Big Baldy!

Weekly Stats
Current: 208.4
Weekly Loss: 2.0
To Go: 33.4
Total 116.6

Finally had a decent weight loss this week. I decided to take a different approach on counting my calories. I basically just took my goal calorie intake for the day and divided it by five. The five comes from three meals and two snacks. I took a bit from the snacks and added them onto the meals. I then just focused on the individual meal and made sure I didn't go over for that meal. I didn't have to keep track of what I was consuming through out the day. Instead I just focused on the meal at hand. A little change in mentality, but it seemed to help.

I had a great visit from my Woodbadge buddy, Phil, and his wife on Friday. Phil has had a bit of a struggle with his weight and wanted to know some specifics on what I had done. It was good to see him and to meet his wife. I'm glad he came because it helped keep me motivated as well! Thanks Phil! You can do this too!

Saturday my brother, Gordon, hooked up with Scott and I for a hike up Big Baldy. We knew we would run into snow and mud, but we wanted to see how far we could get. After a bit of slogging and steep climbing in the snow, we made it to the saddle. I have been there a few times and with the summit within reach, Gordon and I were ready to take the challenge. There were two younger guys who caught up with us and had the same goal. To that point, we had followed the trail and footsteps in the snow, but no one had been up the the summit since it had snowed last week. Scott started with us, but he knew it wouldn't be a good idea to keep going for him so he headed back down. Gordon and I blazed the trail part of the way and then the two younger guys passed us and blazed the rest of the way for us. That really helped. Before we knew it, we were up on top. I sure was happy to make it to the top of the first of three peaks that I had for my hiking goals. Timp is next later this year. I can guarantee that Timp will not be a snow hike! I am crazy, but not quite that for gone yet!

Saturday, I plan on doing a self-guided half marathon. Sarah and Mike will be running in the Columbus, Ohio 1/2 marathon. They take off at 8am EDT, so I will leave my house at 6 AM MDT and start out for the canyon. I am sure they will finish way before I do, but it will be fun to do the distance at the same time they do. I plan on walking most of my distance Good luck Sarah and Mike. Rachel, I think you made a good decision not to do it this time. There will be other opportunities for you and you still gained a lot from your training which will help you in the future! Hang in there and I will too!

Here are a couple of pictures from the hike:


Scott and Gordon closing in on the saddle.


Me and my brother at the summit.


Snow along the summit ridge.

Squaw Peak

Weekly Stats
Current: 210.4
Weekly Loss: 0.2
To Go: 35.4
Total 114.6

Not my best week ever, but I still lost a little. I think there are a couple of factors on my slow-down. First, I'm not sure if it's allergies or a three week cold (I tend to think allergies though). I haven't been achy and stuff, but I sure have had a froggy throat and stuffy nose that I have been dealing with. The reason I think it's allergies is that while we were down in AZ, the symptoms went away. Still I have been dragging a bit. Second, I haven't been getting 7-8 hours of sleep on a regular basis and that can have an adverse effect as well. Third, I haven't been logging my calories for a while. Even though I am eating healthy, I might be creeping up on my intake. I started back up today logging what I am eating. Fourth, I had to shorten a couple of my workouts due to early morning commitments. I just need to make sure that I get up early enough to do my full work out.

I have had some great successes in the workout area though. Saturday's hike was great! I went up Rock Canyon. I didn't have a definite plan on what the hike would be. I played it by ear. There is a split in the trail about a mile or so up where the trail to Squaw Peak heads off to the left. I had run into some snow up to this point, but nothing too bad. I headed up the trail and ran into snow fairly quickly, but others had blazed a trail so I followed along for a while. I just kept climbing and climbing until finally, I was at the top! I was pleasantly surprised! I gave a little fist pump having made it to the top of a place I'd always wanted to hike, but never had. I loved the view. I could also see Baldy, my first of three summits, that I have in my sites. It didn't look all that much higher that the elevation of Squaw Peak. I took some pictures with my cell phone. They turned out pretty good considering. Hope you don't mind a few.


You can see how much snow there still was. Cascade in the background.


Another angle with Timp in the background. If you know what you are looking for, you can see Baldy as well.

