Just a GoaD

Bike Lust

2010-04-12T07:38:00.001-04:00

Well, I have a bad case of bike lust. There is nothing wrong with my Long Haul Trucker, but I find my self lately fixating on the beautiful lines of other, sleeker, sportier, steel rode bikes. I am thinking about getting another one to ride. Yes, my LHT is dependable, and always there for me, but our relationship lacks a little zip, a little excitement. The proverbial new has worn off both her and our relationship.

I find my self visiting the Rivendell website several times a day and looking at the fine lines, lugs, and paint of both the Hilsen and the Hillborne.

I even find myself peeking now and then at the mixte, Gomez.

I think my LHT is beginning to suspect something. I still ride her every day, but our relationship has become routine. We are in a rut. I really love my LHT and I am afraid that if I get a 2nd, or even a 3rd bike that I will inevitably ride her less and less until it gets to the point where it is rare that I find myself riding her. And that would be a shame, because she has never failed to be there for me.

What to do...

WW Points And Resting Metabolic Rate

2010-03-29T08:36:00.000-04:00

Saturday marked the end of 3 weeks back on plan (Weight Watchers) with a loss of 9.6 pounds during that 3 week period. The interesting thing for me is that this time I around I am not only eating all of my daily points but I am also eating all of my weekly points. While doing WW in 2008 and the first half of 2009, I only ate my daily points, rarely eating any of my activity or weekly points. Gradually I stopped losing weight even though at the time I was burning an average of 850 calories a day in activity. I got discouraged when I stopped losing for more than 6 months. Then, when I injured my knee in August last year, I rapidly gained weight, even though I was only eating around 1900 calories a day. In reading about metabolism over the winter, what I came to realize is that for the 16 months I was "on plan" I was eating significantly less than my resting metabolic. When I was 236 lbs, my daily points target was 31 points which is only around 1550 calories per day. But at 236 my estimated resting metabolic rate is 1959. I was significantly fueling below my resting metabolic rate, which I believe over the 16 months of doing so, slowed my metabolism.

When my weight stabilized at 285 lbs in late January I had no idea how many calories a day I was consuming. I had stopped counting calories in November since it seemed that no matter what I did I was going to gain weight. Anyway, this time I am ensuring that I consume, at a minimum, enough calories to cover my resting metabolic rate. By eating all of my daily points and all of my weekly points, my caloric intake over a week is equal to my estimated resting metabolic rate over a week. By approaching my weight loss this way, this time, I understand that without exercise I will not lose weight. But I hope that by keeping caloric input above my resting metabolic rate, my metabolism does not slow back down.

Last week, I blogged about TrainingPeaks. One of the useful features of the program is that by my entering the calories I consume each day, the tool tracks whether or not I am meeting my estimated resting metabolic rate and then how may calories beyond that I am either burning through exercise or consuming through food. Last week for example, I did a good job of balancing my calories consumed with my resting metabolic rate. I only under ate about 400 calories for the week. And, according to the caloric expenditures uploaded from my Garmin 305 into TraininPeaks during my workouts, I burned 10,192 calories my resting metabolic rate. This means I should have lost approximately 2.912 lbs through my activities for the week. My weight loss shown on the scale was 3.0 lbs. This is pretty closed to what was predicted by tracking calories in and calories out based on the data in TrainingPeaks. The small difference may be a combination of the 400 calories I under ate and slight difference in % water weight.

I am pretty pleased with how well I balanced my basic caloric demand last week. Again, it is my hope, that by ensuring that I consume at least my resting metabolic rate each week, I am able to prevent my metabolism from slowing again over time. The key is to make sure that I eat all of my weekly points and to accurately weigh and measure everything that I consume.

We will see how well the theory holds this week...

Useful Online Tool

2010-03-23T18:25:00.001-04:00

I discovered an online tool last night which I think is going to be very useful to me. It is a website called TrainingPeaks. I was on the Spinervals website looking for a couple new DVDs to use while on the trainer and I came across just what I was looking for, an 8 week aerobic base building training plan using Spinervals DVDs. But to get the training plan for the DVDs I needed to go through TrainingPeaks. At first I was irritated that for the cost of the DVDs the training plan was not simply included. After going to the TrainingPeaks website, I was not longer annoyed. TrainingPeaks has just the tools I was looking for to track all of the information related to my workouts. I can even upload my workout data directly from my Garmin 305 to the TrainingPeaks website.

