Figuring it out

I’m slowly figuring this all out.

Yes, weight loss and fitness is about wants…and needs. But most of all, it is about balance.

Weight loss worked for me because I was isolated and had time to adjust to the new lifestyle. I remember reading in high school that it takes three weeks of repeating something for it to become habitual. I have myself that time and it worked out for me. I was able to keep it up past that because it was the new normal.

Now that I am nearing where I want to be, the weight just doesn’t come off as easy. This is partly motivation and partly nature. The same diet doesn’t produce the same results as when I was 360. So the primary issue for me is the motivation.

I’ve been stuck in the 200-210 area for the past month or so. I can tend to do really well during the week but then usually blow it all during the weekends. The sugar cookie massacre of this past weekend is a prime example. This is good and bad news for me.

The good news is that I know that I can still enjoy things without returning to a higher weight. I can’t go completely off the wagon, but I know that a few bad days here or there is not the end and I can control my weight fairly easily once I know what is happening

The bad news is that I’m not going anywhere while doing this. Yes, balance is good and is what we all need to learn, but that type of balance isn’t getting the results. I need more control to reach my goals.

Short term goal: Behave over the weekend with your diet.

Follow the plan: two shakes and a Lean Cuisine dinner. Allow two 100 calorie snacks.

I think some of this is about to get a little bit easier. My roommate is moving out next week. Removing temptation(most of the food in the house) will be good for me…even though I’ll miss the company!

Have a hiking outing tomorrow for my vacation day off of work. I may even go to the gym afterwards! 

Did the gym last night, too. 30 minutes of lifting and 30 minutes of cardio. For the lifting, I did the fly machine, rowing, lat pull, ab twist, and bicep curl. I put the weight up to 110 and after 3 sets of 10, dropped the weight by half and did another set of 10. Finally. I put the machine on the lowest setting and just repeated until I was spent. I wanted to go for the pull up bar, but there were people doing stretches right by it and I felt as if I would be intruding on their space.

I think I’m slowly figuring this whole gym thing out. Now if only I could figure myself out a bit, I would be golden!

Anniversary

Wow, just got my notification that my blog is one year old. 

Happy Anniversary, Blog! You’ve gotten me through some tough times in my weight loss journey!

 

 

Well that was special

Decided to make my workout 10 instead of 20 with intervals of one.

Wow, I am sweaty. I didn’t think it would be that taxing. The burpees were the worst! In some ways, it was pretty high impact. The whole bit didn’t take that long, but my heart certainly got to pumpin!

Goal for tomorrow: don’t forget phone and go to the gym!

Tonight’s Workout

Deciding to do something fun for tonight’s workout.

I’m going to take some of the advice from jsresults’ blog and do a layered workout involving the following.

20 Burpees

20 butterfly sit ups

20 push ups

20 jumping jacks

 

After that set, I will repeat it, but decrease the amount by 2.

This should be fun. Hope it gets me sore.

WTB Sleep!

Howdy interwebs!
Weekend was a bit if a blur, so I’ll try and make some sense of it this morning.

First things first: left the phone at home this morning. Feeling awkward without it..like part of me is missing. Also a little panicked that if an emergency happens, I’m a bit screwed. My phone is also my wallet. Wallet has gym ID. Looks like tonight is a good night for Zumba or a run. I’m thinking Zumba because I still need to work on moving these hips. They’re in there somewhere!

Friday night:
My buddy Kim and I decided to tag along with Nelson to First Fridays. It’s kind of a huge art show each month in Phoenix. I was going to purchase something, but nothing truly looked “hand crafted.” I hate being ripped off. After walking around for a bit, we decide to head to a local gay bar.

I’d been to this one before, and it was as busy as always. Side note, it is odd seeing youtube video owners who you have followed for years in person. Almost like seeing a mini celebrity. Anywho…this one guy walks past me and I he was tall, older, and not really my type. A few moments later, this woman approaches me and said that guy was checking me out. She then reaches into her woven basket and proceeds to give me a rock with the word “truth” written on it with a link to a web page. She was trying to spread kindness. She then mentions that the guy that walked by was her friend and he had said that I was completely his type. So, I agree to meet him and it turns out they belong to a church and this rock was her final project. Only a little creepy, but a little sweet. He asks for my number, and I’m trying to make some new buddies, so I give it to him. Turns out he has a daughter, too. Interesting things happen at bars.

A few pictures from the night.

We head over to another bar and just hang out for a bit. I still wish I could dance/didn’t care what other people thought of me. Before the weight loss, I used to do everything possible to ensure that I would not draw attention to myself. Some of that still exists.

Saturday:
Actually had a date on Saturday. We met up to go see the Evil Dead. I LOVE horror movies, but still watch them from behind my hands. We meet up and the conversation is nice enough. It was still a bit early, so we walk around the mall a bit. This one store was a LoveSac store. Oh my! Those things were super comfy! I’m seriously considering getting one for my home. While sitting and chatting with the store clerk, she asks if we are on a date. Am I that obvious? Lol. The date responds that it is a date, so I suppose that’s positive points for me.

After the movie we head to Fez for lunch. The conversation went well enough. Just used those counseling listening skills to good use. He did comment that he felt like he did a lot of the talking though. I need to assert myself more then.

