Back In The Saddle- Returning to A Previous Adventure

This past week I started my 2nd Biggest Loser contest. This time it is with my family. The stakes aren't so much monetary this time as we don't have money in on it, but a lot of pride is at stake. We are the friendly competitive type so we don't get offended when beaten, but we don't like to lose...Except when we want to lose, and then we want to be the Biggest Loser.

This week I reviewed the mental clicks that I had gained last time I started my journey. I have decided to see if my first experiment was just a fluke or if I can repeat the results. Obviously not everything will  be the same as I am starting off in better health despite the past year of being injury prone. I realize also that I can not rest on the idea that I will lose as much as I did last time, at least as quickly as I did last time.

No mirror needed to tell me
when I was happiest

We often equate losing weight with being happy and looking in the mirror as a measure of health. So, we look at the scale and pray for good numbers to appear, or we look into a mirror to determine whether or not we are healthy and happy. What would happen if we did not have a scale to determine our happiness. In fact what if we did not have a mirror to determine our health? What if the only thing we had to determine our happiness was our feelings and self awareness? What would we do to improve how we felt about ourselves?

To be perfectly honest with you, I like food. I like food that is probably not the most healthy food. If I could get away with eating lots of thick juicy steaks and just about anything heavy on the carbohydrates followed up with a nice big bowl of ice cream at any given time, and the only consequences were my weight. I would probably ignore my mirror and get rid of my scale. Unfortunately it doesn't work that way.

To me being fit has little to do with what I look like and a lot to do with my ability to move and how I feel. If I have a hard time walking up stairs or hiking in the summer, then I don't feel fit. If I am huffing and puffing when I want to run, then I am not happy. If I can't touch my toes without wincing or getting dizzy, I would say I am neither healthy nor happy.

Don't get me wrong, it is nice to feel good about what you see in the mirror, but it is more important that you feel good about what you have done to get where you are than it is to see a pretty picture in the mirror. You can be unfit and look thin and pretty, but you will not feel thin and you won't be happy.

Week 1 results

So, in my quest for fitness I will use a scale and a mirror as a measure of progress, but I will not use them as a measure of my fitness nor my happiness.

A New Perspective From The Sideline...

Last week a new season made itself known here in Utah. The cold weather season has begun. As a result I began the process of layering while running. I can tell I need to start looking for jogging pants. Although for my shorter runs my thermals are definitely warm, but I bought them about 60lbs ago, so it wont be long before they will be hard to keep up.
One of the challenges that I am facing is my asthma. My asthma is definitely affected by the colder air, it is harder to get started, it doesn't seem to take any longer, but the first mile seems to be harder, but it feels much better once I finish, so I am not ready to scrap my out door running at this time. The thought of doing exercise routines does not sound appealing to me at this point, but I think I can do anything for 10 minutes ;)

Now this past weekend gave me a new perspective when it comes to races. After participating in my first run this year I was sold on the idea that competitions are good for you. The excitement of the experience is indescribable. What I didn't realize was how much fun it is to cheer others on.
This past weekend the annual Love Your Body 6k and 10k runs were held at Thanksgiving Point in Utah County. DeeAnn, my sister Stacie, Amy, her sister Jamie, and Jamie's daughter Jessie entered the 6k competition. The skies were cloudy and heavy looking all morning and we thought that we might see some heavy rain. I was excited to be there despite the fact that it was an all girls run. I was feeling a little jealous, but I was happy to allow the boys to run around while we waited for the girls to enter the park where the finish line was.

It was just over 20 minutes before the first one entered the park. It was fun cheering as they started showing up one at a time for the first 5 or so runners then they began to trickle in with a few more at a time. Amy came in 27th over all and 5th in her age group. Very impressive! Shortly after that Stacie came in finishing only 1 min and 10 seconds behind Amy and was 41st over all and 3rd in her age group. She did awesome! Jessie finished 235 over all and 22nd in her age group, you could tell she was having tons of fun. Jamie walked the course and came in 342 over all and 20th in her age group. Then came DeeAnn, she mixed it up between running and walking and finished strong as she crossed the line in just under an hour finishing 420 over all and 32nd in her age category. I can't tell you the emotions I experienced as I saw my wife finishing strong running hard at the end of the race. It was almost as fun watching as it was for my first competition.
Everyone had fun, and is looking forward to next years run and that is what it is all about. Moving more for fun and fitness.   

If I Can Walk It I Can Run It

The Saturday before last, my family decided that we would have some fun up at the University of Utah 5k. The event was to kick off Health Week at the University and bring awareness to Atrial fibrillation.
So, bright and early we headed out for the 5k. Matt was his usual grumpy self not wanting to go anywhere, but once we got him out of the van he was excited to be there. As we wandered over to the starting line Matt paused and reminded us that we need to stretch. He then started doing a runners stretch and then touched his toes and then as we were finishing our stretches he started shaking his legs loosening them up, and said, "We got get ready to run."
As the race got underway we kind of held back so that the registered runners could run ahead of us. As we continued through the campus we made the first mile with little problem. We stopped at the water station and continued on. Matt kept running so, while we intended to run or walk together, Spence decided to fall back so DeeAnn stayed with him. Matt just kept running so I kept running with him. As we were running Matt just kept talking and talking about all kinds of stuff, but he made one statement that revealed where he was getting his energy to run. He said, "I told myself, if I can walk it, I can run it."...and he did. He ran the whole way.
We have the ability to draw upon that same power if we just believe. Let this motto rise from within, "If I can walk it I can run it." Let that seed grow in your heart until you can sit no longer... Then Start Walking!

