during the long hikes up and down the trails. My workouts have suffered and I can only blame laziness. With the weather turning cold and frosty I need to switch my morning workout location to the YMCA. That will involve some drive time so I need to start getting up earlier. Tomorrow will mark the beginning of my new morning routine. Since I skipped my circuit training workout last night I'll make it up tonight and then plow through it again tomorrow night to get back on schedule.

My diet has held up well except for some noted exceptions involving chocolate, marshmallows, and graham crackers while camping. I've been relying too much on eyeballing my food portions this past week, I'm wondering how that will pan out come measurement day this Thursday. I noticed that I was getting hungry over the weekend from not eating properly balanced meals; making a fast food menu healthy isn't one of my skills just yet. Eating a Zone dinner last night made a big difference and the hunger pangs and cravings promptly went away.

Breakfast
1 whole egg and 2 egg whites [2P]
1/4 cup fat free cheese [1P]
1/2 cup 1% milk [0.5P/0.5C/0.5F]
1 apple [2C]
2/3 tsp. extra virgin olive oil [2F]
3 whole almonds [1F]

Lunch
3 1/2 ounces grilled chicken breast [3.5P]
2/3 cup applesauce [2C]
3/4 apple [1.5C]
10 1/2 whole almonds [3.5F]

Afternoon Snack
1 stick low fat string cheese [1P/1F]
1 peach fruit cup in light syrup, rinsed to remove the syrup [1C]

Dinner
3 1/2 ounces grilled chicken breast [3.5P]
1 1/4 cup broccoli [1C]
3/4 cup pineapple chunks [1.5C]
1/3 cup applesauce [1C]
10 1/2 whole almonds [3.5F]

Evening Snack
1 stick low fat string cheese [1P/1F]
1 clementine orange [1C]

My evening circuit training workout was a good one. Mentally, going outside into the cold was the most difficult part. After three sets of 100 skip rope, it didn't feel quite so bad though. Getting started and going to the gym is definitely the hardest part of working out. Once you're there, you might as well do a workout, right?

Day 15 - Measurement Day

Sorry for the long gap in posts. I fell off of the "get eight hours of sleep" bandwagon and haven't had a lot of energy. Last night I forced myself to go to bed early so I'm feeling pretty good today, still sapped, but better.

My diet has been going well. I've started to get the hang of eyeballing my meals so that I don't have to measure everything. To get the hang of it I've been judging how much of a food I need and then measuring it to see if I was close. The "fits in the palm of your hand" guideline is fairly accurate for everything except fish I think and fruit is pretty easy to guess at. Vegetables are still difficult since they vary so much in how much vegetable equals a block.

My workouts haven't gone so well. I've made it out to the shed once for circuit training since the last time I posted. My morning run/walks have gone better. I worked out on Friday, Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday, but not yesterday or today. On Tuesday my knees started to hurt so I've been giving them a break.

There is good news though. I stepped on the scales today and I weigh 269 pounds! I started off at 284 pounds and last Thursday I weighed 275 pounds. That means I'm down 6 pounds for the week and 15 pounds overall. My clothes fit better and I've tightened my belt a notch, both are welcome outcomes.

I'm pretty excited to see the weight coming off, but the rate is a little steep. Losing two pounds per week is the recommended healthy norm. I think a lot of my energy loss can be attributed to losing weight too quickly. I'm going to stick with my 3 1/2 block meals and 1 block snacks for another week combined with a slightly modified training schedule. I'm going to change my morning workouts from run/walks six days per week to biking on circuit training days and run/walks the other days hoping to keep my knees healthy.

If, after another week, my energy levels aren't back up (I'll know if I continue to miss workouts due to exhaustion) I'll probably bump my diet to 4 block meals and 2 block snacks to see if that helps.

If you have other ideas on how to get my energy up, or on what has it down, post them in the comments!

Day 9 - Recovering

I skipped my morning exercises today, but good news anyway, my throat is less sore and my fever is gone.

Breakfast
1 whole egg and 2 egg whites [2P]
1/4 cup fat free cottage cheese [1P]
1/8 cup shredded cheese [0.5P/2F] - I need to get some fat free shredded cheese.
1 slice 100% whole grain bread [2C]
1/2 cup canned light peaches, drained [1C]
1/2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil [1.5F]

I plan to do a least one circuit of my circuit training workout tonight, maybe at a lower intensity than normal. I'm hoping that I feel well enough to do both circuits at full intensity, but I'll play it by ear based on how I feel. I don't want to over do it and get sick again.

Lunch
Big salad from the cafe' again. I'm going to stop eating these, they didn't have chicken or ham today so I made do with some cottage cheese, but it's hit or miss it seems.

