In Shape and Feeling Great
I did it, I actually did it. I lost 30.5 pounds and I can now officially say I'm "in shape". I reached my goal of 173.5 pounds which puts my BMI at the recommended 24.9 kg/m².
How long did it take me? Hard to say, I've been trying for years, but most of that has been just playing casual sports and not worrying about what I ate. I've never been one to count calories or sacrifice what I eat (because I LOVE food), so I just increased my exercise load. Unfortunately all that seemed to do was maintain my body weight.
So then I slowly started drinking less pop, eating more fruits, and I did see my body weight fluctuate more, but all it would take was a couple days of not exercising or drinking and I'd be right back at where I was.
So finally in the last 3 months I really hunkered down. I started exercising EVERY day, and eliminated pretty much ALL junk food. It was slow (1-2 pounds a week), but I finally started to see some progress.
Everyone has said it and its definitely true, losing weight is HARD WORK. It was extremely difficult to be in social settings and not drink. Not just because they can be more fun, but because you seem like an outcast and people like to obese about you not drinking so its socially awkward.
I significantly cut down the size of my meals and tried to eat as many small meals as possible, which was challenging because you always feel like you are hungry.
I pretty much drank nothing but water and that gets really old after awhile.
So what I did I do to celebrate? I took the night off from exercising, and ate my favorite food, PIZZA! Yeah, yeah, I probably gained a couple pounds right back, but honestly I've really gotten used to this diet now and I don't think I'll have a problem maintaining this weight. Knowing how much effort it takes to lose it you don't want to spoil it.
What's cool now is that I can eat the junk food I want occasionally, because even if I re-gain the weight, it's a couple of pounds, which is much easier to re-lose than 10-15 pounds. Honestly though, those foods are less tempting now, and it's easier to control portions.
The other added benefit is that I'm more nimble, flexible, and playing better sports. The guys I play basketball with have definitely noticed a change, and I think I'm not running a little over a 7 minute mile.
My clothes fit better which is nice because half of my wardrobe I've not worn because it was uncomfortable.
The bottom line is that I'm so glad that I did this. I'm still try to lose more weight (maybe down to 167) so I'm not at the edge of the normal range, but I'm not going to the same lengths to make that happen. I'd love to offer tips and help to anyone who wants to join me.
FYI, here's the website I used to calculate my goal weight. It looks really cheesy, but many other websites recommend this one.
http://www.halls.md/ideal-weight/body.htm
Friday, November 7 |
1 Comment
Obama Wins!
I'm sure you already know that Barack Obama will be our next president and frankly, I'm excited. I could tell you that I refrained from putting much propaganda on my website on purpose, but the truth is I plain just forgot the blog about it (silly, I know). Now that I think about it, I'm disappointed in myself for not using this medium to help communicate the message (although I did some on Facebook, and some through non-technical ways.
This election was really different for me. I paid more attention to politics more than I ever have in my life. Initially, Ron Paul was my guy, particularly for his bold stances on some of the issues, but I'm sure that's why he wasn't elected. President elects have a hard time winning if they lean too far to one side. There's some speculation that he threw in the towel on this election early to focus on the 2012 election, so I don't think we've seen the last of him.
Once it was down to two candidates, it was an easy choice for me. No offense, but I can't see how anyone could possibly vote for John McCain. Out of respect for my friends and family, I tried not to get into it too much or to push one way (if I did, my apologies, I was just a little scared to have another George Bush as our president).
I'm not a democrat or republican, and frankly I think it's stupid we even have the two parties. Look at most candidates in history, they never lean too far in either direction and the critical issues (gay rights, abortion, taxes), they almost never promise anything on either side.
So I pick my vote based on character, and Obama is full of it. Time and time again, I read stories about how he dug in and really helped out, where McCain ducked and hid. I read how he was committed to making the rest of the world not hate the United States anymore. He's an excellent speaker (his acceptance speech was uplifting) and really understands my generation so I'm ecstatic he won.