The Top Of Utah Half Marathon

Several months ago now I was challenged to a half marathon. Ten weeks ago I started training for that challenge. Saturday I finished that challenge at the Top of Utah Half Marathon.
It has been years since I have felt as much adrenaline as I felt this past week. It is amazing I had any adrenaline left for Saturday. Friday morning I woke up with race day on my mind. I at one point had planned on working all day, but earlier in the week I realized that I would probably be better off only working half a day. It was a good decision, because traffic was not fun and my nerves would have been very raw had I waited until later to leave Salt Lake. So, all in all leaving early probably saved my family from my nervous rants about Utah drivers.
First thing we did in Logan, after taking a scenic byway, i.e a shortcut that probably wasn't so short, we stopped in at the park in Providence where Saturdays adventure would begin and end. I was extremely impressed with the ease of picking up our packet. I did not have to wait in line for more than 5 minutes. The organization was extremely impressive. It was obvious I was not at the DMV.
Once I had my packet in hand we made a brief stop in at the local Subway to meet up with Amy and Joe before heading over to the Super 8 to check in for the evening. All the butterflies that had been flying around in my stomach all day had made me a little bit drowsy, so it didn't take me too long to get settled in and ready for bed. With the alarm set for 4:15 I was out like a light.
Sleep came quickly and left just about as quickly. I woke up at just past midnight, and then again at 1:57 at that point the best I could do is try and relax with my eyes closed. My mind was so wired I couldn't shut it down, not to mention the fear that I might not hear my alarm, which bytheway was set to only go off on weekdays, so that only confirmed my fears for the next time I set my alarm, ugh....
Anyways Race day was hear and I was up and ready and boarded the shuttle which took us to the park to where I met up with Amy and Joe and boarded the shuttle that would take us 13.1 miles away to drop us off at the starting line. The ride up you could feel the energy of all the runners. Each one had their own story. Several that I talked to this was their first half, others had run marathons. I was amazed at the many assorted body shapes that where there, some of which I was thinking, if I weighed what they weighed there is no way I could have walked that distance yet alone run.

Once we got to Hyrum Park where the starting line was there were people standing around talking and a lot of nervous energy which my body kept interpreting as the need to stretch. I was extremely concerned about my hip flexers, which have been giving me a problem ever since that 12 miler. So I stretched a little here and there as we waited for our opportunity to start the race.

We started toward the back of the line as they had it organized according to your own predicted finish time. We actually started further back than our goal time, my goal happened to be 2 hours 15 minutes. Our strategy proved to probably be such a good move because the first part of the race we ended up running side ways a lot passing people who would finish well behind us. But Amy and I wanted to stick with Joe as long as we could. Joe was having some problems with his Achilles tendon so we knew at some point he was going to fall behind. The real question was whether my hip flexers would give me problems. I hoped that the cool down week might be enough to allow them to heal enough to not give me fits. At the beginning of the race I was not so sure. They still seemed a bit tight. So, I did my best to stretch them while waiting for the starting gun to go off.
First shot must have been a call to attention because it seemed no one had moved. about a minute later a second shot went off and the race had begun. The fastest runners lead off then the sea of humanity that was the rest of us followed. The first 3 miles went pretty slow due to the crowd and weaving in and out of traffic. I had been warned before hand not to give it everything up front which I had no intention of doing anyways. It was interesting to see how many walkers we already had past. I was already beginning to regret how much I had drunk before the race and I thought I might have to stop at the portable johns at the 3 mile marker, but as we passed them there was a line and I decided I would sweat it out, which I literally did. I sweated profusely. As we passed the 3 miles we re-hydrated and were off.
Between miles 4 and 6 there were a lot of people slowing down and spreading out. This section also had some of the longer more down hill portions of the race. It was a lot of fun passing people who by looking at them I would have thought they were more fit than myself. It was fun listening in on the conversations, well I should say most of the conversations that were going on. By the end of the 6 miles I was in my rhythm for the most part, but I knew that we were about to go through the toughest portion of the race for myself anyways.
Miles 7-9 was through a winding section of a beautiful country neighborhood. It was pretty flat, but when we had run through this area a couple of weeks ago I struggled. I kept thinking we would be done just around the corner, but every corner had another corner we had to pass. It was miserable. During the race I mentally prepared myself for this section. It was extremely helpful to have people cheering us on as we left the canyon and continued down the winding neighborhood. A couple of families along the way cheered us on and I borrowed their energy giving them high fives along the way. At about mile 8 Amy asked if I was having a hard time keeping a pace. I guess she noticed. It was my mental battle at that point. once I passed the 9 mile mark I was back on pace and felt good.

Miles 10-11 were a mixed bag of slightly down hill to about a mile plus some of uphill. I handled the uphill pretty good, but somewhere after the 11 mile mark I lost Amy. It was somewhere at about the 12 mile mark that reached the top and headed down toward the finish line that my mind started playing games with me. I started thinking, "what the heck am I doing this for." I temporarily slowed to a walk for about 5 paces then started jogging again. I did this a couple of times before I realized I could have done the whole race without walking at all. The final mile I started to pick my pace back up and as I saw the finish line coming I saw DeeAnn, Matthew, Spencer, and Shandi my niece all cheering me on. Spence saw that I was bleeding I had not noticed it but apparently my body glide had not been applied thick enough on one side of my chest and the chaffing had caused me to bleed pretty good. For the final 25-30 yards I sprinted through the finish line it read something of 2:18:41. However, for my personal time which means the time my reader crossed the starting line to the time my reader crossed the finish line was 2:15:59.8. Amy followed me across probably less than 1 minute behind.

After drinking what seemed like a gallon of Gatorade and water we headed back up the course away to cheer Joe on to the finish line. What an incredible feeling it was to be able to cheer others on after our race was done.  This experience I have to say is a do-over. It is an experience I will remember for a long time.  And I intend to make this just one more adventure in Moving More.....

Don't Give Up On Yourself

Sometimes we have to realize we are, and we are not alike. Each of us are individuals and we have to come to the conclusion that just because someone else can, does not mean that we can...yet. There is no reason to give up on ourselves if someone else is faster than us, better than us, or more graceful than us. When we start something we have never done before we have to assume that we are going to run into problems we have never dealt with before. Life is just that way. We rarely are graceful when we start doing exercise, but the more we do the better we get at it. I can't tell you how many times I have done different move mores where I felt like the ugly duckling bowing before swans. I wish I would have recorded my first attempts... Well, maybe not, but it probably would have given encouragement to many. I will just say that coordination is still not one of my strengths, but I just keep moving more and enjoying it.

