Get Real

Weekly Stats
Current: 198.6
Weekly Loss: -0.4
To Go: 23.6
Total 126.4

Had a small gain this week. I think I know what the problem is and more importantly how to fix it. I have been struggling with keeping track of my calorie intake. I found a program called Calorie Counter for my phone and it syncs up online. Just from breakfast this morning, I found out that I was eating too much of a good thing! By just measuring what I ate and tracking the calories, I figured I saved myself about 200 calories. I was way off in estimating this particular breakfast! That adds up quick even if you do exercise a lot. I will let you know (or you will see in next weeks weight loss) how it goes. Other than that, I had a great week. My back, though still a bit tender, is doing a lot better. I am careful in how I run and make sure I stretch the particular muscles that are giving me grief and that helps a lot. I had a great trail run on Friday and a great hike on Saturday. I took my trekking poles with me on Friday to give my back a break. I thought I wouldn't like having them, but it made the run fun! It was like a combination of skiing and running. My back felt good after as well. My hike on Saturday, was a 10 miler and I enjoyed it as well. I missed out getting wet in the rain as my timing was perfect in between storms.

One point of motivation is being realistic. Today's weigh-in has a couple of reality checks in it. Even though we may want to lose 10 lbs a month or run a half-marathon or what ever motivates you, there are going to be stretches when it is hard to stay on course. You might get sick and not able to work out as much as you would like. Perhaps you hit a plateau and are not on track to lose that 2 lbs you had hoped for this week. These things are going to happen. The biggest obstacle to overcome is discouragement. Hope for the best, but be prepared for the worst! Don't fall back into to bad habits because you are discouraged, fight through the obstacle and find a way up, over, around or through! Forward is the direction that you want to be headed. Choose feeling better, being more healthy. Take a deep breath and look back over the ground you've covered up to this point. I have learned that from my hiking. I will be tired from a long, steep climb, but if I take half a second and look back, I will be amazed at how far I have come! Catch your breath and move on. You can do it!

Keep up the great work everyone. Phil keeps pushing his exercise and eating right and is seeing great success in losing weight. Bill H and Todd A ran some great mileage this last week. Todd also had a great race! Hope the rest of you are having great success as well! Hang in there and I will too!

Sugar Roller Coaster

Weekly Stats
Current: 198.2
Weekly Loss: 1.2
To Go: 23.2
Total 126.8

I was happy to see a weight loss again this morning. I worked really hard this week, but the scale was all over the place. I am dealing with a slight injury as well. Usually when I have back problems, it is my lower back, but this time it's my upper back right around the shoulder blade areas. If I don't concentrate on my posture when I run, it gets really sore by the time I am done, especially on a longer run. My daughter who is a massage therapist said that the muscles up there are quite tight. She showed me a few stretches I can do and an exercise that will help. She also gets a much awaited chance to work her old man over tonight! I'll try to remember to let you now how that goes.

I thought I would briefly talk about a principle that I believe is crucial in weight loss. I have mentioned this several times before but it bares repeating. Last October I was on a very restricted calorie diet. Maybe not the best way to approach weight loss, but it was better than gastric bypass in my opinion. Why? I was eating small portions of healthy food. No refined sugars at all. The first week was a killer as I felt those sugar cravings appear as "almost" headaches. The brain was used to getting the instant hit of sugar and it wanted more. For me it was like coming off a drug addiction! This may sound extreme, but I really believe that there is some addictive quality to sugar. I am no expert in the field, but from the amateur research that I have done, I have read how after you eat sugar, it hits the blood stream. The body needs to compensate for it by releasing insulin. In a relatively short period of time, your blood sugar level goes down and before long, you need another hit to get your blood sugar level up. The brain itself, as an organ, runs off this and when the blood sugar gets low, it lets you know it. The fix is simple, but the first week or so is hard. Limit simple sugars as much as you can! It will make all the difference in the world once you get past the initial craving. Does this mean no sweets at all? No way! Just get them as nature provides them. Fruits are great! The contain fiber and nutrition that you need. It takes the body a bit to break them down and so the release into your blood stream is at a more manageable rate. White bread and pasta has had a lot of fiber refined out of them as well and so they can have a similar effect on blood sugar as well. That is one reason that whole grains are so much better for you. That extra fiber and bran also contains important nutrients as well as slowing the digestive process. Get off sugar for two weeks and you will notice a big difference! It will cut your craving down a lot! Your chances for weight loss have increased dramatically as well!

