It's been a minute or two since I last posted here.

Back in September 2020, I decided that I needed to get into gear and be better about my health. The short of it is that by September 2nd, 2021, I had dropped down to about 187 pounds and was sitting below 24% body fat, meeting two of my three major goals; the lowest I'd seen on the scale was about 183, just a hair over my third goal of reaching 180.

On October 30th, 2021, we moved into a house on an acreage about an hour from where we had been living, also 45 miles and roughly 50-60 minutes from my job. There were lots of things to do in getting packed up to move, getting the old house ready to sell, and getting unpacked in our new place, so it was understandable that I'd miss a lot of my regular exercising, but I was able to do a bit of walking on the treadmill and some band/bodyweight exercises for a month or two, though I'd been letting my nutrition slip.

January 2022 hit me hard mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, and I definitely dealt with some depression. Part of it stemmed from having to adjust my drive times, and at that time of the year this meant leaving for work in the dark and getting home in the dark. Part of it was feeling overwhelmed with the various fix-it projects I could see around the property. Part of it was just the general upheaval I was experiencing; in almost every move I've made during my life, I have lost contact with virtually all of my connections, and the two years leading up to this particular move I didn't have many connections built in the first place. I talked with a counselor a few times once I got on to working 10 1/2-hour shifts (which left my Mondays free for appointments), but being gone from 6 AM - 6:30 PM to handle my 7-5:30 schedule was too much.

Pretty much all of 2022 I did no regular exercise. I snacked a lot more, and wasn't watching my portions or the makeup of my food. I was not happy with the negative changes happening in my body, but finally over New Year's weekend I made the conscious choice to actually get up and do something about it.

January 4th, 2023, I weighed in at 212.6 and my body fat was hovering around 30% again. I had used the treadmill a few times in December, but that gave up the ghost, so I decided that I would need to walk outside. And hey, if I'm going to be doing that, I might as well kick into the C25K program again, right? As I write this, tomorrow will be my last day of Week 6, and while I'm not fast (though I never really was), my endurance is coming back, which is great because the gravel roads I run/walk on are a lot hillier than the sidewalks I was using in Des Moines in 2020.

The second week of January I also pulled out the resistance bands, starting up the 6-month routine from Theology Geek Fitness that I'd started in January 2021. I'm now halfway through the first week of Month 2 and am pleased to see that, even with the yearlong absence of regular strength training, I have made some gains in my abilities, somewhat assisted by adding some different bands to my supplies in the last few weeks.

This morning, I weighed 201 with a bodyfat of 25.9% (however accurate my bathroom scale is on that front). I'm in a mode for more rapid weight loss and fat burning, so I'm trying to hit at least 10,000 steps/day, get resistance training 4-5 days/week, and consume approximately 1,500 calories. I'm planning to follow this general scheme for another 2-5 months, depending on how my progress goes. I'm hoping to get below 18% body fat as a minimum goal, wouldn't mind dipping to 14-15% before I work on bulking.

I don't mind weighing 201, honestly, but the body composition isn't where I want it. Running the numbers, if I were to stay 201 but get down to 14% body fat, I would have to eliminate basically 23 pounds of fat and put on 23 pounds of muscle. I have my doubts about being able to put in the amount of work needed for that type of transformation. Whereas weighing 185 with 14% body fat, I would need to burn 26 pounds of fat and put on only 10 pounds of muscle.

This all has to be held in balance, of course. If I neglect my family, job, church, or other obligations in order to achieve these goals, they're not worth achieving. But having something on the table is incentive for me to at least keep working at it.

November in December...

 It has been an amazing past several weeks, weather-wise, and I feel like I've managed to get quite a bit out of the outdoors. Thanksgiving Day I realized I couldn't smell anything so I ended up getting an impromptu 6 days off of work to go along with my positive COVID diagnosis. I was blessed by not having any other symptoms, so I was able to accomplish quite a bit in general: a walk or run every day, organizing my basement (and getting rid of a good deal of trash to boot!), finishing the assembly of my workbench in my shop.

A day or two before Thanksgiving I ordered a Garmin Forerunner 45S, and it arrived the Thursday after Thanksgiving. I can already say it's been a great addition to my workout routine! I'm about halfway through a 10K training program and it's been phenomenal to have tons of data beyond "you went this distance in that amount of time". I was able to obtain this device at a significant discount through a friend, but I would gladly have paid the full $200 price tag.

