Back to 185 and Pants Picture

Well I am finally back to 185. It took almost all week to do it but I didn't include the fact that Monday was not part of the normal routine as it usually would be so I did it in less time that normal but I am just happy I am back. Now I need to work on going below that. I think this weekend I am going to do another distance run to help it along. I need a much needed day of rest and I think I will take it tomorrow! I have a date night tomorrow night which would be my normal night to run but since I am taking my gal out I think I will run tonight. Nothing big, just a couple of miles. Then tomorrow a much needed rest day.

Last night was basketball day and another good time in the books. I ran before hand without my sister project and I did the JBU track in 19 minutes and change. It was hot and miserable but those are just excuses to quit and I don't like quitting. After that we played basketball. A lot of the core group weren't there last night but we still played some 2 on 2. I only won 1 game out of 4 but it was a good win. We got smoked on the other 3 but we didn't get swept!

After that I had a taco salad from La Hacienda and it was delicious. It's becoming my little families tradition to go there on basketball days which is fine. It's no La Capilla but it will work. La Capilla is the Mexican place I rank all other Mexican places to and none have come close yet.

I have another picture I want to show you in closing. All my friends on Facebook have already seen it but I think some people who read this aren't my friends on Facebook so here you go. It put's everything into perspective as far as where I am now. It's my "Jenny Craig" picture even though I didn't use Jenny Craig.  Until next time. Peace.

These are size 42" pants I used to wear! Crazy!

Unsure Scale and Thank You Cee Lo

Well I weighed again this morning and I am either 186 or 187. My scale didn't really know which. So I chose the lesser of the two! Today is basketball day and run again with the sister project so I should be at 185 in the morning. I just don't know if I'm going to hit the 183 mark like I had planned but I am going to work hard to get there if I can by Friday. I am still planning on not taking off this weekend and running at least 1 of those days. I have to hit my goal by next Friday. The 183 goal takes a backseat to my overall goal and date that I had set. I have less than 2 weeks now. I can do this.

The sister project ran with me yesterday. She did a whole mile without stopping. Overall we stopped once in a two mile route. She did pretty good. Still needs to get her breathing in order but her legs don't bother her as much.

On the way to work this morning I answered a trivia question on the John Williams show on 104.9 the X and won backyard burger and free tickets to a monster truck rally this weekend in Springdale! The question was pat of his Birthday section. He played "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley and asked who the singer was. Cee Lo Green of course so I called and got through! I answered correctly. I thought it was pretty cool because it is the first thing that I have ever won on a radio show. So I guess I can scratch that off my bucket list.

I can't wait for basketball today. More learning from the guys who I play with. My team, the Thunder, aren't doing to hot right now but that's okay, we come back to OKC for 2 games so hopefully we can pick up those 2 wins and tie up the series. Either way they are still a great team and I love watching them grow as a team. Thunder UP!!!!

Well that is all for today. Short and not very sweet but what can you do? Until next time. Peace.

"People with goals succeed because they know where they are going." - Earl Nightingale

Weigh In and Sentimental.....Awww

Well I weighed this morning and I am at 187 but it would have been a lot worse I think if I didn't run last night. But I know that I will lose that 2 pounds quickly and my goal for this week is still set at 183. That will be another milestone for me because that will be the 140 pounds lost mark. I will work hard this week to get to that point. Again I don't think I will take off this weekend so I can continue to work hard all the way through until next Friday.

I am going to run again tonight hopefully with my sister project since we didn't run last night. My legs should be fine even after running almost 5 miles yesterday. The pace won't be nearly as fast as I ran last night. Either way, with or without my sister project, I plan on getting at least two miles in.

Then tomorrow is basketball day and I'm pretty excited about it. Hopefully we don't get a random thunderstorm that will hinder the day.

So in order to help with my goal of 183 I need to stop the unnecessary snacking that I have been doing at night. After 7pm I will not eat unnecessary calories.

I wrote a little bit more on my "book" about how I got to 180 last night. Re-thinking about my first 5k made me realize how lucky I am to have that core group of people that helped me out to get here. Without one of my friends suggesting the 5k I probably would have never ran one and found out what I am really made of. Not only in my weight loss but just being there when things go completely wrong and pick me up when I fall. I wouldn't have been able to do anything or finish anything that I started without each and everyone of you.  So thank you for that and thanks for helping me keep going.

Until next time. Peace.

