Physically Yes, Mentally No

After my 3rd day of plowing snow and getting stuck in my own driveway today I had pretty much made up my mind I would skip going to the gym today. Even though we plowed to the main road the pathway was very narrow and I spent the day moving snow.

You know you’ve been on the plow too long when you close your eyes and you feel like your body is still moving, in my case (I don’t know why) I'm moving to the left. Last night when I went to bed I literally felt like I was spinning on the ice. When I came in at 6 PM, mentally I was still struggling as to whether I should go to the gym and questioned if I even had the energy.

I’m happy to report that I bit the bullet and made my way to Sport & Health for a late night workout. When I first arrived the place was packed, I guess everyone was eager to get out after being a prisoner in their homes for the weekend.

Listening to the radio on the drive home from the gym, I couldn’t believe they upgraded the next incoming storm (that will begin tomorrow) to another significant storm and in some areas another 10 to 20 inches of snow is expected. I have to ask myself, did I bump my head and I live in Washington State instead of Washington D.C . ?

Even though I did not want to workout I’m glad I went, at least mentally it feels good to stay focused, apposed to blowing the workout off as my old self most certainly would have done. After all, after working so hard physically for 3 days now didn’t I deserve a rest, physically yes, mentally no?

Happy Monday Everyone

8 to 6

As usual I started the day with my diet-to-go breakfast and then headed out for more snow plowing, digging, shoveling, etc. I ended up plowing snow from 8 AM to 6 PM along with my neighbor. I actually lost count of the number of times I was stuck and had to be towed out of a ditch, even with chains. I can honestly say and my neighbor agrees without the chains we may have been waiting until April for the snow to melt. Several people in the neighbor had a turn at towing my tractor out of ditches with their 4 wheel drive vehicles and several got to shovel snow out from behind the plow blade and around the tires. Every time I got stuck, it’s off and on the tractor hooking up tow straps all while walking through 2 foot of snow, it’s exhausting. We threw everything we had at the road including 4 or 5, 50 pound bags of my water softener salt.
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The scariest part of the day was sliding down our very steep ice covered road sideways in my 6500 pound tractor. You kind of hold your breath and hope you keep sliding because a sudden stop could have caused it to flip over. Thankfully we were able to clear the ½ mile of paved road to get to the main county road. Normally I’d feel a little bad about getting stuck and sliding sideways and off the road so often except for something my neighbor shared with me.

My neighbor said when he first moved in he had a friend with a road grader, you know the huge machine that kind of looks like it’s going backwards? Anyway the grader also slid down the iced hill sideways and blocked anyone from being able to leave until the road melted and the machine could be towed out.

My hats go off, to all the folks that keep our roads clear during such snow events. After being in the tractor all day I am exhausted. Tomorrows another workout day at Sport & Health if I’m not to sore to get out of bed.

I didn’t plan on it but I did work through lunch again today. My plowing partner’s wife was nice enough to bring us some fresh turkey sandwiches on rolls. I gave the birds the rolls and enjoyed the turkey. When I came in at 6 PM my wife had my DTG dinner waiting for me.

Happy Sunday Everyone

SNOW - No Thank You!

My wife and I started our day with our DTG breakfast of sausage and egg omelet. Tirechains.com has an online video that shows how to put the chains on the tires; the video is about 1 minute long. I managed to turn that 1 minute video into a little over 2 hours with the help of my wife putting the snow chains on the tractor, what a bear of a job.

I spent another 6 hours on the tractor plowing around the house and beginning to plow the shared road with my neighbor. It snowed the whole time I was outside quickly covering what we plowed leaving a glaze of ice.

The chains helped me from running off the road, they’re certainly better than without them, but it’s treacherous out there, especially on our large hill. The time flew by once again, I thought it was lunch time it was actually 4 PM so I just kept working until about 6 PM.

We still have about ½ mile of road with 2 foot of snow looking at us to plow. I shouldn’t say plow because it’s so deep most of the work requires moving the snow with the front end loader.
They are also calling for more snow maybe Tuesday, more SNOW, no thank you, I've had enough. If I wanted this much snow I'd live in Colorado or Alaska, what's up with all the snow?

I’ll be at it again tomorrow; we’re not going anywhere if we don’t continue with the plowing. Because it’s a shared private road there will never be any county snow plows coming our way.

I’m almost afraid to say it could have been worse at least we didn’t lose power.

Happy Saturday Everyone

All About The Snow

The National Weather Service says storm accumulations of 20 to 30 inches are possible in the D.C. area, with some areas seeing more than 30 inches. With that said today has been all about getting ready for the snow. I started the morning completing my workout at Sport & Health knowing the snow was supposed to begin about 10 AM. Sure enough the snow began promptly at 10 AM as I was leaving the gym.

