2014 year of Food!

So I am starting this whole new year resolution a little bit early...I am going to finish up this journey I started  over 4 years ago.  On 8/24/09 I weighed in at 365 pounds and this morning I weighed in at 305.  So yeah me for keeping 60 pounds off for the last 4 years but boo to me for putting on 20ish pounds in the last couple years (in 2011 I was at 280ish)

So for 2014 I am planning on doing two things :
   1.) Have a realistic goal for this year.
   2.) Take pictures of what I eat and post them to an album in google+

I know what I need to do to finish this journey and I know what to do to keep the weight I had off permanently...but it is up to me to finish the journey and to take that first step.  Today is the first step and in one year this journey will be over.

1) Realistic goal of 52 pounds lost in 2014.

So what you see above is a graph of working out 5 days per week and then maintaining a diet of 2450 calories per day.  If I work out that day I can eat some more :-) This is what I am going to stick with this year...As I make gains during the year I know that my calories are either going to have to go down or I will have to up my working out and calorie exertion.

2) I am going to photograph everything I consume in 2014. Starting with Today you can go to HERE to view anything I have ate in 2014 (currently 2013) I am completing this via google+ so the work on my end is minimal at most.

Hopefully by doing these couple items I will be able to hit my goal of 250 pounds by the end of 2014!

Two good months:

So I have been keeping up with my running each and every week and over the last two months I have ran 21 times (March and April) Which is the highest I have done since Summer of 2011.  Now that we have consistant weather in the morning I am looking forward to even more mornings where I can go out and run.  I have just recently upped my distance from 2 miles to 2.5 miles in my effort to get back to being able to run a 5k.

In other news...my wife Amber has also decided to start running! And she is doing a great job.  She is following the popular couch to 5k program and is doing great!

Oops I missed last week!

Stink, I forgot to blog last friday! So I appologize to all my avid readers. This week will be a double dose of what I have been up to lately. Over the last 2 weeks I have ran an 6 times for a total of 13 miles. And so far I am 25% percent to my goal of running 100 miles by July 25th, 2013.

So you ask what is your weight at?  My answer is I don't have a clue.  I am solely focused on running and working out.  And I decided to not get on a scale until sometime at a later date.  Maybe it will be when I hit my 100th mile, maybe it will be a little sooner.

Running, Running, Running

So I have not weighed myself in almost two weeks.  And currently I don't believe that I will weigh myself for quite a bit.  I am trying out a new theory...success is dependant on the goal that you are trying to acheive.  My ultimate goal is to lose weight...but that goal is off in the distances sometimes hard to quantify. So I am switching it up.

I will use my progress in running and see how that correlates with my weight loss.  When I started running a on March 9th I was weighing 295 my plan is to see how my weight goes over the next month as I continue to run.

My short term goal is to get back to 5K form, which is being able to run for 3.1 consecutive miles.  Currently I am  at running for 10 minutes and walking for 1 and then repeating for 30 minutes and I my running portions are at 5.5 miles per hour. So I am not near my goal by a long shot. 

I have set a goal for myself to run 100 miles by time my next birthday rolls around in 4 months.  Here We Go!

Saturday edition:

Late night Saturday edition... i got to the gym four times this week. And two of those days were me being a gerbil. ( ruining on a treadmill) the weight is being stubborn and not coming of quickly enough but that is why i am running... it is where i have had my most success.

Weekend Run #1:

I decided to take advantage of our 50 degree weather today and go for a run. I didn't break any land speed records but I did go 2.5 miles. Run number 1 is in the books and it will be one of many this spring and summer.

Week 8: Little Slowdown

Week 8 is in the books and everything is going good so far...I haven't lost any weight this week...but I don't think I have been as disciplined as I should have been for dinners and snacking...With my increase in workouts I am feeling hungrier more often and it can be hard to resist these urges.  I was able to get 4 good workouts in including 3 cardio days. So I am feeling good on that end.

Week 7: 5 Good Workouts

This week was a good week for me...another pound down and more importantly 5 good workouts in the books!  It can be hard to get up and into the gym in the morning but I know that it is the best thing for me! I am looking forward to when it finally gets alittle bit warmer out so I can get my running shoes on!  So if you are keeping score at home...Weight 294.5 and down a total of 9 pounds since my rededication to this journey.

