Not Much To Say

I know I haven't written much lately. I haven't had a whole lot to talk about unfortunately. I've just been super swamped at work, which as my dad says is "A good problem to have." I guess that's true. It's a lot better being busy and employed than to have an empty schedule and be unemployed. But I'm getting geared up for the big AIDS Walk this Sunday. Thank-you to everyone that has donated money. I really appreciate it. And it's for a great cause. And as far as healthy eating goes, I have another quick recipe for all of you that I put together myself last night. This is not a derivative recipe, it's my own creation. It's just a marinade that I created for some Mahi-Mahi that I cooked last night. This is usually a fish you'll see at a restaurant encrusted in Macadamia nut. Which tastes delicious but does make it a bit less healthy for you. I typically cook mine on our little grill-thingy in our kitchen. It's a great tasting fish and it's usually pretty cheap. I bought two nice cuts of it for $7 last night at Whole Foods. Then I took them home rubbed my new homemade marinade on them and grilled them. I was doing other things in the kitchen at the same time so I can't give you grill times. But my advice to you when cooking fish is place it on the grill and watch how the color starts to change. When it gets opaque up to about 60 percent of the fish and it comes off easily from the grill, then flip it over and let it cook for a bit on the other side. That's about it.

Marinade Recipe(all measurements for ingredients are to taste)

Grape Seed Oil (Good for high temperature cooking, especially stir fry)
Lemon Juice
Salt
Pepper
Ground Ginger
Palm Sugar (Whole Foods has it in the coffee section)

Mix the grape seed oil and the lemon juice first. Taste it. If you like the balance add the salt and pepper. Again taste to see if you like the flavor. Then add the ginger and taste. Then add some palm sugar and taste again. Grape seed oil the other elements will begin to separate fairly quickly so make sure to mix the marinade really well before you coat both sides of the fish with it. That's pretty much it. Serve with whatever side dish you want. I used soy noodles and vegetables last night. I would stay away from a side that is too sweet because the fish and marinade are on the sweeter side. The marinade could also act as a salad dressing too if you want. Eat it and enjoy. And try experimenting yourself and let me know if you come up with any cool healthy recipes that I can try.

A Walk In The Park, Stir-Fry Wok & A Soup Made Of Broc(coli)

This past Saturday was a great opportunity for me to get outside, enjoy the nice but weird weather and do a bunch of walking. But instead of lacing up my sneakers and taking my usual 5 odd mile walk, I decided to take the wife out and we met up with a couple of friends and went to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood. I'll tell you this much, nothing motivates you to get walking quickly then guys dressed up as demon clowns chasing you with chainsaws. They didn't really scare me that much but our friend took off running so we had to hunt her down before she got totally lost in the crowd. We even got to walk a bunch of the backlot as well. They drop you off at Whoville and then you make your way up to the Bates Motel, the Pyscho House and finally a stroll through the crashed plane scene from War of the Worlds. Not only is it mostly dark and scary with people popping out at you left and right, but you get to walk around some of the sets which was really cool. Overall I had a great time. The House of a Thousand Corpses in 3D was a real trip and we got to walk for about 6-7 hours. With limited time sitting. Our feet hurt a lot afterwards though. Then last night I had a couple of firsts in my cooking. First off I made quinoa for the first time. For those of you who have never had it before I highly recommend it. It's a great healthy alternative to rice and couscous because it is not actually a grain. It's grain-like, but is more closely related to beets and spinach. Go figure! I mixed mine with sauteed onions, peppers and shallots. I love shallots. Really good stuff though. I served with some stir fried beef with curry sauce. But the highlight of my cooking last night was definitely the broccoli soup I made. My wife and I for years have been going to this one place here in LA that serves really good broccoli soup. In fact, I like to go there just for the soup, but I also get some chicken to go with it. Anyways, I've been wanting to try making some of my own for awhile now and decided to finally try it out. The one we eat at the restaurant is lighter than mine and has a nice buttery flavor so I'm guessing they use some turnips in their's. Unfortunately, my grocery store didn't have any turnips so I was forced to use actual butter, but I only used a tiny bit. It turned out really well and tasted great. I definitely think I'll be making it again and I'll give you all the recipe as well. As far as everything else goes, I'm getting ready for the AIDS Walk in two weeks. Thanks to all of you who've donated already. For those of you who haven't please go to http://aidswalklosangeles2010.kintera.org/cevanmiller and make one. Every little bit helps so if you can only do $5 please do $5 then. Hope you're all well and thanks again for your support.


BROCCOLI SOUP RECIPE

2 Big bunches of broccoli (the greener the better)
1/2 TBSP. Butter (or turnips for a healthier alternative)
Salt & Pepper to Taste
Large Pot
Blender


Cut the florets from the broccoli, wash and set aside
Fill pot and bring to a rolling boil
Salt the water while it's boiling
Put the florets in the boiling water and salt the top of the broccoli
Boil broccoli until tender but not super soft (cutting them with a knife to test, if knife snaps through, they are done)
Remove broccoli from the water, but don't dump the water, you'll use that as a stock
Place broccoli in a blender and fill about halfway with broccoli stock
Put butter into blender
Season with pepper
Place the lid on the blender and hold it down firmly with a towel (I can't stress this enough)
Do a few pulses with the blender to start breaking the broccoli up then run the blender on liquefy until you get the consistency you want (if you want it thicker use less stock and vice versa)
Check soup for seasoning
Serve

Super duper easy and it tastes great and is great for you. It's an easy way to get yourself to eat broccoli if you don't normally like to eat it. Try it, enjoy it and let me know what you think.

AIDS WALK

I registered to do the AIDS Walk in LA this year. I figured it was a great excuse to motivate myself to continue walking and getting in shape. And it adds a goal to my workout. It's not a very extreme walk, only 10k, so it shouldn't be too bad to do. And as long as it's not 115 out in Mid-October like it was yesterday, I should be able to complete the walk with ease. But I need all of your help as well. I'm trying to raise at least $1000 in donations. I'll be completely honest with all of you, I set that goal for myself so that I can get a Star Fundraiser Crown to wear while I'm walking. Okay that's not the only reason, it is for a really good cause so please help me reach my goal and help continue to fight the good fight against a disease that has affected all of us in some way or another. If you want to give please go to http://aidswalklosangeles2010.kintera.org/cevanmiller and you can donate online. Or if you're more old fashioned you can fill out a donation form and send in a check. I'm really looking to all of you to help me out here. Especially you Deb. Maybe Bigelow Tea would be interested in a little corporate sponsorship for a great cause. I'll wear a Bigelow Green Tea shirt if you guys want. But in all seriousness please check out the site and donate. Every little bit helps...me get that crown...and to continue fighting the battle against AIDS in the U.S.

Liquid Diet Weekend

For those of you who did not know already, Saturday was a day of misery for me. That's right, I had my wisdom teeth removed. Actually it wasn't really all that bad. In fact it was a lot easier than I was expecting. It helps when you have a really good dentist like ours. And the best part was I got to lay around and watch football all weekend. Yay football! But here's the thing though, I wasn't able to eat solid foods for the whole first day and pretty much all of yesterday as well. So instead I survived on protein shakes and soup. Finally later in the day yesterday I was able to eat some grapes and later some chicken. What is it about eating grapes that just always puts me in a good mood? I think it's because it takes me back to the days when I was a kid and I loved to snack on grapes. Or maybe it's because they're really good for you, but still taste like candy so it feels like cheating when it's actually not. Anyways, the weird thing is I thought I'd be starving all weekend long without any substantial food in my stomach, but I wasn't. I think the main reason for that is because I've been focusing on not only what it is I'm eating, but also how much of it I've been eating. So I don't need huge portions of anything to fill me up anymore. So maybe I'm making some progress after all. I may not look like a runner just yet, but at least I'm really making significant changes in my life which will ultimately help me achieve my goal and be happier and healthier.

