222.4 Monday Weigh-In

Down about a pound from Saturday’s weigh in. Didn’t have much of a chance to do exercise this weekend as my wife was out of town and I had the kids to myself. So no gym, no running… Tried to eat a little healthier. Yesterday morning made the kids some pancakes for breakfast, but I opted for an egg white omelet and oatmeal…

We took my buddy Ricky and his son out to a place called the Jr. Museum which is kind of like a zoo, I guess. They have bears, tigers, bobcats, wolves, panthers, etc… out there. We let the kids play for a little bit on the playground. It was Ricky’s birthday so we also took him out to lunch. Unfortunately he wanted Barnaby’s pizza, so I didn’t eat well at lunch time. Although I limited myself to just a few slices of pizza (I was still hungry when we left), I also drank water while everyone else had sweet tea.  For dinner, the kids and I made sandwiches. I had a turkey on wheat and the kids had grilled cheese. Then we picked up Rach from the airport around 8:30.

Today’s been good. Healthy breakfast (Special K Almond with Almond Milk), snack was an apple and cheese stick, lunch was a grilled chicken breast, steamed broccoli and brown rice. I did have a sugar free pudding and a diet Coke with Lime with lunch. Working on dinner now, likely tilapia tonight with sweet potatoes and probably more brown rice.

Hoping to get out and run tonight since Rach is back in town.

Fitness Redux

I recently redid my “Gator Tracking” tab up there at the top of the page https://1fitgator.wordpress.com/weight-tracker/ ‎ and saw how I progressively lost weight every week from early March to early June. I was a man on a mission. A machine that couldn’t be stopped. I had the formula for losing weight down. I sacrificed and I was dedicated and because of that I lost weight at a steady click for over two months.

But then I got derailed. I tried to hold on, but it was a losing battle. My heart wasn’t in it. My weight fluctuated at first – back and forth between 205 & 212 … And then I simply let go. I quit trying; I started half-assing it.  Eventually I fell back into old habits. Eating fast food, junk food, and sodas. Exercise and good nutrition have been sporadic at best.

But looking back on all that I accomplished has actually inspired me to do it again. But I can’t do this without a plan. I’ve been winging it and you see where that’s gotten me. Fat again. But I can’t dwell on the past. I can’t live in it either.

“Always Look Forward, Never Back!”

The Fit Gator Exercise Plan:

Sunday – (morning) Strength Training @ Gym; (night) Run

Monday – (afternoon) Focus T25; (night) Elliptical

Tuesday – (afternoon) Focus T25; (night) Strength Training @ Gym

Wednesday – (afternoon) Focus T25; (night) Run

Thursday – (afternoon) Focus T25; (night) Strength Training @ Gym

Friday – (afternoon) Focus T25; (night) Run

Saturday – (morning) Run; (afternoon) H.I.I.T.

*H.I.I.T. (aka High Intensity Interval Training) will either be sprints, jumping rope, or bike “sprints”

The Fit Gator Nutrition Plan:

Saturday Morning Weight x Eight (8) = Max Daily Calories allowed for the next seven days.

Eat: Vegetables, Fruits, Lean Proteins, Healthy Fats, and Whole Grains.

Avoid: Fried Foods, Fast Food, Soda, Candy, Cookies, Cakes (and the like).

Drink: Water, water, water (At least 64 oz daily)

221.6

Per the rules of FitBet II, I have to post my weight each M, W, And Saturday. So here is today’s weigh in. 221.6. About the same as yesterday.

I ate clean all day except that I did have one Coke with my lunch yesterday. So nothing else to report.

Officially started Focus T25 yesterday. It’s a home boot camp style workout similar to Insanity or P90X. The beautiful thing about this workout is that it only takes 25 minutes. However, there are no “official”breaks so it is tiring and you do sweat a lot. But it’s fun so far. 5 days a week, for a total of 10 weeks.

222.6 – Return from the Swamp & FitBet II

Labor Day weekend. The unofficial end to summer and the official beginning to something new… FitBet II.

Well I’m back from Gainesville and the football weekend extravaganza! Weight gain was inevitable, but not unexpected. Here’s some of the things we did over the course of the weekend…

We went to the Gator game, watched the Gators win, sang “We Are The Boys” with ninety thousand friends, Did the Gator Chomp, rode a bus, got drunk, played poker, cooked out, played basketball, went to the pub, drove through campus, saw Tim Tebow’s statue, went to the student union, played corn hole, played some Xbox football, ate at Ker’s Winghouse, shopped for gear, ate at Red Robin, went to the mall, and watched as much college football as humanly possible on tv. (Not necessarily in that order)

But today is a new day, a new start… September 2nd, Labor Day. Rick has given me until late November to get my weight under 200 pounds (aka Onderland!) I’ve dubbed this new challenge, FitBet II. Time to put in work…

Time to go to the gym…

Challenge Accepted!

