Day 87

Day 87 of the original Journey and Day 25 of my Fast food challenge. Getting the fast food out of the way first… I don’t miss it and don’t think about it. Five more days and then I will put another 30 day challenge in with my friend!!!

Day 87 means that in three days that will be 3 months. That’s a significant time period. I have already seen big changes in my life and have seen where I can improve. This has been a great thing for me to do and I would imagine that at the end of it I will be so much stronger than I have ever been in my life.

My weight… well my house scale puts me at 211 and that is before getting into the shower. My guess is that I would weigh about 214 if I were to go to the gym. It is time again to get serious about my workouts. I have some added motivation seeing how I planned a vacation with the wife in Mexico in early November. So I will come up with my start date to get serious and the wife and I will do it together.

ONWARD!!!

Day 80

Day 80 of 365 (Drinking) and Day 18 of 30 (Fast Food Challenge). Still going strong with both. This past weekend has been a tough one for the family. We have chicken pox in the house and strep throat. Our kids have been sick much more recently than in years past. Hope the area we moved to is not contaminated or something like that. Lots of home time this weekend. I am home from work today because my wife has been taking days off for the sick kids and it is starting to get noticed at her workplace. So I am the home mom and it is weird but I like it when I get the chance to do it.

I finally bought a scale for the house and it is letting me know that I am floating between 205 and 210 over the past week. It is not that expensive of a scale but it feels to be accurate for me. That is where I believe I am at so it will help to keep me in line. Working out… Hmmm… that is a big question for me I want to start back up and stay with it so I will have to give it some thought on when and what kind of intensity I will have.

Off to e-mails and daddy daddy daddy stuff

Day 75

Hello to all. I have not been working out so I have not posted much. Posting is what got me through my original journey so I think I am going to post M/W/F no matter if I work out or not.

This weekend the wife and I went to a restaurant and then to a movie... something terrible happened and I think I am O.K. though. The wife and I were sitting at the bar and she ordered an appletini and I ordered a redbull and cranberry juice (it's surprisingly good and uplifting for an short period of time). She finished her drink and had the cherry left. She said she could never tie the stem into a knot and I remember I did it once a long time ago. I said let me try and I put it in my mouth and tried to tie it... after a second I realized that it had been soaked in the drink for a while and the stem had drinks in it. I spit it out and grabbed a bunch of napkins and began spitting into the napkins. I probably looked crazy at the bar... I was sad thinking I had ruined my effort this year but after some though I figured that I could not taste any alcohol and kissing my wife after she drinks I can taste it anyway so I don't think there is any harm there. Kissing the wife after she drinks... I have to think about that one - but I don't think that counts either.

I posted a comment on my friends PATRICK (click on his name) blog and I wanted to add that comment to my blog. It really says what is on my mind right now...

For me weight gain goes mostly with my mood. The family, job, and wife situations influence my mood tremendously. I have not been able to understand it completely and I continue to struggle with it. I feel great when my weight is down. I have more energy when my weight is down. I am upbeat when my weight is down. So why don’t I control the one thing that I know can make my mood better and that is my weight. I cannot control what my family, job, or wife does so why not focus in on the things I can control. This is not a new concept and I continue to struggle with it. One day I hope to understand it and find a way to level out my moods no matter what the uncontrollables are doing…

Day 68

I have not posted a blog in a little while because I have not made it out to the gym. Typically I will post a blog once I have gone to workout that morning. No need to worry that I am not keeping my goals for this year. Every day that goes by I am more and more comfortable with this 365 day journey. Actually I have added a 30 day challenge to stop all fast food and I am currently 6 days into that one and going strong.

One thing that I don’t like about myself is that if I get out of my routine even for a little bit it is difficult to get myself back on. I have not worked out in a few days because my work schedule got really hectic. I just did not have the energy to work 16-18 hour days and then get up after a short couple hours of sleep and work out. Now that the work schedule has calmed down I have not gotten myself back to my M/W/F routine and unfortunately that is typical for me. This is something I know about myself and needs work.

I have talked from time to time about an invention I am working on and something big happened a few days ago. I submitted my invention to the US patent office and now my design is protected. I am starting the next phase of my development work and it is exciting. A friend is helping with the CAD work so I can get a professional prototype made. It is a very exciting time for me. The family is as calm as it has ever been, the wife and I are at a GREAT place, and the step daughter is healthier mentally than she has ever been I think. Things are in a good place for me all around. If I could only get my eating in line it would be the icing on the cake for my life.

ONWARD people ONWARD!!!

