Did you have a nice Thanksgiving? I hope so. I know I did, and it wasn't because of the feast I enjoyed. It was because of the feast I avoided.
As I said in my previous blog, you may have calories to spare and spend as you wish - I do not. An 8,000 calorie meal would set me back a week.
So yesterday I ate exactly what I said I would... just under 1,900 calories (though we didn't exercise as it was very cold out and the gym was closed) and was rewarded by seeing "212.5" on the scale.
That's 26 pounds off my 5'8" frame in 54 days... including T-H-A-N-K-S-G-I-V-I-N-G!
Listen... on Thanksgiving's Past I told myself I was going to eat less... and then stuffed myself more than we stuffed the turkey. So what's the difference?
Commitment. I... am.... totally... and... completely... commited.
On Thanksgiving's Past I ate anything and everything I wanted with the rationalization of, "Hey, I've worked hard, I deserve to gorge and splurge!"
This Thanksgiving I ate just a fraction of what I have in the past... and for the very same reason: because I deserved it.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
My Thanksgiving Weight-Loss Plan
Day 52 finds me tipping the scale at 215.0 pounds... down 23.5 pounds with exactly 48 days to go on my 100 Day Challenge, and 48 hours before the annual 'festival-o-food' called Thanksgiving. And I have come to the conclusion that I may be the only person on planet Earth intentionally planning to lose weight on Thanksgiving Day!
The key word here, of course, is P-L-A-N-N-I-N-G.
You see, most people are planning just the opposite. You, too, I'm guessing. And that's fine - you might be able to afford the calories.
I cannot.
Like a person going to market to buy the week's fruit and vegetables with just 53 cents in hand, I too am on a strict budget - it's just that my budget is made up of calories, not pennies. And in my pursuit of a complete and totla body transformation, I do not have an extra calorie to spare!
"Oh, come on, Richard. It's Thanksgiving!" you're thinking.
Yes, it's Thanksgiving. And I intend to eat light and give thanks 'in advance' for...
So on Thursday you will find me at home, knife in one hand and fork in the other, carving the 10-pound bird we bought at Fred Meyer... and gobbling down the pre-planned amount of exactly the 1,853 calories of life-sustaining food... and giving 'thanks' for every last, delicious, fat-free morsel of it!
See you Friday!
The key word here, of course, is P-L-A-N-N-I-N-G.
You see, most people are planning just the opposite. You, too, I'm guessing. And that's fine - you might be able to afford the calories.
I cannot.
Like a person going to market to buy the week's fruit and vegetables with just 53 cents in hand, I too am on a strict budget - it's just that my budget is made up of calories, not pennies. And in my pursuit of a complete and totla body transformation, I do not have an extra calorie to spare!
"Oh, come on, Richard. It's Thanksgiving!" you're thinking.
Yes, it's Thanksgiving. And I intend to eat light and give thanks 'in advance' for...
- 50 more years of a healthy, fit and mobile life with my younger (and considerably more active and 'spry') wife, Andrea...
- 50 more years of speaking, training and strutting across the stage like a peacock, not a stuffed 'turkey', and...
- 50 more years of looking in the mirror and seeing the person I always intended to be looking back at me in and whispering, "Thanks for digging in while you still had the chance. I'm proud of you!"
So on Thursday you will find me at home, knife in one hand and fork in the other, carving the 10-pound bird we bought at Fred Meyer... and gobbling down the pre-planned amount of exactly the 1,853 calories of life-sustaining food... and giving 'thanks' for every last, delicious, fat-free morsel of it!
See you Friday!
Friday, November 21, 2008
When You Find Yourself in "The Dip"
I'm sitting here early on Friday morning, November 21, and just had an interesting experience.
I was standing in the bathroom, brushing my teeth, and when I looked in the mirror what I saw upset me... which is wierd because I had just climbed off the scale which read 215.5! Down 23 pounds in 47 days! Yet somehow I felt bad.
Why? Why feel bad after such a great start? I mean, I should be celebrating!
Well, the reason is simple. I felt bad because even though I've come so far... there's still so far to go.
I bring this up because the critical point in any worthy quest is not so much in the 'getting started' phase... it's in the 'keep on keeping on phase' phase - or, as Seth Godin identified in his best selling book, it's what happens when you find yourself in "The Dip"...
So, how do you get yourself out of the dip when you experience one? How am I going to get out of mine? Or am I going to quit? After 47 days will I start throwing sabots in the gears of my own machinery?
These are good questions.
Stay tuned...
I was standing in the bathroom, brushing my teeth, and when I looked in the mirror what I saw upset me... which is wierd because I had just climbed off the scale which read 215.5! Down 23 pounds in 47 days! Yet somehow I felt bad.
Why? Why feel bad after such a great start? I mean, I should be celebrating!
Well, the reason is simple. I felt bad because even though I've come so far... there's still so far to go.