Halfway Point, New Year & Super Cool News

It's almost two weeks into September which means I am officially at the halfway point time-wise toward the marathon. And I can definitely say that I am no where near halfway ready to run a marathon. I'm just not where I need to be at this point. But I am going to keep on working on it because worst case scenario I'll walk or crawl the whole thing if I have to. I just hope they don't kick me off the course after a certain time period. And speaking of renewal, yesterday was Rosh Hashanah which is more than just the celebration of the New Year, but also a chance to reinvigorate and re-motivate yourself to be a better person. It's with that spirit that I am going to rededicate myself toward my marathon goal. I've definitely hit a downturn in the process and now I'm going to turn it back around.

And finally on a super cool note, Bigelow Tea has come through and they are sending me some samples of their tea. How cool is that. I look forward to trying them and letting you know what I think.

And on a crappy note, I'm getting my wisdom teeth pulled this weekend, so pray for me because I am a bleeder.

Healty Alternative

As some of you may know I've been trying to spend more and more time in the kitchen cooking. It's a something that I've only recently become passionate about. The last year and a half or more. As part of my culinary experiments in the kitchen, I'm always looking for healthier recipes and finding ways that I can take dishes that my wife and I love and try to make them a lot better for us. With that I offer up one of my first eating recommendations for you all. However, in all honesty I can not take too much credit for this one because I learned it from wife, who in turn learned it from her mother. But that's how the best cooking really comes about though. Anyways, my great suggestion for you all is using turnips instead of butter. Not for everything. I don't think you can saute food with a pad of turnip, but I'll look into that one. Turnips, if you've never eaten a raw one before, have a great buttery flavor to them and they go great with other root vegetables. So if you're thinking about making mashed potatoes, try using turnips instead of butter next time. My recommendation is to use about twice as much potato as turnip. If you want it a bit more buttery, use more turnips. Just make sure you boil both of them together and long enough to mash well. Another quick tip. Put them in cold water then let the temperature rise to a boil. Potatoes cook better that way.

I made a great mashed potatoes alternative last night that both my wife and I enjoyed so I figured I would share my first ever recipe with you all. Again, this isn't completely my recipe, I did take some of it from elsewhere, but made it healthier and more my own. My recipe is for Parsnip Puree. Parsnips are those things at the grocery store that look like rotten carrots. They are identical in shape except they're white. They are really delicious if you've never had one, I suggest you do. Here's my recipe, it's one hundred percent dairy free so even vegans can eat. Although I don't condone veganism. I hope you all try it and enjoy.

Parsnip Puree:

6 Large Parsnips
1 to 2 Good Sized Turnips depending on how you want it to taste
6 Cloves of Garlic
1 Large Shallot
Salt and Pepper
Olive Oil
Aluminum Foil
Baking Sheet
Food Processor (you can also use a potato masher if you don't have a processor)

Preheat your oven to 350 Degrees

Wash and peel your parsnips and turnips

Rough chop your parsnips and turnips. Try to get the pieces to be roughly the same size if possible for even cooking.

Peel your garlic cut out green stem if needed. (The stem creates a bitter taste if left in, but it is edible.)

Place aluminum foil on baking sheet and place the chopped turnips, garlic and parsnips on top of the foil.

Coat the the turnips, garlic and parsnips with a fairly generous amount of olive oil.

Season the turnips, garlic and parsnips with salt and pepper. It's okay to use less than you may normally here because you can always add more as your pureeing them later.

Cover completely with aluminum fold and fold all the sides so it's sealed.

Roast in oven for 40 minutes or until they are all the way tender and soft.

Peel wash and rough chop your shallot (you can add the shallot to the roasting as well, however I did not).

Pull the vegetables out of the oven and place everything, in the food processor. Even the olive oil. There is a lot of flavor in there with the vegetable juices etc. Put the chopped shallots in the food processor.

Puree the vegetables until they are an even consistency. Check halfway to make sure you don't need more salt and pepper. Add more salt and pepper if necessary.

Serve. Because of the shallots and parsnips, it will be on the sweeter side, so a good savory dish goes great with these.

So that's my recipe. Try it out and let me know what you think. I look forward to your comments. Let me know if you have any questions. And I'll try to post some more recipes as I come up with them.

Softball Weekend and A Bigelow Response

This last weekend was the playoffs for my work's recreation softball league. We were the 10th seed going into the post season, but we still had high expectations for ourselves considering we were riding a two game winning streak and our bats had really been coming alive lately. Our first game was Saturday and we actually got matched up with the team we creamed just a couple of days before on Monday. They were the 7th seed in the tournament. For the first couple of innings were looking bleak and the opponents quickly jumped out to a 4 run lead. But then our bats really came alive as we ended the game scoring 25 runs! We ultimately won 25-17. Spirits were high and drinks were flowing. I'm not going to say exactly what kind of drinks they were, but don't worry I stayed away from anything brewed I swear. I am afterall still trying to watch my figure.

Day two started really early...for a softball game that is. That game began at 8:45. Since this one was played near my apartment I was able to walk there. Except this time I also had to lug a case of water for the team. In hindsight it probably wasn't the best decision, but it did add some more exercise etc. to just a normal brief stroll. Unfortunately, game did not go nearly as well as the day before. To put it mildly, we got our asses kicked. Badly. I'm still having trouble sitting. But on the plus side, the experience of playing on this team and this league has been so positive that everyone was buzzing about where and when will we play next. So that was really cool. There wasn't that usual "Oh well see you next season" malaise that has been the standard for other rec league teams I've been on. And that was really cool. Especially since I like playing the game and my teammates are really cool too. I'm hoping I can talk them all into kickball. Soooo much fun.

And on another note, I don't know how many of you read the scant amount of comments that I usually get on this blog, but I actually got one from someone from Bigelow tea for my last post about drinking their green tea at work. I don't know if it was real or a hoax, but it was kind of cool. I'm wondering if I mention them some more in this here post, if they'll send me a case or two of their green tea so I can drink it at home as well. Since Bigelow tea is great not only first thing in the morning to wake me up at work, but also great at night when I'm winding down. I hope that works. Deb if you're out there still, hook me up.

Going Green

That's right I've finally made the decision in my life to go green. No I'm not eating granola and composting. Although I probably should compost. But I don't have a yard so what's the point right now. No in fact I've decided to trade in my daily coffee for green tea. After reading my mom's comment about it helping burn off fat with its antioxidants, I figured I'd finally start giving green tea a try. This isn't my first time drinking the stuff regularly. I used to years ago in my college days, but I'd given up somewhere around my junior year. The good news is I still get my caffeine fix from it. The bad news is that it just doesn't have that satisfying feeling a nice hot cup of coffee has. It does go down smoother though and it's easier on my stomache and helps kill bacteria in my mouth. I can't remember if it helps with memory too. I think I read that somewhere. Probably on the internets so who knows how true that is. So goodbye Java. I will miss you. And hello...Bigelow green tea from the break room!

Another Softball Victory & Vegas Losses

Last night was my team's penultimate softball game for the season before the playoffs begin and we're starting to peak at the right time. Defensively we looked great and we scored every inning so that was great too. Yours truly was two for two with an RBI and a run scored. And I'm proud to say that the bottom or our lineup, where I habitually reside, accounted for 8 of our 14 runs. So suck it top of the order. Actually we have good hitters throughout our lineup so that's cool. Let's see what else is there to say...I am continuing to walk to and from the field every game for a little extra exercise. I even sprint walked to the game last night to get the heart rate up.