The Logan Run

Last Saturday we drove to Logan to run the first 9 miles of the 1/2 marathon. Amy, Joe, Joe's Dad Norm, and myself were driven up to the top of the course by DeeAnn and my family. We planned it out that DeeAnn would meet us along the way, as we have become accustom to the past few weeks.
I felt really good starting off, but this week after visiting the Chiropractors instead of my hip hurting in the back of the joint, it was the front of my hip that seemed a bit tight. I kept a pretty good pace through the canyon, it really helped to have my family cheering us on. Matt would hand me my water then say, "Go, go, go, daddy. Hurry up. You are doing Great!" That kept me going through mile 6, but as we hit the winding country road we leveled off and my hip started causing me problems. The problem with my hip doesn't seem to be the pain directly, I think I could push through the pain, but it seems to just wear on my nerves and weaken the ability of my muscles to respond to my demands. The fatigue factor just kills me. I made it 9 miles which was our scheduled run, but I came up short about 200 yards from the location we had chosen to meet. I walked about 50 yards and sprinted the last 70 yards or so.
The competitor in me finds it mentally challenging when my body does not allow my mind the opportunity to finish. I have to remind myself that I new that I would be testing my limits from the get go so I have found my limits when I am not at 100%. Hopefully by the time of the race my body will have had enough time to heal and I can see if I can reach a new limit.
One more adventure in Moving More. 

You Would Think I Might Learn...And I Do..

This past week was our biggest week for preparing for the half marathon. It culminated in our 12 mile run. Our Saturday runs are becoming quite the adventure and each week seems to be a learning experience in and of itself. I was told once that insanity is doing the same dumb thing over and over again. Well, no one can accuse me of that, because I am really good and doing dumb thing after another. Okay, so dumb may be a little harsh, but given the task to choose a route to run I felt a little dumb after choosing 2 routes that about killed me. Amy and Reyna certainly out ran me on this run that is for sure. In my defense I was running sick, I didn't realize it at the time, but once I came home the little bug made itself clear...

After last weeks fun run Amy decided she did not want to think about the 12 mile rout so she gave me the opportunity to create it. I found 2 that seemed acceptable. Presented with the options we chose the more adventurous of the two. According to my calculations and my ability to read maps the total loss in elevation would be somewhere in the neighborhood of  700 plus feet. which would be pretty close to the 1/2 marathon so I was excited. This could be a good preview of what we would see for the 1/2.

Well, that morning we got up early. DeeAnn and I drove over to Amy's house where we picked up Amy and Reyna and headed toward Dimple Dell. It seemed like the longest drive up to the top, but we made it. The past couple of days my lower back was feeling a little tight but I thought I could stretch it out and where it hadn't gone down into my hip I felt I would be okay for this run. Right up front we dropped significantly but it mellowed out shortly and everything seemed like it would be good. Our first 3 miles went good we finished it in good time and DeeAnn had liquid refreshments waiting for us. Did I mention how incredible my wife is? Well, she is pretty incredible.
Then came miles 4-6 what I thought would be a small rise then fall turned into an almost 800 foot climb. We actually did this without much trouble at all. Good thing it was not at the end of the run. However, my back was still nagging at me just a little. We reached the 6 mile mark and DeeAnn once again sent us off with a refill of liquids.
Miles 7-9 I began to feel the pain in my back move to my hip, but I did not think it was too bad I was able to keep up, but it was not super comfortable. As we left DeeAnn for the final leg of the run I felt my hip start to wear on me. I made it to mile 11 when I had little left in me and when we hit the final hill on the last 1/2 mile of the run my hip said no more. I had to walk for about 25 yards before I could muster up a limping jog under the gentle encouragement of Amy. I finally made it to the top of the hill and was able to grin and bare it to the finish.

The lessons I learned this week were, even though the over all course was down hill we still had ups and downs along the way some of which were more significant than others. Such is life. Second, I learned that if you give it your all it doesn't matter how ugly the finish it just matters that you finish. Life is not always about beating your competitors, sometimes it is, but most of the time life is about beating yourself. I also learned that you can never underestimate the significance of an encouraging word when you feel you have nothing left inside. DeeAnn gave it to us along the way, and Amy and Reyna did that for me at the end of the run.

Just one more adventure in moving more. :)

Sometimes It Pays To Be The Fool

Sometimes it pays to be foolish. You see it is often the fool, those who don't know that they can't, that make things happen. This week I played the fool.

In the process of training for this 1/2 marathon Amy and I realized that the course would be a downhill course. We needed to prepare for down hill, because to this point we had only trained on level to slightly uphill courses. So, I had this brilliant idea that we should run down Millcreek Canyon. The course was set from the top of Millcreek Canyon to 2300 East and 3900 South in Salt Lake City, UT. This we thought would give us an idea of what we were facing come the half marathon. So, DeeAnn drove Amy and I up to the top of Millcreek Canyon Saturday morning. I tried not to pay too much attention to how steep it was on the way up and figured that if Amy was willing to do this I most certainly was not going to let her show me up. So, when DeeAnn left the parking lot to meet us half way down the canyon we finished stretching and started down the canyon road. Immediately, I started feeling a slight cramp under my ribs, probably the effects of my diet while camping all week. This is not new though, I always seem to have to fight those thoughts as I run. We hit a couple of fairly steep stretches and I began to think that this course was much steeper than I thought it was going to be. It only took us a little less than 30 minutes to reach DeeAnn at the 4.8 mile mark. By that time I was feeling my calves really getting tight, but after a quick drink of water, we kept going. We had only passed one other person who was running up the canyon, but we had not seen anyone running down it. For all the bikes we saw I thought maybe we would see others running down, but no, we didn't. Eventually we saw a few walking up and a couple jogging up, but never anyone running down.

Once we got to the bottom of the canyon we still had about 3-4 miles to go. my calves were on fire and I noticed that my feet were feeling hot as well. I kept thinking that Amy might stop and give me an excuse to stop and make sure she was okay ;), but she just kept moving, and I certainly wasn't going to stop. As we rounded our final turn to head down 3900 South to 2300 South I felt like I was having a hard time picking my legs up, but I was determined to keep up. I was really hoping it was the first light I saw, but I prepared mentally for the second. And it was a good thing I did because it was the second light, but as we approached that second light I found out it was just past that light. Thank goodness we did not have to wait, because mentally I was now completely spent. I mustered up enough to finish with an attempt at a sprint for the last 20 yards or so. It felt good to do what we had done, but I knew I was going to pay a price.

