Fit by 40 - Goal 3: Exercise 3x a week (Part II)

OK, so I didn't do so great with Goal 3. My intention was to exercise at least 30 minutes 3 times a week. I'm pretty sure I got a total of 3 hours of exercise for the 2 weeks, but I didn't break into 6 intentional workouts. My two biggest workouts were walking around Philadelphia for a few hours and mowing the lawn. I also had a big event at work that had me walking back and forth between buildings all day. Since I didn't do so great with this goal, I'm going to repeat it for the next 2 weeks with the hopes that I'll do better. I also had a bit of a setback in the eating department. I managed to stick to the first two goals of not drinking pop and preparing my breakfast (except while traveling), but I also managed to eat a ton of junk food. Between all of the candy at work and the snacks for the drive to Philly, I erased some of the weight loss from the first two goals.

Stats after Goal 3:

•  Weight: 226.4 (up 2.6 lbs from last check, down 1.6 lbs total)
• Pants size: 38 (no change)
• Shirt size: XL (no change)

Fit by 40 - Goal 3: Exercise 3x a week

Goal 2 of fixing breakfast was a success. Breakfast the first week was mostly hard boiled eggs and energy balls. Then things got a little busy and I didn't keep up with boiling eggs and I didn't get to make a second batch of energy balls, so I had to punt a few days. Breakfast on those days was a granola bar, a cheese stick, and an apple. Still considerably better than a daily heart attack in a sack from McDonald's.

Goal 3 is to start exercising. I've had a good month of making some dietary changes and now I want to bring in some physical effort. Hopefully this will give my first two changes a chance to become more automatic. I'm not going to lie, I've had a few Coke cravings and came close to giving in. As for the exercise, I'm going to focus on walking since that's relatively easy to incorporate and I can take Gunnar along with me. Freeman could use the walks too. I'll probably throw in a couple of bike rides if the weather is nice.

Stats after Goal 2:

• Weight: 223.8 lbs (down 4.2 lbs total)
• Pants size: 38 (no change; I did manage to squeeze into a size 36, but it was tight)
• Shirt size: XL (no change)

Fit by 40 - Goal 2: Fix breakfast

I have a really bad habit of picking up McDonald's for breakfast on my way to work. My usual order was either a Sausage McMuffin, hasbrown, and diet Coke or two hashbrowns and a diet Coke. I also enjoy the fruit and yogurt parfait. This habit was born mostly from laziness. Fixing breakfast takes time (either in the morning or the night before) and it was just easier to swing through the drive-thru right by work. Making a goal of fixing my own breakfast seemed like a natural progression after successfully giving up pop for two weeks. I will need to come up with some more ideas for breakfast that I can either eat quickly while getting ready or take with me to work so I don't get bored of eating the same things everyday. Some of my go-to breakfasts are hard boiled eggs, energy balls, yogurt, oatmeal (with brown sugar, walnuts, and Craisins), toast with butter or peanut butter, and bagels with cream cheese. I know, bagels aren't exactly healthy. My goal for the moment isn't necessarily to focus on the healthiest choice. I want to establish the habit of fixing breakfast first and gradually become healthier. And honestly, pretty much anything I fix will be healthier than what I've been eating.

Stats after Goal 1:

• Weight: 225.5 lbs (down 2.5 lbs)
• Pants size: 38 (no change)
• Shirt size: XL (no change)

Fit by 40 - Goal 1: Give up pop

I can drink pop like it's my job. I've been known to 2-3 large pops from a fast food establishment and another 2-3 20 oz bottles in the same day. That's a lot of sugar and a lot of calories, even if some of that was diet pop. I've given up pop in the past as part of the 17 Day Diet, but it always manages to sneak back into my life. As I started thinking about my goal of being Fit by 40, I knew pop was one of the first things that needed to go. I officially drank my last pop on September 8, 2017. I'm sure I'll get to the point where I can have the occasional Coke, but for now I need to make a clean break and not tempt myself.

 In the two weeks since my last Coke I have dropped about 2.5 lbs. This has fluctuated a little (down as much as 4 lbs), mainly because I didn't change anything else about my eating and might have enjoyed a few large natural lemonades from Wendy's. And maybe a Frosty or two. The first several days were hell as my body adjusted to not having its daily caffeine intake. The migraines were pretty crippling. I really started to turn the corner on day 5 and since then I haven't really missed the caffeine. I don't feel more tired during the day than I did before. In fact I probably sleep a little better and pretty much pass out by 9:30, even when I'm trying to work on homework. I have had some cravings for a Coke just because I actually like the flavor. The strange thing is that I have had a couple of dreams where I realized I was in the middle of drinking a Coke or had just finished a Coke and I didn't even know that I had started drinking it. Weird.

