Slacker....indeed

Well, I will have to admit that yes, I have been a slacker to posting. The good thing is that I have not been a slacker to the workout routine. With that being said, i will be blogging more here as we continue down this path.

In the last few weeks, there has been much to report. I just completed my Couch to 5K training and can now say that I can successfully run 30 straight minutes without taking any breaks. In the time, I run just about 3 miles (if not a little more). So what is next? My next challenge is going to be to try improving my running times. I am going to investigate running some 5K's in the area, and then maybe look into increasing this run time and look at a 10K training. We will see.

Over the course of 10 weeks, I have lost about 20 pounds. I am at my lowest weight that I have been at in many years. My lovely wife showed my a picture from 2006 and I could not even believe my eyes. I looked like an egg with chicken legs. Not fun to look at. That is the ultimate motivation.

It is also time to start some clothes shopping. Shirts are stretched out, pants are falling off.

It is a new chapter. Let's continue to write the book. As usual, huge shout our to Brian and Bryan for sticking to this and holding me accountable. I also want to thank Ryan and Dan for their additional motivation. Great group of guys and appreciate everything.

We will be talking to you all soon. Peace, John

Hello Again

I admit it. I have been slacking on the blog. No excuses, just down right laziness. The first step to recovery is admitting it. Done that, next step is changing my actions. So with that being said I am posting again. I have continued to work out. It’s been a mixed routine. Some weight training, elliptical, running etc. I think it’s a good mix but I need to work on my legs more so I am going to add this to my regiment. The hard work is paying dividends. I don’t know if it shows in the pics or not but it shows in the cloths that I am able to where. I had some shorts lying around that I have not been able to wear in years. I was able to put them on with room. I couldn't believe that I caught myself on a few occasions pulling them up! I am starting to show some definition in my upper body which is good and I know that I am putting on muscle because I feel a lot stronger than I used to. I am looking forward to today’s workout. Look out for an updated tip of the week and poll question. Talk to you soon.

Welcome Back!

So for all of our regular readers you probably have noticed that we haven't been blogging as much. I guess you don't really realize how many people read the posts until you stop. Well this week we are back in action and will be posting again on a regular basis.

Let me recap the past couple weeks since you haven't been informed. We all continue to work out everyday, with some vacations and other items coming up here and there. The routine is becoming more than comfortable which is shown by the fact that when someone cannot go at 11:30 the two other people get upset and yell at that person for throwing off their whole day. It's all in good fun of course. We have been mixing up workouts a little more but still trying to focus on the core of cardio. I tried running again last week and while the first day I ran I could feel the shin splints a little bit I was able to push through and run 14 out of 32 minutes on the treadmill, which was the most I have been able to run in a long time. I tested the waters again on Friday but did not have as great of luck, I got about 8 minutes into the run (intervals of 3 and then 5 minute runs) and could not continue. I may have been a tad aggressive and will need to pull back to shorter runs at slower speeds. I also need to take advice from my brother and ice my shins after running and try every trick in the book to keep them from hurting. My main goal right now is to be ready to run the Warrior Dash without having to limp around the whole course. I need to make a solid push right now and I know that is going to take a better diet and continued exercise.

Since we began I can tell that while I may not be losing all of the pounds I want I look and feel better. I have received plenty of compliments from people noticing my weight loss, which is great feed back and obvious motivation to continue. I also realized when I went on Saturday to buy some new shirts that reaching for the XXL and trying it on it was way too big. I realize not all shirts are made the same, but in the past the same style shirt I needed to buy in XXL or my shirt would be really tight around my stomach, which is not flattering nor comfortable. I was hesitant to reach and try on the XL for the fact that I would get home and realize it didn't fit right, but that was not the case. It feels good only seeing 1 X on some shirts and will feel even better to only see a L.

Hope all is well with reader nation.

Picture Day 7.7.11

Leader Board

Germano - $35 left
Burmeister - $35 left
Barnes - $30 left

Week 5 Recap

Week 5 was filled with sore ankles. I tried some ankle braces which helped with support and will continue to use those during sports, but I am going to hold off on using them for elliptical and other training in the fitness center. The soreness mainly occurs when I walk or try to bend my ankles too much. I feel a sharp shooting pain in the front, mainly on my right foot. I believe it is just soreness from getting used to working out everyday and they are not getting the rest that they used to. The holiday weekend gave me an extra day on the back end of the weekend to rest them a little more which was nice.

Last week was a pretty standard week of working out. While I do like the routine I also find value in switching it up to keep the body off guard and not used to doing the same thing. I think after 2 months I might switch things up, whether it be just doing the same things but on a different day, or doing different work outs all together.

Overall I can feel my body more energized still and I have been noticing that everything is feeling and fitting better. The other day I was at the gas station filling up and looked in my back window and noticed my neck was smaller and that was very encouraging for me. The two parts of my body that I want to be smaller are my stomach and my face. I know in time everything will fall into place and become smaller, I just need to keep the positive mentality.

My biggest flaw is eating. I have known that since I joined a weight loss challenge two years ago. I know that I can eat healthier and doing that will show me results the quickest, I just need to keep the mindset of why I am doing this and that it is OK to indulge sometimes, but that staying focused will pay off more in the long run.

This weekend I thought of a motto for myself to push through those times in which I want to slip up. "There is no more....." The thing I love about it is that it is open ended. Some of the things I thought to myself this weekend were:

"There is no more EXCUSES"
"There is no more LAZINESS"
"There is no more QUITTING"
"There is no more JUST ONE LAST TIME"

Thinking these things to myself when I want to eat fast food or skip a workout have been motivation enough to avoid the urges. There is no reason to avoid things that are making me feel better, rather I need to embrace them and prove to myself how easy this can really be if you do the right thing.

Picture Day 6.30.11