Health Push

More of the Same

2005-10-30T18:44:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately, my eating habits haven't been great lately. I'm still in the 195-200 range, though. I'd probably be well over 200 if it wasn't for the many hours every weekend spent working on the deck that has been the interminable project. Still progressing well, though. Some more pictures below. Next step is putting the framework for the stairs.

Surgery Delay

2005-10-20T19:03:00.000-07:00

So, over the past couple of months (wow, I can't believe its been that long), we've been building a deck. Well, actually, we've only been building the deck for a couple of weeks. The time before that was spent digging footings and pouring concrete. In any case, this whole thing has taken far longer than expected. I thought that we'd be close to done. However, we're probably about a month away. Since I didn't want leave the rest of the deck for Tina to finish, I rescheduled my shoulder surgery from next week (October 27th) until December 8th. So, another 6 weeks of dealing with this thing. Hopefully we'll finish the deck in time (here's a pictures for those who care):

As to the health kick, things have been pretty uneventful. I've been going through streaks of good and bad, so my weight has just been consistently in the 195-200 range. No bad, though I would really prefer to be more centered around 195. I was back to 196 today, and I hope that if I lean a little more to my streak of good, I'll be able to center around 195.

A Step Towards Success

2005-08-28T13:07:00.000-07:00

Well,

Part of the reason I started this fitness trend wasn't just to lose weight, but it was also to get a hold of a potential health issue......that being my high cholesterol. Well, it seems that I'm finally getting somewhere. I had an updated blood test done, and my cholesterol levels are the lowest they've been since.....well pretty much since the first time I've had it measured which was college. Since my last analysis, my total cholesterol went down from 275 to 223. Although my HDL (good cholesterol) dropped slightly from 68 to 62, my LDL (bad cholesterol) dropped from 186 to 143. Plus, even my triglycerides fell from 105 to 89. So, this is definitely good news, though I now need to work to keep things at that level. My weight is down to about 196-197, and I've also been taking a decent collection of supplements, including multivitamins, Omega 3 fish oil, fiber, and oat bran (essentially everything that has been documented to lower cholesterol). I'm sort of now just cruising until my October surgery. My goal weight by then is 195, but really, I just want to make sure I'm in good shape since after surgery I won't be able to do any real weightlifting for a few months.

So, I'm still trying to hit 5 gyms sessions a week (3 for weights and 2 for running). If I do hit my 195 goal soon, I may even try to get down to 190 or so. We'll see. However, I now realize that this blog will do me a lot of good trying to recover from surgery, as it has kept me motivated through now. So, for all those keeping track. Since I started this blog, I've dropped 20 pounds, from 217 to 197 in just under 6 months. I'm am also down 26 pounds since last Thanksgiving. I'm most proud not of the weight loss, but of the fact that I did not use any fad or unsustainable diets to get there. No low carb, no South Beach, no raw diet. Just normal healthy eating and exercise. When I went on vacation or out on a weekend, I didn't need to worry about where we were going to eat because not only was I not limiting the type of food I ate, but I was also allowing myself a day or two a week to let loose.

Plugging Away

2005-08-04T18:46:00.000-07:00

So I've been good the past few weeks. I've either run or gone lifting at least 4 times a week. Plus, Tina and I have started the early stages of building a deck which means that we've spent about 15-20 hours in our backyard digging holes. Frustrating, since we're still less than halfway done, but a great workout.

Another piece of sort of good news is I finally scheduled my shoulder surgery. I visited the shoulder specialist for the Baltimore Orioles. I was actually very impressed. You always want your surgeon to be confident. Preferably, to the point of slight arrogance....but definitely not too arrogant. The guy I saw has the perfect balance. Arrogant enough to just know that he'll fix the problem, but good enough to talk me through all the details. In any case, the surgery is scheduled for October 25th, so that is the point at which we need to finish building the deck.

The weird thing lately has been my weight. Its been all over the place. My last 5 weigh-ins have been.....198, 204, 201, 202, 196. So what's my real weight?

Tough Weekend

2005-07-18T16:54:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was a bit tough on the diet. Bachelor party in Philly will do that to you. I weighed in at 202 today. Although my last post had me at 201, I actually weighed in at 199 last Thursday. Not too much of a concern, though, since I'm back at the gym regularly.

