I love this bit from his most recent blog entry:

After changing my insurance and paying the copay, I waited for the doctor, and eventually went into the exam room.  When the doctor arrived, I told him about everything I have been doing, including the fact I had lost nearly 15 lbs in 3 weeks, despite still posting a gain since my last visit 6 months ago.  I told him about my lifestyle changes, and he in turn told me my blood pressure was the lowest and most normal it had ever been on one of my visits:  115 over something.

After weighing both my history, and me promising I would continue my healthy ways, he agreed to let me discontinue the use of one of the blood pressure medicine’s aI had been taking since 2007 – Metroprolol.  This was great news for two reasons:  first, hey, I’m off one drug finally!  Second, a couple of months ago Metroprolol went from a tier 1 to a tier 3 medication, increasing my part of the payment from about $10 to $60.

Focusing on his health for just three weeks allowed him to come off of his medication. If that isn’t inspiration I don’t know what is. Troy, I’m with you buddy. My first goal? To run 10 miles this week.

A few steps backward, a few steps forward. The last two weeks have been pretty much a wash – but I’m glad that I’m back on track and headed in the right direction – down.

This week I weighed in, again, at 200lbs. The same as I did on January 18th. So I’ve lost the 2 pounds that I had gained. However, this week is Super Bowl week (and my favorite team the Pittsburgh Steelers are in it). So while my expectations for weight loss this week are low my motivation is high to have a good week (besides Sunday). I’m also traveling to Florida for MagicRuby but I’m a veteran of traveling while on a diet and should do just fine.

Oh, and just for posterity I’m not doing very well on the exercise front at all. I have all of these aspirations to be doing more in that area and I’m simply not. I have a few excuses like time and weather but really, when it comes down to it, I just need to find the motivation to start – as that is the hardest part.

What really matters is the long term goal. Having a week setback can really mess with people’s heads. I’ve seen it tons of times. Someone gains weight during their diets, even only a few pounds, and they panic. There is no need to panic. You will have a bad week here and there during what should be a long process of losing weight and maintaining your goal weight. The way to dig out of it is to focus on the long term goal and on your successes. Here’s how.

I gained 2lbs. this week and so now I weigh 202lbs. However, I’m down a total of 18 pounds since I started (6 of those pounds were lost in January alone). I’m feeling great. And I’m back on track to be down 3 pounds this week and could weigh under 200 pounds for the first time since May 2009 next Tuesday. I’m really excited about that.

See, focus on the long term goal and the successes you’ve had. Then, when things are in perspective, you can truly evaluate your progress. Overall I’m doing really, really well and this 2 pound weight gain for the week is almost meaningless in the scheme of things.

Today I weigh 200lbs. for a loss this week of 4 pounds. The second best week on this second-round of The Diet since the first! I couldn’t be more happy with this result. I’ve been very good on my diet this week and – due to a little snow – got a few extra “workouts” in the form of shoveling. Hey, I count everything and every little bit helps.

I feel great. Dropping 20 pounds in 35 days makes me feel like I have actually put a 20 pound weight down and simply continued on with my day. Especially on the basketball court. I play basketball for about 4 hours every Monday night. Even when I was at my heaviest I did this. However, when I was over 220 pounds I would be able to give “OK” energy for the first 2 hours and then it went downhill from there. But now, even only half way to my goal, I am able to be at high-energy nearly the entire time. Last night I think only my last two games my legs felt like they were finished for the evening.

I do not expect the next 20 pounds to come off as “easily” as these first 20 pounds have. So I’m going to be doing three P90X routines per week to help increase my cardio and my calorie burn. Oh, and I secretly hope for a bit of snow so that I can shovel and burn even more.

Don’t forget to check in to see how the other dieters did.

However, that is no excuse for not working out. So, with me being a little more lax on the number of calories I took in, drinking a few beers, and burning a lot less calories – I ended up only losing 1 pound this week. I now weigh in at 204lbs.

I’m not completely upset. A loss is a loss. But I really didn’t want to have “a bad week” on this round of the diet but here it is. I hope this is my worst week as I want to make up for this past week during this next one. My goal remains 3lbs. per week and, on average, I’m still above that at just above 4+lbs. per week so far. But that could quickly fade away.

So, no more resting. I’m planning to have my best week of exercise yet and plan on being down 3lbs. next week. Maybe I’ll even get to 200? We’ll see.

Don’t forget to check in with everyone else on The Diet!

My exercise routine was very thin this week. I need to make it a goal to do something active for at least 30 minutes every single day. I can’t always count on the weather cooperating, especially in the winter, with me wanting to get outside. The only exercise I got this week was 1 session of basketball and 1 session of P90X. My goal for this week is to fill in the gaps of my week with a little something active each day.

I’ve lost 2lbs. this week which means I now weigh 208lbs. I’m happy with this number. I’m not happy I missed my goal but last week I said I wanted to be 207 and I’m 208 – no reason to cry over a pound or to get discouraged. Instead, I’ll make a plan of attack for this week to reach my goal of losing 3.3lbs per week.

You see, each pound I lose represents about 3,500 calories burned or simply not consumed during the course of the week. That is, if my metabolism is working correctly. Right now my body is reacting to the fact that I’m eating less and on a schedule. When my weight began to drop my body through up an alarm tell it to store some fat because obviously food isn’t coming by as easily as it had before. So, my metabolism is slower this week than it was last week (in theory I’m no doctor).