Dinner
I ate at Bob Evans before heading out to meet up with some friends. I ordered the turkey dinner but subbed applesauce for the stuffing, green beans for the mashed potatoes, got the mixed vegetables for my side (should have gotten the broccoli florets), and water to drink. I told them I didn't want any bread. My waitress smiled and said my order should be up really fast since it was all sides. And so it was. I'd forgotten to tell them no gravy, but I managed to scrape most of it off. I ate half of the turkey and saved the other half for tomorrow. I ate half of the applesauce and saved the rest as well. I ate all of the green beans, but only the broccoli out of the mixed vegetables. The squash was soggy and the carrots seemed like I'd be pushing my carbohydrates too high.

I had intended to work out before going out with my friends, but I ended up working late and stayed in town instead of going home. I'll make up my circuit training workout tomorrow.

Day 8 - Sickness Abounds

Day 8 was both good and bad, the bad part is why I'm blogging about it on Day 9.

I woke up and weighed myself, it has been one week of dieting and training and it was time to see how I was doing. I've lost nine pounds! That's really exciting, but having been on diets before, my excitement is tempered by knowing that a lot of that is water weight.

I did my morning run/walk and felt good throughout, even jogging longer than my designated one minute. Breakfast was my regular eggs and oatmeal affair. Lunch was a big salad from the cafe' with ham, chicken, zucchini, yellow squash, and eggplant topped with a bit of balsamic vinaigrette. Thus ends the good part of the day.

After lunch though, I got sick. I had a sore throat and a fever. If it hadn't been for a pressing issue at work I would have gone home and hopped in bed. I skipped my afternoon and evening snacks because I wasn't hungry but ate a good dinner of baked fish, green beans, and peaches. I used the eyeball method on dinner, I just wanted to eat something healthy and call it a night.

My wife was hosting a Pampered Chef show so I was in charge of watching my son. We sat on the couch and watched TV until about 9:30PM, which is way past bedtime for the kids, when my wife came home. She took one look at us sitting zombified and glassy eyed, both of us coughing (my son has been sick for a few days) and me wincing when I did, and sent us both to bed. I think I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. Everyone else has been sick off and on for a week, I guess I was due.

Day 7 - Evening Snack

Evening Snack
1 stick low fat string cheese [1P/1F]
1/3 cup applesauce [1C]

Day 7 - Circuit Training Workout

I had another really good circuit training workout tonight. No problem with keeping my heart rate up or having too long of a break between exercises. I even manged to do a kind of jog on the step ups to get my heart rate pumping.

To give a little more detail on what I'm doing I use a 25 pound dumbbell for each exercise except for the step ups. I've been tempted to hold the dumbbells during the step ups, but holding onto the dumbbells throughout the entire workout might be more than my forearms can handle at this point.

---
Warm up - 10 minutes - Two sets of 100 with a skip rope, two sets of 50 with a skip rope, with light stretching in between sets. With about three minutes remaining in the 10 minutes I go into the shed and do body weight versions of my circuit training exercises to get in the groove.

Step Ups - 40 repetitions in 2 minutes - Tonight I got a sort of jogging motion going on this exercise, first time for that. I do 20 repetitions with one leg going first and then switch and do 20 repetitions with the other leg going first.

Curls - 20 repetitions in 90 seconds - When I'm lowering a dumbbell from the curl, right before my arm relaxes to a hang, I try to start the curl for my other arm. I think this helps keep me from "rocking" to start my curl.

Steps Ups - 40 repetitions in 2 minutes -Same as above.

Lunges - 20 total, 10 each leg in 90 seconds - This is the hardest exercise for me. My form is shaky and I almost always feel like my hamstrings and the thigh on my back leg are working as hard as they can. I'm sure that's due to bad form, but I haven't figured it out yet.

Steps Ups - 40 repetitions in 2 minutes -Same as above.

Overhead Press - 12 repetitions in 90 seconds - Standing straight up I keep my head level, eyes forward, and press the dumbbells up. I feel this in my shoulder caps, lats, and I can feel the muscles along my spine working to keep me balanced. I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm not supposed to feel anything in my back and that I do because my form is shaky as I get tired.

Steps Ups - 40 repetitions in 2 minutes -Same as above.

Squats - 20 repetitions in 90 seconds - The site says to use two minutes, but my GymBoss goes in a two minute, 90 seconds, repeat, pattern so I fit my squats into that.

I don't take a break during any exercise and I don't take a break between circuits. After the beep for the end of my squats I start right back at the step ups to begin the next cycle. I do one more cycle for a total of two times through the circuit.

Cool Down - 10 minutes - I tried walking after this workout and ended up with sore a sore back and legs. I now do slow step ups and deep stretching to cool down from the workout. Putting all of the bikes back in the shed that I had to take out to get enough room to work out takes the last three minutes or so.

Day 7 - Dinner

Dinner
3 1/2 ounces marinated turkey breast [3.5P]
3/4 cup lentils [3C]
1/6 cup applesauce [0.5C]
12 peanuts [2F]
marinade for the turkey breast [1.5F]

A Note On RSS/Atom Readers

The other night I mentioned to my wife that she can subscribe to this blog and read the RSS feed instead of always coming to the web site. She said something along the lines of, "Huh?"

