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 put our diets aside for the evening.  Eat a little junk food, and remember where we were a year ago.  For those in Aurora, CO and Newtown, CT there are families who have loved one's who didn't make it to 2013.  My heartfelt thoughts and prayers go out to these families.  May God ever bless and keep them.

Through the tragic events, this was an election year and we were anything short of politics and the looming US Fiscal Cliff hanging over us.  Who knows what 2013 will bring?  I certainly don't.  But either way, 2013 is coming.  It's looming at the door and in a short while, we'll be watching the New Year's Ball dropping in New York City.

Here is my challenge to the few readers who may see this post: Forget resolutions this year; instead, make yourself a commitment.  Make yourself a promise to spend some time taking care of yourself this year.  I plan on pressing ahead with my health/fitness goals.  And am excited to see what this New Year will bring.

So pressing ahead, I'll see you all in 2013!

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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, Happy Thanksgiving to you and your families.  Enjoy the time off, and enjoy the fellowship and be safe.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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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" even though I was taking in half the calories that I was used to on average, and I was hitting the gym 3 to 4 times a week.  However, after a few days of no squeezing into these jeans.  I began to notice a change.  Essentially, I would come home Monday through Thursday and change out of my work Khaki pants and into my gym shorts and go workout.  Therefore, leaving me wearing my jeans on Friday nights when we would go to our local High School Football games.  The second Friday that I wore my jeans I noticed I was able to not only get in them easier with less work, but I was also getting comfortable wearing them.  The big indicator that my body was changing was a few weeks ago (after seeing the scale budge a few pounds less), I was able to actually pull the waist of my jeans away from my body about an inch without any trouble.

I said all of that to say this.  You may be focusing way too much on the scale.  I used to weigh obsessively every day, now I weigh once a week.  Maybe twice a week if I'm just curious. I have lost a little better than 10 pounds and am able to start seeing the changes in the mirror.  This helps keep me away from the scale, even though it took a lot of hard work to get to that point.  And I am still a long way off from my goal.  But seeing the physical changes makes for a great substitute to seeing the scale change.

After all, we diet and workout to feel good and look good.  The weight thing should fall into place if you are doing proper nutrition and exercise.  Sometimes we just need to relax and press on with our progress and not let the scale run our lives.  Trust me, I've been there.

And once you find you can slide into that pair of pants or that favorite shirt without any stretch or effort, that feeling to me is much greater than hitting a particular weight goal.  Not to say I don't get happy when I loose a pound of two (after all I am working toward a goal weight).  But my point is, with the right nutrition and amount of exercise the weight loss will come.  You just need to stay encouraged enough to stick with it.  You will get there eventually.

As for me, right now I am 15 pounds lighter than I have been in 8 years.  Even though I am still 56 pounds away from my first goal, I am satisfied with how things are going.  After all, we have nothing but time.  I doubt many of us have to hit a specific weight by a certain date.  So remember, take your time and do it right.  A rule of thumb I have been living by is easy come, easy go.  These dangerous crash diets will get you into the clothes you want and will probably help you get to a certain weight.  But you are hurting your body with the drastic loss and crash diet after effects and your chances of gaining that weight back are extremely high as these crash diets and fads do not exact a "lifestyle change".  So once you get to you goal, you stop using them and in no time you are back where you started.

So my advice to you, is if you are going to strive towards a weight loss or fitness goal.  Do it the right (healthy) way.  And I would encourage you to go into your closet and find that pair of pants or a shirt that are a little snug to fit.  Make a point of trying them on once every couple weeks or so.  I guarantee if you're doing it right, you'll see a difference without even looking at the scale.

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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.  Some people call this "hitting a wall" or "hitting a plateau" or even "stalling out".  If you have ever attempted a serious weight loss where you are changing your diet and workout habits you may have hit something like this before.

Personally, I know that a lot of people find this to be a very hard thing to work through.  I've been there.  A few years ago I attempted to loose some weight.  I would go to the gym and walk on the treadmill for half an hour (probably not break a sweat), maybe lift a few dumbbells and call it a night.  On the way home, we would hit a drive-thru to eat dinner since we didn't eat before going to the gym.  Usually this was some form of cheeseburger or other fastfood.  And I would wonder why I didn't see a change on the scale (or in my body).  But I felt good about myself because I was going to the gym several times a week.  I fell into the "Workout Trap".  Justifying a bad diet for the fact that I was "at least doing something good for myself".  This was a self induced issue.  And eventually it led to my gym visits stopping altogether.

