Hello “fans”

I got an email the other day asking if I was going to be bloging more then I have been for the last month or so because they enjoy reading about my journey. It was signed: A Fan!  That pumped me up so now i’m committed to keeping this current. Well I weighed in this AM at 276 lbs. just a little short of 275. I think that’s progress. Also, when I ran (some would call in walking) yesterday I got my best time ever in the 5k- 45min and 29 seconds. My goal for the 5k race i’m running in the 3rd Saturday in May is to do a 5k in less then 45 mins. So i’m at least on the right track. Also keep in mind i’m doing all this on a treadmill right now and I know for a fact real running will be completely different.

My wife has been helping our niece with a new store she is opening in IA on Monday nights and Tuesday’s. So when i’m home alone on Monday nights I eat like a pig! Not smart! The good news is I did exercise extra hard for the last few days to make up for my weekend of bad habits and Monday night. It’s funny that I feel so much better when I walk/run vs. eating like a pig but yet when given the chance I still “chomp” on stuff I shouldn’t be chomping on. I guess nearly 50 years of bad habits  will take awhile to break. I still have my days i’ll tell you that. So with all my “fans” out there please help those of us that are going through the “ups” and “downs” of healthy living and give us some tips.

Consistency

Well, I’m back for the second time now…I had a couple of the busiest weeks I can remember so I apologize for not keeping up on my blog. Somebody told me they miss reading about my journey so I felt bad about that. So here it goes, I will try to get back on track for three times a week on updates, for sure on Wednesday’s. I haven’t been eating like I am supposed to when i’m stressed like normal. I also haven’t been exercising as regularly for the last couple weeks.  The good news is that I felt like crap not doing any of those things, so I have gotten back into it this weekend with a vengeance and already feel better. I really…really need to keep track of what I eat and journal it – that is so important with my lifestyle.  My best friend from childhood’s wife passed away last week unexpectedly which really hurt me bad for the guilt I felt in staying in touch with my friend as much as I should have as his wife was struggling a lot over the last 7 years since her bad car accident. Now she is resting in peace and without constant pain. I learned a lot again from my boys and how strong they were in helping me get through another friend passing away. It really really motivated me to make sure I take care of myself as best I can because you never know when the Good Lord is going to tell you it’s time to take you home. It’s important to live everyday to the fullest. I know that being lighter and in better shape it will help me enjoy each day a little more and I know it will help with my life expectancy as well. It will certainly help with chronic conditions and pain that my joints will have later in life so i’m hard at it once again! I am happy to report that I maintained my weight of 280 for the last 3 weeks. However, this week I dropped to 277.4 pounds which I am very happy with. Baby steps and consistency is what I have to keep remembering. I didn’t have to give up a lot, I just had to eat normal and not have second helpings and choose my snacks wisely. If I can do it anyone can do it! Looking forward to hearing from some of  you on your ups and downs as well…

Back To Reality

Hi everyone, well i’m back from my travels. As some of you know I had a vacation in March then I had to travel on business for the last two weeks.  I have definitely been out of the “norm” from my daily routines. When I got back from vacation I was up about 3 lbs. Well I worked extra hard at getting back to where I was before I left. Two weeks ago  friday I was actually down to 277 lbs! Happy as a clam, however, when I had to travel and eat at odd hours and weird places I went back up to 280. That’s where I’m at today after my official weigh in. I have mixed emotions about this as I have had a very unusual schedule so I guess I am happy that I didn’t gain more weight. I should now be back to a somewhat normal schedule and have high expectations that I am on the right track to be at 2 lbs a week for weight loss. Looking forward to keeping you all posted and please be willing to give me some tips for when I travel. I have to get used to becoming a road warrior! Talk to you Friday.

