5:30 rolled around again this morning, and somehow I managed to get up and make it to the gym for another cycle class. I dialed the gear up to "11" and went through the course. Lori does a fantastic job with the class, and I was totally spent by the end of it, feeling like I need a hose to clean up the bike from all the sweat. I did have to take it easy the last ~4 minutes tho, as my right knee was getting really sore. The one thing that I learned long ago is that when you knee is talking you have to listen. Not listening to your knees is a recipe for a lot of pain and a lot more downtime.
So after work I met up with my wife back at the gym, and we hit the pool. It took a little bit this evening to get a pair of lanes, but eventually we were able to be in the pool together and had a chance to get a few laps. I managed to complete 3 laps without completely gassing out today, so that's a good thing. Hopefully in a week or two I'll get to the point where I can add a 4th lap in. It feels a little embarrassing that I end up with no energy and sore arms so quickly in the pool. The awesome thing is how much both my wife and I enjoy it, it's definitely an exercise we can schedule to do together more.
Tomorrow should be interesting because the weather is hopefully going to clear by early afternoon so we can get a good ride in. Since the weather is rather iffy for the rest of the week, we have to get in rides wherever we can.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Tuesday 2/14 - The Valentine's day workout
Nothing really exciting marks today, outside of the fact that Rob Dempsey took a few minutes to talk about my Rob's Big Losers blog on HIS Radio this morning. The part that I posted up was the same part I quoted in my blog here about yesterday, and he really had some good ideas on it that were a lot of good common sense. I cannot rely on others to determine my fitness and health, I have to make it happen. If there's going to be something provided at lunch where I question if a healthy option exists, I need to make sure I have a healthy option with me. These are the changes to my overall lifestyle that I have to reconcile, and determine where things like Pizza fit into my life going forward.
You can Listen to Rob talk about my blog entry
After that, I had a coworker come by and offer me support, bringing an orange and tell me "no pizza". He happened to be in the same meeting today, and we were able to get salads instead of the pizza. I was really pleased at the better option that became available.
I went to the gym this evening and met up with several of my team mates for Rob's Big Losers. Tera is having a tough time, as she's struggling with an injury to her knee that is limiting her workouts for at least a few weeks. I'm praying for healing on her knee, and comfort for her while it heals. It was good to see so many RBL shirts in the gym, it really lifts me up and I know it is inspiring to others. The employees at the Y are really excited to see us in there, and I think it gets them inspired to see us putting forth the effort.
My workout tonight was rather simple - I did an upper body workout on the machines, and spent some time on the "Beast" machines (elliptical stride machines). I felt good afterwards, and on at least one machine I worked my arms to exhaustion, to the point where I couldn't finish the last rep completely (got to 11 out of 12 on the rep before I had to take a break and finish the last one). I'm hoping that by adding more core and upper body workouts to the mix I can keep from hitting a plateau for too long.
You can Listen to Rob talk about my blog entry
After that, I had a coworker come by and offer me support, bringing an orange and tell me "no pizza". He happened to be in the same meeting today, and we were able to get salads instead of the pizza. I was really pleased at the better option that became available.
I went to the gym this evening and met up with several of my team mates for Rob's Big Losers. Tera is having a tough time, as she's struggling with an injury to her knee that is limiting her workouts for at least a few weeks. I'm praying for healing on her knee, and comfort for her while it heals. It was good to see so many RBL shirts in the gym, it really lifts me up and I know it is inspiring to others. The employees at the Y are really excited to see us in there, and I think it gets them inspired to see us putting forth the effort.
My workout tonight was rather simple - I did an upper body workout on the machines, and spent some time on the "Beast" machines (elliptical stride machines). I felt good afterwards, and on at least one machine I worked my arms to exhaustion, to the point where I couldn't finish the last rep completely (got to 11 out of 12 on the rep before I had to take a break and finish the last one). I'm hoping that by adding more core and upper body workouts to the mix I can keep from hitting a plateau for too long.
Monday 2/13 - Attack of the Bla's
I'm starting out my blog from yesterday not only a day late, but swiping a part of an email that I sent to the rest of my Rob's Big Losers team.
