Week 14 results

It’s been several weeks now since I’ve posted my weekly results, which has led to quite a few calls and mails from folks like you, dear reader, so thanks for keeping me on track. I thought about going back and trying to do write ups for each week I missed, but frankly, the juice just isn’t worth the squeeze on that, so I’ll just write this catch-up post and try to touch on the highlights, challenges and surprises of the last couple of weeks. To start, let me just say that I haven’t quit, pulled a muscle or gone out for pizza and never returned — I’ve just been busy, and posting the results for 1 week is easier than posting them for 2 weeks, and so on.

Exercise

As I wrote before, it’s getting to be more of a chore going to the gym day after bright summery day, so I’ve mixed up my routine a bit, running or rollerblading Green Lake. I bought a pair of rollerblades and to my surprise made it all the way around the lake (about 5k) without falling once, but haven’t rollerbladed much since. My form needs quite a bit of work, and I’ve got friends who are able to help teach me, but getting our schedules to sync has been a bit of a struggle. I’m still eager to improve, so if you’re game, let me know.

The running has been surprising as well. I completed the FootZone 5k run a few weekends back, which was awfully hard but felt great to accomplish. I finished far behind most of the other runners, getting a time of about 40 minutes, but my goal was to simply do it and finish it, which I did. Having not done anything like this before, and having prepared poorly in terms of running for it, I really just wanted to set a baseline for myself. I plan on running another one in a few weeks, and hope to improve my time by at least 5 minutes as well. Of course, as the time indicates, I’m not running the entire distance, but rather running until tired, walking to rest, and repeating.

Green Lake is a perfect place to train, and I’m enjoying the runs there — I’ve kind of defined the lake now as an adversary who must be defeated by running it in its entirety. I’m not sure how long it will take to accomplish this, but with each run comes a bit of improvement. The first few runs created quite a bit of soreness the following day(s), but lately I’m finding less of that, which is a sign that my body’s adjusting. I switch to walking to rest, but I’m beginning to think that the tiredness is a lot more mental than physical. Still, it’s challenging to push through it, but I’m confident it will come. I’m certainly finding that I’m running better and longer on the treadmill than I am on the trail, but the presence of my trainer may have something to do with that…

I’ve also had several people suggest trying a spinning (cycling) class at the Pro Club which they apparently do to music, so I’m going to try that tomorrow night as well. Earlier in the program I had thought about getting a bike, but I’m finding that there’s enough activities available at the moment that I’m enjoying, so I think I’ll put off the bike purchase until winter when I can get one for a great price. As summer’s nearing a close, I’m also starting to look towards the mountains for snow, with the hope of making this winter a great snowboarding one.

Diet

Grains have been going well, and I can now have 2 servings per day, which mostly has meant sandwiches (almost always turkey, chicken or tuna) for me. I’m also allowed cooked grains (brown rice, whole wheat pasta, oatmeal, etc.) now as well, though I haven’t had a chance to try any of those yet. The cooked grains aren’t in addition to bread — I’m still allowed only 2 servings per day. I made the unfortunate mistake of noticing peanut butter and jelly at the cafeteria’s sandwich bar, and was doing that for about a week, until my dietitian and I were scratching our head wondering why I gained a few pounds last week. Turns out that the addition of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches reduced my daily protein intake by about 1/2, which led to the weight gain. Of course, once I discovered them I kept having them, which certainly didn’t help.

Last weekend was a bit of a reprieve, as I had planned a camping trip to Lake Crescent on the Olympic Peninsula with some friends, and got the weekend “off” from the regimented diet. I thought it would be a good experiment to try while still having the support and structure of the Pro Club staff behind me, rather than waiting until the end of the program for the experimentation to start. I survived a trip to McDonald’s and only had their Fruit and Walnut salad, which was surprisingly good. Major deviations from the plan for the weekend included some s’mores, ribs, breakfasts out, and of course some beers. I’m surprised at my tolerance for the beer — they didn’t affect me as much as I thought they might.

The biggest mishap came on the trek back to Seattle, when we stopped at Fat Smitty’s hamburger stand, where I proceeded to get a Fat Smitty burger. After all, I was on a break, and when at Fat Smitty’s… Bad idea. My system didn’t like that one bit, and the ferry ride home was unpleasant. I know it’s the Internet, but I’ll refrain from elaboration. Suffice it to say do not seek that treasure ;)

All in all though, it was a good experiment, and if nothing else, the cravings for the burgers that I haven’t had in 14 weeks has been greatly diminished. I had kind of forgotten that some foods can have that effect, and having relived it this weekend, I’m simply amazed that I put up with that kind of reaction before.

Results

As of my weigh-in tonight, I’m at 212.8 pounds, bringing the total loss to 52.2 pounds. I’ve still got 22.8 pounds to lose over the next 18 weeks, which I remain confident in believing I can achieve. As you can see in the chart, the progress has slowed as its bounced around, which I think should be expected.

As a side note, the weight measurements have a tendency to throw me off. I try to weigh myself every morning (today I weighed in at 206, yesterday was 204) and these numbers stick in my head, so if you see me in person and ask about my progress, I’ll have a tendency to use the morning’s numbers, since I remember it. I seem to gain somewhere between 5-8 pounds during the day, which usually mysteriously disappears the next morning. Go figure. In writing here, I use the official Wednesday evening weigh-ins, so I’m comparing the same numbers from week to week.

Anyways, I’m starting to notice muscle definition a lot more than I have before which always seems to happen when and where I least expect it. I’ve still got a bit of a gut when I press it out, but that too is slowly fading. I’m interested to see what 190 pounds looks and feels like, and remain hopeful that I can get that far before clothes shopping, though I’m not sure that will work. I bought a pair of swim trunks for the camping trip last weekend, and was utterly amazed to get a size medium. It’s probably good that I forgot my xxl pair at home :) Jeans and shorts are still fine with the belt cinched up, but I made the mistake of wearing khakis last week, and there’s just too much fabric now, so if you notice I’m not wearing pleats, that’s why.

Where I’m at in the program

The group sessions ended a few weeks ago, and I must say that I miss them. Getting together once a week with the same group of guys going through the same changes was fun, and if any of you are reading this, I hope you’ll drop a note and let me know how you’re doing.

Also of note, I watched my last video tonight, which was the typical end to the sessions with the trainer. The pace of the videos was pretty quick, and they packed a lot of information in each and every one, and though I won’t miss the chore of watching them and riding the bike after a hard workout, I do wish I could go back and review some of them again. I was a bit apprehensive about the videos early on, but I must say that overall, they’re done very well, and are highly instructive.

Well, that’s about all I’ve got time for tonight, thanks for checking up on me. Sorry to have missed a few weeks there, hopefully now that this post catches me up I’ll stay on top of the weekly writings once again.

Notes from meeting with my dietitian

• Aim for at least 1oz of protein in my morning and afternoon snacks (goal should be about 2oz)
• Have at least 6oz of protein for lunch and for dinner, and at least 2oz of protein for breakfast
  • Minimum daily protein goal: 16oz
• Avoid peanut butter and jelly sandwiches except for special occassions
• Stay at 2 grains or less per day, try cooked grains
• Goal: 1700 calories, 47g fat per day

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