"Most of us, swimming against the tides of trouble the world knows nothing about, need only a bit of praise or encouragement- and we will make the goal." - Jerome Fleishman

Memorial Day Weekend and Overnight Stay

Well Memorial Day Weekend is coming to an end and it will be back to the daily grind tomorrow. I had a very good weekend with my little family. We spent a lot of time swimming and visiting. On Friday I went over to my Mom's house to help her with yard work. Saturday we went swimming because the Siloam pool finally opened. Krislynn loved it. We came home for her nap but after she woke up I got to go to Firehouse Subs to have my celebratory Hook and Ladder sub for hitting 185. On Sunday we went over to Mel's grandma's house and stayed the night. She had good food so I ate but very sparingly. I didn't want to ruin my 185 too much. I always have a good time over there because she tells good stories about her growing up and stories about her kids. Monday came and she made a good breakfast. We ended up back at the pool with Krislynn and again she loved it. We were taking her to the kiddie pool but she wanted to be in the big pool. She like it better and so did we because we were in water that was a little deeper than the kiddie pool and by little bit deeper I mean a lot deeper. Kiddie pool is only 2 foot.

After all that I hope that I have a good weight to start off this week. I get back to my routine tomorrow so my calorie intake will be back to normal. I didn't a chance to weigh today so I will in the morning and let you know where I am. For some reason I am nervous about it because I only have 2 weeks left to get to 180 and I don't want to go to far backward. On the plus side I did run tonight. I went 4.78 miles in 52 minutes. Not too shabby. I haven't ran that far in a while non-stop. I didn't think that I could do it since I hadn't done it in a while. That is one thing that I love about the health and shape that I am now: I can set out to run a certain distance and through determination I can usually hit that mark. I had that route mapped in my head but I didn't know how far it was but I knew that I wanted to finish it. It was a good run. Got to get my mind cleared. Got my mind set back on my goal. My goal this week is 183. If I get there than I will have a little over a week to lose the final 3. I think since it's pretty much crunch time I'm not going to take the weekend off this week. I remember when I was so close to 200. I was at 207 and wanted so bad to lose that final 7 so I ran 4 days in a row 2 miles each day. By the end of the week I was 200. My metabolism and body was working overtime burning calories each day. I want to do that again one last time to get down to my overall goal of 180. I am so close!

On a different note. It's Memorial Day today and I want to extend a big Thank You to all the veterans and currently serving military men and women who defend this country. I know this day was created for remember fallen soldiers but I know many people also recognize those who have passed that weren't in the military. Today I thought about Jarrod a lot. All the good times we had and good hikes. I'm trying not to think about that day anymore of when he passed but more of his life when he lived. I remember playing video games with him and playing golf. We talked about the bachelor/LAN party we had for Colin the other day in the tech office and all of us could only think of the funny stuff Jarrod did that night. He was so funny that night and made that night a blast. I knew it was going to be a good night when we were already drunk and I started cooking burgers on the grill and he was giving me crap about my cooking. He kept saying your going to burn them, that's not how you cook burgers, you want me to do it? It was a blast.

Well I hope you all had a good Memorial Day and I hope you didn't just think it was a day off from work and actually remembered what the day is actually for. Well I will let you know where I am jumping off from tomorrow morning. Wish me luck! Until next time. Peace

"When you hit that proverbial wall, don't waste energy on how to get around it or how to get over it, instead use your energy to run straight through it." - Brandon Thompson

Old picture of Old me

So the other night I was doing my Facebook timeline since I want to be like everyone else. I was going through and found a picture of myself in 2009. I find it crazy when I see pictures of myself back then. To see what I was before I lost weight is astounding to say the least. I don't regret a single minute of my life before I started to  become healthy. I look at pictures like this as more of a reminder of what I once was and the road I was traveling down. I see myself now as being a whole lot healthier and happier because I can do so much that I couldn't do back then. But everyone has a starting point. Everyone has that person that they once were and now they are the person they want to be. In order to grow you have to change.

Well here is the picture, don't mind the alcoholic beverages being passed around! I think this is the same night that Marvin almost knocked me out with a knee to the face. Good times! I have worked so hard to be where I am now and back then, I didn't have the motivation to do what I do. But having a child and the doctor telling me I was on the road to diabetes pretty much changes everything. You figure out certain things about yourself. You find what your limit is and you pass it. I love this picture because it was very good times that we always have when we get together but it's also a reminder of who I once was physically.

