If you had asked me 2 months ago to go run a half mile, even in increments, I would have laughed and went back to eating my third helping at the buffet. Today I am proud to say I ran a total of a half mile and went on to do my usual Wednesday workout as well.
I got on the treadmill today thinking I would do 25 min of warm-up and then do my Wednesday weight workout for the rest of the hour. As it turns out my body had other plans. At 25 minutes I said I would do another 5 to even it out a half hour of walking. At 30 minutes my body felt like it wanted to run...really, I know that sounds weird but that's just how it felt. So I started to jog at 4mph and after a min I stopped and walked. I did that another 3 times and with 7 min 30 sec left on the timer I said screw it, lets try to jog the clock out. Well that was a bit ambitious and I only ran for 3 minutes then slowed to a walk again. I was so close to jogging a total of a half mile that I had to run again to make it. So at 1 min 30 sec left on the timer I started to jog again and totally finished it!! I was so excited that I was smiling on the treadmill. Seven and a half minutes of jogging at 4mph is a half mile and I did that!! Two months ago I never thought that would happen and today it did. Even when I first got on the treadmill and could only walk a half mile or so before being winded, I never thought it would only take 2 months for me to be jogging and still have enough left in me to work with weights after, WOW, this is cool!
Days like this really set the tone for the rest of the day/week. What are some of the milestones that you made that set the tone for the rest of your journey? What made things click that made you think, wow, I can really do this?
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Week 2 of Weights
Monday I started my second week of using weights, so far it's going OK. My calf still hurts from Friday night's run though and I am sort of afraid to push it, so today's cardio workout was not so eventful. I just walked at 3mph for a hour (3 miles) and kind of felt defeated a bit. I was not sweating enough for it to count as a good workout in my eyes. I should have probably tried the bike, but I am still uncomfortable exploring the gym when it's crowded. Hopefully by Thursday's cardio workout my calf feels better and I can get back to C25k. I don't want to lose the little progress I have made so far.
Saturday I will weigh in for the second time. I am trying to do it every two weeks so I don't become dependent on the scale and hopefully see bigger results in the weight loss. I am also hoping to see some loss in inches as well. I am planning on taking measurement every month. When I weigh in and "measure in" I will post the results. I also need to get around to posting pictures.
On the food front, I am eating a bit better, not great but better. Overcoming the food I think may be the hardest part of this whole weight loss thing. I love to eat and I really have to work on not just eating less but eating better as well. I am trying to get my portion sizes under control and working on veggies at night to snack on. Also, I am hearing I should take some kind of protein after working out (on weight training days). I was told Matrix 5.0 shakes are great (but expensive) and I also hear that I should try making my own shakes. Does anyone have any feedback on Matrix 5.0, good recipes or even other suggestions for the after workout protein?
Take care all.
Saturday I will weigh in for the second time. I am trying to do it every two weeks so I don't become dependent on the scale and hopefully see bigger results in the weight loss. I am also hoping to see some loss in inches as well. I am planning on taking measurement every month. When I weigh in and "measure in" I will post the results. I also need to get around to posting pictures.
On the food front, I am eating a bit better, not great but better. Overcoming the food I think may be the hardest part of this whole weight loss thing. I love to eat and I really have to work on not just eating less but eating better as well. I am trying to get my portion sizes under control and working on veggies at night to snack on. Also, I am hearing I should take some kind of protein after working out (on weight training days). I was told Matrix 5.0 shakes are great (but expensive) and I also hear that I should try making my own shakes. Does anyone have any feedback on Matrix 5.0, good recipes or even other suggestions for the after workout protein?
Take care all.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
To run or not to run....
Yesterday I was not able to make it to the gym until 10:30pm. It was late but I had one of my better workouts. I was on the treadmill for an hour and in that hour I did about five 1 minute runs...well 4.0mph is actually a jog but I will call it a run to boost my morale :p. The question I have to anyone who reads this is, am I doing any good by running? I mean, I know I sweat more, but is working up to running consistently really helping me more than walking for long periods? I'm new to all this and just looking for some feedback from people who have started out like me.
