smurray

Good job at the wedding. I am glad to see the first week going well for you.

Week 1/ days 5,6,7 Diet- I can sum up the weekend in in three little words, "Crash and Burn". We do not have to get in the details of the employee appreciation lunch on Friday, or the neighborhood Flag Day picnic on Saturday, or the Father's Day celebrations on Sunday. We just need to say the diet was nonexistent during this weekend. I could beat myself up over this, but that won't do any good. This weekend is a sunk cost of a bad dietary investment and it is time to put it behind me and do better this week. Exercise- I had to squeeze in a work out in between work and a musical my kids were in, so that was a win. It was short, but a very intense circuit routine. Saturday I had to pick up my wife's car from the downtown party we went to the night before. I just made it a part of the Saturday morning jogging route and drove it back home after my run. Sunday is my rest day, but the kids got me out on the bike for a few minutes. It wasn't hard riding at all and was less than two miles total, but it was a fun time with the kids. Improvement- I was able to squeeze in about 30 minutes of practice on Sunday night after the kids went to bed. It took some energy to get me out of the Lazy Boy to go back in the bedroom to practice. I am telling you, this weekend was packed with activities. I made it through some of my drills, and the girls got me a guitar strap and picks for Father's day, so I had to try them out as well. I could tell I was spent since I was having a hard time hold down the strings to get a decent sound. I did work more on strumming and rhythm for this practice session.

Week 1/ Day 4 Diet- It was a little rough today but not too bad. I did max out on calories, but stayed close to my goals. I have to admit, I did have fried chicken and yes, I did eat the skin. I did skip on the rolls and had only green beans and carrots as sides. Dinner I had a broccoli and raisin salad from the deli counter at one of our grocery stores and it was pretty good. There was not any cheese and the dressing was not heavy at all in the mix. I didn't find an ingredient list on it, but from the way it tasted, it seemed to fall within my guidelines. Having to get to class right after work makes it a challenge for dinner on Thursday. Exercise- My early morning group did not talk politics today, so we got in our full workout. Yea!!! Sometimes I will add a lunch workout on one of these days, but instead I had lunch with my wife. Since she is a teacher and cannot get away during the school yearwe only get to do this in the summer or class breaks. She also has our kids in a day camp for the week, so we got ourselves a little lunch date. Improvement- I had class tonight, so guitar has to wait.

I am feeling the 6 min plank the next day. That was rough. I am looking forward to my next time on the guitar. It was fun. Of course the tips are being put back in their banks. My girls have very giving hearts and I am proud of them for that.

I do the steamer vegetables at work as well. I keep it in the freezer and throw it in the microwave and BAM! a bowl of broccoli to chow down on. Keep up the good work.

Week1/ Day 3 Diet- I had a good day. I stayed on task and stayed within my nutrional guidelines. I ate more meat than veggies for the day, which is okay every once in awhile, but I don't need that as a habit. I did check the scale and I have shaved off about 8 lbs, which of course is mostly water weight. Exercise- I had a really busy day at work, but I did make time for a workout. At my fitness center, they have a program called "Member of the Month" and employees select a member they believe has really shown improvement in their health or continues to be an example of healthy living. Well, this month I was selected as member of the month. So the past couple of weeks i have been getting congrats from friends and family who are members and of course trainers. I walked in yesterday and the trainer who did my intital health assesment called out "It's the Member of the Month!" from the front counter and made a big deal about me entering the gym. It was pretty funny, I just hope they don't ramp it up and use the intercom. Anyway, we also have a plank challenge going for the month and you can be timed and have it posted. He challenged me to do it by saying, "You're the Member of the Month, you need to set an example." I told him I would give it a try. After I changed clothes, he asked if I was ready, but I told him I wanted to get my workout in first. I have always done core at the end of my workouts and I feel odd doing it at the beginning. He said ok and then he mentioned that he was really impressed at how much I have changed since he had first met me. He said that I look like a total different person. That made me feel pretty good. To be honest, I have been watching the tally board on the planks and the numbers had been creeping up making it a pretty good challenge. At the first of June, I timed myself and did 5:05, but I was concentrating on Tough Mudder at the time and wanted to wait till I completed that event. I was thinking I could pull of 6 minutes and that would work. I looked at the board and there were quite a few postings over 5 minutes and one at 6:35 and another at 7:35!!! Well I put myself in the plank position and pulled out 6:05 after my workout. That is a PR and I think I can improve on it. The girl timing me was really impressed with it and couldn't believe I did that after my work out. So I consider this a "win" for the day. Improvement- With homework finished the night before, I had time to play till my fingers bled. I pulled out my little red Hondo guitar, my old book and started to re learn all the chords and fingering drills that a friend of mine had written in the front of the book. I was surprised at how well it was starting to come back to me. Now, I have never been to the point where I can keep a constant rhythm and you could sing along. I am always looking to where to put my fingers and have that hesitated strum when it is time for a chord change in the song. After doing drills for about 20 minutes, I tried a few of the easy songs and my girls came in and tried to sing along. They were so excited to see me with the guitar they would sneak in while I was doing the drills even though their mother had them doing chores. They were also impressed enough with my playing that they tossed into my guitar case a few dollars! We had alot of fun and I look forward to practicing again. Right now my fingers are a little tender while typing this.