I weighed this morning and I can for sure say I ended this week at 185. I ran last night and mowed our valley. I had to do something last night because I won't get a chance to run tonight. I'm going over to my mom's house to help her with some yard work. Then it's Memorial day weekend. I seriously have to watch myself this weekend but I will also be swimming a lot so that is a workout in itself so I should be fine. Hopefully my wife takes me to Firehouse subs since I hit 185 and that is my reward. Next up is Dairy Deal and I have two weeks-ish to lose the final 5. I'm so close and so happy that I am.

Until next time. Peace.

"First, say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do." - Epictetus

Goal Met and BBall

I am at 185 pounds!!! That is awesome!!! I set out a goal at the beginning of the week and with hard work I hit it. I still have 2 days left this week so with more hard work I might be under that but definitely happy about hitting 185. That brings the tally up to 138 pounds all together lost. Wow! I'm so close to the 140 pounds lost mark and even closer to the overall goal. Once it is all said and done I will be at 143 pounds lost and weigh 180. I can't wait! 5 more pounds.

My sister project ran at JBU yesterday and she did really good. She only stopped once but I think it's because I stayed at her pace instead of leaving her behind. You tend to run better if you have someone next to you pushing you a little bit. I'm still teaching her about breathing but her legs are already getting stronger. She did a hill that she couldn't do last time we ran there.

After that we played basketball. Pretty good games yesterday. I'm still trying to post up and have learned a few post moves but I'm still not great at them. I finally got some shots down in the post to fall but I like shooting from mid-range and passing the ball to players with open looks. I need to work on my ball handling. I seem to not catch the ball when it's passed to me down in the post because I'm already thinking about the shot I want to do or how to get deeper in the post for an easy layup. My mind isn't on catching the ball and it needs to be first. I will start working on that part so I don't make as many turnovers by me not being able to catch it.

185...that is awesome. Well I think it's time for some coffee and the morning chat. Until next time. Peace.

"If I've got correct goals, and if I keep pursuing them the best way I know how, everything falls into line. If I do the right thing right, I'm going to succeed." - Dan Dierdorf

Running Like a Madman

Yesterday was running day and man did I run! I told you that I was going to work harder than I ever have before to lose this last remaining 8 pounds. I wanted to be at 185 by Friday so my goal is still set. My sister project day to run was yesterday so instead of driving to her apartment I ran to it. That was a challenge because 1: dogs 2: big hill 3: it was hot! You run faster when you think dogs are going to attack you. The hill I am referring to is a lot bigger than I thought it was. I toughed it out though and completed my run to her apartment. The hill was at the end of the run to her apartment so my legs are already getting a little tired. It was 1.45 miles to her apartment and I ran it in 14.44.

Now that I was there it was time to run with her. Now when we run she still has to take breaks but she is running longer distances than when she started so the breaks aren't that long anymore. Where we run we start on a hill and obviously on the way back we finish on a hill. She hates it but it will get her legs into better shape than running on level routes. It is a 2 mile run round trip. She did good again and actually wanted to run up the last hill to get it over with. Once she ran a little ways up she wanted to slow down but I told her it was her choice to run so she had to finish it running hard and she did! So that was the 2 mile round trip on the sister project.

Once back at her apartment I got a drink of water and she asked if I wanted a ride back to my house. I guess I had a certain look on my face that said "No, I'm going to run back." She knew that a ride was not going to happen. I took another drink of water and took off running back to the house. Another 1.45 miles back and I did it in 15.02. The way back was a nice run. The hill was right at the beginning of the run and it was downhill so that made it better but I knew that at the end of this leg of the run I would be face Robbie's Hill. I dreaded it. I did a good pace all the way to my turn off and once I turned left onto the final stretch of road to my house there was Robbie's Hill waiting on me. The slow incline up to the hill makes my legs burn then actually hitting the hill I have to concentrate on breathing and putting one foot in front of the other and beating that voice in my head that tells me to stop. That is the hardest part because it is just so easy to stop. After all the running I have done I still have to battle that little voice but it rarely wins and it didn't this time. I got on top of the hill and sprinted the last small stretch back to my driveway. I was tired!

I went inside and drank some Vitamin Water Zero to get some electrolytes back in me and sat down. It was a good day of running!

I weighed this morning and I am now at 186!!! So close to my goal for this week and even closer to my overall goal!!! Now I have seen 186 before but it was on a Friday and the weekend ruined it. Now it's on a Tuesday and I have the rest of the week to build on it. I should be able to meet and exceed my goal. I still have two days of running ahead of me. 6 pounds left.

Until next time. Peace.

"Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude." - Thomas Jefferson

188 and counting

Well my jump off point for this week is 188. I am going to work as hard as I ever have to be at 185 by the end of the week. I'm going to go back to my distance running again. That was the biggest part of the weight loss I did because it seemed to go off faster when I ran longer. 8 pounds to go.

