wxstormer

OK, Week 2 is done.. I thought this week was lazy because I didn't walk/swim for two days, but I kicked butt on the 5 days that I did. I completed 13 miles combined walking/swim-walking (which I did for two days). Strength training is so-so... Diet has been better. I've been eating better, but apparently not well enough.. Challenge Quest 1: A Challenge Quest 2: C Challenge Quest 3: B Bonus Quest: Incomplete Life Quest: 0 for the week... I want my weight to drop and my HDL to go up, but neither has budged too much.. It was actually suggested to me to actually do a little bit of alcohol imbibement to help my HDL levels, but I have to think about that one... Tonight is practice night (I'm a musician with a community band and we are getting ready for the 4th of July concert), but I'll walk afterwards (needs to be a 3-miler, but we'll see how I feel).. I'll probably do some swim-walking the rest of the week with a little bit of walking in the evening. That's it for now...

http://www.blacklightrun.com/ It kinda is the nighttime equivalent to the Color Run 5K....

OK, I double dipped today. Did 45 minutes of swim running and some time chilling with a new friend I met yesterday at the pool after work. When I got home, Rudy, my Chocolate Lab looked at me with his mournful eyes, so I gave in and took him on a 1.5 mile walk. So needless to say I am pretty exhausted. I haven't seen much weight loss, but I have noticed I'm getting stronger and things aren't fitting the same as they used to. So maybe I'm losing an inch here and there or gaining muscle. I don't know... I need to lose the weight, though. I think I might reward myself with doing the San Antonio Blacklight Run in San Antonio the day before the end of the challenge (though the Austin one next weekend is closer, but I have a crap load of things to do the following day). Seems like it would be fun and it isn't timed so I don't have to feel the "suckitude" of my slowness... I need to work on speed, but right now it is more endurance. I'll probably do 3+ miles each on Sat/Sun nights. Tomorrow will be short because of Doctor's appointment and it is my Call Of Duty night...

Actually made it to the gym this evening while I was generating an deployment image at work (90 minutes to run this), so I did some water walking tonight. I ended up doing 28 trips back and forth (so 28x50m) and a few floats with upper arm motion. My legs are sore. Water walking is great for resistance training... I don't know what I'm doing tomorrow. I'm supposed to go to the Web Dev Meetup, but may skip it and get more gym time in. It's too bad that I there isn't any gym nearby (affordable) that has a pool... 375 on the manual scale in the gym locker room, so it corroborates my electronic scale.. Need to get the weight down some more...

You still can do anything. What you notice as you get older is the world seems to go by much faster. What feels like a week to me now would be like a month back when I was in college (well, the first time in college). Vices - I've forced myself to conquer many of them. I stopped soft drinks in May 2012 and haven't touched one since (and truly haven't wanted one for at least the last 18 months). I was never into alcohol (my father was an alcoholic and I swore to never be like that). As for "Certain media", I'm a guy, so yes, that is a small issue... Diet is my biggest vice - I live in Central Texas and we have awesome BBQ, which happens to be my favorite food. I try to be careful, but portion sizes aren't my friend. I've also had to wean myself off of sweet tea - I swear that is evil - more sugar than soft drinks. I succumb to the temptation to just sleep instead of working out. Or staying at the office too late to go to the gym. Eating out way too much. Getting angry with myself... I'm a sucky gamer. I just don't have enough time. I'm working on a big deployment at the office for the past three months and still have one more month to go. So my XBOX turns on only for Clan Night on Fridays (Pork Chop Platoon for COD/Battlefield) and I can't remember when I had time for PC games like Minecraft, WoW, or Starcraft - maybe February. I'm hoping things finish so my stress level decreases and I can have some free time. I'd love to go to camp, but I'm afraid that I would just go hide in my room all day (my Aspie-ness)... But it will be a good experience. I'll see more as the time gets closer...

I've been promising the gym for myself too, but haven't made it since the challenge started. So I hear ya on that. Diet can be hard. I had bad days on last Friday (date night) and last night. We just need to make sure we have more good days than bad days. My example is stopping soft drinks cold turkey a bit over two years ago. Hard as hell at the time, but keeping it up became easier as time went on. We need to establish a good pattern and it will become easier over time. Another thing that I've been doing that might help is to do a quick bodyweight workout in the morning. I do a mini version of the Angry Birds Workout (http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2011/03/10/angry-birds-workout-plan/) just to get the blood flowing in the morning - this helps me not feel guilty about not working out enough. 5 minutes is a good start.