From wins I now need to talk about losses. Last weekend was my first anniversary. Yay! And to celebrate my wife and I went to Vegas for three days. Double Yay! I love Vegas. You really have to try hard not to enjoy yourself there. We went and saw the Beatles inspired Cirque d'Soleil show Love. Which is freakin' phenomenal and I highly recommend it to anyone that is going to Vegas. FYI we sat in the upper section of the theater and could see everything really well. So if you don't want to spend a ton of cash, I suggest those seats. Anyways, as is common with me when I go there, I splurged a bit during my meals. And not every meal, just dinner. The rest of the time I was really behaved. Long story short, I was a little up on the scale when I got back Monday morning. But I am now proud to say that as of this morning I have lost all the weight I gained in Vegas plus a pound. So take that Sin City. Point for Chris. Of course some of that weight loss could be because my wallet also got a bit light too. Hard to say.

A Cupcake Denied And A Day Without Coffee

Every Thursday morning we have a weekly staff meeting. Just a way for us to all get together and go over what's coming up etc. You're typical sort of staff meeting. Well this last Thursday they brought in "muffins" and I use that term extremely loosely, to reward everyone that had to work all weekend long. These "muffins" were mini smores with a graham cracker base, then chocolate and finished with a marshmallow topping with another piece of chocolate on top of that. So I would say they were more mini-cupcakes than muffins. Well no matter what you call them, when they came around to me, I just passed them along to the next person. Much to the surprise of the people sitting next to me. What? Haven't they seen a fat guy pass up a cupcake before? I admit it's a rare sight. Kind of like Sasquatch. Everyone thinks they've seen it, but there's really no evidence to prove it. I passed on it for multiple reasons, one it just wasn't a healthy choice for me, two I wasn't hungry, and three I've started losing my desire for sweets. It's weird. I don't crave brownies, ice cream or cake like I used to. Don't get me wrong, those things still taste great to me, I just don't dream about them like I used to. Now salty food that's another story. Just thinking about a well seasoned steak or chicken breast. Just thought of it is making me drool all over my keyboard. asdfghjhlfskh;gklldjgsfewoprwo Sorry I had to wipe it off so I could keep typing.

And then there was yesterday. I don't know what it was, but there was something really foul about the coffee at work. It tasted like someone washed out the pot and then didn't rinse it properly. It was really disgusting. Long story short, I passed on coffee all day at work. And frankly I didn't miss it that much. I was way too busy to do so. Of course I'm back on the sauce today though. But I at least proved I could do one day. Now if I could only get someone to ruin the coffee all week long.

Well that's about it for now. Still sticking to my eating regimen. I'm 8 pounds in the 3 1/2 weeks that I've been eating better. I know that as soon as I can get myself back into the gym with more regularity that number will jump significantly. But at least I'm going in the right direction.

SO I Totally Didn't Notice That

SO it's been brought to my attention that I start a lot of my posts with the word "SO". SO today I'm going to try something different...okay next time I'm going to try something different in terms of starting a post. SOrry I haven't written lately. I can't say that there's much to say. I'm continuing to focus on eating better which is going well. I've lost 8 pounds since I made the switch 2 1/2 weeks ago. I still haven't found much time to go to the gym, but I am taking every opportunity I can to walk more. And I've pretty much eliminated elevators from my life. With a few exceptions. SOmetimes there aren't stairs for me to take or when I go to Vegas next weekend, I'm not going to take the stairs all the up to my room on the 30th floor. I will however if I'm on a much lower floor and I can find the stairs. Finding stairs in a casino is about as easy as trying to find a clock. Let's see what else? We lost our most recent SOftball game :( , but I did get a hit on my only at bat and later scored. SO that was cool. And on Tuesday my job needed a short spot completed super quickly, as in the next morning, SO I finished and got it approved in about 2 hours, just in time to leave and go to SOftball. Well that's it for now. Thanks for the comments from the two of you that care enough to leave them. I appreciate it. For rest of you. Well let's just say you'll all be getting lumps of coal for Christmas, but since I'm Jewish it doesn't matter. DREIDELS FOR EVERYONE. HAPPY CHANUKAH EVERYBODY! Okay Chanukah is in December SO I'm a bit early. I just got caught up in the spirit. SO sue me.

Another Opportunity Discovered

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I started parking in a new garage this week now that I have an ID badge. With the new garage comes new challenges. It's layout is not as user friendly as the other garage that I was parking in. This new one has a lot of twists and turns and sidestreets etc. It's almost like driving in Boston, but without all the traffic. The first day I parked in this new garage, it took me about 10 minutes to figure out how to get out. I kept going around and around the same spots over and over again. It was really annoying. And then yesterday morning, I got really excited because I got a great parking spot right by the elevator and on a direct route to the garage exit. I was in fatman heaven. I walked through the door from the garage to the elevator only to realize that I was walking right into the staircase entrance. Not wanting to look confused and out of place, to the person behind me, I decided to take the stairs up to the first floor. And it turned out to be a pretty easy walk up. So now that I know where those stairs are, I'm going to take them every morning to the main floor instead of the elevator. This now makes two elevator rides that I've been able to eliminate from my life. I think the parking garage at the movie theater will be next. No deadline has been set for coffee though. I'm still working on that one.

Softball Success

So last night was my second game with my new softball team/co-workers and it was a lot better than the last game we played. We took an early lead after the first inning and then slumped for a bit but then rallied to score 8 runs in one inning. Ultimately defeating our opponents 15-10. It was a great game. Especially since we won. And yours truly went 3 for 3 with two runs scored and an RBI so that was cool. I got to do a lot of running as you can tell. And like last game, I walked to and from the field in order to get a bit more exercise in. So all told it was a pretty great way to get a workout in.

I'm still continuing to eat better as well. Yesterday started with two cups of light yogurt and a 1/4 cup of almonds. For lunch I had a sandwich with light turkey and some light Laughing Cow cheese. I can't believe they still make that stuff. Takes me back to my childhood. I used to eat that cheese like it was going out of style. If only I knew then that it wasn't going away, I would have saved myself from some serious cheese comas. Oh well. You live, you learn. Mid-day snack was another green apple and light string cheese. And for dinner we had rotisserie chicken and broccoli. So not a bad way to end the day if you ask me. But then again, I've always loved broccoli. It looks like mini trees and makes me feel like a giant.

Ho Ho Ho Green Giant.

A New ID Badge By Way of New York

Finally got my new ID badge at work so now I'm all official. The best part is I got to take a nice leisurely stroll down a busy New York street to get to the office where the badges are handed out. Can't really ask for a better way to spend a Monday than that. Okay so I wasn't actually in New York City. For those of you who have never been to LA and done a studio tour, let me fill you in on a little Hollywood secret. Every lot has a section that they call New York street. It's exactly that, a street that looks like a non-descript section of New York City or Chicago or Boston etc. And they use it to save money on traveling back east and shooting on location. You'd be surprised how many times you've watched a show in NYC that was actually shot right here in LA. The most recent one I think of is Heroes. They shot pretty much all of their New York scenes either on a lot or in downtown LA. Tadaaa! Magic. Anyways, the ID badge office was on the other side of our New York street and they were busy getting it ready to shoot some scenes from a primetime television show. So me being the production junky that I am, I had a great time just watching them put the whole thing together. So much so that I got lost and couldn't figure out where the heck the building I was looking for was. So I made a lot of circles around various parts of the lot. Which was actually cool because I got to see of lot of it. No pun intended. Plus it helped get my step count up which is cool. Yesterday I ended up doing about 7400 steps. Which is roughly 4 miles according to my counter. So that was cool. I can't think of a better way to get exercise than to take a stroll through New York City. Can you?

Not Much To Report

So as the title says, I don't have a lot to write about today. The only new thing is that I started wearing this little step counter/calorie counter/lots of other stuff device that my parents sent me. I've been avoiding for awhile now for no particular reason. It just didn't seem like something I would do. I tested it out and it seems like it's accurate in counting my steps. It takes me apparently about 550 steps to get from my car to my workstation if I take the stairs. And yesterday I did 3400 steps. I know it's not a lot, but it's not terrible considering I have a sedentary job.