Sarah, Mike and Rachel are still training for the 1/2 marathon. Great job! Less than two weeks and they will be running it. Bill H. ran a half and then continued on and did about 20 total! Amazing! Great job to the rest of you who are working out and eating right. It pays! Hang in there and I will too!

A Change of Pace

Weekly Stats
Current: 210.6
Weekly Loss: 0.6
To Go: 35.6
Total 114.4

Going on vacation, even for a few days like we did, can cause havoc with your weight-loss goals. Fortunately I had a lot of support. If you can go on vacation and still have a modest weight loss, then I consider that a victory. We headed down for a couple day visit to Coolidge, AZ with our daughter Hillary and her family. We had a great time! I did make sure that I got up early on our travel day and went for a 4+ miler before we headed out. I also got in a 2+ miler and a 10 miler hike as well when I was down there. It sure was nice to be outside in the warm weather. It just whetted my appetite even more for the warm weather to finally settle in up here. It was good to have a change of pace as well. It helps you to regroup. Hillary was good to have lots of healthy food for me to eat while we were there so I wasn't faced with difficult choices.

Sarah and Mike did a 12+ mile run on Saturday. They are just a few weeks away from their half-marathon. Rachel put in about 8 miles. Scott put in a hike on his own up Dry Canyon and did well on that. Bill continues to put in the killer miles and Andy is getting back into long-distance running by doing 8 miles as well. Great job to you all who put in the miles/workouts this week. Hang in there and I will to!

Double Y!

Weekly Stats
Current: 211.2
Weekly Loss: 1.4
To Go: 36.2
Total 113.8

The way the week started off, it looked like I was going to have a killer week. By Wednesday morning I was down to 210.2 However my body found out what was going on and decided not to cooperate any further. I climbed up to 214 before things settled down and I started losing again. Part of the ups and downs (literally) of weighing every day. I still stand by opinion that daily weighing for me is the best way to go. I need the constant feedback and don't need to guess where I will end up by the end of the week. It also keeps me in closer touch on how what I am doing on a daily basis effects my weight.

My Easter basket was quite different this year. The bunny brought me a DVD and that was it. There was not one piece of candy. I wouldn't have even been tempted to eat it if there was. I had just a small portion of most everything that everyone had made. I was really aware of what I was putting on my plate this year. I didn't feel deprived at all and was glad I didn't overeat. Sugar and loads of fat just don't appeal that much to me anymore. (Did I just say that!?!)

I had another great hike on Saturday. As in the past several hikes my friend Scott joined on for part of the fun. Together we hiked the 'Y' and then headed over to Slate Canyon and back. He needed to head back home, so I hiked the 'Y' one more time and made it to the top with only stopping once to talk to some guys that were hiking it as well. I can't believe how much different it was to hike this! When I have done this in the past, I have had to stop what seemed like countless times. I never made it past the trail to the bottom of the Y and would be exhausted by the time I got back to the lot. Doing it twice seems like a miracle to me! I even put in some additional mileage by hiking over to Rock Canyon and back for a total of 11 miles. Not as far as the last two weeks, but considering how steep the Y trail is, I expended a lot of energy for sure.

Mike and Sarah did an 11 mile run on Saturday. I think Rachel was going to do it as well from her place. Great job! They will be running their half-marathon on May 1st! Keep up the great work everyone. If something is holding you back, recommit yourselves and keep moving and eating right. It's worth it! Hang in there and I will too!

Triple Play

Weekly Stats
Current: 212.6
Weekly Loss: 3.2
To Go: 37.6
Total 112.4

Another great week! I was able to pass the three milestones I referred to last week. First, I got another 10 lbs star! I passed from the BMI obese category to overweight! And lastly I am 75% to my weight-loss goal! Yippee!!!!!!

I am really happy with my workout this week as well. This mornings run I went just a bit further and was able to job the 5.3 miles without walking (except for warm-up and cool-down) and I jogged about .2 miles an hour quicker. I also enjoyed my Saturday hike putting in another 14.17 miles. Here are the details if you are interested.

Thanks for all the support! Sarah and Rachel posted another great run this weekend and are both on track for the half marathon in about a month. Great job to both of you! Bill continues to put in his killer miles! He is amazing! Great job to the rest of you and your work-out efforts. Hang in there and I will too!

