tewardo

I agree about weighing yourself every day. I weigh myself every morning right after my "morning ritual." I make a game out of guessing what the number will be based on what I ate the previous day and whether I ran or not. I am much less likely to care about fluctuations up or down when I weigh every day, as I know it will level out. When I weighed in weekly, an unexpected number would frequently result in panic, depression, and then avoiding the scale altogether, resulting in more weight gain.

Three problems come up for me (I have lost 150 pounds in the past year): 1. Loose skin - my skin has not shrunk with the rest of me. Because of the loose skin on my upper arms, stomach, and thighs, I set off the body scanners in airports and have to get a full body pat-down every time. 2. Loss of butt padding - I can't sit on hard wooden chairs any more! I feel like I need to carry a seat cushion with me everywhere! 3. I went from size XXL, where it was hard to find clothes in my size in a department store, to a Small/Slim Fit, where it is also hard to find clothes my size in a department store! But the benefits far outweigh the inconveniences. I'm not going back!

Ran 6.25 miles this morning, did my exercise routine this evening. Spent a half hour on the phone with a former key player at NASA during Apollo and Shuttle - he has ringingly endorsed my project and offered to help however he can! He says that I am the first person he has met who is interested in telling the story of Apollo from the perspective I have chosen, and he thinks this is a very worthwhile project. I'm stoked!

Not sure when the next challenge is going to start, but here are my goals in advance: (1) Continue running 20 miles per week, including one run of at least 8 miles. Maintain pace of below 10 min/mile for all runs under 10k. Shoot for training pace of 10:30 for long runs (adjusted for temperature where necessary to avoid heat exhaustion). (2) Morning workout daily. By end of the 6 weeks, be doing one circuit on days when I run, and two circuits on days when I am not running. (3) Maintain weight below 160. (4) Finish 3-level outline of book, review and document 100 references, and begin writing.

WOW! That's really amazing!

At the end of the 6-week challenge, here's my progress against goals: Attributes at start of Challenge: Strength 1 | Dexterity 1 | Stamina 4 | Constitution 2 | Wisdom 4 | Charisma 3 Goals for the current Challenge: (1) Run a minimum of 20 miles per week: +2 CON, +1 DEX. Achievement: Slightly below plan. One week I could only do 12 miles because of illness and travel, and the next week was only 17 miles. However, I have 20 or more miles running for the past 4 weeks in a row. Giving myself on-plan award +2 CON, +1 DEX. (2) Start doing "The Morning Workout" (attached) 4 times per week - initially at 1 time through the routine each day, working up to 2 times per day by the end of the challenge. Achievement: Below plan but trending better. Have only been able to do this 4 times a week for the past three weeks. I am noticing definite changes in my strength and how my upper arms look. I was unable to do any "standard" push-ups at the beginning of the challenge, and I did 20 today after my run. I am also noticing that my waist is trimming. My water belt kept slipping down during today's long run; it fit well at the beginning of the challenge and I haven't loosened it at all. On plan award is +3 STR, +2 CHA. Awarding myself +1 STR +1 CHA. (3) Maintain weight at or below 160 pounds: +1 CON, +1 CHA. Achievement: No problem. Weight has been between 149 and 156 this entire period, with today's weight 154.3. Awarding myself full points, +1 CON, +1 CHA. (4) Complete the outline of my book and send it to three people to review. potential award: +5 WIS. Achievement: Slightly below plan but trending well. An outline was perhaps an unrealistic goal, given that I needed to do a lot of research to determine an appropriate scope and avoid duplicating others' work. I have narrowed it down to a manageable scope with interesting topics, and have sent my ideas to three people, all of whom are excited about what I am doing and are already contributing material for inclusion. Awarding myself +4 WIS.

(Enter apparition of Borgo's Father, as if in a dream. He speaks.) Well done, my son, well done. Truly have thy squats and chin-ups earned thee a place of valour amongst the immortals in the realm of the Iron Disks and Bars. Methinks thou deservest a night of debauchery and frothy quaffs! But resteth thee too long canst thou not. Across the vast wastes of Phartnot stands the Castle Nugget, thy ancestral homeplace. Thy true reward awaitest thee thence. Only if thou are truly light as a feather and fleet of foot canst thou traverse the lava fields of Hotphoot which surround yon Nugget. Entry therein necessitatest thou liest aback, slide craftily neath the heavy portcullis, and push it skyward with thy manly arms. Once therein, seekest thou the Key to Geedunk, which I think I left lying under a 13-Stone boulder somewhere. Once thou findest the Key, thou will knowest what to do. Be watchful for the Dancing Horses of August, which will appear when you are offered many succulent meats. You may see me there. Fail me not, my son! (Exit Father, to great applause)

You've made quantifiable, demonstrable progress. Great work!

