227.8

What is up with that number? 2 weeks in a row. I feel better as in being in better shape but the flippin pounds are still there. I'd be happy if I lost 2-3 lbs a week but that isn't happening. I am not giving up though. I want to be here for a while. I want to have the energy to play with my kids for years and years to come. I have more energy now than I did a month ago! That is one of my goals. I know I am healthier and that is goal numero UNO!

Didn't go to the gym yesterday but I did today and that makes 3 times this week and the plan is to go 2 more times this week.

Today I got to 14 miles again. I increased the level of my workout from level four on the machine to level 5. I was on the machine for 95 minutes. I know that the amount of time you work out has a direct relation to getting more of the good cholesterol the HDL. I am talking to Carley and said I don't want to step on a scale for another month. That would be April 4th. She says that is crazy. The scale is always there tempting me but every time I step on it I get frustrated. That is why I am going to try and skip one month of weighing in and see where I am at that time. Right now I am 227.8 and in those 4 weeks I hope to get to 212 or lower.

I have the relay triathlon on April 24th where I am running the 5k at the end. I hope I can survive it. I know I can go 5k but my shins are always killing me when I run so I need tips and pointers on how not to get shin splints when I run.

I am hoping to get ready to do a full sprint triathlon on my own. But it is sad that I am 36 yrs old and can barely doggy paddle. There is a tri that sounds fun in Layton this summer. You swim then bike then run and then you do all 3 again. I might look to do that one. You can do that as a team of 2 as well. Being that I am swimming challenged maybe I can find a Duathlon which is biking then running.

I also want to do the midnight bike ride on Antelope Island again this year and I hope to be hydrated enough this time that I won't cramp up 1 mile from the finish.

This is the year of a fitter and more active Grayson. Hope you can do the same for yourself this year. But I am the author and the sole reader of this blog so when I say I hope you can do the same I am encouraging myself.

14 and 1,400

14 miles on the eliptical today. I went for an hour then got off and did some weights. My weights are not intense. I have had shoulder problems in the past so I am trying to do the same exercises that I had to do in the past for physical therapy. The next 1/2 hour on the machine I bumped it up from level 4 to level 5 and I also went faster and did 6.5 minute miles.

I hit 1,400 calories burned at the gym today. I'll work out tomorrow and then we'll find out if any of this is worth it. Once we have health insurance again I will be going in to get my cholesterol checked. I want to have my total cholesterol to hdl ratio be under 5. I know that the longer that I exercise the better this ratio will be.

If you have read this you know I am planning on doing the running portion of a relay triathlon. I hope to be in good enough shape to do an entire triathlon by the end of the summer. Good luck self! I hope to inspire Carley to do a 5k or 2 this year too.

Saturday

Grayson stayed up real late last night playing cards with some old friends. So I didn't get much of an early start on the day. I did eventually make it to the rec center and worked out on the eliptical for 75 minutes. Would have gone longer but they were closing.

When I got home I got on my bike and went on a ride with Carson and his friend Kobe. I pulled Alivia behind me in the little bike trailer. It was a nice day it had to hit 40 degrees or so. My brother Jordan who is in law school in Florida would probably say I was crazy to ride a bike in shorts in such cold weather. But it is all about perspective. When you are used to temps in the 20's then 40 is a scorcher. When you are used to a winter in the 60s and 70's then a 40 degree day is downright chilly.

I think with my activities for the day that I did do some calorie burning. I needed that cuz last night we had pizza after Carson's Basketball game and a birthday party for Livi's fish. WE have had Sammy for 1 year now. The goldfish is a resillient one! We even sang happy birthday to the fish.

I am hoping to hit 225 or lower this next week. I would absolutely love to do the relay triathlon at 205-210. I have 8 weeks or so to get there. Wish me luck. I know I have not a lot of readers so I am telling myself and Carley to wish me luck. Good luck self!

230 no more

I weighed in on Wednesday this week. Felt real good to do that! Why? you might ask did it feel good? Well because I hit 227.8 lbs. The first time under 230 in the longest time. That feels good! Not much else to say about this week. Still just a part time employee not making enough money to get by so will need to dip into savings again. Job interviews are frustrating! Waiting to hear back after an interview is even more frustrating. YOu never know for sure if you did good or if you did bad. Kind of like the dang scale. You work hard and get nowhere but then a week comes by with success maybe next week will be the week that I am successful in the job hunt world. I had a friend just get a job offer in underwriting so there is hope for us still. But I know a lot of us are in need of work and need to leave that field of work to get something. I am glad I have the part time gig from home cuz it is a life saver and whatever FT job I get I will stick with the underwriting from home.
So that little post was more than just about my weight loss goals but I hope that the stress of being without a job will not hamper me in my goal to get to 190.

