No Jersey Shore run ins

I just got back from vacation last week.  We were visiting family in New Jersey, and it was great seeing Dee's family, since we only get to see them once a year.

Being out of my comfort zone threw me off my eating plan and exercise routine.  I had lost another 4 or 5 pounds right before I left for NJ.  Having access to my old favorite foods (Pork Roll mmmmm!!), and not having my usual stockpile of healthy foods and beverages made it really challenging. 

I didn't use our trip to go completely off the bandwagon and eat everything in site. I tried to make the best decisions I could, and I had limited success.  I ended up gaining 3 or 4 pounds back while on vacation. But I am back at home now and getting back into my healthy routine, so those added pounds should come off in no time.

Results as of last week

Just a quick update, since I began my new journey at 402 pounds I have lost 19 pounds !! 

I am very happy with everything and I am proud of the progress so far !!

Stay tuned for more detailed updates.

A new Journey

After many false starts, I am once again taking the first step of a long journey towards making a healthier me. As I had mentioned before I am doing the Couch to 5k program again.  I am also going to the gym more consistently than before.

The most important step I have taken, is hiring a nutritionist to help me properly eat and manage my weight.  I was very excited to get started and I like everything so far.  Eating has always been a challenge for me, but with some help, I know I can get it under control.

I am not focusing on a weight loss number, and I am not going to constantly weigh myself.  I will do a weigh in periodically, so I will have some idea how much success I am having.  When I weight myself earlier this week, I was saddened to learn that I was back in the 400+ range.

My starting weight is 402lbs.  How much lower will it be??

What a scare

I had a bit of a health scare around the Bunny 5k race. The week leading up to the race I was having a harder time breathing and I seemed to be out of breath whenever I was exerting myself (going up the stairs, brisk walking etc.) I figured it was just the start of a chest cold, and would get better in a few days.  During the 5k I was really struggling, and was out of breath the whole time, but I just ignored it and kept going.

I still was having trouble breathing on Easter, so I went to the Doctor. A few weeks ago, we had changed my BP medication, and that change was causing me to retain a lot of water. All of that water was constricting my heart and lungs causing my breathing issues (I heard them mention Congestive Heart Failure.) That scared the crap out of me !!

They put me on a new diuretic, and I feel much better now. And the follow up tests (EEG and x-rays) came back normal.  I had caused myself and my family a lot of worry and anxiety.

Time to make more changes !!

The Tortise finishes the race

The Bunny Run 5k is over and WE DID IT !!!!   My wife and Daughter both finished the race and I did as well.  I won't say I ran during the race, I was one of the last people, but I  finished it !!  I had a few issues during the race (more on that in a later post) but I made it to the end. I am very proud of all of us for sticking to it and working hard to finish a goal.

I want to thank and congratulate all of our class mates in the Couch to 5k program. I also want to give a special shout out to Tommy Snodgrass, and all his helpers, meeting me at the finish line and helping me finish the race meant the world to me, and my Family.

I have signed up for the Spring / Summer Couch to 5K class, I plan on running my next 5k in June. So stay tuned.

Back to the Doctors

I received a call from my Doctor's office last week reminding me that was due to have my A1C levels checked again.  After making my appointment, I began to dread the upcoming visit. While I have been getting some exercise with the Couch to 5k program,  I have been slacking pretty badly on the eating front. I have been drinking soda with abandon, and pretty much eating whatever I felt like. I KNEW my A1C was going to go up, and the Dr was going to up my Meds.

I only been intermittently checking my blood pressure and blood sugar.  My BP has been running a bit high. but not too bad. My blood sugar is another story entirely.  My morning readings (when I bothered with them) have been running from 1980 to 220 or so (it should be under 120!) I just blew it off telling myself that I had a big pasta dinner the night before, or some other lame excuse, but they were consistently high enough to tell me that it was more than that.

My fears were justified, my A1C was over 8.  It was 7 something last time, and should be under 6.  My BP was also high and I had gained 13 pounds since I was last at my GP doctor 5 months ago. As predicted, my Doctor put me on a new Diabetes medicine, in addition to the one I am currently on. He also increased my BP medication too. When I called and told my Dad how I made out at the Dr. I could hear the concern and disappointment in his voice.  He has had a lot of health issues in the last few years, and doesn't want me to go down that road also. How can I keep letting every once down ??????

