ten-pound weights

reason #21: so my flabby arms will be replaced by strong, muscular … guns.

so i officially started this new, “escalated” workout regiment today, given to me by a friend from church. remember when i said i wanted to start lifting weights? well i finally got around to that. he helped me work out a six-day plan that involves working my chest, shoulders and abs.

here’s the rundown:

warm-up - 20 minutes of cardio or until you get to 3x your heart rate. he suggested simply dancing in place, moving about with free weights. today i replaced it with about 30-40 minutes of running.

day 1 - arms & shoulders: biceps curls and upright dumbell rows.

day 2 - chest: dumbell chest press, flys and pushups.

dat 3 - squats and twists.

every other day - crunches.

for all the exercises, i’m to do 30 reps times 3 sets. i’m using ten-pound dumbells.

repeat twice, then rest for one day.

six weeks, he says, before i start seeing results.

so there you have it. i never really liked strength exercises because it hurt and they required a lot of patience, so hopefully i’ll stick to this plan long enough till it becomes a habit.

i leave you now with two quotes. the first one i probably picked up somewhere but don’t remember, so i’ll quote as my own:

strength is not achieved by making everyone else look weaker than you.
strength is achieved by lifting everyone else up.

and last is a quote from the legendary ron burgundy:

Oh, it’s the deep burn! Oh, it’s so deep! Oh, I can barely lift my right arm ’cause I did so many. I don’t know if you heard me counting, I did over a thousand. You have your ubulus muscle which connects to the upper dorcinus. It’s boring, but it’s a part of my life.

my reasons so far

reason #1: because i’m 25 and i want to be alive.

reason #2 … to get rid of my droopy double chin

reason #3: so i can fit in my awesome pants again. to quote steve carrell, “i enjoy a good pair of slacks.”

reason #4 … so i can be more energetic on stage.

reason #5 … so i’d snore less.

reason #6 … so my fingers don’t feel like they’re mashing up on my guitar.

reason #7 … so i can have a more active lifestyle.

reason #8 … cos every time i look at the scale and see a lesser number, it feels like awesome.

reason #9 … so i can run a 5k one day.

reason #10 … cos i have chubby hands. i don’t want chubby hands anymore.

reason #11 … windsurfing.

reason #12 … cos body fat is jiggly. i don’t want to be jiggly anymore.

reason #13 … cos being active fights off depression

reason #14 … because i want to be a success story.

reason #15 so i’d feel lighter.

reason #16 … so i wouldn’t look like moby dick (pictured above) anymore.

reason #17 = cos i’ve never lost THIS much weight before.

reason #18 = queen latifah is hot, and she lost 5% of her body weight and is now a “size healthier.” i’m doing this for her.

reason #19. from size 44 to size 36.

reason #20. because i want to go into a clothes store and buy anything i want instead of scrounging through the XXL areas. scratch that. XL now :D.

Progress Report

I haven’t written in a while, so today’s entry is extra special. The down time since my last post has given me a chance to really reflect on what’s been going on so far. To really be thankful to God for my progress, and to change how I look at my own life in the process.

So what’s happened since my last post? Well, small victories are now adding up.

First off, the numbers. Today’s weigh-in is at 256.8. That’s a BMI of 35.8. I’m almost at 35 pounds!

Last night I was looking through my old journal, and I found an entry dated April 2003 that said I weighed 260 lbs at that time (In the entry, I was lamenting over it). Knowing that I’ve finally reached the weight I was five years ago made me feel … well, it’s a mix. The thought in the back of my head was Man, I did let myself go. But then I also thought: Wow, it took me three months to get to where I was FIVE years ago.

I dropped a pant size. I thought it was great fitting nicely into my size 44s again, and having my belt-notch go from three to four. But soon enough, the pants started feeling baggy. So I went to Target last week and bought a pair of Levi’s size 42s. I wore them all weekend. I can’t remember the last time I wore 42s, although I do remember hating myself the first time I had bought my 44s. So knowing that, soon enough, my old sizes will be headed to the thrift store, gives me some satisfaction.

I’ve been snoring way less. That’s right! I’ve been so concerned about my snoring, and it’s finally being remedied. There are times when I fell asleep on my friends and I asked them “Dude, did I sleep?” and they’d go “Yes” and then I’d go “Did I snore?” and they’d go “No” or “little.” It’s such a great feeling!

