Exciting News

So we learned yesterday that Olivia and Hannah from the biggest loser season 11 are going to be running a 5k here in Jacksonville on January 8. I am super excited... They were my favorites that season <3

Working through the pain

I have web suffering from migraines for a few months now. I have never really experienced one until this year, but it almost feels like the sun is violating my eye sockets. I don't do well with that kind of pain. I noticed that I was struggling through certain workouts because I had a hard time breathing properly. I tend to hold my breath and I thought that is what was casing the migraines.

Now where is the motivation to push yourself if it is going to make you suffer through a pain that is difficult to look past. Fact is fact... I work at a call center. I am looking at a computer and talking on the phone from 8 - 12 hours a day/6 days a week. This has definitely left me in a slump in terms of my workouts. I had to leave spin one night because it felt like a rave was going on in my head.

I wish I could get some feedback on what pushes other people to work past the pain. How do you block it out entirely and not let the pain win?

In between the holidays

So Christmas has past and we are all anxiously waiting for the new year. It is a time of year to make promises to ourselves about how we are going to finally change. I'm going to eat better and work out all the time. I have vowed to not make resolutions. I always feel like I am setting myself up for failure. I have some things I want to improve for multiple reasons.

• I want to dine out less.. I know how to cook now. I need to stop being so damn picky and lazy and prep my own food.

• I want to set realistic fitness goals and stop obsessing about the scale. It is obvious I am capable of losing weight. I just need to stop with excuses.

I will find humor when everyone is packed in the gym for a month and then they will all trickle away. I have to admit that I haven't been the most dedicated individual to the gym the past few weeks, but I have been swamped with work and holiday hoopla.

I got a new pair of lifting gloves, ear buds, cell phone arm band and running sneakers so I will be all set for the madness. I think I am going to go to spin tomorrow to test out the new sneaks... Ty wife <3

Food Porn

So... I felt like posting some temptations that we faced (and failed) on vacation...


Photo #1 - My dinner at the Norwegian banquet hall

Photo #2 - Family style dessert

Photo #3 - snack at Epcot

Photo #4 - Anniversary cupcake (of course)

Back on track

Something quick and to the point... I was able to lose everything that I gained on vacation.. That was a serious shocking of the body. At least I don't feel guilty anymore.

Post vacation blues

So after a nice long weekend vacation away from reality, I am back on track. So while our intentions were to be good during vacation, it wasn't always possible. There are a lot of pressures with being on vacation and eating.

The way Disney works is you can select a meal plan that works best for how you want to structure your budget and diet. Joanna and I opted to do one sit down, one quick meal and a snack each day that we were there for the both of us. While our vacation wasn't super expensive, we wanted to get the most for our money.

Needless to say, we did just that. Fortunately, any damage that was done on vacation will be easy to reverse. I guess I just wish I was at a point mentally where I could resist temptations. One day I suppose!

Spinning - Not for the weak

So this evening I accomplished a fitness goal that I have been wanting to do for awhile now. I participated in my very first spin class. To me, spinning always seemed like a fun way to burn calories because god knows I hate cardio.

I almost missed the class because traffic was out of control and the classes take place at the location on the other side of town. I was ready to just turn around and go home, but then it would just be another day that I gave up and I am tired of giving up. Needless to say I got there with enough time to snag a bike. My girl Shannon was there for some moral support even though the original plan was that she wasn't going to be able to go.

The instructor was really nice. She helped me set up the bike and reassured me to go at a comfortable pace. She had let me know that Shannon told her about my victories with weight loss and how she was proud of me. It never gets old hearing that. The class lasted an hour long and she primarily played new wave/80's music which I was totally into.

Half way through the class I was feeling really out of it and the idea of quitting for the evening sounded like a plan. Then out of no where the song "don't you want me baby" started blasting. The is a song that I share with one of my best friends (think of the will and grace episode). My best friend is a bikini competitor which is trying to get into figure for 2012... And she pretty much kicks ass. She is a huge inspiration because she has completely transformed we life and body within the last three years. She gives me hope and her dedication gives me strength. I don't think I will be able to ever stress that enough to her...

Anywho... I made it through the entire class. I never gave up. I wasn't the. Best, but that wasn't my goal. I just wanted to start something and finish. It was very humbling and my ass is sore, but I feel very accomplished.

Can spin be an addiction?

So I have heard for a very long time that spin classes are highly addictive. I have been terrified to try because I was at a very heavy weight about 6 months ago. Now that I am around the weight that I was in 2006, which was when I was the most active since high school, I am going to give it a try today. I have been watching different videos on YouTube to try to get pointers of how it was going to go. Some of my fears about the class include discomfort. Not so much about the pain of pushing through. My concern is the comfort of sitting on that tiny ass bike for 45 mins to an hour... haha!

I wish that I had someone to go with me. Joanna will be at work and Shannon will be busy with family. However, I can't allow either of them to be a crutch. I have to tough through it and just make it happen. At the end of the day, I am the one that needs to conquer this task. It will prove a lot to myself if I can make this happen without the assistance of someone that I love.