Before we move on to the second cause of plateaus, let me say first and foremost that loosing weight isn't the same for everybody.  One person may have a bigger loses or gains than someone else.  As everyone's body is different, and every workout routine is different, etc.  But even so, there is NO MAGICAL formula to loosing weight.  Regardless of what this month's weight loss fad is, there is one simple rule to remember.  And it has been working for me.  It is hard work and dedication.  That's it.  You have to watch what you take in, and be sure you can burn more than what you take in.  That's it.  But the trick is doing it, while being healthy.  Sure, there are bad ways to achieving this goal.  And I am not condoning these whatsoever.  Things like crash dieting, starving, etc. are all unhealthy practices.  Stay away from them.  Regardless of how long you feel you have been in a plateau state.  Remember, dangerous DOES NOT EQUAL healthy.

Now moving on, some people just hit a plateau.  End of story.  The body will only go so far.  Doing the same workout routine for months on end may land you in a plateau.  So how do you shake it or get out of it?  Try spicing up the routine.  If you go to the gym twice a week, and do something similar to:
- 30 minutes of treadmill
- 20 minutes of Elliptical Training
- Dumbbell Work for half an hour

Why not spice it up by lifting a heavier weight for less reps or vice-versa.  Or scrap the treadmill for the stationary bike for a few gym visits.  And see if a change like that might knock you out of the plateau.  You might even want to take a day just to splurge from your diet.  I'm not saying go crazy.  But treat yourself to something you have been keeping from your diet.  I have had weeks were one simple splurge day has been enough to budge the scale at the end of the week from weeks long stalling out.

If you're really concerned about stalling out.  Visit your family doctor, and talk to them.  There may be medical reasons why you are experiencing the plateau.  As always, any drastic weight loss plan should be discussed with your doctor BEFORE starting it.  It's better to be safe and healthy than dead on a treadmill.

And remember even though you may not see a change on the scale that doesn't mean nothing is changing.  Sometimes the way a pair of pants fit may be a better way to measuring your progress than watching the scale.  Look for more on this in my next post!

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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 far along my personal fitness journey.  And mostly, I haven't missed the time involved in the things I have put aside as I strive to meet my goals. And let me be clear when I say that you don't have to completely stop doing something you love to try and meet your goal.  Sometimes just scaling back the time spent on something can make all the difference too.  Let's face it, then you'd just be miserable. :)

For me, I am a huge television junky and gamer.  There are several tv shows I like to watch, and I am an avid Guild Wars 2 player.  However, both have been preventing me from becoming (and staying) active.  So, as a result I decided to redirect some of my time doing both of these pastimes and use some of that time to exercise.  This doesn't mean I stopped doing either altogether, I just spend a little less time doing them each day (or week). 

On the other hand, I also love things like candy bars, potato chips, pretty much anything deep fried or chocolate.  I also love a good, cold, can of Pepsi.  Those are my vices.  And they were also hindering my progress.  But in this case, I ended up "sacrificing" most of these items because in the end I felt it was a better investment for me to exclude these items.  Keeping them around the house meant I would eventually end up eating them.  I have very little self control when it comes to the aforementioned items.  And honestly, I haven't missed them.  And now that I have learned my control with these things, I know an occasional candy bar or Pepsi won't hurt my progress that much.  And I can walk away at any time.  For example, I bought a bottle of Pepsi this afternoon, after drinking about half of it on my way home from work, I was done.  I had my fill of it.  And didn't need to splurge on it anymore.  This was a huge step for me, and without being able to initially sacrifice that, I wouldn't have stopped until the whole bottle was empty.  And there was no guilt for not finishing it or even for buying it.  Because I know I haven't had one in 2 weeks.  Which is a great improvement over about 7 cans a day.

Now let's look at a way sacrifice can hinder your progress.  For me personally, I have been down this road as well (as recently as this week).  One thing you shouldn't sacrifice is rest.  I made this mistake the other night.  After pulling a late evening at work, I came home and worked out.  This meant I was going to end up getting less than 5 hours or so of sleep that night.  But I did it anyways.  The next day, I felt terrible from lack of sleep and I was sore from working out on top of that.  Your body needs that rest to rebuild and rehabilitate from the stresses of not only working out, but from life in general.  Don't sacrifice that.  It's far too important.

One other way you can sacrifice to the point of hindrance is by giving in to the "I have to workout" syndrome.  I hear people talk about how they feel they just "have"  to workout.  If you have this mentality, your workout may benefit you as much as you think.  Sure, you're working out.  You're doing something to help yourself.  But with a "have to" mentality, you are sacrificing the "want to" mentality and thus will not push yourself as hard as you normally would.  I'm not saying we don't have "off" days, where it is physically challenging just to tie your gym shoes.  But be careful not to fall into this trap.  Remember, you are choosing to workout for a better, healthier you.  Don't sacrifice that self worth and sell yourself short.

These are just a couple brief ways sacrifices in your everyday life can help (and even hurt) your progress.  It is up to you to evaluate what you could do a little less with each day, or even do without for a few days to help you attain your goal.  Just make sure you aren't sacrificing the right things by mistake like: proper nutrition, rest, activity, and your personal relationships. After all, this fitness thing is all about learning to balance your life with a healthy lifestyle.  Keep that in mind.