(I haven't had it done, but a few friends have had weight-loss surgery). One thing that these friends have noted is that there is a process you go through (particularly with insurance paying for a surgery) where you must go through the fitness round to see if you can lose weight naturally and a lot of nutritional education before they even start the process. My friend had to wait over a year before he could do the surgery. After the surgery, he lost 150 pounds.. I probably should consider it myself because I'm at about your weight (I'm in the 25 lb + loss range right now), but I think it is too risky for me to do (I'm on a blood thinner and a basal insulin).

Hey. Just saw your posting. We have many of the similar goals. Good luck on your journey. And hopefully see ya at camp..

OK, Week 1 completed. My grades are as follows: Quest 1: B. I didn't ever get a chance to do the swimming aspect because I got an infected insect bite which kept me out of the pool (no open sores). I made up for it by doing the 3.4 mile walk with a group of 2.5 mile ones. But I had two days I didn't do any workouts - one when I was just sick and the other one which gives me a +3 on my Life Quest. Quest 2: C. I'm starting Body Weight, but I haven't been too successful to start. I've been doing more time for #1 above than 2. Quest 3: A. Different diet. We'll see. Bonus Quest: I have been keeping the average speed the same. But my activity heart rate has dropped. I stayed around 108-115 last night during a 2.5 mile walk and only getting to 138 when going up the tallish hill. EDIT: Forgot to add that I went out on a date Friday night.. We'll see how this week goes...

Yup. I'm a member of that FB Group... I may need to miss Hamilton Pool if I can't get my lawnmower fixed this week...

Day 2. I had to abandon the idea of weight and water workout because I (1) forgot my gym bag and lock, and (2) I left my flip-flops at home, so there was no way I was going to shower.. So... I decided to walk 3.4 miles last night (MapMyRun said 3.18, but the GPS screwed up at the mid point of my walk, so I lost about .22 miles and my speed is screwed up). I stayed pretty consistent at 2.7 miles per hour and my heart rate never got above 143. My heel felt like crap this morning, but I did do a lot of wear and tear on it.. Also, I can't walk my dog on this long of a walk again. He was actually slowing me down towards the end... Saw the doctor this morning. My A1C is now 6.8 (was 10.2 in March), with a fasting glucose of 94. She was happy. I was wanting a lower A1C. Everything else looked OK except my HDL level went down (neither of us understand that one - from 32 to 28 - both of which are low). Overall was 175. Triglycerides were cut in half (literally 225 to 112). As for Dr. advice, she wants my workout pulse to consistently be between 150~160 as much as possible. Even last nights walk didn't raise me up much other than the hills. Also, for muscle development, I guess I'm on body weight type things (for now). She is concerned about me tearing up my knees. Will try the water workout tonight. I need to get over my fear of being submerged and actually try to start swimming for real too... I also proved that I can do a 5K in 69 minutes. Still a pathetic time, but I'd like to cut that to the 50's... It's possible. I haven't been pushing myself on speed until I could find out what my goal maximum heart rate was (once I hit 150~153, I stopped jogging). Weight down 1.9 pounds..

As somebody who is just a bit older than you with similar goals, I wish you incredible luck on your journey (and defeat Xur and the Ko-dan Armada)

Day 1 down. I didn't do the two mile walk - I actually only ended up doing 1.2 miles, but it was lightning and starting to drizzle. With the humidity and almost breathing water, it was one of my hardest walks. Had some bananas and corn yesterday for quest #2. Today is weights/water-walking/running day. As for Bodyweight - I was always thinking that there isn't much there that I can do other than pushups. It's impossible for me to do a pull-up. If I use the assisted machine at the gym, I can do one when I use all of the weight of the machine (which means I'd pull up just under 200 pounds). I have a free personal trainer session tomorrow. I may see if they can show me how to use the TRX system which is pretty much all body weight (and looks like a kick ass way of doing weights that I could do at home). I do this exercise (http://www.criticalbench.com/exercises/pics/stability-ball-squat2.jpg) a few times. Not sure how you'd classify it, but it does make me sore.

Some friends of mine did the ColorRun. It was awesome. I might do that for my 5K challenge.. You can rock it...

I know what you are going through on your first subquest. I've had to do most of that in the past two months when I was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes. It is tough, but can be done. You'll do awesome. Kick ass...

It will be a few weeks before I get my bell peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, and squash from my garden. Fresh veggies.. The problem is that I generally don't give myself enough time to eat them... I saw someone talking about dehydrating things and then eat them that way. That would work. I also will be grabbing some fresh corn and green beans if I can get them.. Fruits I have to watch for blood sugar reasons. I like bananas, strawberries, apples, and pears. Most of which are bad for me. But I think just eating them will help. Will probably be opening a battlelog posting with picture accountability in the next few days. I'm also still weighing going to the Camp in September. I'm just afraid that I am going to be in over my head (though I would love doing Humans vs Zombies again - I did it two years ago when I went back to school to get a second degree and I enjoyed being a Zombie... ) Oh, the information I left out of the original post is that I'm a 42 year old guy from the Central Texas area. If anyone ever is down in New Braunfels going tubing or Schlitterbahn, look me up...