Makeup Day

Weekly Stats
Current: 215.8
Weekly Loss: 4.6
To Go: 40.8
Total 109.2

This week was a payback week for last week's no loss report. I was afraid that I might be hitting a plateau (and who knows when that might happen). But much to my surprise when I got on the scales this morning, I saw a number which made me do a little fist pump! I am getting close to several milestones. At 215, I get another 10 lbs star. At 214, I drop from the obese classification to over-weight on the BMI charts (BMI is a bit controversial) and at 213, I will be at 75% of my weight loss goal of 175! These are all good and should happen in the next few weeks.

I also had a great workout week. I really enjoyed using my Garmin to chart my progress this week. I did my usual 5+ mile outings last Monday and Wednesday. On Saturday, I was planning on doing 12 miles, but by the time I got home, I had walked 14.2 miles! I was a bit tired, but I wasn't dead tired so that was great! My friend from work, Scott, joined in for 7.25 miles and he was surprised by his progress as well. We did Dry Canyon up to the snow at the Curly Springs trail and then headed back down and hiked from the Bonneville Shoreline trail from Dry Canyon over to Battle Creek. This is where we put in more miles than we expected, but it was a fun trail and we got in a great workout as well. After we got back to Dry Canyon, he headed home and I hiked over to Orem and back home.

Great job Sarah, Mike and Rachel for putting in the miles this last week. I told Sarah that I would complete at least 13.1 miles before they did their half-marathon on May 1st. I ended up accomplishing that a little earlier than I thought! Kudos to the rest of you who are keeping at it. Hang in there and I will too!

Even Steven

Weekly Stats Current: 220.4
Weekly Loss: 0
To Go: 45.4
Total 104.6

It's been since mid November since I haven't reported a loss. I guess I was due for a week like this. I am not as discouraged as I was a couple of weeks ago because I had some great success in the workout area. I was also down 2.2 lbs mid-week, but things came back up for some reason. I think I will see a good loss next week.

Why am I so happy about the workouts? I had several great ones. Thanks to Rachel's comment on the blog last week, I looked into getting a gps tracker. It didn't take long to find that people love the Garmin ForeRunner 305. It isn't the latest model, but it still gets great reviews. After using it for a few workouts I can see why. It has been great to see how far I have gone and to also keep track of my heart rate, speed, elevation and lots of other stuff.

Saturday, Scott, from work, and I went up Dry Canyon as far as we could. I took off from my house and found out that it is three miles from the front door to the mouth of the canyon. Scott met me there and we headed up the canyon. We didn't run into much snow until we hit the Curly Springs trail. Since the visible snow level on Baldy is above the trail, I thought that the trail might be good, but much to our surprise the trail still had at least a couple of feet of snow. We hiked along the trail on top of the snow. Much to our surprise, we didn't break through the snow much due to being considerably lighter. We were going to go all the way across to the Battle Creek lookout, but it was quite slow going so we decided to try again after a couple of weeks warmer weather. We headed back down and it was actually pretty fun walking down the snow trail letting our heels sink in just a bit in the snow. We got down quite quickly. We were both amazed at how much easier it was to hike. I probably could have made it to the Curly Springs trail without stopping, but we stopped a few times just for fun on the way up. I am probably 80 lbs lighter than I was when we last went up.

I told Scott goodbye at the parking lot and then I headed south on the Bonneville Shoreline trail over to the water tower road. I wanted to get in a few more miles, so I headed up the road. Once on top where it flattens out, the road got really muddy. I had a choice to go back down the road, but then I saw Timpanogos Park down below and several bike trails leading down so I headed down there and navigated down to the park and then headed down the Provo River Trail and back home. By the time I was done, I had put in eleven miles. Even though it started raining, I was plenty warm and just happy that I could put in the miles that I wanted to.

This morning, I took my usual Riverwoods loop and I was able to jog most of the way. Looking at my heart rate from last Friday's workout, I could see that I was maxing myself out, so today, I concentrated on slowing it down a little and it helped me to jog longer. As I drop more weight and I get used to the extra jogging time, the speed will come naturally. I went 5.4 miles and was quite happy with the outcome.

A shout out to Rachel, who last week reached her marriage weight after 2 1/2 years of working towards it. WOW!!!!! Great job!!!!!! Bill continues to impress me with his mileage week after week! Keep up the great work everyone! Hang in there and I will too!