Slimdude

Well, BSers… I have had what seems like a very long day. But also pretty fun. I’d be in an even better mood if I wasn;t in pain. I know you get tired of hearing it. Believe me, I get tired of feeling it.

Despite that, I am proud of myself for the things I do even with this problem. Marathon Girl asked if I had an injury. If you haven’t read my background blogging entries : I have some kind of arthritis that affects my feet and it has also caused degeneration in my neck spine discs. The discs slightly press on my nerves and they cause pain in my neck and shoulder area and back. Anyway. I am always in some kind of pain, it’s always a matter of degree of pain. I usually start the day at about a “5″, take some Celebrex and it goes to a “3″ or so before I exercise.

I’m on Robaxin during the day, and then at night I take Flexeril. But the point of this post was not to complain about my aches and pains. I still feel lucky to be able to do what I can.

And Today that was This : My son woke up extra early at 5am, so I layed down with him but neither one of us really slept. At 6am we got up and had breakfast and then we watched SpongeBob until it was time to get him to school at 7:30. I cleaned the house a bit until 8:30 and then I did The Gazelle for six miles while watching Regis and Kelly, and Kathie Lee was on there…

Then I had a small break and a small nap before packing up the car with my closet stuff mostly… you know, clothes… and since both my wife and I were off today we decided to go out for lunch. On the way out to the New Place we saw a turtle in the road and decided to rescue it. I don’t know anything about turtles but now I own one.

So we dropped off the Stuff at the New House and put the turtle in the bathtub and then we went to Sonny’s for lunch and I had a grilled chicken salad with fat free ranch. Then we went to Pet Smart for turtle stuff and also to the Mall so my wife could get some gloves to go with her dress.

Then we came back to the Old Place to get ready for the Ball and even though it wasn’t terrible, I felt chubby in my blues. Because I weigh around 160 and they were issued to me at 140 and I keep refusing to buy new pants. I knew there would be pictures taken and there were and they are nice photos but I can’t help but feel as if that is NOT ME in those pics!! Oh well. More motivation to lose 20 pounds, I suppose.

We picked The Boy up and took him to our friend’s house because she was babysitting for us, then the Ball itself was fabulous. My wife looked stunning and we met a lot of interesting people and I even danced for about 30 minutes to some old school funk and disco before I just had to sit down.

And here I am getting ready for bed and I wanted to share with you my day. Tonight I may indeed get back up and if I’m right, it’ll be about midnite when my Urge first hits because that’s about an hour or two from now. But I am tired of this habit and I know I can lose the weight if I stop eating at night. Also I don’t want to carry this habit… this demon… over into the new house and tomorrow is our first night over there. I want to leave that Poltergeist in this house, the Old Place and not taint the new Place with this!

Goodnite!

—Matt

Despite the fact that I cannot seem to get control of my eating at night and I looked at the scale this morning and it said “159″ so I have gained five pounds back this week.

But I still feel very good and very motivated and I’m sure if I just get back on track I can get rid of those five pounds and be back on my way. I wonder if I eat right today and exercise what will my official weigh-in be tomorrow.

I had hoped it would be 152 but obviously it won’t be now.

See you later!

—Matt

So this morning I posted about just getting right back on the horse and trying again. I have a lot on my mind so this could turn out to be a long post. It’s about five pee - em and I’ll be having dinner here shortly.

Thanks for all the supportive comments concerning my troubles with eating at night. I wish I had done better this week, because tomorrow is the AF Ball and I’m gonna have to squeeze into that uniform. Oh, well. Could be worse.

Today after doing one load over to the new place I decided I had enough time and energy to really go for some mileage on The Gazelle. Ellen and Tatiana have been doing some serious mileage and I was behind both of them, even though we are all on schedule to walk 300 miles before Thanksgiving. But even after yesterday when I Blogged about accepting my limitations, I decided to do four miles while watching TV. Then it was five. Then I decided to go for ten. Well, at about mile 8 I started to really hurt. So I gave it up at mile 9. That’s about two hours of Gazelle-ing.