I’ve been running! So I finally graduated from coolrunning.com’s “couch to 5k” program, and I’m proud to say I can run for at least half an hour! All my life, even during my previous attempts to lose weight, I could never run for half an hour straight. I’d make 20 minutes, tops. I’ve been doing this consistently for about two weeks now, so I know it’s not a mere fluke. In fact, I’m now trying to run for longer!

I’m motivating others now! I’ve been told by three separate people that I’m motivating them to lose weight. The funny thing is that one of them was my “trainer” back when I started this! This is such a new thing for me. I’ve never gotten this much positive feedback and honest congratulations from so many people in my life, and I really do feel that I don’t deserve it. I mean, come on, I let myself go, and I just got tired of letting myself go. But I do like it, knowing that I’m helping other people set goals for their life and try to reach it.

So here’s my next set of goals.

Start lifting weights. It’s the one thing I’ve really neglected, although I know it’s really important. I’m just really not interested in the whole “bulking up” thing because I’ve been big forever.

Really get back to eating healthy. Yes, I have been losing weight, but my diet’s been erratic lately. It’s the whole “well, I’ve been working out, so I can eat more” mentality that I need to work on.

Visit a doctor. I haven’t seen one since I started, so I think it’s best that I consult one to see what else I need to work on.

Run a 5k in October. Yup! I want to run the Long Beach 5k. Anyone down to join me?

Once again, thanks to all of you who have been praying and supporting me, and to those who’ve been reading this blog. I’ve still got quite a way to go, but God, does it feel good to know I’m headed somewhere.

three years ago …

three years ago, i had a desire to lose weight, and i did. after about two months, i took the above photo. i’m guessing i lost about 10-15 lbs that time.

for reasons that elude me, i gave up. i let myself go, and over the next three years, not only gained the weight back, but added ten more.

today, at 265.4, i’m so glad i’ve finally caught up with that photo.

twenty-five!

reason #20. because i want to go into a clothes store and buy anything i want instead of scrounging through the XXL areas. scratch that. XL now :D.

i know, i know. i haven’t written in about two weeks.

today i weighed myself after my run, and i finally hit the 25 pound mark.

265.8!!! Woo hoo!!!

That’s not all. Two years ago I bought a pair of really nice Dockers’ khakis. I’ve never worn them because they never fit me (two years ago I promised myself I’d fit into them) but I’ve held onto them. As a matter of fact, I’ve been saving all my good pants (the ones I couldn’t fit into anymore) because I knew I’d fit into them one day.

Today I fit into all of them.

Hooray!

As for what I’ve been doing since my last post? I’ve been running a lot now. I’m on week 4 of coolrunning’s couch-to-5k plan. I should be on week 5 but I decided to double up this week. No worries.

It’s been harder to lose these latest five pounds because I was eating a lot. I have been working out, but my eating during the last few weeks has delayed my weight loss.

So yeah, almost at the 30-lb mark!

P.S. This is also my 25th post. oh joy!

heaven is a seven-foot length of elastic rope

reason #19. from size 44 to size 36.

so i bought a jump rope at wal-mart last night. five bucks. apparently it’s a “3-in-1″ jump rope as opposed to the other brands’ 2-in-1 ropes. for the life of me i couldn’t tell what was so “3-in-1″ about it. i’m guessing the 3 consists of 2 handles and a rope, but then that would be simply selling the obvious, right?

i couldn’t try it in my apartment cos the ceiling’s way too low i didn’t want to have scrape marks on the ceiling, let alone make some unnecessary noise to disturb the people upstairs. (Lord knows THEY’RE the ones who do all the bothering, what with the squeaking and moving stuff around). so i found a little spot on the outside of my apartment next to the laundry room, in a spot where not many people would care to look (unless they really try, and, even if they did look, how UNbored would they be watching a dude do jump rope?)

anyway, the first few tries were, naturally, pathetic. if you’re into whips and stuff (i don’t know how someone can be, but if you are), maybe you should try this exercise. every other misfire resulted in the rope hitting my arm or leg or back of my neck.

according to the gold’s gym chart that came with the rope, the exercise i was doing is called a double bounce, which basically meant i was on my toes the whole time. at first i couldn’t make it past three, then i couldn’t make it past seven. soon enough, though, progress. i shot for ten. i made ten. i shot for twenty. a dozen misfires later, i hit twenty. i tried another twenty. a dozen misfires after that, i got twenty. with that same attempt, i shot for more. thirty. i tried for forty.

thirty-seven.