This is my official acceptance of the new fitness challenge which will henceforth be known as FitBet II.

What follows are the terms of the new FitBet II as laid out by my benevolent and apparently modest friend Rick in his response to my recent post “220.0 – what Now?”

Rick’s proposals are listed in print form, whereas my responses are in italics.

Rick: I am willing to give you one LAST opportunity. You are gonna have to show some resolve and rekindle that FIRE you had in the spring.

Andy: Appreciate the final chance.

Rick: I will give you until the FSU game (on November 30th, 2013) to lose the weight. I think the new goal should be for you to get your weight under 200 lbs.

Andy: That seems more than reasonable.

Rick: We will discuss another bet to get you to your ultimate goal if you are able to achieve this one. I want you to win one for once, so please take this opportunity. 170 ( was actually shooting for 175, but I get the point) is just too daunting and too big a number to hit, so lets take this in increments. 199 is your number.

Andy: 199 by November 30th is the goal. Accepted.

Rick: If you do not hit your goal, you will wear the FSU shirt to the FSU game and get your picture taken in front of the Steve Spurrier Statue wearing it (this is, of course, assuming we are able to get tickets). If not, I will likely be in Tallahassee for Thanksgiving and you will go down to the Bobby Bowden statue and get your picture taken in your Nole regalia doing the tomahawk chop and you must post it to your blog and on your Facebook.

Andy: I’m willing to do either of those things if my initial goal is not met.

Rick: I also would add the following conditions:

1) I am out of the bet. I lived up to my end of the bargain. You’re failure is not my responsibility, so even if you do manage to win the FitBet II, I no longer have to wear the FSU shirt.

Andy: To be honest, I was never going to make you wear that godforsaken shirt even if I had won the initial FitBet. So, you are absolved from having to wear the Chief Assahola t-shirt.

Rick: 2) You must blog your weight EVERY Saturday, Monday, and Wednesday. No excuses, miss once and you forfeit the bet.

Andy: Fair enough. Official Weigh-ins every M, W, & Saturday – beginning this upcoming Monday (9/2/13) after this weekend’s College Football extravaganza in Gainesville.

Rick: 3) You must BLOG all the JUNK FOOD you eat. If you eat clean, no need to BLOG it. You’re supposed to be eating clean. This includes sodas (any type), chips and the like, Little Debbies, cookies or desserts of any kind, any fast food, restaurants, etc….

Andy: No matter how monotonous this seems, I know it will keep me accountable, so I agree.

So there it is, the official terms to FitBet II as proposed by Rick and accepted by Andy. This new challenge begins Monday, September 2nd.

220.0 – What Now?

So I weighed in at an astonishing two-hundred and twenty pounds this morning. I’m well off my target weights and somewhat spiraling out of control. I told myself I’d never let my weight get back into the 220’s, yet here I sit.

My diet has been shit lately (of course). It’s no big mystery how I gain weight back or how I stall my weight loss. All I have to do is look at what I’ve been eating. Laziness and complacency have been my biggest enemies.

As I’ve said in recent posts, the FitBet was supposed to create a sense of urgency to lose weight, but as I got behind on my weight loss, it became obvious that I won’t win the bet. Now I’m in limbo. I still want to lose the weight and get back to being fit, but I no longer have that beacon guiding me. It’s kind of like going to college but not knowing what you want to do with your life. You take some classes here and there to make it feel like you’re doing something, but you’re really just spinning your wheels because you don’t have that ultimate goal to guide your path.

It’s funny, because in a recent post I thought the constant reminder of the clock ticking and counting down to a deadline was too stressful, but it seems that’s exactly what I really need.

What’s my ultimate goal? I’m not really sure any more. I know I’d like to get my weight down to around 175. I’d like to be able to run races more often – not necessarily to compete against other people, but to set PRs for myself – although I would like to one day be competitive against Rick again. 

There are still many other fitness goals that I’d like to achieve (look under the tab “Gator Strong” above), but without an attainable fitness bet pushing me, I’m stuck taking classes without a major, so to speak. It’s not fair for me to ask Rick to postpone the FitBet Deadline again. He’s done about everything he can do to motivate me.

I had a major setback when my mother passed away, and it’s been tough getting back on the horse, although I do feel that I’m not that far away. I’m teetering. I just need that extra little Push. That incentive that will fire me up again. In the back of my mind I feel like I’ll ultimately reach my fitness goals, but without a time urgency (like FitBet) reminding me to “Get up and Go!” I’m simply continuing to slack and put it off like I had been doing for years leading up to the start of this blog.

Hoping to find resolution soon…

Dedicated? or Just Plain Dumb?