Weekend is over and back to the grind and hard work. You know this last 10 pounds has been so hard to lose. I don't know if it's because I know I'm so close to being at the end of my weight loss challenge or if it's because I have been so relaxed when it comes to it. My mindset has changed dramatically from when I first started to now but it is sometimes a bad thing. You see I have never had a good metabolism. Now that I have one I feel on the weekends that I can go ahead and eat whatever I want, not a lot of it, but whatever I want because I know that I can lose the poundage in the upcoming week. That is a downfall that I need to get rid of. Yeah I might be able to burn those pounds off in a week but it's because of this thinking that I have stalled on this last 10 pounds I think. I am realizing now that I need to stay close to my weight that I had on Friday all the way to Monday so I can still work on getting down to 180. That way I don't have to work harder to lose more pounds than I have too. Instead of going overboard this weekend and having to get myself back to 187 this week instead of building on it I only gained 1 pound and that is great. Now I can start there and work to get to my goal weight by my goal date. I'm going back to my love of distance running because I have found my pace again and can run "My Run" all I want. Here we go for this week. Bring it on!!!

Until next time. Peace.

"Life's battles don't always go to the strongest or fastest man, but sooner or later the man who wins is the fellow who thinks he can."

Daddy/Daughter Weekend

This weekend has been fun! My wife went to Branson with most of the women in her family and that left Krislynn and myself all alone this weekend. We went to the park and watched Harry Potter. My cousin from Texas came up and visited and my Mom came over last night. So we weren't entirely alone yesterday.

The best part of the weekend was getting to go to the park with her and playing as much as she wanted. On Saturday we went to the park in Siloam Springs and she play for about 2 hours. She loves to slide but once she was tired of that we walked around the park for a long time. She chased a duck. Then today, Sunday, we went to the park in Gentry. She played for another 2 hours there, mainly in the sand pits under the swings. It was good that we got to do this because I feel that I don't spend enough time with her alone. She has her momma during the day and she teaches her so much and when I get home there is something new she is saying or doing. I like to teach her things but mainly I like to play with her. Getting her out of the house and playing at the park is my favorite. I love her and her momma so much. They are my world and I will do anything to make sure they are taken care of.

I have been watching what I eat this weekend as well. We had pizza last night because there was a lot of people here but that's fine. It was good and Krislynn loves pizza. Today I took her to get a sausage biscuit before we went to the park which is her favorite breakfast aside from Turkey bacon, she tears that stuff up.

I will weigh in the morning to see where my jump off point is for the week. I hope it is still 187 because then I should be under 185 by Friday and will have a little over 2 weeks to lose 5 pounds. I'm getting so close I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. One thing that is helping me a lot is my sister project. Knowing I run with her again is keeping me on my diet which is what I needed.

Well that is the update for Daddy/Daughter weekend. Until next time. Peace.

"A daughter is the happy memories of the past, the joyful moments of the present, and the hope and promise of the future." - Anonymous

Sister Project and Relapse.

Well the sister project finally ran yesterday and she did good! We went from the tattoo shop in Gentry back to her apartment. We went 1.84 miles. All together she ran a little over a mile but it was still in increments. She still had to stop a few times but they were for shorter periods of time. We are getting closer and closer to her not having to stop or at least stopping only once or twice and that's it. It was a good run even though it was hot.

I weighed again this morning. 187. That makes me pretty happy. Plus I run again tonight for missing a day this week. My goal this weekend is to keep that weight until Monday so I can start at a good weight next week. If so I might hit my mark sooner than June 9th which would be great. At 185 I get to have Firehouse subs, at 180 I get Dairy Deal one more time for a while. Once at 180 I will up my calories a bit so I can maintain that weight. Then I will seriously start on weight training and toning up. It's awesome to lose all this weight but all the extra skin needs to be tightened so it's not so flabby.