Just kidding, but she didn't know how to do it. In case you aren't familiar with RSS (or Atom) the idea is that you get an RSS reader and subscribe to web sites that you're interested in. As content on a web site you're subscribed to is posted, you get a new blurb in your RSS reader that usually contains either a full post or a short snippet of the post letting you quickly decide if it's one you'd like to read. A lot of web sites that post articles every day have one and it's been a long time since I went to my "regular" web sites without clicking on the link for an article from my RSS reader to get there.

So, in case you're interested, Google has a really nice RSS reader called Google Reader. All you need is a Google account and you're all set (your Google email account works). You can use other RSS readers but since I use Google's I'll use that in this example.

To subscribe to this blog, go to your Google Reader page and click the "Add Subscription" button on the left hand side of the page. In the box that shows up, type in (or cut and paste) "http://couch2merapeak.blogspot.com" (without the quotes) and click the "Add" button.

That's it, you're all set! Google Reader will keep track of the posts I make and let you read them whenever it is convenient for you without having to worry about missing one if it scrolls off of the page and into the archive (because I know you follow each and every one).

I hope that helps and maybe introduces you to a little new technology if you weren't familiar with RSS feeds already. Try adding some of your favorite web sites!

Day 7 - Lunch

Lunch
3 ounces turkey burger [3P]
1/2 cup 1% milk [0.5P/0.5C/0.5F]
1/3 cup peas [1C]
2/3 cup applesauce [2C]
18 peanuts [3F]

Day 7 - Breakfast

Breakfast
1 whole egg and 2 egg whites, scrambled [2P]
1/4 cup fat free cottage cheese [1P]
1/2 cup 1% milk [0.5P/0.5C/0.5F]
1 piece 100% whole wheat bread [2C]
1/3 banana [1C]
1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil [3F]

Day 7 - Morning Fiasco

I had intended to go to the YMCA this morning to work out. I had my wife set her alarm to wake up our son since I'd be home later than when I just step out the door and go. Everything was all set, or so I thought.

When I got up with my alarm, things went downhill rapidly. I hobbled to the bathroom walking oddly from a sore lower back and thighs that didn't want to move properly. I thought, "Okay, makes my aerobic choice easy, I'll go swimming," and then remembered that I hadn't been able to find or buy swim goggles last night. Biking and rowing were options, but I thought, "Those will just make me more sore." I'd lost my motivation so I thought to myself, "I'll go back to bed and take a 'rest morning'." So I did.

Just that easily I'd been derailed. Looking at it after I woke up, I realized that part of the problem was that I'd stayed up too late last night watching television and hadn't gone to bed until 11:30PM. Another part of the problem was that I was ambivalent going to bed on what I was going to do for my aerobic workout in the morning. Without a plan, when I woke up and things weren't like I'd expected I wandered off into, well, unplanned territory.

But the fun didn't end with a missed workout. Sleeping in threw off my entire morning routine. Getting cleaned up, eating breakfast, packing lunch, getting my son ready for school, all of those things were rushed and as a result I ended up choosing unfavorable carbohydrates for my breakfast and lunch to save time. Guess who didn't pack lunch and snack before bed because he was watching TV? Yeah.

I ignored almost all of my lessons learned from just a few days ago! I went to bed late, didn't lay out clothes for my workout (because I didn't even know what I was going to do), didn't do my food preparation, and to top it all off I slept in throwing off my entire morning routine. I'd plead temporary insanity but I don't think even I buy it.

On the upside, I'm not hobbling around on sore thighs and shins today and I'm well rested. While my meals weren't ideal, they were Zone meals and true to the program. I'm also very motivated to do a good circuit training workout tonight. I'm chalking this morning up as a very avoidable fiasco and hoping that it reinforces the lessons I thought I'd already learned.

---
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." - George Santayana, The Life of Reason, Volume 1

Day 6 - Evening Snack

Evening Snack
1/4 cup fat free cottage cheese [1P]
1/3 cup applesauce [1C]
6 peanuts [1F]

Day 6 - Dinner

Dinner
3 ounces marinated turkey breast [3P]
1/2 cup 1% milk [0.5P/0.5C/0.5F]
1 cup green beans [1C]
1/2 cup lentils [2C]
4 1/2 whole almonds [1.5F]
marinade for the turkey breast [1.5F]

Day 6 - Afternoon Snack

I'm out of clementines now!

Afternoon Snack
1 stick low fat string cheese [1P/1F]
1 clementine orange [1C]

Day 6 - Lunch

I forgot to pack my 1/2 cup of 1% milk so I'm 0.5 blocks shy on everything today for lunch.

Lunch
3 ounces pork chop [3P]
3/4 cup lentils [3C]
18 peanuts [3F]

Day 6 - Morning Aerobics

I did a 2 1/2 mile run/walk again this morning. I'm going to change things up tomorrow morning and go to the YMCA for my workout. It's supposed to rain tomorrow and, besides that, my legs need a change of pace to give my shins and thighs some time to recover.