And until next time, be happy and be healthy!

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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 know!

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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 the beauty of this situation is that a gym is NOT needed to exercise... You may be saying: "Whatever..." or "Yeah, right!".  But it is true. Your physiology is equipped with the basics you need to get in a decent workout.  Admittedly, I was a bit skeptical at first, myself.  But after last nights Body Weight Routine, I can say without a doubt that it does work. *Note: I am NOT a doctor or offering medical advice. As always consult your physician before using any workout program for health and safety purposes.

Don't get me wrong, I love hitting the Elliptical and the Stationary Bikes and I thoroughly enjoy hitting the dumbbells and various bench presses and pulldowns.  But when the event arises where you just have to burn some energy or need to feel that welcome burn in a particular muscle set.  There are other options.  For example, here is the workout I did last night upon returning home from working late:

Body Weight Squats: 4 sets of 10 reps each

Oblique Crunches: 3 sets of 40 reps, set 4 was pushed a little further to failure at 44 reps.

Body Weight Lunge: 1 set of 20 reps, 1 set of 16 reps, and 1 set of 14 reps

Push-Ups: 1 set of 14 reps, 1 set of 20 reps, 1 sets of 22 reps, and 1 set of 24 reps

Jumping Jacks: 3 sets of 40 jumping jacks

Plank: 1 set of 1 rep (lasting for 45 seconds)

Total Time: 45 minutes to 1 hour

Going into this routine, my initial thoughts were that there was no way I would feel like I nailed a decent workout.  But essentially what I did was starting with the Body Weight Squats, I would do a set and then move into the Oblique Crunches and do a set.  Then I would bounce back to my Squats.  Basically when I felt I needed to rest from a particular exercise in the routine, I would move on the another one.  If I did something like a set of Push-Ups, I would follow with a set of Oblique Crunches or Jumping Jacks to keep my heart rate a little elevated.  Gradually I worked my way through the routine towards the dreaded Plank.

On average I am able to hold a decent Plank anywhere from about 00:01:05 to 00:01:15, but after the workout I was lucky to hold it for 45 seconds.  The only things needed for this routine was a little bit of floor space, and a stop watch for measuring Plank time.  And I use my cell phone's Stopwatch feature for that.

And by the end of the workout I could feel muscles that I have never felt before.  My quads, hamstrings, and thighs were sore, my Abs and Obliques were hurting, and I was sweating as if I had just went 10 minutes in Moderate Intensity on an Elliptical.  The best part about it, it was a "sore chore" getting out of the bed in the morning.  But it was well worth it.

So let this be a lesson to those who sit back and deny that they can try to get fit because of a lack of gym equipment or even lacking a gym membership.  Body Weight exercises are not to be shrugged off.  I currently weigh 230 pounds and trust me, that is a heck of a workout.

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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 diet was pretty much crap.  Eating fast food pretty much all the time due to convenience while being on the road for work a lot.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, my fitness goals got somewhat side tracked during the summer months.  During which I gained a few pounds back, but nothing major.  I started being more conscious about my health again at the very end of September.  And I used the start of October as a mark of change once again.

On my first weigh in for October (start of the month); I found myself sitting right at 239 pounds.  I started walking a few times a week again.  Just a couple miles at a time, which I didn't really keep track off.  As for the first time, I found myself somewhat lost with which direction I should go concerning my workouts.  Knowing what I have done in the past that didn't work.  I decided to try something different.  I started Active.com's Couch to 5K program (using the Android App).  Which started me on a journey that includes 3 workout sessions a week, that start off fairly easy and build upon intensity over the course of 9 weeks.  And at the end of it, the idea is that you'll be able to participate in a 5K run.

This became my gateway, as I found myself doing the following workout at home using a small dumb bell set we have here at the house:
-Crunches (varied reps/sets depending on day)
-Standing Dumb Bell Shoulder Press (started light and worked heavier, usually 4 sets of 8 to 10 reps).
-Concentration Curls (W1 I used 15 pounds, by end of the month lifting 30 per arm, 4 sets of 8 reps).
-Dumb Bell Floor Press (4 sets of 10 to 12 reps)
-Push Ups (as many as I could knocked out)

I replaced my junk food snacks with things like low fat yogurt, granola, and a protein shake/smoothie each day.  All the time counting my calories using the aforementioned MyFitnessPal.  Counting my calories at first didn't end so well each night.  Then after a few days of adjusting what I ate.  I became able to adjust the bad food out of my diet and gradually work good stuff in, that would help keep me within my calorie plan.

And I'm proud to report that last week, my wife and I joined a great gym local to us.  It is literally a 5 minute drive from our house to our gym now.  Leaving no excuse to not exercise given rain or shine.  For us, that is a big step.  We are using our membership as a motivation to each other to help push each other a little further each day toward our goals.