On a side note, I watched Deadliest Catch last night, which is one of my favorite shows ever, and on preview last week it showed one of the guys on the Wizard having a medical emergency. From what I seen I thought he fell overboard which is horrible. All they showed was the guys working on him. We finally watched that episode and like I said I was expecting him to go overboard but he started complaining about his right arm hurting and tingling in his shoulder blades. He was having trouble breathing and felt like he was going to pass out. The took him in and he started convulsing. It was at this point I broke down. I tried to watch and hold in everything but I couldn't. Everything started coming back to me like a rush of emotions. I had to turn away from the show and gather myself. My wife was looking at me but she knew that I was feeling. This always happens when I see stuff like this. It immediately takes me back to the day of the hike with Jarrod. I would calm down and slowly look back at the TV and I seen how the guys was holding his arms to his chest and his hands weren't fully clenched. His legs were shaking and I had to turn away again. This time I had tears coming down my face. All this time has passed and I thought that I had come to grips with what happened but apparently I haven't. I thought I was stronger than this but I'm not. I still break down or have flash backs when I see things that remind me of how Jarrod looked on the ground and everything that was happening to him. That episode was one of the worst things I have seen since and it was worse because it was real happening to this guy and everything that happened to him I seen that day in the woods. I wonder if I will ever get over it. All I know is even though people say it gets easier it hasn't yet.

But I have to go on with my life as usual. For my wife and daughter. I'm getting closer to my goal weight which is exciting to me. All this hard work is going to pay off in the end. And in the end you have to still "Live Until You Don't." And I'm definitely trying to do just that. Until next time. Peace.

"We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey." - Kenji Miyazawa

Golf Outing and B-Ball

Hello my readers. Well I had a company golf outing yesterday. We sponsored an event for the Boys and Girls Club of Benton County at Razorback Golf Course in Fayetteville, AR. I took some guys from the casino with me and we had a blast!!! We set out with 2 goals in mind. 1: No bogeys all day. 2: Shoot 8 under par. You can check both of those goals off because we did both! But we should have aimed a little higher than that because 14 under won the tournament. We didn't do good on the par 3's or par 5's but we still had fun. Now I'm back to the grind of work. A nice little break in the middle of the week though makes it go by that much faster.

Yesterday after golf was Basketball day!!! It was hot as hell!!! We had enough for 4 on 4 for a little bit and my team go beat both times. We played 1 game of 3 on 3 and my team won that on but it was a really good game. One of the best we have played. We would take the lead by 1 then they would hit a 2 and take the lead by 1. We play where you have to win by 2 but we just couldn't seem to get there but we finally did. Good times.

My sister project hasn't ran this week but we are making up for it tonight. I am going to run her a little further than normal. Then tomorrow she leaves for the weekend so I am going to run again tomorrow night after work to make up for me not running yesterday.

I weighed this morning and I am at 188. Feel pretty good about that. This weekend is just me and my daughter so I should be able to watch what I eat for sure. I think Saturday night I will get pizza for us but only enough for us to eat so maybe a small pizza or medium, haven't decided that yet. We may go to the park as well on Saturday so I will get a workout chasing her around. Then possible Subway for lunch or just sandwiches and Ramen. That sounds so good and it's her favorite! We should have a good weekend.

Well it's time for coffee and chat time. Until next time. Peace.

"The goal you set must be challenging. At the same time, it should be realistic and attainable, not impossible to reach. It should be challenging enough to make you stretch, but not so far that you break." - Rick Hansen

Back to Basics and Thunder vs Lakers

Well I got a good run in today. I noticed that I need to get back to my distance running style. Need to slow down the speed side of what I'm doing. I can go a lot further if I get back to my distance running pace. About 11 minute miles is just right for me. Any faster than I tend to burn my legs out quicker. I need to do that especially because I'm getting back to basics so to say. Running is what got me to where I am now and running will get me to my goal weight. I will still play basketball because I love it but I'm going back to basics. Run, run, run. Eat good and run and I will hit my goal weight and date. So get ready to read my about running and not so much about anything else.

The sister project hit a snag tonight. She overslept but I told her to do some jumping jacks to make up for not running. I hope she did them. We will pick up running again on Wednesday.

Tonight is Game 1 of the Thunder vs. Lakers West Semifinals. I have been looking forward to this match up since the playoff started. It's halftime as I write this and the score is 59 - 44 Thunder. So far so good. They look like they haven't had 8 days off. It's going to be a good series.

Well I'm going to finish watching basketball and write a little bit on my book. I have some news that I won't spill yet because if it doesn't pan out then I don't want to get our hopes up. But if everything goes good, it will be pretty cool. If you want to know what it is and know me personally I will tell you if you ask but other than that I am keeping it pretty close to the chest right now. Once it does pan out I will let you know on here.