Well, after that I was really tired. But I have not been any hungrier than normal. BUT my back and foot are absolutely killing me now, and I’ve taken my meds for the day. I am due for another dose of Robaxin at dinner. On one hand, I’m proud of myself for pushing out 9 miles. On the other, the trade-off in pain is not really worth it. I had a nap in the afternoon and then made myself get up and do another load over to the new house. I am really going to have to learn to take it easy when I need to.

The good thing is this evening I am just sitting around watching kids movies with my wife and son. So even though I am in pain right now I am just sitting around. And it’s nice to know that if I rest by tomorrow morning I’ll be back to a more tolerable level.

I think it is hilarious that not even five years ago I would do things like wake up and shovel my car out of the snow for 30 minutes so I could drive to the gym to workout. Then my job was unpacking boxes and packing boxes and stocking shelves for eight hours.

The evenings were filled with various things like bowling, or language lessons, or band practice sessions. The point is : I was extremely active.

Flash forward and now not only am I about 15 pounds heavier but I am in this pain all the time.  Actually, I’m smiling right now because the whole situation is actually kind of humorous. I saw a commercial today for Rhematoid Arthritis (which I DO NOT have… I don’t think…) where it said “Okay you’re not the same person, but who are you going to be now…”

And I guess that’s the thing. Who am I going to be now? I may not be able to run marathons or surf but I have to re-define who I am.

Okay so I watched “Regis and Kelly” and “The View” while Gazelle-ing. And those are two very very chick shows but not so much that I can’t watch them. I cannot stand Soap Operas, that is way too much girlie girl stuff, and I don’t like Desperate Housewives or Grey’s Anatomy either. But shows like R and K and Oprah and Ellen I can watch.

Anyway, there wasn’t anything memorable about either show except Whoopi is pretty cool as Moderator. Sherri and Liz are still as annoying as ever. I always hated Star Jones, and I guess Joy is the only original one left. I used to dig Meredith Viera, and I thought Rosie was a lot of fun.

Okay I’m gonna go have dinner now. It’s kind of a weird dinner. But I love it. I mix tofu and veggies like some kind of weird egg”less” salad and I mix it with mustard and mayo (fat free) and some Splenda and maybe seasoning and it’s like a… like I said it’s sort of like egg salad. I really like it but I’m sure a lot of people would think it’s gross. To each his (or her) own.

—Matt

—at some point. I could not make it last night. As a matter of fact, I gave in super-duper easy last night. I didn’t put up a fight… no “Maybe I shouldn’t do this…” “Maybe I’m not hungry…” “Maybe I should consider stapling my mouth shut…”

Nope. Nada. I went right to the kitchen and started eating.

It would be very easy for me to punish myself today and over-do my exercise or undereat. But I’m not. I lost seven pounds that one week and I did not take any shortcuts. I ate healthy meals three hours apart, I exercised, I stayed active and I established an Eating Cut-Off Time. The ECOT. And now this week I have not adhered to that.

But I am sitting here Blogging dutifully. I walked the 2 Mile DVD and then I did The Biggest Loser Strength workout. My son woke up very early so I got him out of his crib and got him some juice and he watched me workout and helped me a little. He wanted to lift the weights too so he was holding one of the 3 pound weights we have which i think is pretty impressive for a 21 month old. I was only worried he would drop it on his bare feet but he didn’t.

Anyway. I am inspired by blogs like Marge’s Blog and Lena M where they are so encouraging about the night time snacking and bingeing. But I have not been able to conquer it yet.

BUT! As long as I’m still alive and breathing there is time to change! It’s a new day (and a new night to try again!)

—Matt

Well, BSers— I have had a very busy day. I did not even get everything accomplished I wanted to, but I’m hoping to have it all done by the end of Sunday night. I think we may start living in our new house Next Monday.

I can’t decide if I’m going to Gazelle tonight or not. I may give it a whirl and if I feel too badly then I will stop. Maybe I’ll just do a few miles while watching Last Comic Standing.