Fit by 40

I turned 39 at the beginning of September. Not a milestone by itself, but it is the last stop before a big milestone. I got to thinking during the days after my birthday that I was tired of being fat and tired. I decided something needed to be done, but I've tried making big changes in the past to only end up back where I am. We were pretty successful with the 17 Day Diet back in 2012 when I lost about 30 pounds, but that weight all came back and it brought some friends. We've tried to do the 17 Day Diet a couple of times since then and we just couldn't make it work a second time. I was up to my heaviest weight and largest pants size on my birthday. I hate outgrowing clothes, but I hit the point that I really couldn't wear most of the pants in my closet and a lot of my shirts were getting tight. I had to go up a size for my polos and my dress shirts were starting to tug at the buttons on my belly. I knew something needed to change.

I decided that if I'm going to lose weight and get in shape (and stay that way), I needed to make more gradual changes rather than trying to lose the weight quickly. I found the Runs for Cookies blog a while ago and one of her strongest recommendations is to start by making small changes that add up to a big change in the end. I also don't want to give up all the good food options :). My plan is to make a series of healthy changes during the year leading up to my 40th birthday. I've read that new habits take about 40 days to really stick. I don't want to wait that long in between changes, so I'm going to introduce a new change every two weeks. Some of the changes will be giving up a bad habit. Others will be incorporating a new healthy habit. The first changes focus on food because a healthy weight starts in the kitchen. So far I have ideas for 9 of the 26 changes. I might decide that I need to devote more time to make sure some of the changes become permanent before moving on to the next one on the list.

Here are the ideas I have so far. I would certainly welcome suggestions for other healthy habits.

• Give up pop
• Fix breakfast
• Pack lunch
• Stop eating out
• Eat at least 2 fruits a day
• Exercise 30 minutes 3x a week
• Exercise 30 minutes 5x a week
• 10,000 steps a day
• Bodyweight exercises 2x a week

 Starting stats:

•  Weight: 228 lbs
• Pant size: 38 in waist
• Shirt size: XL (16.5/17 in neck)

A Year Without Pop

So, I totally made it the whole year without pop! And when the time came to drink pop again, I didn't really feel like it.  I've had pop a few times since the beginning of the new year, but I want to drink other things instead.  I still want a Coke or a Faygo Rock n Rye every now and then, but that's it.  Now, what else can I give up...

Cheers!

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Last night was an exciting evening.  A bird got into the house.  I wish I could have recorded the whole ordeal.  Here's how it went down...

Kevin goes downstairs to do homework after Gunnar falls asleep.  I'm doing things upstairs when I get a text.

"Could you come downstairs please?"  
"Close all the doors"

So, I'm pretty much unsettled as I hurry and close all the doors and go downstairs.  Kevin meets me in the foyer and says something is in the house.  Something with wings.  Great.  It's either a bird or a bat, I think as the thing whizzes by my head.  It lands, bird is confirmed.  Now to get it out of the house.  We open the dining room windows, the front door and the living room windows.  We close off the kitchen.  I grab a broom.  Every time the damn thing flies by me I freak out, to my shame.  The stupid bird lands on the open window sills multiple times and doesn't fly out.  Then it lands right in the front door and doesn't fly out.  Freeman is jumping trying to grab it, I'm waving my broom, Kevin has a blanket in the air.  Then it poops on my couch.  

Now, if you know my relationship with my couch then you know what needed to happen next.  That bird had to die.  I start waving my broom with the intention to wack it (before I was trying to guide it) and running back and forth on the first floor.  Basically, I'm pissed. Finally, the damn bird gets tired and flies right out the dining room window.  We can be heard throughout the neighborhood frantically yelling "CLOSE THE WINDOW!  ITS COMING BACK!"

After 30 minutes, the drama is over.  The bird is out, Gunnar is still asleep, the poop has been cleaned up off the couch and walls (oh yes, it got my freshly painted walls).  

And the entire time, all I'm thinking is that squirrel scene in Christmas Vacation.  We had all the pieces for it...

Cheers!