CliffA74

My Results: 1. Exercise five times a week: X A smashing failure! It did help that I joined an early morning generic crossfit/bootcamp class at my gym at 5:15am at the beginning of the month, but it is only twice a week, Tues/Thurs. But I've been pretty faithful to that schedule. With the highest of intentions to do more.... 2. KB Swings: X Partial Success, partial failure!! I still can't go over 30, but I am learning how to swing without hurting myself, which was a big part of this goal. And now with an ex-crossfit guy showing me how to swing correctly, I can hit this goal later. 3. Lose 10 lbs: X I have swung up and down with my weight, but Net Weight loss during the challenge was only 2 pounds as of this morning. But all of my pants are feeling better, so that's better. 4. Run 5K in 30 mins or less: X But I can now run a 5K again! That's an improvement. My time is not what I want, but it will improve as I devote more time to it. So I'm only mostly dead, which is good, because mostly dead still means partly alive! We'll do better next time. Thanks, Cliff

For the Record, I was 190 lbs yesterday morning. Again. I loose weight during the week and then gain it all back on the weekend. And I do have "before pics." There's just no need to subject folks to them without a happy ending. Thanks again, Cliff

OK, Clarification of goals: 1. Must exercise 5 times in 7 days, even if it's just The Royal Court or a somewhat leisurely stroll. 2. I have a 35#/1pood KB. The goal is not just to do 75 poorly executed swings that will break my back. I want good form, and to feel great afterwards. Why not choose 100? If I do 100, I'll be thrilled, and so will you. 3. I actually only need to lose 8 to hit my goal, but what the heck, shoot for the moon with two additional pounds! I am getting close to those final few pounds that can be so hard to lose. The body/mind fights against it. But I did it before, I can do it again. The harder challenge is maintenance, but that's for another challenge. 4. When I was at my running best, my 5K time was 27 minutes and some change. I thought I was a stud. I wish to return to my studly ways. My big goal is just to get back to where I was before. Then, we can build faster, bigger, stronger from there. For some more info on little old me, feel free to read this. Thanks, Cliff

Its 1145 pm central time, so I'm scooting this in under the wire. I'll add more detail later, but here's the jist: 1. exercise 5 times a week ( currently struggling to hit 4) 2. 75 consecutive kettle bell swings 3. Lose 10 pounds 4. Run a 5K in 30 minutes or less, without stopping. Admitedly modest goals, but I have been struggling to achieve them for months. And this would get me back to where I was before I fell off the wagon due to having kids. More later. Excelsior! Cliff

Pullups are a worthy goal. Just being able to do one puts you far and away over the majority of Americans. I'll be silently cheering you onfrom the sidelines. Have fun, Cliff

Athena, Nice to meet you. I did body weight exercises for years, and am a huge fan. But I have some kettlebells sitting around that i got as Christmas gifts years ago, and really have never used them all that much. Every once in awhile, butno consistency. Partly because they are hard, partly because I get distracted and do something else. So I'm going to make a go of them. As to diet, I still have the Weight watchers points bouncing around in my head, so they influence me. I will start tracking again if I'm still plateaued in a couple of weeks. I have vegetarian/vegan leanings, but I've tried Paleo. Maybe I'm a Pollanist, as I think his Food Rules make the most sense: 1. Eat Food 2. Mostly Plants 3. Some Meat Thanks again, Cliff

Vacation ends tonight. And yes, you can exercise on vacation, even a family vacation, even when you have kids. Yes, I've done that before. Never with two kids, one off whom is still being nursed, but I'm sure its possible. And I'll learn how, that's part of the journey, part of the adventure. Thanks for the welcome! Cliff

Thanks, d00slip! I appreciate the welcome. I had been lurking here for a bit, and everyone here seems pretty positive, supportive and willing to kick you in the backside when needed. Sounds like my kind of place.

Hey everybody, My name is Cliff and I'm here to join The Rebellion! Where I've been: I was happily on my way to morbid obesity with a BMI over 36 (260 pounds, 5'11") when I got tired of buying bigger jeans, again. I had been playing around in the weight room in college, even took several strength conditioning courses and thought i knew what I was doing. But you can't out train your diet, especially when you eat crap. Long story short: joined Weight Watchers, got skinny, got married, got fat, then my wife and I rejoined, we also discovered how to train hard/effectively and we got healthy and fit. We were training for races, having fun, then we had two kids. So we are starting over, but not back at Square One. More like Oval 13. What I bring to the table: I have tried just about every diet out there. Some bad ones, some good ones, and ones that work. Through my own self experimentation, reading, obsessively watching Biggest loser and medical training, I know a thing or two about a thing or two. I have also played around with most of the major strength training protocols, except for Westside. I used the Charles Atlas system for a couple of years after my back injury, so I'm quite comfortable with bodyweight exercises and isometrics, dynamic tension. I have completed several rounds of P90X, one round of P90X2 and one round of Insanity (though I did not get the T-shirt). I have really enjoyed Crossfit and generic knock offs thereof. I have completed a half marathon, but just barely and I'm in no shape to try again any time soon. My Goals: I want to get my body weight back to 180-185. I want to master the kettlebell, not just play around with it from time to time. I have a series of races I want to complete: half marathon, marathon, then start doing triathlons. I also enjoy adventure/mud races. I did one two years ago and loved it, even though it kicked my butt. (and that was back when I was in shape. ) There are other goals: 100 consecutive pushups, 15 pullups ( I completed my lifetime goal of 10 three years ago!), stuff like that. That's bucket list stuff. I'm thinking of linking the races to my leveling up. The kettelbell "mastery" as well, but that's hard to define. Suggestions welcome. All this while staying gainfully employed, being a good husband and good father to my kids who are 2.5 years and 6 weeks old as of now. That's the biggest hurdle. I'l start my workouts again Monday, start tracking my food again as well. The baby is sleeping a little bit more, so we can start to ease out of survival mode and start towards progress again. I'll track my workouts here, so feel free to drop by and yell at me to do more. Glad to be here. Excelsior! Cliff