Jason

Broke The Cardinal Rule

Good afternoon! I just left weigh in and pretty much stayed the same as last week. I am disappointed… but not surprised. I underestimated what I ate everyday for my fishing weekend and my dad and son’s brithday party and obviously gave myself more credit than what I deserved on my exercise to justify all that I ate. I can’t say i’m disappointed in the results just kind of upset at myself for thinking I had all this down and can do it on my own. I’m still a  long long ways away from not journaling what I eat. I’m a grazer and it was easy for me to justify crap I shouldn’t have just because I stayed regular at my exercise. Again I had a three day guys weekend, a double birthday party for a 21 year old, you know what that meant…So I’m ok with basically staying flat.

Now, tomorrow night I leave for Mexico with two couples that are long time friends. We are going to the same place we went to 17 years ago. That was the first time we all left our children with babysitters for an extended period of time. This week we are going to celebrate our 50th birthdays which will all be coming up and our 25th wedding anniversary’s which we all are at least 2-3 years over due. This is also our first trip as empty nesters. Should be fun. This trip will without a doubt determine my future in some form or fashion, good or bad. I know that I won’t lose weight while i’m there, I just need to make sure I exercise, eat right etc. But the most important factor is when I get back will I exercise and journal and re-develop my lifestyle change. I”ve been at this for awhile and have greatly improved on many things BUT when I am gone for 8 days will I get right back to my new and improved habits that i’ve been developing? This is where i’m asking for support from anyone that’s willing to give me any advice. I will be back in touch on March 15th!!

Jason

Weekend Retreat

Hello everyone. Well I hope you all had a good weekend. I hope March goes out like a lamb like the old saying goes. I think it came in like a lion because we are still below in our average temperature by a long ways. Right? Not much we can do about that though. Onto my eating and exercise over the weekend. I went with a mens group from our church to an ice fishing retreat up in Grenville, SD. We had about 20 guys that showed up. Good turn out. We left at 6:00 AM (or about)  I ate really really well on Friday. I had my normal breakfast before we left, had fruit and a couple 100 calorie packs for lunch and then homemade pork sandwiches for dinner with some sides. Well maybe the sides weren’t the best choice but I didn’t eat a big portion and I didn’t go for seconds! I did have a few refreshments more then normal but we did get a good workout. We had to pull our ice shacks about 3/4 of a mile through snow drifts and uphill to get back to our trucks. We were fishing on Waubay Wildlife Refuge and they don’t allow any motorized vehicles of any kind. I can tell you this, there is no way I would have been able to help pull our shack out there if I didn’t lose 28 lbs and exercised regularly for the last couple months. I doubt I would have been able to walk it without the shack. Saturday I had French Toast for breakfast with sausage. Again, only one helping which was two pieces of french toast and 3 sausages. Then had 100 calorie packs for lunch and a fruit pack, so not bad. Well fishing was very very slow on Saturday so started with a few refreshments outside in the cold. Then when we got back I heated up 3 sausages from this AM, had a brownie, a bowl of Chili…well actually I had two cups. I put cheese in the chili as I needed some dairy for my balance of food. I did have another brownie and again a few more refreshements then I should have but you know how it goes when you’re with a group of guys…we did make the same track back to the refuge so I did get good exercise again.

Sunday was two eggs, two frozen patties of hashbrowns that we cooked of course and 3 slices of bacon. Was that the right choice maybe not but when i’m in that setting I was ok with that. When I got home I had some almonds, 17 to many though   )*:    Then a bowl of soup for lunch. Had a couple weight watcher snacks in the afternoon watching the hockey game and then after church had 2 brats with cottage cheese and a bowl of fruit.  It felt really really good to get back on track this AM with exercising on my treadmill. I went 3.42 mile and burned off over 700 calaries in my hour workout.  Today we celebrate my oldest son’s 21st birthday so we have to have a beer together at the restaurant right? Of course I am. It will be his first to…yeah right.  It’s also my dad’s birthday, and my sister in-laws all today so my dad will also be joining us as well. We’ll have to do a toast of somekind for sure. My sister in-law can’t join us as they live in Califiornia. Have to travel to North Dakota this week to start a training process for our field force  so will be stressed out. We’ll see if I fall off the wagon a little bit or if I buck up and exercise my stress away instead of eating poorly like I have for so many years. Wish me luck! Talk to you on Wednesday.