Day 6 - Breakfast

This morning was more of the same. I'm getting tired of steel cut oats! I'm going to have to get more creative about my morning carbohydrates so I can mix up the recipes a bit.

Breakfast
1 whole egg and 2 egg whites, scrambled [2P]
1/3 scoop protein powder [1P]
1/2 cup 1% milk [0.5P/0.5C/0.5F]
1/4 batch (approximately 2/3 cup) steel cut oats [3C]
1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil [3F]

Day 6 - New Blog Post Method

I'm going to switch to a different method of posting on this blog. One of the things I want to be able to do is quickly find meal recipe ideas that I have used in the past as well as see how my training has progressed over time. To that end, I'm going to start making smaller posts that focus on a specific topic.

Each post will have a tag associated with it so that I can click on that tag and see all of my posts that have that tag attached. For example, the tags for breakfast would be "diet, breakfast" and the tags for my morning aerobic workout would be "workout, runwalk". If I then wanted to look at what I've been eating for all of my meals I would click the "diet" tag, if I wanted to see what I've been eating for breakfast I would click the "breakfast" tag. Same for "workout" and "runwalk".

Hopefully, that will make this journal more useful and the posts quite a bit shorter!

Day 5 - Goal Setting

My morning run/walk went well today. I was faster than the last few times, finishing the 2 1/2 miles in under 30 minutes and walking past my house and back to use the full amount of time. Despite coming off a rest day, I'm sore! I didn't know if I'd be able to run, my thighs, hamstrings, and shins are really tight and hurt to flex. I focused on hitting on the ball of my foot while walking and running though and it really seemed to help. I'm considering spending Wednesday at the YMCA to swim, row, or bike to give my joints a break. They haven't been hurting, but 284 pounds crashing down on them for 2 1/2 miles every day is bound to lead to injury if I push it too hard.

As promised here is my first pass at my short, intermediate, and long term goals:

Short Term Goals (October - December 2008)

1. Stick to the Zone diet for three months.
2. Stick to my prescribed workout regimen for three months.
3. Starting next week begin with step 2 of the beginning runner workout and be able to run for a full 30 minutes at the end of the program.
4. Expand my circuit training work as best I can to include more exercises.
5. Continue aerobic workouts at the YMCA as necessary as the weather turns to ice and snow, don't wimp out!
   

Intermediate Term Goals (January - June 2009)

1. Evaluate if the Zone diet is working. Continue if it is, take drastic action if it is not.
2. Compete in the Wendy's or Antrim Half Triathlon.
   

Long Term Goals (July - October 2009)
Climb Mera Peak!

I'm still kicking around some other goal ideas, but they need more work before I feel confident adding them to the "official" goals list. Some of those ideas are:

• Can/should I incorporate the scaled CrossFit workouts from CrossFitBrandX into my workout regimen (learn more about CrossFit)?
• I want to set goals for specific exercises, similar to the 30 minute run currently on the list.
• Do a moderately difficult climb/hike here in the States (Longs Peak, etc), but I don't know which one and cost might be an issue.
  

Breakfast
1 whole hard boiled egg and 2 hard boiled egg whites [2P]
1/3 scoop protein powder [1P]
1/2 cup 1% milk [0.5P/0.5C/0.5F]
1/4 batch (~2/3 cup) of steel cuts oats [3C]
9 whole almonds [3F]

Lunch
3 ounces grilled chicken breast [3P]
1/2 cup 1% milk [0.5P/0.5C/0.5F]
1 cup applesauce [3C]
18 peanuts [3F]

Afternoon Snack
1 stick low fat string cheese [1P/1F]
1 clementine orange [1C]

Dinner
3 ounces turkey burger [3P]
1/2 cup 1% milk [0.5P/0.5C/0.5F]
1/3 cup peas [1C]
1/2 cup canned light peaches (rinsed in the sink) [1C]
2 cups lettuce [0.5C]
6 small cherry tomatoes [0.5C]
1 tbsp. balsamic vinaigrette [0.5F]
15 peanuts [2.5F]

Evening Snack
1 ounce ground turkey [1P]
1/4 cup lentils [1C]
6 peanuts [1F]

I made up a big batch of lentils this evening based on this recipe. I didn't have any big leafy greens, I plan to buy some and add them some time this week. I used fresh tomatoes from our garden instead of the canned tomatoes and I skipped the yogurt altogether because I didn't have any of those ingredients on hand. If you haven't stumbled upon 101 Cookbooks yet you should check it out. I'm always tempted by her recipes and plan to make quite a few of them in the months to come.

My circuit training workout went well. It was much more difficult than the first time I did it! I bumped the weight up to 25 pounds and that seems to have done the trick. No long rests, kept my heart rate up, and was completely wiped at the end of the workout.

Feel free to post what you think would be good goal ideas or Zone meal ideas in the comments!