Until next time. Peace

"Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors. Try to be better than yourself." - William Faulkner

Busy Weekend and Goal Date

Well the weekend is over now and back to the daily grind and routine of trying to hit 180. I was at 189 on Friday and I told myself I would be happy if I was at 190 on Monday. I had the Strawberry Festival and a  birthday party on Saturday and Mother's Day on Sunday. My mom had mentioned that she wanted to go to the buffet at the Casino and immediately I was nervous because I love the buffet. But I did okay, not good but okay. I weighed this morning and I was at 191 even. It's not 194 like it was last Monday so I'm not upset at all. Gives me a good starting point for this week. I should comfortably be under 190 by week's end. We are going back to Branson on June 9th for the day and I told my wife that that is my goal date to be a 180. I have been pretty nonchalant with this weight loss deal this year because I have had the attitude that "I will hit 180 sometime this year." So I haven't been buckled down on it because I didn't set a date or anything. I just said "I will hit 180 in 2012." Kind of a broad goal but it gave me an entire year. Well I'm tired of going between the high 180's and the low 190's. So I set a date finally. Now I have to do everything I can to hit that Date. Give's me about 1 month-ish to drop the remaining 10 pounds or so. I haven't missed a goal I have set yet except for my half marathon but that is on hold and I will do that, but first things first. That means I need to start writing on my book that I am working on about how I got to where I am. Remember, when I hit 180, I will put up what I have on here for you to read. All 13 of my blog viewers.

June 9th, 2012: I will be at 180. That is my goal and date to hit it. It's time to do more hard work to make sure I get there. I will have to restructure my weekend meals to help my goal along. No matter where we eat at on the weekends I will eat healthy. The date is set and now the goal must be hit. Here we go!!!

Until next time! Peace.

"Goals in writing are dreams with deadlines." - Brian Tracy

To Grandma's house we go

Well I still weigh 189 and I thought I would be below that because of all the activity I did yesterday but I wasn't. I'm not mad though because 189 is not 194 which is where I started this week. Not a lot of stuff happened today at work. It was after work that I was looking forward too. We went over to my Grandma's house tonight and we took pizza. My mom brought subs and it was good to visit with my family. My Grandma hasn't been feeling well lately so we wanted to go over there and try to lift her spirits a little bit. She said she is doing better but still recovering from her issue. I'm like the OU Sooners because I don't discuss details of injuries or illness's to the public. She will be fine.

Threw a softball around tonight with my uncle and my sister's boyfriend. That was fun but I don't have arm strength so I was more or less one hopping when they could throw it all the way. And that's why I never played sports because it always seemed that I just couldn't do things as good as everyone else. But that's fine, I still like playing just to play. Like basketball, I'm no Russell Westbrook or Chris Paul, but I play for the fun and exercise.

Like I said, other than going to Grandma's house not a lot went on today. My legs are doing good, thought they would be dead but I finished my last 3 day workout of Air Alert tonight so they get to rest this weekend and I start back up on Monday. Hopefully I can get a run in with my sister at some point tomorrow or this weekend. My schedule is packed but like the saying goes: "If you are too busy to run, you are too busy." Always got to find time. Even if it's just 20 minutes or so.

Until next time. Peace.

"It's very hard in the beginning to understand that the whole idea is not to beat the other runners. Eventually you learn that the competition is against the little voice inside you that wants to quit." - George Sheehan
(That's one of my favorite quotes and that is directed too all of you who are starting out with exercising. This pertains to not only running but doing whatever it is you do to exercise. Don't stop because your body wants you too, only stop when you succeed at what you are doing.)

No Legs Tomorrow...I hope that's not true!!!

Today was again Basketball Day!!! Didn't play a lot of games. Some of our core group wasn't there today but still had enough for 4 on 4. I didn't win a single game. Sad day. But before basketball I took my sister to the JBU track around the campus. I'm not quite sure how far it is around but it's a good workout. She did good again and is getting her legs back under her. She still had to stop a few times but at the end I gave her a choice of either running down a pretty good sized hill and running back up it to finish or running down the same hill and finishing on the 100 stairs at JBU. She chose the stairs and she completed them. Pretty proud of that.

After basketball and running I had to come home and finish my yard work. After I got that done I came in and ate some grilled chicken then went down to the shop and did my Air Alert. Productive day but man my legs are sore! And I still have 1 more day of Air Alert tomorrow!!! I love the challenge though. My legs will get over being sore and I will work through it tomorrow night but luckily I will have nothing else but Air Alert tomorrow.

I weighed this morning like usual and I was quite surprised. I weighed 192 yesterday and this morning I weighed 189. That's pretty good. Guess my metabolism needed to splurge like I did this weekend. One of my friends told me one time that if you intake a lot of calories for a couple of days it sparks your metabolism to burn as much as possible. Plus with all the activity I have been doing it's no wonder my metabolism is going like crazy right now. It also helps that I'm eating super healthy again as well.