I had some scrap wood on hand and decided to throw together a crude protective roof attached to our wishing well. The roof will hopefully keep the welder/generator from being buried in 30 inches of snow. With this snow being wet and they’re calling for white out conditions I’m certain we’ll lose electrical power.

I’ll use the generator to provide the basics and gas fireplaces for supplemental heat. They’re saying be prepared to hunker in for 3 to 5 days. My hats off to tirechains.com and UPS, I have my tractor snow chains in hand that I will attempt to put on tomorrow. I actually met the UPS man about 2 miles from home after I stopping by the UPS facility and had them contact the driver, he would have never come down our huge hill.

While at UPS I was also able to swing by Sport & Health to pick up our food. Luckily I got there when I did; they closed at 4 PM due to the severe impending weather.
I’ll try to post tomorrow if the power is still on.

I didn’t eat lunch yet, I know I should have but I’ve been running at 200 miles per hour today trying to get everything done. Thanks again to God, Diet-to-go, Sport & Health and my trainer that I now have the energy to persevere.

Happy Friday Everyone

Calm Before The Storm

If you’ve been watching the news, you most likely heard that the east coast is going to get walloped with a snow storm tomorrow through Saturday night. Depending on your exact location, I’ve heard everything from 12 to 30 inches. There are also rumors flying around that they’re not stressing some areas could get 40 inches because they don’t want people to panic.

Well I think it’s too late for panic, the stores are jammed, the snow shovels and generators are flying off the store shelves. One problem in our area is that everyone generally loses electricity with a wet snow fall of any accumulation. So if I miss posting this weekend (I haven’t missed a day yet) you’ll understand why.

The storm is supposed to begin at noon so I phoned my trainer to see if he wanted to keep our evening workout scheduled at Sport & Health tomorrow. He gave me an option and I decided to workout early by myself and skip the training session and weigh in. I’m also a little concerned as to whether I’ll be able to pick up our next order of diet-to-go that will be delivered at Sport & Health no later than 5PM. The delivery will take us through to next Tuesday’s lunch.

Any of you out there needing snow chains for cars or tractors this season, try tirechain.com.
Luckily since I’m on the east coast they say the chains I ordered this morning I should have them by tomorrow. Call me a little cautious, but I’ll be shocked if they arrive tomorrow.

Happy Thursday Everyone

Hope The Snow Holds Off

I had a good workout at Sport & Health this morning and spent a good part of the day looking for tractor snow chains. Everywhere I went folks had the same thing in mind and no vendors had chains in stock. We're about 100 miles south of anyone that normally pays attention to snow fall. This weekend they are calling for a significant snow fall, possibly up to 40 inches. It sure seems more like global cooling than global warming, at least here in Maryland anyway. We'll be picking up our next DTG order on Friday about 4PM, I hope the snow holds off until a little later.

The great deal I got on a doorbell button a while back wasn't such a great deal after all. It appears the button got stock and stayed on and burnt out my door bell. Today has just flow by, there doesn't seem to be enough time in the day to get everything done. I'm currently working on installing a new doorbell and button.

Happy Wednesday Everyone

Steak & DIY

Today I started the morning with my cup of hot coffee and my diet-to-go steak and eggs, this time the steak was cut into small pieces and cooked extra well done. Note to low carb folks, the wheat English muffin isn't part of the low carb program, sorry. My DTG breakfast was delicious, especially cooked the way I like it.

The tile project I’ve been working on was lacking two decorative tile insets. I’m not sure where I could have purchased the two tile insets and I’m not sure how long it would have taken to get them even if I found them so I decided to replicate two of them. I purchased a small kit from M.J. Design used to replicate your infants hand or foot and retrofitted it to copy and cast the tiles. All I need to do now is stain and finish the two tiles.

Did I mention I love being retired; it’s just like one big DIY craft day. Tomorrow’s another workout day at Sport & Health. Well, I’ve got to run, I’m off to pick up three of my grandkids for their parents who are running late.

Happy Tuesday Everyone

It's All In Your Head

It’s all in your head, at least that’s what I keep telling myself. It’s funny how different cultures have different foods and for each culture their foods become their norm. If you lived in New Zealand you might eat Huhu grubs (larva) which are a traditional Maori food that people say taste like buttery chicken. If you lived in Cambodia as well as other parts of the world, certain spiders are consumed as a special treat. They are rich in protein but hard to come by, so they are more of a special snack than a staple.

If you think about it, all of these things are simply protein and fuel for our bodies. If people are starving and near death with malnutrition (we, me included) will most likely eat anything we can get out hands on, it’s really just a survival instinct.

With that said, what if food is abundant and available and you can make choices about what you will eat based on your particular tastes and perceptions. Do we all taste the same thing; and do we all perceive the taste of foods and textures the same way?