That afternoon, I found out that we had run 11.9 miles and dropped 3406 feet in elevation almost 4 times as big a drop as we will be dropping during the 1/2 marathon.

It was foolish to think we could run that course with our experience, but not knowing that we shouldn't gave us the opportunity to say we did it. And now we know that we can do more than we thought we could, because we did not know what we were doing before we did it. Set your site on a task and forget about the obstacles, everything will turn out fine. You may pay a price, but once the price is paid you may look back and say, "I did that. Now lets not do that again." Or you may just think next time.... and smile a little bigger.

Yes sir, it is often the fool that pushes the envelope and creates new boundaries for themselves and others....Try it sometime you just might like it...after you pay the price. ;)

A new adventure in Moving More. Don't tell me you can't until you have tried. Until then you can only say you won't.

The Secret Is Obedience

I learned along time ago that my body tends to want what it wants and it does not like pain. I also have sadly learned that when I give into what my body wants I end up not being happy with what I get.
The mind body connection is fascinating to me. Sometimes I feel like they are constantly battling each other like siblings. Other times they work and play together, and when that happens powerful things come together and creation happens in one form or another.
Most of us don't allow our mind to take us to the point where the body sees where the mind is going. Once the body sees, or feels where the mind is going it will begin to conform to the will of the mind. It takes some time mostly because even though the mind is suppose to lead most of us have allowed our body to lead. The body really needs the mind to take control in order for us to reach our potential.
 When our mind and body are working together we are more susceptible to inspiration and our ability to act in faith is increased. Pushing our physical limits may increase our spiritual capacity if we allow our body and spirit to submit to the will of God. I think that is the real secret to happiness.

Eat Less, Move More. Becoming Physically
what I already am Mentally.

You Have To Decide What You Want

As of July 4, 2011                            January 2011              

This week has been interesting. I started Monday off with a bang. I thought I was suppose to run 4 miles instead of the usual 3miles and I did it in record time. Wednesdays run was at a good steady pace, but Thursday I felt like I had lead boots on. I could not get myself into the run. My wife and kids have left me home alone for a couple of days and it was hard to motivate myself to get home faster... Oh well, I got home and I got it done. It is one of those lessons in life. When your destination is somewhere you are not looking forward to there is no urgency to get there. And when there is no urgency to get there you tend to feel more pain along the way.

I was thinking about the importance of doing something for the right reasons. It is not hard to see where most people go wrong in setting goals that they have no intention of really keeping. They say they do, but they are unwilling to really change their habits. Some people want to lose weight so that they can eat like they used to...kinda defeats the purpose, unless that is their purpose, and they want to make the run back up the scale and end up worse off than they were before.

When I started my journey I had two motivations. First and foremost I knew I should lose weight, and second there was a chance of winning a prize. The prize, to be honest was only enough for me to make an effort to get started. I really did not think it would be mine at the end of the day.  I went in thinking it cost me my fee, but if I lose 15-20 lbs I will consider that a win. So, I kinda minimized the idea of winning any money pretty fast.

The funny thing was the further I pulled ahead the less it was about the money and the more it became about feeling good. I still have not jumped on the band wagon or become a "health nut." I think there is something to eating right, but anything you get too wrapped up in takes away from the enjoyment of living and causes more stress than it is worth. I just want to feel good physically. I want the mental alertness, and the energy to work in the garden or go for a hike. I just want my spirit to be as free as it can be inside this body I have been given. I want to confirm my own thoughts that I have always had, that if we listen to our body it will tell us what we need, to accomplish what we want to accomplish. That is something that we as individuals must decide for ourselves. And that is usually why diets don't work. I believe that life should be a spiritual experience in a physical body, but allowing ourselves to get out of shape makes our body more of an emotional prison for our soul.

Eat Less and Move More, Becoming Physically what I already am Mentally.

Training Underway

Training for the half marathon. Mind over matter... it is something that has been talked about many times and is certainly not a new concept, but I am going to tell you some of the things that I have to overcome in my head as I am running.

First thing I have to deal with is the thought of leaving a comfortable bed knowing that I am about to run. Running is not my passion, but it does make me feel good...at least parts of me feel good. Running itself is a means to an end. So as I am stretching I feel pretty good, but my mind is always fighting the awkwardness I feel as my body is not extremely limber.

As I begin my run I realize that my Achilles tendon seems a bit tight. I don't know if I am going to make it through this run. Then I feel a slight cramp in my ribs, this definitely is  going to make for a long run. Sometimes my lungs have a hard time adjusting to my rhythm and or my asthma just does not want to loosen its grip on my lungs. Everyone of these things used to stop me dead in my tracks. Now they are just annoyances. It is that voice inside that has told me I can't that has haunted me all my life. It mocks me as I take each step, but each step I take grows stronger and stronger as I tell that voice it's wrong. I can do it.

There are times when you need to listen to your body and there are times when you need to ignore your body. If you are honest with yourself you know when that is. No one  knows your body like you do. Learning how to explain it is another matter...

Since starting my training routine I have been running on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Saturday is our big run day which will eventually build up to 12 miles, but for now we have done a 4 mile and a 5 mile run with this week we will be running 6 miles.  Is it hard on me? yes, but will it be worth it? Absolutely, and along the way I will find out more about myself and my body, it's capabilities and its limits. To me that is worth it. Learning more about what makes us tick and how to control this body which we possess is just part of what this life is all about. 

A New Goal In Sight

I already mentioned that I signed up for a 1/2 marathon. This is monumental for me. I am asthmatic. In fact I have heavily moderate asthma. When I was in High School I played football, but I had my inhaler with me always. Wind sprints would kill me because of the starting and stopping. When I ran the mile I would run faster than most of my fellow line men and they would get mad at me for running so fast, but I knew I couldn't last forever, and if I stopped then my asthma would kick in. After High School I jogged on rare occasions, but nothing on a regular basis. I began to look at it as painful and painful was not good. So I stopped. And so now 20 years later out of desperation to win a contest I began jogging again and while I don't love jogging I love the results. The freedom to move like I have not moved in many years if ever. Does it hurt, yea some days my knees hurt, my Achilles tendon is often tight, and my right foot hurts like crazy every morning before I stretch, but it sure beats heart burn and the inability to breath. It also is fun to know that I can push myself much harder than I thought I could. Freedom is my goal and I am winning. I am now nearing the mark of 60 lbs since mid January and it feels absolutely fantastic.