I bring this up because the critical point in any worthy quest is not so much in the 'getting started' phase... it's in the 'keep on keeping on phase' phase - or, as Seth Godin identified in his best selling book, it's what happens when you find yourself in "The Dip"...
- When you lose the initial excitement...
- When you get a bit tired...
- When you realize just how much further you have to go...
- When you just want to quit and go back home...
So, how do you get yourself out of the dip when you experience one? How am I going to get out of mine? Or am I going to quit? After 47 days will I start throwing sabots in the gears of my own machinery?
These are good questions.
Stay tuned...
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Almost Half Way... and Plans Have Changed
So here I am on Day 44, just 6 days shy of the half-way point, and experiencing my second 'plateau' at 217.5 pounds (been here for the last 6 days). Not that I'm complaining! Being down 21 pounds in 44 days is nothing to complain about.
But I do find myself studying 'plateaus' and realizing that a change in plans is needed. And, no, the change is not to quit.
What I'm going to change is shift the focus of the 100 Days from 'weight loss' to 'muscle gain' (where it should have been all along).
Why are we fixated with weight loss in the first place? The answer, of course, is that weight loss is easy to measure... a 'shorthand' of sorts. You just climb on the scale... look down... read the numbers. While accurate muscle gain requires being weighed, measured and floated in a tub of water (seriously) by an expert.
In any case - hard to measure or not - muscle gain should be the goal for just about everyone who wants to live a long, healthy and accident free life. "Iv'e fallen and I can't get up" is one phrase I never intend to utter.
Here's the thing about muscle...
Yes, my goal is still to get under 200 lbs. for the first time in 10 years. But I've come to realize that muscle gain is what I want most, and ultimately the best way to get there.
So here's to lifting (and s-l-o-w-l-y putting down) weights. In other words, here's to another plateau, only this one will be somewhat self-engineered. But if the experts are right, only dumbells don't lift dumbells.
And 20-30 days from now I will be closer to becoming a "fat burning machine" - or, as Arnold would say, a fat ter-mi-na-tor!
But I do find myself studying 'plateaus' and realizing that a change in plans is needed. And, no, the change is not to quit.
What I'm going to change is shift the focus of the 100 Days from 'weight loss' to 'muscle gain' (where it should have been all along).
Why are we fixated with weight loss in the first place? The answer, of course, is that weight loss is easy to measure... a 'shorthand' of sorts. You just climb on the scale... look down... read the numbers. While accurate muscle gain requires being weighed, measured and floated in a tub of water (seriously) by an expert.
In any case - hard to measure or not - muscle gain should be the goal for just about everyone who wants to live a long, healthy and accident free life. "Iv'e fallen and I can't get up" is one phrase I never intend to utter.
Here's the thing about muscle...
- Muscles raise metabolism.
- Muscles look great and feel even better (just ask Arnold). And what's more...
- Muscles burn calories... even when you're sleeping!
Yes, my goal is still to get under 200 lbs. for the first time in 10 years. But I've come to realize that muscle gain is what I want most, and ultimately the best way to get there.
So here's to lifting (and s-l-o-w-l-y putting down) weights. In other words, here's to another plateau, only this one will be somewhat self-engineered. But if the experts are right, only dumbells don't lift dumbells.
And 20-30 days from now I will be closer to becoming a "fat burning machine" - or, as Arnold would say, a fat ter-mi-na-tor!
Monday, November 10, 2008
People Have Started to Ask, "What Program Are You On?"
Now that I'm one third of the way done and have got people's attention, having lost 20.5 pounds in 36 days (dropped another this weekend, despite having spent Saturday night at a dinner party at the home of our good friend Shawna Schuh and her husband Don, who did all the cooking!). So, people have started to ask, "What program are you on?"
The answer is: My program.
No, I am not the author of a diet book. No, I am not a dietitian. But I don't have to be!
Come on, let's face it - we all know what we're supposed to eat and not eat. We already know that peanut butter cups are not one of the four basic food groups! And we all know that exercise is good for us! So do we really need a doctor from Palm Beach to charge us $25 to tell us what we already know?
Of course not. But for some reason we tend to do it anyway.
What we really need, of course, is someone to kick us in the @$$ and make us do what what we already know we're supposed to be doing. Eating good food. Avoiding crap. And as Richard Simmons would advise... "sweatin' to the oldies."
So I hired a professional @$$k!cker to keep me on track. In this case, it's the person most vested in my success. And that person is...
Me.
So, when I say this is my program, I mean it. Because this time I dodn't go looking for the answer "out there" somewhere. I looked within. And this time around the Palm Beach doctor didn't get my hard earned cash - instead, I used it to buy a refrigerator full of lettuce and carrots. This time I'm doing what I already know I need to do... with an emphasis on doing.
So whatever your challenge, be it weight loss or writing a book or selling up a storm... when are you getting on your program?