Well that is all I have for now. I will blog again tomorrow and let you know how my legs are doing. I hope I didn't over do it. I am having slight pain in my left calf. Hopefully it's just something minor that won't sideline me. Until next time. Peace.

"He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life." - Muhammad Ali

Normal Day...so to say

My update this morning was to let you know what happened yesterday. This is about today. I weighed this morning and already dropped 2 pounds. I'm at 192 and back on the way to my goal. No big trips or anything in the foreseeable future so I should be able to get back down to 187 easily and possibly further by the end of the month.

Today was about mowing and Air Alert. The first of 3 days of Air Alert in a row. Tomorrow is Basketball day and of course I can't wait. The countdown started at 4pm today. 24 hours to go when I got off work. Before basketball though I'm going to run again with my sister and keep up that project. Big workout day tomorrow for sure. Running, Basketball and then Air Alert. I just realized as I typed Air Alert 3 times now that I may have been calling it the wrong name now. It's not Air Affects it's Air Alert. Interesting. Well anyway I did my workout tonight and it was killer! It's been kicked up a notch and the sets contain more reps now. I made it through but I was dripping sweat. It was a good workout. I pushed myself on one of the exercises that kills me every time but I got through it.

I got to give someone who is also trying to get healthy some advice today. It makes me feel good that someone would want me to help them and I am very welling to help anybody who wants me to. The biggest part of any type of diet or exercise program is dedication. You have to be willing to make the changes necessary to reach you goals. You are the only person that can do that and you are the only one who can make you fail. Once you have the mindset to want to make the changes you can do whatever you want. After that it's hard work but in the end it's worth it. Hopefully the person I gave advice too will use it and I hope it will her to get to where she wants to be. Good luck!!!

Well that is all tonight. I will weigh again in the morning and have a pretty good workout tomorrow after work that I'm pretty excited about. Until next time. Peace

"It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness."

Food and Consequences

Well I completely forgot to blog last night so I am making up for it this morning. I know some of you are wondering the damage I did in Branson. Well I dreaded the scale yesterday morning. I finally stepped on it after staring at it for a while. Ready for this? Wait for it............................................................194!!! OMG! I was shocked and dissapointed at myself for getting back up to a weight I didn't want to see again. But I took 194 and decided I can set there and be mad at myself for ruining the weight I was before Branson or I can work to make 194 disappear so I chose the latter. I knew that the "Sister Project" was starting yesterday so I went to work and went back to the old routine. The old routine that got me to 194 in the first place from 323. So the beginning of hard work started.

When I got home I changed my clothes and went over to my sister's apartment which is like a stone's throw away from my house. I told her that we were going to run the road she lives on which is a road I have ran plenty of times before. I told her where 1 mile is so round trip would be 2 miles. We started off and I have to say she did pretty good for being out of the program for a little while. I didn't expect her to finish the whole route but she went further than I thought she would. We had to stop every once in a while be that's fine because after each stop I would make her sprint to a point to make up for the stop. The last part of the mile is a pretty good sized hill. I had her save her legs for that hill and made her go all the way to the top without stopping. I told her even if she has to slow to a snail's pace to keep her legs moving and don't walk. She finished the hill and it took us 30 minutes to complete the 2 miles. In time we will be able to complete 2 miles without stopping. I told her eventually I want her to run a 5k with me to give her a goal to work towards. Day one is the books so hopefully she will stick with me so we can get her back to being healthy again.

My wife's family lost a great woman yesterday as well. Her name was Betty. She made such an impact on me because of how welcoming and loving she was to us. Especially my daughter. It was as if she had another Grandma. Every time we would go down to Grandma Dixie's, Betty would make me chili and I don't know if anyone else can make it any better than she did. It was delicious. She always said that she could make 2 alarm chili if I wanted but she never got the chance. She will be missed. R.I.P. Betty. Go on high and outshine the sun.

Well I do Air Affects tonight for 3 days in a row. Looking forward to it. Until next time. Peace

Death by Buffet: Branson Vacay

Well you know how I said that I needed to watch what I ate this weekend and how that I wanted to stay around 187 after this weekend? Well you can throw that out the window!!! I did horrible this weekend and it was GLORIOUS!!! I ate at buffet's twice for breakfast and my favorite burger place in Branson. I dread what I will weigh in the morning but I told my wife I would be fine with 190 but that might be an optimistic number. It was great though. I knew after the first breakfast buffet it was over because I remembered how much I love eating! Good times.

