15 posts tagged “exercise”

trail running!

Ok, so I remembered that I do not blog much on the weekends. How did I do overall?

Friday - I had bombed my diet by eating a piece of cake.
Saturday - I had bombed my diet by eating a piece of leftover cake.
Sunday - I forgot what I ate.

Ok, that does not paint a picture of how my weekend went.

Cheerios with either a banana or strawberries still stands at number 1 when it comes to my breakfast.
Lunches were ok
Dinners were ok as well.

I need to keep a small notebook with me to write everything down when I am not blogging.

So this morning? Cheerios and Banana cut up into it. So I am off on the right foot.

The big question is... did I run?
Yes I did, I ran on Sunday morning.

I really wanted to increase the amount of time I was running. The walk minute thirty and then run for thirty has been going well, however my ankles are still absolutely killing me halfway through. It is not that they just hurt, no... they want to stop holding me up. They are just sore.... massively sore. It was some hours later when I even felt remotely normal again. lol

I am keeping at it.

Beech Forest in Spring

I wanted to go running before work this morning, but I woke up sicker than hell. The kind where you are doubled over in physical agony.

This medicine sucks.

I am considering not taking it tonight so that I feel good tomorrow.... but then... that would be bad wouldn't it?

I have noticed that if I wake up and just sit down and relax, I feel fine after about an hour. I could go running then, however I have to leave for work then. So my schedule of running on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays still stands for now.

I know the kind of person that I am, if I plunge into something all Gung Ho then I will eventually burn out. I have to be patient with myself and tackle this as an entire life style change. Once I make this a habit I am going to be pretty good and happier.

Part of me wants to be sad and depressed but a greater part of me is staying upbeat and happy. Sure I am going through pain now, however I am looking forward.

trail running!

I started to run.

I can only run for 30 seconds at a time before I have to walk, but I am doing it.

For the last 2 months I have been on medication that has made me absolutely sick every single morning and I was previously told by the Doc that if I lose weight then I can be off of the meds.

So I am motivated constantly by the pain of illness due to the meds.

So I began running.

I figured I would blog my progress. Eventually post "before" pics and some transition pics as I stay going.

I used to explore as a kid, nature trails and cities where I lived. I realized, how much I missed exploring. So I am going to explore a trail. That is my short term goal, to have enough stamina to explore a short nature trail and take some pics.

So for those of you whom I have not talked to in a long time.... Hi, My Name is Damien.

Pizza from the top - Pepperoni & Cheese

I have not been tracking my diet as of recent. I should be however, I need to know those numbers so that I can push forward with knowledge. I do not intend to record my diet for all of my life, just now while I am learning.

However this weekend it would not have mattered much. Everything healthy that I have been eating recently, I am out of. On top of this I am still a week from pay day, so this has caused me to eat in a manner that is not so healthy.

For instance, Saturday I ate Frozen Pizza. Not just 1 or 2 slices of it... the entire damned thing. Want to know what was worse? I am actually the one that went out and bought it. lol... ah well. I was craving some and that some turned into a pigfest. I have little to no will power when it comes to pizza, cashew nuts or those BBQ Chips. This was demonstrated harshly and while I was feeling guilty I was not going to beat myself up. I am prone to the occasional failures and I am ok with this. I just get back up and progress forward again.

I did get plenty of exercise on Saturday and Sunday as I had been working on the yard on and off during the weekend.

This was again a learning experience for me, now I have an idea as to the quantity of healthy foods we need to purchase on grocery day.

Fruit and vegetable 5

While I was not faithful to my food journal this weekend, I was very faithful to the diet itself. I made sure I ate the appropriate foods and stayed away from the junk... even when doughnuts threatened to crush my soul.

The only junk style food I had was some popcorn that had some chocolate drizzled on them. I also ate only a single serving. Not a bag, not a huge bowl... just about a cup worth. This turned out to be such a reward for all the good work I am doing.

I did not ride my bike this weekend, I was hitting bed really early and did not get a chance to ride. However, I have a 2nd bit of exercising I can do now. My 32' TV was broken, or so we thought, then I found some dials on the back and suddenly the TV was no longer borked. Someone, probably in the 3-4" range in height, obviously messed with the dials and we assumed the tube was dying. It is now repaired... so what does this have to do with exercise? Dance Dance Revolution... the game that originally caused me to lose 30 pounds before, I can play it again.

Going to get down with my bad self... cause I am a LEGEND at DDR people... a freaking LEGEND...

5 year old dance dance revolution guru

Of course... in my own mind.... in the privacy *cough* of my bedroom....

However I am a LEGEND!!!

This gives me something to do when I do not wish to ride a bike in 90 degree weather right now. Hey do you blame me? I am still fat and I smell like just cooked bacon when I get back to the house.

I should take a photo history of what I look like every single day.

But I do not think I should subject you to that horror.