As I stated in earlier posts I’m not much of a meat eater and I prefer ground hamburger to steak and any meat I consume must be very well done. Some people even have preferences to moisture in their foods, say moist chicken compared to dried out chicken, or moist roast beef compared to dried out roast beef. For me, the dryer the better, I use to order liver at a steak house burnt, and I loved it. That same liver spongy and rare became a whole different food for me and I couldn't or wouldn't eat it, I'd always send it back. I know bad things sometimes happen to food that is sent back, that's how bad I didn't like the liver rare and spongy.
Why does one person like a well done fried egg sandwich on toast with ketchup while another likes a runny egg sandwich with mustard on white bread, I sure can't figure it out.

This morning for breakfast my wife heated up my steak and eggs in the microwave. I sat at the table and began with the eggs and quickly moved to the steak that was very thick, medium to rare by my standards and I couldn’t eat it, so I slipped it to the dog. I’m sure the steak is good for the larger percent of the people and I could have fried it, but for me it was too late and already stuck in my head that it was rare and chewy and didn’t go well with my eggs. The next time I will prepare it by cutting it into small pieces and pan fry it until its golden black, then it will go nicely with my meal.

I also was reviewing the DTG low carb menu and the (goat cheese) jumped out at me. Sure I’d be willing to try goat cheese and I’m sure it’s very good but again (it’s a mental thing). I eat pork and enjoy it, but I wouldn’t want a big glass of pig milk given a choice. Yes I called DTG and made a substitution for the goat cheese meals. I guess if carbs didn’t exist, I’d be very skinny. I really never realized I was such a picky eater, I guess the carbs had me numbed?

I almost forgot, I had a good workout at Sport & Health this morning!
Happy Monday Everyone.

Quick Post

Today was day two of the snow plow efforts and I’m happy to report I managed to keep the tractor out of ditches today. I also had all of the eight grandkids over this afternoon and the house was like a busy bee hive. My diet-to-go meals were good and the day just seemed to fly by.

Tomorrow’s another workout day at Sport & Health (already?), yep where did the weekend go?

Happy Sunday Everyone

Prepared For The Occasion

I’ve been plowing snow for the past 6 years and have never had any trouble with my 4 wheel drive tractor until this season. I guess this is because most of the storms we’ve had over this time period have been relatively mild. The last snow fall before Christmas I slid off the road sideways and yep, it happened again today and I almost slid into a ravine and creek. It felt like it happened in slow motion and thankfully I was able to think clearly and drop the front loader bucket anchoring me from sliding into the ravine sideways.

Walking the 1/3 mile to home through the snow to get my 4 wheel drive vehicle and tow chains I thought how the walk was pretty effortless, OK it was cold. Coming down the hill I even took a good fall and jumped right back up and walked off the pain in my knee. Just one year ago this same walk would have been a major challenge, who knows, it might have even given me the big one as comedian Red Fox use to say?

Naturally because the snow falls have been greater recently I will most likely need to invest in a set of tractor chains for future snow storms. Of course if I do buy the chains, we’re guaranteed to have no more significant snow in MD ever again. I’ve always felt sorry for the folks finally breaking down and buying a snow blower and then it doesn’t snow for 5 years.

Reflecting on the physical challenges of the day, trudging through the snow, falling, hooking up chains, towing, snow shoveling and cleaning cars etc, I am thankful to be more fit and prepared for the occasion. Once again thank you God, diet-to-go, Sport & Health and trainer Brain.

Happy Saturday Everyone

Somewhere In Between

I had a good workout at Sport & Health with my trainer and also picked up my next order of diet-to-go (low carb) food today. I also lost one pound this week and I started the low carb meals Tuesday night.

I also had a conversation with my trainer about the low carb program and he said the only reason he recommended me trying the low carb plan was to reduce the carbs I was eating for my body type.

He suggests I eat a wheat English muffin or wheat cereal (watch the portion size) with my breakfasts and another type of carb after my workouts. He’s not recommending I do a diet like the Atkins or go into ketosis but simply eat more protein and less carbs. He simply felt the diet-to-go low fat plan would possibly work better for me at this point. Unfortunately for me, he’s diffidently not in favor of me snacking on any of the items like pepperoni, hotdogs, salami or pork rinds which were kind of exciting for me in concept anyway.

It will take a while to see how all this works, he also mentioned there’s different types of fat and his preference is always something more healthy like lean chicken, turkey bacon, low fat cheese and foods like that for snacks.

Losing weight sometimes feels like buying a car, there doesn’t seem to be a one size fits all answer as to, how to properly do it.

They’re calling for 4 to 8 inches of snow out my way tomorrow so I guess I’ll be plowing this weekend.