This visit was yet another slap int he face wake up call for me to get my big butt in gear and do something about my health !! (As many slaps in the face I have had, I am beginning to wonder if I am into S&M or something?) So stay tuned, hopefully I have turned the corner !!

Missed my first one

Well Tuesday, I missed my first Couch to 5k run. The classes are every Tuesday and Thursday and an independent walk on the weekend. On the nights I am working to close, I do my run after work in my subdivision.

I closed on Tuesday and didn't do my run :-(  I wish I could say it was raining or make a good excuse, but I can't.  I was just being LAZY.  I knew I should do it and I chase not to. I am really disappointed in myself, I have been doing so well. This past week I have had a real lack of energy motivation. I have been really achy and miserable.  I am wondering if my blood suger is too high and it is catching up with me.

I really need to get out of this rut, the 5k is in less than a month !! I need to buckle down, and get back on track.  I went to the gym after work today, so that is a start.  I am planning on going Friday too. Wish me luck !

Couch to 5k for a bunch of Couch Potatoes

Well I did it.  After years and years of telling myself "That Couch to 5k programs looks good, I should do it." I finally bit the bullet and signed up.  Not only that, I signed my wife and daughter up as well, partially against their will ;-) 

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/ReFlex-International-Couch-to-5k-program/129132879123

We started our class almost 3 weeks ago, and it started out rough.  The class was much bigger than I had anticipated, the first night we had more than 150 people.  With that many participants, the there is a wide variety of fitness levels.  I feel that I am a true couch potato, and have a low level of fitness. I am not sure some of my classmates qualify for the couch portion of the description. While I struggled to do the bare minimum 1 minute of walking / 1 minute of running, people were whizzing past me and weren't even short of breath. Not being able to keep up with every one else is very frustrating and discouraging for all of us.  I have come to accept my own pace, and try and not get in the way of the faster runners.

Today was our 6th class, and I am proud to say that Bailey has been to every class, and seems to enjoy running (for a while anyway.) Dee and I have missed one here or there due to work conflicts, but one of us is always there. On class days I have to work late, I do my running/ walking when I get home.  It has been a great experience so far and it has given us some great family time together.

The Bunny Run 5k is in 7 weeks, so we have a lot of training and hard work ahead, but I am really looking forward to the race. 

Last Week and This week

After a pretty poor 6 and 7 score over the past two weeks, I am happy to say that I scored a 8 last week.  I did miss the two biggies (exercise and soda) but I nailed everything else !!

This week is starting out pretty good, I am on track for 9 out of 10,  drank too much soda :-(  Be on the lookout for a new post about our Couch to 5k class very soon !!

Does 6-6-7 mean I just missed out on bad luck ?

I has been a crazy few weeks. Lots of changes at work and family demands. All of this busyness, means I slipped some what on my check lists.

Two weeks ago I scored a 7, last week a 6 and this week will be another 6. All three weeks have three common things I missed (all biggies of course.)  I drank too much soda (AGAIN), missed some of my 3 days of exercise, and monitoring my BP, blood sugar , and weight.

A new week starts on Sunday, of course it's Superbowl Sunday (the 21st anniversary of Dee and I meeting, WOW how time flies.)   I will work very hard to make at least a 8 or 9 next week.

I have a weight loss goal in mind, but I can't share it just yet.  I need to loose a bunch of weight to try something really cool, and I really want to do it, so it may be the motivator I am looking for, stay tuned.

Getting better

This past week I managed to check off 8 things off my list. Over all it was a pretty good week, even though our week was royally mixed up due to the "blizzard" we had in North Carolina.

It snowed pretty hard starting late Sunday night, I was off on Monday and Dee and Bailey had a snow day, so we had a nice day together as a family. Bailey even helped me shovel snow and clean off the cars. The snow turned to freezing rain that night, so all the roads were skating rinks on Tuesday. I went to work very late (2pm instead of 9am.) and came home 3 hours early. Dee and Bailey had another snow day.