This morning was probably the first major hurdle in my daily workout routine. It rained pretty much all day yesterday and turned to snow overnight; by the time I woke a little after 4, there were at least 3 inches of snow on the ground. I went out to give my walk a shot, but with no sidewalks cleared and my shoes letting snow in, I only made it about a half mile from home before I decided to turn around. I needed to get some clearing done in my driveway anyway, so I was able to tackle that and still have plenty of time to enjoy my coffee before leaving for work. I'm hoping things are cleared off enough for my run tomorrow morning, but if I have to put that off a day or two I guess that's just life.

I'm thinking I will have to invest in a new pair of running shoes soon. Parts of the soles on my current pair had separated, although I was able to use a combination of super glue and Gorilla glue to hold them together. And then there are the holes over my toes where the snow was getting in this morning. The loop near my house that I use is between 4 1/4 and 4 1/2 miles, and I've managed that almost every day for several weeks now; I think it's safe to say I've walked or run over 150 miles in the last 5-6 weeks, and these shoes saw a lot of use 5-7 years ago before I pretty much put them away.

As of two days ago I finally dropped below 200 pounds. Except for a brief time in 2003 due to some depression issues, I haven't been this light since my freshman year of college in 2000. I was thinking about that year yesterday, remembering how I had to do a food-logging exercise for a couple of days for health class. I thought it was so funny that I decided to take those days to eat an entire roll of Pillsbury cookie dough. Maybe not as bad as the drinking binge my high school anatomy teacher told us about from when he did a similar exercise in college, but still, pretty disgusting when I think about it.

Sorry, this post is a bit stream-of-consciousness, but I hope you found it entertaining.

Have a little fun!

Part of this journey towards better health is remembering to find enjoyment in life. It's a lesson I have to remember at least once a week because I am one who can get hyper-focused on one aspect of what I'm doing to the exclusion of good and even more important things.

Yesterday, for example, was an opportunity to put this into practice. My kids are working on world geography for school this year, and the last two weeks they have been learning about Brazil. The curriculum we are using (My Father's World) recommends a country party at the end of each unit, which includes foods from the country just studied. We made all of our food for the units on the United States, Canada, and Mexico, but for Brazil we decided to order from Brazil Terra Grill.

And it was A - MA - ZING.

Now, I could have been militant about counting calories (in which case I wouldn't have eaten anything from the restaurant because I didn't have that information), or I could enjoy the blessing of a unique experience we were having as a family. Did I go crazy with what I ate? No. We only ate about half of what we ordered (so I could have probably saved $15 on the meal), and I'm not planning to eat much of the leftovers, if any, but I was able to tell myself it's okay to have a treat now and then.

Sure, my weight went up a little when I weighed myself this morning, although it was still less than it was even two days ago, so I think it's a win all around. And I don't have to punish myself over it by being extra restrictive with my calories today, either; it's just back to my normal routine.

I hope anyone considering making changes to their lifestyle will keep this in mind. Look at your long-term goals and successes and don't focus on the short-term ups and downs.

Keep on keepin' on...

Persistence is key to achieving success, and I'm starting to see some solid results. I've almost finished my second week of the C25K program and am hopeful that the weather will allow me to get all the way through by the end of November. Super cool! I'm managing to get close to 10,000 steps most days. Today I took advantage of being at work 30 minutes early by getting in a 25-minute walk before my shift started and another 15 during my morning break. I don't want to overdo anything, but at the same time I wouldn't mind my full hour-long, 4-mile trek around my neighborhood. Tonight, though, with an appointment for me and a class for my wife, I will be content with even doing a few laps around my backyard.

I'm also down to 227.8 pounds, and my pants are getting quite loose at the waist. Not enough to fall off, but enough that I have to cinch my belt pretty good to keep my shirt appropriately tucked in. Another 10 pounds and I might have to seriously consider some new pants. Nothing too crazy, I don't really feel like replacing my wardrobe multiple times if I can at all help it. I've also noticed that my neck has slimmed down, which I expected as that's where my weight loss has been most visible during the early stages of the process when I've done this before.

This week I added dumbbells to my morning routine and so far that's going well, too. The soreness is real, and it'll probably take another week or two to get over that. I might need to tweak the order in which I work the major muscle groups, too. Still a lot of experimentation going on.