As a slight side note, I think I could have run more last night. I was planning on running for the last 2 minutes of the hour (putting me at about 1/2 mile total of running) but my right calf started to hurt to the point where I was limping slightly. At that point I slowed it down to 2.4 mph and finished the last two minutes. I think I will rest my calf today. Any suggestions on what to do for a workout instead?
_________________________________________________________________
As a slight side note, I think I could have run more last night. I was planning on running for the last 2 minutes of the hour (putting me at about 1/2 mile total of running) but my right calf started to hurt to the point where I was limping slightly. At that point I slowed it down to 2.4 mph and finished the last two minutes. I think I will rest my calf today. Any suggestions on what to do for a workout instead?
_________________________________________________________________
Friday's workout stats:
1 hour treadmill
5 one minute jogs at 4.0mph @ 1.0 incline
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Tell him what he's won Bob....
So Wednesday was a very cool day! After entering a contest over at AntiJared.com that involved pledging to workout Tuesday for 60 minutes (which I did), Tony picked the winners Wednesday. You guessed it, I was one of the winners and I won a Polar FT4 heart rate monitor! I can't wait to get it and try it out. Chris over at Polar emailed me and it is on it's way. I will definitely let everyone know how it is once I give it a few workouts. Also if anyone is already using a Polar device let me know.
As for my workout Wednesday, well there was none. I woke up and my allergies were crazy. I was going to go to the gym anyway, I even went as far as to drive to the gym, but when I got there I was so lightheaded and had such a headache I decided to head home. After thinking about it I don't feel so bad. I go 5 times a week to the gym ( M-F ) so missing one day and making it up on Saturday wont be so bad.
I have been trying to eat smaller meals 5 to 6 times a day and staying away from those big portions I usually eat. I also started incorporating weights into my workout as of Monday so now I do M-W-F weights (with 30 min of cardio before the workout) and on Tu and Thur I do straight cardio for 1 hour or more. Hopefully this jump starts some weight loss because I have really not seen too much in the past week. I try to weigh myself once a week but seeing as I am starting with weights I am going to try to measure my progress in inches lost. I took all my measurements last night and will share that progress as well if there is any. I will also get around to posting some pictures as well to show progress.
Please feel free to share any methods that are working for you with your weight loss. I would love to hear them.
As for my workout Wednesday, well there was none. I woke up and my allergies were crazy. I was going to go to the gym anyway, I even went as far as to drive to the gym, but when I got there I was so lightheaded and had such a headache I decided to head home. After thinking about it I don't feel so bad. I go 5 times a week to the gym ( M-F ) so missing one day and making it up on Saturday wont be so bad.
I have been trying to eat smaller meals 5 to 6 times a day and staying away from those big portions I usually eat. I also started incorporating weights into my workout as of Monday so now I do M-W-F weights (with 30 min of cardio before the workout) and on Tu and Thur I do straight cardio for 1 hour or more. Hopefully this jump starts some weight loss because I have really not seen too much in the past week. I try to weigh myself once a week but seeing as I am starting with weights I am going to try to measure my progress in inches lost. I took all my measurements last night and will share that progress as well if there is any. I will also get around to posting some pictures as well to show progress.
Please feel free to share any methods that are working for you with your weight loss. I would love to hear them.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Knocked down...but not defeated
Today was Tony's challenge over at theantijared.blogspot.com . It was a challenge to do 60 minutes of working out today. Well seeing as I do 60 minutes on the treadmill pretty much everyday, I thought I would toughen the challenge for me a bit and do 30 minutes on the treadmill and 30 minutes on the elliptical.
The Elliptical is to me what Megatron is to Optimus Prime. One big pain in the ass that is always there trying to take you down. I have not been able to do more than 10 minutes on that freakin' machine since I started, so pledging to do 30 minutes on it today was....insane! Well it turns out insane was right, I hit the 10 minute mark and I could feel the burn. I kept going trying to push through it and at the 14 minute mark I was out. Yes that is correct, the score now stands at Elliptical 2 and Vinny 0. To steal a line form Tara over at 263andcounting.com , I asked myself WWOPD (What Would Optimus Prime Do)? So I got back on the treadmill and at least finished out my 60 minutes to complete Tony's challenge.
