July Drop Day 2 – Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Blood sugar: 92   Weight: 213.2

Workout: Afternoon upstairs strength/core workout – cut short due to tweaking something in my lower back. Not good!

Breakfast: banana, 2 egg whites, tomatoes, onions, ketchup, apple, blueberries, cinnamon, sugar-free syrup, slice of turkey bacon, coffee

Snack: trail mix bar, apple

Lunch:  veggie smoothie (spinach, green peas, carrot, grapes, chia seeds, ice tea)

Snack: small yogurt cup, banana

Supper: marinated chicken breast, half a plate of vegetables, spoon of chunky peanut butter to top it off

Snacks: smoothie (banana, pear, Cool Whip, flax-seed, sugar-free chocolate syrup, strawberries, grapes, and a 1/2 cup of peanut butter cocoa puffs), small yogurt cup

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One of the latest additions to my iPod workout mix, “Not Ready To Die,” by Demon Hunter

JULY DROP – A Summer Goal

In the two months since completing the Country Music Half Marathon, my predictable and happy weight loss trend has taken a bad turn. During the month of May it went incrementally, yet steadily, in the wrong direction. June has leveled out, but, I sure would like to see it start heading back DOWN!

So, here we are. Its July 1st and I’ve got a full month with no school and a schedule that is open and flexible enough to allow me to do whatever I need to do to see some improvement. So, here we go…

JULY DROP

GOAL: Drop 5 full pounds by August 1st

STARTING WEIGHT: 214.2 (weekly average for the final full week of June – 6/23/13)

GOAL WEIGHT: 209.2 or under as of 7/1/13

KEY STRATEGIES TO IMPLEMENT EACH DAY:

The road to success this month will be paved with vegetables

• Get in some form of exercise early in the day, ideally before breakfast
• Proactively look for opportunities to add extra family activities during the day that could be classified as physical activity (e.g., playing catch, frisbee, basketball, going for a walk, hiking, etc.)
• Add a second personal physical activity on as many days as possible (e.g., an extra short run, core/strength workout/swim at the Y, etc.)
• go to bed earlier in the evening instead of falling into my typical midnight summer bedtime pattern
• drink more water/green tea/iced tea consistently throughout the day
• limit later evening snacking to a small yogurt, water, and/or green tea
• make sure I eat my evening fruit bowl before 8:00 PM
• increase vegetable consumption

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Daily Numbers: blood sugar – n/a; weight: 215.0

Morning workout: 4.05 miles on the treadmill in 40:12 (10:00/mile – 519 cal)

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Food log:

Pre-workout: 1/2 banana

Post-workout: fruit bowl (Greek yogurt, blueberries, apple, grapes, almonds, cinnamon, sugar free syrup)

Lunch: vegetable smoothie (carrot, apple, spinach, frozen peas, grapes)

Snack: Sweet Frog frozen yogurt cup (sugar free chocolate/vanilla twist frozen yogurt, blackberries, yogurt chips, cherries, strawberries, coconut, whipped cream, chocolate chips)

Supper: turkey burger (no bun), provolone cheese, tomatoes, onions, cucumber, yellow bell peppers, mayo, ketchup

Snack: fruit bowl (banana, pear, strawberries, sugar free raspberry jelly, sugar free chocolate syrup, light coating of Cocoa Pebbles on top), small yogurt cup

Daily Post for Sunday 6/23: It’s Official! Greensboro Half Marathon!

Weight: 214.8   Blood Sugar: n/a

Breakfast: 2 egg whites, spinach, 2 slices turkey bacon, apple, raisins, coffee

Snack: blueberry Greek yogurt with chia seeds

Lunch: vegetable smoothie

Snack: apple

Supper: cheese ravioli, spinach/tomato/cucumber/onion sandwich

Snacks: pear/apple/raisin/Cool Whip bowl, bowl of cereal

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My wife and I are now OFFICIALLY registered for our 2nd half marathon!

Six-hill-sucking Sweaty Miles With My Sweetheart – And New Goals

Friday & Saturday Activities: Between yesterday and today, both my wife and I are ready for a rest day tomorrow. Yesterday, in early celebration of our 13th wedding anniversary, we sent the kids to stay with grandparents and went to the U.S. National Whitewater Center where we kayaked the morning away. In the afternoon we walked the grounds of the Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens in Charlotte. After going home for a quick bite for supper we headed to downtown Salisbury to walk the town for Arts Night Out.