My wife took pictures of me last week, I haven't even looked at them yet. I'll probably have her take new ones in 2-3 weeks and then maybe I'll put up a comparison post.

I'm enjoying how much better I feel overall so far and I have real hopes about making some lasting changes in my life. I hope you can find your inspiration and do the same!

Progress update

Hey all, thought I would share a bit of an update.

So I started with Noom on 9/23/2020. I shared a bit how it works, looking at the mindset behind how/why/when a person eats. And, of course, there's the calorie counting and exercise tracking. In terms of actual weight loss, the app asks for a daily weigh-in, and with 9 weigh-ins recorded, I have not yet had an upward spike, which is pretty cool. I started at 238.8 on 9/23 and this morning clocked in at 229.6, which is a lost of 9.2 pounds in 9 days. It's interesting that despite the reduced calories and increased exercise, I have not really felt abnormally hungry, just what I would consider a healthy "Hey, lunch is in 15 minutes" little rumble; I'm not sitting here 2 hours before my next meal in agony over not having something to eat.

I was inspired by Jonathan Pritchett, cohost of the Trinity Radio podcast (Trinity Radio in iTunes, or on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzBRc0afgrS-PCrm6nka1_A) and contributor to the new Theology Geek Fitness YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3He2-tSeKpL0xv1CCduC2g). He lost 60 pounds in 6 months in 2019 and was highly regimented in his exercise and nutrition routines. While I have not gone as extreme as he did (he was consuming 1500 calories/day but also spending what I figure was an hour at the gym for weights five days/week and walking 6-8 miles seven days/week), I can see that a no-nonsense, don't-have-to-think-about-it approach to meals in particular is something that should work well for me. Except for dinners, which my wife usually makes, I have more or less eaten the same thing at the same time every day since Thursday, 9/24. And right now my body is loving it.

Today marks the end of a seven-day stretch at work for me (I rotate weekends, working about one a month; when I work a weekend, I get the Thursday before and the Friday after off), so with a three-day weekend ahead of me that will hopefully include time for some reflection on how I will proceed, I am planning to treat myself a little bit. Not crazy, but I'm looking forward to a buffalo wing substitute recipe I found: take a bunch of cauliflower florets, shake them up with some buffalo sauce, and bake at 400 degrees for 38 minutes. I should also have time to do a bit more grocery shopping. I've been having a banana at my morning break (about 10 AM) and an apple at my afternoon break (about 2:30 PM), and I'm thinking to switch one of those to some baby carrots and hummus on occasion. Again, simple changes.

I believe I am prepared for the eventual stalling out that is inevitable, although we will see when it hits. And there will be times when calorie counting will not be possible or my counts will exceed my daily allowance. I'm not super concerned about that as long as it doesn't become a habit, nor do I have plans to punish myself the following day. It's nice to have a feeling of freedom. Tuesday night I was at a class at my church, and the refreshments during the break included Papa John's pizza. I had enough calories in the bank to cover two pieces, but I only felt like I wanted one, so that's all I had, and I ate it without feeling guilty. While I enjoyed going through the Whole 30 several times in the past (heck, my family still eats several of those meals on a regular basis), the feeling of missing out is real and can be a serious struggle, even if you only follow such a strict protocol for 30 days (and I was initially considering doing it from now until the end of the year).

For my exercising, I have so far only been walking and using the C25K running app. My plan is to do C25K M/W/F until it's too cold to do it outside (I won't do it on the treadmill again after my back flare-up in 2014), and walk for an hour, either outdoors or on the treadmill, Th/Sat/Sun, with Tuesday being a cardio rest day since Tuesday afternoons and evenings are totally filled for the next several weeks. I am going to add my dumbbell exercises M-F mornings before I go to work starting 10/5, which will mean exercising some new self-discipline (in bed, lights off, phone off, no later than 10 PM, ideally by 9:30, and waking by 4:30 AM).

I'm still in what Noom calls the Honeymoon Phase of this journey, yet it is very exciting. I think this is the first time I've looked at weight loss and overall health with a fully positive attitude.

Here we are again...

Hello all,

I'm not sure if anyone still sees this blog, but I was pleasantly surprised to see it still exists. No need to delete free resources, I guess.

I honestly don't know how much I will maintain this blog as life keeps me rather busy, but I thought I would share a bit of an update. Since I last wrote, I've had one more semi-major event with the discs in my back and a couple of minor ones, but I've seen some dramatic improvement and maintenance after finding the right chiropractor.

