Have a plan then stick to the plan.

Oh the demands of the demanded.  I have received several complaints/concerns that I have not kept up with my blog posts in the last two weeks.  What is interesting and ironically enough is that the less I have posted the less I have been successful with both fitness and weight loss.  I am just going to chalk up last week as a loss, kind of like the Redskins do each week.  I overate, I missed workouts, therefore I gained weight.  I did not go to Weight Watchers on Monday night, frankly I did not want to see the damage I had done, I felt it in my body, but I know that I gained.  One week of veering off the path and it affects everything.  My stomach was upset, I felt sluggish and I just generally felt bad, physically and emotionally.  One reason I write this blog is to keep me honest and to keep myself accountable.  If even one person reads this and asks me how's it going I feel like it is working.  I need someone/something to keep me in check or I naturally get lazy.  "The path of least resistance" was once used to describe my actions in life.  While that may be partly true it does not define me.  I am strong but I do have moments of weakness.  Life is hard, even harder at certain times.  For me, last week was hard, very hard.  I was beyond busy and consumed with both work and after work activities.  It all caught up to me on Saturday about mid day when my body just shut down.  I did make it out for a run and I think that only made matters worse, because after the run all I wanted to do was climb in bed and sleep and that is exactly what I did.  I was still feeling off yesterday but today I feel great.  I got my eating in check and went to boot camp last night.  Now I only gave an easy 85% last night in class.  I listened to my body and I feel like it is paying off.  My goals over the next few days are easy, boot camp tonight, Wednesday and Thursday morning.  (Come out and try our Annual Thanksgiving Day Charity Boot Camp, believe me it's worth it, especially on Thanksgiving morning.)  Eating on plan all days except Thursday, I mean let's be honest, there is pretty much no way to eat on plan on Thanksgiving.  I will enjoy dinner, and that is where it ends.  That does not mean that Thanksgiving lasts Thursday through Sunday, which for me it usually does.  I need to enjoy dinner and get back on it after that.  I really don't want to feel the same this coming Monday as I did this past Monday.  The hard part will be getting in workouts Friday through Sunday.  Definitely want to get in another Burke Lake run and maybe even a Saturday morning boot camp class.  Regardless that't the plan and I will do my best to stick to it!

Challenge accepted!

I think I am safe in saying that the past 72 hours have been 72 of the busiest hours of my life.  Two birthday dinners, two out of state meetings, three mornings up by 5 AM, one 12 hour work day, one boot camp class and not one night in bed until after 11 PM, oh and a partridge in a pear tree...

Needless to say I have had exactly zero time to post a blog or do much of anything else other that the monstrous list of things listed above.  Anyway tonight is not much better, I am able to make it to boot camp tonight but then I have "Learn to read Hebrew" class immediately following.  I will definitely be crashing out early tonight!

With all that said, I have not done well with eating or working out this week.  I am actively trying to get back on track but things being as they have been have made that quite the difficult path.  I hate missing boot camp, it throws everything else off track but sometimes it is just unavoidable.  And from what I hear it sounds as if I have missed some pretty killer classes.  Bummer!  Well, fear not kiddos, I will be back tonight and ready to bring it.  I am also excited to get in a long run this weekend, it has been entirely too long.  There is just something about a run that fixes all the issues you have going on.  Saturday will be my fix it day!  Probably Burke Like for 4.5 miles, yes, yes I think that's it.

So to recap on last week.  Its amazing what one week of eating perfectly within my points does to my body, go figure I lost 1.4 pounds at the weigh in Monday night.  BOOYAH, easy peasy, just like that.  In total that is over a 10 pound weight loss so far.  This week I may have negated some of that but we shall see.  No need to cry over split milk, pick the glass up and pour another one!  Or something like that...or was it don't cry over spilled milk, it could have been beer.  Maybe that's the one.

Anyway it's good to be back after a little sabbatical, now time to check my issues at the door and get my butt in gear.  Challenge accepted!

Save the weekly's for the weekend!

Day two of complete food tracking in check.

I am going to share with you one of my vices, because you are my friends.  I friggin love this Coffee-Mate French Vanilla coffee creamer and yes it's sugar free!  This is just about the only thing I eat/drink that has artificial sweetener in it.  I think this may even be one of the most processed food items out there but I still love it.  I actually go through times where the realization kicks in that I am not doing anything good for myself and resort back to half and half with real sugar but nothing kick starts my day like this cup of coffee.  Actually drinking some now, wow...it's good.