I got home last night and I was tired and hungry. Christy didn't have dinner done quite yet, so I sat down and ended up having some crackers with pepper jelly on them. After helping out with getting dinner finished, I made sure to make at least half of my meal the side dish (a really yummy warm Zucchini salad with corn, tomatoes and black beans) and tried to be good with the fajitas. I was under my calorie count, even with the Chocolate covered espresso beans for dessert.
I'm going to try to keep my fruit intake higher, especially in my morning and afternoon snacks, and see if I can keep these bla's away. They definitely allow the enemy to attack my self confidence and energy levels, and make my willpower weaken. It's easy to get veggies into almost any meal, but adding fruits can be tricky. I like fruit, but it's not something I instinctively reach for when I'm not consciously thinking about it yet. I'm going to have to strive to work better on that.
Yesterday was a tough day for me: no energy, low willpower, lots of hunger. I realized this morning I had totally forgotten to make sure I had fruits in my diet. I think this is the first day since the challenge started where I had left out at least some fruit from my diet, so I'm not sure if that made a difference in my mood and energy or not (my initial guess is yes). Today is going to be a challenge because I have a lot of temptations in front of me, including a meeting where pizza is going to be served as "lunch". It's going to take a lot to be social with it and not overdo it.As you can see, it wasn't an easy day for me yesterday. I started out with way too few calories, tried to be good through my morning snack and lunch, and by about 3pm I could tell things were not going to go well. I powered through my afternoon snack and the rest of work, and had a light cycling trip (I'm going to call it a recovery ride). Strava shows it to be an "easy" ride, but honestly it was rough on me to keep up on a pace that typically is a stroll in the park. Now, on the fair side of that, I was keeping my cadence up and trying to keep my heart rate down on purpose during the trip, but I was constantly fighting fatigue and lack of willpower and energy.
I got home last night and I was tired and hungry. Christy didn't have dinner done quite yet, so I sat down and ended up having some crackers with pepper jelly on them. After helping out with getting dinner finished, I made sure to make at least half of my meal the side dish (a really yummy warm Zucchini salad with corn, tomatoes and black beans) and tried to be good with the fajitas. I was under my calorie count, even with the Chocolate covered espresso beans for dessert.
I'm going to try to keep my fruit intake higher, especially in my morning and afternoon snacks, and see if I can keep these bla's away. They definitely allow the enemy to attack my self confidence and energy levels, and make my willpower weaken. It's easy to get veggies into almost any meal, but adding fruits can be tricky. I like fruit, but it's not something I instinctively reach for when I'm not consciously thinking about it yet. I'm going to have to strive to work better on that.
Monday, February 13, 2012
What exactly does a temple look like?
I know that the image that is always brought up is that our bodies are a temple, and I've always struggled some with that image. I mean, what exactly does a temple look like? Typically they are granite or some other stone or concrete material, designed to be large and have stained glass or some other ornate fixtures around them. They also typically have pillars inside or outside of them, and are designed to hold a host of people in a grand fashion. Even going back to the days of Moses, the temple was in a tent. My imagery with that would be more of what we today equate to a circus-style tent (being large and made of pieces of other cloth, with a main shaft to hold the center of the tent up). How in the world am I to make my body into a temple?
One of the big changes for me with that imagery was to change the image that I'm thinking about. Our pastor a couple of weeks ago brought up the imagery of the wedding feast, with Christ as the Bridegroom standing there welcoming the Church as his Bride. Timing-wise, it was interesting because we had just celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary, and I had found some of our wedding photos while unpacking from the move. One of the strongest things that I remember from our wedding was how much we committed to preparing ourselves spiritually, mentally and physically for marriage. We went to marriage counseling with our pastor, an engaged encounter weekend, and dieted so we would look our best for the wedding. Honestly, I look at the pictures of myself from our wedding and I believe I looked about the best I have in the past 20 years during that day. I don't believe it's just because of the dieting, but because of why I was doing those things. I was dedicated to being prepared for the life experience that I was going through, and preparing myself for the life long journey with the woman of my dreams, the person that God had prepared to be my companion throughout life.