My shoulder is doing OK, but I have an appointment set up with an orthopedic surgeon up in Baltimore on July 27th. That should determine a lot. Let's see how this week goes. I'm hoping to get back under 200 for good soon.

7 Weeks, But I'm Back

2005-07-12T17:33:00.000-07:00

So I'm out of shape and weak.

However, I'm also back at the gym and only weigh 201 pounds.

Not sure how I should feel about all this. In any case, after dislocating my shoulder, I continued to my running for about 2 weeks. After that, I went on a trip to Russia and all hell broke loose. I got back and got sick, which put me out of commission for two weeks. Then, I got this weird pain in my stomach for a few days. According to everything I had read, I was either going through my period or had appendicitis. I didn't want to take a chance, so I went to the ER. After 6 hours, they told me that they had no clue what it was, but that it wasn't appendicitis. It looked like an infection, likely the last part of the virus I thought I had recovered from. That all brings me to today, and my first workout in 4 weeks!

The nice thing about the fact that I only weigh 201 is that if I keep my diet up and just start my exercise, I should be able to regain my muscle mass and get in shape without really trying to lose any more wieght.

So, the goal is 3 sessions of weights and 2-3 session of aerobic workout a week. Shouldn't be too bad.

Its good to be back.

Does it count?

2005-05-24T18:03:00.000-07:00

Well, I have one piece of good news followed by two pieces of bad news. The good news is that I hit 202 pounds last week, so I managed to hit my goal. After hitting 202, I essentially gave up my diet for a week. Which brings me to the first piece of bad news. That being that I weighed in at 204 today. So, does hitting my 203 goal still count? I'm thinking it does. In fact, I have already set a new goal of 195 pounds. Actually, my weight gain (according to the gym scale) was from 102.2 to 103.6. One and a half pounds isn't that horrible for a bad week and can just as quickly be reversed by a good week.

Now comes the second piece of bad news. While doing some back/shoulder strengthening exercises today, my left shoulder popper out of socket again. Most of you who bother reading this know my shoulder problems, and this is just the latest incident. Fortunately, it was easy to pop in, but will likey be sore for a while and effectively kill my weight lifting routine for a little while. Also, I'm planning to go white water rafting this weekend, which should now be even more exciting just based on what will happen to my shoulder. What this really has motivated me to do is go visit an orthopedic surgeon again. So, in addition to my continued weight loss, my goal is to schedule an appointment by the end of this week.

So Close......

2005-05-14T10:38:00.000-07:00

The good news is that I weighed in at 204 at the gym on Friday. Within 1 pound of the elusive 203 goal. In fact, if I had cheated, I could cliam victory right now. I weighed in at 203.8 before my run, and 202.4 afterwards. However, I always consider my before workout weight as my offical weight.

I also got my blood work back. As usual, my LDL was pretty bad. Fortunately, everything else looked great. The LDL result was a 188, though. A healthy number is uder 130, a medium risk number is under 160, a high risk number is under 180, and anything above is super high risk; so I'm not in great shape here. The doc, of course, wanted to put me on drugs, but I got him to give me 6 months to lower that number. What that means to me is that I will need to lose a few more pound. So, after I hit 203 and celebrate it, I will be setting a new goal. I promised the doc 10-15 since our last visit at which I weighed in at 208, so the likely target will be 195. However, I really want to make sure that I celebrate hitting my 203 goal when it happens instead of just moving on to my next goal.

Almost There

2005-04-28T19:59:00.000-07:00

This week was rather interesting. On Tuesday, I had my bloodwork done. I'm thinking that they screwed something up since they took 10 separate vials of blood. Add that with the fact that I had to fast for 12 hours beforehand, and I got quite dizzy and light-headed. I also weighed in at 207 that day, only a pound higher than I wanted to be. Two weeks until I get my results.

I had a feeling that this would be a good week for weight loss since its Passover. This means that while I still eat potatoes, my other carb intake is basically limited to matzah and vegetables. Its basically South Beach for a week. So, between this and the fact that I've been to the gym or run outside for 9 out of the past 10 days, I am now down to 205. So, with about a month to go before the end of my 3 month timeframe, I am within 2 pounds of my goal. So, it seems like good timing to get my bloodwork back.