So what is my plan? Besides the 30 minutes (at least) per day of something active I need to jump start my metabolism again. For the first few weeks on this diet I’ve been eating at a regular schedule – 8am, 12pm, and 5pm. This week I’m going to double the amount of times I eat (but eat only small amounts). This will make my body think that I have a ready supply of food and that there is no need to store fat. I hope.

A few other tactics that I’m going to try is to increase my water intake. By drinking the right amount of water every day you actually burn more calories. I think it has something to do with your cells being able to take in energy and getting rid of energy easier if they have the right amount of water. Also, getting enough sleep can help you to lose weight. My sleep schedule this week wasn’t great. I’m going to see if I can get 8hrs. a night this week.

With all of these small adjustments combined: eat more often but the same number of calories, do something active for at least 30 minutes per day, drink the right amount of water, and get a good night’s rest – I know I’ll meet or beat my goal for next week. That is, to be at 205lbs.

The results for this week are very, very good. The first pounds of any diet are the “easiest” to lose – in my experience. It isn’t that it is easy to turn away temptations of food and beer the entire week, or the temptation to sit back on the couch and snack, or to just continually raid the fridge from the time I get up until I go to sleep. However, the first week is generally always a decent amount of weight loss. In 2006 I lost 7 pounds in the first week. So, how much did I lose this time?

I’m happy to report that I’ve lost 10 pounds in the first week on The Diet. I now weigh exactly 210lbs. This is extremely motivating but also I take this weigh in with a small grain of salt. Weight fluctuates and the first week is always a good week if you do well on your diet – so I expect next week’s weigh in to not be nearly as dramatic.

My goal for this week is to be down 3.3lbs or to weigh in at 207 pounds next week. During this first week I did very little exercise (2 sessions of playing basketball and one 3-mile walk in the freezing cold with Eliza). I’m going to try to work out at least 3 times this week, in addition to my normal basketball schedule, and to jog at least 3 miles. I’ll try to bring all of these numbers up each week going forward.

How does this week’s weight loss work into my goal? My goal was to lose 40 pounds in 12 weeks. This week I had the goal of only losing 3.3lbs (which is a good, solid week of weight loss on any diet) but I’ve managed to drop 10lbs. Since it took me 16 weeks to lose 40 pounds the last time I dieted I figure I just dropped 2 weeks off of that number in the first week. So, I’m on track to beat the 16 weeks. Can I make 12?

Tim Ferriss (whom I’ve mentioned that I met and shared a meal with once), the author of The 4-hour Work Week (which was great and is worth the read), has a brand new book called The 4-hour Body.

It is getting a lot of buzz this week and Tim even put together a pretty killer “trailer” for the book. Don’t be surprised if you see this video and other promotions by Tim on just about every single website you visit on the Web – he’s that good at marketing.

Ordered.

Lets get this out of the way; I’m currently 220 pounds. The last time I did The Diet in 2006 I was able to get to my goal weight in 16 weeks. After going through my weigh-ins I realized that I didn’t lose any weight a few of those weeks due to bad behavior. So my goal for this time around is to get to my goal weight in less than 16 weeks. My actual goal is 12 weeks but we’ll see how it goes. With that goal in mind it means I’d need to lose 3.3 pounds per week. That means burning or simply not taking in about 10,000 calories per week. Not impossible but not that easy with a desk job either. I’ll need to be super good.

So my goal for next week is to be at 216.something pounds.

I think it is interesting to look back at my mental state in 2006 and compare it to my mental state right now. An example of this would be my anxiety about running. In 2006 it took me three months, or 12 weeks into The Diet, before I could run 1 mile. This time around I can run a mile without even thinking about it. In fact, I’m going to begin my running routine at 3 and 6 mile runs a few times a week. In 2006 it was all my mental state holding me back. I had been fat for about 6 years at that point and didn’t think I could run. Now I know that even if you are a little bit overweight running isn’t all that hard to do. In fact, it is easy.

So I’m looking forward to this round on The Diet for many reasons and one of them is that I’m in a much better mental state to take this challenge on and chances are I’ll be able to meet or beat my goals with ease. And that will be very motivating.

As always with The Diet I’m inviting others to join me. So if you want to participate simply weigh in every Tuesday in some way – Twitter, Facebook, your blog. You don’t have to tell the world your actual weight if you’re sensitive about that (though I recommend it) but it would be nice to share how much you’ve lost or gained to keep yourself accountable to the group.

This is what I said were my goals for the week were last week.

“My goals for this week, besides being under 203 pounds, are that I eat much better, drink only 1 night, jog at least 10 miles total for the week, and doing one other active thing this week.”

How did I do? I’m a little under the weather today so I won’t be weighing in today (illness notoriously forces your body to hold water, weighing in may not be accurate). So I’ll find out next week how I really did, but my guess is that I made my goal for this week’s weigh in. I ate a lot better (more often, less calories). I drank two nights instead of one but that is better than four. I jogged just over 9 miles for the week so I was one shy of my goal, however I said I wanted to do “one other active thing this week” but I managed to do four (two P90X routines, basketball, furniture moving).

Overall a fantastic week regardless of how much I actually weigh. Weight isn’t everything.

So, goals for next week: 201 pounds (though I’d love to be under 200), jog 12 miles (an extra 5K), two P90X routines, drink only 1 beer total, less sweets (as I eat a brownie), and basketball.

In other words, you have to cause yourself pain before you get healthier, stronger, faster.

I was thinking about this as I was dealing with soreness during some recent runs. As I was running I thought how odd it was that I had to put myself through pain in order to get healthier. You have to push through pain to force your muscles to heal stronger.

