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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