The Heart Rate Monitor

So back when I was really working out I was using my heart rate monitor. I really thought it was cool to really see how hard I was working out.

After I work out I would take off the heart rate monitor (super sweaty) and put it in a baggy so it wouldn't get the rest of my stuff all gross.

After a few months it wasn't nearly as responsive. Probably needed a new battery.

Nevertheless, I never planned on not working out for like months and so I put it away sweaty in it's baggy and there it sat for at least 6 months or more. Pretty freakikng gross.

So when I broke it out earlier this week it had all this calcification of sorts on the electrodes. I did my best to scrape them off hoping it would still work.

It WORKED!

Or so I thought. For some reason it keeps track of my heart rate tons worse than it did before. I changed out the battery. I need to take it to the Y for the ultimate test...working out on the machines. The machines there pick up on the HRM really well. So if it works there I'll chalk it up to maybe the watch battery or something, before I go out and buy another strap. I'm so dumb.

Here's the monitor I have in case you are looking at purchasing one: Polar F11

(btw, mine fits small. I thought I was getting a manly man size one, but I think it's gender neutral and I have it on the last hole on the watch band and it's uncomfortable. When I lose some pounds it'll feel better. Until then...wish the strap was bigger)

Another Workout IN!!!

Walked my kids to school and Charis and I kept going...4 miles total in one hour. I figure that's pretty good. I remember in high school if you were going to walk a mile in PE it had to be within 20 minutes. So 15 minute miles walking seems okay especially considering that I would probably run one in 12 minutes...

One interesting thing is that when I work out at the Y on the eliptical trainer or some other machine, after an hour I am a sweaty SWEATY mess and I work out hard. After walking for an hour, I am tired but not nearly as sweaty. Wierd.

Walking the track

alright! Did my first work out today since joining Traineo. Didn't do it after work like I planned, but I did do it after dinner. We took the kids down to the high school and walked a mile around the track. Good times.

dude, something has to change

I signed up for Traineo and have a bunch of GREAT motivators. But I still haven't worked out. I'm still overeating. Dude....this can't go on.

I feel so pressed for work I stay up late doing work. Then I wake up late. So I skip exercising. And I'm tired at work. So I don't get enough done. So I take home work. And then I feel so pressed for work I...you get the idea.

Every day it's the same.

I got to break out of this horrible habit!!!!

Tomorrow, I'm exercising no matter what. Of course, I'm so fat nowadays that maybe my karaoke counts as aerobic exercise...

My morning revelation

so...I wrote a couple books and got some cash and I'm going to take my kids on a surprise trip to Walt Disney World in December. I'm driving to work this morning when IT hits me.

"There is no way I'm going to spend THOUSANDS of dollars taking my kids to WDW and be too fat to ride the rides."

This has already happenned to me at two other theme parks. I was too fat for the safety latch to close. How sad.

Well, I'm not going to stand outside rides at Disney World and watch my kids enjoy it because I was too out of control.

I have three months.

One year later...7 lbs less

So this year has sucked. I can blame it on writing two books, but really, i didn't do that till the spring. After the newpaper article I just totally lost my drive. And I gained weight.

I was worried that I would have gained it all back. And be more. Like OVER 300.

So I went on MOnday and weighed in....281....whew! While it sucks to be at that number it's nice to not have gained more back. So I worked out Monday and Tuesday and today, Thursday.

I know I'm lame, but when I work out, man, my whole life is better. I feel better, I feel more confident, I'm proud of myself, I get a good start on the day, I eat better, I'm more help at home.

Even knowing all of that, this morning at 5:00 am...I was still having a hard time getting up! But I did. And then I was sore. (but not as sore as Wed). And then the Y was hard. But i did it. And i know from last year, that the pain will subside and I'll feel even better still.

The secret really is in the eating though. I need to count my calories and eat wisely and then it'll be so sweet.

So I'm back. And that's good.

Failure isn't final

I always thought I was motivated by money.

I thought that if I could somehow tie money to weight loss, that would be the thing to get me to lose weight. If I would just get a deal where somone paid me a bonus for every pound I lost...that would be great.

Then along came the Biggest Loser! Whoa! that is awesome! And I knew I wasn't big enough for that show, but if I could somehow make a contest in Wichita...then I could win that and I would lose weight.

So I did that. Thus the blog.

Only it wasn't for big money. $50 and anyone could have won it...they picked the winner out of a hat. It wasn't based on who lost the most. Although, it still motivated me and I went from 289 to 258. YES!

Then when that competition was almost over, Play it again Sports had a REAL contest for REAL money...$5K. Finally, my dream came true! I could finally get paid to lose weight. I had already lost 30 pounds and if I did this contest I would lose another 60! YES!!!!

So I signed up. And waited. Didn't do much. Didn't lose any weight. I figured I'd start it up later. After all, I lost 20 of my pounds in a month for the biggest loser deal, I could certainly do some damage in two months so I can wait.

Long story short...tomorrow is the awards day. tomorrow the contest is over. And tomorrow someone is going to walk away with $5K. Othes will walk away with other prizes.

Not me.

I didn't even go to my final weigh in. I knew I wouldn't win. So why take a ten pound loss to them.

Then, over five short months, I think I've gained it all back.

How sad is that? I'm afraid to weigh in. All those great feelings of clothes fitting and feeling great...I suck. So crappy.