Now I'm back home and back on the road to the goal but this time I have a partner. My sister wants to be my project so to say. She used to run and workout with me when I first started my diet last year and we kind of fell off the diet bus and we didn't workout together anymore. Now she wants to start up again to get back to being healthy. She was well on her way to weight loss last year when she was running with me and I know I can get her back on the right track. After I get her back to the Darkside with me my wife wants me to help her as well. She wants to see how my sister project works out then she wants to try. I can't wait to hopefully help two of the best people in my life.

Tomorrow starts anew with new challenges and new projects with goals in mind. I will track my sister's progress on here as well but for obvious reasons I won't reveal her weight because she will kill me. I will just let you know how she is doing. So if she wonders off the track I will let everyone who reads this know that she isn't helping me help her.

We start running tomorrow but I personally have a challenging week ahead. Monday - Run, Tuesday - Air Alert, Wednesday - Run/Basketball/Air Alert, Thursday - Air Alert, and finally Friday - Run. With all that my Branson weight should be gone or at least I will be close to where I was before I went on vacation. I will update tomorrow with my post-buffet weight and we will see how far I have to go to 180. Back to doing work.

Until next time. Peace.

"Always value the miles you have ran and who you have ran them with."

Small setback but worth it.

I didn't blog last night so..dun dun dunnnnn...I will be blogging twice today. I was to busy watching the Thunder whoop up on Dallas last night. I weighed this morning and I'm at 187. Boo! But weight fluctuates all the time so I'm not down about it at all. I went and mowed my wife's grandma's lawn last night which I have started doing every Thursday and she had a cake made and it was delicious. Just a yellow cake but something about any grandma's cooking is well worth it because it's always so delicious!

We leave for Branson tonight and will be back on Sunday and I have to admit I'm a little worried. Weekends are always my nemesis. Food is readily available and I always seem to eat more than I need to on weekends. Throw a weekend trip into that and I have to really watch what I eat. I don't want to mess up the weight I have been working so hard to achieve. I think everything will be fine and as long as I come back home at 187 I will be happy because that is a good weight to jump off next week. I just have to watch all the fried food that will be around me this weekend. I will have a water bottle with me all day everyday so when I get that urge to eat, I will drink water. That's a trick I do all the time because usually you aren't hungry but dehydrated and your body is telling you to drink. Cool trick and it works.

Well I'm going to go have my morning coffee and chat. Until....tonight actually! I will update after I do Air Affects in the condo tonight. Peace

Basketball Day!!!!

I love basketball day. Sitting at work contemplating how many people are going to show up for basketball. Counting down the hours until basketball. Then basketball comes and goes. I love it although I'm not as good as everyone else I am learning some basics that are helping me out tremendously. I am a work in progress you could say. I do some good things and I do some horribly bad things but it's all fun. I had a pretty good team today. I had a pretty good team last week as well. We lost 1 game today out of about 6 or 7 I think. We ran the court for a while before we lost. We went an ate at La Hacienda tonight as well and it was delicious! I get a dinner called El Sinaloa. It's grilled chicken, lettuce, tortillas, rice and beans. I eat only half the rice and beans as usual and two tortillas with grilled chicken and lettuce inside. It's so good! Then I came home and did Air Alert. I have a feeling that I will have no legs tomorrow but tomorrow is a rest day so that's fine. Good day today.

I was kind of dreading getting on the scale this morning because of everything I ate last night but I still weighed 187!!! That makes me happy and I know I didn't ruin anything and I can still build on that weight. Well that is about all now. I'm going to finish watching basketball........yeah.....I like basketball!!!!

Until next time.

"It doesn't matter if you finish first, middle of the pack or last, as long as you can say you finished. That's all that matters."

Another day in my life

This morning I weighed 187. I haven't see 187 yet so I was pretty excited about it....but.....we grilled out this evening and my family came over so I'm pretty sure 187 will not be what I weigh in the morning! But that's okay because it was good and I play basketball tomorrow and I do air alert tomorrow night. The air alert is a hell of a workout. I was dripping sweat the other night and it was only 15 minutes long. Hopefully after the 15 weeks of it I will have a better speed burst and be close to dunking a basketball. That would be so crazy that I could potentially dunk! But we are a long way away from that. Taking it day to day. I got some new music from my little brother so I'm going to load it on my phone and listen to it while watching some basketball. Until tomorrow. I will have more to write because of basketball and air alert workouts. Peace...


P.S. I love strawberries and angel food cake with sugar free cool whip and fat free ice cream!!! It's the little things that keep me going!