I guess the title of this post refers to the fact that only a few years ago, I could run so well and do HIIT cardio and lift weights and do Plyometrics and everything else and these days sometimes just walking around and lifting boxes and stuff is enough to put me in serious pain.

By 5:45pm today I was in a lot of pain and I felt so sleepy but I was determined to take my son to the park which is only a half mile away. But it took everything I had to make it down there and then chase him around all over the equipment, including sliding with him several times.

And I guess I just have to be happy that I am able to do what I can but with my feet and back issues I guess I need to learn that if I’m just so active all day I’ve got to accept that maybe at 6pm in the evening I’ve gotta do something less physical with my son. I think tomorrow we might watch a DVD oriented towards activity, like Elmocize! or Teletubbies On The Go! and that way if I need to I can rest but if I feel okay I can do the movements with him.

Accomplished Today:

• 2 Loads of Stuff to the New House
• Oil Changed In Car
• Took Son to Daycare, Picked Up Son from Daycare
• Walked 4 miles DVD this morning
• Ate right all day
• Drank lots of fluids
• Signed Insurance Paperwork
• Went shopping @ Wal-Mart — I bought my son a new outfit, and a new SpongeBob DVD, bought a tall step-ladder so I can do stuff @ the new house — bought myself and my wife some magazines. My wife says she wants to eat healthier and everything so I got her some woman’s fit magazines as well as a few like Woman’s Day and all… also got her a Dual DVD of Moonstruck and Mermaids because she loves Cher and I bought her a new pajama outfit, I thought it was cute. I spent too much I know but what the heck ya know, what else do I fix these jets for if not to have the $$$ to spend on my family…???
• Made dinner for the Boy and then went to the park. And yes I am counting that mile to the park in my Challenge, my foot barely made it!!
• Watched Dr. Suess tonite with Son before he went to bed

Oh yeah and I did a load of dishes, a load of laundry and changed all the trash and cat litter in the house — I rock!!! Picked up my meds from the Pharmacy, too. I took my pill I hope it works.

I’m on Celebrex first thing in the AM, Robaxin during the day, and then Flexeril at night.

But the night isn’t over. It’s only just begun now I have to NOT EAT ANYTHING. Only gum, diet soda, water, herbal tea… you get the idea.

Have a good night, BSers.

—Matt

Wowza, it has been a busy day so far. It seems like the day is going by so quickly and I have only managed to take one full car load to the new place and go grocery shopping.

I have decided not to do any workout this afternoon, because it would be silly. Moving all this stuff around non-stop is a workout enough. It would be different if my plans were to sit on the sofa for an hour. THEN perhaps an extra workout would be beneficial. But I have a TON of things to do.

1. Load up car
2. take tv to repair place
3. sign insurance paperwork
4. wal-mart for oil change and new lite bulbs and ceiling fan, step ladder and anything else i want
5. go to new house, unload car, install bulbs and fan
6. pick up prescription for muscle relaxer (god knows i’ll need it tonight)
7. drop uniform off at alterations
8. pick up son from day-care
9. time permitting, take one more load to new house
10. dinner time
11. take a walk
12. bath time and bedtime for The Boy (Mommie is working tonight)

after my son goes to bed, I have not decided if I want to Veg and watch TV… OR my wife and I bought a  DVD that teaches you how to dance and I think maybe we should give it a whirl before the Ball Friday night.

But we might both be too tired.

Stay tuned for that…

—Matt

Well, BSers. I have a confession to make right up front : The momentum I picked up last week concerning eating at night and all that… it is gone. I have pretty much gotten up to eat every night. I’m very dissapointed because I really thought maybe I had finally beaten the one habit that is keeping me from my Vanity Goal Weight of 140 pounds. I know I cannot get to that weight and maintain it unless I stop eating crackers and sandwiches and cereal at midnight while watching Jimmy Kimmel.

I even made the mistake of stepping onto the scale to see what kind of damage I have done since Saturday, and the truth is not kind : 158 pounds. That is back up from 154.