Dr. Lance Kellow of Authentic Spinal Care in Urbandale, IA, is a NUCCA (National Upper Cervical Chiropractic Association) practitioner. The whole process fascinates me. He has a device with what I am calling calipers for lack of a better term that measure how sideways and twisted a body is, and there is a scale under each foot to measure weight distribution. Then he takes several x-rays of the back and neck and determines how the spine is off-kilter from a healthy spine. There is a lot of geometry and trigonometry involved, and using those measurements he can determine how to adjust the Atlas in the cervical spine (vertebrae C1, the one holding your skull). I started seeing Dr. Kellow in August 2015 and am doing well with appointments every 4-5 weeks. I need to be better about stretches and strengthening exercises to hold my adjustments, but I would say it's almost miraculous how I can walk in with a super tight low back, some twisting in my pelvis, and my torso leaning way forward, and after 10-15 minutes be more or less straight up and down with no twist and standing back on my heels. A major principle behind what he does is getting the head to sit in the appropriate position, which the spine then adjusts to accommodate.

I've gone up and down some with my weight, maxing out around 250 and generally holding steady around 240. I've had momentary dips to 235, but nothing really below that for several years. Not that I place a great deal of stock in the body fat calculator on my bathroom scale, but that has also stayed at roughly 40%.

It really hit me during my vacation earlier this month, and I've thought for years that I wanted my 40s to be better than my 30s in numerous ways (not just physical health, but that's definitely a component). I'll be 40 on August 16th, which is now 46 weeks away. I've decided to follow through on what I am calling my 40 by 40 Initiative. At the bare minimum, I want to drop my weight by 40 pounds to an even 200 (although I'm shooting for between 170 and 190, depending on fat loss and muscle gains). A secondary goal is to decrease my body fat percentage by a minimum of 40% (which works out to carrying a max of 24% body fat, although I want to get that closer to 15%).

To help me on my journey, and at the recommendation of a few friends, I'm trying out the Noom app. I have used it for 5 full days and so far I am really enjoying it. The app is designed to use psychology to help you understand things like triggers for unhealthy eating and replacing bad habits with good habits. There is a food logging component, which usually takes me about 10 minutes/day (no more than 15), and that has been eye-opening. Last Wednesday, my first day using the app, I logged my breakfast and lunch before I left home and was shocked by the calorie load my intended lunch was carrying. Just based on that initial assessment, I'd say I was easily consuming a minimum of 2700 calories/day, and likely exceeding 3000 on a regular basis; the fact that I had been staying fairly steady at 240 pounds was even more astonishing. I've got my daily calorie goal set at about 1800, so I've definitely had to reevaluate what and how I'm eating.

When it comes to nutrition, Noom is looking at calorie density. An example that came up multiple times the first couple of days was a comparison between grapes and raisins. Raisins are more calorie-dense than grapes and are less filling/satisfying, so they are classified as a Red food; grapes are a Green food because they are not very calorie-dense. Then there is an in-between category, Yellow foods. Don't let the color scheme throw you, this is not to say that a Red food is to be avoided at all costs, but you will want to moderate your consumption. I don't know if this will change, but right now my recommendation is to take my calorie allotment and get roughly 30% from Green foods, 45% from Yellow, and 25% from Red. I've found it immensely satisfying to bring a huge salad to work for lunch (2 1/2 cups salad greens, 1/4 of an onion, 1/4 - 1/2 each of bell pepper and cucumber, 2 Roma tomatoes, a celery stalk, a couple tablespoons balsamic vinegar, a little salt and pepper, and a can of tuna or a few slices of lunch meat; I might add in a boiled egg if I take the time to boil some up).

Noom has a pedometer included, and you can track other exercises somewhat subjectively (i.e., weight lifting for x number of minutes at Low, Medium, or High intensity). In order to maintain a calorie deficit, the app only adds half as many calories as you've burned to your daily allotment. If you burn 250 calories during your workout, you are given 125 to eat.

The app comes with a two-week trial that you can request be free (although they give you the opportunity to pay something to defray their costs), and the 8-month subscription is listed at $179, so that is something for you to consider if you think you might want to go this route. From what some have told me, I might be able to cancel my subscription by the end of the first 8 months and use a free app like My Fitness Pal; I would just have to carry over the lessons about calorie density and my triggers for poor eating habits.

