Big finish!

Well, week 8 has arrived!

While the whole thing didn't go exactly as planned, I missed a few workouts and didn't eat as well as I could have, I'm overall pretty pleased with the results. I've definitely noticed a changed in my muscle definition and a few of my good friends have even noticed that I've leaned out quite a bit. It's a huge confidence booster when people actually notice the changes and it was great as a motivator to keep at it.

I even got a few messages from friends that said this blog has been helpful for them in their weight loss and it's been inspiring them. This is something that I was totally not expecting and it made me very glad that I decided to start this blog.

Just because the Belly Off! challenge is done, doesn't meant I'll stop posting. I will be taking a break until the new but I'll be back posting after that.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Dear Food...

Damn you for being so delicious.

I'm up a pound this week but I know exactly why. Kaley's work Christmas party was this past Friday and the food was awesome. I may have over indulged a little bit but at least it's only a pound and it should be completely manageable.

One thing that is pretty cool that I've noticed is clothes that were previously a little snug on me are now either loose or too big. While it is a pain having to buy new stuff to replace it, it's a great feeling.

I definitely keep control of the food stuffs over the holidays. I've got my work Christmas party coming up and then family gatherings galore. Constant vigilance will be needed. :)

I will see you next week and hopefully I'll be back in the 170's. I liked it there.

Well colour me pleased!

I reached a personal milestone today! This is the first time I've been under 180lbs in a very long time. I'm thinking the last time I was close to this weight must have been in grade 10 or 11. What is my weight you may be wondering? Well, I'm 179lbs and I must say, I'm pretty happy about it.

I won't be able to make the goal of 170 in the next 2 weeks but I figure if I can maintain between 174 and 179, I should be pretty good. I may even be hard pressed to lose 4 pounds in the next couple weeks but we'll see what happens. It's not like I'm going to stop working out in 2 weeks. My routine is just going to change. Plus, I won't be surprised if I gain a few pounds over the holidays because, lets be realistic here, who doesn't.

So, I'm going to be keeping my nose to the grindstone, or whatever other motivational cliche you can come up with.

Cheers!

181lbs and going strong!

Another week, another pound. I'd say a pound a week is a pretty good pace for myself. I may not make my goal weight but the weight that I am losing will be manageable and I think I'll be less likely to put any back on.

I'm using the Wii Fit to check my weight now because it also gives an approximate body mass index (BMI). I've always found the numbers from these to be a little suspect when your weight and height are the only contributing factors. According to my Wii I'm bordering on obese, which I know is not right. I should probably be closer to the lower end of overweight but unless I break out the calipers and do some math, my actual BMI will remain a mystery.

I'm finding doing the Yoga on the Wii to be pretty enjoyable as well. I'm not very flexible at all, so going through these exercises has already shown me some improvements. Plus, I get to play games and exercise too!

See you next week!

Still Going!

So, I’m not good at the weekends. I eat great all week but then the weekend hits and I eat not all together terribly but I could definitely work on the portion control. Now I’m still losing weight. I’m down to 182lbs this week, but it always makes me wonder what I would be at if I was a little more careful.

I’m not talking about depriving myself of all things delicious. That's crazy talk. I’m just saying instead having a lot of all the things I like, I should really just work on a having a little. Hopefully, satisfying the cravings while not sabotaging a week of hard work. During the week my fix for this has been gum. At my office we usually have an abundance of goodies available but chewing gum and drinking tons of water has helped me not indulge at every given opportunity. I just need to carry those habits over to the weekend, which rarely happens. I’ve recently started taking a course on Saturdays, so that will help me form some type of schedule and I find having meals set to a schedule of sorts to be helpful. At least I know when and what the next meal will be.

Also, I’m going to be using our underutilized Wii Fit. I’ve always talked to Kaley about doing yoga but I can’t fit the Y classes into my already packed schedule so I’m going to try to the yoga on the Wii on my off mornings. I’ve already used it once and it was ok so I’ll let you know how that progresses.

The Official Weigh In!

I actually lost a pound so I am now 183lbs. I'm pleased considering I thought I was either not going to lose anything or maybe even gain a pound.

Sweet!

Can I take a mulligan on that one?