From couch potato to parking a little further away from the entrance. From a hard time walking up stairs to a half marathon in 8 months... It is going to feel great. I am feeling much more aerodynamic and by the end of August I should be that much more :) Last Saturday I jogged 6.3 miles in about 1hr and 15min. Ending with my signature 140 yard sprint.

As I continue to move more and eat less I am realizing that it is not that hard. I still have sugar cravings that I have to ride out, but keeping my portions down I feel no guilt and I continue to lose weight.

Freedom is when what takes your breath is not the hike but what you see while you are hiking, that is freedom...

Eat Less Move More, becoming Physically what we already are Mentally
56lbs down since January. 

Becoming Physically What We Already Are Mentally

Becoming Physically what we already are Mentally is probably the least obvious yet most important aspect of the program we design for ourselves. This principle forces us to look at why we want to lose weight and what we want to look like when we are done. It is important to note that those with eating disorders often look in the mirror and see what they do not want to see. So, instead of looking in the mirror and seeing what we do not want to see, we need to assess where we are at briefly, but dwell more on what we want to become. When we look in the mirror we want to  briefly see where are at, but more importantly we should imagine definitions forming and unwanted parts of us disappearing. This does two things, if we are honest with ourselves. First, it gives us a hope. We are looking for progress. Second, it locks in to our subconscious a blue print of where we want it to take us. So, be very careful and as detailed as you can when you program it into the subconscious. Always make it a positive image.

The subconscious mind is a powerful tool. It is like a heat seeking missile once we tell it what we want, it will find a way to get there for good or for bad. The subconscious mind is resourceful and creative and it has no limits to its potential possibilities. So, we must tell it what we want then listen as it guides us there. Once we are locked in to the subconscious we do not need a formal diet to tell us what and what not to eat, our body will start telling us what we should and shouldn't eat. It will start telling us if we are not exercising right, it will nudge us in one direction or another until we either tell it we no longer want that goal or until we comply with its demands. It is a good idea to expose ourselves to as many ideas as we can during this process because the subconscious will filter and relay information to our conscious mind, those things which are right for us. For example, as I did this, words like metabolism and fiber came to my mind.  I began doing some research on what they are and what they do. This led me to a list of different kinds of foods that, funny enough, I realized I was craving. I also noticed that by eating the things that were good for me the need for sweets either led me to better healthier alternatives, or the cravings were minimized.

Who we are is an important question we have to ask ourselves in the process of losing weight, because often times those of us who have gained a lot of extra pounds have made a conscious or subconscious decision to gain our weight. These are usually very emotional reasons not always logical. We have trained ourselves to eat more for comfort even though in the end eating for comfort does not solve the problems we are trying to fix with food. Not only that but our mindset when we eat for comfort tends to tell our body to hold onto it. Depression and anxiety have been linked to weight gain. Understanding this can be helpful in flipping that switch that will help us to eat less than we want. Instead of eating more learn how to be comforted by flavor rather than a full tummy. Then practice keeping the flavor in your mouth longer and savor it. Truly enjoy it, try to understand why that flavor brings you comfort.

Sleep is another subject that should be addressed when it comes to losing weight because it effects not only our mental effectiveness but also our physical effectiveness in losing weight. A tired body does not have the ability to exert itself nearly as well as a rested body. I have also found that my body seems to warm up faster in the mornings when I have gotten a good nights rest, which means my metabolism is more responsive. Mentally being awake is important especially when you are trying to push yourself. When we are exhausted our self doubts seem to have far more influence over our body. This particular principle is one that I continue to struggle through. I understand it in my head, but I am still working on getting it inside of me. Which tells me I have many more mental clicks to go before I have this all figured out. :)

Be Good! Be Kind! And Be Happy! Enjoy!

Becoming Physically what I already am Mentally.

Moving More- My thoughts on Exercise

At the beginning of my competition I was pretty much anti exercise routines. My thoughts were that I did not want to start something that I did not feel I could or would keep up. Too many exercise programs start you out with an hour of making yourself look and feel foolish. I have watched others attempt them and they end up with a boat load of exercise videos and or exercise equipment that sits and gathers dust because they feel they do not have time to do what they think it will take to become fit again. I didn't have the money nor the space in my home to do that, although I have a couple of videos and a couple of pieces of equipment that I have tried.

I have come to realize that those people on the commercials did not get on the commercials by using the equipment, they got on the commercials because they looked good to start with. It is easy to get caught in the trap thinking if you buy what they are selling I will become like them. Well, we all know that is what they are trying to do, but we continue to fall for it, and if it helps us get started it is worth it...I guess. 

Anyways, my philosophy is Eat Less and Move More. Becoming Physically what you already are Mentally. As the competition heated up I realized that not only did Move More mean to get up off my butt and move, but it meant move in different ways. So I started out simply by parking further away when I stopped at the store. I started sitting on an exercise ball while watching the television. I found the Biggest Loser 10 minute workouts. I just decided that I had to do more than just walk if I was going to stay in this competition. So I just started moving more in as many different ways as I could think of. Exercise routines have become a filler for me. I have done Tai Chi, swimming, jogging, hiking, walking, basketball, Biggest Loser's 10 minute workouts, as well as their Yoga, and Cardio Max routines. I have decided that I will just keep trying different types of movements, including dance, possibly martial arts, and biking. As I earn more freedom I will take the opportunity to try new ways of moving. I have learned that to keep being effective you have to change things up. Your muscles seem to get used to certain movements, and when they do the exercise seems to be less effective. Sometimes you have to try something else and then come back to those exercises you like the most. Most important about thing about Moving More is that you just keep trying until you find those exercises you like the most then you find some more and change them up. 