By the time we hit the bed we were ready for rest. But, with the kids still away the next morning, we took advantage of the opportunity to go for a rare run together. So, with it being Saturday, we completed a scheduled long run of six miles. What made this morning’s run such a beast, though, was the hills of which were non stop. We planned to just do an easy six, but, we ran streets through neighborhoods that we weren’t familiar with.

Distance:	6.00 mi
Time:	1:06:11
Avg Pace:	11:02 min/mi

New Goals:

• Running – My wife and I are planning to register for our second half-marathon! After completing the Country Music Half in Nashville in April, I think we’re ready for another! This one will be much closer to home though: The Greensboro Half-Marathon. After completing my first in a time of 2:28:08 (11:19/mile), I would like to finish this next one with a minutes/mile pace under 11:00 which, if I’m able to do so, would have me finishing in 2:23:53 or better.

• Weight – It has been over two years since I tipped the scales at 260 pounds. Now, much lighter, I’ve been hovering between 210-214 for the last month and a half. By mid August, I’d like to break the 200 pound barrier. Certainly by the time of the Greensboro Half, on October 26th, I expect to be under 200 for good.

A GREAT New Addition To My iPod Running Playlist: “Unstoppable” by Disciple. I just picked their latest album, O GOD SAVE US ALL, because I know they’ll be touring with one of my favorite bands, Audio Adrenaline, later this year. But, from the first time I heard this song while running with my iPod, I knew that it would be a new staple for my hard run playlist. View the lyric video below, take note of the words, and you’ll see/hear what I’m talking about.

Friday 6/21

Weight: 212.8  Blood Sugar: 92

Morning snack…who am I kidding? I can’t remember. That was yesterday. What I do know is that it was a pretty standard day with the follow exceptions: small bowl of mac & cheese as a side to my turkey wrap for lunch at the U.S. National Whitewater Center where my wife and I spent the morning kayaking. Beyond that, I had a fruit/nut/yogurt bowl for breakfast and a smoothie in the evening for supper, along with Odwalla bars and fruit for snacks throughout the day.

Saturday 6/22

Weight: 214.2   Blood Sugar: n/a

Pre-run morning snack: banana, spoonful of peanut butter

Post-run breakfast: blueberry/raspberry/banana/apple/pear/chia seed smoothie

Snacks: apple, trail mix granola bar, almonds, raisins, Odwalla protein bar

Lunch: 2.5 slices of pizza

Snacks: pear/apple/peanut butter/Cool Whip bowl

Supper: rotisserie chicken, green beans

Snack: bowl of cereal with red grapes, milk

Daily Post – Thursday, June 20, 2013

Weight: 213.6   Blood sugar: 90

Morning snack: banana

Breakfast: apple/yogurt/blueberry/chia seed fruit bowl, coffee

Snacks: Odwalla bar

Lunch: (post-workout) blueberry/banana/carrot/spinach/flax-seed/Greek yogurt smoothie

Snacks: trail mix bar, 12 oz. Sweet Frog frozen yogurt/fruit/almond/granola/chocolate chip cup (less full than normal

Supper: salmon, half-plate mixed vegetables, small (tbsp?) serving of potato salad

Snacks: cup of yogurt,

Workout: Morning strength/core workout up stairs with an increased emphasis on upper body bench press, afternoon hike and walk with kids

Looking forward to a morning of kayaking with my beautiful wife tomorrow in celebration of our 13th wedding anniversary and I may get in a run, too.

Newest addition to my iPod running mix:

Wednesday Daily Post

Weight:  213.2          Blood Sugar: 94

Morning workout: 3.1 mile run in 30:10 (9:44/mile pace)

Morning snack: banana, raisins

Breakfast (post-run): blueberry/banana/apple/chia/flax/cherry Greek yogurt smoothie

Snacks: Odwalla protein bar, Cliff bar

Lunch (late): spinach/tomato/onion/cheese/carrot/almond tossed salad, banana

Supper: 2 egg whites/spinach/tomato/onion/mozzarella, apple, blueberries, 2 slices turkey bacon

Snacks: medium no sugar added frozen yogurt cup at Sweet Frog w/ cherries/blackberries/pineapple/coconut/granola/yogurt chips/chocolate chips/marshmallows – yes, I splurged a bit, small bowl of cereal

Coming Down, Reality, & What I’m Doing About It

So, yeah. I trained for the half marathon, completed the half marathon, and started flirting with breaking through the 210-pound weight barrier for the first time since college. In the one and a half months since then, though, I’ve hit a slippery plateau that, actually, seems to be tilted slightly in the wrong direction. I know it has a lot to do with my post-half marathon mileage decrease, but, ever so slowly, my weekly weight averages have inched back up to the point where, as of today, my current average of weigh-ins for the week is 214. After dipping my weekly average down to 210.1 in early May, this is simply unacceptable. So, I’m putting back in place all of the old daily stand-by’s that have helped in getting me this far and I’m starting with my daily numbers and daily intake blog posts – now.