Keep up the great work everyone. Bill H still amazes me with his running abilities! Todd A keeps making great progress coming off an injury. Phil gets the Mr. Persistence award for hanging in there. Nan gets a nod for her great support of Phil! Lisa H. 5K!!!! Great job. Jean W. - Wow a 5K for you too! Thanks to the rest of you for your constant support, encouragement and inspiration! Hang in there and I will too!

Back to the Future

Weekly Stats
Current: 199.4
Weekly Loss: 3.6
To Go: 24.4
Total 125.6

I gave a sneak preview last week on FB about my being below 200 lbs. I have reached the point where my weight bounces around a lot so I would have been happy just to have stayed at that point. That's what happened! I did see 198 on one weigh in, but I often bottom out mid-week so I wasn't sure how things would come in. After last week's mini-gain this was good news!

Sorry about not posting yesterday. We were gone for the holiday weekend and for some reason forgot to take my scale with me for the Monday morning weigh-in. :) Things went well. I planned in advance and took both the right food and my exercise gear so I was good to go. I was able to get a good hike in on Saturday and a run in yesterday! Both went well and I had fun.

Last week, I posted several things that have helped me lose weight and get fit in the process. I would like to focus in on one of the most important ones: Forget the past and forgiving yourself. Thinking about this, I think I would modify this to Remember the past and forgive yourself. The past is filled with both regrets and accomplishments. The past can help motivate us in both areas. I was not happy where my past actions had gotten me to the point where I was in such dire straits. I was 325 lbs (I actually had been 330 at one point!), I was ducking out on things I normally like to do, because it was too hard for me physically. I was unable to do several things that used to be easy. I felt physically terrible a lot of the times and would use food to help me feel better (short term fix, long term consequences).

On the other hand, I had had many fun and rewarding experiences in the past when I was in good shape (and not so good shape!). I have hiked many great areas in this beautiful state of ours and have many lasting memories hiking with friends and family. It has been a great sense of motivation to be able to have more of these experiences and it has already happened. Scott and Gordon have contributed to those growing good memories! And now the scouts and Corey are adding to them as well. I want this to continue for a good long time. I am also adding to my pile of good memories of finding that I am able to do far more than I ever thought I could in the last year. I actually am enjoying trail running along with the regular road runs. I didn't know the journey could be so great!

One more use of remembering the past is what I still need to do. I am going to create a little poster that says "Choose this, not that!" (You've probably seen the book), and put a before and after picture of me and put it up in several strategic places, (like the fridge), to remind me of how I used to feel and how I now feel. I could have done this with two pictures in the past using both good and bad to help motivate me as well, but now I am getting close, I really do want to stay here!

This brings me to forgiving yourself. What has happened has happened. No sense beating yourself up. Find a way to let it out. If you can talk to someone, tell them. If you like to write, pour your heart out in a letter to yourself. Let out those negative feelings quit talking negative to yourself. You wouldn't talk the way to someone who needs your help the way you talk to yourself. Help yourself and tell yourself you can do it. Acknowledge the help you need beyond yourself. I found prayer worked miracles for me. The weight wasn't magically taken off, I had to work hard, but I found ways to accomplish what I wanted to do and needed support in hard times though prayer. Talking to Barbara about what I was going through helped a lot too.

Thanks for all the great motivating support on Facebook and DailyMile. Both have been really helpful to me. Shout outs to Todd A who continues to improve after an injury slowed him down. Bill H. didn't let a sore knee slow him down. Phil continues to crank in the workouts and dropping pounds! Way to go Phil! Gordon has kept the weight off in spite of a difficult change in his work schedule. Keep it up bro! Andy J. - thanks for all the great advice! Hang in there and I will too!

Motivation

Weekly Stats
Current: 203
Weekly Loss: -0.8
To Go: 28
Total 122.0

After a great loss last week, I would have been happy with a small weight loss, but it turns out that I gained a little. My first time since last November. Am I disappointed? Yes. Am I discouraged? Not at all. Here's why. I still feel great! I didn't gain weight by eating the wrong things. I still ate very healthy the whole week. I was also encouraged by a Friday night overnight backpacking trip with the Scouts. I carried probably the heaviest pack I have ever carried up some steep climbs. (The Scoutmaster's pack tends to be the heaviest pack). It was hard, but I made it with energy to spare. Not only was I able to set up my tent and make sure that everyone else was doing ok, we headed out for another hike after dinner and I had fun doing it. (So did the scouts!) As I hefted that pack on at home, I got on the scale and realized that with the pack on I weighed as much as I did last November! I sure am glad I am not carrying two packs around anymore. I don't want to go back to that!