Me. I have a long way to go. I'm hoping that starting this will make me keep following the path that I must follow... My Challenge Thread My Introduction Thread

Greetings fellow rebels. I'm ready to storm the mountain that is my stubborness and bad lifestyle that has led me to be extremely overweight. I was recently diagnosed as a Type II Diabetic and currently take a basal insulin. I like walking and hiking. I cannot bike at all unless I find a good recumbent or recumbent trike. I'm a newbie at fitness - I never was good at it. In Middle School, I was always one of the last ones to complete the required runs and I loathed anything to do with running. I used to play racquetball, but I am not in shape enough to do it. My Character: I'm an Ogre Adventurer My Main Quest: I need to lose 150 pounds by the end of next year (I would prefer faster, but I need to remain realistic and 10 pounds a month is realistic). This will allow me to complete a surgery that will greatly improve my quality of life but is currently too dangerous for me to do (and no, it isn't a weight reduction surgery). My (Shorter) Term Quest: I want to be able to do a 5K. I probably won't be able to run, but I want to do a sub-60 minute 5K by the end of summer. Challenge Quest 1: Swim Run at least 2 miles a week at the gym (twice a week) and walk/jog for at least 2 miles each day I don't do the gym work. I currently do this for 4-5 days a week, but I need to extend the time and intensity. Grading: A - Completed for at least 39 of the 42 days B - Completed between 30-39 of the 42 days C - Completed between 25-30 of the days F - Less than 25 days Reward: +STA (3 for A, 2 for B, 1 for C, 0 for Failure) Challenge Quest 2: I need to start doing some strength training in earnest. I will start safe strength training using machines while I learn proper form then migrate to free-weights. I'd like to increase the weight each week of the challenge. Grading: A - Strength Training for 3 days a week B - Strength Training for 2 days a week C - Strength Training at all F - I'm a wuss. Reward: +STR (3 for A, 2 for B, 1 for C, 0 for Failure) Challenge Quest 3: I need to change my diet more. I will eat a vegetable and a fruit every day (this will be a harder challenge than 1 and 2 for me) and continue to strictly limit sugar and carbs from my life. Grading: A - Completed 90% of the time. B - Completed 70-89% of the time. C - Completed 50-69% of the time. F - Less than 50% of the time. Reward: +CON (3 for A, 2 for B, 1 for C, 0 for Failure) Bonus Quest: This is related to Quest 1 from above. I'd like to increase my speed while walking. I can jog, but only for about 45 seconds before my heart rate spikes. I'm attempting to increase my speed by mixing walking with short bursts of jogging. This quest is to increase these spurts by a few seconds each until I become accustomed and fit enough to attempt actual jogging. Reward: +STA (3 for success 70% of time, 0 otherwise) Life Quest: I'm tired of being a lonely single shy guy. I want to make new friends that I can go do things with. This will involve me actually talking to people. If I find a girl I like, ask her on a date. Reward: +CON (1 for new friend, 3 for date) Real Life Reward for Completing Challenge (Part 1 of 2): I'll do this reward if I complete two challenges (this being part 1 of 2). Fly to Seattle and hang out with a friend who has just moved there and do some hiking in Mt. Rainier National Park. It was fun when I last did it 8 years ago. Plus it will get me out of the house. My Motivation: I've been like this for way to long. I have a need to have surgery to correct an internal issue, but the seven plus hours of anesthesia would be extremely risky for me in this step. Losing the weight will make this surgery possible and would reduce an irritant that I must live with daily that interferes with me living a happy life. I'm also unhappy with the effect of my weight on my self esteem. Starting Measurements (some are estimated): Body Weight: 378.2 pounds (Down 20 pounds since April) Resting HR: 74 bpm Waist (measured just below belly button): 53 inches Shoulders: 64 inches Hip: 50 inches

I can say it does get easier. I quit all soft drinks on May 11, 2012 and after about 3 months, you won't miss them. Even now, the smell of a Coke almost makes me want to puke... I switched to water, then primarily tea, then primarily sweet tea and found that sweet tea is much worse than soft drinks ever were. Went to the doctor in March and had a fasting sugar of 228. So since April 1, I have cut pure sweet tea out. I now drink unsweet tea and water (or water with the little drink packets). Beer/Alcohol isn't a problem because I may have it once a year or so...