Ran 4 miles yesterday and 5 miles today. I haven't run 3 days in a row before, and I'm really feeling it today. Also did my Morning Workout, albeit at 10 pm. Had some really wonderful info from one of the engineers I want to interview. I sent him a list of 30 questions that I wanted to discuss with him over the course of the next couple of weeks. He responded with written answers to all of them, as well as other pages of personal recollections that he had written previously. Jackpot! While I do not have a formal outline for my book, I now have a logical flow and can intelligently describe the book's purpose and approach - at least enough so that people think I'm legit and are willing to give me lots of info.

I survived the final party of the July 4 weekend! I spent all day Saturday feeling like it was Sunday, so I finally gave in an agreed to let myself think that it was indeed Sunday. That way, I got a "free" day when actual Sunday arrived. I needed the day off from working out and from partying, so it was an "enforced quiet" day. Due to a morning meeting, I was unable to do my run in the morning, so I had to wait until 4:30 pm, when it was 85 degrees outside. I managed 5k in 29 minutes. I had hoped to go farther, but that pace was not sustainable in the heat and humidity. I preceded the run with a 40-minute walk with the dogs and one run-through of the Morning Workout routine. Work on my book has really begun to blast off at this point. I have been put in contact with several engineers already and have some interviews scheduled this week. I woke up in the middle of the night last night (during a thunderstorm) and lay awake for about an hour with a suddenly-clear vision of how the book will be organized and how the story will flow. I stayed awake to run it through several times in my mind so I wouldn't forget it when I woke up today.

All goals complete this week! (1) Ran 6.25 miles Thursday and 6.75 miles today, to finish the week at 20 miles. It was 85 degrees when I ran this afternoon, so I slowed the pace down to 10:20/mile to avoid collapsing. Otherwise, all runs this week were under 10 minutes/mile. (2) Did the Morning Workout 4 times this week. I'm up to 17 pushups now before I have to switch over to the easier style. Slow improvement, but improvement. (3) Weight was 154 this morning. Not bad considering that I have been partying and dining out since July 4. Still below my threshhold of 160. (4) Had a conversation with a fellow who is publishing 2 books on KSC. My scope does not overlap his. He gave me some great ideas and encouragement, and he is going to introduce me to people I should interview! All in all, a very successful week. I'm feeling sore and tired today, but glad I've done what I committed to do.

Set a new PR running yesterday, 3 miles averaging 8:54/mile on an outdoor course. The blasted weather pattern we are stuck in has produced nothing but rain all day today, so I'm taking a rest day from running. I have done the Morning Workout twice this week. Today I did 12 regular pushups followed immediately by 13 girlie ones - first time doing 25 pushups in one stretch. The rest of the routine is getting easier. I will be preparing to add a second run through the circuit by the end of the week most likely. Special-ordered and received the one other book I needed in order to verify that the scope of my prospective book hasn't been done before. However, I have learned that an acquaintance of mine is working on a pictorial history of KSC which may overlap some of what I want to do. I am scheduling a conversation with him for later this week. This morning's weigh-in was 152.3, still right where I want to be. Had bison steak on the grill last night - very low fat, about 1/3 fewer calories than an equivalent beef steak, and very tasty!

Finished a pretty good week on my goals. (1) Ran 4.5 miles today to finish with a total of 22 miles for the week (goal of 20), with every run done at a pace under 9:40 mins/mile, despite the heat and humidity! (2) Did the Morning Workout 3 times (goal of 4). Still working on it, but it's getting easier now and I'm less likely to avoid it. Did "real" push-ups today - 10 at first, then 5 more a few minutes later, then another 8 at the end of the circuit. That's a definite improvement over the first time I tried it. (3) Today's weight was 150.1. I have been below my "ceiling" weight (160) for 3 months now - I feel I am successfully maintaining it. Somewhere between 1800-2000 calories a day (intake minus calories burned during exercise) seems to be a good level. (4) Have started working through my queue of reference materials (over 200 publications and books need to be reviewed) for researching my book. Have reached out to several Apollo-era engineers for permission to interview them. I averaged 3 hours a day working on this project this week - that feels like a real win.

4 miles running in the high humidity this morning at 9:40 pace. Did my "morning workout" routine after a 1-mile cool down walk with the dogs. Did a total of 31 "girlie" push-ups (16 and 15). Maybe time to start moving to regulation push-ups. Weight went up slightly during the party weekend, but stayed below 160. It was water weight...lost 1.5 pounds of it last night. Have centralized in one computer folder 16 gigs of NASA pdf's to use as reference material. Got agreement in principle from a former NASA engineer to encourage his fellow retirees to talk to me for the book.

Another run on the treadmill at the hotel this morning, this time a 5k in 28 minutes flat, another PR. Only one 15-second walk break, as I was getting started and waiting for breakfast to settle down. I ran the last 1.1 miles at 7 mph, no problem! My heart rate was only 153 at the end. I know that treadmills aren't ideal and aren't always accurate, but I like the ability to set a constant, challenging speed and be forced to keep up with it. When you only get pace feedback every quarter mile with Runkeeper out on the road, a lot of variability creeps into the system.