Later that night, I go out for Karaoke with another group of friends. The usual karaoke bar isn’t doing karaoke that night, so we switch to another that is. I still don’t sing on the mic, but it’s fun to sing along with everyone else.

Sunday:
Took Leo to the groomer. He had an 830 appointment and I didn’t get him back until 230. Very sad. He looks so cute now, tho. Saw Iron Man 3 with a buddy and then went home.

All in all, not the best weekend for the diet and weight loss, but a good weekend for me and enjoying life. It certainly bears staying in and playing video games.

Burn

Had a guilt free chicken sandwich at Chili’s. Hour on elliptical.

Resisting

So hard to resist.

Letting it ride

Yesterday was another good day for the diet.

I almost feel like I’m starting this whole weight loss process over again. When doing calorie restriction, you get hungry…quickly. It takes a few weeks for your body and mind to get used to the lesser amount of food. The hunger really never goes away. Instead, you learn to view it differently. I know my body is using itself for fuel.

Instead of the hunger pangs, it begins to feel more like a fire. I use that feeling to motivate me. I know this sounds strange, but I kind of liken it to the Chronicles of Riddick. The Necromongers, in their transition to become themselves, eventually got to the point where they embraced the pain of the transition.

Today is a trial day for me. The Math department is having a dessert competition. Here is my entry:

A fruit pizza. Not the most healthy thing, but I’ve managed to resist it so far. I think I’m going to drop it off and get myself away from the area. No sweets for me today.

Today is also the last day of this trial cohort for this program that my committee has put together at work. We are celebrating at Chili’s. Again, I’ll have to avoid temptation. I’ll get a diet soda and enjoy my time with the coworkers. I have my dinner at home that will do me better than anything there. And…there’s always the gym after work!

Yesterday was good!

Yesterday was a good one for the diet and exercise. It was the first “perfect” day in, well….months.

Shake for breakfast
Shake for lunch
Lean Cuisine for Dinner
Two 100 calorie bags of popcorn as snacks

Usually, I would stop in and get some pop chips…or go out for dinner with a friend. Nothing wrong with that and I’m able to maintain…but I wasn’t losing. In looking at my goals, I can still reach my monthly goal, but I need to do daily goals along with it.

Today’s goal: repeat a perfect diet day.
So far, so good!

Made it out to the gym last night after work. Did some weights exercises (I’m starting to lift more!) and 30 minutes of elliptical work(353 calories). Today is a Zumba day. I’m going to do an easy work out for 40 minutes today. Maybe the easy version will take things just a little bit slower!

In other news, I’ve started reading a book. Boyfriend 101. It’s kind of like a gay guy’s guide to dating. Mostly, I’m looking to work on myself. So far, it has proven interesting, but it really isn’t much that I haven’t heard before. Listing my wants and needs across different areas. The funny thing was an entire chapter about small talk. Surprise, surprise…they talked about counseling skills. I’ve mostly avoided actively using them because I’ve wanted to avoid “playing shrink” to people. Perhaps I’ll give it a try and see how it works.

I’ve had to be really honest about my efforts. Am I surrounding myself with people who are single and available? No. Bars aren’t the place to do it either. I need to get out there more. This weekend, I think I’m going to go hang out with the Open Doors group and see how it goes. It’ll be a chance to practice small talk and to use those skills of mine.

More updates soon!

Weekends are much too short

Today feels like it should be another day for the weekend! Having orientations on Saturday is super fun, but it still takes away time from normal activities. I am slowly working on adding rock to my backyard still and put out about 10 bags per week.i have the side of the house done and now it’s on to the other side. It’ll take some time, but will be worth it, I hope!

Nelson eventually was free to hang out on Saturday night and we managed to convince Josh to go out with us to a bar. I assumed my natural role as DD. Usually, I prefer this role because I know that I’ll be safe and can make sure my friends are safe too. And there’s always the calories, too. Our first stop was Apollo’s for karaoke. A little slow at first and I never take the stage (but sing along well enough). The bartender came over and gave me a diet soda because he knew I was the DD.

Then…we made it over to bar one and were confronted by some boys in heels. They proceeded to tell us that we needed heels in order to go in, but later said that they were joking. As we enter the bar, they were telling the truth. It was a heels party and all the guys were wearing them. Don’t think I’ve ever worn heels and don’t think I have the coordination to pull it off. Some of the guys here didn’t seem to have a problem moving around though. We took our perch outside and Nelson made friends with a dude who was initially wearing a spartan outfit. Yea, it was strange.

Along with buying the rock on Saturday,, I also stopped off at Best Buy to purchase this Zumba video game. I put off playing it until I could be alone in the house. Being easily embarrassed and not knowing how to dance is a bad combo. The game had a tutorial in which is showed basic steps, but it was just so awkward that I skipped most of it. I found a 20 minute class and started it up.

Immediately, the dancers were going all over the place and I wasn’t able to keep up. No way that they showed all of those moves in the tutorial. All I could do was flail around my living room while occasionally making sense of some of the movies. But, I noticed that I was smiling and sweating during it all. Perhaps this is the start of another arrow in my fitness quiver? Perhaps. I did really like the Bollywood style dances. If only I could feel comfortable using my hips a bit more. In time, Joe, in time.