Breakfast:
Coffee - See above (4 points for two cups)  As you can see in the picture we weigh just about everything.  So when I say I drink two cups of coffee I am really using 90 grams of creamer in each cup.  Same applies to the cheese below, a 1/4 cup is equivalent to 30 grams.  I find that you actually get more food when you weigh it out as compared to measuring with measuring cups.  Most nutrition facts list the servings in cups or partial cups so it just translates easier to use cup sizes, plus most people just don't have digital scales.
Egg wrap - 2 eggs (4 points), 2 pieces of Canadian Bacon (1 point), 1/4 cup part skim mozzarella cheese (2 points), and mushrooms, onions, zucchini and spinach (0 points) all served on a whole wheat flour tortilla (1 point).  Grand total of 8 points.
45 - 12 = 33 remaining points

Snack - Banana

Lunch:
Exact same as yesterday.  Soup and sandwich for 12 points.
33 - 12 = 21

Snack - Apple

Dinner (due to pure excitement and absolute ravenousness I forgot to take a picture...again):
Homemade burger with blue cheese, lettuce, tomato on a Big Marty's Bun (made by my sister in law, Sarit).  Wow is all I can say.  I so wish I took a picture because this burger was awesome.  The blue cheese added a saltiness and flavor boost that was redonkulous.  Soo good.  Thank you Sarit, this was an excellent burger. (13 points)
Baked French Fries - from Trader Joe's I believe (5 points)
Asparagus - 0 points
21 - 18 = 3 remaining points

Dessert:
Vanilla pudding cup with some M&M's added in - Delish (3 points)
3 - 3 = 0 = Success

Another 6 activity points earned at boot camp.  Up to 12 for the week.

Day two done and both days exactly within my daily points.  No weekly's used yet, which is good, since the weekend is where the real damage is done.  Save the weekly's for the weekend!

If you bite it, write it.

Here is a breakdown of how food and I work together throughout the day.  I start with 45 total points.

Breakfast (no picture):  

Coffee - Two cups, two points creamer in each cup (4 points)

Cereal with almond milk, 8 points for 2 1/4 cups cereal, 1 point for a cup of almond milk (9 points)

45 - 13 = 32 remaining points

Snack:

Banana - 0 points 

Apple - 0 points

32 - 0 - 32

Lunch: 

Sandwich - 4 points for Big Marty's bun, 4 points for 4 oz of ham, 1 point for reduced fat provolone cheese, 1 point light mayo, 0 points for large heirloom tomato from the farmers market and a few lettuce slices (10 points)

Soup - 2 points for Giant Brand Spring Vegetable soup

32 - 12 = 20 remaining points

Snack:

Grapes - 0 points

Cheese - Trader Joe's Mini Brie, 1 point

20 - 1 = 19 remaining points

Dinner (of course I forgot to take a picture):

Chicken sausages - 2 links, 3 points each (6 points)

Quinoa - 1/3 cup (2 points)

Green beans - 0 points

Salad - Iceberg lettuce, tomato, cucumber, homemade balsamic vinegar (all 0 points), feta cheese (2 points)

Red wine - 1 glass (4 points)

19 - 18 = 5 remaining points

Dessert:

Red wine - 1 glass (4 points)

Reese's Pieces - With one point left for the day I gorged myself on a whopping 11 pieces, that's right 11.  While that may not seem like much, who am I kidding that's nothing, I can eat 11 Reese's Pieces before I even have to chew, it was still a nice treat at the end of the day.  Along with the glass of wine I was happy, very happy.  

5 - 5 = 0 remaining points

Boot camp - Earned me 6 activity points

I feel great on days when I eat exactly what I am allowed.  I could have done a lot of different things with my points, for example some people don't want to waste points on wine.  But I find it a nice treat at the end of the day and I was by no means hungry when I went to bed.  If the day had gone differently and I had more points for lunch or an additional snack throughout the day or more points for dinner I would have skipped the second glass.  It's all about making the plan work for you.  Start with 45 points, or whatever you are allowed, and work it out.  Sometimes I write down for the whole day, since most of my meals are planned and figure out from there how much is left for snacks, treats, wine, whatever.  I am by far the most successful when I write down everything.  BLT's as they are called in the business, Bites, Licks, Tastes.  If you bite it, write it.  That's the plan.  

