Vaporizing The Pounds: Reset 02

This week I managed to make better food choices, while sticking to my mantra of “Moderation, Not Deprivation,” and was rewarded with a weight loss of 3 lbs.

I thought that I'd included a "Before and Current" photo as a point of reference.  The "before" picture was taken in the summer of 2012.  The "current" photo was taken today.

I had some pretty good training sessions this week.  The zumba classes were high energy and the resistance training was more focused.  I feel like I’m on the verge of hitting my next fitness level.

Here are my victories for the week:

• For the first time, I ran more laps than I walked.
• I lost another belt notch.
• I got more notice and positive comments about my weight loss / body shaping.
• I increased the poundage on almost every resistance exercise.

A weight loss memory:
My wife and I had been seated in booth in a restaurant that I liked.  The problem was that the booth tables were affixed to the floor, so they couldn't be adjusted, which made for an uncomfortable meal.  We went back to the restaurant recently and got a booth again.  The table position was no longer an issue and the meal was great!

Motivation:
I have pair of jeans that I bought a while ago, with the thought that I’d eventually be able to wear them.  I tried them on last month and was able to close them for the first time, but they were still tight.  I tried them again this week.  Time to cut the tags off!

I know that I still have quite a way to go, but I’m feeling pretty good about my progress.  Looking forward to getting after it again next week!

Weight loss to date: 37.4 lbs.

Vaporizing The Pounds: Reset 01

I usually weigh myself on Sundays, but I forgot to do it yesterday.  So, I weighed myself today and had a loss of 2.4 lbs.

Since January, I've dropped two pants sizes and one shirt size.  My workout regimen is a little different than last time, due to my schedule.  Every week I get in 4 resistance training sessions and 5 cardio sessions.

The resistance training split is:

• Upper body:  Arms, Chest, Upper Back, Lats, Abs (2x)
• Lower body:  Shoulders, Lower Back, Legs, Abs (2x)

Cardio training includes:

• Walking 1 mile during lunch break (5x)
• 30 minutes (2.5-3.0 miles) on the elliptical machine (5x)
• 1 hour Zumba class (4x)
• I've also just started running/jogging 1 mile (3-4x)

Tales From The Journey

Last summer, I went to a conference.  The seats on the flight were uncomfortable, I had a hard time buckling the seat belts and we won’t even go into the full body photos taken.  This summer, the trip to the conference was a completely different story.  I had room in my seat and I had to tighten my seat belt.  The guy sitting next  to me said that he was glad to sit next to someone who wasn't spilling out of the seat, unlike on his previous flight.  The full body photos were much better, too.

Weight loss to date: 34.4 lbs. (corrected)

Vaporizing The Pounds - Reset

My last post on this blog was on Monday, April 27, 2009.  Since then, I regained almost all of the weight that I’d manage lose.  An injury knocked me off the exercise path and I didn't get back on until this year.  Not that the injury itself kept  me from the plan.  I just got out of the habit of doing the things that were working.  As those things slid down the priority list, the pounds crept back on.

This January (2013), I joined some folk at my church who were planning to do Daniel’s Fast.  In a nutshell, under the fast I couldn't eat dairy, meat or processed foods for 21 days.  At the end of the fast, I really felt good and decided restart my fitness regimen.

When I began this blog in 2009, my starting weight was 279.5 pounds.  At the time of the injury, I was down to 252.5.  I started this new campaign weighing 271 pounds.

I’ll use the next few posts to bring my story up to date and share some of my observations and experiences.

Looking forwarding to a more successful outcome this time around.