I will take out Elliptical! You may have won this battle but the war is not over.
The Elliptical is to me what Megatron is to Optimus Prime. One big pain in the ass that is always there trying to take you down. I have not been able to do more than 10 minutes on that freakin' machine since I started, so pledging to do 30 minutes on it today was....insane! Well it turns out insane was right, I hit the 10 minute mark and I could feel the burn. I kept going trying to push through it and at the 14 minute mark I was out. Yes that is correct, the score now stands at Elliptical 2 and Vinny 0. To steal a line form Tara over at 263andcounting.com , I asked myself WWOPD (What Would Optimus Prime Do)? So I got back on the treadmill and at least finished out my 60 minutes to complete Tony's challenge.
I will take out Elliptical! You may have won this battle but the war is not over.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
The Challenge
Yesterday (that being 9 min ago) I did a challenge that Tara over at 263andcounting.com put out. It was to do 92 minutes of working out on 4/16/2010. Well, I am happy to say I did it! Not only did I do it, but I shattered it at a whopping 95 minutes!! OK OK, maybe that is not really shattering the goal, but I sure as hell made the challenge.
I did 60 min on the treadmill, 10 min on the elliptical (that machine is still defeating me, it kicks my ass), and 25 min of weights. All together I supposedly burnt 1093 calories. I say supposedly because the machines said one thing and my VidaOne Diet and workout program say two totally different things so I don't know what one to believe. So I just went with the lowest of the two and that was what the machines totaled out at.
It was a nice workout and I am looking forward to the next challenge on Tuesday the 20th set forth by Tony at theantijared.blogspot.com . His challenge was to do 60 min of working out on that day. Well, I already know I can do 95 min, so 60 is not a big challenge, so on Tuesday I will make it a challenge for myself. I will do 60 min of working out...BUT...I will do 30 min on the treadmill and 30 min on the elliptical! Now some of you might be thinking, blah...30 min on the elliptical, that is no big deal, but if you have been reading this blog you know it's a big deal for me. That machine always kicks my ass big time. My longest time on that beast as of yet has been only 10 minutes. So for me to attempt 30 minutes...well, that is huge. I will let you all know how I do and by all, I mean all two of you who follow this blog so far :p.
So I think Tuesday's quest will give me enough XP to level up and hit 2. :p
I did 60 min on the treadmill, 10 min on the elliptical (that machine is still defeating me, it kicks my ass), and 25 min of weights. All together I supposedly burnt 1093 calories. I say supposedly because the machines said one thing and my VidaOne Diet and workout program say two totally different things so I don't know what one to believe. So I just went with the lowest of the two and that was what the machines totaled out at.
It was a nice workout and I am looking forward to the next challenge on Tuesday the 20th set forth by Tony at theantijared.blogspot.com . His challenge was to do 60 min of working out on that day. Well, I already know I can do 95 min, so 60 is not a big challenge, so on Tuesday I will make it a challenge for myself. I will do 60 min of working out...BUT...I will do 30 min on the treadmill and 30 min on the elliptical! Now some of you might be thinking, blah...30 min on the elliptical, that is no big deal, but if you have been reading this blog you know it's a big deal for me. That machine always kicks my ass big time. My longest time on that beast as of yet has been only 10 minutes. So for me to attempt 30 minutes...well, that is huge. I will let you all know how I do and by all, I mean all two of you who follow this blog so far :p.
So I think Tuesday's quest will give me enough XP to level up and hit 2. :p
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Loosing track of time.
So the other day I got on a treadmill, started my workout and went to turn on the TV that was attached to it. NOTHING...it was broke. To make matters worse, I had forgotten my Zune. I did however have my headphones. How I remembered my headphones and forgot my Zune I have no idea, so don't ask :p. I spent the whole 65 minutes trying to keep my eyes off the timer and it made the workout last sooo much longer. You don't realize just how much you need a distraction from your workout until you don't have one, at least for me. I can't just zone out to my heart beating faster, I need something a bit more.