Weight: 214.0   Blood Sugar: 113

Early AM snack: handful of raisins (hence the high blood sugar)

Breakfast: banana, apple, blueberries, sugar-free pancake syrup, cinnamon, tomato, onion, 2 egg whites, spinach, slice of turkey bacon, coffee

Snack: Odwalla bar

Lunch: cup of leftover marinara/ground turkey/vegetable mix, trail mix bar

Snacks: banana, apple, raisins

Supper: 1.5 grilled turkey chops, half-plate sauteed/seasoned vegetables

Post-workout snack: Greek yogurt/banana/pear/blueberry/almond/chia/flax smoothie

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Strength-core workout this evening – looking forward to a run tomorrow morning. Its been one week of summer free time and my weight-loss is idling. By the end of this show will be on the road.

Woo! A Good Weekend To Lift A Rough Week

Last week was characterized by the fact that I missed three days – one run and two strength/core workouts – due to being sick. But, I did start this week off with a new PR distance for a long run: 6.25 miles on Sunday with my wife. It was good, but, I was beat by the end and stumbled the rest of the day feeling that way.

Per my schedule, I’ll do a three-mile run tomorrow, lead the walk/run group after school at running club on Wednesday, get a strength/core session in Wednesday evening, and a four mile run Thursday. I’ll probably do some light upper body work, along with some light core and stretching on Friday. Then, I think, I’ll make the switch from doing my long runs on Sunday to doing it on Saturdays from this point on. The Half in Nashville is on a Saturday at 7:00 AM, so, I think I’ll start working toward that schedule from this point on.

As of this evening I did learn that it really isn’t a great idea to do anything the evening after setting a new distance PR. I went upstairs with the intent of doing some stretching, but, somehow tricked myself into my normal 105 crunches, along with some light upper body lifting and some leg balancing exercises. In the process I think I tweaked my back a bit and, while stretching, came to the realization that I simply wasn’t going to be able to stretch to the extent that I normally do. My muscles are simply too stiff and sore, still, to push any further. Its pretty clear that tomorrow’s three-miler needs to be treated as a light, slow recovery run.

On the health front my blood sugar continued its weekly decline and I dropped a half a pound from the week before making for a two-pound loss in the past two weeks. I’ve made a decision to go back in the direction of including a moderate amount of whole grain back into my diet after minimizing for several months. I just feel like it keeps my system a bit more regulated and, also, that it well help me to replace some of the other items with a higher percentage of saturated fats that have become more routine in my diet over the past several months.

Finally, for those out there with long run experience, as of this week’s long run, I’ve started the process of experimenting with on-the-run energy gels. What has worked for you? What would you recommend? What hasn’t worked? I had a PowerBar vanilla energy gel with no incident and do actually feel like it provided a little extra in the last mile and a half of the run. But, I’ve got plenty to learn, so, I’m all ears!

The best news of the week, though, is that, as of this past weekend, my beard is now fully funded through the 4/27/13 Country Music Half Marathon in Nashville. Generous folks have sponsored its daily safety from the razor at a rate of $5/day from 12/1/12-4/27/13 in order to benefit The Hands & Feet Project which provides care for orphans in Haiti. Besides providing a significant contribution to the care of these kids in Haiti, the generous donors have provided a good deal of inspiration for me to actually follow through on my end of the bargain and complete my first half marathon on 4/27 in Nashville – BEARDED like Forrest Gump with nearly five full months of having gone without even a trim. Full-on grizzly Gump style.

If you’d like to learn more about the Beards Hands & Feet Project, please visit https://www.facebook.com/BeardsHandsAndFeetProject

Sideline Chatter

Sunday is the day of the week that I’ve been doing my weekly updates of late, but, this one, I’m afraid, is not a great one. Since yesterday morning I’ve felt energy-depleted and achy all over. Its been a victory to simply get some papers graded and lesson plans done. I’m hoping that, by staying in all weekend, my body will kick back into a higher gear tomorrow so that I can get my workweek on track and, also, put my running shoes back on.