Friend and fellow Viddler team member Jeff Johns, who has run the New York Marathon, has an interesting approach to hills which I think is a great example of dealing with pain to get stronger. He says “I go as fast as I can and slow down on the downhill. I love hills, they present a challenge and the faster I run up them the better I feel. No matter what mile the hill comes at, I run as fast as I can up it.”

This may seem insane, Jeff says he likes the dentist too so maybe he is, but think about how our body is made. Our body is made to adjust and fit our lifestyle (within reason). For example, if you’ve never done 50 pushups in a row you’ll find it is pretty hard. However, you’ll also find that after trying to do 50 pushups in a row for a little while – you’ll be able to do them with little problem in a short amount of time. Running is no exception. That very first mile seems impossible and you may actually feel like you’re going do pass out. But, try it again two days later and you’ll be wondering what all the fuss was about. Within 1 day your body adjusts to running and is actually ready to run a bit further than the first time. Within two or three weeks you’ll be running longer distances than you ever thought possible.

This ability to adjust extends beyond pushups and running. Our metabolism also adjusts to fit our life style. Eat smaller meals more often and your metabolism sores and fat drops. Eat bigger meals less often and your body stores fat for the period of time between meals. Your body tries to do exactly what you ask it to do and then sets itself up better for the next time you ask for the same thing.

The point is, your body adjusts and very quickly.

When you’re running, even for the very first time, think of the pain as a sure sign that your body is working hard to adjust to what you are asking it to do. Obviously you want to be conscience of any injuries you could cause – and your body will tell you very quickly if you’ve injured yourself – but in general a little pain goes a long way. Waking up sore in the morning? That is your body healing itself not just back to what it was but better than it was the day before.

Within 4 runs my body is no longer sore and I’m back up to 6 mile runs at a time without thinking about it. It may take you a few more than that, and that is ok, but remember that when you feel pain you have to learn to hate yourself a bit. Push yourself through that pain knowing that tomorrow that pain will not be there and you’ll be able to do more than you did today. If you push yourself until you feel sore every time you run or exercise you will see dramatic progress.

Now, if you’ll excuse me – I have to go hurt myself. A little.

When I began to jog again last week it took only 1K or so before my lungs were back in stride. I’ve had almost no pain in my lungs since that first 1K (of a 5K run) and I’ve run about 20K since then.

What your lungs remember your legs quickly forget, it would seem. My legs ached after the first jog. For my first jog I went along my usual 5K course, except I did it in reverse. By doing this it sets me up for success because the beginning of the jog is slightly downhill and then it levels out for at least 2.5K straight. This builds my confidence in jogging for a duration of time rather than just distance. Sometimes simply jogging for 15, 20, or 30 minutes straight can be the mental challenge that people face in the beginning. However, the end of the jog is slightly uphill and so that is probably what caused the soreness.

During my second jog my legs were a little sore (three days later) but the soreness really began when I played football on Sunday. Both yesterday and today my legs have been very, very achy. So it will come as no surprise that I did not want to jog today. Well, my head did but my legs didn’t.

However, I’ve recently begun to do something I think is rather novel – whenever I feel uncomfortable about something or don’t want to do something – I do one better, I force myself to do more than I would have otherwise. Have trouble getting up early for work? Get up really early. Have trouble talking in front of a lot of people? Do a presentation in front of hundreds. Don’t want to jog because your legs are a little sore and you’re being a baby about it? Then jog double the distance you had planned on.

So that is what I did. I jogged 10K instead of the 5K I had planned on doing. I knew I could do it because I had done it before but it was still a major mental and physical battle. I almost took a shortcut home 3 separate times. Instead of taking the shortcuts I simply kept going. That is all you can do when you are at that point in a jog and you want to give up, just keep putting one foot in front of the other. With that out of the way, though, I can now focus on improving my 10K time and continue onto 15K within the next few weeks.

By then my legs should remember.

I did well with beginning my exercise routine again though. I ran on Tuesday, Friday, and played football on Sunday. I ran two 5Ks, or 6.2 miles, and had “ok” times for both runs. I have no idea how much exercise I got playing football but I’d be willing to guess it was a much better workout than simply jogging. It was a lot more fun too.

My current weight is, as my goal was, 205 pounds for a loss of two pounds this week. Next week I’d like to be 203 or below. My goal, per week, will continue to be 2 pounds or more (but not much more).

My goals for this week, besides being under 203 pounds, are that I eat much better, drink only 1 night, jog at least 10 miles total for the week, and doing one other active thing this week.

Today I weight exactly the same amount as I did last week; 207lbs. Next week, I won’t.

The Diet has been a huge success for me personally and not just on the scale. I don’t know what my general health would be like today if it wasn’t for the support I received. I know more about dieting than I ever have. I have seen many people lose weight and get healthy. And I’ve been able to share a lot of what I’ve learned with others both through this site and in conversation.

But it has also been an immense challenge for me and I have been unable to keep the weight off for more than a few weeks or a month at a time. I’ve never been as heavy as I was at the first weigh in but I have fluctuated between being about the weight I’d like to be and being a lot heavier than I’d like to be.

Over the weekend I did something that I had always wanted to do but I never took the time to do it. I entered all of my weigh in data into a spreadsheet so that I could track my weight over time. This enabled me to create a chart of all 50+ weigh ins that I’ve done on this site. Here is what it looks like.

Here are some of the things I’ve learned by really drilling down into the data found in this chart.