A new Week begins!

Another week and hopefully a few more pounds down. Went to the gym today and did the eliptical for 90 minutes. 12.5 miles and 1,250 calories later I got off the machine. Did some shoulder weights to help with my shoulder pain that I have had in the past.

3 weeks ago if you asked me if I could do 90 minutes on an eliptical or a treadmill I would have said no way. The first day I did 20 minutes on the eliptical and 30 on the bike. The weight is not coming off as quickly as I would like but just by my improvement in time on the machine I know something good is happening. My heart rate when I first started was in the 160-170 range most of the time on the machine. Now I am going just as fast as I was then and my heart rate is averaging between 140-145. In my mind that is improvement.

Now I just hope that the pounds and the inches start to burn away. I want to get to 190 pounds eventually and maybe even lower. Both of my brothers are right about my same height and I'd bet they both weigh in around 160-170 lbs. I know I can get to my goal. It might just take a little longer than I expected in the beginning.

What is the use?

With my last weigh in I was beginning to feel like what is the use of all of this? Work my butt off in the gym and gain weight? what the heck? This week I have tried to step up the workouts today I did 90 minutes hit 12.1 miles and over 1,200 calories burned. All I can say is that if I gain weight this week I will be frustrated and if I stay the same I will be frustrated too. One thing I know is that my cholesterol levels have to be changing for the better and that was one of my big goals with this whole thing as well.

1,100

Today was my day to return to working out. Still had a headache so I wasn't sure how much I would feel like doing. Well it was my longest workout to date. I was on the eliptical machine for 85 minutes. I went 11 miles and burned 1,100 calories. Again that is according to the machine. If I really did burn 1,100 calories then I am quite impressed with myself. Carley is currently watching the figure skating of the olympic winter games! I can't say that it is something I really enjoy watching so I am blogging. I would love to have more to write about but there is not much. I sure as hell better lose weight this week or I will not be happy. I know I am getting into better shape but I want to lose weight too so I can impress the lady in my life. That's right I hope to impress Carley with a slimmer and more slender (or is it slenderer) Grayson hopefully sooner rather than later. Just one more thing from one who knows watch out for black ice.

Ice? What Ice?

Well today I was going to take Alivia to pre school and head off to the gym. When my wife sent me on a little errand. Take this pizza box and empty box of mountain dew to the garbage. Sounds simple enough and I would be on my way to work out.
There was a little fog outside...but i figured I could find the garbage can...and I planned to walk down the driveway because the garbage can was still on the street from the day before... I stepped out onto the driveway innocently enough and took 3 or 4 steps... when whoa whoa whoa what looked like a normal non slick driveway suddenly became the black ice driveway from hell!
I slipped and apparently threw the pizza box 20 feet to my left and the Mountain Dew box ended up almost in the street. My back hit the cement then my head hit the cement. I instinctively rolled to my stomach and yelled out as loud as I could (so that Carley who was inside could hear me and come rescue me) "OUCH!" I wanted her to know that it wasn't a seizure so I tried as I began to black out to say, "the driveway is slippery stay off it and I didn't have a seizure." all i can remember saying was ssssslllliiiipppp! I am sure it was quite slurred. And I blanked out for a few seconds maybe longer. My little Alivia stood there in the garage worried not about her dad but that she was going to be late for preschool. A neighbor with a boy in the same class drove by while I was face down on the cold slate of cement/ice and Carley asked if she could take Alivia to school with JJ. Jackie (JJ's mom) asked Alivia "did your dad slip and fall" and Alivia shrugged her shoulders and said, "I didn't push him." Jackie picked her up from school too. Thanks Jackie!
Carley kept saying get up and come inside. LIttle did she know that I was trying to get up but couldn't talk too well but could moan in pain. I couln't move too well because my back was and still is in a good deal of pain. I was worried that I would stand up and still fall again. I eventually did get up before all the ice melted. My dad came over to give me a blessing and I called Jamin Lewis from my ward to come and help him and he was very willing to come and help so I am very glad he could come and help. Thanks Jamin! I survived but we were scared for a while that it might be a concussion but I didn't have any signs of a concussion. It did suck and hurt and was scary. People do die from hitting their head and I just remember thinking please don't let this be the end when I faded to black. I did tell Carley though that when I die I do want to see this replay and it will be cool to see in slow motion.
With the events of the day my head for some reason is hurting so is my back and I unfortunately didn't get to work out. Which really sucks cuz last week with all my workouts I freakin gained a pound. Was someone up above telling me that working out is lame? I don't think so but it makes one wonder sometimes when you don't see any positive results. Well until next time I'll be back. Hopefully with some good news.

