Year 2 Week 48 Day 1

The week after a vacation home and huge Thanksgiving binging:

Weights and Measures:
	Weight	Blood P.	Hips	Gut	Chest	Neck	Pulse
End Goal	200.00	110/70	38.00	36.00	42.00	16.00	60.00
10/4/2010	310.60	159/100	48.50	55.25	55.50	18.50	72.00
11/1/2010	315.20	142/90	47.50	55.00	54.50	18.75	72.00
11/8/2010	315.00	155/92	48.50	55.25	55.25	19.50	93.00
11/15/2010	311.50	152/90	48.50	54.50	55.00	18.50	76.00
11/22/2010	313.50
11/29/2010	316.80	149/90	47.75	54.50	55.75	18.75	87.00
Change	3.30	-3/0	(0.75)	-	0.75	0.25	11.00
To Goal:	(111.50)	-42/-20	(10.50)	(18.50)	(13.00)	(2.50)	(16.00)
Fair Goal	260.00

So I gained about 5 lbs. since the last official measurement and only about 3 lbs. since leaving for my trip to Minnesota.

Still those are a little deceptive I think. No exercise for more than a week and I think there has been some fat to muscle mass weight trade off. So the net increase of five is from a eight pound loss of muscle and a thirteen pound gain in fat.

That is just an estimate though.

New Plan but not a new program yet.

"Fifty by the Fair" is the rally cry for the next big segment of the plan. The MN state fair is Aug 25-Sep 5 in 2011 and the plan is to be down fifty pounds by then. Starting at 316.80 that makes the goal 266.80 by Aug 22 let's say and that is 38 weeks from today. So the One Week, One Pound (which is losing steam anyways is being sidelined until at least Sept of 2011.

Now the question is how to do it: X90-P. Xbox Kinect, Trainer at the Gym, BootCamp or something else? Roughly $350 for each option so that means PWT like me will be walking and using some old dumbbells for the near future. That is the exercise part and the diet is due for an overhaul too. Right now it's the mostly liquid diet of about 1100 calories in breakfast and lunch and about the same at dinner. Looking for something a bit more substantial and that holds my appetite in check.

Well it's a new adventure and with December starting and Christmas holidays it will be a challenging time.

Really not looking forward to it, but whatever.

Later,

Year 2 Week 46 Day 1

Here are the numbers for the week that was:

Weights and Measures:
	Weight	Blood P.	Hips	Gut	Chest	Neck	Bicep	Wrist	Thigh	Calf	Ankle	Pulse
End Goal	200.00	110/70	38.00	36.00	42.00	16.00	18.00	7.00	27.00	20.00	9.00	60.00
10/4/2010	310.60	159/100	48.50	55.25	55.50	18.50	17.00	7.75	29.00	18.50	10.50	72.00
11/1/2010	315.20	142/90	47.50	55.00	54.50	18.75	16.75	7.75	28.50	19.00	10.75	72.00
11/8/2010	315.00	155/92	48.50	55.25	55.25	19.50	16.75	7.75	29.50	19.50	10.75	93.00
11/15/2010	311.50	152/90	48.50	54.50	55.00	18.50	17.25	7.75	28.00	19.00	10.50	76.00
Change	(3.50)	-3/-2	-	(0.75)	(0.25)	(1.00)	0.50	-	(1.50)	(0.50)	(0.25)	(17.00)
To Goal:	(111.50)	-42/-20	(10.50)	(18.50)	(13.00)	(2.50)	0.75	(0.75)	(1.00)	1.00	(1.50)	(16.00)

 

So the drop in sodium from week to week had big effects in some areas. I am also more than certain, is that possible, that
measurement bias occurs because I don't mark where I measure my thigh every week or remember on the bone/off the bone
for the ankle measure and wrist. The pulse and blood pressure are all pre-workout so I was hoping for a bit more.

Still getting five days of weights in a week, well for two weeks in a row so far, and oddly I miss more on the weekends when I
have all the time in the world. I have been fairly good at getting to bed on time, before eleven, and waking up at a quarter til six.

I hit my second Level 80 'toon on WoW so Mission Accomplished. Now I am looking to dip my toe into Raids. If you have no
idea what that means then you are lucky. Not in a raiding guild so I will be doing randoms as a tank, and somehow there are
no sexual innuendos in that at all.

Also about two months into forty and I am settling down a little. I know the prevailing custom is that the big dates are the 0s,
20, 30 and 40. My philosophy fails into the circadian cycles of seven years. So born and next big change is at seven, then 14, 21,
28, 35 and next for me 42. Now these are the timing of the big metabolic type changes to the body. Then the half cycles are
when you get the peaks 3, 10, 17, 24, 31, 38 and 45. Most of the cycles are gear ups until 28, then its gear down. You see it in
athletes, parents and politicians. Like everything else no one has an exact cycle and no two people are exactly the same.