I lose weight pretty consistently when I want to. If you look at the beginning 25% of that chart (from left to right) you will see that I lost a consistent amount of weight over a fairly long period of time. I did it again towards the middle of the chart and then again nearer to the end. So, I’m able to focus on losing weight for a period but I somehow lose focus and gain some back.

Another thing I’ve learned is that I only lose weight when I’m writing about it each and every week. Weighing in, for me, is obviously paramount to my losing weight on a consistent basis. Any big jumps in weight over the last three years has been due to the fact that I didn’t take the time to weigh in each week. The three biggest spikes in the chart are the result of a lapse of time between public updates on my weight. In late fall 2006 I began to let my weigh ins slide. One or two a month rather than 4 or 5 a month. Then, in mid-Winter 2007 I attacked my weight again bringing it down to reasonable levels before Spring hit. I managed to keep it at a reasonable level through all of Summer 2007 and then BAM!, in Winter 2008 I completely forgot what I was doing and only weighed in once!

I made a huge mistake in 2008 by only weighing in a twice.

Earlier this year I got back up on the horse and began to focus on running rather than only weight. I lost twenty pounds in less than three months. And, for much of the Spring and Summer months, I kept that weight because I was running so much. Then I forgot how much I was enjoying running.

Now it is Fall. And I’m very disappointed to report that I’m back to where I was so many times before. I’m 207 pounds again. I was 207 pounds in March 2009, June 2008, and in July 2006. Each time I’ve been at this weight it has taken me about three months to get near where I want to be. So, today marks day one of that three month period. My goal, as of now, is to get to 180 pounds. This means I want to lose 27 pounds in three months.

My next goal will be to somehow figure out the ultimate solution to keeping the weight off forever. FOREVER. And if that means weighing in each week here on my blog, so be it.

So, as I have said so many times before, see you next week when I’ll be 205 pounds or less. I hope.

Made Fit TV‘s Jennifer DiDonato is an expert in the field of fitness. She recently a no-brainer video and blog post about losing a single pound in a week, rather than promising to lose 10 pounds or something ridiculous. I love seeing level-headed people that are willing to give out some of the best advice you will ever see, for free.

“Last night Chris and I went for a run, and while he had no trouble with the effort at all, I had absolutely no desire to run the entire mile. My lungs didn’t burn, my legs didn’t give out, nor did my heart ache – rather I simply gave up. Call it a lack of motivation.

…

So I’ve decided to set the goal of being able to run (read: jog) an entire mile without letup before my 7th wedding anniversary (August 27th). Where I’ll go from there, who knows.”

A very important lesson lies within this post. The act of giving up due to lack of motivation is probably the main culprit to my challenge with weight and stamina. Keeping yourself motivated and constantly thinking “yes I can” instead of “no I can’t” will eventually allow you to achieve any goal. I believe that as much as I believe anything, especially now.

Well, my anniversary came that year and guess what? I did it. I ran an entire mile nonstop for the first time in my life (outside of High School) on August 27th 2006.

Since then I haven’t really tried to improve my running until this year. I ran now and then both outside and at the gym. I would always run about a mile or just a bit further. I remember running at the gym for a mile (12 laps on the indoor track) and I felt like there was nothing worse than that run. I play enough basketball to keep my cardio-abilities in fair shape. This year, however, I really wanted to start getting better at running longer distances.

Running an entire mile almost three years ago was a great goal. But I’ve come a long way since then and I needed new goals. My first goal was to get back into jogging at least a few miles. There is a trail near our apartment that runs about 1.5 miles. I did that a few times a week to get myself comfortable. But, I was getting into a rut. The run was a little too easy and deep down I knew it wasn’t challenging me anymore after a few weeks. So, one morning I woke up and decided to attempt a 5K (which is 3.1 miles). I didn’t do so great but I tried really hard. I had the exact same problem I did back in 2006. About 2.5 miles into the run I’d simply give up and start walking. My legs would feel okay, my lungs okay, but I just decided I didn’t want to run anymore. I have no idea why I’d stop.

This went on for a few more runs. Finally I decided to ask my friend Sam to run with me. Sam is a machine. I have no idea where his motivation comes from but it is a much deeper place than my motivation does. Time and time again he has surprised me with his stamina. He’s also doing great on the diet. Anyway – that 5K was the best 5K ever. Since then I’ve been able to run 5K without even thinking about stopping. I even find them satisfying to run. In my mind the 5K distance is the runners stroll. Some people walk next to a lake or river to calm down. Runners take an easy jog for 5K next to a lake or river to calm down. Perhaps my perception will change, but that is how I feel now.

My 5K time wasn’t so hot when I compared it to the abilities of others (something I know I shouldn’t do but I can’t help it). I asked Jeff, someone who has ran the New York Marathon, what I should do to help improve my time. He suggested running a bit further will help shorter run results. The next day, Sam and I ran 6 miles, double that of my previous distance record. We both felt incredible (our feet didn’t though). I couldn’t believe that I had jogged 6 miles without stopping. Looking back at the challenge it was to push my body to 1 mile made me think of how many other people go through the same breakthroughs. The same challenges. The same mental fights. If you’re one of those people – stick with it and know that time and effort are needed to break down those mental barriers. There is no silver bullet solution. Just wake up every-other morning and jog as far as you can – oh, and bring a friend because it helps a lot.