Aerobic Base Building

2010-03-22T07:57:00.001-04:00

After being off my bike since last August, I began working on building my aerobic base back this morning. I rode 18.6 miles at 70% max HR. I have heard that it comes back more quickly than it took to build the first time. I hope this is true. I am hoping to be able to get back in good enough shape to ride the Horsey Hundred again this year on Memorial Day weekend. If you are looking for a great century ride, I recommend the Horsey Hundred. The Bluegrass Cycling Club does a great job putting this event on.

Does clothing make a difference?

2010-03-19T08:56:00.000-04:00

I had not really thought much about what clothing to wear when going for a ride. During my commutes to work and while running errands around town, I just wear what I am wearing, normal cloths and shoes. When I am going for a long ride where I am going to push it and sweat a lot, I wear bike shorts, clipless bike shoes, and a jersey to be more comfortable.

While speaking with a couple of cyclists from the club this week at the bike shop, the topic of clothing came up and they both commented that they don't really ride their bikes "around town" to run errands and such because let's face it, who wants to "clip-clop" around Wal-Mart in bike shorts, a jersey, and bike shoes. It seemed to me that they thought that as "real" cyclists they always need to wear "real" cycling clothes while riding. But I think they are missing out on so much enjoyment from their bikes. I know that if I only rode my bike when I am wearing "bike" clothing, then I would only ride my bike about a third of the time that I actually do. Fully 2/3rds of the time/miles I spend on my bike are commuting, running errands, or just riding around town on a beautiful day.

Maybe the difference is that they have "real" bikes and I do not. Both of theirs were high end carbon fiber racing bikes and my bike is a touring bike; a heavy steel bike with a rack and fenders; a bike designed to ride all day and haul stuff on. I take it to Wal-Mart, to the library, to Starbucks with my laptop to sit and enjoy a cup of coffee early on a Saturday morning. It may not be fast, and it may not be fancy, but I think maybe I get more enjoyment out of it then they might get out of their bikes simply because I use it more. That is at least now that my knee is fully recovered and I am back on it again!

What do you think? Do you run errands on your bike? What kind of clothes do you wear while riding?

I love my bike!

2010-03-12T21:58:00.000-05:00

This morning at 5:30, while I was riding though my neighborhood in the dark, I was again reminded just how how much I love riding my bike, how much I love the simplicity of riding a bike. The streets were dark and peaceful. It was just me, my bike, and the singing birds. It was not a long ride, or a hard ride. It was just an easy 45 minutes around a large, quiet neighborhood starting to awaken. But for me it was the perfect way to start the day!

11 Months Already!

2010-03-10T09:22:00.000-05:00

It is hard for me to believe that it has been almost 11 months since I last posted on this blog. It has been an eventful year.

Last spring and summer I really ramped up the miles in the bike and running. This is until I injured my right knee 10.5 miles into a half marathon last August. I was off the bike and unable to run from then until a little over a week ago when the doctor cleared me to get active again.

Needless to say, during that time I gained back some of the weight I had lost in 2008. One of the "dangers" of relying on exercise to lose weight and then to maintain the loss is that if for some reason the activity stops, it is hard to maintain. At least it was for me. Anyway, I am back on plan (WW) and easing back into the exercise. For now I am just walking, taking some easy rides on the bike, and playing a little volleyball at my church. So far the knee feels great!

I don't know if it is because I am back on plan (eating right again), or because of the daily exercise, or both, but my energy level has been much higher and I feel so much better.

I plan to keep up with the blog better from now on. Maybe if I had been blogging about my experiences last fall and winter, I would have done a better job maintaining my weight.

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T07:51:00.001-04:00

It is a beautiful Easter morning here in central Kentucky. God is so good to us! This morning as my family and I celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are once again reminded that He lives - up from the grave He arose. Praise the Lord, He rose!

The Bike

2009-04-10T05:47:00.000-04:00

Well is has now been three weeks since I have been on my bike. The job change has really messed up my schedule. The few days it has not been raining, I have been unable to get time to ride due to work. I am hoping that the weather will be nice enough tomorrow that I can get a nice long ride in.

Half Marathon

2009-04-07T06:42:00.000-04:00

After not exercising at all since the 18th of March, I ran my 2nd half marathon this past Sunday. I had a great time. Cameron, Brittney, and Tony from my church ran it also. It was their first have marathon. I am so proud of them. They each started training back in late December with the goal of running this half marathon with me. They all did great. Cameron finished about 30 minutes ahead of me and Brittney and Tony finished about 10 minutes ahead of me. Annie, Ryan, and Cathy were there to support us. It was a beautiful morning in Xenia, OH. We all had a great weekend. My time was slower than I had planned, but I was not surprised given the fact that I had been off the road since starting my new job.