I will say McCain's concession speech blew me away and actually made me honor and respect him. People were booing Obama when he won and McCain stopped them and said "I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our good will and earnest effort to find ways to come together, to find the necessary compromises, to bridge our differences, and help restore our prosperity, defend our security in a dangerous world, and leave our children and grandchildren a stronger, better country than we inherited."
It's really difficult to be an American right now, and we won't fix things overnight, but I'm confident we have the right candidate to lay the ground work for success.
Friday, November 7 |
1 Comment
New Mobile Phones
After 2 years and some change I finally got a new mobile phone (HTC Diamond Pro) to replace the brick I've been carrying around (Sprint PPC-6700). My previous phone was a huge upgrade and I still loved it. Having access to email, the web, have made me extremely efficient. The phone size and speed was starting to get to me though and my contract expired so it was time.
I almost picked up the PPC-6800 which was the next upgrade to my old phone. It was smaller, ran Windows Mobile 6.0, and had some other programs like GPS, but what bothered me is that they put all the buttons on the opposite side. So all the shortcuts that my fingers had gotten used to would be backwards. Plus the phone was a minor upgrade and I didn't find it was worth the cost.
Then I came across the HTC Touch series and saw how beautiful the display was. Unfortunately there were no definite specs that said it would ever come to Sprint (I'm sold on that network and I'm never changing by the way). So I just held out hope. Suddenly the Touch became available to my surprise a couple months ago. Unfortunately the touch does not have a slide-out keyboard so there's no way I could use it, but I still took a look at it in the store just to get a feel for it. While I was there I asked if they would ever be getting the Pro and they said it would be available in a month which was another pleasant surprise for me. So I held out and finally picked it up the day it came out.
My initial reaction is that this phone is everything I had an more. A slick new interface, GPS, TV, RSS feeds, photos, music, video, and more. My only real complaint is the lack buttons, primarily the OK button. I got really good at being able to navigate without ever having to get the stylus out or touch the screen. I've really tweaked this phone though and have replicated those efforts as best I can. With time, I'll get even faster.
Kate picked up a new phone as well. She got the Samsung Rant M540. It's a great phone for her as it's a solid phone, and a good all around device. With its slide-out qwerty keyboard she's able to text faster. She's also got GPS, Sprint TV, and Internet access which she's really excited about.
All in all we our both happy with our new phones and it keeps amazing me what they can fit into these devices. Someday we'll be doing everything from starting our cars, or turning on the oven with our phones.
Wednesday, November 5 |
1 Comment
Summer Vacation 2008
I just got back from summer vacation and let me tell you it's not fun. The reality is setting in that we have to get back to normal life. We rented a cabin on Leech Lake in Walker, MN for the week. Brought the boat up there and did non-stop wakeboarding and other boating activities. Fortunately the weather cooperated with us so we really didn't miss out. There's not much else to say, so I'll just share the pictures.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/steinerphotos/sets/72157606783136572/
Sunday, August 17 |
0 Comments
You're 29, It's Pretty Cool
I turned 29 yesterday. Seems like a pre-milestone. I'm really starting to feel old, but strangely looking forward to turning 30.
To celebrate my birthday I went to work because I'm so backed up that I really couldn't afford to take the day off. I'm working remotely on Friday though and might cash in my chips then.
Last night I had my family over for dinner. Typically we go out to eat somewhere, but I just wanted to chill at home. Watched the movie "Meet Bill" and loved it despite all the negative reviews.
For gifts I got all Best Buy gift certicates and cash (thank you) which is just fine by me. I'm itching for a Blu-Ray player and/or Rock Band 2 was just announced so the money will be spent quickly.
This weekend I'll be wakeboarding if the weather nice, but the forecast doesn't look good. I'm heading up to Dave and Buster's Friday night, which is place I haven't been and have been meaning to go, so that will be fun. Mostly I'm looking to just get caught up both at work and home.
It's amazing how a few badly timed coincidences and really mess things up.