Thanks, the pizza wa a little tough to pass up, but I did it. I know the guys I am working out with started their group as a Lenten fast project and when they got into the habit of meeting at 5:00 am, they decided to keep it going. I do appreciate it because it does add varitey to my workout routine and I am developing some pretty good friendships.

Cool, you have a one mile trail you can use for exercise. 4 out of the 6 days we were there, I woke up before anybody else in the family and ran on the jogging trail near my hotel. It might sound crazy, but it got my energy going for the day and I lasted longer than even the kids. The only days I didn't run, I had stayed up past midnight doing laundry and the next day we stayed at the park till midnight. That was rough, but the day we left, I made sure to get in one last run before hitting the road and that helped. I feel your pain man, I really do. I got sugar cravings going on big time right now. Hold strong and you will get by the evil little brownies.

You got this challenge! Good to see you back.

You have some great motivation goals. Keep up the good work.

I just ran across your post and I am really impressed by your willingness to open up and share. You are doing a great job and taking small steps to make big changes is the smartest thing to do. Continue to be honest with yourself and continue to stay focus. I am proud of you man. Keep up the good work and continue to post.

I am going to put in another plug for the Rockabilly Riot Urban Challenge in Downtown Jackson. Last year we had a great turn out and look ofrward to having even more for 2014. It will take place in October, so train hard and mark it on your calendar. https://rockabillyriot.racesonline.com/

week 1/ day2 Diet- Today was pretty good. I got my calorie count within a healthy range for the day and ate mostly vegetables along with some fruit and meat for the day. I may have started a nasty little habit with one of my salads that is a total cheat on paleo. At Subway sandwhich shop you can get any of their sandwhiches as a salad, they just forgo the bread and chop all the items into small managable bites for you. Of course you get dressing, croutons, crackers, and whatever else you would have with a salad. I did the ham salad with all the veggies and minus the cheese, crackers, croutons, and dressing, but added Funyuns. If you don't know Funyuns, they are onion flavored, ring shaped, cornmeal based crisps, and not paleo whatsoever. I have to admit, it was pretty good and fun to eat. Anyway, I will not make that into a habit. Other than that, everthing else was within guidelines. Exercise- On Tuesday and Thursday mornings, I have a group of men I exercise with at one of our local churches. We do circuit training with light to mid weights, running, and a good deal of calisthenics. After the workout, we take time to share a small devotion, prayer concerns and pray. It was a great change to my routine when I was invited to join this group. On this morning, one of members, who is on the local school board, brought up a concern about a pending decsion discussed in his meeting the night before. It developed a good bit of discussion that began to eat into our workout time. We did increase our intensity for the workout to try to make up for the lost time, but it was not the same. I was hoping to get another workout in for lunch, but ended up meeting my wife for a "happy Funyun" salad instead. Improvement Goal- I finished up my homework which will give me Wednesday night free to work on the guitar.

That is a good "WHY". That one keeps me going as well. I'll check in on you. Good Luck.

I couldn't believe she got pizza when I had encouraged her to do the diet portion of the challenge with me. I did tell her I was going to stay late at work to study for my class, so when I came home early, she was like "D'oh!". She knew she was busted.

Great Goals. When you get that first pull up, you will remember that moment. It should come sooner than you think with the plan you have laid out. Good luck.