I had a question on my ping box that I wasn't around to answer, so I thought I would answer it here.

Hey Bruce:
... I have to ask if there was one thing, something that jump started you to get healthy?

That's a great question! I would have to say that there was not one thing but actually several things that helped me get off my dime, start and stick on this journey. Here is a list of things that helped. I will just briefly describe each one this week and then make each a separate discussion point over the next few weeks.

1) Others – Having someone to talk through issues that you have really helps. Confide in someone who accepts you where you are now and yet will support you in your struggle. It helps to talk it out.
2) Inspiration - Find sources of inspiration. Talk to others who are where you would like to be. Tell them what you are trying to accomplish. I have picked up great training suggestions from my neighbors who run long distances. Shows like Biggest Loser also help inspire me.
3) Accountability – Wanting to make the change enough, to hold yourself accountable. This one is big and I have talked about it before. Get up the courage to go public with your problem. Find a forum and report on a regular basis. I used Facebook and a Blog for my accountability. The great side effect is all the support you end up getting.
4) Goals – Find something that you would like to do but have not been able to because of your weight or your health. For me my three peak challenge. I really want to accomplish this goal and am having fun trying to reach it.
5) Small steps and milestones. Realize that this won't come all at once. Just start where you are and try to do just a little bit more each time. I was Barely able to hike up Dry Canyon a quarter of a mile when I started on my Saturday hikes. By adding a bit on each week, I can now do 10+ miles in our foothills (and really enjoy it!)
6) Looking beyond the finish line. Think about what you are going to do after you reach your goal. As you progress, you will begin to see what is working for you, and what is improving your health. You need to keep doing these things for the rest of your life. You don't want to go back to where you were! Make life-time changes along the way!
7) Marshmallow– Giving up something now for something you want later! How does the saying go? "Eating never feels as good as thin does."
8) Celebrate successes. As those inches and pounds come off celebrate the success. Just don't do it with food. A new shirt, a fun night out at the movies with friends or family. Do something that you wanted to do, but couldn't because of your weight.
9) Be realistic. Be tough. Don’t give up!
10) Get off the sugar roller-coaster! – For me it was a killer (almost literally). Simple, refined sugars are dangerous. (I'm not kidding!) You don't have to avoid sweetness, just get it from unprocessed fruits (apples as opposed to apple juice).
11) Get rid of the past. Don’t look back. What ever caused you to get to where you are, it is time to forgive yourself, move on and do what you know needs to be done. Do it today!

Thanks to all the inspiration you give me. Great job Phil! Keep up the great work. The lbs are coming off. Great job, Bill H., Todd A., Andy J. and Jeremy T, out neighborhood runners who are an inspiration! Thanks Joanne J. for cheering me up and on Monday mornings. Thanks Gordon and Scott R for being great hiking buddies. MusicMom, you can do this! Hang in there and I will too!

10K - 10 Pounds

Weekly Stats
Current: 202.2
Weekly Loss: 4.4
To Go: 27.2
Total 122.8

A great week all around! I had a good weight loss this week. I have been struggling to drop lately, so it was nice to see a good number! I also got another 10 lbs star. I have less than 30 pounds of that 150 total left to lose. Plus the 200 lbs goal is in sight! That will be a great milestone as well.

I enjoyed my workouts this week. Last Wednesday, I made it all the way to the Dry Canyon parking lot from home! Hard but rewarding. My Saturday hike with Scott and Gordon was fun! Scott went most of the way with us as we went from the Water Tower road, up and over to Dry Canyon and then across the face of Big Baldy! Gordon and I went a little further and ended up logging about 11 miles total. Lastly my run this morning was my fastest pace since I started and I covered a 10K distance in the process which is the furthest I've run since I started back up.

Shout outs to Bill H who decided to run the Ogden Marathon 2 days before it started. He felt so good that he when he finished he went back on the course and did a total of 30 miles! Wow!!!!!!! On our hike Saturday, we ran into one of Gordon's biking buddies, Steve W. who tore his Achilles tendon a while back. His doctor gave him the go ahead to ride his bike on the road, but knowing that Steve loves to hit the dirt told him he could do it if he left his boot on. So we saw Steve heading up the trail on his bike and wearing his boot! He was the first up the road! That's dedication! Great job Scott in hanging in there with us on the hikes. You get better every week! Todd A. is back training again despite having an injury that slowed him for a bit. Way to be patient Todd! Way to cross-train as well! Lisa H. thanks for your support! Hang in there everyone and I will too!