Here is a picture of the runners prior to the start of the race:

Here is a picture of the whole group taken after the race. From left to right: Ryan, Tony, Cathy, Brittney, Cameron, Annie, and me.

Really Nice Ride

2009-03-17T21:10:00.000-04:00

Today was just a beautiful day. It was 60 degrees, sunny, and calm at 5:30 this afternoon when I started my bike ride. It was a really great 27 mile ride! Central Kentucky is such a beautiful area. The fields are full of calves this time of year. They are really fun to watch. They get wide eyed as they see me riding up the road toward them along the fence line. When I get close, they run away frightened for a short distance and then turn and look at me like I am some two wheeled monster. I laugh every time. I look forward to more days like today this spring! I need to take my camera with me next time and take a few pictures to post.

Mild Hypothermia?

2009-03-15T12:31:00.000-04:00

I went for a planned 30 mile ride yesterday in a 40 degree rain. Needless to say that I was soaked fairly quickly. I was wearing a rain coat but you still get soaked, just from the inside. Anyway, I was really cold by the time the ride was over.

As a side note, I had to end the ride early due to the road being closed as a result of a fatal car accident. Rather than ride the additional 12 miles on the safe detour route, I called Annie and she came to pick me up in the truck.

I was unable to get warm last night and really didn't feel all that well. This morning I was out at 5:30 AM for my planned 10 mile run. It was 40 degrees, foggy and drizzling. By the time I reached the 5 mile mark, my legs felt like lead, I was soaked through and shivering. I ended the run and came home. After breakfast, I collapsed in the bed. I ended up missing church and sleeping for more than 3 hours. I am finally warm but still feel really weak. Lesson learned here is that when it is cold and wet, stay home! Either that or invest in some wool cycling wear and a better cycling jacket.

2nd Group Ride

2009-03-09T20:39:00.001-04:00

I went out for the "C" ride this evening. The majority of the riders there were "B" riders and quickly left 4 of us behind. The other three riders could have easily left me as well as they were all strong riders. But they were nice enough to hang back with me and teach me about pace lines, drafting and riding fundamentals. Really nice people. I had a great 20+ mile ride with an average speed of 14.1 mph. The ride leader discussed scheduling a "C" ride for Thursday night. I hope he does... I will be there. I am getting hooked on this group riding.

First Group Ride

2009-03-09T15:07:00.000-04:00

Well, this past Saturday I finally stepped out of my comfort zone and did a group ride with the Bluegrass Cycling Club. I joined the club back in December after lurking via their website most of last year. The club held their season opening ride on Saturday and I decided to join them for a group ride to see what it was all about.

I have to admit that I was a little intimidated by the number of really thin and fit cyclists with really nice road bikes. There I was with my steel touring bike and still 40 pounds overweight. Prior to the ride starting, I mingled and listened to various groups discussing the upcoming ride. Unfortunately, the ride sign up sheets indicated distances but not pace for each group so I had no way of knowing which group was going to ride which pace, "A", "B", or "C". While listening to a couple of ladies discuss how this was going to be their first ride of the season after not riding hardly at all over the winter, I gambled that their group would not be too fast paced.

So as the faster groups of predominately male cyclists departed I stood waiting for "the ladies" to roll out. As their group departed, I found that there was only one other male riding with the group. So be it. I am a realist, I am too old and still too fat to let my ego get in the way of my riding with the "girls". By the way the "girls" were all very strong riders and could have easily dropped me at will. The were riding the slow pace by choice not because it was the best they could do like me. Anyway, I had a great time! At the second turn, we stopped to let a couple of the ladies catch up and the ladies introduced themselves to me. Overall, they were very friendly and very welcoming. It was a very pleasant experience in spite of the stiff wind we faced on the return leg of the ride.

I enjoyed the group experience so much that I have decided to join a "C/B" group ride scheduled for this evening. The wind is supposed to be much calmer this evening so I hope to be able to keep up or at least not get dropped too early in the ride. It is posted on the calendar as a planned 21 mile ride. I have ridden more than twice this distance by myself, but probably at a much slower pace. I think I need the group experience to push me to push myself to work harder than I would on my own. You never know, maybe the ladies will be there again tonight for me to ride with...

101 lbs lost!

2009-02-09T07:53:00.000-05:00

Well, as of this morning I am officially down 101 lbs!. The weather here is great today. I had a great bike ride into work this morning. It is supposed to be 60 this afternoon for my ride home.