When you first start trying different forms of movement you may find yourself feeling very awkward and uncoordinated. I felt like the ugly duckling swimming before swans, so do not feel like you have to look graceful, just understand that moving more is your goal and graceful comes somewhere down the road...at least I hope it does I certainly don't think it has reached me yet, but I look better than when I started. 

Just keep moving that is what it is all about. When it becomes too easy that is when you can try to analyze what you are doing wrong, until then move until you sweat then sweat some more. 

One thing that did help as well was that I used a sauna suit on my big push days usually that was Fridays and Saturdays. I did add Thursdays in towards the end. The sauna suit maximized the heat my body was producing. This was particularly helpful, when I did not have a lot of time to build up my internal heat. 

MAKE SURE YOU DRINK LOTS OF WATER when you sweat a lot you need to keep yourself hydrated or you may undo the good you are doing. 

Still dropping this makes 51 lbs since January

If you have access to a gym or to a trainer my hats go off to you. I would take advantage of it. My approach was born out of lack of resources and a determination that I wanted to do something to get myself feeling better. I was tired of killing myself from the inside out and making excuses for why I wasn't able to breath, sleep, or have energy to do anything. I was tired of being depressed and knowing that I could do something about it. I was tired of looking down the road and seeing myself in an early grave or worse having poor health and suffering old age without a good foundation of fitness. 

I have always said that the stress of worrying will kill you faster than the weight you carry, but at some point the weight you carry is going to stress you right out of the game. So don't worry about your weight, just get up as start doing something a little more each day. Stop making excuses for why you can't do it and look for reasons why you can and should do it. If you do not have a reason why then find one and hold on to it. 

The benefits from losing weight goes far beyond the lbs you lose. What you get is your life back! What you get is your own slice of Freedom. And that freedom is priceless. 

Eat Less- My Thoughts On Dieting

At the beginning of our Biggest Loser challenge. I shared my thoughts on diet and exercise. I was not a big fan of either. Rather my opinion has been if you eat less and move more you should be able begin losing weight. This experiment is an on going process, but so far I have tested my plan and found it has worked well for me.
In the process of discovery I have somewhat refined or maybe just defined what Eating Less and Moving More means to me. In this entry I am going to share my discoveries on Eating Less.
First as part of eating less means you must recognize what you are eating. Sometimes it is not what we eat for breakfast, lunch, or dinner that may be killing us. Sometimes it is the incidentals, those things you eat without even thinking about it, the pieces of candy from a candy bowl,  the snitching you do before you eat your meal. Sometimes it is the kinds of things you snack on. Some food is specifically designed to make you want to eat more. Everything adds up a little at a time. So, take an inventory of what you are eating.
Sometimes eating less means cutting your portions back from seconds and thirds to only eating one helping. I chose to use a smaller bowl and eating seconds only sometimes. I accomplished this by realizing that if I really liked something I did not have to eat it all right now. I sometimes would wait a half an hour to have my seconds. I also realized that when something tasted good leaving it in my mouth longer was more effective at satisfying my desire than eating more.  Another thing I realized was that if I liked it a lot I could either make it again or I could buy it again. It took the bite out of my desire to eat it all before it disappeared.
I also realized that if I limited what I could eat it left me feeling deprived and from previous experience that was asking for failure. If you feel guilty for cheating on your diet you are likely to drop the t off your diet and that mean killing it. Guilt is your enemy. No matter how you choose to deal with your eating you must avoid guilt at all cost. Guilt may cause you to gain 5 lbs even if your cheat was only 6oz. Realizing that your body has good craving and bad ones will help you also realize that it is not that hard to tell wish is which.
I also came to the conclusion that once I started eating less my body began to crave more good foods. I also began to look up the foods that I craved on the internet and discovered that many of the things that I was craving were foods that increased my metabolism. Higher metabolism means better calories are burned off easier. So, go on a mission of discovery. Find out about your cravings. Discover what your cravings will do for you or to you. Sweet is a powerful craving learn what you can do to satisfy that craving with good foods and you will find out that eating less is not so hard. Salty is another powerful craving that can be lessened by experimenting with herbs and spices or you can find Mrs. Dash seasonings, as well as I am sure many others. The key is you must learn to work with your cravings not against them.
Don't starve yourself. Eating less does not meaning not eating only controlling how much you eat. Plan your snacks eat slow, but eat something every couple of hours especially when you start to feel hunger. Don't let your body think it is starving, but don't think you have to eat a lot to stop feeling hungry. Eat a little then wait. Fat foods actually make you feel fuller for a longer period of time. I am finding that a small scoop of peanut butter is fairly satisfying.
If you eat for emotional comfort to deal with stress, you must understand that more than likely the reason you do not feel capable of dealing with stress is because of your eating. Comfort foods are a temporary solution for a permanent problem and in the end turns our emotional stress into physical stress as our body holds onto it.


The final thing I want to talk about is water intake. When I started my contest I drank lots of water. I used a 59oz container to measure my intake. I started out drinking almost 4 of those per day except on weekends. I found it harder to drink water on weekends because when I am not at work I do not always have immediate access to water. Water is good because it helps remove poisons released from your muscle tissue and fats cells through sweat and or urination. Drink lots of water. The bonus is that it helps you feel full faster just not for long.

Reporting in Week 4 Post Competition

This past month has been difficult reflecting back it is probably the hardest month I face each year. Thanksgiving is a single days big meal. Christmas time really isn't that bad, a few more sweets than other times, but nothing I can not minimize the damage. January is when I tend to get depressed or be prone to it. But April starts off with a family breakfast and munch fest at my mom's house while watching General Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It is my youngest son's birthday on the 3rd of April so we usually go out to eat for that. Our Anniversary is on the 18th, and our oldest daughters birthday is on the 26th. This year we had all those things, plus we had a luncheon celebrating my youngest boys baptism. May we had a luncheon after my brothers baby was blessed as well as another luncheon to celebrate a baby blessing of some dear friends of ours. Follow that up with a funeral luncheon for my Aunt and a Mothers Day dinner at my sisters and I think I could have easily gained my weight back had I not kept my portions in check. I will admit that I struggled this month, but in the end as of Saturday morning the scale had not changed since the previous week. My low day was on Thursday morning when I weighed in just above 250 lbs. Unfortunately by Saturday morning I weighed in exactly the same as last week. Probably due to the lesson I learned while moving more.