Day 4 - Rest Day

Today is a rest day. I had intended to wake up at 6:30AM to keep my body clock constant, but my son decided that he needed to sleep with us last night. Four hours of bony elbows and knees later and I decided that sleeping in was the wiser course!

I've got some kind of inner ear thing going on today making the room kind of spin. Hopefully, that'll be gone by tomorrow.

Breakfast
I slept through breakfast today. I didn't feel hungry until lunch so I didn't try to squeeze one in.

Lunch
3 ounces chicken breast [3P]
1/2 cup 1% milk [0.5P/0.5C/0.5F]
1 clementine orange [1C]
1 slice whole wheat bread [2C]
1 tsp. Miracle Whip Light [0.5F]
15 peanuts [2.5F]
1/2 leaf romaine lettuce and 1/2 slice dill sandwich pickle as garnish

Afternoon Snack
1/4 cup fat free cottage cheese [1P]
1 clementine orange [1C]
6 peanuts [1F]

Dinner
3 ounces grilled chicken breast [3P]
1/2 cup 1% milk [0.5P/0.5C/0.5F]
1/2 cup green beans [0.5C]
1 clementine orange [1C]
1/2 cup canned light mixed fruit [1.5C]
18 peanuts [3F]

Evening Snack
1 stick low fat string cheese [1P/1F]
1 clementine orange [1C]

Day 3 - Weekend Workout Continued

As promised, I used the body fat zone block requirement calculator to determine my measurements.

Weight: 285 (nearest five pounds, i.e., 180 or 185)
Height: 75 (use half-inch increments, i.e., 71.5 or 72)
Waist: 50 (use half-inch increments, i.e., 32 or 32.5)
Wrist: 7 (use half-inch increments, i.e., 7 or 7.5)
Activity Factor: Light - Light fitness training, such as walking

Body Fat %: 34.00
Body Fat Weight (lbs): 96.90
Lean Body Mass (lbs): 188.10
Daily Protein Requirement (g): 112.86
or # of Blocks of Protein: 16
# of Blocks of Carbohydrate: 16
# of Blocks of Fat: 16

I should be using the "Moderate" activity factor, but I think "Light" is more appropriate. My logic is that my job is purely sedentary, I don't stand or walk at all unless I'm getting a drink or walking down to the cafe' to play Go at lunch. Since I don't really use any energy during the day, I'll dock myself an activity factor to compensate. Using the block recommendations I would have the following blocks per meal:

Breakfast: 4
Lunch: 4
Afternoon Snack: 2
Dinner: 4
Evening Snack: 2

That looks fairly reasonable, but I've been feeling full on the 3.5 blocks per main meal and 1 block snacks. Since my most pressing goal is to lose weight I'm going to stick with that and if I start feeling weak and tired during my workouts I'll bump up to the calculated values.

Breakfast: 3.5
Lunch: 3.5
Afternoon Snack: 1
Dinner: 3.5
Snack 1

As you can see from the calculations, I have 96.90 pounds of body fat. My primary weight loss goal is 60 pounds and my supplemental weight loss goal is 80 pounds. Assuming I can keep my lean body mass at 188.10 pounds, if I reach my primary weight loss goal I will have 36.90 pounds of body fat left. That's a body fat percentage of 19.6%, not bad at all since the recommended "average" male body fat percentage is 15%. If I reach my supplemental goal I will have 16.9 pounds of body fat for a body fat percentage of 9%. That would be spectacular! These calculations make me feel that my goals are right in line with what is healthy for me. My primary goal is almost spot on to get me into a reasonable weight range and my supplemental goal is right on to put me in the elite athlete weight range for my build. Now, to do it in one year... making reality come as close to theory as possible is the purpose of my training.

Below is what I ate for the remainder of today. I went grocery shopping after eating dinner so I had some new items to eat for my evening snack. I wasn't at all hungry for my evening snack, but I ate it anyway. I shouldn't do that, habits like that are what made me obese in the first place.

Lunch
2 1/2 ounces chicken breast [2.5P]
1 cup 2% milk [1P/1C/2F]
1 1/2 cups green beans [1.5C]
1 clementine orange [1C]
7 1/2 whole almonds [1.5F]

Afternoon Snack
1 stick string cheese [1P/3F!]
1 clementine orange [1C]

Dinner
3 ounces pork chop [3P]
1/2 cup 2% milk [0.5P/0.5C/1F]
1 cup romaine lettuce [0.25C]
1 1/4 cup broccoli [1C]
1/2 cup chopped tomato [0.5C]
1 clementine orange [1C]
2 tbsp. balsamic vinagairette [2.5F]
3 whole almonds [1F]

Evening Snack
1/4 cup fat free cottage cheese [1P]
1 clementine orange [1C]
6 peanuts [1F]

Day 3 - Weekend Workout

Waking up at 6:30AM on a Saturday just isn't right! After recovering from the shock of my alarm this morning I noticed that my shins and hamstrings were sore. I went to bed last night at 10:45PM, having stayed up too late watching a movie with the kids, and feel asleep immediately.