I need a Schwinn Stingray!

2009-02-04T19:15:00.000-05:00

I love this picture!

Back Pain Running

2009-02-03T21:48:00.000-05:00

Tonight was the first time trying to run since my back went out last Wednesday morning. It id not go well. 1/4 mile into my run my back was killing me and I had pain radiating down both of my legs. I ended my run and then got on the bike and rode it for 17.7 miles. By the time my ride was over all of the back pain was gone. It looks like my running days, at least for a while are over. I am just thankful that I can still ride my bike with relatively little pain. It is still disappointing because it does not look like I will be able run the half marathon I was planning on in April. I will still go and walk it to support the group from church which is preparing for it and planning to run it.

99.2 lbs Lost

2009-01-31T09:19:00.000-05:00

Well, as of this morning I have lost a total of 99.2 lbs. I was hoping to reach the 100 lb lost mark by the end of January but missed it by .8 lbs. I had my highest bike mileage month yet with 267 miles ridden. And this is with being off the bike this past week due to low back issues. My goal for February is to ride at least 300 miles, (if my back allows me to do it) and to lose the next 6 lbs.

Back Pain

2009-01-31T09:07:00.000-05:00

Back pain has kept me sidelined this week from any activity. Back in 2000 I had problems with a bulging disc in my low back. I have not had any problems since. But, this past Tuesday morning, I went to sit down and felt a stabbing pain in my low back. It was a rough couple of days. The icing and Advil have helped. And, I can once again walk, stand, and sit. I am not sure what caused the flare up, whether it was the running, the cycling, or both. I will take today off and then take a short ride on the bike tomorrow to see how it goes. I am not sure about running. This may end my plans on running the half marathon I have registered for on April 5th in Xenia, OH. I will see how it goes this next week.

As an interesting side note, I lost 3.5 lbs this week. This is my largest weekly loss in several months. It is interesting that it occurred while having virtually no physical activity. It will be interesting to see what my loss is this next week with very light activity compared to what I had been experiencing working out heavily.

One Year on WW

2008-12-30T08:10:00.000-05:00

Well, yesterday was one year on weight watchers. I finished the year down 89 pounds from my starting weight last December 29th. I was basically the same weight from September through Christmas. From September through last week I had stopped tracking everything I ate, and was focusing on fitness. I signed back up for WW online and I am refocused and ready for the new year. I plan to reach my goal weight by July.

Looking back over the last year, it is hard to believe that last year I went from a couch potato to a man who walked 1,483 miles, ran 407 miles, and cycled 592 miles. I feel great and I am very pleased with my progress. I thank God for the changes He has made in my life this past year and look forward to the changes He has planned for me in 2009.

Running Again!

2008-11-23T08:03:00.000-05:00

After not running since November 9th due to a pulled hamstring, I ran this morning. It was only a 4 mile easy pace run, but it felt great to be running again! I an really missed being able to run but in a way it has been good for me as I have been more focused on riding my bike, which I also really enjoy. It is hard to imagine that 11 months ago, I was so inactive and would never consider running or riding a bike. I can't see myself ever going back to a sedentary lifestyle.

I did not renew my subscription to WW online tools this month. Since the first of the month, I have been following the plan on my own. I still check in daily with the GoaD discussion board, but I am no longer as connected as I was. It is going well.

One surprising aspect of the hamstring injury and break from running is that my weight loss rate increased. After losing little during September and October while training for and running the half marathon, my weight loss rate has ramped back up since the activity level as lessened slightly. I am not sure why this has happened, but I am glad for it.

I am going to limit my running to about 20 miles a month until I start training for the next half after the first of the year. I also plan to ramp up the cycling miles so that I can complete my first century ride in the late spring or early summer.

I will post some additional update pictures in the next week or so.

Update Pictures

2008-10-19T18:53:00.000-04:00

In posting earlier about the half marathon, I realized I had not posted an update picture in a while. Here are a couple of pictures taken a couple of weeks ago.

Louisville Half Marathon

2008-10-19T18:49:00.000-04:00

I ran the Louisville Half Marathon this morning as part of Team Goad in the World Wide Half. My goals were to finish in under 3 hours, to finish strong, and to finish wanting to run another soon. All my goals were met. I finished in 2:42:49. I finished strong and I can't wait to run the "Run to Victory" in NC on December 7th.

