Week 5 C25K

So, I skipped week 4 of the couch to 5k program, I did the first day and was like, ok, this isn't pushing myself enough. I moved to week 5 day 1 yesterday, now THAT'S more like it. I felt it, still feeling it a little today, and am looking forward to tomorrow which is day 2 of week 5.

Not a whole lot to add, I feel great, losing weight, down almost 13 lbs since the last week of December, so I'm starting off the new year well. One day at a time, followed by one month at a time, etc. I'm staying focused this whole damn year, this is the year I get below 200, damnit!

Oh, and I've been increasing my bike speed and intensity as well, trying to gear up for spring a bit. Woo hoo, come on spring! (I know it will be a little while till it gets here, but I can get excited early, right?) :)

F2PH

Break today

Well, today I did take a break. I just relaxed over lunch rather than running, I'm coughing and sneezing all over the place, so I figured better to not run today and save up all that energy for healing and run on Monday! I did bike to work (of course, now that I don't own a car, it's pretty much my only option, but I really am diggin that, talk about self reliant). No more did you bike to work today questions, simple, if I'm here, I biked (or ran ;) maybe this spring) here.

I've had a hard time focusing today, I think it's just being under the weather, this weekend will be good for me. If the weather holds I plan to take my oh so light and svelt road bike out for a little spin, mmmmm roadie miles, how I've missed them! If it's crappy, I'll just do some around the house stuff, Wii fit has been fun lately!

Not much else to add today, maybe I'll hop on over the weekend too.

F2PH

Lost 10 lbs! And getting sick. :) Yay

Well, since I hit my highest weight at the end of December since coming down (yes I finally hit a weight that I had last seen on my way down, not since till that day in December) I am now down 10 lbs officially and getting much closer to the weight I felt best at which was 225. I don't plan to stop at 225 this time, I got a little full of myself last time I went down this road, and it came back to bite me. Many things conspired for this, one of which was that in my little circle of bike riding friends, I suddenly became the fastest, and while not fast by any measure other than that group, I thought I was in truly amazing shape, and could eat more liberally. After all, the guy I had been chasing, who had lost 100 lbs biking, was now trailing me up every hill (sorry Dave, just tellin it like it was ;) ). So I got the big head, and soon followed by the big gut again. :) Live and learn, and speaking of living and learning, on to the rest of the news.

I have started the Couch to 5k running program, and am doing pretty well with it. I feel good, and I'm progressing along with the week to week progression. This Friday I will be moving to week 4. We'll see how that goes, I'm holding on to the fact that the way I'm doing it I get two full days rest between starting a new level, and having to repeat that level (going fri, Mon, wed as my weeks). So, we'll see how that works. And this week I got a bonus, I got sick sometime between Monday night and Wed. The good thing is I ran Wed over lunch after going though about 273 excuses I could have used to not run, I decided they were all just that, excuses, and went out and ran. And I biked home (I thought a few times about asking for a ride). So, go me. I view it as making up for having the big head that led to the big gut. My goal this time is simple, 1derland. I will be 195 or less, and that's where I'm going to hold. I will get there, and I will continue to post here, and on livestrong till it happens, and (here is the important part) AFTER it happens as well. Last time I abandoned the forums and online communities that made it possible for me to lose once I had lost the weight. Some of that was due to other changes in my life, but that's no excuse. That's not happening this time.

Have a great day all, one more till the weekend!

Joe

Couch to 5k

Well, I did my first couch to 5k workout today, pretty cool. I started on week 3 day 1, that seemed about right given I bike to work every day, the cardo isn't the issue, the new parts of the legs I'm working is. I gotta say, I loved it, oh, and I love the iphone too. I just got one from work, long story short I fixed one that was supposedly too broken to fix, and got to keep it as a result. I'm loving this thing, and it just so happens to have both a livestrong/daily plate app, as well as a couch to 5k app, so using both of those has been pretty cool too.

That's pretty much all I have for today, but I want to keep active here, so here I wuz.

F2PH

Still the new year! :)

Today is one of those days I have no idea what to write here so I'm just going to ramble.