This morning we pushed a little harder. Sam knew of a nice spot to run on a trail in our area that wouldn’t hurt our feet as much as the asphalt did. Chris decided he’d join us. Turns out the distance for that run this morning was 9 miles! Tacking on another 3 miles onto my furthest distance ever run without stopping. Running for nine miles was both mentally and physically challenging for me. By the end I didn’t want to give up in my head, but my body didn’t want to run anymore. So I think my limit for the time being is running 9 miles. I think I’m going to bring my distance down to something manageable (like 5 miles) and just stay consistent until I feel I’m able to push the distance again. By year’s end I’d like to run a half marathon (or 13+ miles). Where I’ll go from there, who knows.

Today I weighed in at 189 lbs. which is down three pounds since I weighed in 15 days ago. I was hoping I’d be 188 or even 187 (which would have meant that I’d have finally beaten Pat Dryburgh in our little challenge) but I’m willing to wait for next week for that to happen. And it will happen.

Overall I had two fairly good weeks full of activity, a decent food diet, and no major setbacks. Even though I missed basketball last week I still managed to run over 9 miles that week and 6 the last week with basketball on that Monday. I’m currently working on bringing my 5K (or a 3.1 mile run) time down. My current goal is 28 minutes. I’m hoping to hit that this week.

Today Chris Fehnel and I did the Plyometrics portion of P90X, an exercise routine that he’s been doing since we re-started the diet, and it was intense. Fun. But intense. It is definitely a much harder workout than I would ever put together for myself. I’m considering doing this workout either every-now-and-then or even each week. We’ll see.

Next week will, more than likely, end the competition between Pat and I but I’m not going to stop there. I’ve decided to make other goals, besides actual weight, for myself. My 5K in under 28 minutes is my first goal, and perhaps “bringing it” to an entire PlyoX routine would be my second (since while I managed to make it through the routine I definitely didn’t “bring it”).

I know that Eliza, Chris, and I are doing great on our diets. How about all of you?

It has been a great week. I ate very well this week. I don’t remember missing a single meal, I ate enough calories every day, and most of the food I ate per-day was well balanced. And this showed in my weigh in, and also in the results I’ve seen in my workout routines.

My exercise this week went very, very well. I played, as per usual, about 4 hours of basketball on Monday, jogged on Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday and did three core workout routines. For me this is a fair amount of exercise, but I plan on doing even better this week. Longer jogs, same amount of basketball, and more workouts.

This morning I weighed in at 192 pounds, that is a loss of two pounds this week. I’m feeling great, my clothes are fitting better, and I’m excited to come down the home stretch towards my goal. Losing 15 pounds in 6 weeks is fantastic. Five pounds until I beat Dryburgh, seven pounds to reach my initial goal of 185 and reassess where I am at – and make new goals.

I hope everyone else had a great week. Lets keep going!

I know, I play basketball a lot. But it is the sport that I could play every single day and not tire of it.

I had one ‘bad day’ on Saturday (for reasons I’ll leave out for now, but suffice to say the day consisted of not very good food, although it tasted great, and a lot of couch time). I’m going to try to avoid this type of day this week.

This morning I weighed in at 194.something pounds. My scale consists of a rotating dial with small numbers that are hard to read from 6′ 1″ above it. That is a loss of 2 pounds for this week. I’m feeling very good, fitting into clothes better, and ready to have an active summer. This brings me down 13 pounds in 1 month and 1 week. I’m looking forward to shedding this last 7 pounds, to beat Pat, before mid-May.

My goals, as stated last week, were: “… to cut down on carbs, eat more fruits and vegetables as snacks, go completely beer and wine free for the week, and lose two more pounds.” I did pretty well with trying to stick to these goals but I was far from perfect. While I didn’t drink any beer this week I did have some homemade pear wine last night that was given to us. I didn’t do very well on trying to cut down on the number of carbs I’ve had for the week. In fact, I didn’t measure the number of carbs I had at all. I didn’t play any basketball and only ran twice. I did, however, eat more fruit and vegetables as snacks and did well with not eating too much.

One of the things I find most challenging during the second week is getting over the “make it a habit hump.” It is said that you have to do something 7 times (I think?) in order to make it a habit. I don’t know how this philosophy fits in with the complexities surrounding diets, but I know that for me to truly change my eating and exercising habits I need to get through the second week. If you look at the arc of my dieting last time, you can see that from the second week on it was a landslide towards the finish. I was totally committed to my diet, did really well with exercising on a regular basis, and kept up with my weekly goals. I’m hoping the same is true this time around.

I’m glad to have this second week over with and to have a decent weight loss. Now I’m ready to really ratchet up my commitment to the diet until I get to my goal.

My goals for this week include: drinking more water, trying to measure the number of carbs I eat, playing basketball twice, running three times, and having only one glass of wine. (I don’t want to cut out wine completely but I’ll probably have it earlier in the week this time.) Also, I’d like to lose two pounds this week.

I hope everyone else on the diet had as good or better a second week as I had and that we all continue on to reach our goals.

Last week I weighed in at 207 pounds. I was able to play basketball twice, do some light jogging once, walking twice, and a little “yard work” once. As far as eating is concerned I did good with temporary lapses in judgement on Saturday and Sunday night (I had beer). But overall I think I did great this week.

As of this morning I weigh 203 pounds for a loss of four pounds this week. Since my goal is an average of two pounds per week this is obviously better than expected.

My goals for this week are to cut down on carbs, eat more fruits and vegetables as snacks, go completely beer and wine free for the week, and lose two more pounds.

How did you do? And what are your goals for this week?

“Training for a marathon, it turns out, is an exercise in mind control and reality creation. [...] To make it work, you have to play all kinds of games to keep yourself engaged and to make yourself believe that you can keep running. Like telling yourself that you are a strong runner, that you love running, that you really like those hills.”