Sundays and Wednesdays

2008-08-31T13:33:00.000-04:00

My scheduled rest days from exercising are Sundays and Wednesdays. It is becoming increasingly more difficult for me to not exercise two days a week. These two days are prescribed in the half marathon training plan I am following. I am going to have to find something I can do which gives my legs a rest on these two days but still gives me a good work out. I have been thinking about starting to use the Bowflex again. Now may be the time. Currently, I have been biking for at least and hour Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. I have been running Monday, and Thursday with a long run on Saturday morning. I think I will start using the Bowflex on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. I am not sure however, that an upper body workout on the Bowflex will give me the exercise "fix" that my body now craves daily for the two days per week that I am not running or cycling.

Progress Picture and Picture of New Surly LHT

2008-08-23T09:30:00.000-04:00

As of my weigh-in this morning I have lost 90.6 lbs. I am posting a picture taken this morning. I am actually wearing a polo shirt rather than a button down shirt, something I haven't done in years due to my size and my being self conscience. I lost 4.2 lbs. two weeks ago and 3.8 lbs. this week. My weight loss rate has increased from my previous average of 2.6 lbs. per week since I have started bike commuting two weeks ago. If the current rate of loss continues, I will make goal in early January rather than mid March as previously forecasted based on the 2.6 lb/week loss rate.

New Bike

2008-08-19T21:13:00.000-04:00

I have been riding my bike quite a bit more lately so I decided to buy a decent bike to replace the Target special I purchased back in February. After looking at the Trek 520, a Kona, a Specialized Tri-Cross, a Cannondale Touring 1, and a Surly Long Haul Trucker, I decided on the Surly. I wanted a touring bike so that I can both commute on it and do self-supported bike tours. I picked up the bike late yesterday afternoon, it finally came in after a week and a half waiting for it. It is very nice. I rode it to work today and my pace was 3 mph faster than on my old bike with less effort (lower heart rate average). I will post a picture of it soon.

Bike Commuting

2008-08-15T09:17:00.001-04:00

Well, I finally began commuting to work on my bike this past Wednesday, 8/13. My start was delayed due to a broken spoke this past Sunday which was not repaired until Tuesday. Things went well on Wednesday. I took the longer "back" route in and the more direct major street route home. It is definitely safer to "take the lane" on a major road with narrow to no shoulder.

I did not commute yesterday. I took a day of vacation to attend the funeral of a dear friend from my church who passed away on Monday morning.

This morning, I took the major road, direct route in. Again, I "took the lane" in the two places where the shoulder disappears. I averaged 11.8 mph in which is not bad considering the hills and the traffic lights.

My quads were sore yesterday from the 12 miles round trip on Wednesday, but the soreness was minimal this morning and did not hinder my run yesterday morning. In fact, my run yesterday was a personal best for my speedwork day.

I am excited about riding the extra 48+ miles per week by bike commuting at least four days a week. I still am not sure if I will bike commute on Wednesdays due to making it to church on time. Although, if I can get an early start the way I did this week, I will have plenty of time.

Bike Commuting

2008-08-03T07:51:00.000-04:00

I have decided to try begin commuting to work each day on my bike. It is only around a six mile ride each way but it is on very busy major roads with heavy traffic. I test road part of the route this morning. Very little traffic at 6:00 am on a Sunday morning, but a got a feel for the route. It is so different on a bike than in a car driving. I plan to ride in my regular work cloths and take it slow so that I do not heat up. My only real concern at this point is of course staying safe and possibly over training, as I will be riding on days that I run as well. My normal "off" day from training is Wednesday. I have not decided yet whether I will ride to work on Wednesdays or drive to maintain the off day. We will see.

Update and Promised Progress Pictures

2008-07-19T09:30:00.000-04:00

This has been a great week. I have completed the first week of my half marathon training program and had a great run this morning. As of my weigh in this morning I am down 78.4 pounds. Although my loss rate has slowed this summer, I am still amazed at how God is transforming my body, my health, and my outlook. He so amazing! (Psalm 104.1-2)

The promised progress pictures:

This picture, with my daughter, is from last fall and shows me at my WW starting weight of 336.

Late January or early February, down around 25 lbs. at this point.

July 19, 2008, down 78.4 lbs (257.6). Only 72.6 lbs left till I reach goal of 185.

Progress Report

2008-07-15T07:37:00.000-04:00

I haven't posted very much this spring. I need to do better at keeping this blog up to date. Well, as of last Saturday, July 12th, I am down 75 lbs. My experience this spring has been amazing. God has been teaching me so much about Himself. He has also been teaching me much about myself.