Thanks to the Presidents!

Thanks to the Presidents the gym that I go to work out was closed today. So how was I supposed to work out? I have had pain in my left knee for the longest time. So I have enjoyed the non impact of an eliptical machine. I didn't feel that I was up to walking much and especially not up to any kind of running. I needed some kind of work out though or it would be 2 days without working out. I feel bad if that happens. Weird to think that something like that is beginning to bug me but it does.

So in a light drizzle I put on a hooded sweatshirt and headed out for a walk / run. I got about 200 yards out and realized something - I forgot my I pod - so I headed back home to get it. Carley was a little disappointed to see me back so soon. She was like " you are back already?" I have to say that the music makes any workout much better. I went for about 5 miles and my knee handled it much better than I thought it would. I do feel more encouraged now and more hopeful for the triathlon that I will be doing in April. I can't truly call it a triathlon because it is a team thing where I am only running a 5k. But even that will feel like an accomplishment.

Today I had some raisin bran for breakfast. A chicken sandwich for lunch. A yogurt for my after workout snack. (the yogurt was 80 calories and fat free but delicious!)

Tomorrow is the day I weigh in and I hope to get a good number. I will go workout in the morning then weigh in. Good luck Grayson!

Another week hopefully more pounds off!

Today is Saturday. A tough day to go to the gym. Which means I need to go to the gym. Thursday I was on the eliptical machine for 65 minutes and if you believe the numbers on the machine I burned like 850 calories.

I went and shot baskets with Carson at the community center yesterday. Not a lot of exercise involved in that but it is better than watching tv or doing facebook. So after today's workout that will be 6 visits to the gym this week with 5 really tough workouts. Tomorrow being sunday will be my break day. One thing that is making it tough to work out is this stupid cough I have. Me and the 2 oldest kids have a bugger of a cough.

Monday I have a job interview that I am hoping will go well. Here's to a good workout and a good interview and then a good weigh in on Tuesday.

It is now later in the day. I did go to the gym and burned off over 800 calories on the eliptical machine. I did over 8 miles. I love them machines.

I am going to do a team triathlon on April 24th. I have a biker and a swimmer and then I will run. I am excited and plan to do an entire triathlon myself later in the year. Just need to work on learning to swim and not doggy paddle.

Weighed in today!

After a week of exercising and doing my best to watch what I eat this morning I weighed in at 230.4 lbs. That is not a lot of weight. Not biggest loser weight loss. I didn't pull a double digit week, but I am also not working out 6 hours a day. I feel good about that weight loss.
Give me 10 more weeks like that and I'll be at 200 lbs and be close to my goal.

I am back

Well for the longest time I left the blogging world. I don't think I have many readers of my blog. It is mostly a thing for me to keep track of what happens. Well when I started this blog back in the fall of 2009 I weighed in at 238. I kind of took a hiatus and did nothing to lose weight. Really weak I know. It is now time to really get serious about this. I can maybe blame it on the Biggest Loser which I watch with my wife Carley.
I weighed in last Tuesday at 233.8. So essentially the same as where I was when I started months ago. This last week Carley and I joined the community center here in Syracuse. I went 4 times. They have a track, an exercise bike, treadmills and my favorite the elliptical. Have you ever seen an eppileptic person on an elliptical. If you saw me on the elliptical then you could say you have. I enjoy the elliptical machine because I have a bad knee and this is ZERO impact on my knee. I have the goal to get to 190 lbs or lower. Tomorrow is my first weigh in since I started going to the gym. We'll see what came of it. I hope it is not too discouraging. I hope I see some progress.
I should tell you too that my total cholesterol to hdl cholesterol ratio was somewhere like 8.5 when we last checked it. 8.5 is terrible. I hope to cut that in half shortly. I also hope to cut inches off my waist line. That is my blog for today. I will have Carley show me how to put pictures on here. I will warn you if you are a reader of this blog they might be kind of gross and disgusting. Scary and pasty and flabby I am.