In this account he recalls a particular morning run where he does get passed the 14-mile mark, recalls the finer details of the run all the way down to the various auroras he took in during the run.  He also talks about the mind game that running actually is, the wildlife in his California territory that he sees, and the way it feels to succeed at running.

Awesome.

Source: One deer, one owl in flight, six or eight rabbits, and 17 miles..

My messed up hair amplified by my elongated head due to iPhone stretching.

Oh, and wearing my now pretty old Loch Ness Imposter Threadless tee.

When the weather is perfect and you need a quick break from work, tennis is a good choice. Thanks for taking me along Andrew!

Essentially this is saying that runners can go both ways. Err.

There was a fairly long stretch from about 19 years old until 25 that I actually didn’t play as often as I now wish I had. Maybe it was discovering the world of programming that stopped me from getting onto the court. Maybe it was getting married at an early age, and dealing with the responsibilities that brought, that gave me the excuses I needed not to take the time to play. Or, perhaps as I gained more and more weight I just didn’t feel up to it.

But I’ve come to realize something I consider very important. After gaining, then losing, gaining a little, and now on my way to getting back to my goal weight again – I’ve learned that basketball is an essential part of my healthy lifestyle.

When I play basketball regularly I’m able to stay in pretty good shape. I feel good. I’ve got energy. My outlook on my own health, and my goals for good health, remains high. When I do not play basketball very regularly, I keep my same eating habits, and end up gaining weight. Put simply, basketball is one of the very few forms of exercise that I truly enjoy doing.

I suppose that ultimate frisbee could also be a supplemental form of exercise for me, but I don’t get the chance to play that nearly as often, and I’ve only just started playing it a few summers ago. Ultimate, as it is often called, is a really fun sport and a great way to get cardio exercise – if you haven’t tried it, I recommend it. You can see how frisbee helped me during my diet. While you’re at it, you might as well see how basketball helped me on my diet too.

Now, at 27 years old, I’m playing basketball at least a few times a week when I’m in my normal routine. I’m loving it. Sometimes I really do not feel like playing but I always feel so much better after I’ve done so. I’m looking forward to losing a few more pounds, maybe gaining a few centimeters on my vertical jump, and playing some of the best basketball of my life.

Do you have a sport you love?

Here is where my excuses come flying in. I rolled my ankle really, really badly a few weeks ago and it is actually still pretty tender. This, in part, is why I haven’t played basketball in a few weeks for any extended period of time, I haven’t ran, and I haven’t been to the gym. I’m bad. I know.

The worst part about the entire thing, is that I haven’t changed my diet. I know better. I know that when my exercise schedule gets put aside that I need to change my eating habits. But I didn’t. So here I am, slowly gaining weight.

Time for a shift back to doing well with regards to food and hopefully I can get back to my normal exercise routine very soon. My goal for next week is to be down 2 pounds.

I believe it is time to quit making excuses about scheduling problems and start doing things on my own. I’m going to start running, by myself, starting tomorrow. As for the gym I’ll have to create my own schedule (most likely Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday). I’d love to go in the mornings but that just doesn’t seem possible – I am not a morning workout person.

This week I weighed in within a few ounces of last week’s weigh in. Which is fine because I fully expect to be around 185 pounds for the rest of my life – so being 187 works just as well.

I hope everyone else had a great week on their diets.

This week I lost 2.6 pounds and weighed in at 187.4 pounds. I’m very happy with these results considering the weekend of eating rather heartily. Although I was able to play a little frisbee and play some basketball I really need to get my workout and exercise routine back on track for this week.

Yea, this weigh in is short and sweet. Hope everyone had a good week!

I can has cramp

Last week was the normal exercise and workout activities but near the end of the week Chris and I, via my good friend Larry, discovered HIIT running. The photo on your right is the result of my first HIIT session wherein I got a cramp and Chris nearly showed his lunchables. HIIT running is addictive and a little bit insane. Once you’ve done it and the pain along with the throbbing head veins subside, you crave it. You are constantly thinking about your next session and how you need to add another cycle. Like I said, insane.

This weekend we hit a few wineries, as we tend to love doing so much, and enjoyed a massive amount of great food and wine. Picnics in vineyards people! Naturally I thought I’d overdone it. Come to find out I didn’t gain an ounce over the weekend. So just like last week I’m sittin’ pretty at 185.

Yesterday was our third round of HIIT running. However, since Chris and I are insane (as mentioned before), we decided to go to the gym for biceps, triceps, and forearm workouts before heading out to play basketball for a few more hours. But boy did it feel good (at the time). This morning I’m a little sore and a few of my joints are cursing me – but overall I’m in good shape.

I’m looking forward to making this a great week to end the first of many years on the diet.

While in California for six days I actually ate pretty well. And by well I mean a decent amount of food. When I went to Texas on business it seemed that I was skipping meals because I was far too busy. However, having the entire Viddler team in California made my job much, much easier so I was able to relax a little and eat normally.

Since I’ve been back I’ve been pretty active. I’ve been playing frisbee and basketball quite a bit over the last few days and it feels great to finally be outside again. Winter here in northeastern Pennsylvania is simply far too long.

This week I weighed in at 188.4 pounds, for a loss of exactly 1 pound from two weeks ago. I’m looking forward to getting back to the gym starting tonight, since I’ve missed the last week or so being away. I’m not sure my muscles are looking forward to it, but they’ll just have to live with it.