I am a member of a weight loss website (www.livestrong.com) the daily plate section. I have found it helpful to reach out to people there to keep my focus, it's not always easy to keep away from the things I am surrounded by (I work at a chocolate company!) so it's good to be able to keep in touch there. Last night started the biggest loser, and again there were people there all helping one another toward the common goal of health and wellness. This got me thinking, how can we make this more global? How can people start encouraging one another in bigger groups? I mean, the whole country is facing a huge issue due to this food that we are consuming, and the rates at which we are consuming it are causing so many health issues, if we could move more people out to do things, and get them more active, while watching what they eat, what a difference we could make.

I'm just not sure how it would work. I mean with the web now all kinds of people can connect and share stories, but at some point if too many start sharing at the same place it becomes white noise. At the same time there has to be a way to get more people involved. So much of what we are being sold is excess. So much of what we see is "bigger pizza, bigger burger, bigger cars". Why? And how can we start the trend to "better portions, healthier burgers, cars for what you use them for"? The shift from the "I wants" to the "I needs" and the "Bigger is always better" to "What I need will do, thank you".

Actually that line above should sum up whatever decision a person makes, whether it be food, or cars, or houses. Well, perhaps a little more than one needs is fine, but an SUV to carry a two person family around? A 3 bedroom house for a married couple? A DOUBLE baconator? Really?

The thought process of excess is what leads to so many ills, weight issues, hoarding of things, hoarding of money, etc.

Well, It's obvious I'm not going to solve the problems today, but at least I've stated them to a degree, and I do think it all ties together more than we know. I wasn't much for the butterfly effect theory in the past, but the older I get the more I think things are truly connected more than we can know.

F2PH

Happy New Year!

Hello! Welcome to the new year, 2010, what a turning point. In 2000 many things in my life changed, but it took till 2005 for me to start working toward a healthier life. I discovered biking (Thanks Dave) and now I'm an addict. I have pedaled 13,540 miles since 2006, and I feel a ton better than I did before I started that journey, but as with anything my body has adjusted, and over the past two years I have put back on about 30 of the 70 lbs I lost. I am now tracking all my intake again at www.livestrong.com and still biking to work every day, except now it's different. I shall explain in a moment, let me first state that I am happy now, which is much more than I can say for how I felt at the start of the last decade. from 99 to 00 I was in a marriage that I was wondering how to get out of, I was being pressured by my wife to have children (and I think somehow I KNEW this would be the final nail in the coffin) and my life was empty, almost painfully so. Fast forward to today, I have a brand new wife that I met late in 2000, she came with a daughter, but I wouldn't change that and my life is completely different than it was 10 years ago.

I have turned over a few new leaves with the turn of this decade, the largest being I sold my car. Yep, that thing that most Americans are convinced they would die without, I sold. Now we are not a car free house, but we are a one car house, and that one car is currently paid off, so our costs are insurance, upkeep, tags, etc. Now this does present some challenges, there is no way for me to bag out of riding to work now, ever. So every day I suit up and ride my bicycle in to work, so far I've had to deal with 3" of snow, rain, cold down to 16 F, and did I mention wind? :)

Still I'm looking for some challenge to get me back into shape, like really good shape, and I think I have it. Last year I did a Duathlon and I LOVED it, but I haven't ever been very good at running, and I'm way worse at swimming, I just LOVE biking though. So, what's the next logical step? I'm going to do a tri this year, actually two. I'm doing a spint tri, and an olympic distance tri. Next year I'm going to dig around for a 1/2 iron, and perhaps a marathon, and the following year, so long as none of the above actually kills me (which is entirely possible) I plan to attempt an Ironman.

Wow, just saying that makes me think I'm nuts. But, there it is. Can I do it? I don't know, I didn't think I could press 360lbs when I first started lifting weights and I was just hoping to get 225 up for one rep, so anything is possible. I never made my 400lb bench goal with weightlifting, and my focus has shifted since then of course to health and endurance training.

What I know is as much as I loved pushing iron plates around the gym (and I did love that) I love biking even more, and I'm starting to like running. Swimming? I doubt I'll ever love that, but maybe by this summer I'll at least like it. What I do know is it's time for this, because I think if I can become an actual triathlete I will finally have control over my weight and health, and that's the goal I have for this decade.

My family and I are going to a TOPS (Taking off pounds sensibly weigh in this wed as well, our friends have invited us, and we're excited to have a public group to share our goals and progress with!

Welcome to the new year all! Lets make this year a start to a decade we can look back on in our own personal lives with pride!