But you know what?! Despite that, I’m feeling pretty decent this morning. All I can do is eat right and exercise and focus on the good things in life and vow once again to stop eating after dinner. That’s it. It’s not too hard. I will try very very hard to Log On to BuddySlim and scan some blogs when that Urge to Eat hits. I think if I do that on a consistent basis it will pleasantly replace my current habit of eating mountains of food while watching TV.

My new habit will be to have a diet soda or some herbal tea and surf the BS blogs for half an hour and then go back to bed.

As many times as it takes.

On the Good side, I am doing very very well in my Walking Challenge with Ellen and Tatiana. I think I am up around 30 miles in the first week, and I clocked in 4 more with Leslie Sansone this morning. If ya’ll don’t know, Leslie gives you one heck of a workout. Maybe you’ve seen the DVDs in Wal-Mart or Target and thought “Walking? That’s nothing.” But you would be wrong. I do the Four Mile ones like the Walk Express Challenge and the new Fast Walk series. It’s really a low-impact aerobics class on DVD. Much more of a calorie burn than many many other fitness videos out there because there are no complicated steps, you are just steady moving and sweating for about 50 minutes and then  you stretch and cool down.

I have the next three days off of work so that I can do stuff for the new house. My wife has already moved a lot over there and by this weekend we hope to be totally moved in. Then the fun part of unpacking / organizing / decorating begins. Decorating is my Wife’s Department.

So today I plan to be busy busy but around 1pm if I feel good I may walk a bit more and lift some light weights. Just to give myself a little “exercise break” from all this other stuff. Moving is fun but it’s also kind of stressful.

In other fun news, did anybody catch “The Biggest Loser” last night? I love that show, and I admit I like Bob more than the other two trainers. I think Bob’s approach to fitness and nutrition sets people up for whole lifestyle changes forever much  more than Jillian’s “Hard and Fast” approach. But I admit it was badass the way they had Jillian show up on a motorcycle to lead the black team. Even though I think it was a stunt driver the whole time until she finally took her helmet off.

Also that very first challenge where they had to run to meet Bob and Kim gave me a funny moment… when all the people started going back for that one lady who was lagging behind… if I had been her and I saw all these ginormous people heading towards me, I would have thought “Oh crap… they must be hungry after that jog they are going to gang up and eat me.” and I would have turned around and ran.

Okay I know that’s not the nicest sentiment in the world but I could not help but think of it… a sort of “Lord of the Flies” moment and maybe I just have a dark sense of humor.

—Matt

Today is almost seems silly and flippant to write anything about weight loss and diet and fitness. Today is the anniversary of the day those terrorists flew the planes into our towers and changed the course of American history. I’m sure there will be lots of Blogs, on CNN and other channels about everything.

I just feel like sharing a few thoughts : America and Americans are strong. We are stubborn and courageous. A few planes into some buildings is not going to stop us. Let me tell you, I work with some of the smartest, most motivated people on the planet. America is never going to give up, and we will never lose the fight… because what we fight for is so precious.

The freedoms we want, and we want our parents to have… our children and our grand-children. I could probably come up with a lot more to say but I am in a time crunch this morning.

This morning I watched Depeche Mode’s “Exciter : Live from Paris” concert while doing the Gazelle thing. Knocked out five more miles so I’m up 25 total and I need to get to 300 by Thanksgiving. I really like Depeche Mode. I think they are my favorite band.

I also did 19 push-ups and 22 sit-ups. They are not as hard on my neck and back as you might think. But I am still pretty weak. In BAsic Training I could do nearly 100 of each in one minute. I really would like to be able to do about 50 in a minute for my test in November. So I am trying to practice them as often as possible. Push-Ups and Sit-Ups are the types of exercises that you only get better at them if you do them often. You don’t need to take “rest days” from doing just one set of push-ups.

I think tomorrow I will do Leslie Sansone’s 2 Mile Walk DVD  followed by the Biggest Loser DVD STrength workout DVD. It automatically has a warm-up and a cool-down and the actual weight part is 20 minutes which is about the most I can do these days before I am in too much discomfort to continue.