Since last updating in February, I have ran several 5k races. I actually won my age group in one of them. I also entered and ran in the Bluegrass 10K on July 4th. I had a great time. On July 3rd I entered a half marathon in Randleman NC on December 7th. Yesterday, I began a half marathon training program. I am using John Bingham's Marathoning for Mortals half marathon training program. I will update often on my progress.

Here is a picture of me approaching the finish line at the Bluegrass 10K:

I will post some before and progress pictures soon...

Run/Walk Method

2008-02-14T20:30:00.000-05:00

In my last post, I commented on the interval training I had just started. Well last week after following the program for three days, I was injured. I injured the Iliotibial band in my right leg. So, since the 8th I have been limited to slow walking and strength training as I work to strengthen and heal the ITB on my right leg. I hope to be able to resume running next Monday. During my down time I have read two very good books written for beginning runners. The first was written by Jeff Galloway and is titled Running: Getting Started and the second was written by John Bingham and Jenny Hadfield and is titled Running for Mortals. Both advocate a run/walk interval method. Galloway's is more conservative and I think the better approach for me going forward to prevent injury from running as I lose the excess weight.

I lost 4.4 lbs last week, bringing my six week loss to 28.4 lbs. I still am having difficulty eating all of my points each day. It seems like I am eating every two hours all day long. But last week I averaged more points eaten per day than the previous two weeks and my loss increased. Seems wierd to me, that by eating less I will slow my weight loss. However, I am now a believer, and I am doing my best to eat all my points each day.

Five Weeks

2008-02-05T20:24:00.000-05:00

I lost another 2.6 lbs last week for a five week total of 24lbs. I am really pleased with my progress so far. In fact, last week I was able to stop taking one of my blood pressure medications as my blood pressure has gone down significantly over the last five weeks. I am never hungry and I have finally adjusted to eating 8 servings of fruits or vegetables daily. I am still eating well below my target points, but most days I am unable to eat all that it would take to hit my points target.

I have also been attempting to get at least 10,000 steps a day. Some days this is a challenge due to my job and travel schedule. However, since starting 15 days ago, I have averaged 6,734 per day and have walked 47.2 miles.

I discovered an interval training podcast that I used during my workout last night and I was amazed that I was actually able to run for the first time in 16 years. As a result of the intervals, I ran for about 15 minutes of my 90 minutes on the treadmill. 15 minutes total out of 90 minutes may not seem like alot now but I felt really good about it given that I stopped running 16 years ago when I left the Army. I have often missed running since then. I ran at least 5 miles a day, 3-4 days a week for the 9 years I was in the Army.

You can download the podcast at Itunes. It is called "Podrunner: Intervals." This is a link to the Podrunner website for those who do not have an IPod: http://www.djsteveboy.com/podrunner.html

My goal is to have lost enough weight and trained so that I am able to complete a half marathon, with a respectable time, by the summer of 2009 and to do it without injuring myself.

Four Weeks

2008-01-26T08:30:00.000-05:00

It is hard for me to believe that it has only been four weeks ago today that I made the decision to begin living a healthier lifestyle. In the last 4 weeks I have lost 21.4 lbs. More importantly I have radically changed my eating habits and activity level. I have gone from little to no activity to exercising an hour per day. My blood pressure has dropped significantly and I have not felt this well in years. I do not feel like I am deprived of anything following Weight Watchers. In fact I am not viewing it as a diet. I can follow this plan indefinitely.

WW in 2008

2008-01-12T16:37:00.000-05:00

I made a decision to join Weight Watchers online for Men on December 29th. Two weeks later I already feel better and I have lost 14 lbs. I hope to lose weight as a result of learning to eat healthier, to become healthier. At this point, my motivation level is high and the online GoaD (Guys on a Diet, hence the name of my blog, I am just a Guy on a Diet) community at WW online is a very supportive group. I think that this support network will be critical to my success as the months go by. My goal weight, 185 lbs., is 151 pounds lower than where I started, 336 lbs, two weeks ago. It is hard to believe that I have gained 151 pounds over the past 17 years. My goal is to lose 2 lbs. a week. I have rapidly lost weight, as much as 60 pounds, twice over the last 5 years by fairly radical diets. The problem was that as soon as I went off of the diet, I gained the weight right back, and then some. My focus now is to permanently change my eating habits and therefore the longer it takes me to get to my goal weight, the more likely the change is to be permanent.

I started this blog to post my progress on this journey. I will also occasionally post about my work as a safety manager and my studies as a seminary student.

I am optimistic about 2008 and the positive changes God has planned for me.