So last week was essentially a write off. I got a couple really good workouts in but my schedule got blown all to hell. Three out of four of us in my department at work were sick or out of the country so some extra work had to be done. I imagine worse things have happened so I'm just going to do week three over again.

The weigh in is coming tomorrow morning but I'm guessing there will be no change from week 2. The not drinking beer thing has been marginally successful. I'm still drinking it, just not nearly as much. Baby steps are better than no steps at all.

I think in the past couple weeks I've really learned how to push myself out of my comfort zone at the gym. I've had a few workouts where throwing up when I was done was almost the only option! Sure you feel like crap at that exact moment in time but you feel GREAT later on. So I say it's totally worth a little bit of discomfort.

So here's to getting back to normal...I hope.

Can things be normal now?

So last week was pretty crazy and this week looks like it's going to be equally as hectic. We spent Tuesday evening at the hospital because Kaley had some serious flu symptoms, dizzyness and shortness of breath, and after checking online and trying to get through to telehealth, we decided the emergency room was faster, and it was. FYI, Kaley is good, lots of fluids and rest have got her almost back in to top form.

Obviously Kaley's health took priority and that had some impact on my week and this week looks to be similar. I got a message last night that one of my co-workers won't be in today as he is sick, so I'm working the early shift. I'll be switching my gym days this week to accommodate so tomorrow I'll post up my progress, if I even have any.

Through all of this I have somehow managed to avoid getting sick and don't ask me how because I just don't know.

Also, I got the flu vaccine on Saturday and since I'm in direct contact of a high risk person, that apparently puts me in the high risk category. I must say, I didn't wait nearly as long as I expected to and everyone there was very nice and did a great job. The only down side is that I hate needles and it now feels like someone punched me in the arm. Small price to pay in order to not spread this annoyance around.

See you tomorrow!

So far, So-so?

184 lbs for the start of this week. I didn't do as well as I could have with the eating this weekend so it makes me wonder what the loss might have been. Oh well, no sense in dwelling on what may have been, just keep moving forward. Perhaps next weekend I'll be able exercise a little more self control.

Kaley has also decided to get back in to the gym in a bit more of an intense manner, which is awesome. It makes it a lot easier when you always have someone else there to push you so this works great for the both of us.

I'm also trying to keep myself off the brown pops. My beer consumption tends to be my biggest set back on the weekends. I guess 'beer gut' isn't just a clever name. When I do drink I'll just have to stick to rye or wine. I know, not perfect, but neither I am and yes, I'm just as surprised as you. I'll be sticking with the lesser of two evils because I drink my rye either straight or with water so I don't get the accompanying sugars.

That's all for this week and I've decided that I will be posting my pictures at the end so I can see from week 1 to week 8. So everyone hold your collective breath.

Day One of Belly Off!

The starting weight today was 187 lbs. Now, as long as I can remember to weigh my self at approximately the same time every week,the weight loss tracking should be accurate. I'm still on the fence about posting the pictures though. I'm still going to take them every week so I can make comparisons and see if I'm making visual progress. I've just yet to decide whether I will subject you to looking at me topless.

The workouts are actually pretty tough too! Considering I don't lift a weight, other than my body weight, I work up a hell of a sweat. With some of the exercises I actually can't complete all the reps so I'll be tracking my progress on those, just to make sure that I'm increasing the number of reps that I get through.

Also, I was supposed to do the CN Tower Stair Climb with my cousin Patrick this week but being the absent minded person that I am, I missed the registration. I think it would have been a lot of fun but it looks like I'll have to wait until next year.

Well, that's all for today and I'll be down to posting weekly now, so I'll see you next week.

On your mark...get set...wait for it!

So it looks like I'm going to delay the start until Monday. This weekend was pretty crazy so we didn't have any time to go grocery shopping or really plan out our meals for the week. In hindsight, we could have spent the 7 plus hours we spent en route to our destinations planning the meals but... we didn't. Hindsight really is 20/20.


I did go to the Y this morning to do some laps in the pool and talk about tiring. I think I'm going to try and hit the pool at least once a week. It's a nice change of pace and right now, it's really hard.

That's all for now folks. Once Monday comes, it's weekly updates.

Ooooooh...A gym!

Holy crap, am I sore or what. First day back at the gym was yesterday and I don't think my muscles like me today. My arms, shoulders, core and quads are killing me but it's that good kind of pain that lets you know that your actually challenging your muscles.