Food, Food, Food.

My focus is food this week.  Last week and this past weekend got a bit out of hand.  Frankly it just got plain stupid.  I pretty much just ate what I wanted when I wanted.  Not the way to lose weight and maintain a healthy lifestyle at all.  Now don't get me wrong, what I ate was fantastic, dim sum, sushi, Szechuan Beef Noodle Soup, Pho, and Italian.  I know kind of went a different direction there at the end, what can you do??  Now that that is out of my system, time to checkity check myself.  I am on point from here on out.  I think the best way to handle this, other than wiring down in weight watchers is just tracking all my meals right here.  I will think on that and try to take pictures of my meals.  I have soup and sandwiches on the books for lunches this week and I am sure some amazing dinners planned and cooked by the brain genius that is Hila DeLong.  I will report back tomorrow.  Focker out.

The RealAge Test.

So after the post yesterday, my trainer Tom sent me another "Fitness Age" test to take that takes into account many more details than age, fitness level, pulse, etc.  This test took me about 10 minutes to take and I tried to be as honest as possible.  There were definitely a lot of questions but worth it.  Hey look my real age is one year younger than my actual age.  Helloooo 33!!  I feel younger already.

Try it here.  Let me know what your RealAge is.

Of course one of the reasons my body is not as young as it could be is due to my diet.  I was already well aware of these issues but now I can see specifically where my faults may be.  I definitely don't eat enough whole grains, frankly with Weight Watchers grains are higher points and I just avoid them in hope to lose weight.  Looks like I need to find a balance between eating more whole grains and still losing weight.  The same applies to nuts, I just don't eat them.  I find I can eat a substantial more amount of food for the same points as I can a small handful of nuts.  So while they may be very good for you I find I don't just eat a small amount of nuts, they are usually shoveled in by the handful, negating the good benefits they contain.  

Next is weight.  Damn you BMI.  I have always been overweight, always.  Now I don't feel like I am fat by any means, I just am not as thin as I want to be.  Since I am exactly 6' tall, per this test my BMI (28.61) is pushing the obese category.  Really??  How can this be?  My issue with this is that it does not take into account my muscle mass or my generally large stature.  Not every person who is 6' tall weighs the same.  Yes I have weight to lose but for me to get less than 180 I would be stick thin, I don't want to be that thin.  Per this chart the lower section of a healthy weight is 140 pounds.  I could get to 180, cut off my right leg and still not weigh that little.  I guess everyone is different and all we can do is strive for the best everyday.  I may never weigh 180 pounds but I will try my hardest to make sure I am the healthiest weight I can be.  

Respect your body, it's the only one you have.

So I came across an interesting tool today that roughly calculates your "Fitness Age".  While I have not done much investigation as to how it works or how accurate it may be I still find this to be a good tool to determine how your fitness age compares to your actual age.

Calculate your fitness age here.

Younger than 20!  I like it.  Too bad I don't actually feel younger than 20.  I am so sore today I have a hard time getting out of my chair at work.  On a sore scale of 1 - 10, 1 being no pain and 10 being death, I am pushing a solid 37.  Yeah, that's sore.

I like the fact that my fitness age is much younger than my actual age.  That shows me that I am fit and I push what I think are the limits of my body.  We watch the Biggest Loser and I am amazed when they do the "Know Your Number" age difference of these people that are double their weight and internally they are 20 - 30 years older because of all the strain their body is under not just from weight but from all the health issues that come from being overweight.  I want to make sure that I am healthy and so is my family.  I have a child coming into this world and I will do everything in my power to make sure he/she learns early in life the importance of eating healthy and working out.  I did not learn this until I was well into my 20's, really into my 30's and now I have to work even harder to maintain my weight and my fitness level.  Regardless I will never go back, I will always be fit and I will always take care of my body, it's the only one I have.

The 1400!!