As far as food goes I had cereal again in the morning for breakfast. I'm really trying to polish it off. I had two handfuls or so of carrots for a morning snack. For lunch I finished the cabbage stir fry which was about a cup's worth of food. So to finish lunch I had a cup of vegetable and Italian sausage soup. It was really good. It came from one of the work commissaries. Afternoon snack was a green apple and two things of light string cheese. And for dinner we had turkey burgers with extra lean turkey patties, onions, tomatoes, light provolone cheese, roasted peppers, and a little avocado. Instead of a bun we used lettuce leaves. It was really good. I enjoyed that a lot.

Well that's about it. First week of the new job wraps up today. Which is cool. I'm looking forward to the weekend.

Softball, Soreness and More

So Wednesday night was my first softball game with my new team. It felt great to be out there playing again. It's a lot of fun. Even if your team doesn't win, which we didn't. But that's okay. I still got a chance to go out there and run around and sweat a lot. I don't know if that was from playing softball or because it was muggy out. Probably a good combination of both. The field where we play is about a half mile from my apartment, so to increase my workout, I drove home after work and got changed for the game and then walked to the field and back. Not only did I get an extra mile of walking in, I also didn't have to do deal with the crappy parking at the park. So it was a win win despite the loss. As for yours truly, I went 2 for 2 both base hits and I scored twice. So I did get a lot of running in. I sort of pulled my groin a bit when my foot slipped stopping at 3rd. So that made me a bit sore. But other than that I'm good.

I also started implementing my stair taking regimen. Granted I don't leave my workstation much and if I do, it's not to go downstairs. But when I am down there, I take the stairs up and down. Just another little thing I can do to help myself out.

As far as food goes, I had a small bowl of cheerios for breakfast with nonfat milk. Again, I'm just trying to finish some stuff off rather than throw it away. For lunch I had a make it yourself salad from one of our great commissaries here. It was a mix of spring greens and spinach with carrots, cucumbers, mushrooms, red onions, roasted peppers & zucchinis, chicken and a hardboiled egg. I made the salad a little big and made part of it my afternoon snack as well. For dinner we had rotisserie chicken from the market and some broccoli. So far so good. I'm looking forward to wrapping up my first project and week at the new job. My goal for next week will be to start getting myself back into the gym after work. Slowly, but surely.

Second Day of Work, But No Workout

So Tuesday was day 2 of the new job. Everything is going well. I feel like I'm starting to settle in a bit more. I'm still missing a phone at my workstation. It's not a desk. Desks are for desk jockeys and management. Editors have workstations. Like I said before, everyone here seems really cool. I'm still adjusting to the whole having to get up in the morning thing. Even when I was working at my other job, I didn't have to be in until 4, so this is going to take me some time to physically adjust. That being said, I didn't make it to the gym yesterday after work. I just didn't have it in me. There is a gym on the lot here somewhere, but I've heard it's impossible to get in. My other option is to come in a little later and do my workout in the morning before work. So that's a possibility. But I do get a chance to walk around a lot because my building is huge and I have a bit of a stroll to get from the garage to my work station. I'm also going to start taking the stairs instead of the elevator. I figure since I'm only on the 3rd floor, it's the least I could do.

As far as food goes, I'm still keeping it going. For breakfast I had two cups of yogurt, a quarter cup of raw almonds and a banana. For lunch I had some more cabbage stir fry leftovers and a Diet Coke. And for dinner we had pork chops with low salt worcestershire sauce, peppers, onions and grilled (well frozen) eggplant and zucchini and a glass of orange juice. The juice was partly because I was jonesing for it and part to finish it off. I have been drinking some coffee too throughout the day as well. The paper cup I have is small, so the whole total of coffee is probably about two and a half mugs full. So not too bad. I am going to try to wean myself off as soon as I get more used to getting up in the morning. I hope I don't turn into a morning person.

JUNE-NE+LY=A Better Month!

So I know it's been forever since I've posted something. Once again, I'm sorry to all you Chubby Chasers (which is what I've decided to call my fans) out there that check this blog regularly hoping for something new.

I've been working out regularly- working on getting in shape as opposed to training for time. However, I did do a run/walk day for the heck of it to see if I could do it. And low and behold, I was able to do a run/walk like I hadn't stopped. It really made me happy to know that I could still do it. In fact, I went back two days later and did it again to prove it wasn't a fluke. And again I was able to do it no problem. It's great to know that while I may not be as slim as I'd like to be right now, my cardiovascular health seems to be improving.

In an effort to help get myself in shape, I'm starting to focus a lot more on food. Not just the quantity of calories that I eat, but what calories I'm eating. This new plan started officially this weekend. I'm not at 100% just yet because I'm opposed to throwing out all the food in my kitchen, but I'm at 75% right now. That being said, I'm going to start talking more about my food intake during this and future blogs. So today started out with an egg white scramble with spinach, bell peppers, onions, mushrooms and a sprinkling of light cheddar cheese and a slice of dry whole wheat toast. I have the pre-made egg whites and the peppers and onions are frozen. That helped cut my cooking time down greatly. All told, it took me about 10 minutes to make everything for my wife and I. For lunch, I had leftover stir-fry from last night. It's a cabbage, bean sprouts, carrots, onions and extra lean ground turkey stir-fry. Typically my wife uses it to make eggrolls, but we cut the eggroll wrap and the frying. For a mid-day snack, I had a green apple and 2 light string cheeses. For dinner, we're having turkey bolognese, but served over broccoli instead of pasta. So as you can see it's a relatively low carb menu, but it's not carb-less and it's not as few as South Beach either. It's fairly similar to what I was eating during Passover, except the toast. So I'll keep you all posted and let you know how week one goes.

And speaking of new beginnings, I finally got a job! I know- I probably buried my lead. Anyway, for those of you who haven't heard yet, I got a new editing/shooting/sometimes producing/whatever else they need me to do type position. I'm really excited about the new job. It really sounds like a great opportunity to expand my skills and the people all seem really cool. And they have a softball team like my old job! My first game will be Wednesday night. I'll have a full report on how that goes after the game.

I'm sorry this post is sooooo long, but it has been awhile since I've written so there was a lot to catch up on and so much has happened since my last post. I have to say that it really feels like things are looking up and I'm really pulling myself out of the June Gloom I was in before. Let's hope the rest of the month goes really well and I believe it will. August can only be even better.

Hit me up with comments about how you're all doing and suggestions for nicknames for all you readers out there.

Back in LA

So I haven't written anything for a while now and that's mostly because I've been out of town a lot since my last post. And the person I was staying with while I was up in Oregon does not have internet access. I know, weird right? Who doesn't have internet these days. So I was back in the gym yesterday after a bit of a hiatus while I was out of town. As usual it was hard to get myself motivated to go, but my wife was going so naturally I joined her. I hopped right onto the elliptical and did a brisk half hour. It felt great to be working out again. Plus I was glad that I was able to just jump right in and do my normal workout without having to hold back at all. The only thing that sucked was that I was in the back of the gym where the airflow is the worst, so the whole workout felt like I was doing cardio inside a steam room. It was hot as hell back there. But I got through it just the same. Does anyone that reads this ever do spinning? I'm curious about trying it, but it just sounds like a lot of crappy music and verbal abuse from where I am in the gym.

On a side note, I actually had a second workout yesterday as well. I played a quick 9 holes of par 3 golf with my buddy since it was his day off. And shot my best round to date, a 36 and had my first ever legit birdie. So that was really cool. Don't worry I still spent the majority of my day looking around for work and talking to friends that are working. Looks like there may be a few opportunities that are coming up in the near future. I'll keep you all posted.