Jason

Felt Good

Well my long anticipated wait for the “official” weigh in has finally arrived and I met the goal I had hoped for. If any of you remember, I want to lose 2 lbs a week for a year and do it in a way that will have developed into a lifestyle change. I was down to 280.2.  That’s 4.4lbs over the last two weeks. I am very pleased because I lived everyday and two full weekends, one of which was even a 3 day holiday weekend for me the way I hope to live each day. What is the day to day lifestyle? Exercise and Eat Right!! I don’t want to diet and certainly don’t want to give up certain foods and drinks. What I have done is learn to eat the right foods and more importantly the portions of food. I haven’t felt this good in a long long time. The great thing is that I always ate what everyone else ate, I always drank what everyone else drank but added exercise and had fruits and vegetables into my daily routine. The only real change I still fight with everyday is portion control. But if I eat fruits and veggies throughout the day it’s getting less and less difficult to push myself away from the table. I have actually had to leave food on my plate last week on two different occasions. That’s somthing I haven’t done for like  or I should say  never have! I would be lying however if I told you everything was easy and it’s now all going to be ok, I still have a long long way to go and will screw up, but what’s important is not waiting until “tomorrow” to start my good habits back again. It’s recognizing the bad decisions and learning to make them as minimal as possible, that’s what’s important. Next Friday i’m going on vacation with my wife and two other couples, now that will be a true test on when i’m away from my daily routines and food.  Can I still do it?  Mmmm, that’s the question. What’s even as or more important is if I can go back to my daily routine of exercise etc. when I get back…Lot’s of tests still to come…

Busy Weekend

Well there is no question that I am an official empty nester…My youngest son decided to surprise us Friday night by coming home from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln with some of his friends. It was great to see him and meet some of his frat brothers. However, remember me talking about my habits and routines? Well… when the kids are around I forgot you get NO SLEEP! They have their days and nights mixed up that’s for sure. Thankfully I  got home early enough on Friday to get my exercise in before I went out with some friends Friday night. I literally didn’t sleep for more then a hour at a time when I was awakened by some loud noise from the kids being kids. WOW it’s a different world with them around. I walked around Saturday tired most of the day and that night some friends had us over for tuna and mahi mahi on the grill with asparagas. Really good. It also helps that our friends are training for a 1/2 triathlon this spring. My wife doesn’t weigh a pound over weight so that also helps that she doesn’t eat very much. On Sunday we went to Famous Dave’s for my oldest son’s 21st birthday celebration even though his birthday isn’t until  a week from today. Since his younger brother was around we thought we would celebrate. I did eat the beef briskets and corn bread which I know was  not a great choice but I exercised harder to burn off the extra calories and that made me feel not so guilty. We’ll see what Wednesday says on the scale. I changed my exercise routine to early mornings as we seem to have different things going on at night. I have done this now 3 AM’s in a row so we’ll see if I can get this habit developed soon. Besides no sleep and going out to eat 3 times I am hopeful the scale will be ok on Wednesday. I picked up the pace with my workouts. Can’t wait for the big weigh in as it will be 2 weeks for the “official” weight.