This Friday is the Air Force Ball and for those who do not know, the USAF turns 60 this year! It became a seperate service from the Army in 1947. I am happy about the Ball because my wife has a wonderful dress and she will look stunning.

I hope I will be 152 pounds… mind you that my “Blues” were issued to me when I was 140 pounds, so it will still be a tight fit, but at least it won’t be like it was before when I was in the 160s. Talk about sucking in your gut!

I’m just sitting here chilling and reading Blogs. Can’t believe the weekend is almost over already! The Boy and The Mommie are watching SpongeBob on DVD. I think we have five different ones including “Tide and Seek” and The Christmas Special and SpongeBob : The Movie.

I really like SB. I know not everybody does, but I do. He’s crazy and funny and such a nice guy… er… sea creature…

So today I initially felt a little… I dunno… not really depressed but just so stunned that I got up and let myself go nuts at 2am. That was so weird. I usually do so well if I can just get past the midnite section of the night. Oh well. I had a bit of coffee with sugar free creamer instead of breakfast. It’s not so much about depriving myself, but I’m just not hungry after I stuff myself only a few hours earlier, ya know? I walked a little bit while The Boy ate his breakfast and then his Mommie left for work so we played all morning and also I did little chores like clean the microwave, the fridge, the dishes, some laundry… you know.

For some reason I have this weird thing where cleaning up stuff is a peaceful activity for me. I see the fridge needs to be wiped down and organized so I go after it and then 20 minutes later it’s all clean and I feel great. I think that might be weird for a guy, and believe me I can be a total slob at some things. But dishes and laundry we keep on top of it. That’s why sometimes at night instead of eating I’ll organize something or clean something. It really distracts me.

Well I had The Boy help me as much as possible, and he was watching cartoons too… but he would stop and we would take “play breaks” every once in a while. he likes to play with blocks, cars and balls.

After our morning snack, we went grocery shopping and he was so good he sat in the little car they have attached to carts these days. The store had just opened so there was hardly anybody there and we had a great time racing around the store and getting the stuff on our list.

BTW… I posted a list of the type of things we buy at the grocery store on my main page under “Matthew’s Grocery List”. Just because there are still so many people out there who have no idea how to eat right at all. They still don’t know you are supposed to stay away from sugar and white bread and stuff like that. So that’s to help them.

Well we had my version of chili dogs for lunch. I buy the SmartDogs which are made out of soy. They are only like 45 calories and I like them but I’ll be honest with you : a lot of people don’t. I guess you have to try them to see… and I used Boca Chili and whole grain bread and fat free sliced cheese. And he ate it up! I was so glad after yesterday’s failed tuna cheese experiment. He also ate green beans and fruit coctail. I had an apple to compliment my two chili dogs.

Then he napped and I talked to my Mom on the phone while I walked 6 miles. I’m trying to keep up with my co-horts Ellen and Tatiana. I’m a guy and I’m very competitive so this challenge is working out very well for me. “Fat March” finale is tomorrow night, and The Biggest Loser kicks off on NBC Tuesday night!!

We are going to visit my Mom for her birthday on Columbus Day weekend and I hope I’ve lost a little more weight by then. I’m happy everyone was so happy for me here at BuddySlim about me losing 7 pounds but I didn’t really intend to lose that much at once. I’m hoping it will be more normal this week. 2 pounds. 3 at the most. I never felt starving :I ate about 1500 calories every day. It’s hard not to eat at night but the feeling isn’t really one of H U N G E R. It’s just this crazy urge to eat sweets. If I think about eating things like chicken or fruit or veggies, my body doesn’t want that stuff. So that’s why I think it’s so effective when I drink diet soda or chew gum. My body gets the sweet flavor it wants but without major calories. Also I’ve been known to use sugar free popsicles or sugar free Jell-O. It does work, I just have to get past that initial panicky feeling for 10 minutes or so.

This week is “Moving Week”. My wife is off a lot of this week and I am, too. We will try to get all our stuff taken care of for the new house, and then Saturday we are moving all the big stuff like furniture over there. And Friday is the AF Ball. It’s going to be a fun and busy week.

Later!

—Matt