June Gloom

So for all of you who have never lived in LA or been here in the month of June, there is a regular occurrence known as June Gloom. It's essentially a marine layer that covers the city for about half the day about every day of the month of June, but usually around 1 or 2 it is completely burnt off by the sun. Leave it to Angelinos to be super depressed just because we can't see the sun for a few hours. Lord have mercy on us if it rains. People are about ready to kill themselves on those days.

June Gloom has taken on a different meaning for me. It's more of the foggy mental state I'm in lately. I've gotten a couple more job rejections since my return from Utah and it's really put me in a funk. Furthermore it's killing my desire to do anything. Not just workout, but anything at all. I just don't have the motivation to be very productive. I'm bored as hell because I'm essentially stuck in my apartment all day and even the prospect of cooking dinner isn't exciting me anymore. Despite the fact that I enjoy using my new knife skills that I learned a few months ago.

And I'm just pissed off a lot. Pissed I can't find a job. And when I do, I'm either over qualified, not qualified enough or I just don't know the right damn people to get the job. I'm pissed off because I'm noooooo where near where I need to be at this date to do a marathon in March. And now I feel like I'm just going to let everyone and myself down come game time. Like I said in one of my earlier posts, I just don't have much in my mental gas tank and I don't know what to do. I figured coming home from Utah would be a boost, but it just seemed to make things worse. There I at least had family and I was an Uncle, which is cool. And here I'm just another unemployed guy beating his head against the wall wondering "what the fuck?"

The good news is I'm going to Vegas this weekend for my dad's birthday, which will be super fun. It's impossible to be depressed when you're in Vegas. I challenge anyone to prove otherwise. It's just so damn fun there. I'm glad I don't live in Vegas because I'd never get anything done. Unless I could get paid to drink giant plastic cups full of Pina Colada all day. And I did go workout last night for the first time this week. But that was because my wife was going so it was easy to motivate myself. I am going to take a long walk today to see if it helps my mental state and also to see if it will jolt my workout motivation. I'm really hoping setting a nice goal for myself and then accomplishing it will give me that little boost I need.

Sorry for the depressing post today, but I've had a lot on my mind lately. And now hopefully you all understand why I haven't been writing as much as I should be. I'm going to really work on being better I swear. And if I drop off a bit please get on me about it. I need the regular kicks in the ass to keep going. Even if they hurt a bit.

Yard Workout

So on Thursday I decided to forgo the usual gym workout and instead spend my time burning calories out in my Aunt's yard. She's still recovering from a car accident back in February, so I went up to visit her and do some work around her house. I got really lucky because the weather on Thursday wasn't as hot as it could have been in her neck of the woods. But I was out there working for her for about two and a half hours. It was a great way to get a workout in and I had an opportunity to help out an Aunt in need. I also learned a few things about myself as well. One, I'm a bad-ass weed whacker! I mean I'm not going to pro anytime soon, but I probably could if I wanted to. Even though I spent a lot of time fighting with my Aunt's weed whacker because it kept wanting to stop working and the cord in it needed to be changed a lot, I still kicked that yard's green butt and I know she appreciated having me out there to do the work for her, so that's cool too. Second, I learned that I keep forgetting to wear jeans when I go to do work for my Aunt. If you've never weed whacked a yard without jeans on you're lucky. Let's just say for time's sake that the cord on the whacker has the tendency to spit a lot of material out. Everything from grass to small rocks that may be in the yard. And everything it spits out hits your legs. I was a bit cut up when I left, but that's what happens when you refuse to learn lessons. Hopefully next time I remember to wear jeans. Anyways, Monday, I'm getting back to my regular gym and walking routine and hang up my weed whacker until my Aunt's yard gets out of hand again.

Back From Utah/Idaho

So for everyone that reads this regularly and was wondering why I haven't posted anything in awhile, it's because I was out of town. My wife and I went up to Utah for a few days for our nephew's high school graduation. I know what you're thinking, how can two people who look soooo young have a nephew that graduated high school? Well, it's because my wife is the youngest of her siblings and the nephew is her oldest brother's kid. Also, don't worry, I was still finding ways to workout while I was up there. In fact we purposely chose a motel that had a gym in it when we were looking at where to stay. So I got to do the elliptical for 35 minutes one morning for a workout. I also played basketball with my nephew. That's always a great workout, especially because I usually win. We also went swimming and played some pool basketball as well. I even got to do some fishing too while I was up in Idaho and I caught three Rainbow Trouts. I'll have pictures of those up on Facebook soon. The best workout however was chasing my niece's little two year old. That girl could run and run and run and run. And like all two year olds, she never got tired. All told it was a great trip and I'm already planning my next fishing adventure. I guess finally catching some will do that to you. It was great being up there, but it's also great to be home even though that means getting back to spending my time looking for a job and hanging out with the four legged sociopath we call our pet cat. He's giving me the evil eye as I type this. But I'll also be back to writing regularly here on this blog. Hope you all didn't miss me too much. Until next time everyone.

Memorial Day March

So in honor of all the brave men and women who have served our country throughout the years, I decided to go on a march of my own on Memorial Day. Of course the real reason why I was going was because it was a beautiful day out and my friend wanted to go with me. We didn't really have a set goal in mind when we headed out on our journey. I was hoping to do about 7 miles yesterday because according to my watch that distance would burn 1000 calories and I've yet to hit the 1000 calories mark. Unfortunately around the 2.5 mile mark, my friend said he wanted to turn back because he was having an issue with something in his shoe stabbing him in the toe. So the walk ended up being a nice 5 miles which was great. Plus there were 4 different hills we had to go up and that was great. And I really didn't feel all that winded which was awesome. The only time I had a little problem is when we decided to run for a bit and right after that run was a steep hill. So that was a good challenge. Other than that I honestly felt like I could have gone for a lot longer had my friend not hurt himself. I might try for the 7 mile mark tomorrow or Thursday possibly. I think it would be a great goal to accomplish before I go out of town for a few days.

Motivation

So a few times a week my wife goes to the gym after work. So I go pick her up from her office and we go together. On those days it's easy to motivate myself to go to the gym since she's going with me. But on those days where she doesn't go it's a different story. It's so hard to get distracted with everything at home especially the couch and the television. Neither of those ask much of me. They don't make me sore, or gasp for air. They just ask that I put my feet up, relax and turn my brain off. Unfortunately, it's that kind of stuff that got me to where I am today physically. The another issue I'm having with motivation is that the training for the marathon has become my job in a way in lieu of actual employment for the time being. So I often find myself looking at it in terms of work instead of working out and fitness. Plus I'm finding that a lot of the early excitement about training for a marathon has worn off a bit. I'm still excited to attempt it...I mean finish it. It's just now I'm starting to get into more of the grind and it's getting harder. I think I need some more inspirational guitar solos to get me going again. All that being said, I still get off my ass and went to the gym on Wednesday and put an hour in on the treadmill. I set it up so that there are hills while I'm doing it as well to simulate being outside a bit. It was a great workout and I got in and got out just before the evening rush which made it even better. And I felt great afterwards which I always do, it's just hard to get going. That's the way it is with us fat asses, we don't get started very quickly, but once we get going we're hard to stop.

What motivates you guys? Or if you have any motivational tips let me know.

Has It Been That Long?

I just realized that it's been a week since I last made a post. Ooops. I could of sworn I did one much sooner. You'll have to forgive me, but I have a lot going on in my brain these days so unfortunately some things fall through the cracks, mainly updating this here blog. More on that in a second.

I have still been working out regularly, although last week was a little weird because my building manager had our entire bathroom ripped up because it was leaking into her bathroom down below. They told me it was going to be done by Thursday, but it wasn't fully finished and usable until Saturday. Since I thought it would be done Thursday, I decided to do an extra long workout to get out of the apartment while they did all the new tiling work for the shower. Then when I got home drenched in sweat they told me the shower wouldn't be finished until Friday. Really? Let's just say it was a fairly smelly couple of days and Saturday couldn't come quick enough for me.