Developing Habits

Well, I didn’t make it to my official weigh in this week as Iwas out of town all the middle of the week. I did weigh in at 283 which I think is down from what I had expected. I don’t have the official journal with me today so will have to work at home. I went on a soapbox last week about it having to be you and you alone. Or me and me alone that has to be ready for a lifestyle change. I’m still on that soapbox by the way!! I really think once you learn what’s good and what’s not so good and what’s bad anyone can start to develop better habits. As I have said 6,000 times before, it’s balance and it has to be sustainable. Diets aren’t rigourous trips to the gym, I don’t believe that would work for MOST folks. There are many who could do that but i’m speaking for my friends, aquaintances, colleagues, clients, etc all over the rural areas. So do what i’m trying to do and that’s develop better habits and take it a step or two further every week or two when you begin to fall into a rut. I eat what everyone else eats that i’m with at a social function. I drink what everyone else does at any social function as well. Sometimes even more, which i’m not necessarily proud of but it’s the truth sometimes. What’s important is that I know it and the next day I have to work hard at making up for my lost day. That has always been my biggest problem. When I went a day or two with over eating or not exercising,  I  just said forget it and will start on Monday or Sunday of the next week. Well you know how that goes and next week never comes. That’s why it’s so so important to develop habits to get in a better routine on a daily basis. Is it easy? heck NO. It pretty much seems impossible somedays. BUT if you just do it instead of thinking about it, it really does become habit forming or at least you feel some guilt for eating to much and not exercising or moving around a little bit. Will it all come together after 21 days (the normal time to develop a habit) certainly not. Especially if you’re like me and had a lot of bad habits to break that have been developing for nearly 50 years. That’s why blogs exist to help eachother with the ups and downs of the normal persons daily routine. Have a great weekend. Talk to you Monday.

Jason

Presidents Weekend

Hello everyone! Well another snow storm to deal with this weekend. Long winter. I had a great weekend for eating and exercising!! Friday and Saturday at the cabin I did really well eating and ate what everyone else was eating. Drank what everyone else drank. Friday night even a little more then everyone else.  (:  Oh well, I don’t want to grow old to quick. We decided to leave early on Sunday as the weather was getting worse and the winds were coming up so we got home before they closed the interstate north of Watertown, SD. Exercised on Sunday and Monday pretty hard. Went out to lunch with my oldest son and wife before we went shopping. I had a bowl of soup and split beef fried rice with my wife and ate plenty. Hopefully the scale on Wednesday will be as happy as iIwas over the weekend!! Now Ijust have to stay on course for the week. Talk to you again tomorrow.

The End of a Normal Week

TGIF…I always have enjoyed Friday’s as it gives me the opportunity to relax and rest my mind. I have been really trying hard to develop better habits for the last month and have been somewhat successful during the week. Last weekend was what I hoped to be a normal weekend for me where there is time to rest and also time for events, example Super Bowl Party, and time for activities that I enjoy like fishing, hunting and being outdoors. Last week I got to experience all of it and I loved it!  This weekend we get to go up north with some friends to the cabin. Hopefully will stay active even though its difficult to get around the lakes for fishing because of all the snow.  As many of you may remember I lost a dear friend over the new years weekend of a heart attack and that has really been a factor for me in “changing my lifestyle.” I’m eating fruits, vegetables, exercising, having foods with protein, etc. I feel 100% better than I have in a long time. I want to continue with this for the rest of my life which I hope is a long time!! If I can be so bold as to say this so early on, you have to want to do this for yourself and your family and friends. Your Doctor can’t do it for you, the diet can’t do it for you, the gym can’t do it for you, the personal trainer can’t do it for you. It’s you! It’s me and our desire to want to live a healthier lifestyle. You can have all the latest exercise gear known to man, you can have your employers pay for your fitness club memberships and even provide them to you at your workplace, but it still comes down to YOU!! All the tools are there and anyone who reads this has access to everything they need for a better and long standing healthy lifestyle you just have to tell yourself YOU CAN DO IT! Then do what i’m doing and take steps toward this new lifestyle everyday. I eat a lot and a lot of good foods. We have resources coming out of our pours everywhere, now lets see how we can use them to help us. If any of you out there want some advice i’m now ready to give it, even though I have a long way to go. It’s me and it’s all me and i’m the only one that can do it period. Just have to put it all together. If you are looking for help, ask via this blog and i’ll get you the resources you need to get started I promise. Now all i’m asking is for your support when I fall off the wagon which I know will happen often. It’s just getting re-focused the next day or the next week that’s what’s important. Thanks for all the support to date it means a lot. It’s a constant pull but very do-able if you’re ready. We’ll see if I can practice what I preach over the weekend. Have a great Presidents Weekend and we’ll talk to you all next week.
Jason