Today was a scheduled five-mile run, but, it’s looking like it might be a good idea to do two four mile runs this week, with a three-miler Friday. This way I’ll keep my weekly total miles where they should be and I can still, conceivably, at least, bump up the long run to six miles next week, as scheduled. We’ll have to see how quickly I can get out of this achy, energy-vacuum funk first, though.

Blood sugar for the month of January went down as hoped for. My weekly weight average, after being stubborn for a good three weeks, also went down from 219.5 to 218.2. I can most likely attribute this to two main factors: 1-I significantly cut back on the number of nuts I ate in the past week. Yes, almonds are good for you, but, they’re also high in saturated fat. 2-I made an effort to get my heart rate up on my non-running days using high-rep/low-weight free weight exercises as opposed to just focusing on core/strength exercises like I’d been doing. Hopefully, this flu-symptom-type-thing will release its grip on me so that I can continue making progress.

Just under 12 weeks to go until the Half!

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2013 Beards, Hands & Feet Country Music Half Marathon iPod Running Mix Update:

LOCKS:

• “Until My Heart Caves In (live)” – Audio Adrenaline
• “Beautiful Day” – U2
• “Hands and Feet” – Audio Adrenaline
• “Kings and Queens” – Audio Adenaline
• “Everyday Is Yours To Win” – R.E.M.
• “Let Jesus Lead You” – Josh Harmony

CANDIDATES:

• “Walk On” – U2
• “True Love Will Find You” – Josh Harmony
• “Overcome” – Travis Taylor
• “Be Still and Know” – Travis Taylor

Learn more about the The Beards, Hands & Feet Project

 

Woo! What a Lady! What a Run! Grateful…

I’m in a great mood as I write this because I had the rare chance to run with my wife. Normally she is off on a pace far beyond what I can handle. While I know she was holding back at times, I kept up with her for the full five miles! I hadn’t run a five-miler since October ’12, so, the distance in and of itself was something to feel good about today.

It was the next step up for my weekly long run en route to April’s Country Music Half Marathon in Nashville. But, to do it at a 10:57/mile pace?! For real runners, that is a sleep walk, but, for a long run when I’m consciously trying to rein it in, for me, to run five miles at a pace faster than any 4+ mile run I’ve run before, this was fantastic!

So, I’m thrilled with the run, the distance, and the pace. And I’m thrilled with the fact that “quality time” for my wife and I now, sometimes, is characterized by enjoying a good run together. Running it quickly and getting to spend the time with her while doing so makes me a happy man. I’m also thrilled with the fact that I was able to take a step forward in my plan to complete my first half marathon without my hamstring didn’t objecting.

Looking back on these things, in combination with a great morning spent visiting a friend’s church in Greensboro with my wife and kids and it makes for a great Sunday evening.

My total mileage for the week was only 9 miles, instead of the scheduled 10, but, this was due to the fact that we had a pretty good sleet/freezing rain storm Friday afternoon – my scheduled run day. We had early dismissal from school and, by the time we got home and had lunch, driving anywhere was a bad idea. Not only that, but, even jogging around the neighborhood was out of question because of the ice that coated the roads. So, I resorted to my Garmin’s ability to keep track of my distance while I did laps around my yard in a 23 degree sleet/freezing rain downpour. Instead of the scheduled three I stopped at two miles and, when I came in, I had a clear, solid coating of ice on the brim of my hat as well as on parts of my sleeves. I was happy simply to have gotten that run in.

My weigh-in average for the week added on to the 219.5 pound plateau that I’d already been riding for two weeks. Unfortunately, my blood sugar average for the week also went up for a second straight week.

I simply need to be more disciplined and careful in what I’m eating this week: less carbs. I’m also going to try to cut back on my nut consumption. I’ve become a bit of an addict – especially to almonds. Finally, I need to break out of the non-running day rut that I’ve been stuck in of late that finds me doing strength/core workouts that have very little value in terms of cardio. I’ve got to start cross-training with some activities that keep my heart rate up. If I can be a bit more disciplined with my intake and more aggressive with the cardio aspect on my non-running days, I think I’ll start to see some positive returns.

Last, but, not least, if you haven’t already read it, please check out the post I put up yesterday on my other blog about some neat things that are happening in my life, in memory of my Dad, thanks to the gracious kindness of The Hands And Feet Project, the organization that I am fundraising for through my Beards, Hands & Feet Project effort. Check it out!

Finally: A lock for the iPod mix that will provide the soundtrack to my first half marathon effort at the Country Music Half Marathon in Nashville on 4/27/13 – “Until My Heart Caves In” by Audio Adrenaline