I know music is a great distraction of time and an even better motivator, but what I wanted was something to totally make me zone out and not concentrate on my walking. Now, what could be better than the TV? What could be more distracting than 65 minutes of ESPN? Well I can tell you one thing, it's not the Food Network. I tried that once....bad idea. Great station to watch while at home, not while working out. There is nothing worse than trying to shed some pounds while watching Alton Brown make brownies. Anyway, I have found that the best distraction for me is watching movies! The next day after my Zune debacle I started bringing in my phone with me to work out. I started playing the Transformers movie on it and I just zoned, totally forgetting that I was walking. When the treadmill went into cool down mode I was like wow, an hour already? Now I wouldn't watch a movie while lifting weights, but a boring exercise like walking...it really does the job.
What do you do to distract yourselves, if anything? I would love to hear all the ideas.
I know music is a great distraction of time and an even better motivator, but what I wanted was something to totally make me zone out and not concentrate on my walking. Now, what could be better than the TV? What could be more distracting than 65 minutes of ESPN? Well I can tell you one thing, it's not the Food Network. I tried that once....bad idea. Great station to watch while at home, not while working out. There is nothing worse than trying to shed some pounds while watching Alton Brown make brownies. Anyway, I have found that the best distraction for me is watching movies! The next day after my Zune debacle I started bringing in my phone with me to work out. I started playing the Transformers movie on it and I just zoned, totally forgetting that I was walking. When the treadmill went into cool down mode I was like wow, an hour already? Now I wouldn't watch a movie while lifting weights, but a boring exercise like walking...it really does the job.
What do you do to distract yourselves, if anything? I would love to hear all the ideas.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
The Begining...Well Almost
Hi I'm Vinny, thanks for stopping by to read about my journey. I started this as a way to hold myself accountable for my weight loss. I figure if I put myself out there for others to see my progress, I will be less likely to skip out on the gym and think twice about what foods I eat...at least that's my plan. So, let me tell you a bit about myself, what you can expect out of this blog and my journey so far.
I'm 36 and live Missouri, but my heart and family are in Rhode Island and I hope to move back there some day. My days here in MO are spent with my wonderful girlfriend, our great dog and our lazy cat. All 3 are a big reason for me wanting to lose this disgusting weight. I want to be around for them, and I can't do that if I'm in the hospital or worse....dead. So this time has be different, because I have only one option left and that's to just do it! As a side note, I am not a polished writer so don't expect this blog to be 100% grammatically correct. Leave your red pens away from the comment box. :p
Now, I know what your thinking. What do you weigh Vin? How are we supposed to hold you accountable if we don't know your stats? This is a bit difficult for me. I have never really mentioned my weight to anyone (just a select few, my doctor included), so to put it out there for everyone to see is a bit frightening. Well, you can't have a weight loss blog without weight totals so here it is; as of this morning I weigh....303 lbs (wow, I wonder if I will actually hit the publish button at the end LOL). Now there has been progress so far. I actually started my weight loss on Feb 21st of this year and at that point I weighed in at 314 lbs, so 11 pounds lost so far is OK I think. My ultimate long term goal is to be 200 lbs so I have a ways to go but I will make it!
On Feb 20th I had enough of this fat taking over my life so I decided to join a gym. Actually that is a partial lie. I wanted to join a gym for a long time before that but I could not bring myself to go in and sign up. Oh I drove by the gym a lot, I would park, contemplate going in and then I would drive off convincing myself that I would do it that weekend. Ya see, I had been to a gym before and every time I would walk in I could feel everyone's eyes on me...at least I thought. I would hang my head, look to the floor and make a beeline to the locker room. I just knew that all those skinny athletic people with their fancy workout clothes were staring me down wondering what the hell this fat guy was doing in their skinny people only gym.....again, so I thought. Man I hated that feeling, it made it so difficult to go the gym everyday that I just stopped going. So on Feb 20th, 2010 I found myself once again sitting in the parking lot of the gym contemplating going in. This time though there was no next weekend, if I wanted things to change I had to put my insecurities aside and walk into that gym....and I did.