Great goal for Disney. I just went with my family a couple of weeks ago and it made a huge difference with me being in better shape than I was 6 months ago. I counted Disney as part of my endurance training for Tough Mudder. Are you staying on site? I had a great running trail next to our room that encouraged me to keep up my exercise while visiting. Good luck.

week 1/ day1 Not too bad today. I ran Tough Mudder Saturday and got a blister on the inside of my left foot that is slowing me down a little bit. During my work out I concentrated on Pilates and other static movements that helped in joints and muscle recovery and also did have a lot of running required. The workout felt good, but I am ready to start running again. I drastically cut back my calorie intake today as well. I felt pretty good about my meals, but I had to go to the grocery store before dinner and the temptation was there. I manage to survive the store and get home to find my wife showing up with a pizza for dinner. I slid past the pizza towards the kitchen and started cooking bacon and sausage we were needing to cook, and threw in a few eggs with the meal. Talk about big hurdles on the first day of the challenge. I do have some homework I need to finish before starting the guitar practice, but I promise I will get it in this week.

My strength is exercise right now. I will make it to all my workouts. My weakness is staying on track with my eating. I will justify eating for any reason. I will need someone to keep me in check with my diet and make sure I do my daily log.

Ok folks, Once again I have gotten into the habit of doing really good in keeping up with the community and then all of the sudden disappearing off the face of the internet. Well, I decided yesterday it was time for me to come back and as always, I land right on the beginning of a new six weeks challenge. Yippee!! To sum up me in a nutshell, I am a 40 yr old father of two beautiful little girls ages 8 and 6. I have a wonderful wife that supports most of my crazy ideas and I am always a "work in progress". I enjoy spending time with my family, mud runs, and repurposing items in as many ways as possible. My back yard can sometimes look like a scrap yard. I constantly battle with my weight and try to win the fight so I can spend as much time here on this planet with my kids. So far, I succeeded in getting my weight down from an all time high of 269 to 204, ran my first 1/2 marathon, and earned an orange headband in Tough Mudder. But things are not always on the good side. I have also let my weight creep back up to 220 since March, and my diet is not as clean as it was during Lent when I had my best success. So you can see why this challenge is wrapped around maintaining my achievements. here it is: Nutrition goal- 80% paleo. I like food. period. I hate keeping myself from eating food, so I have to compromise. So far my best success has been following my Christian faith. I fast for Lent and enjoy the "bad stuff" during Christmas time and Easter time. Now I am going to fast during Pentacost which is on the opposite side of the calendar from Lent. I am hoping this balance will help me maintain my weight and still allow me to enjoy food and the events in life that revolve around food and still keep a mostly healthy lifestyle. If I am successful like before, I should log my food daily and lose about 10 lbs. Exercise goal- I have really been doing well in this category. I have gotten stronger and faster. I have completed my exercise goals and continue to workout 5 to 6 times a week. To improve my mud runs, I need to lose weight and work more on upper body strength and control. I still have a hard time getting over walls and climbing rope. This goal will have me completing one muscle up. I can get my chin to the bar, now I need to get my butt over it. Improvement goal- I am working on my MBA and still have another year to go. I have not been finding time to improve on other skills. This week I am going to go with the flow and pull out the old guitar. My girls have been begging me and I have not put enough effort into learning songs so they can sing along. This goal is to practice two times a week for 30 minutes each and at the end have at least one song ready for them to sing. time to get to work.

That is awesome with running at the speedway. I was on a student trip and we drove by the speedway during time trails and we heard them make about 4 laps while we went by. I guess the challenge is going fairly good. I have not been updating like I should. It is so hard to get moving during the winter. Exercise is solid, and I have been getting projects completed around the house, but the eating is still needing to be brought under control. Other than that, things are looking okay.

This will be my first half marathon. I have run the mileage several times during training, but it will be the first race. I am really using it as a training goal in preparing for Tough Mudder in June. How was your first half marathon? Did you pretty much stick to your pace during the race?

OK, last challenge I fell off and fell hard. Holidays are crazy and that is not an excuse, just a statement of truth. Gained weight. lost motivation, and stressed out over school was how I ended last year. This year, we will start by getting back to where we left off. Nutrition goal- eat smarter and lose the holiday gain. Get back to logging food and losing 10lbs Exercise goal- Get back to 4 to 5 days a week with at least 3 strength days. Also keeping mileage up for a half marathon in March. Improvement goal- projects at home- I have a break from school since I have credits to skip this next class in my program. I need to get some projects done around the house during this break from school. One project a week. Time to get going.

Back on the wagon!

Holiday mash ups are always fun. And this year we have a legit one of Thanksgiving and the first night of Hanukkah are on the same day. Throw in a dreidel to really mix it up. Hang it there for your challenge. That diet soda is a tough one. I know, I've been there.