What it comes down to was a question for me: If I was willing to spend SO much effort for the preparation to spend this life with the person that God has prepared for me, shouldn't I spend as much effort preparing myself for the time when I go home with Christ? To me, the question of how to prepare myself to be traveling with God should be just as important as preparing myself for an earthly marriage, and the imagery put forth in the scripture works so well. When I'm invited to the feast in the Kingdom of heaven, will I be wearing wedding clothes and be chosen? I know that I am not worthy of the feast on my own merit, but by the saving grace of Christ alone. Even with that, should I not prepare myself as much spiritually, mentally and physically for the wedding banquet as I did for my earthly wedding? If I do not, am I putting myself, my own pride, my beautiful bride, or my own self worth ahead of Christ in my heart?
1 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.
4 “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’
5 “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
Matthew 22:1-14 (NIV)
One of the big changes for me with that imagery was to change the image that I'm thinking about. Our pastor a couple of weeks ago brought up the imagery of the wedding feast, with Christ as the Bridegroom standing there welcoming the Church as his Bride. Timing-wise, it was interesting because we had just celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary, and I had found some of our wedding photos while unpacking from the move. One of the strongest things that I remember from our wedding was how much we committed to preparing ourselves spiritually, mentally and physically for marriage. We went to marriage counseling with our pastor, an engaged encounter weekend, and dieted so we would look our best for the wedding. Honestly, I look at the pictures of myself from our wedding and I believe I looked about the best I have in the past 20 years during that day. I don't believe it's just because of the dieting, but because of why I was doing those things. I was dedicated to being prepared for the life experience that I was going through, and preparing myself for the life long journey with the woman of my dreams, the person that God had prepared to be my companion throughout life.
What it comes down to was a question for me: If I was willing to spend SO much effort for the preparation to spend this life with the person that God has prepared for me, shouldn't I spend as much effort preparing myself for the time when I go home with Christ? To me, the question of how to prepare myself to be traveling with God should be just as important as preparing myself for an earthly marriage, and the imagery put forth in the scripture works so well. When I'm invited to the feast in the Kingdom of heaven, will I be wearing wedding clothes and be chosen? I know that I am not worthy of the feast on my own merit, but by the saving grace of Christ alone. Even with that, should I not prepare myself as much spiritually, mentally and physically for the wedding banquet as I did for my earthly wedding? If I do not, am I putting myself, my own pride, my beautiful bride, or my own self worth ahead of Christ in my heart?
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Sunday 2/12 - Tough, but not a Sufferfest
When I woke up this morning, my phone informed me that it was 19 out. Winter finally decided to chill us out a little bit. That said, it's Sunday, and that means Church and then a bike ride in the afternoon. I got to the meeting spot a little before 3, and a grand total of 2 other people showed up. This was both a good thing and a bad thing, as the two folks that showed up I had riden with before (thus I knew they were strong riders), but I also knew they wouldn't just leave me sucking wind trying to catch up. It was cold, and a bit windy, but it was a really good ride.
From the statistics over at Strava, I averaged a better pace and kept my heart rate down better than last week. The other side that you will see is that all of the Personal Records I accomplished last week still stand, but I was in second place for all of the same segments. What I'm taking away from that is that while I didn't put forth the monstrous effort on the known segments today, in the places in between I was able to properly rest and efficiently climb and use my energy instead of just trying to hang on for dear life on the group last week.
I also think that I will start seeing a lot of benefit from going to the cycle class as well as the gym in general in the coming weeks, where efforts like last week start to wane and I have more realistic challenges on this particular ride. I've lost about 12lbs so far on this journey, and while I still have around 40lbs more to go before I get near my "goal" weight, I hope that I'll start seeing the benefits of the lighter me in my ability to manage some of these routes. I cannot imagine strapping another 12lbs onto my stomach and attempting to ride!
One of the things I'm most proud of is the 2nd place in the Scuffletown Sprint Zone. This is a stretch where I have tended to hang on with the group for dear life, and a place where I really challenge myself. Today it was just 3 of us, and that typically means a slower pace than when it's a group of 10 or 12. That said, we all took turns pulling through the Sprint Zone, and as such I came out with a really strong score. I was really happy that in the section where I managed to pull I was able to push the speed up to almost 30mph and really give John a good shot to finish strong.