So I got up around 3:30 AM after my daughter woke me up. I got her settled back in soon after and was about to go  back to sleep until my alarm was supposed to go off at 5 AM, but Rach says “Why don’t you go running?”. I say “Because it’s freakin’ four o’clock in the morning!” She says “So.”    …

I didn’t have a good comeback after that. So I thought eff it, and went running. I’d like to say that I was dedicated because I was out running my neighborhood streets, but I really need to quit sabotaging my efforts with all the poor nutrition. Gainesville in just over a week. 

A very sleepy Fit Gator ran with MapMyRun! Distance: 3.19mi, time: 36:11, pace: 11:21min/mi, speed: 5.29mi/h.
http://mapmyrun.com/workout/361568425

216.2

Really hoping to get my weight down to 210 by Monday. If I can do that, it’ll give me a fighting chance to get below two bills by the time I go down to Gainesville on August 30th which is only two weeks away. It seems daunting no doubt, losing over 16 pounds in 14 days, but we’ll see if it’s possible. Can’t afford to have ANY slip ups in my diet though. Two weeks! Come on Andy…you can do this!

Yet I Run

Just got back another night run around my neighborhood. I’m going to miss these summer night runs once the cooler weather hits. I’ve really come to like the serenity of these late night runs.
In the muggy night air with a melodious orchestra of frogs and crickets playing  in the background, it’s just me and my shadow propelling down the roads and sidewalks under the amber glow of the streetlights. 

At this time of night I own the neighborhood. While most of my neighbors likely unwind on their couches after a long day, I pass by their houses and notice the tell-tale blue hue of their televisions, yet I run.

The humidity is thick and the sweat endlessly runs down my brow burning my eyes. I wipe it away with the rapidly disappearing dry parts of my shirt, yet I run.

It’s eleven o’clock in the evening and I have to be at work before the sun rises again. Six a.m. comes quickly when you go to sleep at midnight, yet I run.

My three point one miles are nearly up.  I don’t want it to end even if my feet, legs, and lungs are begging me to do so. Yet I run.

Finally my five kilometers is over and I  begin to walk my half mile cool down. It clears my mind and I feel good. I will sleep well tonight. Good night summer run… Until next time.

218.8 – A New Beginning?

My weight has remained stagnant for several weeks now. Just teetering below the dreaded 220 mark. I’ve done just enough to make sure to not cross that barrier again, but not nearly enough to start losing the fat on a regular basis like I was early on in my Fit Gator journey. I really wanted to get under 200 lbs for my trip to Gainesville, but that is fast approaching in only 15 days. Blink and it will be here before you know it.

I wasn’t really sure why I’m not losing weight. I mean, yeah, I know physically it’s because of poor nutritional choices and not exercising as much as I should. But I was trying to go deeper. To figure out what mental block has been holding me back. Where is the drive and determination that I used to have? Where has that desire to be the Fit Gator gone?

Some days I have it – that spark. I’ll eat well and exercise my ass off.  I’ll lose a couple of pounds and breathe a sigh of relief, “I can still do this.”, Other days I don’t have it.  I don’t get enough sleep and I get super lazy and complacent. I don’t prepare or plan out my meals so I eat crap like Subway or Chick-Fil-A. And because I’m so sluggish, I’ll down a Coke in hopes that the caffeine will perk me up. But the sugar rush usually gets me crashing about the time I’m home from work and need to do my Insanity workout. I do the workouts, but often I’m so lethargic that I’ll half-ass them, taking unauthorized breaks when I probably don’t really need to – definitely not ‘digging deeper’ as Shaun T yells at me to do. Then I’ll skip my late night cardio sessions. All this usually leads to a small weight gain the next morning. I see 220 approaching and I force myself to dial it back to make sure I never weigh that much ever again.

On a positive note, I guess that’s better than it was, when there were many more days that I didn’t have any motivation than when I did.  But “better than I was” is far from where I need to be. It’s not good enough. It’s still shit. Ah, but there is light at the end of this tunnel…

I had a good talk with my wife Rachel the other night. We analyzed the mental barriers that have been holding me back and how to break through them. We acknowledged that deep within me, that flame of desire still burns. The Fit Bet, the side bets, all of that was there to help motivate me, but they’ve come to discourage me. The countdown of days until the deadline, which was supposed to create a sense of urgency, has ultimately backfired.

Inside my mind, knowing how far behind I got on my weight loss after my mother passed, has caused me to think very negatively. Like “Why even try? There’s physically no way a 40-year-old man can lose that amount of weight in this remaining amount of time.” So I talk myself out of exercising. I talk myself into eating fast food. “I can’t win the bet, so why try?” But Rachel helped me see the big picture. This isn’t about buying Rick some beer or wearing a stupid t-shirt. This isn’t about just hitting a goal weight. This is about getting healthy. This is about adding years to my life. This is about being a role model for my kids. This is about a lifestyle change. This is about living!

SDV.