We will see how brave I am.

Ok, last bit... I need a tag idea. I want to tag my progress posts a unique way and I need some suggestions... so please let me know in the comments.

Wow... already finding this really hard to do.

lol... I am sooooo hungry but I ate my lunch. I had 2 hamburger patties and used lettuce as a bun basically and a single serving of those Triscuit crackers.

If I can control this with diet and exercise and lose weight... then this is exactly what I am going to do. Last year when I was working on doing this I lost 30lbs and was only really hungry for a very short period of time before my body adjusted itself.

So I can do this again.

But I really really really wanted something else. Best if I did not though.

I mean, am I really hungry? Or am I just craving? Let me stop a second and think.

...

...

...

Ok, it is official I am only craving something, my stomach is not experiencing any hunger pains.

I am however rather excited, sure I am in a bit of misery now, but my long term goal. Something I am seriously looking forward to? I can share part of it with you now...

Right now I wear 2x and 3x shirts and my waist is a 46-48 depending on the fit of the pants. The shirts at a typical Wal-Mart are at the very back of a row of clothing and the pants all the way at the bottom of the shelves. My goal, my dream is to grab pants and shirts in the middle... the 38 waist, the Large and 1x shirts.

To go into those stores and just buy what I desire instead of hunting for my size.

That... that is my goal.

Ok, so now that I have diabetes I need to make changes right? right!

So, for dinner I had Bratwurst and a nice salad with a small very small amount of ranch dressing.

I then went for a bike ride.

Wow, I ain't 12 years old that's for damned sure. I was about dead after 1 ride through my neighborhood. One time around the loop is about 1/4 th of a mile.

I could only make it 1 time. My breathing was kicking my butt and my legs were shaking.

I knew I was out of shape...but zing... that was bad.

Ok... goals time. Tell me if you all think this is realistic.

Short Term Goals
Make it 2 times around neighborhood after 1 week of riding.
Lose 3 pounds in 2 weeks.

Later on I will discuss long term goals, but I want to consider them awhile

Hiker Traversing Massive Rock Ledge

I am now into week 3.

A few minor things I am noticing:

1. I am walking just a little further in the same amount of time.
2. My ankles are hurting about half as badly as week 1. They still hurt from a real lack of use, but there is a noticeable strength difference.
3. The pain in my lower back is a bit less.
   
4. My pants are a bit loose. Not by much mind you, but enough to notice as I put them on this morning.

So for those just joining us... what am I doing?

All I am doing is walking for 20 minutes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays during my lunch break. No break neck pace, just a casual walk outside enjoying some fresh air.

Please keep in mind, while I am doing this slowly and doing casual walks, I am pushing myself just a little more and more each week. My intent is to be able to do some hiking on some nature trails in the local area.

And the second reason I am taking this so slowly is I know the kind of person I am, if I do not go at this slowly and build myself a habit, then I will quit. I will give in and fold and lie to myself and say I love the way I am.

I like myself, I really do. I like my nose, my feet, my fingernails and every wart and hair on my head. I just do not like the weight.

Ok, talk about cloud 9... I just finished another 20 minute walk.

My goal, as I started this week, was to walk for 3 days total for 20 minutes each time. I have succeeded in my 1st week's goal.

As I am really out of shape, I have decided that next week's goal will be 3 days for 20 minutes. Week 3, I think I might add a 4th day or just tack on an extra 2 minutes. We will see how next week goes.

I am not going to get super excited though.

My overall goal is a series of lifestyle changes which I have been doing and I am pleased as can be. Taking a daily vitamin for instance was an earlier goal. I simply did not get enough of the healthy stuff in me, so when I started sure I missed a few days here and there. Taking a vitamin I am pleased to say has turned into a daily habit and I am hoping that my walking turns into a habit.

I am getting a new camera next month and I want to take those nature walks and just photograph everything. lol

Ok, so I walked again yesterday. I am not trying to hurt myself or even push myself too hard right now. I took a very nice relaxing 20 minute walk around the offices listening this time to the Misfits, Toy Dolls and Flogging Molly. The kind of music that pushes you forward.

When I was about 75% done, I so badly wanted to stop, to just give up and take the shortcut back or perhaps just sit down for a few minutes, but when the Toy Dolls song 'I Have Asthma' started, I could not help but push myself that last small bit of distance.

My back hurt, my ankles were on fire...

But wow... I really was feeling good about myself.

My knee is killing me this morning, so I think I will take the day off and not talk today. I will just wait until tomorrow to walk more. Perhaps find me some Ibuprofen to help with the swelling.

I have a goal though.

I want to be able to walk an entire nature trail without getting winded so badly I will be crawling. Some people make weight loss goals, myself I just want to get a new camera and take some pretty pictures while I am out walking. Take the kids with me and just go do something fun. That is my overall goal and I am looking to be able to accomplish it by autumn or spring.