More of the Same

Juice morning and day. Eat normal food (at a lesser volume) with the family at night. Exercising like nuts. Try to go at least 50 minutes 5-6 nights a week. Been more days of 60 mins than 50s lately. Weight stagnant in the mid 260's. Just started doing a bit of lifting today. Not a full routine, but a handful of muscle groups getting a little work. Will step up to a full lifting program soon. Need to trigger some more pound shedding. However, though I'm not losing the weight, it does appear that the fat is going fairly consistently, so I am not too frustrated.

Going to try a very disciplined work week and see what comes out of it.

Back At It.

Now with the Appleton weekend and poor travel convenience eating out of the way, I'm back on just juice for a while. Juice with a side of exercise.

Also, juicing asparagus has that same effect.

Maintenance

Trying to juice in the morning and lunch followed by a evening meal of less quantity and better quality. This morning in the craziness, I didn't have time to wash up and juice another for lunch, so I grabbed a spinach salad with a few chicken breast strips for my lunch. Man does that taste good right now.

I am able to hit the exercise harder- went 50 minutes the last two times. Tonight was definitely a spirited 50 minutes on the elliptical. Unfortunately, I'm on the last episode of my Sopranos season and don't have the next season yet. I'll be through with it halfway through my next workout.

Day 7: Transition

Weight: 266.4 (-11.2 lbs)

Juiced all day and had some meatballs tonight. Worked out 50 minutes to burn off the meatballs. I think my sense of smell has heightened on this fast. Everything smells wonderful and I want to eat it. Looks like I've transitioned to a juice diet rather than a fast now. Which works fine for me-I've got to get the digestive system ready for the upcoming weekend.

Day 6: A Little Bit of Solids

Weight: 266.8 (-10.8 lbs)

Had some of Karen's salad and a few cherries to keep my sanity. All juice is getting a bit boring or old. Going to need to change things up a bit. Juice for a couple meals and have one healthy solid meal, I'm thinking.

Day 5: Challenges of the Weekend

Weight: 268 (-9.6 lbs)

Being home all day obviously creates some challenges to keep at it. I am notorious for a little grazing here and there- just out of habit. I like the taste of food. Being home wasn't too bad though. I'm feel I'm beyond the desire to graze. If anything, I am wanting solid fruit or vegetables, not so much a slab of meat or cheese. So, I've snitched a couple cherries and a chunk of celery when I'm making stuff. Tastes really good. We did go to Costco to reload on some of the fruit/veggie supply. They had a number of free samples there and kind of a mini super bowl sampler of sandwiches, meatballs and little smokies. Karen picked up a plate to share with the kids. I was forced into sharing too. Two or three small bites, that's all. Made a solid all-vegetable V8 style juice to cap off the day, leaving some for a morning drink as well.

Day 4: Cruise Control

Weight 269.4 (-8.2 lbs)

Found a side effect of this fast. My tongue was white and rough and gritty stuff came off with a scrape of the teeth. Nasty. Apparently this is toxins leaving through my tongue. OK, time to get some toothpaste for work. So, I did. I went to the old Cub Foods, which is now Metcalfe's. I wanted to see if this new Metcalfe's was as awesome as the original Metcalfe's. Nice looking produce and a good selection. Found Neuske's sausage and snack sticks there- this required a purchase to save for later. I did successfully walk past a salsa taste test and summer sausage and cheese samples. I would have not walked past these just days ago.

Worked out tonight and found I couldn't get the heartrate up to a really good working out level. Around the 25-30 minute mark, I just completely ran out of steam. Not sore, just had nothing left to give. I guess I can't give 'er on the fast.

Day 3: Smooth Sailing

Weight: 270.8 (-6.8 lbs)

Things went pretty easy today. Once again got a little hungry at night when the family was having supper. Whipped up a tomato-based drink that was hearty and tasted all right.

Day 2: Challenges?

Weight: 273.2 (-4.4 lbs.)

Surprising weigh-in this morning. I was guessing maybe two pounds or so due to flushing some of that sodium bloat out of my body. Went fairly well today until I started to get a headache, which I assumed to be from a lack of caffeine or some toxin thing. When I got home, I took out my contacts immediately. This solved the headache. Sometimes my eyes get irritated and cause a headache. Time for some Lasik? Any real solid food is starting to look good- even stuff I'm normally not too crazy about. Is it hunger or habit? Not sure.

