That Elusive First Pound

Ok, so one pound isn't that exciting to most, but considering that I started my 20 pound weight-loss goal 4 weeks ago and either maintained or gained weight, this is very exciting.  Hopefully I'm going to continue in the right direction.

I will completely admit that I have not been doing enough to reach this goal (which kills me by the way because I set goals for a purpose).  I have run or lifted or played soccer a couple of times a week and tried to eat somewhat sensibly, however, it has not been for the whole time and I seem to go off the path when the weekend comes around.  If I want to look at the glass-half-full side of things, knowing that I haven't been the best weight-loss follower, maintaining my weight over the course of the last few weeks could be considered a win.  Though I'm still far from my goal.

I do have a trip coming up in which it will be very very very hard to keep up with my goal this week, however, I'm going to try and do my best.  I do have a plan for when I get back from the trip and will give an update on that when I get back.

The Best Job in the world is...

... being a parent!


The other night I got home from work and grabbed my little 8 month old son and went into the basement to spend some time with him (Unfortunately because of my work schedule and his sleep schedule I only get to spend so much time with him during the week).  In the basement I helped him pull a bunch of his toys out all over the floor and we started to play.  First with the little basketball hoop he has (was trying to teach him how to shoot and dunk), then on to the trains that make music and light up.  As I sat there watching him play, I couldn't help but be amazed at how I was watching this little person learn about life and the things around him and watching him get so excited when he would figure something out.  It is absolutely the best feeling in the world to sit there and watch him grow and learn.

Weight Loss Goal: Week 1

As promised, here is my update on my weight loss goal.  Just to recap, my goal is to lose 20 pounds.  If I succeed in losing this weight, I will be the lightest I've been since college.  This week, however, wasn't such a good week.  I started off strong, watched what I ate, worked out a few times, things were looking good.  Then the weekend hit.  On Friday I went out to lunch with my coworkers and 1400 calories later was sitting in a food coma back at my desk.  Then I got home and my family's Friday night ritual is to go out for dinner so we ordered Outback (side note: Alice Springs Chicken Quesadillas are amazing).  On Saturday Lis, my wife, and I got to go away for the night sans kids.  This was great but we ate gas station bags of goodies on the way down and this sketchy Italian restaurant for dinner.  Sunday wasn't much better because I was too lazy to make something healthy for myself and ordered pizza.  Needless to say, I gained a pound this week.  So my 20 pound goal is now 21 pounds.  Hopefully I can stay on track this week and get to my goal.  Maybe I need a time frame on my goal?

Workout Day 1

When it comes to working out, I am one that goes all in (for about 2 weeks) then get distracted or off my routine and completely de-rail my workout goals.  Needless to say over the last 10 years I have had a lot of "Day 1's".  Today is another example of this for me.  Yesterday I posted a goal for myself of losing 20 pounds.  (Hey its now March, beach season is approaching fast, and I have to look good for ... well... my wife of course :-) )  

The trouble that I have been having as of late in getting started again is trying to find a good time to do my workout.  My normal day goes as follows.  I get up around 6:30 (same time my 8 month old son does), get showered/dressed, have breakfast, clean up the house for the babysitter, feed my son, walk/feed the dogs, go to work, get home around 6, have dinner, hang out with my family, put my son to bed, relax/fall asleep (and start all over again).  Now, I have used every excuse in the book as to why I stop working out, but lately, I have found that hanging out with my family for a few hours at night is the most important to me.

This leaves one logical time left to work out for me, 5 am.  For those of you that don't know this is an absolutely absurd time of day.  No one in their right mind (or that doesn't have to work that early) should be awake.  It's still dark outside, right now its really cold, but I need to figure out how to get my butt out of bed and do what I need to do.

Like I said today was Day 1 again.  I'm planning on getting up and running a couple of times a week, but Mondays will most likely not be that day.  The reasons are simple, 1. its monday, 2. I play soccer on a work team Monday nights (thats enough running for Monday).  Today, I did push-ups and sit-ups.  For push-ups, I am using the Perfect Pushup (and yes despite its "As-Seen-On-TV" status, it is a pretty good workout program).  For sit-ups, I am using an iPhone app I found called 200 sit-ups.  Basically its a program to get you to be able to do 200 consecutive crunch-like sit-ups.

Hopefully I can push past my 2-week wall and continue this until I reach my goal.