Exercise this week consisted of some Yoga and some jogging. Wednesday was my peak performance for jogging. I started off on a 2 mile jog and ended up jogging 4.9 miles and I felt like I could have kept going...that is until morning came. It was in the morning that I began to realize a learning experience was being set up. It was apparent to me that in the morning I was having a difficult time moving and even stretching became difficult. Though your body can do it without warm ups and cool downs. It requires a lot more time to recover afterwards. I also learned that if you do not warm up before you stretch, your muscles do not want to stretch willingly. Friday's stretches did not feel very effective either, but I went jogging for a mile and found myself feeling okay, but not great. As I was getting dressed my back felt like it was trying to slip a disc in my lower back. I knew exactly what had happened when I felt it. the muscles where just too tight. A trip to the Chiropractors and I was back on track, but I was a little behind on the exercises. Sweat has been hard to come by the last couple of weeks. I have put in some good workouts, but I don't think I have challenged myself enough. All in all I feel pretty good...not great, but pretty good about this week.

Distractions are bound to happen. Don't feel guilty. Guilt is an emotion prone not only to weigh you down spiritually, but physically as well. Be kind to yourself and maintain an eye of faith on your goal. Believe it will happen and it will. Though my weight has not gone down my clothes are definitely telling a different story and I continue to become Physically what I already am Mentally.

Using weight as your sole indicator as to whether you are going to be happy or not, is not a good idea. Weight is a good goal only if you recognize that weight is not what your real goal is. We want to be able to fit into nicer clothes, we want to breath better, we want to look better, we want more energy, we want better health, or we want to conquer our appetites. In other words we are looking to increase our freedom. That is why we want to lose weight. If we get what we really want we will recognize that Eating Less and Moving More is how we get and keep what we really want, and we will appreciate the process.

Reporting in Week 3 Post Competition

My third week of post competition has gone better than I expected. I wanted to jog more this week, but weather kinda put a damper on things. So, some jogging, some Biggest Loser 10 minute workouts, and some Yoga, and I feel like I put myself back on track. I am finding that a good work out in the morning is good to get the metabolism kicked in, but I have to either work longer than my usual 20-30 minutes in the morning, or I have to add something like an extra jog in the evening once or twice a week when I hit a plateau. So, Saturday evenings 3.5 miles really helped me get back on track.
As for Eating less I have to say this week was a challenge with Baby blessing parties, and the baptismal luncheon for my youngest son, there was plenty of opportunity to go over board, but I felt I did okay for the most part. I ended the day with my run and a soak in a jetted tub.

I finally decided that Saturday mornings are just not going to be possible every week for weigh ins so, I am going to weigh in whenever I can and post it for my own accountability.
I am going to also start turning my focus from reporting each week to more detailed tips on my portion control, mental clicks, and moving more. If you have questions about specifics let me know and I will try to answer them as best I can.
Remember, the more good you do to your body the more good your body will be able to do for you. Freedom is the goal.
When you look in the mirror stop looking at what you do not want to see, but look at what you want to see. The mirror will become your friend instead of your enemy. 

Reporting Week 2 Post Competition

Another week of post competition and I am realizing that I need to give myself a harder deadline to reach my next goal. The past two weeks I have increased my exercise but I also ate more. I am noticing that I have been eating kind of in a hurry and that is making it easy to eat more than I should. I have to readjust the pace of my meals. The other thing that I need to do is plan my desserts. Every week seems to have one or two nights that I know I am going to see sweets on the menu, usually not at our house. If I plan it in I am usually okay. If I keep my portions small it does not kill my over all plan.
The mental click that I have to work with is when I go to my mom's house for family get togethers. Family get togethers usually mean munchies. Thank goodness this does not happen more than once a month... for the most part. And even though I ate more than I usually do I filled up on mostly the veggie tray to start with.
Moving more does not bother me nearly as much as it used to. The ability to move more is the reward for moving more when you did not want to. This week I jogged 4 days, Tuesday was my favorite day because I jogged 2 miles while on vacation in Wellington, Utah, did Yoga 1 day I swam for an hour one night, and I got to hike on Saturday. Hiking was incredible, it was rewarding, and a reminder of why I want to keep doing cardio. It gave me a glimpse at the freedoms I have been recapturing. I am excited to see the other incidental freedoms that I have created for myself by doing what I did not want to do.
This week I thought I might have gained weight again, but not being in town on Saturday morning kind of made it hard to know one way or the other. My scale at home makes me feel like I might be back on track but I have not been on the official scale so hopefully next week I can post my numbers again. I feel like my body is going through some major adjustments so we shall see where it is taking me. I have increased the use of weights when I am at home watching T.V. and sitting on my exercise ball.
So, even though I felt like my eating was out of control, mostly because of the two vacations and Easter, I look back and I think I did pretty good. My exercise felt off, but an honest evaluation says I moved more just in different ways and different places. I may not have sweated as much, but as long as I am staying active and doing what I can I will count that as a plus.
Eating Less and Moving More is bringing me new freedoms I could not imagine only 3 months ago. I am excited to see what else I can do this summer.
Keep on keeping on. I apologize for no numbers the past couple of weeks. Saturdays don't seem to work for weigh ins anymore so I am either going to have to change the time or the day of my weigh ins, but I will keep you posted.  

Reporting Week 1 Post Competition

I have given myself a week off. Not completely off but I did not expect to lose this week. I did not weigh in on the "official" scale this week, but next week I will start anew.
This week was DeeAnn's second week on here Belly Fat diet. I am not following it completely, but as she is on it I am somewhat on it as well. Some of the menu calls for more than I can eat now a days. However, we had a couple of bumps in the road. A Thursday Wedding reception, was by the biggest bump, but in reality it was not off my "diet" it was just a temporary concentration of sugar. :) I enjoyed it very much and knowing that I can do it again makes it easy to not need more for a while.
Tonight we went to Ruby Rivers for dinner with Joel and Joy Nelson. We ordered the steak and coconut shrimp, and we split it. It was extremely filling even cutting it in half.
As far as moving more I have to say that I did not do very well toward the end of the week, but next week will promise to be different. At the beginning of the week DeeAnn started jogging so I spent my time with her and I will call that extremely effective. With school out I wont have to take the kids to school. So I will be doing a little extra. I need to reach my 50 lbs lost mark in the next 2 weeks. So we will continue to show the progress. Sorry, about no pic this week. I had an early Convention this morning and was unable to get to the scale. I doubt that there was a loss this week, but I will guarantee it next week. 