Also, these cycles are affected by drugs, exercise, diet and possibly force of will. Some people may be blessed with fantastic
genetics and others horrible ones. These come to light especially at 20 year high school reunions where everyone has passed
the 35 year mark and are peaking in that cycle. You see the people who could stand next to their yearbook photo and maybe
a few years are visible on their faces while others look like their grandparents.

Maybe I wish I was one of those people who looked 60 when they hit forty, but I think I could be one of those who looks 30
if only he wasn't 100 pounds overweight and generally sloppy. Not proud of it but I should be much worse than I am based on
how I've lived my life and yet I could be much better if I just put in some effort.

Anyway I am not, as you should well know by now, a doctor. And even by my own system I am on the downward part of a
downward cycle at this point so why am I still trying to improve in fits and starts? Why not? It's something to do and not
eating is much cheaper than trying to eat as much as possible. Even with the occasional blind binge eating I feel like I am
gradually teaching myself to eat better and select better or at least just wanted to eat worse less often.

Here's to the bottom of a cycle!

:Later,

Year 2 Week 45 Day 1

Here are the numbers:

Weights and Measures:
	Weight	Blood P.	Hips	Gut	Chest	Neck	Thigh	Pulse
End Goal	200.00	110/70	38.00	36.00	42.00	16.00	27.00	60.00
10/4/2010	310.60	159/100	48.50	55.25	55.50	18.50	29.00	72.00
11/1/2010	315.20	142/90	47.50	55.00	54.50	18.75	28.50	72.00
11/8/2010	315.00	155/92	48.50	55.25	55.25	19.50	29.50	93.00
Change	(0.20)	+13/+2	1.00	0.25	0.75	0.75	1.00	21.00
To Goal:	(115.00)	-45/-22	(10.50)	(19.25)	(13.25)	(3.50)	(2.50)	(33.00)

 

So this was a weird week. Weight is basically flat, but all the other numbers are up.

Now I have an excuse/reason for this, salt. I had some Chinese food, Szechuan chicken
and house fried rice. I love spicy food so the chicken was right on target, but the rice
was 90% salt and 10% vegetables and mystery meats. As I was eating it I was thinking
"this is such a bad idea" but my mouth was like "oh my God, salt! It's been too long" and
so I ate it and now I'm swelled up like the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man.

The flip side is even with I'm guessing 5 kilos of sodium in my system the old BP is up
just a little. The pulse is higher because I forgot to do the measurements before hitting
the weights and riding the bike for 2 whole minutes. Real pulse pounding stuff.

Yep, been hitting the weights 6 days last week, the bike less as in zero, but it's coming
back along. With Fall and Winter approaching this working out gets easier, I'm a cold
weather worker. I also have to fight the winter blubber add-on, hey it's genetic so lay
off.

Still feeling confident about going to MN in TWO weeks and feeling good. Luckily, I am
measuring my health and fitness versus a bunch of sixty years and barely falling short.

No plans for anything this Christmas. My brother is threatening an early December visit
so I am sure I'll have to entertain him. Small plans on that weekend, makes me wish I
could just go to Tahiti, still I like it quiet and calm and boring.

Just like this post.

Later,

Year 2 Week 44 Day 1

Life Results:                                                

Three Year Plan                                                

Weights and Measures:                                                

        Weight    Blood P.    Hips    Gut    Chest    Neck    Bicep    Wrist    Thigh    Calf    Ankle    Pulse

End Goal     200.00      110/70      38.00      36.00      42.00      16.00      18.00      7.00      27.00      20.00      9.00      60.00

10/4/2010     310.60      159/100 48.50      55.25      55.50      18.50      17.00      7.75      29.00      18.50      10.50      72.00

11/1/2010     315.20      142/90      47.50      55.00      54.50      18.75      16.75      7.75      28.50      19.00      10.75      72.00

Change         4.60      -17/-10 (1.00)     (0.25)     (1.00)     0.25      (0.25)     -      (0.50)     0.50      0.25      -

To Goal:         (115.20)     -32/-20 (9.50)     (19.00)     (12.50)     (2.75)     1.25      (0.75)     (1.50)     1.00      (1.75)     (12.00)

Alright, so it's a weird run up there with the weight up but the measurements mostly down. I do have an explanation.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies. Yep, they are like oatmeal cookies with a pumpkin puree base and chips and they are 99% fiber. They were also not very popular at the Halloween party at work. I'm going to say they were a bit too sophisticated for the working man crowd at work. So I ate about thirty this weekend and they are sitting heavy in my colon right now.

I'm also heading to Minnesota for Thanksgiving. That's in three weeks, so I am buckling down. No morbid obesity for the holidays! Not an awesome rallying cry but I can dance to it.

Also, keep an eye out because the march to making fatness illegal is moving forward. The last month was cancer awareness where mostly they wanted to make you aware that being fat will give you cancer, so something like that. It seems that the millions of things that are evil with being fat weren't enough with its increased diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure. Now being fat increases your chances, and mine, of getting some types of cancer.