Side note

For someone that has serious self confidence/self esteem issues... Sometimes I think I look really good. Confident days are awesome and I hope to have more of them soon!

Holiday hell...

So what is not to like about the (idea) of the holidays? Family, friends, love, laughter and all that jazz. I am a huge advocate for the holidays, despite the fact that holidays tend to lean towards over eating and making my body more fluffy then it needs to be. Thanksgiving was a success in the healthy eating aspect. Each dish we prepared was a healthy alternative to a classic. Then... My mother brings out the pie lol. Huge monkey wrench in the process. I have a terrible time turning down sweets. Whatever... I'm not going to pretend that my will power is where it needs to be. For instance, today was the year end party for the pride network at work. They served prime rib and mashed potatoes. I can't afford to make prime rib at home so of course I took advantage. Dinner was at 5:45 and there was so much food going around that I haven't been able to bring myself to have anything else... Well except this spree flavored candy cane.

Christmas is a less than 20 days away. I already know that the menu isn't going to consist of the healthiest of food, but I am going to sincerely try not to act like a huge glutton about it. I wish the gym was open that day so I didn't feel nearly as guilty. Fortunately, I will be partaking in a biggest loser challenge which begins right before so it will force me to hold myself accountable.

I has decided that I have certain expectations for the new year. I will be turning 29 in May and I would like to be as close as possible to a reasonable distance to my goal weight in hopes to be fit by 30.

I would love it if anyone could share some tips on how to stay focused for the holidays!! :)

Perspective

This morning I was cleaning out the apartment in preparation of our vacation starting on Sunday. I was joking around and I picked up our dog cooper who looked utterly terrified. While he acts like a lap dog, he is a boxer/pitbull mix which weighs 46 lbs.. The perspective I speak of is that he weighs what I lost. Picking him up is like carrying all of the weight I have shed all over again. It was nice that was only temporary. Here is the proof...

Breaking the Cycle

So about two months ago, I decided to join Just Fitness with Joanna. She had been a member since the end of the summer and she was working out with our best friend in FL, Shannon. A monkey wrench was thrown in their work out schedule when Joanna and I moved further away from the location on the other side of town and Joanna started working at the salon. Needless to say, I joined the gym in hopes to feel motivated... and when I am there, I am motivated. I push myself to do new things that I have seen in blogs or on TV.

My problem is that I tend to make excuses for not going as often as possible. For instance, Joanna woke up with a headache this morning. This automatically translated into a day where she was not feeling up to going to the gym. I don't blame her because I can't work out when I have a headache. This is no excuse as to why I shouldn't be going, but I am here... at home. Granted I am getting things done around the house and preparing for our upcoming vacation, but I feel guilty for not going. It is usually a toss up between money wasted and time not spent well. At least I am moving around and being productive (minus the whole sitting my fat ass in front of the computer to type this blog up).

I have joined a Biggest Loser competition on the weight loss community that I belong to which starts after my vacation is over (thank god). I am hoping that keeping up with communicating about my progress will help hold me accountable for going as often as I should be going.

Must Start Somewhere

Well... I guess there is no time like the present.

I have attempted many different times to be a "blogger" again. Somewhere in the middle of the madness I always tend to lose focus or become uninspired. This time I am hoping it is going to be different. I am going to try to journal my experience through the transformation I am taking through weight loss. At the beginning of the year I was  45 lbs heavier. That is a considerable amount of weight. That is the same amount of weight that my dog is. Not too shabby right? Well over the past 2 months I have started to incorporate exercise. That first 45 lbs was lost on diet alone. I have a few set goals for myself and I am going to start going through the different experiences that I encounter physically and mentally as the journey continues.


A little background information about me... I was a high school varsity tennis captain. Want proof?

Yea... I was pretty decent. Somewhere after high school I became a stereotypical, lazy college student. I gained a considerable amount of weight. Then in 2006, right around the time of my college graduation, I began to lose weight. In about 3 months I lost 30 lbs on Weight Watchers. In July of 2006, I was brought into the hospital for what I assumed to be an ulcer. It turned out that I needed my gall bladder removed. My gall bladder failed because I had lost too much weight too quickly. What a catch 22! After that I began my relationship with my awesome wife, Joanna. Well... Joanna can cook! lol... and we ATE. We were both at our tiniest since high school when we started dating. We each gained 50+ lbs during our first 4 years of our relationship. We are approaching our 5th year since we began dating and we are about 10 lbs away from what we were back in 2006.

The year 2012 is right around the corner and we are striving for a lot of things within the near future. Talks of a big (official) wedding and family are in the front of our minds and we refuse to do it while in our fluffy bodies. I am on a hunt for things that will work for me in terms of diet, exercise and life style change.

Fortunately, I have gotten rid of a lot of enablers in my life. While Joanna and I have both agreed as of recently that we are each others enablers, we have also decided that we will try to learn to communicate better about how we are feeling about everything. To bring this to a close, I figured I would show a little bit of the progress I have made within the last 12 months. Here you go!

45 (or more) lbs ago in December 2010

11.18.2011 for Joanna's 30th Birthday ... I have not been able to wear this outfit since 2006