After getting dressed and taking my medicine, I grabbed my GymBoss just in case and took off walking. After the 6 minute warm up, I felt better so I did the run/walk workout as planned. I noticed that I didn't post how far I'd gone yesterday, so I calculated it up using Gmaps Pedometer, and it was 2 1/2 miles. I took a slightly different route this morning that was also 2 1/2 miles long.

Breakfast this morning was more of the same. I hard boiled some eggs last night and it was nice this morning to peel three eggs, throw away the yolks for two of them and, ta da, eggs. No mess. I cooked up another batch of steel cut oats this morning. Since I didn't scramble the eggs with olive oil I ate whole almonds to make up the fat blocks.

Breakfast
1 whole egg and 2 eggs whites [2P]
1/3 scoop protein powder [1P]
1/2 cup 2% milk [0.5P/0.5C/1F]
2/3 cup steel cut oats [3C]
7 1/2 whole almonds [2.5F]
Dash of cinnamon and nutmeg to spice up the oatmeal

Provided I stick to the Zone diet for the rest of today I will have hit all of the immediate goals I set for myself on Wednesday!

I need to reread the Zone book today and make up a menu for the rest of this weekend and next week. I'll also be taking my measurements so I'll post those soon as well. I'll work on my short, intermediate, and long term goals this weekend and post them on Monday.

Day 2 - Baby Steps Circuit Training

I just finished the circuit training workout. I used 20 pound dumbbells and thought it was a bit too light. I'll add five pounds next time. My gym is pretty small so I usually had about 30 seconds rest between the step ups and the weight lifting part of the workout which seemed like a lot of time considering I only had to turn around to get to my dumbbells. For the weight routines, I was usually within 10-15 seconds of the time interval with lunges and squats and had about 30 seconds of rest again between the curls and overhead press exercises and step ups.

The step ups, curls, and overhead press seemed easy. The lunges were the hardest and I'm not certain my form was correct. The squats were tough on my lower back until I put 25 pound plates under my heels so I could keep my form correct. I need some flexibility work on my ankles. I'll have to do some research on that.

For my 10 minute warm up I skipped rope in sets of 60 and did stretches in between. Next time I think I'll add in a couple of practice moves for each exercise (especially lunges) and a few crunches for good measure.

For my cool down I took a 10 minute walk thinking that would be the same as the gentle stretching and slow step ups. After doing it, I don't think it was. I'll stick with the recommendation next time.

I have two questions for any weightlifters out there:

1. Do you know if my rest phases are of appropriate length or if they're too long?
2. Page 3 of the circuit training workout says, "One other point: in this higher-intensity zone, strength development and aerobic fitness are more likely to be complementary. Long and slow endurance training conflicts with strength training. The body’s muscle response is contradictory and the results can be disappointing (Nader 2006)." Am I wasting my time doing aerobic workouts every morning and circuit training on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday or is this saying that circuit training is complimentary to my aerobic workouts and wouldn't be complimentary if I were doing weight lifting workouts?

I look forward to your comments!

Day 2 - Baby Steps

Last night was... long. I took my lessons learned from yesterday to heart and laid out my clothes, checked the weather, and then made my menu for today and started preparing ingredients before going to bed last night. I think planning out and preparing the initial two weeks of Zone meals is the most difficult part of the Zone diet. I had trouble with it the last time as well. It isn't that we don't have healthy things to eat in the house, it's that I insist on measuring everything out instead of following the eyeball or 1/3 protein and 2/3 vegetables/fruit plate methods mentioned in the book. The last time, once I'd made it through two weeks I had enough standard meals that I could whip them up in short order and was then able to experiment with more interesting cuisine. Getting to that point is the challenge.

I stayed up until 10:30PM to watch the Vice-Presidential debate and then went to bed. And laid there. And then laid there some more. I think I fell asleep just after 11:30PM. I'm not sure why that was the case, around 7:00PM I was ready to go to bed and call it a night. I did get up at 6:30AM this morning. I figure my body will figure this out if I just keep getting up on time.

I did the run/walk workout this morning, altering their recommendation a bit to do a warm up of 6 minutes followed by 1 minute running/5 minutes walking for four intervals (6 minutes warm up, 24 minutes run/walk). I felt my form was pretty good, but no matter how slowly I ran/jogged it took about 10-20 seconds before I could pump my arms to go from strolling to walking. Hopefully, that will change as I get better at this. I also found that I didn't mind running by the bus stop today. I'm not sure why, I guess it was because those particular kids had already seen me so what's the big deal?

To measure out my 1/5 minute intervals I wore a GymBoss timer clipped to the neck of my shirt (so I could hear it over traffic and my own breathing). I started out with it clipped to the hip pocket of my sweatpants, but moved it quickly after I missed hearing the beep and my first run interval was three minutes long!