So, enough chatter.  Let's see how I faired at the end of December!
October 1st Weight: 239 pounds
November 3rd Weight: 231 pounds
Pounds Lost: 8 pounds

Difference in Measurements:
Neck: Lost 0.50 inches lost
Left Bicep: 0.75 inches gained
Right Bicep: 0.25 inches gained
Waist: 1 inch lost
Chest: 0.50 inches lost

My biceps gained size due to the dumb bell work that I have been staying on top of.  For the first 30 days of my journey, I feel like I am off to a great start!

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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 the calorie counter.  The app has a pretty good database that includes most foods and chain-restaurant foods.  If you like, you can also use the barcode scanner built into the app to capture a shot of a particular food item's barcode and it will find that food's nutritional information and import it into your diary for that particular meal.  The app will generate a daily calorie allotment that is will count towards as you log consumed food during the day, obviously to loose weight the thought is you want to stay under that calorie allotment each day.  This allotment is based off of several criteria that you entered when setting up your account, like:
-Age
-Height
-Current Weight
-Weight Goal
-How many pounds you'd like to loose per week.
-What is your estimated activity level during the day (work)?

But it doesn't stop with just food, you also track your physical exercise as well.  After all, exercising helps you burn calories, and since the app is counting calories for you, it needs to know what is being burnt off during workouts.  As you weigh in, you also need to update your weight in the app or on their website.  This will also affect your daily calorie allotments that the app helps you meet or stay underneath that limit.

One thing I really like about MyFitnessPal, is once you closeout a day's "diary" or log of food & exercise, the app will pop up a screen that says "If everyday were like today, it would take you X weeks to be at XX goal."  That helps me keep things in perspective.  I mean after all, for most of us, being healthy isn't a whole lot of "fun".  So some of us need a little further inspiration to get things going.

You can also visit their website at: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/
Their website has even more features available too.  You can follow their forums, track the same info you track using the mobile app, you also get a little widget that you can post on your website or social network that display's your current weightloss.

The service and app are free of charge.  So what do you have to loose?  Swing by their website for more information on both the website service and their mobile app: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/

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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 mill social networking goodies like a Feed (a place where all of the stuff you want to see from people you follow show up i.e.: Facebook's Wall), Friend's List, Group's List, etc.  You can share pictures and media and such.  But where it is different is that it uses "gamification" help people attain their fitness, diet, or exercising goals.  And as an avid gamer, this is an idea that I like a lot.  As some days, I just lack the desire to get out and do something healthy.

It breaks goals down into "quests" much like an RPG game.  Completion of these quests gives you points.  These points add up much like experience points (or XP) in a role playing game.  Once you fill up your point bar for your current level; you level up.  As you level up and complete certain "quests" you get achievement badges to share on your Feed for bragging rights.

Sounds pretty cool, doesn't it?  I signed up this afternoon.  And one of the most daunting things to do once you join a social network is to get friends to follow.  If you don't know someone who is currently using the site, then it can be pretty lonely.  The Fitocracy solution: not only recommend a few friends for you, but actually connect you with new friends to get your feet wet.  The site will also set you up as a member of several groups based on what interests you picked during sign up (Cardio, Strength Building, etc.)  So when you first get to your feed, you actually have some stuff to look at.  From that point forward it's up to you to continue to build your friends list, add exercises (remember to be honest), and have fun reaching your goals!

There are two tier's of membership on the site.  You can join and use the site for free (I'm a free member), or you can sign up as a Fitocracy Hero which gives you some extra features on the site and let's you challenge other user's to duels.  A Hero account will set you back $4.99/month or $44.99/per year.  There is also an app for the service but it currently only supports iOS (Apple's iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad).  Supposedly an Android app is in the works.  For Android user's, you can visit the site via your device's web browser and use the mobile version of the site (which coincidentally is just a mobile version of the sign on screen, but loads the full browser version of the site after login).

So get out and meet some people with similar goals as you, and let's work together to encourage each other!  Follow this link and sign up and hit me up: Fitocracy Sign Up

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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 least 3 to 4 miles at a time) leading up to our trip.

When we returned from vacation, personally it felt as if I lost a huge amount of inspiration to get up and work out.  I didn't stop altogether at first, but my workouts started happening less often.  I found I was making time for gaming sessions, watching television, or just plain being lazy.  All the while I kept telling myself I needed to get back out there and start exercising again.  A few weeks after the trip, I started to get the drive to go back out and hit the trails again.  Then the unavoidable happened.  Work picked up and started to require late evenings.

I am a field service technician in the IT Industry, so a lot of my job requires daily travel to customer locations across my territory.  So I have a lot of time when I am sitting behind the steering wheel and driving during the course of a week's time.  I found myself in situations where I was coming home late most nights of during the week.  Then when I got home, I would lack all drive to get out and exercise.  Once again, I was was just being lazy.