I'm just hoping that my body gets used the work quickly because right now I'm feeling pretty exhausted. I guess it was a good idea that I decided to use this week to ease myself into it.

So, starting next week I'll post my starting stats and maybe even a picture and from there I'll include weekly updates on my progress which will include a weekly weigh-in and perhaps picture updates. We'll see how much I'm willing to humiliate myself.

I could leave it up you actually. If you want to see picture updates, leave a comment letting me know.

Look at me go!

Julie Hatch, who is a fantastic photographer and actually shot our wedding, took this picture of me at the Half-Marathon.



Just thought I'd put that up.

No Running and no gym make Nick bored!

I'm finding not going to the gym this week and not running guilt
inducing. After spending the past 12 weeks running like a fiend, 4
days of inactivity is driving me bonkers. It got to a point yesterday,
while watching TV, I was doing pushups on commercial breaks. I'm
really looking forward to getting back at it and getting in to the Belly
Off program. I think the best part for me will be the meal plan.
Portion control has always been an issue for me and having the meals
laid out will make life much easier.

So I start back at the gym on Monday to ease myself back in and give
that glute issue a little more time. Then it's full throttle on October
12th.

If anyone actually wants to try the Belly Off! Program check it out at www.menshealth.com/bellyoff/

Half Marathon is Done!

So I ran my Half Marathon yesterday and it was awesome!

My chip time was 1:52:38 and I'm pretty pleased with the result. My goal was to complete in under 2 hours and I did just that.

I wasn't sure if I was going to do another one of these since the training for this one was so intense but after doing the run, I think I'll be doing another. I feel like I was over prepared for this one and I could definitely roll back the training so it doesn't take up so much of my time. 5 days a week of running was just a bit too much and it didn't leave much time for the gym. Which I can't wait to get back to.

This week I'll be giving myself a bit of a break and next week I'll ease myself back in to weight training. 12 weeks is a long time off so I don't want to hurt myself my first day back. That would suck.

Mission Unsuccessful

So my first crack at recording was a failure.  I don’t think the pedal I was using was boosting the signal enough so I’m going to try using this Hafler pre-amp I have at my rehearsal space.

3 more days until the run.  Kaley is pretty nervous for me and I’m not nervous at all. Funny how those things work.

Pictures from New Years 05-06

So this was my starting point.

It begins...Again

So I'm going to be starting the Men's Health Belly Off program just after Thanksgiving and I will attempt to keep track of the progress I'm making...again.

My past forays into blogging have shown that I'm less than consistent but what's the harm in trying again. It's not like anyone, other than my friends and family, will be reading this. That might even be a stretch anyways but I digress.

So this whole thing started for me about 4 years ago. I was already about 215lbs and when I quit smoking I ballooned to over 230lbs in just over a month. After seeing some pictures of myself I realized, holy shit, I am a fat kid. (I have some pictures somewhere and I will put them up here)

A change of lifestyle was in order and now 4 years and 50lbs later, I'm almost at the end.

The intent for this challenge is to post my workouts, what I'm eating, weekly picture updates and general challenges that I'm running in to.

I'll be relying on you, friends, family and maybe even strangers, to help me keep myself accountable. I always need something to keep me pushing forward. A finish line if you will and once I reach this one, I'll just try to find another one down some other avenue of self improvement.

Things that I have recently done, want to do or have started;

-Trained for a half marathon - I'm running the Scotiabank Half-Marathon on September 27th with my cousin Patrick and I managed to lose almost 10lbs training.

-Run a half-marathon - This one is almost done. 4 days to go!

-Learn another language - I'm going to take a crack at Spanish or French using Rosetta Stone. I hated French in school, so we'll see how this one goes.

-Learn multi-track recording - Using the Macbook Pro provided by my work, I'm going to try to lay down some guitar tracks, maybe even try to program some drums. This is mainly so I can track some songs that one of my old bands, Divided We Stand, wrote but never recorded. I'll just be using Garageband but if something post worthy gets churned out, I'll put it up. Just don't hold your breath.

These are more or less time killers for me, so updates will probably be infrequent. The main thing I will working on is the Belly Off challenge but until I get started, maybe you'll see some other things.