Day 59

Day 59 and I am still doing great with my mission for this year. Honestly I don’t think about it right now and only when the weekends come and I hang out a bit does it even enter my mind. I think I am in a great place. Now as for my weight I have not gone into the gym for a week now and I know I have pick up about 5 pounds at least. My work schedule has been crazy the past couple weeks and it started to take a toll on my workout schedule. I started trading sleep for working out because I was putting in 16 hour work days these past couple weeks. It has really put a strain on my body and has completely disrupted my heating habits. I do not eat on any regular time schedule and it makes it hard to eat healthy when I am really hungry and have not eaten for 6 to 10 hours at time. I usually end up eating fast food. The outrageous hours are over for now so I hope I can get myself back onto a regular schedule. Here we go!!!

Day 52

Day 52 and I gained a couple pounds over the weekend. It comes as no surprise because I basically ate anything that was around me. I did not eat a 4^th meal at all but my choices for my 3 meals a day and snacks along the way were pretty bad. I think some of it is coming from my mood these days. I should be all smiles and positive right now but I am not. I am having issues with the wife, normal marriage stuff I guess, but it is really affecting my mood and my eating. I just don’t know how to fix everything in the home and it really does have an effect on my weight and eating. Being in a funk is not fun at all. You always want to start to throw a pity party for yourself but you know that wont help but it makes no difference. You invite people to the party and hope they feel sorry for you to. I hate these times and hope I get out of it soon. Don’t know if there is a fix for the marriage issues right now or ever so accepting things as they are seems to be my only option. A messed up option no matter how I look at it but it is my life. I said a long time ago once in a poem I wrote (in 1995) that all I want is peace and my mind to rest… well I am still looking for that. Tough start to my week but as I would say in a situation like this… ONWARD.

Day 49

Day 49 and I am down to 203. It is a great feeling to know that I can maintain what I am doing long term and still be down around 203. The verdict is still out as it pertains to 190 and the way I am eating and working out so I guess we will have to see. I am still not eating a meal after dinner but I am not 100% focused on content for the rest of the meals I eat. That is the next big step. I think I will need to evaluate what I am eating throughout the day. I know that this is probably the only way I will get down to 190 and stay there.

I am in a bit of a funk these days -me and the wife and I are getting on each others nerves. I think it is normal stuff but it is affecting my mood right now. Through it though I have been able to focus on the game plan right now so I am proud of myself. In the past I have let problems with the wife influence how dedicated I am to myself. I hope the funk goes away soon.

Day 47

Day 47 – wow time just flies by so fast. My weight is 205 and I am extremely happy with where I am at with everything. My eating this week has not been all that great content wise, but I still have not had a meal after dinner. I believe this is a big reason why my weight continues to drop.

It is very interesting how my life is going this year… I am doing vastly different things now that I am not drinking these days. It appears some of the people in my life were there because of casual drinking. Very interesting. I knew things would be different but I had no idea it would flush out things like this… Like I have said I will return to having a drink here or there but this time already has shown me some things and it will continue to I suppose. ONWARD!

Day 45

Heart Day… The made up holiday to spend money… If we are doing our jobs we don’t need a holiday to hand out flowers, gifts, and cards. I don’t spend money on this day and I do not end up in the dog house for it. WHY? Because I try and make lots of days valentines day and do special things all the time.

206 this is a really good weight. It means I maintained my weight over the weekend which is a notorious time to gain a pound or two. I am happy and there seems to be a rhythm these days with my day to day activities. I wanted to report out on something  PATRICK (click on his name to see the post) asked us to post last week…

This week my eating plan contains – NO FOOD AFTER DINNER – MAYBE LIGHT FRUIT SNACK… ACHIEVED!!!
This week I will take a box of toothpicks and – MAKE A STICK FIGURES WITH MY KIDS… not exactly… Two of my kids have February birthdays so we combined them to have one party and had 30+ kids there… um I wish I had made stick figures… that party wore me out
This week my exercise will consist of M/W/F 40 MINUTE ELLIPTICAL WORKOUTS… ACHIEVED!!!
This week when I stumble from plan I will immediately – CRY THEN BLOG TO PATRICK AND TELL HIM ALL MY FEELINGS ABOUT IT. Did not stumble so I did not need to cry to Patrick.
This week I will take that odd-sock from the laundry and – TOSS IT – YUKE. DONE!!!
This week I will challenge myself to try – AND NOT EAT AFTER DINNER… ACHIEVED!!!
This week I imagine myself punching the snot out of MYSELF! Did not falter so I did not punch myself!!!

Day 42

206 and my weight is slowly dropping.  It is important to note here that I have done nothing different in my day to day activities except that I have stopped eating a 4^th meal each day. Diet and Exercise is the key to a healthy life. One without the other will just not get the job done in the long run. Today I stepped up my workout a bit and I am a little sore but as I have said in the past I love the way my body hurts after a good workout!!!

One thing that I am starting to notice about my routine is that I really enjoy the workout days and I really enjoy my days off! I think for now the formula is working and I will stick with it.

I am going to do a little Patrick now and ask you to tell me what your formula is right now that is or is not working for you!!!

ONWARD!!!