Happy Friday Everyone

Plain Or Crispy

I ordered the low carb plan with no fish, for being a big person I guess I'm somewhat of a picky eater. The above statement only applies to protein certainly not carbs. I don't believe I've ever eaten a carb I didn't like, naturally I love carbs but they don't love me.

Because I'm not getting fish some of my replacement meals will vary from what ever is being served that portion of the week. Twice this week I've had Parmesan Chicken Wings, Blue Cheese Dressing with Artichoke Salad. The directions say to heat the chicken in the microwave, however it comes out kind of rubbery and pale looking to me. I really didn't enjoy it that much yesterday so you can imagine my excitement to eat it again today.

My wife actually baked them in the oven at 300 degrees for about 30 minutes, then placed them under the broiler turned over once and got the legs and wings to turn a crispy golden brown. I really enjoyed the chicken prepared this way it took on a whole new look and taste.

Since I've never been a big meat eater and I've always ordered meat well done in the past this could end up being a challenge for me. My wife on the other hand, loves steaks and meat dishes, and eats her steak rare to medium. I also have weird tastes , I'd rather have a hamburger even with no bread than a steak. Again, I've mostly lived on carbs like pizza, noodles, spaghetti, taco salad with shells, etc.

I'm hoping and believe that the low carb plan will benefit me in the long run, it's just going to take a while to get use to it. For you seasoned low carb folks, should I eat a small carb before my workouts, like a banana or some other low carb fruit?

Thanks for all your support, suggestions and replies.

Tomorrow's another workout day at Sport & Health with my trainer, weigh-in and pick up next order of diet-to-go food.

Happy Thursday Everyone

Tastes So Good But Feels So Wrong

First I have to say that the diet-to-go low carb meals have been delicious so far.
I also have to say that being able to snack on things that normally aren’t allowed is kind of exciting and scary at the same time, if you know what I mean?

In order to boost the calories a little, I’m able to snack on cheese, meat, and eggs, sugar free jello, cole slaw (homemade with only cabbage, mayo, vinegar), deviled or hard boiled eggs, string cheese, or any sliced cheese, pepperoni, hotdogs, salami, pork rinds and low carb yogurt by light and fit.

After being away from this type food for one year, you can imagine how good some of this food tastes. With all that said, the proof will be in the pudding, OK no pudding on this plan, the proof will be in weight loss continuing.

I’m guessing there could be some small gain switching the plans this week, but I hope not.
I had a good workout at Sport & Health today and look forward to more DIY work tomorrow.

Happy Wednesday Everyone

1200 Calories Opposed To 1600 Calories?

I just returned home from Sport & Health with my diet-to-go low carb meals. I noticed that the plan looks like its only 1200 calories opposed to 1600 calories. I'm not sure if I ordered the wrong plan or if that's the standard for low carb. I stayed busy all day with more DIY projects and I'm getting ready to try my first low carb dinner. Tomorrow's another workout day at Sport & Health.

Happy Tuesday Everyone.

Making The Switch

I'm making the switch from Low Fat To Low Carb

The (low fat) 1600 calorie diet-to-go plan has been good to me over the last year but I’m ready to try something different. For a while now I’ve been stalled and actually have gone backwards a few pounds that I can’t seem to shake.

I’ve never been a big meat eater and I’ve always favored the carbohydrates. It’s possible my metabolism and digestive system has trouble with carbohydrates that could be part of the problem all of these years. All of this diet stuff sometimes seems like magic because it’s so different for everyone’s individual body type and metabolism.

I am really going to miss the ample bread that DTG provides on the low fat plan but it’s worth a try to see if the low carb plan can jump start my weight loss.

I had a good workout at Sport & Health today and I will travel back there tomorrow to pick up my low carb dinner and the rest of the week’s dinners.

Happy Monday Everyone

Rest, Relaxation and Conversation

Today we had family and friends come by for a visit and overall it was just a great day of rest, relaxation and conversation. Today’s diet-to-go meals were great and easy to prepare.
When I first started diet-to-go I followed the plan exactly, now I mix it up a bit. If I'm in the mood for Wednesday's dinner on Tuesday I make the changes to suite my tastes. It's better late than never to learn to be flexible. I believe choosing to be rigid sometimes makes tasks so difficult that it's easier not to do them at all. In keeping this blog I'm learning how I developed this all or nothing mentality over a life time. I'm finding life is much better learning to be flexible.

Tomorrow is another workout day at Sport & Health.



Happy Sunday Everyone

Keep Plugging Away At It

I started my day with 2 ½ large diet-to-go waffles and maple syrup and peaches. After yesterday’s new workout routine at Sport & Health I was a little sore this morning. My wife was out and about today and I had the place to myself so I continued my DIY shower tile project I’ve been working on.