All the while, my wife has been doing great watching her diet and exercising.  And she has been trying to push me back into being active as well.  And it has worked.  She joined a Zumba class the other night and is loving it.  I will not be joining her Zumba class (I'm not that big on dancing), but I have decided to put all of my excuses, complaints, and laziness aside and not let her out do me. Call it pride, arrogance, or whatever. lol

This is not a post about my belly-aching about life being busy.  Instead, I hope you can read this as a letter from someone who has let life's events take control of my everyday routine and I am trying hard to regain that control.  So without any more delay.  Let's go exercise!

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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 to 220 over the coming couple of months.

I am fired up more than I have been since I started exercising and eating better on March 1st.  Let's do this!

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Image: Keattikorn / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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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 app is available for Android, iOS, Blackberry, and Windows Phones.

The App:

The GPS tracking is pretty straight forward.  You turn on the GPS function on your phone and then open the Endomondo app.  When your GPS gets a lock, simple press the green "Start" button and the app will begin logging your location and tracing your route.  As you walk, in realtime the app will display what sport you have specified (in my case it is walking), the duration of your activity, the distance (in miles), Speed, and Calories burned.  You do have the option to let the app do a 10 second countdown before beginning or just starting to log right away.  

You also have the option for specify a workout, this includes (some of these features only available in Pro version):

-Setting a time of distance goal.

-Beat a friend's personal best.

-Follow a Route.

-Beat Yourself.

-Interval Training.

You will also notice the main interface has a music button and a speaker button (left and right respectively).  The Music button will give you access to your device's stored music to jam out to while working out.  The speaker button is a virtual training that gives you audible information pertaining to your workout as you use the app.

Swiping the screen to the left will slide the interface out of the way so you can see the map of your route thus far.  The path will be overlaid ontop of a Google Map tile of the area you were active in.  This allows you a birds eye perspective on your route.  Plus, I like to use the mapping features as sort of a GPS Map to plan my next couple of turns when walking in city areas.

As you use the app, you will find that you can do more than just tracking walks with it.  There is a huge listed of exercises you can log with the app.  And pretty much if it involves any moving at all, you can track it.  Whether is is walking, running, cycling, mountain biking, skating, kayaking or even kite surfing and scuba diving.  If you can take your phone with you, you can GPS track it.

But you can also track sports like golf, boxing, fencing, gymnastics, pilates, weight training, and even yoga (and so many more).  So as you can tell, the app is extremely versatile.  From within the app you can also see your friend's list, a New's Feed about what your friends are up to, and an Inbox for receiving and approving Friend's Requests.

The Website Integration:

If you visit the website and setup a profile there, your workout data will upload to their website under your profile for further analysis.  Their site also involved a pretty neat social integration as well.  You can send and receive friend requests, see what your friends are doing as far as their workouts are concerned, and you can take part in Challenges.

The workout data that is uploaded consists of your workout speed, duration, calories burned, time per lap, and the GPS data in map form.  From the site, you can set your workout maps to private so only you can see them if you are concerned about privacy.  If you forget your phone and go workout anyways, don't worry.  As long as you know what route you took, you can log into the website and click on Routes at the top of the screen and draw your route on the map to log it.  You won't have a complete collection of data from the workout, but at least you will get your distance, time, and estimated calories burned logged.

Challenges can be created by other users or Endomondo staff themselves.  It took me a couple of weeks before I gathered enough courage to jump into a Challenge.  But now it's almost become an addiction of mine.  It's fun to see where you stand within a group of other people.  I always have that feeling that I probably just walked the slowest mile anybody has every walked.  Then I look at the Challenge page and see my name halfway through a list of a couple hundred people.  And as you work through the month and partake in the Challenges you not only see your growth, but also you "competitors" growth as well.  I use the word "competitor" very loosely because we are working to be a leader in the Challenge board, but we are all working toward a common goal of getting healthy and exercising so it becomes fun instead of out for blood competition.

There is a lot of encouragement that goes on in the comments section of the Challenge pages for pretty much any challenge you see listed.  And as I wrote about a few weeks ago, encouragement is a huge factor in accomplishing you goals!

Speaking of encouragement, if you use the mobile app, it is possible for your friends to send you messages while you exercise.  For example, a couple weekends ago I decided I was going to complete my first 10 Mile walk.  This was a huge milestone for me to try to accomplish.  About mile 6 or a little better, the podcast I was listening to paused itself and a female voice came through my earbuds and said: "New Message from Dominic: Keeping pushing, way to go!".  The sender was a person in another country that was listed in a Challenge that I was active in and he sent me a friend's request.  So literally from halfway around the world someone sent me a "PepTalk" at the very moment I was out exercising.  Personally, that is an awesome feature!

