Happy New Years!

Hey everybody!  I wanted to throw out one last post before we closeout 2012.  I am thrilled and excited to be able to say that 2012 was THE year I made some changes in my life that would affect my overall health.  I have lost right at 20 pounds since April 2012.  This is the first time in a little over 8 years that I am doing something for me (on a health level).  And it feels good. But enough about me.  I hope that my few (and somewhat scattered) posts on this blog is enough to at least spark a little fire under someone who may read it and be an encouragement to someone else.  After all, that is my point for making this little piece of collective verbage here on the web.  Just to be an encouragement to someone else. So tonight a lot of us will probably...

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Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

I'll not make this a long post, but I just wanted to drop a note and wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! Sure, we may be dieting.  And yes, Thanksgiving may not be a "forgiving" day as far as our diets are concerned.  But just remember, moderation is the key.  I have a bad habit of inhaling things like pumpkin pie, turkey, cranberry sauce, and banana pudding on Thanksgiving.  Usually to the point of misery.  No, I'm not planning on counting my calories tomorrow.  As I have been careful for the last several weeks, I am using Thanksgiving as my day to splurge (albeit with moderation of portions).  And I will deal with the after effects as motivation to go harder in the gym. So to all of my readers out there,...

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If the pants fit...

In our last post we discussed reasons why your scale may not be reflecting changes you are trying to achieve.  So in this post, we're going to take that conversation a little further.  And chat about why sometimes it's better to ignore the scale.  And as always, let me explain myself with some previous experience. I have a pair of jeans that fit.  They haven't always fit well.  But they fit.  They have never been distastefully tight or saggy.  But they haven't exactly been the most comfortable pair of pants that I own.  These are my "baseline" clothes.  I also have a couple shirts that were a little snug as well.  For the first couple of weeks, I didn't see much of a change to my "scale weight"...

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A Dieting Nightmare: Plateau's

You know it's true.  You go all week religiously counting every calorie you put into your mouth, you go to the gym every day and hit the cardio hard.  You maybe even look at yourself in the mirror and can see slight changes in your figure or body shape.  But then you go and hop on the scale to weigh in... And your weight hasn't changed.  Not even budged or maybe in some cases you've even gained a pound or two.  Nothing can be as discouraging to someone trying to loose weight than not seeing that number on the scale go down. Trust me, I've been there.  In the past years when I have attempted loosing some weight, this has always killed my motivation and ended up with me stopping my attempts at getting into shape....

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Let's Chat About Sacrifice: What is does and doesn't mean

One word: Sacrifice. This is something that I have been thinking a lot about over the last month or so.  I'm not really sure why, other than the fact that it feels like with any effort to loose weight, diet, or get fit you have to sacrifice some things to attain your goals.  And for every person, these sacrifices may be different.  So, first let's take a look at what it means to sacrifice something. In our context, we will look at one of the several definitions of the word from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary: sacrifice- a destruction or surrender of something for the sake of something else. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sacrifice For me personally, I have had to make several sacrifices to reach my goals thus...

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Getting Crafty...

I have fallen into the Pinterest trap!  Help!  I have been trying to think of ways to incorporate motivation in with a way to express it to other people.  Could be plain motivational or even humorous.  And I keep coming back to the idea of brainstorming up some shirts or shirt designs...  Maybe for wearing to the gym?  This is entirely within my scope of experience, as I enjoy playing around with some graphic design elements.  And it isn't terribly costly to dig into.  But I'm not completely sure about it. What do you guys think?  Would you be interested in seeing some "SlimTechie" designs in the future?Leave me a comment and let me kn...

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No Gym? Body Weight Routines Can Lend a Hand...

I was faced with an interesting dilemma this week.  As I may have mentioned in a previous post, we recently joined a local gym.  And it is amazing; with great people, plenty of equipment, and a great atmosphere that is conducive to wanting people to succeed with their goals.  We love it there!  But what happens when things arise that prevent us from going to the gym?  To be honest, we don't have a lot of equipment laying around the house.  We have a dumbbell set that includes 4 x 7.5 lbs. plates and a set of light weight resistance bands.  That's it. I encountered this type of situation twice this week.  Both of which were due to work conflicts, that prevented me from dropping by the gym.  But...

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Personal Progress Update: October 2012

With October 2012 in the history books now, I figured it was as good a time as any to get the birds eye view of how my progress went during October.  And I must say that I am rather happy with the success that I was able to achieve. Rewind back to late March of this year, I weighed in at 246 pounds.  This was probably not my all time highest weight.  As I had just recovered from the flu and had lost quite a bit of weight while I was sick.  But packed it back on as soon as I was better.  This left me around the 246 pound mark on the scale. Also, I was very sedentary; meaning very inactive.  After work, I would essentially plant myself on the couch or in front of my computer and stay there.  My...

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Highlighted Service/App: MyFitnessPal

Are you looking for a way to keep track of things like: -What you eat? -The nutritional information for what you eat? -Log your exercise sessions. -Track your caloric intake for the day. -And so much more? If so, then there are a several of these apps/services available.  If you have read my review on LoseIt by Fitnow than you'll know that I like to use these apps as well.  The one that I will be covering today is: MyFitnessPal. The point of MyFitnessPal is to act as a calorie counter.  MyFitnessPal has an app available for both Android and iPhone.  The app is identical on both platforms, you can setup an account right on your mobile device.  Then as you go through the day, you simply log what you have eaten into...