One thing I’m learning in my old age/retirement is to become more patient. In the past I’ve always been hard pressed to finish projects right now or ASAP. When I was working, my time was very limited and I felt I had to run at full speed in order to squeeze everything in. This mindset is most likely attributed to my all or nothing philosophy.

Tiling a room with small intricate tiles and many cuts and angles is a lot like losing weight or making lifestyle changes. My nature is to finish it right away but I’m learning by doing a little today and tomorrow, next week etc, it gets done if you keep plugging away at it, this applies to lifestyle changes as well. Generally the job turns out better and it’s generally something you can be proud of when it’s done. Yesterday (tggywnkle) left a response to my post that read “You've helped me realize that this is a journey and there may be slowdowns and detours, but the destination is still there and still worthwhile.” Thank you (tggywnkle) for pointing out that slowdowns and detours are part of the journey, something that surely requires patience.

When you stop to think about it many of the things we worry about and rush to do, really are very insignificant compared to the big picture?

Three and ½ years ago after my mom passed away my brothers and I had to settle our parent’s affairs and clean out their home. As I was sorting through all their stuff I remembered certain things that caused my dad stress. While cleaning the garage I remembered my dad was in a hurry to go somewhere and he backed out of the garage before the door was fully opened. He had one of those leather topped Oldsmobile’s and he was just sick because the door ripped the top as he backed out. Not only was he angry the car was damaged but he beat himself up over the fact that he caused it. As I looked at the garage door I realized the car and my dad were long gone and what did the hurry and worries accomplish, absolutely nothing?

Naturally my brothers and I kept a few small mementos but overall when it’s all said and done your left with a lot of stuff, none of which you can take with you. If you are beginning a lifestyle change, learn to be patient. Your health, love and family is important and most of the other stuff doesn’t matter in the big picture.

The Apple and Possible Menu Change

Today I had my workout at Sport & Health with my trainer Brian. Brian changed my workout routine in order to always keep the body challenged and guessing what’s next. I did manage to lose 1 pound this week but it’s one of the same pounds I’ve been messing with for a while now. Brain did a little research this week on eating right for one’s body type. I originally thought I might be a pear shape, but Brian thinks I’m more in line with the apple because I’ve always had skinny legs and I carry most of my weight around the middle. Here’s a link about the apple body type that Brian provided for me from a Fitness Magazine.

The apple body types need to diminish their intake of carbohydrates so I’m considering trying the low carb plan to see if I can get things moving again. I’m going to run it by the diet-to-go nutritionist and get their insight as well. Brian is also suggesting that I also add some carbs in the way of fruit and vegetables or maybe a few crackers, especially on workout days. Brian believes that in the beginning merely reducing calories and going on the low fat plan was great for weight loss because my calorie intake was greatly reduced. Now that I’ve lost 100 pounds, plus or minus a few, he believes with my body type that I might be getting too much carbs on the low fat plan which could be stalling me.

I did pick up my meals for today which are low fat, but maybe I can switch plans by Tuesday? My wife also said she’d like to try the low carb plan as well for a while.

I’m aware of concerns about gaining weight back quicker on a low carb plan but if I were to quit what I’m doing all together and go back to my old way of eating I could most likely gain 20 pounds the first weekend even coming off the low fat plan. Gaining weight back rapidly for me has always been a problem no mater what type diet I came off of because I never really changed my lifestyle. I believe that once you develop those extra fat cells they’re always sitting there waiting for something to absorb and cling to.

Don't get me wrong I'd miss carbs because I crave them and I'm most likely addicted to them as well. For now I have an order that will get me through Tuesday at lunch, I’ll keep you guys posted on any changes.

Afutureunfolding - You Can Do It

There’s many times when I sit at my PC typing my daily blog and wonder if anyone is really reading this stuff. Just when I’m convinced no one is out there, I get a response to a post like I did yesterday.

Yesterday a response was left for me from a person calling themselves (afutureunfolding).
Their post read as follows “Just starting tomorrow! I'm more than a little nervous, and your blog has been a tremendous source of inspiration...and comfort! Can't wait to tell you all about my success! Keep it up :o)

I was blown away to read that I, big Steve, was a tremendous source of inspiration...and comfort for our new diet-to-go’er known as afutureunfolding. It’s really quite humbling to think that in addition to God, diet-to-go and Sport & Health helping me change my lifestyle that it could spinoff into actually helping someone else make positive healthy choices to improve their health and overall quality of life.

Valued afutureunfolding, thanks for putting a smile on my face and sharing your response with me, as well as following me on my life changing journey.

Let me just say you’ve come to the right place and I’m looking forward to hearing all about your success! You can do it, just take one day at a time and enjoy the journey.

One Year Ago Today

It’s really hard to believe that it’s been one year ago today that I began my life changing journey with prayer, diet-to-go, Sport & Health and my trainer Brian. Over the year I’ve posted everyday about my journey both good and bad.