Well that is what I am calling it anyway.  Last time we did this workout it was 250 of each.  Push ups, sit ups, burpees, squats with a row, and overhead claps, 250 times each in any order you wish in 50 minutes.  In August I was only able to complete 220 of each.  Last night I finished all 250 is 49 minutes and decided to stay for part of the second class and do another 100 of each for a grand total of 1400 exercises...  350 burpees, what the hell is wrong with me??  Actually today I feel great.  Of course last night was hard but I just pushed through doing 20 reps at a time until I was finished.  Two girls in class still beat me.  Well done ladies, well done.  Just two months of boot camp and I was able to improve my sets by more than 20%.  Not bad, I'll take it.  Ohhhh now I get it, hard work actually does pay off....

Go figure I lost weight last night as well.  Exactly .8 pounds.  Which is exactly what I gained last weigh in so essentially in 4 weeks I have only maintained my weight.  I know why though, as mentioned yesterday... comfort.  Time to focus on eating well and working out at least one weekend day.  Its easy to get to all four boot camp classes, it part of my routine, all I need to do it show up after work.  What is not part of my routine its getting up on a Saturday or Sunday morning and working out, that is is the hard part...where the magic happens as they say.

Side note, probably part of the reason for the above weight maintainingness (yes I made that word up).  Do yourself a favor, on a Cheat Day, and stop by a BonChon Chicken for dinner.  Only item you need to order is the chicken, fine treat yourself to some fries as well, but remember my words, all you will want is the chicken.  It's fantastic.  Double deep fried, covered in soy garlic sauce, it's heaven on a plate.  Feeling frisky, try the hot wings if you dare, they are hot, very hot (매우 뜨거운).  This might possibly be the best chicken I have ever had in my life!!  This is a must try as soon as you can and by the way...I will be accepting thank yous through any of the universally accepted means of communication, yeah it's that good.

I've gotten a bit too comfortable.

I don't feel I have done anything wrong I just feel like have not done things exactly right.  I have not written down one single thing I have eaten since Friday.  I have not worked out since Thursday night.  If I were to grade myself on Monday through Thursday I would give an A++.  Now my grade for Friday through Sunday a D-.  Yes I have made semi-good decisions when ordering and eating food but did I go over my points?  Probably but by how much?  Will I lose weight tonight at the weigh in?  Probably not.  A few bad days will definitely negate four great days when it comes to weight loss.  I have been so focused because I have had goals in mind.  Working out and running to prepare for the 10 miler.  Eating well to lose weight and get things in check for some life insurance testing I had recently.  Now all these goals have passed and been achieved and now I am getting lazy.  I've gotten a bit too comfortable.  I could have worked out this weekend, gone for a run, jumped on the bike, done a number of things but I was comfortable being home and not working out.  I need to change that.  I am trying to push myself beyond the limits of my comfort zone and what I am doing is not working.  Stop being lazy, focus on the plan.  Get out there and do it.  Then do it again, and again, and again...

Music is what feelings sound like.

I have made it to all four classes for the last two weeks, fitness goal in check.  And I definitely feel it.  I have decided that I just stay sore, Monday through Sunday, then start the process all over again.  It feels great, I love it.  I also somehow managed to only consume a whopping six M&M's (female) last night, can you guess what makes and M&M male?  I decided to completely avoid the ever delicious frozen peanut butter cup....mmmm peanut butter.....  I was briefly an unbeliever myself but yes they are infinitely better frozen.  You're welcome.

I don't feel like I am too passionate about a lot of things, but a few things I find I am very passionate about.  My wife, reading, fitness and music, oh sweet music.  Anyone who knows me knows that I have loved the Dave Matthews Band for years.  I have been to 31 shows in something like 9 states and have a plethora of shirts, posters and DMB memorabilia.  Second in line to Dave is Third Eye Blind (my first love).  And tonight for the 15th or so time I will be seeing them live on stage.  I am giddy with anticipation.  There is just something about music that is good for the soul.  It brings me peace, it lifts me up, it is just the perfect soundtrack to life.  I believe in loving all music and not limiting myself to one genre.  Rock, Pop, Blues, Country, Metal, Jazz and even Broadway musicals.  I do go a bit bonkers for a good musical.  I mean watch Moulin Rouge or see The Book of Mormon on stage and tell me they don't make life a little bit better.  Literally my love for music has changed my life, it has opened doors for me I never thought possible or that I didn't even know were there.  I have felt many feelings in my life, but nothing has expressed those feelings quite like music.  To me, music is what feelings sound like.