I'm back

2005-04-22T12:02:00.000-07:00

It's been a while, so I figure its time for anther update. Due to some more travelling and my family's visit, I haven't been as good as I planned to be. While I haven't eaten horribly, I also haven't eaten well. I'm picking up on the gym, though, as I've been the last four days straight. Not surprisingly, my weight continues to hover around 208. So, I did not quite hit the goal I had of 206 when I went to see my doctor this past Tuesday. Actually, the more important day is next Tuesday, when I go get my blood drawn for some tests. My doctor threatened to put me on statins if my LDL cholesterol is above 160. Its hovered between 160 and 180 for a while, so this will be a good test. The other items I learned from my doctor is that I really should have surgery on my shoulder. Its been bothering me for 2 years and even with the rehab I've been doing, its not getting better. So, I'm trying to find a orthopedic shoulder specialist. If anybody knows of one in DC or Northern Virginia, I'm all ears. My plan is to get examined by the specialist, and if they recommend surgery, I'll be getting it.

Couple random things. The first is that I decided to see how much water I lose when I run. To do so, I've weighed myself before immediately before and after a run. Its consistently been about a pound (I've measured between 0.8 and 1.4). Although I do sweat like Louie Anderson in a sauna, its still amazing that it comes out to about 2 cups of water. Very impressive indeed. My other random thought is how much more energy I have now that I did when I was trying to work out on the Atkins diet. On Atkins, I used to get tired at the end of every workout, but now I have tons of energy.

Exhaustion Sets In

2005-04-08T11:28:00.000-07:00

Well, it seems like my life is catching up with me. All that travel has left me exhausted, and even when I make it to the gym (4 times this week, but wasn't doing so well before), I feel tired and even a bit light-headed. The reps I've been doing have started to go down a little, and I'm not sure if its the lack of sleep/exhaustion or that some of my weight loss is muscle mass. I've got another7-10 days to go before things calm down, so I really just need to focus on eating healthy, especially if my workouts continue to suffer.

Also, that 208 I weighed earlier in the week seems to have just been a fluctuation, I've weighed in at 209 since then. Makes sense since, as I mentioned in the previous post, I didn't eat so well in Chile.

This weekend, I'm off to Vegas for a bachelor party. As I've generally been exhausted all day the past two days, this has disaster written all over it. Let's just hope for an energy surge. Obviously, I don't have high hopes for eating healthy, but I'll do my best to at least eat decently while I'm there.

Lacking Gym

2005-04-05T06:29:00.000-07:00

I'm back from Chile, and it was a pretty cool place. Unfortunately, I had little chance to workout while down there, and I can't say I ate that well. Its not that I ate poorly in my choice of food, I just felt like I ate a lot.

Amazingly, I'm down another pound, though, to 208. Don't hate me for this. I'm usually the person who feels like they're eating well and doing the right exercise and still end up gaining a pound, so I deserve this once in a while. However, since I've been back, I've gotten back to my usual 2200 or so caloric daily caloric intake. This is important since I have two potentially bad weekends coming up. A bachelor party this weekend in Vegas, and my parents visiting next weekend. According to my schedule, I have two weeks to lose 2 pounds.

Also (I know I'm going to sound like a woman here, so please excuse me), I have a pair of pants that I bought a few years ago when my weight dipped to below 200 pounds (199.5) for the oly time since freshman year in college. They're nice dress slacks, so I'd like to find a way to wear them [womenly rant over].

So, the goal this week is to hit the gym 5 times (3 weights, 2 running). I did some weights yesterday, so I've got 4 left before taking off for Vegas on Friday.

Off to Chile

2005-03-28T10:35:00.000-08:00

Well, another week, another trip. Now, I'm off to Chile, and my schedule is packed, so I really don't expect to get back to the gym until next Monday. Not a good way to go through the week, but not much else I can do. Actually, for the next 3 weeks I really don't expect to get to the gym more that twice a week. Hopefully I can focus on my diet during this time.

I was actually sick since last Thursday, so I skipped workout for a few days. That, and the fact that I ate really poorly the past few days, is the bad news. The good news is that I'm feeling better. More good news (I guess) is that while I ate very poorly, since I was sick, I didn't really want to eat that much.