Making changes is a lot like blogging. If I thought I had to sit at this PC and type out 365 pages it would be an overwhelming task. Even though, that’s exactly what I’ve done writing one day at a time through out this process. By now I could have actually written a book in this same time frame. Because I did a little writing each day it has been a manageable very doable task.

Losing weight and making healthy changes is a lot like blogging because you must also make changes a little at a time. I have been going to Sport & Health for a year now. At first I complained quite a bit and actually hated it. I’ve learned to appreciate the benefits of working out and the way it makes me feel so I now chose this as a healthy lifestyle change. I also eat healthy, using diet-to-go meals which are tasty, affordable, and well balanced.

I still have more weight to lose, but I’m in soooooo much of a better place today, in every aspect of my life all the way around. Thank you all for your support and encouragement this first year. If you are just starting your life changing journey the time will fly by and before you know it you will be a healthier, happier, slimmer you. Time will go by anyway!

I had a good workout at Sport & Health this morning. Even though I’m not exactly where I want to be I am so thankful for the progress I’ve made through prayer, diet-to-go, Sport & Health and my trainer Brian this year.

Happy Wednesday Everyone

Keep The Metabolism Furnace Burning

I had a very full busy day installing tile backer board today. I ate my diet-to-go meals and did make it a point to stop and eat lunch. I'm going to make an effort to try and keep the metabolism furnace burning.

As far as diet sodas I did decide to have a few yesterday and today. I still found myself getting 2 large unsweetened teas at McDonalds and will try to limit the diet sodas to a treat. Again I'm finding it doesn't have to be all or nothing which seems to be a theme for me in the past.

I've been some what frustrated with my recent losses and small gains but I'm still in the game because I feel so much better and healthy than when I began. I'm excepting this whole program of Prayer, Diet-to-go and Exercise at Sport & Health as a life changing journey. It's also a blessing to have a trainer to help me keep my body guessing what's next.

Tomorrow is another workout day at Sport & Health and I will be picking up my next order of Diet-to-go food I should have gotten today. I had a left over dinner from the holidays that I froze so I had it so I didn't have to make a trip out tonight, instead I enjoyed a visit from my son, daughter -in-law and grand kids.

Happy Tuesday Everyone

No Hands

I got up early, had my diet-to-go breakfast and made my way to Sport & Health for an early morning workout. At the advice of my trainer I spent only 20 minutes on the treadmill at a pace of 3.2 miles per hour with an incline of 3 with no hands holding the rails.

Prior to this morning I would spend 45 minutes on the treadmill at 3.5 miles per hour with an incline of 1 holding the side rails as I walked. I have to admit walking without holding on with a higher incline is a whole new experience. Instead of taking maybe 15 to 20 minutes to begin sweating I started sweating within a couple minutes. Even though it was more physically intense, mentally it was better knowing I only had to spend 20 minutes opposed to 45. After my cardio I completed the various machines prescribed by my trainer completing my workout.

After leaving Sport & Health I stopped at Home Depot and actually two different Lowe’s stores. I was looking for a wet rated shower light and Home Depot didn’t have it. The first Lowes’ showed two lights in the system but they couldn’t be located, so I made the drive to the second Lowes’ and found the light.

My lunch today was a tomato melt (very much like pizza) that was very good. I can remember when I was younger I could work 10 to 12 hours and not give it much thought.
After being sick, spending two days this week doing plumbing, the gym and my shopping spree I decided to rest and take a little nap.

Dinner tonight is Tomato Veggie Pie, Cous Cous and Angel Food Cake

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day & Monday Everyone

Good Day To Just Take It Easy

It was rainy and dreary here today in MD, a good day to just take it easy and hang around the house. My diet-to-go breakfast of Eggs Florentine, chicken sausage and asparagus started my day. Lunch was one of my favorites, tuna meltovers with cheese that I eat cold.

Dinner tonight is Chicken Creole, Creole Vegetables, Brown Rice and a Whole Grain Roll
Tomorrow's another workout day at Sport & Health.

Happy Sunday Everyone

Posting Weekly Instead Of Daily?

Its’ not easy coming up with something to write about every day and I thought about posting weekly instead of daily. After giving it some more thought I remembered the posting is what keeps me grounded and accountable each day.

I realize this blog sounds more like what I did today instead of about dieting. In the beginning there was plenty to write about with weekly losses to track and get excited about. I realize that now the hard work begins and the blog is most likely more important to me than it was in the beginning of the program.

Today I had my diet-to-go breakfast and began working on some DIY plumbing. Yesterday I worked on the drain system and today I worked on the supply. My wife was out for the day and I took the opportunity to shut the water off to the house. I had quite a lot of work to do and unfortunately I worked through lunch. I knew I should have stopped and ate to keep the furnace burning but I was covered in grime and I was anxious about getting the water turned back on.