Something I definitely need to work on is being consistent with workouts even while away. Finding a few minutes for a jog or time in the weight room of a hotel shouldn’t be too difficult and the only thing holding me back from that is laziness. I’m always excited to get back into my routine though, and now that the weather is actually enjoyable – I don’t think I’ll have much trouble sticking to an active routine for the next few months.

[tags]diet, weigh-in, the-diet, california, texas, exercise, basketball, frisbee, ultimate, weather, gym, pennsylvania, viddler[/tags]

This week was a fairly good diet and exercise week. I wish I had done a little better in the “eating department” since I did have a few onion rings and mozzarella sticks the other night. Hey, when you buy a new deep fryer what else are you supposed to do? But I managed to get to the gym on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday (just played some basketball), and last night I played basketball for about four hours. There is no doubt that without exercise I would never have lost any weight over the last forty weeks.

Today I weighed in at 194.1 pounds! That means I lost another 1.8 pounds from last week.

For me this is a huge success. Here’s why. I haven’t had three-consecutive good weigh-ins since September of 2006. That means that I have not lost weight for three weeks in a row in 24 weeks (which was Week Sixteen by the way)! Right after that was when Eliza and I went to Hershey Park (which kept me from losing an ounce) and then shortly thereafter moved into our new apartment. Due to my routine being completely thrown out, and the weather slowly getting colder and colder, over the course of the next 20 weeks I managed to gain back 13.4 pounds. So for me, recording three weeks of consecutive weight loss is a huge triumph and the stopping of a trend that has plagued me for far too long.

The more I examined this the more I came to realize a few things. Perhaps I’m finally “settled” in our new place. I’m comfortable enough to get into, and build, good routines rather than feeling out of place. The other realization would be that in twelve weeks we will be hitting the first anniversary of the diet. An entire year of diet and exercise. I think week forty is the perfect week to jump back on and ride it out to hit that first year mark with some good results. Results that you’d be happy with after having dieted for an entire year. For me, I’d love to hit and maintain 180 for at least an entire month before we hit the one-year mark. That’d be my success story for year one. Technically I should hit that mark in seven weeks, giving me a one week margin for error. Exciting times ahead!

If you are considering going on a diet, I suggest you take a quick look at the last forty weeks that I’ve dieted to see how a diet can go. Overall it seems like most diets are rather rocky and full of peaks and valleys that could easily discourage you (they did me, there is no doubt they will again). But I look back at my first weigh in and realize that I am really happy that for the rest of my life I will more than likely never see it on the scale under my feet again. I may see my weight rise and fall, and obviously it slowly went up for 20 weeks in a row, but I am determined to never let that happen again. Perhaps the next time I peak it will be over a 12 week period, and then the next 6 until eventually I’m able to only fluctuate a few pounds (which every healthy person on the planet does).

But please learn from everyone’s experiences that diets do not happen quickly. They never end! They are not wrapped up in a pill or a surgery (though for those who have had them they face all types of new challenges). Silver-bullet diets are not found on DVDs or on the back-page of a gossip magazine. Celebrities should not be your role models when wanting to lose weight, your peers should be. There is no perfect time to start one, so you might as well start now.

Thanks to everyone that has given me encouragement and has shared their story. I look forward to hitting the one year mark with good results to report.

[tags]diet, the-diet, weigh-in, exercise, food, gym, basketball, eliza devroe, theme parks, hershey park, pennsylvania[/tags]

You might say: “Some diet this guy is on, he keeps going up and down, up and down!”. For me, that is the sign of a diet and exercise program that is working, not failing. I do not want to lose any more “weight” but rather a little fat. The fact that my weight is fluctuating a pound or two, yet I’m still able to eat just about everything I want, motivates me to continue my exercise program.

I’ve been getting to the gym regularly again since the break, and I’m gaining strength and appreciation for my workout. I’ve been switching up my workout program a little this week, and I’m pretty happy with the results. I switched to a strength training program where you slowly increase the weight you are using through your sets. This makes the final set much more difficult than it had been for me previously – and I think that shows a sign of it being a much better workout of my muscles.

Chris even adjusted the way I was doing a workout of my triceps and it made a huge difference. If I’d been doing that workout from the beginning I think I’d have gained much more ground on my triceps. I’ll have to make sure I keep doing it the way he showed me.

Perhaps it is nearing the time to show some photos again as visual proof of the progress, or maybe even some Viddler hosted video. Who knows.

[tags]workout, gym, exercise, weights, weigh-in, diet, the-diet, viddler, chris fehnel[/tags]

Tuesday of last week, weigh in day, Eliza and I drove to New Jersey to visit with some family. We at mall food-court food, and Friendly’s Ice Cream. Then on the way back from New Jersey, out of sheer desperation, we ate McDonald’s. This was the night I became ill from eating fast food for the first time in many weeks.

Wednesday rolled around, and we decided to drive to Allentown to visit her Mother who is doing training down there. We at at a Perkins, and I got a huge breakfast and a cookie! Also, remember that I usually play basketball on Wednesdays – so I missed that and ate instead.

Thursday was semi-normal, but still no basketball. By the way, some of these days Eliza and I did go walking/jogging – training for my goal of running a mile. But I don’t burn near as many calories doing that as I do playing basketball.

Friday I did get to shoot some hoops, then we came home and played Pictionary.

Saturday we ate breakfast at a diner, then I ended up running my mile with Chris and James. After that, we played some football (1 on 1 with full time QB). Then, we went to a fair and ate fair food. We had a bloomin’ onion (oh my god I love these things), a sausage and pepper hoagie, ice cream, and some funnel cake.