So I have that to look forward to now.

I'll keep this short because I might be posting every day until I leave for the Frozen Tundra of the Twin Cities.

Don't forget to vote tomorrow. Me? I'm probably going Libertarian, so yeah I'm throwing my vote away but I'll be able to sleep at night.

Later,

                                                

Year 2 Week 42 Day 1

Okay, so I suffered my Seasonal Affected Disorder a little early this year. Yep, was a bit sad last update. As proven by the gain of five more pounds the next week. So you'll see that there was no update last week as I worked through my issues.

Back and better than ever this week, went hard on the diet and exercise program last week and was back to 308.4 lbs this morning.

Also so a fun, familiar kind of movie last night, "RED" with Bruce Willis being Bruce and a cast that wins Oscars rocking and rolling to a good if not great story. So that was a nice way to end a weekend that included a Miss State win over a ranked opponent for the second week in a row (Houston was ranked right?) and a Vikings win in the face of Brett Favre proving that forty is the new douche bag.

Still it was a struggle again this week. With the hardcore diet there's not much room for eating crap and getting up to exercise in the morning is painful. Still getting over some dude in Mableton, Ga winning MY lottery a few weeks ago. Man, I had plans for that money.

The money thing is sorting itself out. Luckily as long as I keep earning I can manage to keep ahead. For some reason winter does seem to be my worst financial times. Maybe overspending for my birthday and then Thanksgiving and Christmas meals in the past were part of it. Shouldn't be a problem this year though. Either way, got past the car expenses a few weeks after and without jacking up my credit cards either, so that's okay.

So keeping with the plan I'll be working out at least four days this week and holding to the diet for five, with a notation to eat better on the Saturday and Sunday. Getting some new places to eat in Newnan and I'll be testing them out, Thai and Pizza places. With the cut down on eating out and calories I am getting pickier about the crap I do eat so no more fast-food pizza and no burger places.

Going to try to pay down the Dell and maybe pay it off before year end, then the Wells Fargo which could be gone by next February. The real work starts on the big three after that paying off Visa, Amex and Discover by 2012. I still think I could cut most of my cable, home phone and some other expenses to get there quicker, but damn I love crappy TV programs.

I do seem to thrive in the winter so hopefully this is the start of a good run.

Later.

Year 2 Week 40 Day 1

Yes, I have survived the start of TV and now I've pared down my watch list. First the numbers:

Weights and Measures:
	Weight	Blood P.	Hips	Gut	Chest	Neck	Pulse
End Goal	200.00	110/70	38.00	36.00	42.00	16.00	60.00
9/21/2010	309.40	152/99	48.00	54.25	54.75	19.00	75.00
10/4/2010	310.60	159/100	48.50	55.25	55.50	18.50	72.00
Change	1.20	+7/+1	0.50	1.00	0.75	(0.50)	(3.00)
To Goal:	(110.60)	-49/-30	(10.50)	(19.25)	(13.50)	(2.50)	(12.00)

 

Yet another step backwards. Note that as my life spins out of control so too does my weight. Car troubles and the like were at an all time high last week and I turned forty. Neither item contributed positively to my self-esteem.

The weather is cooling and that makes walking after work more likely in the coming months. I have to do better listening to my brain and ignoring the cravings. Of course there are a lot of fat smart people so it's not all about thinking right.

I have another two, maybe three, months on a severely restricted budget. Unless my brother comes into some money and pays me back its going to be Swanson's Turkey Dinner this Thanksgiving. The car costs didn't help. Anyone want to buy a car for $4K or an SUV for $8K?

Back to the important stuff, television.

If you want to talk TV with me the rest of this year I am down to watching just this on a regular basis:

Monday: Chuck, Castle and CBS. Chuck is good, Castle is great and CBS comedies are getting old but the Hawaii 5-0 is alright.

Tuesday: No Ordinary Family is about all at 8, Raising Hope & Running Wilde are comedies with twists or twisted comedies.

Wednesday: Undercovers is kind of good, Criminal Minds and the ABC 9pm comedies are treading water and at 10 The
Whole Truth sucks me in while The Defenders is just fun to watch Jim and Jerry ham it up.

Thursday: The real battle for DVR time at 8PM with Big Bang, Bones and Community/30 Rock all good stuff, 9PM is Fringe vs
     The Office/Outsourced (which is growing on me) and 10 is The Mentalist.

Friday: Should be Human Target and the Good Guys on FOX if they keep both shows on the same week, I also still catch
CSI: NY and try to enjoy Blue Bloods but it's getting tough.

Saturday is college football.

Sunday is cartoons and AMC, Mad Men and The Walking Dead and the stuff you pay for on HBO and Showtime.

So everything is trending badly for me in September. I'll try to put a scare into October or the results could be frightening!

Whew, nothing like Halloween humor, it's spooky.

Sorry.

Later,