Fast forward to this week. As I've said in earlier posts, my main concern right now is focusing on getting in shape. So I'm putting the running on the back burner for a little bit. I will resume the running part at some point soon, I was just getting frustrated with it and instead of pissing myself off too much to the point where I stopped, I decided to just workout and get in shape and then resume the running regimen. So with that I've been doing a lot of work on the elliptical at the gym. I love the elliptical for two reasons. One I feel like I'm still getting a good cardio workout because I can really feel it in my lungs and also it just kicks my ass every time, which is great because I need regular ass kickings. I'm definitely better at doing the elliptical now then I was in the past. I can do 40 minutes on it without my knees killing me like they used to. Also, my balance on the machine is greatly improved. I can actually do the whole workout on the machine now without my hands if I want to. I used to almost fall over the second I took my hands off. So every time I went to drink my water bottle I had a near death experience. The other great thing about this is I can now play Solitaire on my iPod while I'm working out which I love to do because it takes my mind off the workout and helps the time go by quicker. Unfortunately, the ability to balance on the elliptical doesn't help my game at all. I swear that damn iPod cheats. I can't prove it yet, but I will. I think it secretly knows I'm anti-iPad, so it's trying to make my life miserable.

And one last funny note that I just had to add to this blog because I like to amuse you all when you read this. So as I said before I've been a bit space brained lately. I don't know if it's just because I have a lot on my mind, if unemployment is causing my brain to atrophy or if it's genetic, but either way I was really loopy yesterday. So while I was working out the song Foxy Lady by Jimi Hendrix came on and there's a part of the song towards the beginning where he whispers "Foxy". And since this is an old monophonic mix, that part only came into my left ear. So when I heard it I snapped my head to the left thinking the person next to me whispered that. It freaked me out for a second and then my brain of course finally caught up and realized it was just Hendrix singing. Anyways, it was a weird moment. It's great how the brain does that stuff to you even if it's embarrassing.

FRIDAY

So Friday started out really bad. I woke up and as always I checked my email first thing to see if there was any news on the job front. Unfortunately there was. I received another rejection email for a position here in LA that I had applied. It hurt a lot, especially because I was more than qualified for the position. I was even willing to take a pay cut from what I was making to take the job. I don't know why but that email upset me to no end. Looking for more jobs just made me even angrier. This is seriously frustrating. So I decided to walk away from the computer for a bit and just go for a walk. I had a couple of errands I needed to accomplish anyways so it was a good excuse to go outside and get some exercise. About a mile into my walk I started forgetting about how angry I was about the job and the search. Even though my job situation didn't improve at all my attitude toward did. At least for a little while. When all was said and done I did 3.5 miles of walking that day with a brief stop at Best Buy. FYI I don't recommend playing a game of FIFA World Cup where you're the US and the other guy is Mexico. We had tons of Mexicans standing around us watching the game as if it were a real match. Every time the other guy scored they would get excited. It was funny. I love to see people get passionate about sports, even digital ones. That definitely helped cheer me up. I really needed that pick me up.

Lessons From The Elliptical

So Thursday turned out to be a pretty good day for me. I was wrapping up another quick temp editing gig. The guy that I was doing the editing for seemed really cool and that made the editing so much easier. I can't tell you how nice it is to have someone who is not only excited about what you're doing, but also appreciative of you being there and doing it for them. Too many bosses I feel, act like they're the ones doing you a favor by having you there and I guess to some extent that is true, but that doesn't mean they can't appreciate what it is you're doing for them. But anyways this is supposed to be more about me working out and exercising right? No it's my blog and I'll do what I want. I'm a blog rebel. I have to play by the loose structure of constrictive regulations you all call "rules". Except it's my blog and I guess I made the rules myself. Is it still rebellious if you break you're own rules? Or would that just be self-loathing?

So to the fitness part. I decided to do another session on the elliptical machine. I've started making sure all my workouts are over 30 minutes. Especially since I don't feel like I'm hitting a good sweat zone until about 15-17 minutes into the workout. So last night I did 40 minutes on the elliptical. At first that sounded like a great idea. I even put a fair amount of resistance on it to help increase the workout. But then about halfway into my time I remembered how much the elliptical kicks my fat ass. The last half of the time was pretty brutal. My feet started hurting, I was sweating like crazy and just sucking wind. And through it all I kept going. It's almost as if last night was a metaphor for everything I'm going through right now with training and the job rejections. Even if there are low points in the middle of the whole thing, I just have to keep on pushing through it, because eventually the positive will come. You can't keep a good man down forever that's for sure.

Getting Exercise and Getting Things Done

So Monday was another day at home looking for work, but I also had to get some stuff done as well. So I spent the first part of my day on the internet combing through the vast networks of job postings and then I decided to go run some errands. Or should I say walk some errands. Since I didn't have any heavy lifting or shopping to do, I decided to walk everywhere that I needed to go. And I even lost 5 pounds in the process. No it wasn't because of the length of the walk, it was because I got a much needed haircut. My hair was beyond hair helmet. It was more like a hair protective shield. It's amazing how great you feel after a haircut. I really felt like a new man. Plus now when the interviews start coming, I'll be ready. And it was yet another nice day so it was great to get outside and breathe the "fresh" air. Fresh being a relative term here in LA. Since I wasn't in a hurry to get anywhere, I made sure to take the long way everywhere. All told my journey was 5 miles of walking. I actually thought it was going to be longer, but 5 miles is a good distance and once I hit my stride I really enjoyed myself. Monday was definitely a very uplifting day.

Another Day Another Treadmil Session

So Thursday I ended up taking the day off from working out. I wasn't feeling very well and I was chasing down some leads all day for a couple of jobs. One of which turned into a phone interview later in the day. And it went really I feel. So we'll see what happens.

Friday was another day of job searching, but I went to the gym after my wife got off of work. I was all ready to do another run/walk day. And for the most part everything was going fine. I was able to run as long as I felt I should. Then I felt something go awry in my shoulder. I didn't think shoulder pain could curtail running, but it did. Every step I took jolted through my body and made my shoulder hurt like crazy. Definitely one of the weirdest things that's happened to me so far since I started my training. Instead of running I just decided to do the rest of my time on the treadmill walking briskly and with intermittent hills. All told I did 45 minutes plus the 5 minute cool down. Still felt like I got a good sweat so that was good. I know that the important part is getting in shape so if that means just a brisk walk then that's fine.

AAAARGH!

So I decided to do a run/walk outside yesterday instead of trying to deal with all of the madness that is involved in going to the gym. I figured it would be great to not have the hassle of fighting for a treadmill and I could just go outside do my little routine like I do at the gym and everything would be great. Apparently I must have been drinking the Kool-Aid at work. When I was putting my clothes on I felt like this was going to be the greatest exercise day yet and that little singing bluebirds were going to fly out of my ass as I went along too. Cuz after all shouldn't my great workout also make the world a little bit brighter as well. As you can probably guess from the title of the post. None of that happened. It was a bad day and a bad evening workout all together. Here's what happened.

First I spent the day being hassled by the bossman about the project I was working on. He came in, gave me a ton of notes and then came back an hour later wondering why everything wasn't done. Then gave me some more notes for the road. Then came back wondering why the project wasn't done. Then sat with me for fifteen minutes making changes to stuff and then leaving me telling me he didn't like it. Then about twenty odd minutes later I got a call from the other editor telling me they had another project that needed to be started and that mine was going to be put on hold and that I wasn't needed anymore. So I figured at least I can go home and have a great workout.