Sunday was our seventh wedding anniversary. Naturally Eliza and I wanted to have a nice dinner out somewhere, and we chose to eat Japanese at a Hibachi. We ate and drank until we thought we couldn’t anymore, then went and had dessert at Krispy Kreme Donuts! Hey, when the sign says “fresh hot donuts right now”, we go.

So now you are getting the picture why I am not upset, at all, that I managed to maintain my weight this week. This week was definitely not our normal, everyday, routine that we’ve been successful with. However, now we’re back on track, our lives are slowing down a little, and we’re ready to start our routines again.

Next week, I’ll hit my original goal.

[tags]diet, the-diet, weigh in, pictionary, basketball, running, walking, jogging, exercise, fair, food, anniversary, new jersey, allentown, football[/tags]

Last night Chris and I went for a run, and while he had no trouble with the effort at all, I had absolutely no desire to run the entire mile. My lungs didn’t burn, my legs didn’t give out, nor did my heart ache – rather I simply gave up. Call it a lack of motivation.

See when I play basketball I have a goal – win the game. After 3 hours of basketball if the game is tied with one shot to go, I have no problem exerting myself. When running, even though I have a goal to finish, I don’t have the desire to overly exert myself. I can’t quite explain it. So I’m going to ignore my own thoughts and works towards a specific goal.

So I’ve decided to set the goal of being able to run (read: jog) an entire mile without letup before my 7th wedding anniversary (August 27th). Where I’ll go from there, who knows.

[tags]goals, running, exercise, jogging, the-diet, diet, anniversary[/tags]

Last week I explained how elated I’d be if I were to see the scale read anything under 210lbs. for the first time in about five years.

I can’t explain to you what I felt when I saw 206.6lbs. come up this morning. I got on twice, just to be sure. There are a few things that led to me losing 4.6lbs. this week. First, my exercise (read: basketball) program remained consistent throughout the week. Also, my calorie intake was just about perfect the entire week. If you remember, back on week five, I had said that “…I’m going to make a much more concerted effort to keep track of each calorie, so that my progress remains steady.” – and I know that this helped a lot.

Also, on top of the normal activities for the week, I got to do a little swimming, some football, some dancing, and spent about an hour on Sunday mowing lawn (it was about 97 degrees Fahrenheit here on Sunday). These little extra things, no doubt, were a big factor in my extraordinary results this week.

But I may need to make a slight change, and I think I’m going to wait a week to see if I absolutely need to do so. I don’t want to lose 4.6lbs. per week. I’d rather lose 2lbs. per week, so after our camping trip, I’ll see if I need to adjust my calorie intake to about 150 to 200 more calories per day. This would, in effect, add an entire days worth of eating to each week.

(Since I’m currently eating 1,500 or so calories a day, adding 200 calories per day would be 1,400 more per week. Almost like adding an entire day worth of eating.)

That small adjustment should help me lose weight, but at a slightly slower pace. Again, I’m not going to make that adjustment until after camping because it could have been more due to the extra exercise than the calorie intake.

I’m also adding my weigh ins for each week to the diet page.

If you would like to join the diet, you can send me an email with your name and web site address (if you have one). We also have a Flickr group which you are more than welcome to join where we share experiences, photos, and generally try to encourage each other to keep up with our diets. The diet is sponsored by The Diet Channel.

[tags]the-diet, diet, weigh in, exercise[/tags]

That being said, I thought I would have gained this week, and not because I “cheated”. In fact, I’m doing really well on my diet. I mentioned that I mastered my cravings and that has helped a lot to being able to remain on my diet. For me, cravings are a slippery slope. If I break my concentration once, I’m afraid I’ll continue to do so. So I take the fanatics approach and simply not give in.

The reason I thought I was going to gain weight this week is due to the amount of exercise I did this week. I know I’m gaining muscle and with that usually your weight increases. But I must be burning more fat than muscle, which is a sign of a healthy and balanced diet.

I figured I’d give you a quick recap of where I’ve come from:

1. Initial weigh in: 225.6
2. Week one: 218.8 (-6.8)
3. Week two: 221.8 (+3.0)
4. Week three: 219.0 (-2.8)
5. Week four: 214.4 (-4.6)
6. Week five: 213.4 (-1.0)
7. Week six: 211.2 (-2.2)

For those of you doing the math in your head, I’m down a total of 14.4lbs. in six weeks which is an average of 2.4lbs. per week. Since the recommended and healthy way to lose weight is at a rate of around eight pounds per month, I’m right on track. Not too fast, not too slow.

Also, consider the fact that I’m playing basketball for at least 3 hours on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday each week. Obviously, I miss a day here or there for normal summer activities, but overall I’m sticking to the schedule fairly well.

I sincerely hope that everyone on the diet is doing as well or better than I am. I can not tell you how liberating it is for me to be losing weight. Not only for appearances sake, but also my entire mindset.

In my week one weigh in I set the goal to be at 210lbs. by next Tuesday, which is the last weigh in before Eliza and I go on a camping trip. I think I’m positioned fairly well to make that goal, and that in itself will be a very good feeling. Setting a goal and reaching it. I can not wait to see that scale say anything below 210 again.

If you would like to join the diet, you can send me an email with your name and web site address (if you have one). We also have a Flickr group which you are more than welcome to join where we share experiences, photos, and generally try to encourage each other to keep up with our diets. The diet is sponsored by The Diet Channel.

[tags]the-diet, diet, weigh in, exercise[/tags]