Week 6: Plodding Along

So the last couple weeks have been up and down for me.  The family has been going through bouts of sickness. But alas it seems that we are getting over it.  So for a week I didn't feel good and I didn't watch what I was eating...a little step back...but the last two weeks I have been hard at work at correcting my week of sickness...and I am back on the right path.  My weigh-in this morning was at 295.5 which is me being down a total of 7.5 pounds so far. so I am still on my downward spiral, it is not going as fast as I would like but it is still progressing.

I know the key to my success is actively working out. I got to the gym 4 times this week and I know that is a major part of my success.

I am looking forward to spring coming and I am going to start running again.  It is when I saw my most success and I am going to try to duplicate that success in 2013.

Week 3: A week with no movement

So first the bad news...I did not have any movement in my weight in fact it went up by one pound...so I did not meet my 2 pound goal.  But my thought is that if I look at over the last 3 weeks I am down 6 pounds...which then averages out to 2 pounds per week. To be honest I was suprised that I lost 3 the first week and then 4 the following...So I am totally going to look at this as either a bad weigh-in last week / my weight balancing out. (currently)

It wasn't a bad week for me...I got to the gym 4 times so I will be curious to see what my weight does next week...I want to continue to try to lose 2 pounds per week and maybe having a down week will motivate me a little bit next week to keep my discipline.

My goal is to have a good weekend caloric-wise and to hit the ground running on monday.
(we all know that it is easy to get lazy on the weekend!)

Week 2 down

Week number 2 is officially in the books and it was another good week for me. Amazingly I was down 4 pounds. I was able to get to the gym 4 times getting in 3 cardio days. What was especially good about this week is that I travelled wed - Fri and OK was still able to lose some weight. I know that my emphasis on cardio is helping with the weight loss and at least seeing some results is going to hopefully keep me in the right direction.

I believe I am getting some good results with my ban of sugary cereals. 2 eggs and a tortilla shell is my breakfast of choice and that extra protein helps me start my day off right.

Week 1 Down

Week 1 is in the books as luckily for me it was a good one.  I have decided to up my cardio time from 30 minutes to 45 minutes per week (having a nexus 7 to watch netflix while doing cardio helps). and to make sure that I get an hour of lifting in at least two days a week. So if you would look at my schedule it would look like this.

Monday - Cardio (45 Min)
Tuesday - Lifting (1 Hr)
Wednesday - Cardio (45 Min)
Thursday - Lifting (1 Hr)
Friday - Cardio (45 Min)
Saturday - Lifting (1 Hr)
Sunday - Rest

I know it is an agressive schedule but I am really motivated to hit my goals.

The second big change is my morning diet.  I usually just eat a bowl of cereal in the morning...and most of the time it is captain crunch.  But I am changing that as well, now I am trying to each a much more protein rich breakfast and cutting out the sugary cereals.  This week It was two eggs and a flour tortilla clocking in at around 300 calories. Speaking of calories...currently my daily calories are 1990 but when you burn an extra 600 on cardio days it is bumped up two 2590.  On a normal day I find it pretty easy to hit the 1990 limit...300 for breakfast, 600 for lunch, and 1090 for dinner. It is extremely easy to get to that number...that is why working out is so important...I really have to try to eat an additional 600 calories so if I eat 2200 calories on a given day I know I can afford it.

Also for the sake of transparancy if you want to know what food I am eating you can find that here:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/derekb73

So what's the final verdict? Down 2 pounds this week. It's a good start

2013 - The End of a Weight Loss Journey

So It has been awhile since I have posted anything to this blog and a majority of the reason is because I have been lazy.  Lazy with maintaining this blog and mainly lazy with watching what I have been eating.  Over the Thanksgiving / Christmas season I found a way to put on around 10 pounds plus the 15 other pounds that I managed to pack on the 10 months prior. Sure I can say It's muscle and that I have been lifting...but that isn't totally true. I have gotten complacent in my descipline in what I eat on a daily basis and I can see the effects.

So I have in earnest gone back to basics.  I am erasing anything that I have done in the past and on monday I started back at 0.  My weight on monday when I went to the gym sat at 303, which is totally unexceptable. And it made me think long and hard at what I am doing.  For the past 3 days I have been truthfully using myfitnesspal and getting to the gym in the morning. And I am going to try my best to continue this trend in 2013.

I have a goal and that goal is 53 pounds away...but I also have a secondary goal...and that is to change my lifestyle so I don't have another year in which I gain 25 pounds.

**EDIT**

Since August 8th, 2011 I have unfortunately packed on 30 pounds in a year and a half. Man is that a slap in the face...Time to seriously get this in gear.