We bought a treadmill in April and I got started at a pretty good clip right away, I think I used it every day for a solid 3-4 weeks. That was good, because I had taken a new position at work in March, a position that has me sitting down a lot more and includes an office where I can eat at my desk, so snacking and lack of movement contributed to about 10 pounds in weight gain. Stopping my snacking and hitting the treadmill daily reversed that, thankfully. Now that the weather is cooling off (rather quickly, at that), I have taken to walks outdoors. I'm looking to start the C25K running program again and see how far I get into it before it's too cold for me to exercise outside; then it'll be the treadmill through the winter until it warms up again. On the non-jogging days I would plan to still walk for 3-4 miles.

I'm also getting setup in my house for some dumbbell training. I have a set of Bowflex Select Tech weights, adjustable from 5 to 52.5 pounds, and while the P90X program itself is probably too intense for my back, it provides numerous exercises that I can do at my own pace. My goal is to get up at 4:30 each morning (probably Monday-Friday) to do my weight and ab routine, and walk in the afternoons 7 days/week. I'd love more space in my house for a more involved home gym, but I'll make do with what I have. I could always move weights to the garage if I felt it necessary; extra incentive to get it done early in the summer (before it gets too hot) and get it done quickly in the winter (so I don't freeze).

I expect things will slow down a bit here, but I've had some early success, losing about 5 1/2 pounds since my first weigh-in last Wednesday. My wife and I are working out the details for meal prep and leftovers, and I'm trying to remind myself that the occasional overage in daily calories isn't the end of the world. It's still too early in the process for me to feel comfortable having ice cream, chips, or other such snacks because I like those things SO much, and I'd really like to get a solid month under my belt (and hopefully another 5 pounds lost) before I give myself that break, but it's nice to know that this sort of readjustment in thinking is meant to allow the occasional treat.

I'm looking forward to seeing how this works and being able to share it with anyone taking the time to read this.

A long-awaited update...

Hello, friends.

Yes, it has been quite some time since I've posted here. And, unfortunately, I have some bad news.

I don't know exactly how I did it, but I have a herniated disc...again. This is the third time since January of 2012 (actually, that first time, it probably happened in November of 2011, but the symptoms didn't keep me away from work or become horrendously painful until January of 2012).

One frustration is that this third experience has come at a shorter interval. I've suffered from back problems since I was in high school (and looking back, I would tend to believe that my past problems have also been due to my disc herniating), and both the frequency and intensity have increased with the passing of the years. This puts me into a position of feeling less than optimistic about the future.

My hope is to see my family doctor today or Thursday (I have to call in at 8 AM to see if there is space for me). I haven't seen him since last year, probably in March, when my last herniation resolved. However, it was at the suggestion of my chiropractor that I ask for a steroid prescription. Two times now that has been the only thing to get me over the hump of pain and on the road to recovery, so it is my hope that the doctor will be willing to prescribe the medication again, even though I know it's terrible for the liver, especially long-term.

Flexibility and weight have been two of my major issues for years, so my goals after getting back on my feet are to increase my flexibility through regular stretching and exercise (and possibly physical therapy) and to start seriously dropping the pounds. If you look back to my series about eating on the Whole 30 meal plan, I lost a considerable amount of weight in short order simply by altering my diet. Now, unfortunately, I'm in the position of needing to drop 55-65 pounds. I'm going to be back on the Whole 30 plan starting Monday (need time to organize and get food), but rather than doing it for 30 days, I'm going to have to stick with it at least through the end of August.

I have heard good things about the Trim Healthy Mama way of eating, and it is a style of eating that I would consider transitioning into if I can get my head fully wrapped around the types of meals, what goes with each type, when to eat them, and how to space the different meals when switching.

Otherwise, I am thinking more of a paleo style of eating (even though I do not ascribe to the overall premise)...really, eliminating processed foods and added sugars is the order of the day. I have done well with short-term elimination of these things in the past, but for the good of my body, it's going to have to be an almost permanent elimination, with just a little wiggle room for special occasions (this will make date nights interesting, because I know I'm programmed for the "dinner and a movie" type dates).

For accountability purposes, I am going to start blogging about my food again. I might not post every day, but I will give a complete reckoning of what I've consumed, and may even include pictures.

Here's to living a healthier life! We all can do better, and I hope to do my part in leading the way.