So, for my weigh-in today, I was at 209. That's 8 pounds down since the start, and 6 pounds to my goal. The other big news is that I actually scheduled my physical on April 19th (3 weeks away). Since those 3 weeks aren't allowing for much exercise (though I will try to fit as much as possible), my goal will be to get down to 206 for my physical. That's a pound a week, and hopefully, doable. As I am optimistic about reaching my weight goal, the nice thing about my physical is that it could set another health goal if needed.

Wish me some luck (I need it). No more updates until April 4th or so.

My eating habit

2005-03-23T18:42:00.000-08:00

The thing I was very proud with is that I wasn't planning to go on a specific diet to lose wait. Just the basics. No low-carb, no points, no grapefruit (unless I want some). Because of this, I just wanted to take a look at my daily intake of carbs, protein, and fat. Looking at my typical diet, I'm taking in about:

180 g Carbs
140 g Protein
20 g fat

About 2000 calories. Its about 50/40/10 for carbs/protein/fat. Seems about right, especially since its working.

Back from Vegas

2005-03-23T18:28:00.000-08:00

My second test is finally over. I weighed in last Wednesday before leaving and I was at 211. And I weighed in yesterday, the day after getting back, and I am at 210. That was basically my goal, so I can't complain. While I only exercised my first day there (see a trend?), its impossible not to walk miles on the strip while you're there.

Vegas, was awsome as always. I actually saw my first show ever in Vegas even though it was my third trip there (I'll be back in 3 weeks for a bachelor party for trip # 4). It was David Copperfield. While it was very cool, I had two issues with it. The first is my own fault. Apparently, I am not a good audience member for illusionists because I can't just let go and enjoy the show. Instead I need to figure out how everything is done. My second issue is that Copperfield used way too many plants. It wasn't a sold-out show, and I figure at least 1 in 10 people there was a plant. Pretty sad. The show, however, was actually really funny. Copperfield is a geek, and there's tons of humor (both intentional and unintentional). The funniest momnt, though, was the conversation I had with my dad tonight. It goes a little something like this:

Dad: Did you see a show while you were there?
Me: Yeah, I saw David Copperfield.
Dad: Good.
Me: Do you know who that is?
Dad: Yeah, the Charles Dickens character.
Me: Yes......Yes he is.

Back from Orlando

2005-03-14T19:45:00.000-08:00

Although I only managed to exercise once during the four days in Orlando, I did keep my diet promise. In fact, I kept under 2500 calories everyday and did not allow myself the benefit of a cheat day. The good news is that I made it to the gym today, and the even better news is that I weighed in at 212 pounds. So that's 5 pounds (scary) in about a week. The next challenge is that I'm away on another trip....this time to Las Vegas. I'll weigh in before leaving on Wednesday and then when I get back next Tuesday.

There's also a second tough challenge coming up. There are many theories as to why weight loss starts off very rapidly on a diet (extra water loss, shocking your body, etc.). Regardless, I need to make sure that I don't get discouraged when the weight loss begins to slow down. However, if I can make it to under 210 next week, I really will be thrilled.

Vacation is the challenge

2005-03-09T20:50:00.000-08:00

So, I realized that I may not have picked a great time to start this, but it truly will provide a true test. This weekend, I'm off to Orlando for a short 4 day vacation, then next week I'm in Las Vegas for 4 days. Vacation eating habits are not usually good things.

Wish me luck

So it begins

2005-03-09T17:08:00.000-08:00

Maybe I'm pathetic, but nothing gets me as motivated to get healthy and fit as when one of my friends does it as well. Usually its easier if they live, say in the same state as you, but I'm flexible.

So, now that Avish has decided to get on track, I'm there with him. It doesn't hurt that I had a goal in November to drop about 20 pounds. I dropped the first 5 in less than a month and have been static ever since.

Unlike Avish, my diet and exercise commitments will be calmer. For diet, I'm not restricting anything. However, since I know my caloric intake needs are somewhere around 3200 calories per day, I will commit to eating 1800-2500 calories six days out of the week. I will allow a splurge on one day a week, but even then, I will stay around 3500 calories. At this pace, I should be losing on average 1-2 pounds a week. I also commit to exercising at the gym at least 5 times a week (either 2 days weights and 3 days of running, or vice versa).

So what's my goal? Well, for now its simple. In the next 90 days, I want to go from my current weight of 217 pounds (as of 3/8/05) to 203 pounds (that would be in line from my goal to drop 20 in November).