Day 1: It has begun.

Starting weight: 277.6 lbs.

Day one has been fairly easy as I write this at 8 p.m. No real urge to stray from the plan while I was at work. A couple times I was thinking a handful of almonds would sure be nice. Otherwise it went pretty smooth... until I got home. Braeden's corndog looked and smelled good. There was a piece of cheese staring at me in the fridge next to tasty leftover Chinese. Held strong though. I can see there is going to be some rough times.

"Rebooting" the Blog

Looking for an update? Well, three years of the Ab Doer and the vibrating belt has left me with another kid and a fat ass. Kids put a bit of a crimp into your working out, but it it time to make time. Just after Christmas, I was flipping around Amazon Prime free videos on the TV and stumbled across Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead, a documentary about a fat guy who embarks on a juicing fast for 60 days while traveling across the U.S. He gets dramatic results weight and health-wise and inspires many on the way. I am one of them.

I was feeling sluggish, I was fighting acid reflux, my back hurt from a lingering problem, and quite frankly I felt I was going down a path of no return. With kids, there didn't seem to be time for exercise anymore, historically my way of shedding weight. I needed something. Something to get my body and my head right.

Immediately got busy researching juicers and decided on the Omega VRT 350, a masticating juicer- one that grinds the food up slowly, extracting a high percentage of the juice from the vegetable/fruit without too much oxidation. Apparently that's a good thing.

So, the plan was to start doing some juicing mixed with an improved diet. Kind of ease my way into this. As I got more comfortable with the juicing, I'd continue to improve the diet and see what happens. I planned on starting the exercise after a while. I didn't think my back problems and my level of being out of shape would allow for very much exercise at that point.

The wife got on the juicing plan with me and we started juicing every morning. This juice usually consisted of primarily fruit with some veggies mixed in. Thinking about drinking these juices initially made me want to gag. Never had a problem though- the juice tastes good! I started bringing a thermos of juice to work with me and cutting back on my lunch. This seemed to work for me. The juicing was making me feel better. In fact, the first couple times I juiced, I felt like I took some kind of energy supplement. I was hooked. Gradually some of the homecooked casseroles and traditional meals were replaced with spinach salads. Snacks were almonds. Beer and liquor were limited. An effort was made to watch the portions some.

In the meantime, I started exercising. We would take turns with the kids while the other would work out. I was pretty sure I would die exercising going into it. Seriously, die. But, it wasn't too bad. I just kept the heart rate under control and worked up a little sweat. I started out at 20 minutes, but was up to 30 minutes or more after a few times. I've been doing as much time as I can fit in.

Which brings us to now, a month later. Still going strong, losing around 5 pounds so far. But now, I've decided to fire up this blogging action again for the next step in my journey.

The juice fast.

This means I will consume nothing but juice for a period of time. This is supposed to flush your body of toxins and fat in a very nutritious, healthy manner. I'm not going for one of those epic 60 day fasts like Joe Cross in the Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead film. I'm shooting for seven days, with the potential to go eleven. A scheduled overnight trip to Appleton on the twelfth day will likely put an end to it (unless I pack the juicer... ask me what I think about that eleven days from now!)

So tomorrow, January 31, it begins. I'll post daily on how my body is handling this.

Braeden

So, it's been a while. 

I made my hike up the mountain and have photographic evidence. My legs were burning for a couple days after that one. 

In the meantime, I did some exercising, did some not exercising, ushered a son into the world on October 3, and haven't exercised since.

This is Braeden Anthony. He likes to eat and competes with daddy for mommy's affection. She thinks his farts are cute though. Kid's got the edge on me, even though I'm smarter than him. I don't let the air turn solid/liquid most of the time. He's growing up pretty fast. Each day he seems a little more alert, recognizing movement and sounds. He likes his swing, but doesn't care much for his crib. He likes Costco, and the mall but Target makes him hungry. I think he may like cheap beer right now, but I will teach him the way. All kids start out on cheap beer. 

If You're Going To San Francisco...

Be sure to make your flight to Redding. 