Fast forward to the workout. I did just as I would do on a treadmill. I had my five minute warmup walk. Then I started running. Again I don't know if I'm just running too fast outside or what. I tried to keep my speed to what felt like the same speed as the gym but I have no real way of telling. Long story short I wasn't running for as long as I felt I should be able to at this point. And found myself mostly walking. To make things worse, being outside made my allergies flair up so about the last mile I couldn't breathe very well. Now I remember why I didn't like to go outside that much. All told I still did about three miles which is cool. It was just really frustrating. One day I feel like I'm making progress and getting somewhere and the next I feel like I'm back to square one. I think I might need to reassess where I am and where I want to be and maybe retool my workout plan. Maybe I just need to concentrate more on getting in shape right now and not the actual running part. Suggestions etc. would be greatly appreciated. Sorry I haven't done a weigh in lately either. As of this morning I'm at 268. So down 10 from the beginning so that's decent. I knew this wasn't going to be easy and it hasn't been at all, but having you all to kvetch too has been helpful and cathartic.

Stupid Gym

So I got home from work,got my running duds on, fixed my hair (only in LA do we get cleaned up and groomed to go the gym), grabbed my iPod and water bottle and hit jetted out the door ready for another awesome run/walk day going off of the success of the last two that I just did. Unfortunately for me the gym had other plans for me. The entire two sections of treadmills were completely taken. And the ones that weren't being used were broken. And I could see that based on some of the people's times, they were not sticking to the 20 minute max during peak hours. So how was I supposed to get my 45 minute run/walk workout in? I could also see that I was not the only one waiting for a treadmill. Others were circling them like vultures. I was in no mood to fight with strangers over a lousy piece of workout equipment. So I decided to use this day as an alternate workout day and I did 40 minutes on a stationary bike instead. But wait there's more. Just when I thought this workout couldn't get anymore disappointing, iPod dies. Yep. I had to do 40 minutes of working out with only the gym's pumped in crap for music. Do you know how hard it is to maintain focus and intensity in your workout when every few minutes the music is interrupted with advertisements for the gym that you already have a membership for! Are they trying to reassure me that I made the right choice in gym membership? Or are they afraid I might decide to somewhere else to workout? Anyways, I did my 40 and got the hell out of there. And I was sore too because those seats on the bikes are not designed for the husky gentleman. All told it was a bad night at the gym even though I did get a workout in. I think I'm going to start doing my run/walk days outside. The weather is great and it will give me a more realistic experience to what I'll be up against anyways. Plus I'll get to do some more exploration. What could be better?

The Road Taken

So even though Monday is "officially" a run/walk day for me, I decided to go outside and take walk after work. It was just too nice of an evening and the outdoors were beckoning me. Well as outdoorsy as it gets in my area.

Since it was about 7ish by the time I got suited up and ready to hit the streets, I decided to keep the walk to a short three miles instead of doing a full 5. The total distance ended up being around 3.5 when all was said and done. It was a great walk. I made sure that there were some hills that I had to go up and down as well to increase the workout benefit.

The best part about taking these walks to get in shape is that I'm starting to explore areas of my neighborhood that I didn't even know existed. Nothing crazy and seedy I assure you. It was really cool to see all these different houses, restaurants and stores that I've never seen before. Some of which I think I'm going to go back and visit. Especially this Japanese grocery store that I passed that has a food court. Wait. A food court dedicated to just Japanese food? Hell yeah! I know. The last thing I need is another excuse to eat and spend money that I shouldn't spend. So I'll wait until later to do the food court, but I bet they have some great sashimi grade fish which is super healthy to eat especially without rice.

I highly recommend using exercise as not only a means to get/stay fit but also as a chance to explore a little bit. Get out of your regular routine a bit. If you always make a right at one street, go left next time. That's how my adventure started and I'm glad I did it. My walk wasn't life changing like Robert Frost's Road Not Taken, but it did make me understand his poem a little more. I think.

Hit me up with some comments on what you find in your own personal explorations of your areas. Or a story of a discovery you've already had.

Finally

So I had a chance to go to the gym mid-day on Friday while some maintenance work was being done on my edit bay. I miss going to the gym earlier in the day when just about no one is there. It doesn't have all the hot, sticky feeling that the evening does when it's crammed full of people sweating and working out like crazy. On a semi-cold day (cold for LA that is) I've gone into the gym in the evening and had my glasses fog up. So this chance for an afternoon treadmill session was quite welcome. Not only did it feel great to be back in the gym for the first time since Monday, the workout itself felt great. I think this is the first time ever since starting this process where I've done a great run/walk day and then followed it up with a second great run/walk day. I think I've figured out some of the keys to my success finally. The biggest one being speed. I've decided to turn down the speed dial a little bit and in return focus on running for longer length of time. This really seems to be working for me. I've been limiting my running sessions to just 3 minutes for now to keep sticking with my couch to 5k plan, but I feel like I could easily do twice that time if I wanted to. I've also started extending the length of my workout as well. I'm trying to do my best to mimic the great run/walk days I had outside while I was back in the Bay Area. So what I've been doing is walking for 5 minutes to get myself warmed up. Then I did a run/walk regimen doing three minutes on/three minutes off for about 25 minutes and then I followed that up with a nice walk with some hills for another 15 minutes for a total workout of 45 minutes. I enjoyed that workout so much on Friday that I repeated it again on Saturday. This was partly because I wanted to see if I could do back-to-back days and still feel fine and I did. Saturday felt just as great as Friday did. So finally I think I might be making some breakthroughs in this process. We'll see. I'm going to try it again tonight after work and see how it goes. Good or bad, I'll keep you all posted on what happens.

Sorry Again

I apologize yet again for not writing anything for a couple of days. I know this seems like a recurring theme here on the Fatman blog, but I've unfortunately been a little busy lately because I took on a temp editing gig again. So while I haven't been putting my work in here or at the gym the last couple of days it's only because I've been putting in the work elsewhere. That being said, I have been more conscience of what I eat and how much of it due to the slight lull in the workout routine. Also, you can all rest easy in the knowledge that today I will be back in the gym and working out. If it's not too packed when I get in there, I might even try to go for 45 minutes instead of my regular 30 to make up for the lost days. The sad part about being back at work is I won't be able to do my long walks :( (I know emoticons are dated. So what.), but I guess working and money are more important than a nice 5 mile stroll. Anyways, I'm rambling nonsensically and I don't really have much a theme or anything to report. I just wanted to give you all a heads up as to what's been going on lately. Please don't worry. I'm still on my plan. I'm feeling great for the most part and I'm looking forward to continuing my progress.

Okay So I Lied

I just have to spend the first part of the this post apologizing to everyone. I didn't go outside for a 5 mile walk yesterday and for that I am sorry. I know that you my faithful readers have to come to expect a certain level of honesty and integrity from and I have woefully robbed you of that trust. Wow! I should be a P.R. person. I bet Ben Roethlisberger is hiring. But in all honesty I didn't take a walk yesterday. I was planning on switching my run walk days since I usually go to the gym with the wife on Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday, but then she threw me a curveball and asked to go yesterday so I went back to a Monday/Wednesday/Friday run/walk schedule.

The workout was great. I bandaged up the blister on the back of my left foot that I got while walking on Sunday. At first I was a little concerned about it, but it didn't even hurt while I was walking to the front door of the gym so that gave me hope.

Now I will admit I did go off my plan a bit. I'm supposed to be doing 2 minutes on 2 minutes off I believe. I should double check that. But as I started going on my first run portion I felt really good so I pushed it to 3 minutes. Then I did a few sets of two minute runs and ended on a strong 3 minute run. I even used a little incline as well since I'll have to get used to going up some hills during the marathon. All told everything felt and went great which means Wednesday will probably be horrible if all goes according to form for me. We'll see. Maybe this is the week I finally break the mold.

Please Sir Can I Do A Mile More

So unfortunately I didn't get to work out on Friday because I was feeling under the weather. I don't know if it was my allergies still acting up or what, but it continued until Saturday as well. So I was pretty out of it then as well. But I bounced back on Sunday. I kept trying to get a hold of my friend to take a walk since he's in training for the marathon as well, but I didn't get a response at all. Not surprised. So I decided to head out and brave the LA streets alone for a nice long walk. I really enjoyed how the 5 mile walk I did with my dad felt so I made that my distance goal for this walk as well.