Because maybe - just maybe - it's time to kick your own butt alittle.
The answer is: My program.
No, I am not the author of a diet book. No, I am not a dietitian. But I don't have to be!
Come on, let's face it - we all know what we're supposed to eat and not eat. We already know that peanut butter cups are not one of the four basic food groups! And we all know that exercise is good for us! So do we really need a doctor from Palm Beach to charge us $25 to tell us what we already know?
Of course not. But for some reason we tend to do it anyway.
What we really need, of course, is someone to kick us in the @$$ and make us do what what we already know we're supposed to be doing. Eating good food. Avoiding crap. And as Richard Simmons would advise... "sweatin' to the oldies."
So I hired a professional @$$k!cker to keep me on track. In this case, it's the person most vested in my success. And that person is...
Me.
So, when I say this is my program, I mean it. Because this time I dodn't go looking for the answer "out there" somewhere. I looked within. And this time around the Palm Beach doctor didn't get my hard earned cash - instead, I used it to buy a refrigerator full of lettuce and carrots. This time I'm doing what I already know I need to do... with an emphasis on doing.
So whatever your challenge, be it weight loss or writing a book or selling up a storm... when are you getting on your program?
Because maybe - just maybe - it's time to kick your own butt alittle.
Friday, November 7, 2008
One-Third of the Way Done... So It's Photo Day!
First off, thanks for the many notes of support - I REALLY APPRECIATE IT!
Now, to the results (33 days completed, 67 days to go). And, as they say, a picture paints a thousand words, right? So, let's get to the photos!
"Before" (Day 1)... And "After" (Day 34)
And, NO, I'm not holding my stomach in! Here are "the numbers"...
Now, to the results (33 days completed, 67 days to go). And, as they say, a picture paints a thousand words, right? So, let's get to the photos!
"Before" (Day 1)... And "After" (Day 34)
And, NO, I'm not holding my stomach in! Here are "the numbers"...
- 19 pounds lost... in 33 days!
- Starting waistline: 46" Waistline now: 42" (-4")
- Fat Percentage Lost: Approx. 5%!
- Days in gym: 29 Days off: 4
- Total minutes of exercise: 1575
- Average minutes per workout: 54.3
My days of imitating Alfred Hitchcock are almost behind me!
In any case, this puts me a bit ahead of where I hoped I'd be by this time. But I fully recognize that the last ten pounds will fight me with every ounce of their being... literally and figuratively!
So, with no time to slack off, Andrea and I are headed to the gym soon for our Friday "S.T.E.P." class (I have no idea what STEP stands for, but it's a "killer") and a big salad.
Talk to you on Monday!
Monday, November 3, 2008
It's Election Day, and I Cast My Vote for...
As I sit here on Monday night, Election Day is just hours away. The day we'll all be casting one of the most important votes of our lives.
So, who am I going to vote for? Simple: I'm going to vote for... me!
Not for president, of course - I have too thin a skin for the kind of public scrutiny a presidential candidate must face... and too many skeletons in my closet to ever get past the vetting process (I've never inhaled, but I'm sure there are other things the American electorate would find objectionable!)
No. When I say I'm voting for me I mean, I'm voting for myself to win in life.
All too often in life we find ourselves spending all of our mental and physical energy in support of other's wants, needs, goals and dreams. And we forget to support ourselves.
Some call this being selfish. In the purest sense of the definition, focusing on yourself is self-ish. But a certain amount of self-ish-ness is required if you're going to be able to support others.
So tomorrow I'm going to pull an "Acorn" and vote twice. And the second vote has my name written all over it!
(Note: For those who are following my 100 Day Body Transformation Challenge, I'll share the Day 35 numbers and photos on Friday... and it's v-e-r-y g-o-o-o-o-o-o-d!)
So, who am I going to vote for? Simple: I'm going to vote for... me!
Not for president, of course - I have too thin a skin for the kind of public scrutiny a presidential candidate must face... and too many skeletons in my closet to ever get past the vetting process (I've never inhaled, but I'm sure there are other things the American electorate would find objectionable!)
No. When I say I'm voting for me I mean, I'm voting for myself to win in life.
All too often in life we find ourselves spending all of our mental and physical energy in support of other's wants, needs, goals and dreams. And we forget to support ourselves.
Some call this being selfish. In the purest sense of the definition, focusing on yourself is self-ish. But a certain amount of self-ish-ness is required if you're going to be able to support others.
- You must have the funds to support yourself before you can support your family
- You must be able to carry your own weight before you can carry your brother (or sister)
- You must build your own road to success before you can create a path for followers
So tomorrow I'm going to pull an "Acorn" and vote twice. And the second vote has my name written all over it!
(Note: For those who are following my 100 Day Body Transformation Challenge, I'll share the Day 35 numbers and photos on Friday... and it's v-e-r-y g-o-o-o-o-o-o-d!)
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