Wedding weekend in far northern California. Plan on hiking up a volcano and having a beer. Probably not during my hike, but I guess that would be funny. Ok. Now I've decided that I will have to do that and get a pic of it. I've been exercising the past couple weeks and am getting a little more in shape, so I think I can handle the hill. Weight around 253. Cadbury eggs have been wiped out. Damn things.

Back To Standing Upright

About a week and a half ago I did a number on my back. Just when I needed to be in good condition to do everything that needed to be done in our basement as it nears completion. I believe it was injured during softball on the 22nd, just as I was making a exercise comeback effort. Four chiropractor visits later, I'm probably about 80%. Still a little stiff and some sore. Should be able to start exercising by the wend of  the week. Lots of basement work to be done before Thursday, when the carpet is scheduled to be installed.

On a positive note, the night I hurt my back, I put on an amazing display of sheer power hitting the softball after our game. Probably the best swinging of my life-everything was a rocket off of my bat. Put about out 10-12 out of 30 swings. There weren't any mis-hits at all. I was in the zone. Then I was in the pain. Almost worth it...

The Horse Gives a Bumpy Ride

I got back on the equipment tonight after nearly three weeks off. It wasn't pretty. I pushed myself to the same levels I had before and that resulted in about an average 10bpm rise in the heartrate and noticeable less lung capacity. Burping up the meat stick I had just wolfed down didn't help either. I'll get back on it tomorrow morning and plug this exercise thing back into the schedule.

A Quick Concert Review

KT Tunstall was awesome. The show was sold out in about a 1000 person venue and she does live music really well. Her and her accompanying musicians were as good or better than the studio albums I own. I will go again if she comes around sometime. Paddy Casey was the opening act and we enjoyed him as well. Enough enjoyment to buy his cd at the theatre.

Really Well-Rested Now...

Ok, so I haven't got on the horse yet. I've still been too damn busy. Tomorrow will likely be the startup of the exercise. Tonight we go to the Barrymore to se KT Tunstall. I like her music and it should be a very pleasant experience to see her live. I'll report on the concert tomorrow. A trip to the dentist tomorrow morning. Another damn crown, another $grand. Not so pleasant.

Well Rested and Ready to Rok

Almost two weeks have gone by since the last exercise session. I haven't exactly been laying around-things have been crazy lately. It started with dad coming down for five days of turkey hunting and floor tiling. The hunting ended last Sunday, but the tiling hasn't quite ended yet. Still have to clean the haze off of the tiles. I had to finish that so the base trim can get installed in the basement. I'll be doing that haze cleaning tonight... after exercise. Also, there's been a ton of computer work to be done lately. Finding time for everything has been really tough. Now I should be able to make time with that tiling out of the way. 

What's left for me to do in the basement: Paint the tray ceiling trim and install the rope lighting; clean and poly the windows; install seven speakers into the ceilings; and touch up on paint scuffs. All of that needs to be done before the carpet gets installed so cleaning up afterward will be easier. We're getting closer to having our escape from the summer heat completed and that feels great.

No turkeys were harmed in this year's hunt. As expected. We did see a decent amount of birds though. They just never came in close enough to "harvest".

The Hunt Is On

Today is the start of turkey season for me and my dad. This will cut into my exercise schedule, but that's OK. It will give me a little time to freshen up the 2000 body parts. I'm going to get the bow out for this one. We'll see how that works. I honestly don't believe that I will even see any birds, so I'm not too worried whether or not I can hit the turkey. I guess weight loss will have to wait a week as well. Last weekend and this week are proving to be quite challenging to keeping a diet. In fact, I've submitted to the challenge and have eaten like shit. That doesn't stop today either- there's a birthday ice cream cake in the freezer right now...

Today, I Wear Green

Not because I'm helping change the earth either. But, because it was the color of the t-shirt on the top of my pile. Actually, green does have some significance as I'm really starting to look and feel muscular, like the Incredible Hulk. It's not the same old muscle as I've always had. It's muscle that is obvious upon a glance. I don't see myself busting out of my shirt anytime soon (maybe my pants-but that's for another brag post), but man do I feel powerful. So, that's what my excuse is for my weight going almost nowhere lately. All muscle. I do believe that.