Below is my meal plan for the day. Breakfast was "interesting". I got lazy and didn't want to dirty up a plate for the eggs so I mixed them in with my oatmeal (after I'd cooked the eggs! Those familiar with my culinary skills may have been in doubt). That was a bad idea. I was able to choke it all down, but I won't be doing that again.

Breakfast - Oatmeal and Eggs
1 whole egg and two egg whites [2P]
1/3 scoop protein powder [1P]
1/2 cup 2% milk [0.5P/0.5C/1F] - I decided I can't really ignore the fat content of the 2% milk so I'm putting it in as a source of fat.
2/3 cup steel cut oats [3C]
2/3 tsp. olive oil [2F]

Lunch - Tuna Salad Wrap and Milk
1 can of tuna [3P]
1/2 cup of 2% milk [0.5P/0.5C/1F]
1 tortilla [3C]
2 tbsp. Miracle Whip Light [2F]
1 1/2 whole almonds [1.5F]
1 tbsp. pickle relish [-] - The label on the jar of relish in the fridge shows 0P/0C/0F so I'm treating it as a spice.

Snack - String Cheese and a Clementine Orange
1 stick of string cheese [1P/3F!] - We don't have low fat string cheese at the house. However, I erred on the side of being cheap because going with this means I didn't have to drive to the store.
1 clementine orange [1C] - The Zone book I have only shows canned mandarin oranges or regular oranges. However, 1/2 orange is 1 carbohydrate block and a clementine orange is roughly that size.

I've been typing up these posts during my lunch break at work so I haven't gotten to my circuit training yet. I'll post again tonight after that workout.

Day 1 - Putting The Plan In Motion

I hit my goals for today! I can hear the comments of, "Congratulations on waking up, taking a walk, and eating breakfast," already but despite a pretty easy first day and set of goals I learned a few things:

1. I made a paper planning mistake. "Wake up at 6:30AM" does not translate into "start working out at 6:30AM". By the time I had dug my workout clothes out of the dresser, taken my medicine (I'm hypothyroid so I take a little pill every day) and put on a warm jacket (it was 40 degrees Fahrenheit this morning!) it was 6:45AM before I was actually walking down my driveway. Lesson learned: Set out my clothes and check the weather report before going to bed.
2. I found out I'm self conscious about being seen working out. There were kids walking to school and waiting on the bus this morning and I felt silly being seen by them. It kept going through my mind that they must be thinking, "Who is that old fat guy walking by and what is he doing here today?" I'm going to have to get over this, but for now I plan to figure out where the bus stops are through trial and error and plan my run/walks so that they avoid them. Perhaps as I lose weight this trend will reverse and I'll be more comfortable about being seen working out in the morning. Lesson learned: Plan a little, but mostly suck it up and get over it as quickly as I can.
3. I did remember that Zone meals take a while to fix. I didn't remember just how long that was. Breakfast was a half hour affair this morning and it really didn't need to be. I had to look food up in the Zone book to get the correct number of blocks for the meal and then cook it all up. Luckily, a few days ago I cooked a batch of steel cuts oats. Lesson learned: Plan my meals and prepare the ingredients the night before.
   

I went to bed at 10:30PM last night, but didn't end up falling asleep until after 11 o'clock. I think I'll try going to bed 15 minutes earlier tonight to see if that helps get me closer to the eight hour mark.

I weighed myself on the bathroom scale and I was very close with my guess from yesterday, I weigh 284 pounds. I'll use that as my starting weight to track my weight loss. I know that part of figuring out my blocks for the Zone diet is taking certain measurements and I'll post those as soon as I take them.

This morning I walked just over 1.75 miles (calculated using the Gmaps Pedometer) in 30 minutes.

Since I haven't reread the Zone book yet to figure how many blocks I should be eating I used my previous block count of 3.5 blocks per meal and 1 block snacks. Breakfast consisted of:

Protein
1 whole egg [1 block]
2 egg whites [1 block]
1/3 scoop of protein powder [1 block]
1/2 cup 2% milk [0.5 block]

Carbohydrate
2/3 cup steel cuts oats [3 blocks]
1/2 cup 2% milk [0.5 block]

Fat
1 tsp. olive oil [3 blocks]
1.5 whole almonds [0.5 block]

I scrambled the eggs and added a little bit of salt and pepper, nothing fancy there. The Zone book says that oatmeal is 1 block for 1/3 cup, but the nutrition information on my oatmeal packet says 27g of carbohydrate per serving and my batch made 4 servings. I went with the math (27/9 = 3) instead of the book, but I need to research the blocks for oatmeal. Regardless, I mixed the oatmeal with the milk and added the protein powder, a dash of cinnamon, and a dash of nutmeg and microwaved it to warm it up. It actually tasted really good so I'll probably stick with oatmeal as the carbohydrate part of my breakfast.

Tonight I need to plan my menu for tomorrow and Saturday morning. I also plan to lay out my clothes, check the weather report, and go grocery shopping to pick up anything I need after planning my menu. Saturday will be my big shopping day to get all of the things I'll need for full time Zone dieting.