A New Beginning- The Next Time You See Me......

Well the contest has come and gone and now it is time to renew my commitment. As I started this competition I realized that I would have to make some changes that I could live with, or I would end up right back where I started from. So, though the competition is over the journey is just begun. My next goal is to get to 220lbs and then evaluate whether or not to go lower. I weighed 220 as a senior in High School, but when I am done I will probably be a lot more firm than I was in High School. So we shall continue reporting in as I learn along the way....

This morning DeeAnn and I got up and together we started a new chapter in our lives. As we dawned our shoes and a our sweat jackets we stretched, walked out the door, and we started jogging together. I have never been so proud of my wife as I watched her struggle past her pain and jogged her first 1/2 mile. I then jogged another half mile with DeeAnn walking/jogging behind me.

The greatest thing I have learned in this contest is that I could do it. I don't need a gym membership, nor do I need a nutritionist or a trainer. What I did need was the will to start. Once I had the will to start then I needed the hope of finishing. Another thing I learned was that God has given me information to prepare me for this very journey and my bet is that when you make your decision to do the same you will begin to remember things that will help you as well. Mental clicks, are those ideas, ah has, or light bulbs that suddenly make things make sense, and will help you solidify your commitment to yourself.

Making myself accountable to my friends on facebook did two things. First it created an expectation of success in myself and in others. And second, it set me up to be encouraged, because I know my friends. Encouragement gave me the energy to do a little bit more than I thought I could, because deep inside I knew that it was giving inspiration and encouragement back to my friends.
As you lose weight you begin to realize the freedoms that you gave up by allowing yourself to get in such poor health. You also begin to respect yourself for doing what you know you should. Is there a value you can put on that? I sure can't.

I still feel that stressing out about weight will kill you faster than the weight itself, but certainly the stress of the weight you carry will kill you. So, don't stress about it, just get up off the couch and start Moving More and Eating Less. Find out for yourself what it means to be free of the emotional crap you are literally carrying with you. It is time to get out and see more of what God has given us by Eating Less and Moving More. Don't Give Up on Yourself!

Eating Less and Moving More and More. 

Becoming Physically what You already already are Mentally.

Reporting in Week 12- The Final Judgement

Before and After
I am The Biggest Loser 

This is the final week of the contest. However it is not the final week of my journey. What started as a fun competition has turned into a life changing experience. From having a hard time walking up stairs to jogging 5 miles without stopping this week has given me the confidence that I can do whatever I want to push myself to do.
I am not a health guru and I can not say what I have done is "technically" correct, but I truly believe that if you listen to that voice inside of you it will tell you what you need to do to get started. It doesn't take much, but it will ask you to do a little more than you think you can. In my case it asked me to give it 10 minutes and I answered the challenge. I have had my struggles and in reading my blog you may see those struggles, but in the end I have been able to push through and conquer myself.
We will begin our report on Saturday this week. With General Conference comes some traditions that might have spelled danger for me. After Priesthood Session my brothers and I have a tradition of going to Dairy Queen for ice cream. I happen to like the Pecan Mudslide. However, this time I ordered a small Hawaiian blizzard substituting banana for strawberry, I ate only half of it. On Sunday we have breakfast together, biscuits and gravy, french toast, bacon, eggs, fresh squeezed orange juice, and fruit. Normally this is a challenge but this year I took one of each and ate more fruit...okay I ate more than one piece of bacon, but the protein was necessary for my workouts this week.
Monday started out with a mile jog. It was Tuesday that I found out how close the race really was so I jogged 2 miles in the morning with my sauna suit on. After work I sent DeeAnn home with our van leaving 5 miles between me and home. The clouds were rolling in for our next storm so I jogged the 5 miles without stopping it took me just over an hour and at the end of the jog I continued my traditional 75 yd sprint. That I felt was a turning point. On Wednesday I dawned the sauna suit and jogged my 2 miles. That was probably the hardest 2 miles I have jogged yet. At work I worked my abs pretty hard on my exercise ball. On Thursday morning I jogged the 2 mile rout again with my sauna suit. On Friday I was going to treat this day as a last chance opportunity and take half a day off of work, but circumstances did not allow it. I ended up doing the full 3rd week Biggest Loser Yoga with my sauna suit on. I was going to jog as well but weather was against me. So, when I came home from work an opportunity to run opened up and I jogged my 2 miles before heading to the West Valley Rec Center to have some fun with the family in the pool. I swam 4 or 5 laps and did some misc. exercises along with playing in kiddy pool with the boys. Saturday I was unable to jog again, but I dawned the sauna suit and did the Biggest Loser Cardio Max with my buddy Bob. I tried to go through the second work out but I was completely drained at the end of the first. I thought I would try the Biggest Looser Yoga to finish my work out, but I got through the warm ups and I had no ability to balance. My legs were done.
This week my 2 mile jogs were almost harder mentally than my 5 mile jog. The 5 mile jog was harder to start and easy to finish, while the 2 miles were easy to start but harder to finish. I went through more teeshirts this week and have never sweated so much except maybe during High School two-a-days in the August heat.
My goal was to lose 6lbs that would make it a 2 percentage loss and I figure that would be pretty hard to beat at any level. Funny thing was I kept thinking that I weighed in at 260 lbs last week. Mentally I was already there. So when I weighed in I was pleasantly surprised with my second biggest weight loss since week number one. So the finally weigh in....

Final Weigh ins 254.4 lbs making my total
weight loss for 12 weeks 46.4 lbs
Eating Less and Moving More
Becoming Physically what I already am Mentally!