Monday, June 27, 2011

Today's lunch

Here's part of what I had for lunch today:


It's The World's Best Veggie Burger from Local Burger in Lawrence, Kansas. I've known about these for quite a long time but it was only last week that I finally had one. I'm kicking myself for not having one sooner. If you toast it or cook it in a skillet with a little oil, their veggie burger gets a really nice crust and has a great crunch when you bite into it. Of the 3 I've eaten so far, I've eaten them plain. I like them on their own.
I'm not compensated for my opinions on things like this. I just thought it's worth writing about so people can read about the types of things I eat that has helped me lose over 100 pounds.

Friday, June 24, 2011

How I roll

So for the past 2 or 3 weeks off and on and everyday this week, I've been riding my bike to work. Since Memorial Day when a friend asked me to go for a ride, I've become hooked on riding as much as I can. The only thing that has stopped me from riding so far has been the weather. A few times it's been raining and a few times, it's been just too hot that I'd be sweating too much at work. And it's not the heat in the mornings as much as it is when I ride back to work after lunch.

Here's how I roll:

I've got my XL-sized helmet, sunglasses with a rearview mirror attached on the left side, my cinch sport bag containing all of the stuff I'd normally carry in my pockets, red bicycle gloves so that it's easier for drivers to see when I'm signaling and then a couple head or hair bands that belong to my wife that keep my pants from getting dirty from the chain and the bike itself. It's really quite a sight.

I love, love, love riding and now I have a new goal of doing the BAK. My dad had tried to get me to take part in it for years but I never felt like doing it. But now it's something I really want to do. Unfortunately my current ride won't work very well on long rides so my dream bicycle is the Surly Long Haul Trucker.

I can't wait to get back on and ride. Riding is so liberating and makes me feel young while I'm smiling along the way.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Get Fit Wamego - Final Screening

Check out these numbers from my final screening this morning.


Almost everything is in the healthy range. Still need to work on HDL and BMI but at least those numbers changed in the directions they needed to. Look at my trigylcerides from this morning compared to April 2010. That's a huge difference. And I've lost 23 pounds in just over 2 1/2 months.

I'm pretty excited an proud of this. There's still quite a bit I can do to be even healthier but what I'm doing now is working.

I hope to see more of you take part in Get Fit Wamego next year. It's a great program.

Thank you everyone for all of your support on my journey. Not only have I changed physically but it's been huge boost mentally as well with all of your well wishes and motivation.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

I can wear white

And I don't look terrible. My wife went on a little shopping spree on my behalf. Thanks, babe.


Check this one out too.


I'm also down to wearing size 38 pants. Crazy!



Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Swimming in my jeans

Take a look at me in my old pair of jeans. I used to wear them all of the time because they were comfortable and loose fitting. I didn't realize how big they were until I put them on a few days ago. The jeans themselves are really heavy.
I've been able to get rid of so much stuff in my closet and drawers. Part of me is worried about getting rid of it because what if I gain the weight back but I'm only looking forward and I know what I need to do to keep having success on this journey. And these pictures are a good reminder of that.

Thinned out the closet some more

Got rid of more shirts, some jeans, dress pants and cargo shorts. Found one pair that was size 48. Today, size 40 is a little loose. I also found a shirt that I wore only once for a wedding almost 2 years ago. It was a light cream color and I hated wearing it because white is not the most flattering color for a large person. 

Here's the before picture:

And the after:


I'll have another post of my old pair of jeans that I used to wear all of the time.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Today's 5k in Marysville

Ran in the Marysville Rib Run this morning. Felt a whole heck of a lot better today than I did running my last 5k. I didn't have any cramping or tightening up this time around. I wasn't sure how I would do today because again, I didn't run at all since then either. I have started riding my bike to work in the last week. I'll write more about that in another post soon.

My time today was 29:00, unofficially. 9 seconds slower than my fastest time. The route was a challenging one but I still enjoyed it a lot. It was the first year for this particular race and going on at the same time was a BBQ competition. Didn't stick around long enough for that though.

I did medal and placed 3rd in my age group. I was pretty surprised by that. I'm pretty sure there were more than 3 guys in my age group. For as much as I enjoy running in races, I should run a whole lot more in between them so that I can do even better.

Race playlist:

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Diet vs Diet

People have been asking me if I'm still dieting or on a diet. The definition of diet that I've been using is different than what everyone is asking me.

The most well-known definition of diet is eating food to lose or control weight as well as nutrient intake.

My definition of diet is the sum of the food consumed or the food I eat on a daily basis.

The way I see it and what I strive to do can be found on the cover of Michael Pollan's book, In Defense of Food:


Look at the ribbon on that head of lettuce: "Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants." It's that simple. Now I don't always succeed at that but I'm at least aware of it at all times. Having fruits and vegetables be the focal point on my plate and the meat (especially red meat) be the side item has helped a lot. It's very "un-American." I've run into people on my journey who aren't willing to make that type of change and it's easy to see where it's getting them.

It's not like you have to give up all of the bad stuff. When it comes to red meat, I still eat it but not as often and I enjoy it more. I'm a huge fan of hamburgers, both homemade and at restaurants. Whereas I would have 2 homemade burgers with cheese, mayo, ketchup, etc., now I have 2 burgers in the course of a month, probably more like 2 or 3 and it would consist of mustard and maybe pickle.

If it's steak, I would limit myself to 4 or 5 oz. and not a typical dinner-sized portion.

I've made drastic changes in what I eat and how much. I'm not perfect but I'm more aware of what I'm doing and not just mindlessly eating.

Also, check out that book referenced above as well as his more well-known book The Omnivore's Dilemma. After that, pick up Food Rules.