#resolve - Day 35 - Stretch goals

I hope everyone successfully negotiated Thanksgiving. Yesterday, I had two opportunities for my weight loss resolution stretch goals. The first was when Mary Shannon offered me a very tempting homemade cinnamon roll (passed but didn't want to). The second was when I had set out for a 6 mile run and when I reached my usual turn-off for home, I chose a longer route ending in a 7 mile total run. These may seem trivial but become a core part of accomplishing small increments to achieve a much greater goal. As predicted, I did enjoy a great Thanksgiving meal. In fact, I gained a full pound reversing part of my 2.5 lb loss to date. However, this is a 40 day journey and part of the pre-New Year's resolution goal was to also enjoy the holiday. By investing in the longer run and eschewing extra eating indulgences, it will be easier to complete the entire goal.

In completing my goals I think it's often helpful to have some basic tactics for attacking the incremental steps along the way. Here is a list of six things I use to help me stay committed to my physical fitness activities.

1. Visualize your workout - I had been thinking of a longer run by adding the Fayetteville Square ever since I attended the Lights of the Ozarks holiday lighting last week-end. I pictured myself running the hills that lead to the square and making the loop back to the UofA.

2. Schedule time - I have two gym morning planned for next week on my calendar and another for when I have to travel at the end of the week.

3. Tell others - Mary Shannon and I share responsibility for taking Mary Catherine to school so it's important that she know my schedule for gym mornings so we can coordinate.

4. Challenge yourself - I challenge myself with imaginary rewards like if I complete the 7 mile run, Duke will be Carolina in basketball on Feb 11th (not looking good for the Heels).

5. Do something you enjoy - No physical fitness plan will work if you hate it. I use my running time to enjoy some great music.

6. Rest and recover - getting enough sleep and recovery time is great. I'll walk today but won't run again for 48 hrs after a long run.

Whatever works to keep you motivated, leverage it for success.

Progress update:
Total miles - 20
Total calories burned - 3000
Weight loss to date 1.5 lbs

#resolve Day 36 - Food Temptations Abound

Happy Thanksgiving! Today is one of the big reasons that #resolve is so important. If you're like me, the holiday season started with Halloween and all of the social events that start filling calendars. Food, especially calorie rich baked items and sweets begin to pop up around every corner. Some of the New Years resolution cycle is driven by these events. So what to do? Don't know about you but I'm not particularly fond of depriving myself of some of the great food and drink the holiday's bring (I'm marinating a leg of lamb as I write this - yum).

This brings me back to my core premise, the simple equation is calories in have to be less than calories out. So what's my plan? This is going to be a bit aggressive, but I think I can do it. My parents are visiting from Atlanta and Mary Shannon's mom is here from Winter Park and both our moms love to walk so I plan to go on a 3-4 mile walk with them later this afternoon (calories burned 450). Again, integrating social activity along with goal attainment is a great way to stay on track. My compensation for the extra 1000 calories I will most likely consume today is to go for a 6 mile run this morning (calories burned 950). This won't allow me to go crazy, but I can definitely eat a great Thanksgiving dinner, limiting heavy carbs like stuffing and coconut cake but hopefully I can end the day net even (note i said limit, not avoid - no gravy with my turkey? not a chance)

My plan is going well, my weight this morning was 184.5 so I've lost 2.5 pounds thus far. Have a Happy Thanksgiving and good luck with your challenge!

#resolve - Day 37 - Mix it up

So my buddy was unable to go on my walk/run yesterday but no worries, I simply substituted a different physical activity. We have a ton of wood that needs to be split (and Mrs. A has been bugging me about getting it done now that we're using the fireplace at night) so I decided to split wood instead. Not sure how may calories I burnt but I was at it for a solid hour (let's call it 400). It was a benefit from another angle in that I've got some lactic acid build-up from the past two days runs and probably needed a break anyway. What's great about this is that it helps prevent fatigue (or boredom) with workout routines and uses different muscles. It also attacks the time management issues (combining a workout with a project)

I find that stretching after a workout is more beneficial than before for me (I try to do both). Additionally, I'm not paying enough attention to rule #1 and hydrating enough. I try to always have a full glass of water in the am prior to my coffee, which I drink the entire day. Coffee is a diuretic but many elite runners use it speed the cleansing process and ultimately absorb more water. At the start of the New York Marathon I saw a ton of people in the elite start times drinking a cuppa joe. It doesn't require you to drink even more water and monitor for dehydration especially in racing.

That's it for today. My weight this morning was 185 even, so I've lost 2 lbs. Today I'm planning a 6.2 mile total run walk with Mary Catherine in the jogger stroller. 900 calories buys a larger lunch!

#Resolve - Day #38 Staying Motivated

Good morning, today's weight is 185.5, I've lost 1.5 lbs. I've had a nice balance of physical activity for two days - 7 miles running and walking total = 1050 calories and smart eating with less than 50 total carbs and a high protein diet. It's very important to consider nutrition and vitamins now. I take a combination of 3000mg of fish oil daily, a Bayer 31mg aspirin regimen and a multi-vitamin (mega man sport from GNC).