Everything worked out well and I’m about to eat my DTG lunch salad with my Chicken Creole dinner.

Happy Saturday Everyone

A Time For Reflection

It’s been a month and 3 days since I stepped on the scale so I wasn’t sure what to expect. The last time I got sick and missed a week of workouts there was a price to pay and this time was no different because I gained 4 pound.

I asked my trainer if we could use today’s time to discuss where I’ve been and where I’m going related to weight loss and workouts. I’ve been going on the treadmill 3.5 miles per hour for 45 minutes with a 5 minute cool down for quite some time now. The trainer reminded me that our bodies get use to a routine and we don’t benefit from it as much. He suggested that I drop the speed back to 3.2 miles per hour, make sure my arms and hands are moving and not holding the rail and raise the incline to 3 or 4.

We discussed my current 1600 calorie diet-to-go meals and my variations of snacks. I told the trainer that when I was eating only the DTG meals and fruit I was doing better with my weight loss. We also discussed the concept of keeping the furnace burning. I’m very sporadic at the times in which I eat. Today I had my DTG breakfast, postponed lunch and had a snack at 1:30 PM. My trainer feels I could keep my metabolism working better by eating every couple of hours, opposed to going 5 or 6 hours without eating.

I also need to be honest with myself and the trainer; snacks have become a free food of sorts for me. The extra cheese, chicken, etc. all have calories. I really shouldn’t be surprised I had a gain with the snacks and being sick which resulted in missing a week of workouts.

We also discussed the different body types and how food affects each one differently.
I’m pretty sure I’m endomorphs which tend to store fat easily and have a pear- to oval-shaped torso. Alternate body types find it easier to lose weight. Everything I’ve read about being an endomorph states to be patient; losing weight is a lifestyle change, not something that happens overnight.

I’ve given up diet sodas thinking that was stalling me. I may decide to go back to the diet sodas because I don’t see any benefit of stopping them regarding weight loss, (for me anyway). I may also consider switching the snacks to all fruit, I admit I really like the cheese and chicken snacks. There’s also a possibility I may switch to the DTG low carb plan to see if that changes anything. My trainer is going to look into the body types and foods to avoid for each type.

The trainer also talked about my percentage of muscle relating to my current weight and said going down to 200 pounds would leave me with under 8 percent body fat which would be exceptional. In other words my goal weight of 200 pounds possibly should be maybe 240 or 250 for a man my size, 200 pounds may be unrealistic for me.

Happy Friday Everyone

Decadent Pleasure

Yesterday’s diet-to-go lunch of Chicken Pesto Sub had a container of chocolate pudding with it that I forgot to eat. Today’s lunch of grilled cheese came with a lareg cupcake like chocolate brownie. I cut the chocolate fudge brownie in half like you would a bagel, heated it in the microwave and topped it off with yesterday’s chocolate pudding. I actually felt like I was eating a rich dessert at a restaurant. I’d have to categorize this combo dessert as a decadent pleasure.

I had a very busy day installing some plumbing and kept an early morning doctor’s appointment for my ear. It appears some viruses can cause ringing in the ear and hearing loss, hopefully and normally over time, nature will turn the ringing off and bring back total hearing. I may also need to get a hearing test if things don't go back to normal.

Tomorrow’s another workout day and weigh in day at Sport & Health with my trainer.

Happy Thursday Everyone

Never Too Late To Teach Old Dogs New Tricks

I had a great workout today at Sport & Health and there is definitely an increase in new faces at the gym with all the New Year resolutions. Today is the first time I was unable to use one piece of equipment I normally use in my routine. I’ve never really observed anyone taking more than 3 repetitions on most pieces of equipment, so even if it’s in use it’s generally free within 15 minutes or so.

Today I did my routine out of order saving the piece of equipment being used for last.
For what ever reason, the person using this particular station was on it for over an hour performing many different variations of a similar exercise. Luckily I’ve used both free weights and machines and was able to recall similar exercises using free weights that worked the same muscle groups. In years past unless I used the exact equipment specified I wouldn't have felt I completed my exercise or I would have waited angrily no matter how long it took to complete it.
I’m learning in my old age to be flexible, I guess it’s never too late to teach old dogs new tricks.

My diet-to-go meals were delicious as usual today. My son went to work late so I stopped by his home and helped him put the finishing touches on the platform, steps and rails for the zip line he installed for the kids.

Again, after being outside in the cold again today, I feel like I’ll sleep well tonight.
Happy Wednesday Everyone

Zip - I Think I’d Give It A Try

Today for breakfast I had my DTG Raisin Bran Muffin, Strawberry Preserves, Yogurt and a couple cups of coffee. I spent a few hours outside today, it was windy and cold, there’s something about being outside on a cold day that makes me sleepy when I come inside.