I love the quick analytics listed on the main page of the user profile.  It gives several quick charts showing Distance, Calories Burned, and Duration.  If you mouse over each of the three pie charts a small tool tip will pop up with your data for the month up to the current day.  Below that you can log your weight and keep a running total of your weight loss.  And under the weight section is your Overall Summary.  

The Overall Summary shows your totals for which you can filter by All Sports or only by one particular sport if you choose.  It lists how many total workouts logged with the app, total duration (or time spend working out), and total distance.  There are also entries here to show your progress "around the world" and "trips to the moon".  Also listed is average speed, average pace, and calories burned.  They also guesstimate how many cheeseburgers you have worked off as well.  These starts are fun to look at and they give you a total view on your workouts since you started using Endomondo.  If you view full stats you can see really nice charts listing your progress as well.

The charts are filterable, meaning you can change the data displayed to view as needed.  If you want to see your progress from day to day, week to week, month to month, or even between years, you can.  You may be asking: "I haven't used a service like Endomondo.  But I have a device I am using that stores data like this, can I import that into Endomondo?"

If that is your concern, then fret not. You have complete control to be able to import that data into Endomondo's website as long as it is coming from a Garmin device or you have the .gpx, .tcx, or .fit filetypes exported from your device.

Overall Opinion:

Endomondo is a very valuable resource for anybody working out with a smartphone.  It is cross platform as well.  So both iOS and Android users can use it.  There are two flavors of the app available: a free version and a Pro version.  I use the Pro Version because back in December, Google offered a bunch of Android apps for 10 cents and I picked it up "just in case" I needed it later since it was so cheap.  But the free version has most of the features available that you would want to use anyways.  But if you like the app, I'd say spring the few dollars and support the team at Endomondo.

And if you really like the service, you may want to support the team even further by Subscribing to the Endomondo website by joining the "Athletes Lounge".  On top of everything you get for free, for $6 per month you get benchmark yourself against your friends and you get a badge on your profile that touts you as a paid member.  For $39 per year you get all the free stuff, plus the badge and benchmarking, and 15% off purchases from their online store.  The online store is full of Endomondo branded gear including cycling clothes, jackets, t-shirts, workout music, headphones, messenger bags, and accessories like FitBit and heart rate sensors that connect bluetooth to your phone.

Can you use the app without the web service?  Probably.  Can you use the web service without the app?  Sure you could.  But you're not going to get the full benefit of how Endomondo can help your workout unless you use them both in conjunction with each other.

Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars!

Pro's: 

-App is fantastic.

-Great integration with their website and online services.

-Realtime GPS tracking of your workout.

-Cross platform with most smartphones (Android, iOS, Blackberry, & Windows Phone).

Con's:

-It occasionally takes the app a few minutes to connect to the GPS signal.  But this may very well be my device and not the app.

Get the app:

Google Play Store:  http://bit.ly/IPABmQ

Apple's App Store: http://bit.ly/ctiLf3

Blackberry App World: http://bit.ly/I0t6qk

Swing by their website: http://www.endomondo.com

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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 how close I will come this month!

Checkout the chart of my total progress.  You will notice some mileage walked in February.  However, I am starting the actual mileage counting on March 1st as the official day that I started working out.

On top of my walking progress, I have lost a total of 8 pounds during the course of March as well.  Also, my workout is growing.  I picked up a cheap (and I mean cheap) dumbbell set that has four plates at 7.5 pounds each (total of 30 pounds, big leagues baby!).  And the set came with an adjustable kettlebell bar which is neat, but it is NOT a suitable replacement for an actual kettlebell in most cases.  However, with the dumbbells and some light use with the kettlebell bar, I have managed to get a decent upper body workout started.

However, I am still working out the kinks with what lifts I am doing and how many sets.  As this is a work in progress, once I have something more set in stone as far as a routine goes, I will try and post the workout on the site for anybody who would like to see it.

And on top of everything else, I have been trying out some killer Android Apps that are helping me achieve some of my goals. So look for some reviews in the coming week or two!

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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 magic behind honest to goodness weightloss.  Maybe there is a magic pill or a "wonder-exercise" you can do to melt the pounds away.  But (for me anyway) none of those options are a true-blue way to loose weight.  For me I have had success over the last couple of weeks mixing regular exercise with keeping watch on my calorie intake.  The concept: eat less calories than what you burn to kick off weight loss.  Controlling the calorie intake and maintaining it at different levels can lead to a safe loss in weight.  The goal is not to starve yourself, it's to shock you back into eating healthier by putting into perspective what you eat everyday.  And it can be shocking.

So, this app is basically a fancy way to count your caloric intake (or how to inventory the number of calories you eat everyday).  You can also log exercise time and find out how many calories you have burned.  Of course the calories burned are estimates.  But they seem to match pretty closely other resources found online.