Today I'm working from home and have enlisted my friend Jon Palfreeman to go for a long walk with me on the Fayetteville trail system. His son is in my daughter's class so we both are Daddy day care today and this will be a great activity for us and our children. It's just another way to involve others in achieving your goal and spend some quality social time too.

Measurement and tracking are important as well. I've got 93 miles to go on my goal of 100 miles before new years and 8.5 lbs. I try to always weigh myself at the same time each day and for me that's first thing in the am.

Thanks to everyone who is helping me achieve my objective, what's your #resolve challenge?

Day 39 # Resolve - Getting down to business - 16000 calories need to be cut

Ok, here's the dealio. Weight loss is basic, calories in need to be less than calories out. So I know it's a bit more complicated than that but basically that's the magic formula. I will be the first to admit, I'm not a health expert or a fitness expert, I just know what works for me. To lose 10 pounds, I essentially need to burn or not consume 16,000 calories above and beyond the 2000 or so a day my body needs for fuel. Here's my top 7 list for getting started, please feel free to add your tips as well. Again, this has what has worked for me in the past (I'm not a MD)

1. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate - preferably with water. It fills you up, has no calories and helps to flush your system. Especially helpful with the physical fitness side of your routine to remove toxins from your system.

2. Share your goal with others - I like to enlist my Wife's help. It creates a system of true ownership and she helps me work on diet at mealtime etc. I'm now trying this with an even larger audience so the effect should be amplified.

3. Cut the carbs - Don't eliminate them, just cut back. I set a goal of 50 carbs a day (not a lot). It pretty much means goodbye to bread, beer, chips, fries and pizza but hello to cheese, meat, eggs, wine (in moderation), high protein cereal, veggies and fruits etc. If you make this a drudgery it will be, have fun with it, go eat fajitas and just don't have the wraps, have wine and cheese as a meal. Eat a great omelet for breakfast. remember, this challenge is about breaking worn pathways, try something new.

4. Get a motivator talisman - Grab a new pair of running shoes, or some new workout gear. I bought a Livestrong hoodie and it hangs in my mudroom so I have to look at it each time I go to the Garage. I love the Livestrong brand as a great nexus of cause marketing and brand promise (more on that later) and the commitment that Lance made to himself and his sport is inspiring to me.

5. Schedule your success - I have about 26 hours of stuff to do in a 24 hour day. The only way I will be successful is to schedule my physical fitness into my day. I don't want to reduce the time I spend with my family so my choices are a. get up early, b. work out with them or c. eliminate some other activity in my life. In any case, I put it on my calendar like any other appointment when I plan my week.

6. Add a soundtrack - I double my workout time as a chance to also relax and listen to some music. Create a new mix in anticipation of your activity and let it help you to stay motivated. A great time to discover some new music as well. iTunes has a whole workout genre. Thanks L'il Jon!

7. Keep track - I create a mileage chart like the United Way thermometer. My goal for #resolve is 100 miles in 40 days, at roughly 150 calories a mile, that's 15000 total burned.

As we move into the Thanksgiving week I began thinking about the regular routines I follow, one of which is the annual New Years Resolution cycle. Self improvement is a continual process and breaking well worn habits that don't result in long term success warrants some introspection. My experience goes something like this, I spend the week after Christmas giving some serious thoughts to what I'd like to improve about myself. Typical categories include family and social interaction, financial management, physical fitness, career and spirituality. I write and revise my goals and then on New Years Eve, I share them with my wife. Then I carry them with me all year.

On most accounts, I do pretty well at achieving my stated goals, over the past 7 years I've eliminated my consumer and installment debt, have built a great relationship with my family, my career is moving along well and I have a good grounding in my spiritual life. Physical fitness remains a continual challenge. Not that I don't try, I have been a runner since high school and running is a good outlet for my attempts to control my weight and health and even my stress level. It's fairly effective, my weight varies from 180-184 and has for the past decade. Each year I set a goal of 175 lbs as my optimal weight and begin to pursue a running plan to attain that goal. Usually, I'll pick a race to train for to keep me focused, I've run the New York Marathon, Georgia Marathon and the Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon (Pictured here with my friend Cecily). I'll typically pull a training plan from Runners World and track my progress. my weight will drop as my overall metabolism increases and I can eat much more than usual without effect. The problem is that by the end of the year, schedules get hectic, food gets enticing and so by the time Christmas arrives, I've typically erased my gains from earlier in the year.

So this year, I'm going to try something new. I'm going to start my New Year's weight loss/physical fitness resolution a week before Thanksgiving. Hopefully, if I'm successful, I'll enter 2009 at my goal weight of 177 lbs and can focus on maintaining my weight and other resolutions. Additionally, by enlisting a support network community and perhaps inspiring others, I can be even more motivated to stay on goal. Finally, I can practice my Blogging skills with my first ever continual blog. While my challenge is to focus on weight loss, you could choose a part of your life you'd like to focus upon and enter 2009 with a full head of steam. The ultimate goal is to break the cycle of set it and forget it resolution making and create continual improvement leveraging a like minded network of supporters. Thanks for taking the time to read my posts, I hope that I can inspire a few folks to join me.

jfla