Bailey ended up not having school ALL WEEK, due to icy back roads for the school buses.  Dee and I did several trade offs with Bailey so we could at least get to work part of the time.

Sadly, the two items I missed on my list  were big ones. I only managed to exercise twice last week (one walk and shoveling snow.) I also drank more than 3 sodas. I "only" drank soda on 3 days, but I had more than one each day, which violated the spirit of my list.

Every thing else on my list I accomplished pretty easily. So with a little hard work and discipline, I can do even better next week (hopefully the weather will cooperate !!)

6 out of 10 Not great, but it's a start.

Well one week and a day into my New Year's checklist challenge, and I scored a 6 last week.

1) I weighed myself 4 time.  Check !
2) I walked 3 times this week (almost 3 miles) Check!
3) Bailey and I went to dinner and a movie, quality time Check!
4) I shaved 4 times, and I even got a new electric razor. Check!
5) Drinking soda was my big FAIL this week. I had soda almost every day.  Buzz :-(
6) I had fast food 3 times, so a near miss. Buzz
7) I flossed 5 times. Check!
8) I missed my medicine once last week. Buzz
9) I only checked my vital statistics 3 times. Buzz
10) Was able to do 4 chores. Check!

I was very close to getting 8 out of 10, and I will work even harder to do better this week. I have to set a routine so I remember to check my vitals and take my medicine every day.  We have done some shopping, so there is more healthy/ ready to eat things in the house, so that should limit the fast food. Soda is still a big challenge, and will probably be all my life, but we have lots of bottled water at home to keep me from grabbing a soda.

I am still getting used to my new scale, and I am trying to see how accurate it is (the reading bounces around.) If it is accurate, I have lost 6 pounds since last Sunday. I sure hope it is right :-)

I am 2 days into this week, and I have have 8 things on the list accomplished, so there is some momentum building.  I

My New Year's "Check List"

I am not a big fan of New Year's Resolutions.  They are often a punchline in a lame joke about how soon you are going to break them. I know myself pretty well, and I KNOW I will not last with any resolution I make at the beginning of the year, so I don't set myself up for failure.

I have been thinking  long and hard about how the New Year is a great time to have a fresh start, and make positive changes in your life.  I wanted to find a way of making those changes, without the disappointment of screwing up a resolution.

What if there was a way to score myself on how well I am doing ? That way it wouldn't be all or nothing, pass or fail.  Finally, I decided to make a list of 10 things I can do to  improve myself in some way. Then I would give myself a score from 1 to 10 based on how many of those things I accomplished each week. If I did all 10 that would be an awesome week, and if I only managed 3 or 4, it would be a crappy week. 

The next challenge was to come up with a list of 10 things to do. There are a lot of things I need to work on, and it was hard to decide which ones were important. I didn't want to do all of the usual things (exercise, eat right, etc.) Those are important, and many of them will be on the list, but there are other things that I should do more often, but I am too lazy or unmotivated to do frequently enough. I wanted to put those things on the list too, to hold myself accountable.

To some people it may not look like a very challenging list. You may do all of those things every day and even more, but this is my list based on where I am now. Each item will be an improvement on what I am currently doing. I want the list to evolve over time, I will expand how often I do things, or even add new and more challenging things as I succeed with the current list.

So here is the list;

1) Weigh myself at least 4 times a week
2) Exercise at least 3 times a week for 30 minutes
3) Spend quality Daddy / Daughter time with Bailey
4) Shave at least 4 times a week
5) Drink no more than 3 sodas a week
6) Eat no more than 2 fast food meals a week
7) Floss at least 4 times a week
8) Take all my medication each day (at the correct time !)
9) Check my Blood Pressure and Blood Sugar 5 days a week
10) Do at least  4 household chores each week (dishes, laundry, etc.)

That is my list. Each week starts on Sunday and ends on Saturday. My goal is to post my weekly score every Sunday on the Blog, Twitter and on Facebook.

Wish me luck !! I welcome any encouragement and feedback about my list.