From the statistics over at Strava, I averaged a better pace and kept my heart rate down better than last week. The other side that you will see is that all of the Personal Records I accomplished last week still stand, but I was in second place for all of the same segments. What I'm taking away from that is that while I didn't put forth the monstrous effort on the known segments today, in the places in between I was able to properly rest and efficiently climb and use my energy instead of just trying to hang on for dear life on the group last week.
I also think that I will start seeing a lot of benefit from going to the cycle class as well as the gym in general in the coming weeks, where efforts like last week start to wane and I have more realistic challenges on this particular ride. I've lost about 12lbs so far on this journey, and while I still have around 40lbs more to go before I get near my "goal" weight, I hope that I'll start seeing the benefits of the lighter me in my ability to manage some of these routes. I cannot imagine strapping another 12lbs onto my stomach and attempting to ride!
One of the things I'm most proud of is the 2nd place in the Scuffletown Sprint Zone. This is a stretch where I have tended to hang on with the group for dear life, and a place where I really challenge myself. Today it was just 3 of us, and that typically means a slower pace than when it's a group of 10 or 12. That said, we all took turns pulling through the Sprint Zone, and as such I came out with a really strong score. I was really happy that in the section where I managed to pull I was able to push the speed up to almost 30mph and really give John a good shot to finish strong.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Saturday 2/11 - Cycle Class
This morning started out early, with a trip to the gym for a cycle class. I was a bit worried, as my left calf was a bit tight last night. It was a good class, and I averaged 200watts for 67minutes, totaling 775cal burned. I was able to follow the entire routine without having to back off. Hopefully I can slowly up my base gear and build some extra cycling endurance. I treated myself to a "Hulk" smoothie at the gym as my breakfast after class, which was really yummy!
My oldest turned 13 yesterday, so she spent about an hour with the trainers learning all of the equipment at the gym, and she got her own badge today. When we were done we went down to the bike shop and she tried out a new hybrid bike. We took a 5 mile journey on the Swamp Rabbit to see how it felt for her, and she really enjoyed it. After paying for the bike, and getting Christy some new running shoes, we had lunch and headed home.
It was a long day between the two activities, but we all had a lot of energy to take care of the day.
My oldest turned 13 yesterday, so she spent about an hour with the trainers learning all of the equipment at the gym, and she got her own badge today. When we were done we went down to the bike shop and she tried out a new hybrid bike. We took a 5 mile journey on the Swamp Rabbit to see how it felt for her, and she really enjoyed it. After paying for the bike, and getting Christy some new running shoes, we had lunch and headed home.
It was a long day between the two activities, but we all had a lot of energy to take care of the day.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Thursday 2/9 - Restorative Yoga
Today was my weigh in day, as well are our Team Meeting for Rob's Big Losers. This week Jeff (the Wellness Director) set up to have a private Yoga class for us to take together. Before class started, I had to weigh in. At weigh in time I was at 245lbs, which is down 4lbs for the week and 12 lbs since the program started almost 3 weeks ago. This is really good for me, and it keeps me on track to be in the 220's, which is where I want to be at the end of this 12 week program. It's not the end of my journey, but it'll be a great start to getting where I want to be.
After my weigh in, it was time for Yoga. For being mostly stretching exercises, it is a pretty rough workout. Anyone that isn't sweaty and tired at the end is either in really good shape already, or isn't doing it right. We spent about 40 minutes doing the various poses, and even though I feel like my legs are relatively strong at this point, my quads were just burning in some of the poses. And my arms were just sore after the planks and downward dogs. At the end I felt good, and I'm glad I experienced it. It's an exercise class that I'll have to seriously try to keep moving through my routine.
After my weigh in, it was time for Yoga. For being mostly stretching exercises, it is a pretty rough workout. Anyone that isn't sweaty and tired at the end is either in really good shape already, or isn't doing it right. We spent about 40 minutes doing the various poses, and even though I feel like my legs are relatively strong at this point, my quads were just burning in some of the poses. And my arms were just sore after the planks and downward dogs. At the end I felt good, and I'm glad I experienced it. It's an exercise class that I'll have to seriously try to keep moving through my routine.
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