The experience surprisingly enough did not kill me. There were no fat guy alarms going off, there was no one pointing and laughing at the new fat guy and I was able to walk to the counter without any incident. Then again, the counter was only 5 feet from the door LOL. I signed up for a year, and the manager showed me around the gym a bit. I was not really fond of that because as we walked around I could once again feel all the eyes on me...so I thought.
Flash-forward almost 2 months. I still do the "walk of shame" as I call it. Walk in the door, look to the ground and make a beeline to the treadmill, but it is getting easier. My time on the treadmill is getting easier too. I am up to 1 hour with a 3 incline at 3.0mph. The last minute to 2 minutes of my hour I jog at 4.0 mph. That in itself is a huge accomplishment for me.
So that is me in a nutshell. I hope that along way I can inspire at least one person to start a weight loss journey, and for those already on theirs hopefully we can help each other along.
-Vinny
Starting weight = 314 lbs
I'm 36 and live Missouri, but my heart and family are in Rhode Island and I hope to move back there some day. My days here in MO are spent with my wonderful girlfriend, our great dog and our lazy cat. All 3 are a big reason for me wanting to lose this disgusting weight. I want to be around for them, and I can't do that if I'm in the hospital or worse....dead. So this time has be different, because I have only one option left and that's to just do it! As a side note, I am not a polished writer so don't expect this blog to be 100% grammatically correct. Leave your red pens away from the comment box. :p
Now, I know what your thinking. What do you weigh Vin? How are we supposed to hold you accountable if we don't know your stats? This is a bit difficult for me. I have never really mentioned my weight to anyone (just a select few, my doctor included), so to put it out there for everyone to see is a bit frightening. Well, you can't have a weight loss blog without weight totals so here it is; as of this morning I weigh....303 lbs (wow, I wonder if I will actually hit the publish button at the end LOL). Now there has been progress so far. I actually started my weight loss on Feb 21st of this year and at that point I weighed in at 314 lbs, so 11 pounds lost so far is OK I think. My ultimate long term goal is to be 200 lbs so I have a ways to go but I will make it!
On Feb 20th I had enough of this fat taking over my life so I decided to join a gym. Actually that is a partial lie. I wanted to join a gym for a long time before that but I could not bring myself to go in and sign up. Oh I drove by the gym a lot, I would park, contemplate going in and then I would drive off convincing myself that I would do it that weekend. Ya see, I had been to a gym before and every time I would walk in I could feel everyone's eyes on me...at least I thought. I would hang my head, look to the floor and make a beeline to the locker room. I just knew that all those skinny athletic people with their fancy workout clothes were staring me down wondering what the hell this fat guy was doing in their skinny people only gym.....again, so I thought. Man I hated that feeling, it made it so difficult to go the gym everyday that I just stopped going. So on Feb 20th, 2010 I found myself once again sitting in the parking lot of the gym contemplating going in. This time though there was no next weekend, if I wanted things to change I had to put my insecurities aside and walk into that gym....and I did.
The experience surprisingly enough did not kill me. There were no fat guy alarms going off, there was no one pointing and laughing at the new fat guy and I was able to walk to the counter without any incident. Then again, the counter was only 5 feet from the door LOL. I signed up for a year, and the manager showed me around the gym a bit. I was not really fond of that because as we walked around I could once again feel all the eyes on me...so I thought.
Flash-forward almost 2 months. I still do the "walk of shame" as I call it. Walk in the door, look to the ground and make a beeline to the treadmill, but it is getting easier. My time on the treadmill is getting easier too. I am up to 1 hour with a 3 incline at 3.0mph. The last minute to 2 minutes of my hour I jog at 4.0 mph. That in itself is a huge accomplishment for me.
So that is me in a nutshell. I hope that along way I can inspire at least one person to start a weight loss journey, and for those already on theirs hopefully we can help each other along.
-Vinny
Starting weight = 314 lbs
4/14/2010 - 303 lbs / 11 pounds lost on this adventure so far
Treadmill - 1 hr 5 min / 3.0 mph @ 3 incline for 3.17 mi
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