There is a large database of foods built into this app.  And quite a few chain restaurants are included as well.  What I like about it is if you eat something fairly regularly then it will be added to your 'My Foods' category for quick reference.  This makes it easy to enter food on the fly.  You can also add your own foods to the database as well, just in case you can't find a particular food listed; which occasionally happens.

There is also a large number of exercises listed in the database as well.  Personally, I walk a lot.  So I use walking and some weight training quite a bit.  And as mentioned earlier, it does a good job a estimating how many calories you burned during a particular workout.

Setting Up The App
After installing the app, there is a very short setup process involved.  Basically, it prompts you for your account credentials.  If you are a new user, it is a quick registration process.  Then you are prompted with some basic information to get started.  It will ask your current weight, what is your target weight, and how long you will take to achieve that target weight.  The length of time is interesting.  I have seen some online resources in the past let you pick however long you'd like.  From a couple of days to a year.  But the "Lose It!" app seems to let you pick from several preset choices that gives the impression it is for a controlled weight loss and not a crash diet.  That is a good thing.  Based on the figures you enter, the app will generate a daily total number of calories to be consumed in order to achieve your predetermined goal.

Post Install

After installation and a couple minute setup you can start cataloging your food.  Simply pick 'Add Food' and select for which meal: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, or Snacks.  From there pick your category of food or search for the food you'd like to add.  And add it.  The calorie totals will automatically tally based off of food and exercise entered so you have a real-time view on how you have done for the day.  As you use the app it will build a form of analytics that you can use to keep track of your progress over the course the last several weeks.  It will even build some neat charts you can glance at quickly to see your progress.

For me, I tend to loose motivation easily when it comes to certain types of food.  And as I go through my day entering my intake, I can keep a bird's eye view of what I have eaten versus what I can still use for the day to try and stay right at or just under my daily allotment.  Think of it as a sort of 'Weight Watcher's Point Counter' but instead of points you are counting physical calories.

And if keeping up with yourself isn't enough for you.  FitNow has added a whole social media swing to the app as well.  You can sign up on their website (http://www.loseit.com/) and you can basically do the same stuff that the app allows but also interact with others and build a network of friends to help coach and motivate you along.  Which is pretty cool.  And from the app you can also choose to Sync the app data to their website as well.  There is also a barcode scanner that allows you to scan and retrieve calorie information using the camera on your mobile devices (which is a cool feature).

So what if you loose some weight?  How does the app know?
For example over the last couple of weeks I've lost about 5 pounds.  If you tap on the 'Goals' tab across the top of the screen you can record your weight for that day.  As you record your weight across time a chart is drawn showing your progress.  This reflects loss and gains as well.  And at the top of the screen it is clearly worded what your goal weight is, how many pounds you plan to loose per week,  and what your daily calorie budget is.  Just in case you forgot. :)

One thing to make a note of, is as you log your weight.  Your daily calories budget will gradually change to reflect the amount of calories you take in to maintain loosing weight by your current plan.  So if your plan starts you off at 2,000 calories a day and you loose 10 pounds after a month.  Then your will naturally be expected to take in less calories to continue loosing weight.  That's the idea.

And overall the app does what is advertised.  Of course how you use it actually negates how well you accomplish your goals that you set when starting the app initially.  For me, I try to adhere to it but not beat myself up too bad if I go a little over my daily calorie budget.  But it helps me keep an eye on what I am taking in during the course of the day.  And with a "watching eye" kind of steering me along I tend to find the motivation to stay away from the needless snacking and high calorie stuff that I would like to eat.

Does this app 100% break bad eating habits?  Nope, that is your job.  After all, this is just an app (or a web service if you use it).  It is up to you to enter you foods on a daily basis.  It takes a little training to remember to enter your meals.  But if you stick with it and exercise regularly I guarantee it can't hurt.  It hasn't hurt me.

And as I mentioned above, with a little help from keeping myself inline using "Lose It!" and regular exercise I have already lost a little better than 5 pounds.  I plan on continuing to use "Lose it!" if for no other reason that to keep an eye on my daily intake.

"Lose It!" is available on both the iOS and Android mobile platforms; as well as being available via their website to be used from a desktop PC or tablet.

I rate "Lose It!": 5 out of 5 stars



Find "Lose It" by FitNow, Inc. at:
Cost: FREE
Google Play (former Android Market): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fitnow.loseit
Apple App Store: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/lose-it!/id297368629?mt=8

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**I am in know way affiliated with FitNow, Inc., LoseIt! mobile app or web service, Google Play, or Apple App Store. Screen captures sourced from my mobile device.