Lunch was great today, a large Chicken Philly Sub - Deli Chicken, Spiced & Marinated Peppers & Onions, Honey Mustard Mayo & American Cheese on a Wheat Sub Roll, and Peach Pudding which is one of my favorite meals.

I’m still working on several DIY projects at home so I made my way to Lowe’s were I spent a couple hours gathering supplies. On the way home I picked up our next order of diet-to-go food at Sport & Health. Tonight’s dinner was Turkey Picadillo, Brown Rice Pilaf with Apricot Glazed Asparagus. I added a lot of hot sauce to spice things up a bit.

I also stopped by my oldest son’s house this afternoon (he was off work) keeping him company as he installed a Zip Line Fun Ride for his kids, what a great dad. When the kids got home from school they had a blast and couldn’t get enough rides in before dark. I really don’t remember having cool toys like this when I was a kid. Believe me it looks like fun and if the cable was rated to hold me I think I’d give it a try. Thankfully this is one time when being large is most likely working in my favor and saving me from serious injuries and rehabilitation.

The cable is adjusted so the kids feet are close to the ground, hopefully everyone plays and stays safe.

Tomorrow’s another workout day at Sport & Health.
Well that’s a day, Happy Tuesday Everyone.

I Jumped Right Back In

After my breakfast of a Wild Cherry Muffin, Apple Butter and an Orange I continued working on my tile project.

I knew I was going back to the gym (Sport & Health) today so I decided I’d go later in the day. I considered cutting back the weights and repetitions on my workout since I’ve been off sick for the last week. I guess I view many things in life as all or nothing, so I jumped right back in making no changes.

I fully expect there will be consequences to my decision, most likely extra aches and pains arriving Tuesday or Wednesday. My workout went well and it actually felt good to be getting back to my routine. Wow, this year has flow by; it’s hard to believe that as of January 20th, 2010 I have been an active member of Sport & Health for one year working out 3 days per week, of which one is with a trainer.

I’ve also been eating healthy on the diet-to-go- program for nearly a year. Tonight’s dinner was Barbecue Chicken & Sauce, Anise Roasted Potatoes, Baked Beans and
Green Beans & Almonds.

I’ve been hovering at 100 pounds lost plus or minus a few pounds for a while now.
Hopefully the New Year will bring even more weight loss and continued good health.
If you are sitting on the fence about joining diet-to-go and Sport & Health or your local gym if Sport & Health is not in your area, please go for it, you are worth it. I can’t begin to tell you how much better I feel than when I started. It’s true 1 year might seem like a long time, but time will go by anyway and this year has flow bye.

Getting old is not for sissies, after being sick with an upper respiratory infection, the flu, sinuses etc., I now have a continued ringing and echo in my ear with diminished hearing.
I’m beginning to see that retired people most likely spend a lot of their time visiting doctors. The last few days I’ve had the TV turned up real loud so I can hear it.
My wife constantly asks me to turn it down, I feel like I’m doing one of those hearing aide commercials when I ask, what did you say? Aging is a natural process, staying healthy as you possible can only makes good since, especially when it’s possible with the right help. I attribute my success to my God Jesus, diet-to-go, Sport & Health and my trainer Brian.


Happy Monday Everyone

Just A Quick Post

After my DTG breakfast of 2 ½ large waffles and maple syrup, I attended Church with my wife daughter and grandchild. Upon returning home I continued working on my tile mosaic borders today and made pretty good progress. Some family and grandkids came by for a visit this afternoon, in all, it was a great day. Tomorrow will be my first day back at Sport & Health for a workout since I became ill a week ago.

Happy Sunday Everyone

Keeping The Mind Occupied & The Body Moving

As usual I started my day off with my DTG breakfast, todays was a bagel and cream cheese. I’m still not back to my old self but the antibiotics are making me feel a little better each day.

My wife got some new draperies and I removed the old rods and installed new heavy duty hanging rods for her today. The rest of the day I’ve been working on cutting a zillion ceramic tiles and hot gluing different pieces to fiberglass screen backing to create mosaic tile borders that will be installed in the bathroom. It sounded like a great idea to make my own especially since some of those tile borders are like 20 dollars each. Unfortunately I need about 40 linear feet for the bottom of the walls, so I’m just getting started. I used the tile saw in the garage to keep me indoors today and somewhat warmer than outside.

For lunch today I actually ate one of my leftover DTG meals from Friday which was Pasta Salad Primavera, Solid White Tuna and Sesame Breadsticks. All of the diet-to-go meals are easy, just heat and serve but today’s worked great especially when you just want to eat on the go.

After being sick for a week I felt weak and that’s why I decided to get busy today. I believe one of the key ingredients of losing and keeping weight off is keeping the mind occupied and the body moving.