One Year Later.

Weekly Stats
Current: 206.6
Weekly Loss: 0
To Go: 31.6
Total 118.4

Tomorrow marks one year since I began my goal to lose 150 lbs. I think it's a great time to reflect on the past year. This will help me to stay committed to my goal as I look back and see how far I have come. Here is a snippet of my first blog entry:

I have been thinking lately about what I have done in the past that have been successful. One of these has been accountability. I plan to use this space to come clean of where I am at, what my goals are and give a regular report of my progress. My main goal is to help me reach my goal, but a hoped for side effect is to motivate others to reach their goals, not just weight loss, but other areas that you have dreamed of doing, but for one reason or another have left undone.

That being said, here is my initial attempt of being accountable to myself and to those who might want to follow along.

Baseline (this is a hard thing to admit to, but is part of the accountability)
5/11/2009 - Weight - 325 lbs, Exercise - Very little other than doing what needs to be done around the yard.
Goals - 1) Ending weight - 175 lbs. 2) Lose at least 2 lbs a week. Total weight loss - 150 lbs. 3) Exercise a minimum of 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week.

I am so glad that I had the courage to be accountable. It was so hard for me to post that first blog, but I sure am glad I did! I am also glad I stuck to my commitment to report weekly on my progress. It made a big difference. I can't tell you how grateful I am for all of the support I have received in positive feedback. Some have been consistent week after week in urging me on. Thanks to you all!

So, even though I am not at 175 yet (and I didn't think I would be at this point), I am close to losing 120 lbs. I have been able to lose more than 2 lbs a month, 2 1/4 lbs average), and do well over an hour of exercise 6 days a week. Even though I have a little over 30 lbs more to go, I feel great! I am looking forward to how much better I will feel as I lose the last 30. I have been slowed down a bit the last month or so, but I am going to keep at it and make it!

I think the most dramatic thing I can do though is show you some pictures from the last year. It wasn't until Christmas or so that I can tell a big difference. I am glad I didn't get discouraged and give up.


Once again thanks for all the encouragement! Not done yet and I am excited and motivated to keep going. My last two workouts, I felt really good. Kind of a payoff for all the hard work! Shout outs to Bill who puts in amazing mileage every week! Todd, way to not give up in spite of an injury. Great job to the rest of you are keeping up on your workouts! Hang in there and I will too!

One Half

Weekly Stats
Current: 206.6
Weekly Loss: 1.8
To Go: 31.6
Total 118.4

The weight loss is being more consistent the past couple of weeks. Even though it has slowed a bit, losing about 2 lbs a week is a good way to go. I am getting close to another 10 lbs star and should hit that in the next week or so. I'm hoping for next week since it will be one year since I started.

Great workout week. My daughter Sarah and her husband Mike have been training for a half-marathon. Rachel had planned on running with them as well, but her doctor advised her not to run that far of a distance while she is on the nest. I told Sarah that I would hike at least that far before they ran their half-marathon. I was able to do that a while back, but as the time of their race approached, I decided to do a personal half-marathon myself. I haven't been specifically training for a half-marathon and I knew I couldn't run the whole way, but I have been jogging over five miles on my weekday runs. I thought that I could walk for a half mile and jog for a half mile the whole time. So that was my plan. I took off at 6am our time to coincide with the 8am start time in Columbus. My calves complained a bit, but I started off from the house and worked my way up to the canyon and headed up the trail. I turned back around after 6.55 miles and was spot on by the time I got back home. My plan worked out well. I was aiming for somewhere around three hours and got finished at about 3:10, tired but happy. Sarah and Mike did well and I am proud of them for all of their hard training to be able to finish.

Another shout out to Mike and Sarah! Woohoo!!!! You did it! A shout out to Rachel, who ran the first mile with Sarah and then caught her with 2 miles to go and finished out with her! Way to be supportive Rachel! Bill H. ran the Provo half marathon and then pushed on for several more miles!!!! WOW! Todd A. has picked up the training as has David W. Great job guys!!!!! Phil and Nan, WAY TO TRAIN!!!!!! Phil is making remarkable progress since he held himself accountable. Keep it up Phil, you are doing great! I suspect Hillary is doing something too, she looks like she has lost weight! To the rest of you who are working out, keep it up!!!! Hang in there and I will too!