that’s today’s record. not bad for a first day. i tried for another lucky twenty, but i couldn’t make it past seven. all this time, my heart was pumping and i was sweating massiv. i managed to do about thirty minutes’ worth today. plus it was a lot of fun. great cardio.

so, in conclusion, jump rope = RULES.

you’re doing this for nobody but yourself

it’s friday again.

as i stepped off my weighing scale i had a singular thought pertaining to the weekend:

“do not treat cheat day as independence day”

what i mean to say is, don’t make the weekend license to ruin all the hard work you’ve done over the week. sure, you can eat whatever you want, but don’t go bordering on anarchistic gluttony because, well, it’s simply harder to work it off in the end.

cheat day is your chance to take a break from all that effort you put in, to have that cup of ice cream so that you don’t hate yourself for not eating the ice cream. but always keep in mind your vision, your weight goal, before you pick up that cup of delicious, sweet, sugary dairy product. remember, i said “cup” of ice cream. not cold stone “gotta have it” size.

also, don’t call it your “reward” day. i think it’s an unspoken rule for us recovering fatties: don’t make food a reward.

still, if you wanna go smorgasbord on your behind, go right on ahead. just don’t start blaming people and feeling discouraged when that scale says “welcome back, dumbo.”

i’ve probably said that before. but i guess what i’m really trying to do is to get at the heart of the matter.

see, these rules i’ve set up about eating right and exercising, of changing how i live to a supremely healthier lifestyle, no one else can enforce them but me. sure, i can have trainers barking into my ears and all, but it’s still me who chooses to listen to them. it’s still me who chooses to heed their advice, and the advice of my doctors.

and if i myself have no motivation, no vision that i want to attain, no lighthouse to point my ship to, no … (okay, i’ll curb my metaphors), well, these rules / guidelines / road marks are meaningless.

also, your motivation’s got to be about yourself. you can’t do this to impress a girl (i’ve done that), or to try and show up to your ten-year high school reunion like a stud (i almost did that) … you’ll be setting up  unrealistic expectations for yourself.

so i guess what i’m trying to say is, to a certain extent, you really do have to learn to love yourself. not get self-absorbed or egotistical. i mean, appreciate that your life is worth living, that you mean something, that you’re not living someone else’s existence but your own, that you have your own vision. otherwise, you’ll spend more time thinking about what you can get away with instead of what i can do to better yourself.

now what good will that do?

gosh i’m sounding like that skinny texas preacher.

by the way, i just cleared the 270s.

269! huzzah!

finally, back on track

reason #17 = cos i’ve never lost THIS much weight before.

reason #18 = queen latifah is hot, and she lost 5% of her body weight and is now a “size healthier.” i’m doing this for her.

so i finally lost all the weight i had gained over the weekend. it took me four days to do it. man, that’s actually a lot of work. last friday’s weigh-in was 270.6

my most immediate goal is to hit 260. that’s 30 lbs below my starting number, and 10% my total body weight.

as i’ve stated in my reasons, i’ve never had this much success losing weight. i know i’ve got a long way to go, but knowing that with each day i do this i get some sort of result, that i’ve made huge progress, that i’m not the same person i was a month ago, that it will be worth it in the end … THAT keeps me going through the nights i question the futility of it all, THAT makes the first thought in my head when i get out of bed “you should run, it’s good for you,” THAT helps me control my eating even though that tub of ice cream in the church freezer is calling out my name and all they have is soda to drink.

besides, “you can do it” is good, but “well, you did it yesterday, so get to it” sounds even better.

setbacks … a rebuttal.

i own one leather belt.

every time i’ve used it, i’ve closed it at the second notch from the end. the hole is battered, resembling, say, a really bad heroin puncture.

today i closed it on the fourth.

take that, monday’s weigh-in.

setbacks / wow / numbers part 2

there are two things i’d like to come clean about.

1. i peeked. i weighed myself last friday. i couldn’t help it. anyway, the number that scale displayed was nothing short of: wow.

2. i cheated. i ate waaaaaaay too much over the weekend, comparable to the days before this little project started. so come monday, the number on that scale is … wow.

anyway, i’m not going to punish and hate myself. i guess i just have to pick myself up and get back on track. anyway, i learned quite a bit about how my own body reacts to food (the answer: really, really quickly).

today the scale’s at 274.8. that’s 16.2 lbs lost, or 5% of my total body weight. that’s still progress. but it really would have been cool if i recorded friday’s number here. that’s alright.

move along.