One of the contestants from TBL was told that they have three strikes to weight loss. If they gain 5 lbs, that is strike one. If they gain 7 pounds that is strike two. If they gain 10 pounds, that is strike three and they will go back to thier original weight and probably gain more!

That has certainly been true for me.

Here is the good news: Failure isn't final.

I have the tools. I know I can do it.

Part of my stress has been writing a book. That manuscript is due July 2nd. So on that day, I will celebrate by going to the Y.

The good news is as well, that if I eat right, I can lose weight without even exercising! Shoot, I'm so fat now, walking is exercising!

So I have less than two months, but I can eat better now. Which I am going to do.

My hope, my dream, is that Xmas time, I'll have a little more than 4 months. That's, at the very least, 40 pounds I could drop. Maybe more. And then, next summer, I should be down to my goal weight.

Oh, how nice will that be.

So tomorrow will suck. I will feel like a failure. But I know that my failure isn't final.

Monday Morning Workout

I finally got back to the gym.  What a pain.  It takes so long to get ready.  I hate packing up all my crap at night.  I dread going to go workout and how hard it’s going to be.

But I did it.  And I feel GREAT.  Even when I was working out I was like, “dude, what the hell was I thinking!!!!”  I’m lame.

So I did the ol’ Bobby Reed for 45 minutes and I did 15 min on the stairmaster with HR control at 160.  That was hard but sweet.

Now I’m going to go eat lunch and write it down!

It feels great to be back!

 

Addition By Subraction

First of all, I am an idiot.

I lose 13 pounds in less than 10 days.  HUGE.  Finally break the 30 lb mark.  So what do I do then?

Take 9 days off!  I’m so dumb.  It started off innocently enough by just not writing down what I was eating on that Saturday I weighed in.  Then on Sunday I didn’t.  Then…it goes on and on.  And then I got stuck into two thoughts:

1.     If I don’t keep count, then it’s an off day.  I’ll just eat whatever I want and then I’ll start again tomorrow.

2.       I’ve got to eat this bad food for me now, because I won’t get to eat it again for such a long time.

So dumb.  That’s the attitude that got me here in the first place.  Such a bad attitude.  That idea of eating now.  I’ve got to eat it now!!!  Oh man.  And I’ve found out, that unless I plan my meal, i.e. take a lunch with me or a plan, I end up over eating.  And if I don’t write it down, then I’m screwed.  And if I don’t pack my crap up the night before, I’m not going to pack up in the morning.

I can’t believe all the head games I have to play to do this thing.  I’ve got to be so proactive and vigilant!  And I’m so afraid of not getting to eat anything fun or good ever again, which is just dumb.

So I didn’t weigh in on Saturday, for fear of seeing a weight gain and because I got up too late.

So where is the addition among all this negativity?

Jen was going to have me go to Kohl’s for some close out clearance clothes and I need some new pants.  But I didn’t want to spend more money on fat clothes that I am hoping aren’t going to fit soon.  So in a latch ditch effort, I grabbed some pants that I was hanging on to in hopes that they’d fit me when I was skinnier.

And they do!  I’m wearing a pair now!  I have two good pairs and one pair that I still need to lose more weight to get into, but I can wear them and button them.  They’re just pretty tight.  So, jen says I look better in pants that aren’t so baggy!  So I’m finally downsizing my clothes!!!  HOORAY!!!!!!!

 

3 more pounds!!!

I’m late checking in but I’m down another three.  I’ve finally broken the 30 pound mark!  Since beginning this journey at 288, I’m down to 256.  That’s a good chunk of change!

I haven’t been exercising but I’ve been a champ about counting my calories, etc.  I feel like a slacker.  I need to hit that gym.  Tomorrow is my hope!

I’ve screwed around Sat, Sun, and yesterday so that isn’t good.  But if I can do a good job today through Friday and hit the gym Wed-Fri, I bet I may even get down another pound.

I’m pumped.  It’s such a good feeling to be losing weight!  Only 76 more pounds!  That looks a lot better than 108!  Woo HOO!  Rock on!

BACK to 259!!! HOORAY!

Alright!  I weighed in last Tuesday and did the spin class.  It was the only day I exercised last week.  The rest of the week I have been hardcore about counting my calories.  On Saturday I drove down to the central Y and weighed in socks, underwear, jeans, and an undershirt, and I was back to 259! 

Such a great feeling to be back!

I can’t weight till Saturday to weigh in again.  For some reason, I’ve always had trouble passing this 30 lbs mark, and I’m hoping to blow it out of the water Saturday!  I’m still hardcore on my calories and need to go to bed earlier so I can exercise.  There’s just so much other stuff to do during the day!!!  ARGH!  No excuses.  I just got to get to it!

Okay, really, I'm back now

So, I hit the Spin class again and finally feel like I’m back. I have my head back in gear, I’m not screwing around.

So where am I? How did I do over the break? Am I still in the Biggest Loser comp?

1. 269. Which brings us to #2

2. That is 10 pounds since my last weigh in. 5 more than I weighed officially for the BL comp with Play It Again Sports, which takes us to #3

3. Uh, not really. I basically have, again, 40 days. I’m such a procrastinator. It really burns since I finally got my wish to have an actual big prize money chance, and I’ve blown it. I could have lost weight and made some sweet moolah.

Which brings me back to earth. I’m in this for the long haul. This is my last time to weigh 269. I’m still 19 lbs less than I started this summer. And I have no doubt that I can lose a TON of weight before summer begins.

Progress, not perfection, right?

Right!