Developing My Initial Training Regimen

This is going to be a long post, so you might want to get comfortable before you begin.

As I alluded to in my last post, my lifestyle has not been overly concerned with my health for a while. I currently weigh around 285 pounds and I am 6' 3" tall. Losing weight will have to be a primary goal of my training. Since walking up three flights of stairs leaves me out of breath, I'll also need to dramatically improve my aerobic fitness level. I don't feel that I need to gain a lot of muscle mass, but mountaineering does involve considerable body strength so I'll need to focus on weight training exercises that increase my endurance.

So, first things first. I think the biggest obstacle I face is my weight. It seems impossible to increase my aerobic fitness and physical endurance without addressing it, although doing both of those things will contribute to my weight loss. The articles I've been reading online suggest that a healthy and sustainable weight loss rate is around one and a half to two pounds per week. Since my trip is in October of next year I have 52 weeks to achieve my weight loss goal. Theoretically, 52 weeks would let me lose 104 pounds. To feel good about my chances of succeeding in my summit attempt I think my body weight for the trip needs to be 225 pounds or less. That means I need to lose a minimum of 60 pounds in 52 weeks, or just over one pound per week.

However, right or wrong, I feel that I need to hit my target weight about two or three months before the trip. My reasoning is that I need time to adjust to weighing 20% less than I currently do. While losing weight I'll also be losing some muscle, no matter how carefully I diet. My body will be under a lot of stress while I'm going through the process of weight loss in combination with increasing my cardiovascular fitness level and physical endurance. I feel that I'll need to give my body time to "rest" and build up some inner reserves before the trek. I also think this process will be something akin to a reverse growth spurt and that I'll need some time to get through an awkward stage and to a point where my mental expectations match what my body is capable of doing.

Given the adjusted time frame, I need to average around 1.5 pounds of weight loss per week for the next 40 to 44 weeks. That falls squarely in the realistic range, so I think it's a reasonable goal. I'll admit to hoping that I can do better than this and so I'll set a supplemental goal of averaging an even 2.0 pounds of weight loss per week should I get to my first weight loss goal before the 40-44 weeks have passed. That's losing 80 pounds instead of 60 pounds and, yes, it seems very ambitious.

All of that thinking and reasoning is great, but how am I actually going to do all of that?

Diet - The Zone Diet
Over the last decade I've tried several diets: Atkins, Weight Watchers, and The Zone. Atkins wasn't for me. I never felt well on it and was irritable all the time, even after the initial two week phase. Weight Watchers worked. My only complaint about it is that I was always hungry and focusing on my next meal all the time. I lost 40 pounds on it, but wasn't able to keep with the program and ended up rebounding. The Zone seemed to work really well. I wasn't hungry and I felt good throughout the day. It also helped that the two planned snacks fall right at the times I'm always snacking on junk food during the day. I was only able to pursue the Zone diet for about five weeks before 12-16 hour per day work commitments took over my life for about eight months. However, during those five weeks I lost 12 pounds (without doing any exercise) and felt good so I'll be doing it again for at least three months to gauge how it works for a longer period and if I think it is sustainable for the full year (and hopefully beyond).

Aerobic Training - Varied.
My current plan is to do 30 minutes of aerobic exercise six days per week, Sunday being a rest day. I have a membership to the local YMCA so I have no excuses about equipment availability (year round swimming pool, rowing machine, treadmill, stationary bike).

Weight Training - Circuit Training
Asking around and doing some quick online Google searches brings up circuit training as a way to do weight lifting with a focus on endurance as opposed to building muscle mass. My current plan is to do 30 minutes of circuit training three days per week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday).

While this isn't in the list of main training categories, a lot of literature online (as well as common sense) indicates that not sleeping well or for long enough can cause all kinds of problems. To cover all of my bases and give myself the best possible chance to succeed at all of my goals I'm going to focus on a good night's sleep as part of my core training regimen.

Sleep - At least 8 hours per night and a routine bed time
To a lot of people I'm sure this seems like a no-brainer. My sleep schedule was very erratic or non-existent for eight months and has remained erratic for the last several months. I need to get back on a schedule and get more sleep. Typical nights for me right now are going to bed at 1, 2, or 3 o'clock in the morning and waking up for work around 7:30 - 8 o'clock.

The Nitty Gritty Details
I need to come up with short, intermediate, and long term goals, but for now I will wrap up this post with my immediate goals:

1. Have a Zone breakfast tomorrow. Have a Zone breakfast, lunch, and snack on Friday, and begin adhering to the Zone diet for all three meals and two snacks every day starting on Saturday.
2. Go for a 30 minute morning walk tomorrow. On Friday and Saturday do run/walks.
3. On Friday do this circuit training workout.
4. Go to sleep at 10:30PM (or earlier) and wake up at 6:30AM for the remainder of this week.
   

I will try to post how successful I am at each of these goals each day and have a post ready on Monday detailing my short, intermediate, and long term goals.