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Fitocracy: A Social Network for Health & Fitness

Fitocracy.com I stumbled across this site the other night, and have actually just joined it.  It's a free, social networking site for those looking to get fit.  Unlike some sites, Fitocracy is aimed for pretty much everybody.  If you are just getting into a fitness routine or trying to gain a healthier lifestyle you can feel right at home.  But on the other hand, if you are someone who has been in the fitness game for a long time and are doing great when it comes to things like diet and nutrition, and you love visiting the gym; then don't shy away because there is plenty going on here for you too. So here is the deal.  It is a social network much in the same vein of Facebook.  It features you're run of the...

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Guess Who's Back??!!

I know, I know, you probably thought I disappeared right?  Like so many others who seem to start off strong after a short while they start to fizzle out when it comes to fitness.  And yes, that is exactly what happened to me.  After all, one of my points to this blog was to try and be as transparent as possible with you guys when it comes to my fitness and my health habits. Here is essentially what happened to me in a nutshell.  Earlier this year, we had just booked a Cruise to the beautiful Western Caribbean for May.  By the way, we had a blast.  But this trip basically became inspiration for both myself and my wife to try to get into better shape.  We both started off strong, working out regularly (as I was regularly tracking walking routines of at...

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First Weight Loss Milestone Reached!

Yesterday afternoon I finally built up enough nerve to jump on the scale for the first time in a couple of weeks.  I got a little discouraged because even though I felt I was doing really good on my diet and exercise, my numbers seemed to stall.  So yesterday afternoon, I felt it was time to weigh in again. And I'll have to say I was honestly shocked at the results.  I finally reach 10 pounds lost!  For me, this is the first significant weight loss in over 8 years.  Even though I will not hit my goal of being 220 pounds on my birthday (which is this coming Tuesday and I'm still 15 pounds above it); I am still ecstatic that I have succeeded so far.  And this means it's time to refocus my goals and charge on down...

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App Review: Endomondo Sports Tracker

This week's app review is for a sweet little app that has become a staple in my everyday workout toolbox.  It is the Endomondo Sports Tracker.  If there is one app that I use every time I set out to walk, it is this app.  It's main feature is that it provides GPS tracking for your workout.  However, the app doesn't stop there.  I use it for it's built in metrics which allow me to see how well I am progressing over the course of time.  And if that isn't enough, there is a fantastic community of people using this app pretty much all the time, all over the world.  And for that reason, this is a two section review.  We will touch briefly on the app and then we will discuss the website as well. The...

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Busy, Busy, Busy...

Sorry for the lack of new posts over the last couple of weeks.  It has been incredibly busy on my end of the street as of late.  And on top of life in general, I was busy trying to meet my personal goal of 100 miles walked for the month of March.  Unfortunately, I did not hit my goal.  However, I came dangerously close! For the month of March, I logged 91.93 miles walked!  So even though I didn't get to meet my goal of 100 miles.  I came less than 10 miles short of it.  And for my first month, that ain't bad!  Considering up until March 1st, I wasn't active in much of anything other then everyday life.  So I am incredibly pleased with my progress and can't hardly wait till the end of April to see...

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App Review: Lose It! by FitNow

Our first app review is going to cover one of the very first fitness apps I ever encountered.  It is called "Lose It!" by FitNow, Inc.  I found this app a couple of years ago when I had went through a fitness spurt and installed this one on my iPod Touch.  I liked the layout of it and it seemed to flow nicely.  When I gave up my iPod Touch and migrated to an Android based smartphone, I wasn't sure if there was anything comparable in the Android Market.  A couple of weeks ago I found it again.  And I am glad to see that not much has changed, with the exception of a few added features. And it is still FREE!!  Free is good. :) What is the purpose behind "Lose It!"? Too many people think there is some kind of...

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Motivation:Why Is It Important?

One of the biggest problems I personally have when it comes to exercise and fitness is a complete and utter lack of motivation.  This has plagued every half-witted attempt I have taken at getting fit.  Usually I start off strong by working out regularly and trying to eat right then after a couple of weeks something will happen.  Almost as if I flipped a switch off in my mind that says "Okay, I'm done.".  From that point forward it becomes a lot easier to sit inside and play games or do other things on days we have nice weather or lay out of the gym. So how do I combat that lack of motivation or drive?  For me, I have found that when I can't motivate myself; that's when I need to get other people involved.  The...

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Who, What, & Why?

My name is Jeremy. I work in the IT Service Industry by day and run a website and YouTube Channel in my spare time.  This year I will turn 30 years old and with a new decade ahead of me I have decided to make this year be the one in which I take initiative to try and take care of me. You might ask "What is wrong?" or "Is he sick?". And the answer to both of these questions is a simple one. No, I'm doing just fine. Over the course of the last 7 to 8 years I have managed to do a fairly good job of neglecting my personal health from a weight standpoint.  In other words, years of eating crap and bad sleep habits are catching up with me.  And up until March 1st, 2012 I had done nothing to reclaim that part of my life.  You may ask: "What is significant about March 1st?".  And...

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