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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 first person I started bugging was my wife.  Initially, when I told her what my personal goals were for things like walking and weight loss she was surprise, worried, concerned (whatever you want to call it, she though something was up).  But after she actually saw me get out and start working, it was almost like catching a cold.  She jumped right in and started contributing with me.  After a couple of days I started mentioning my efforts to others like my Mom.  My Mom is a nurse and understands the point of good health practices and likes to get out and about herself.  So she jumped on the wagon with us too.  Essentially, I surrounded myself with people who I knew would be proud of me if I succeed and will help encourage me when I don't quite feel like going that extra mile.  And so far, it is working.

With a form of what I will call "external motivation" from other people, that pushes me to be more inclined to get out and put forth an effort.  And so far with this motivation, I have walked since March 1st, 2012: 34.37 miles.  Which may not sound like a lot but a month ago I was spending almost all of my free time sitting around either infront of a television, computer, or video game.  Now I am walking at least 5 days a week (oftentimes 6 days) and am pushing myself farther every time I go out.  And I have already started to move my belt in one notch.  And for a guy whose belt hasn't moved in 7 years; that's a big deal!

So how can you find that extra motivation to help encourage you?  First, don't think of your workouts/eating better as a diet.  If you start out by saying "I can't go there or eat that because I'm on a diet"; you will find that you are limiting yourself within constraints that may make life a little more difficult on you.  And who needs that stress, as it will kill motivation for you.  Yes, you should be conscious about your diet, but not to the point you have put yourself in a doorless room with rice cakes.  If you happen to splurge (which it is healthy to do once in a while), just make a note and work a little harder on your next trip out.  NOTE: Please don't read that Techie said to go crazy with your moderation.  That's nuts.

Second, set goals that you know you can achieve.  Not something that is unattainable.  In my case, if I started out doing no exercise whatsoever (which was my case actually), and I decided to go out and run for 10 miles.  I would have flopped in my attempt that day.  Instead, I started out determined to walk no more than 2 miles.  When I hit the 2 miles mark, I was feeling pretty good and ended up walking 5 miles my first day out.  Yes, this killed me since I wasn't used to much activity.  But, I rebounded after a day or two of rest and haven't stopped since.  So, goal setting is very important.

Third, you have to find some form of "external motivation".  Whether be friends or family, or maybe there is a local walking group in your community.  If not, start one up instead of waiting on someone else too.  If you are scraping the bottom of the barrel when it comes to finding others to participate, look online.  There are communities online that are there to help.  Sites like Endomondo, LiveStrong, etc. are there for the purpose of helping you.  Sure, sites likes these have paid services.  But usually they offer some free services by way of forums and message boards or even online fitness trackers that you can share on Facebook or Twitter.  And believe me, I have used some of these (and still do use a couple) and they can be a big help.

I am by no means, a fitness expert or a doctor of any kind.  However, the above points are what continues to help me everyday.  If you have other factors for motivation, chime in below with a comment and share with all of us as we may need the help too!

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Credits: Image: Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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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 the answer to that question is also simple.  March 1st has no signifigance whatsoever.  And by this date being "just another day" tends to make March 1st a fitting point at which to start bettering my lifestyle.

I have fallen into the same rut as a lot of people.  Every New Year's my resolution has been to  "loose a little weight" and then I end up forgetting all about my resolution.  Then Spring rolls in and I get active for a couple of days before yet again becoming a couch potato.  Then Summer rolls around and the excuse becomes "it's just too hot to get out and exercise".  Before you know if Winter is back and now it's "just too cold".  And year after year this cycle is repeated.  And by starting to tackle my fitness goals well after everyone has already ditched their New Year's Resolutions, I get to take advantage of several things:

-Cheaper workout equipment (from New Year's closeouts or people selling unused items).
-Local parks and tracks are less crowded.
-Beautiful weather as Spring is starting to roll in.

In the past, I have been a member of the local YMCA and even a local gym at a couple different times.  And I didn't use either of them consistently enough to justify the monthly membership fees.  And ultimately spent a lot of time leveling up characters in MMO games and playing "Modern Warefare 3" instead.  Don't get me wrong, I still love to play games and hold down the couch.  But I decided it was time to do more than just waste time every night after work.

First and foremost, let me say that I am NOT an authority on weight loss.  Standing at 5 foot 6 inches tall and weighing 240 pounds definitely makes me more of  an "anti-weight loss" example.  I decided to whip up this website as an attempt to share my experiences, motivations, and help make me accountable for my actions where my health is concerned.  A little accountability makes effort go a long way.  And I want to try to encourage and help someone else who may be in the my same shoes.

So how are we going to get into shape and where does "TrimTechie" come into play?  If you keep up with my other website or our YouTube Channel you already know that I love technology.  Everything from websites right down to mobile apps and gadgets.  I love it all.  And my aim is to incorporate technology as an aid to my fitness training.  While at the same time, not completely relying on technology to do the work for me or make me look good.

So if you are up for the challenge, join me in making 2012 the year we try our hardest to get fit and get geek all at the same time!!

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