Me too. I just stop running when I start up the big incline heading up to my house It'd probably be easier (but much less convenient) to go drive somewhere flatter.

I'll drop by sometime (signed up on the FB page this weekend) since I'm just down the road in New Braunfels. The question I have is if the activities are too intense for a rank amateur? I'm working, but I still have a long way to go.

Hey everyone. If you are in need of a workout buddy and live near New Braunfes, San Marcos, or Seguin, TX, hit me up. I'm a beginner still and suck doing most things, but I want to learn to be better. However, I have found that two (or more) is better.

Greetings and Salutations... I'm a fellow nerd who needs to get a restart on life. I'm of the older variety and need lots of help. I'm currently 42 years old type II diabetic who weighs an embarrassing 378 pounds (though I have lost almost 20 pounds since being diagnosed as a type 2 in March) and am approximately 6'-1". I'm in the Central Texas area (think between Austin and San Antonio). In my past life, I was an engineer (environmental), but now I'm more a programmer and infosec type person. My calls to geekery? I'm an engineer. Isn't that enough. I'm also a gamer (to a small extent, I still suck) on either of the XBox systems (wxstormer is my gaming tag - so hit me up if you want target practice). I just finished a computer science program (to transition out of engineering). I'm an Aspie (well, more particularly I'm a high functioning autistic who wasn't diagnosed until 3 years ago). What Am I Doing Now? I have been trying to maintain a "workout" at least 4 to 5 times a week. Generally this has been using 2 mile walks at differing speeds around my neighborhood. However, I think I have progressed from this (by pulse rate rarely goes above 125 walking anymore) and am starting to do something similar to the C25K program where I have an interval of jogging then walking. I started that on Saturday and my ankles have been killing me. I also have been following a keto diet to some extent and minimizing the carbs I get in a day. My diet is a wreck, though... There are many foods that either make me sick or interfere with a medication that I take. Therefore, my diet consists of meat (beef, pork, chicken, turkey are all acceptable) and a limited variety of veggies (tomatoes, lettuce, cabbage, carrits, corn, peas, green beans, onion, garlic, bell peppers, and potatoes [which I am trying to stop]). I don't do any type of strength training yet. I've been told that I have bad form, but I need to get back in shape. What Do I Plan Doing? Work on a modified C25K plan to build my walking/running stamina. I can do a 5K walking, but I'm doing 22 minute miles. That just sucks. I'd like to do this at least 3-4 times a week. My challenge is that I live on the top of a hill, so I never get a cooldown period and must think about doing one myself. Hit a gym and start doing a little bit of strength training. I have strength, but they are in my hands and legs. I have a difficult time carrying a 50 pound bag of concrete. When I was back in college for the CS degree, I had a workout buddy that kinda got me started. I think the most I benched was like 90 pounds using free-weights or 110 on the machine (I'm a scaredy cat when it comes to free-weights). Leg presses are no problem. I never tried any squats. I need and want to do all of these things. Change my diet. I'm trying to eat more veggies, but my diet still sucks. My Goals (in order that I would like to complete them): I'd like to be able to hike more. I used to hike trails in the Austin and Seattle area, but I'm not in shape enough to do it anymore. I'd like to be able to walk a 5K (I can walk one now, but my time is horrible). I'd like to be able to run a 5K. I'd like to be able to run a 10K. I'd like to be able to snowboard (haven't been on real snow, so this would be a challenge). Go climb a mountain. Find a life partner and marry her.. this will be my hardest one.. Other random things: I'm a musician in a local community band - tuba. I'm a sound guy at church. I'm a storm spotter and amateur meteorologist. Gaming World: wxstormer on XBox360/1 playing mainly BF and the CoD games (with a little bit of Titanfall). I'm a member of an Adults-only recreational gaming clan (PorkChopPlatoon) and am used frequently for shooting practice. In lieu of having someone as a workout accountability partner, I use a twitter feed where I post my walks/runs/activity/weight log/blood sugar log/etc. I feel that if I'm out in the open enough, I can disgust myself enough to push forward. You can see this using twitter ID: @jeffreyfitness (http://twitter.com/jeffreyfitness). I'm also on MapMyRun with the username jeffreycentex, so feel free to friend me or whatever. If you are in need of an accountability partner, let me know. I know I sure need one.

Hey. I'm joining your club other than I'm 12 years older than you and about 50 more pounds. Diagnosed as Type II back in March after a BS episode of 350. Now I'm down to 110's with a long acting basal insulin (beats all of the side effects of the other diabetes drugs).