It's amazing to see just how far 2.5 miles actually is when you walk it. I think it's because I drive everywhere and since I get stuck in traffic etc. everything always feels like it's way further away then it actually is. I just kept going and going and kept saying to myself "this has to be the halfway point here." But according to my watch I still had some walking to do. Finally about 40 minutes into my walk I hit the halfway point. I was quite shocked at where I ended up and I felt really good still and the weather was gorgeous so I decided to make the most of my day and walk a little further.

By the time I ended my walk I had done 6.3 miles of walking. Other than my feet being a bit sore and a minor blister on the back of my left foot, I felt really great afterwards. The walk had everything I could have wanted, distance, great weather, great music and great company. So that was really cool. In fact I enjoyed it so much I'm going to bandage up my blister and do another one later today. This time I'm going to keep it to five miles though. I found a great walk that will take me right past a golf course I want to look at. Talk to you all tomorrow.

I'm Baaaack

Hello faithful readers. I'm sorry I haven't written anything new in a long time, but I was visiting my parents to celebrate one of the most important days of the year...my birthday. It was great getting out of LA for a few days and seeing the family and others that I haven't talked to in a long time. And thanks to everyone that sent me a birthday wish, I appreciate it. Don't worry, while I celebrated a fair amount while I was up north, I also stuck to a regimen of working out and I even got up early and went out in the cold to do so.

On Saturday I got up around 7 and I was dressed and out the door by 7:30. I started my workout like all of the other ones with a nice 5 minute walk to get warmed up. Then I jogged for about 2 minutes and walked again for two minutes. Since I wasn't on the treadmill this time I didn't have a way to gauge how fast I was running and subsequently tired myself out quicker than I would have liked to, but I did do some more distance this time than I would on the treadmill so that was great. All told the workout was about 3 miles of running and walking. Mostly walking admittedly. It felt really good to get up early and be outside however. There was practically no one around, just me, the cows and my iPod. It made me realize that I need to do more workouts outside of the gym. It was nice having markers to work towards instead of just watching a clock countdown. So I've decided that I'm going to breakout up my workouts with doing my run/walk in the gym so I can monitor my speed better and then move my walk days to the outdoors.

On Sunday I did a great walk with my dad. Other than just working out it was a great chance to spend 90 minutes just shooting the shit with him. We did a 5 mile loop with some good hills towards the end of the walk and it definitely felt like a great workout. Now when I'm doing my walking off days outside, I'm going to try to find a course that closely mimics what we did on Sunday around here. My neck of the woods in LA doesn't quite have the same hills, but I'm sure I can find something similar.

Monday I did another early morning run/walk much like Saturday except this time I added about another 1/4 of a mile to the distance I did. Mostly I was just meandering because I wanted to walk down this one street I'd never seen before, but also I wanted to add some distance to my total work out. I was able to slow my running down a bit this time and I got more running in as a result. I think my lungs are starting to get stronger, but it was hard to tell because my allergies were acting up so every breath regardless of running or not burned. As soon as I get all of the excess nature out of my system I can better gauge my lung capacity. Being back in LA for almost two days now and I feel like all of the fresh air is just about out of my system.

Finally there was Tuesday. My allergies took too much of a toll on me to really workout in the morning, but I found a great alternative workout. Prison. Yep a little time on the yard pumping iron and running away from homicidal maniacs is just what the doctor ordered. Okay so I wasn't actually in jail...sort of. I went to Alcatraz for the day and it was gorgeous out there. For all of you that are friends of my on Facebook, there will be pictures up soon. It was breezy, but it was one of the sunniest, clearest days I've spent in SF in a while. Last time I was there it was so foggy you couldn't even see the Golden Gate bridge from Ghiradelli Square. They say the walk from the boat dock at Alcatraz to the cell block is equivalent to walking up 13 stories worth of stairs. I'd believe it. It was great spending a few hours there walking around and getting a spectacular view of the city at the same time. Aww SF how I miss thee sometimes.

Well now you're all caught up on what I've been up to the last few days. Sorry I didn't make these separate posts, but I was too busy having a great time away from the computer and everything else. Hope you all missed me while I was gone.

To My Surprise

So Tuesday was a regular brisk walk day for me. And there is nothing interesting to report there. Just a regular brisk walk for 30 minutes. I still felt sore so I didn't push things too hard, but I still had a good sweat so that was cool. But I did see something quite interesting while I was doing my treadmill workout. There was this kid that snuck in next to me while I was engrossed in a game of Solitary on my iPod. His deft ninja skills weren't the only thing that surprised me about him. He was a heavier-set kid working out next to whom I'm assuming was his mother. In the two cup holders on the treadmill he had a water bottle and a medium soda from Carl's Jr. Now the soda could have been diet for all I know. But how many middle-school kids do you know that drink diet soda? We had the caffeine free stuff in our house and to me it was only good for one thing, shaking it up and then throwing it against the street until it exploded. That was about as close to drinking it as I got. Until now of course, but my palette is so much more advanced now. I can really appreciate the sweet tastes of saccharin and aspartame. But enough of the tangent. The kid really made me think. How often do I workout only to replace what I've worked off with more of the stuff that made me big in the first place. Again another lesson about thinking about what I eat. Otherwise I'm going to be like a hamster in a wheel, constantly running toward a goal, but never able to get there, then I get tired and fall asleep on a soft bed of wood shavings only to start the madness again the next day.

I don't do diets or fads so please don't recommend Atkins or South Beach etc., but if you have any other eating suggestions leave me some comments with what you got.

Lessons Not Learned

Okay so I hate to bring religion into this again now that Passover is finished, but it seems really relevant to my experience on Monday. So my rabbi was talking about the laws of keeping kosher, which I don't do, mostly because pork tastes waaaay too good. One of his points about the section on keeping kosher was that in today's modern world we should look at it more as a lesson in being mindful of what we eat and that we shouldn't just blindly shovel food into our mouths. Well naturally I went off and instantly assumed that that didn't apply to me. I then proceeded to have pizza for dinner.

Lesson number two that I haven't fully learned is stretching well before my run/walk days. I can get away with not stretching much on the "off" days because I'm not exerting myself quite as much. But when it's a run/walk it is more important.

So with both of those ignored I started my workout. From the beginning I could tell something was off. I just felt sluggish from the very first step and my whole body felt tight the whole time I was going. And to make matters worse I was trying to build off the great workout I had on Saturday and pushed myself too hard right from the start instead of easing into it as I should have. Long story short it was a bad workout. I still ran a bit, but not as much as I should have and I did complete my 30 minutes, but I felt like I took a step backwards.

It's amazing how when your hubris levels get way too high, life has a way of bitch slapping you back to reality. Needless to say I will will heed those lessons now more than ever.

On a positive note my weigh in on Monday has me down to 270 which is a drop of about 2 pounds. Not quite the loss I wanted, but I think my food choices had something to do with that. Either way it's still going in the right direction.

Friday, Saturday, Sunday

So I know I've been a bit bad about the daily writing. I'm sorry about that yet again. I have a feeling this will be a regular theme in this experiment. Sometimes I just get busy, tired or both. And sometimes I don't feel like I have much to say at all.

Friday was a brisk walk day on the treadmill. Nothing super special to report there.

Saturday was a run/walk day. I continue to feel like my running is getting stronger. I feel like I am able to run longer and at slightly faster speeds as well. I'm not The Flash by any means, but I do feel I am actually making in improvements. Now that the running and working out is starting to work, I need to focus more on my eating. I definitely had a couple of slip ups this week, which I'm sure will affect my weigh in. My wife and I went out to dinner on Saturday night with a friend of hers from out of town and we ended up splitting a pizza. But in my defense it was really good pizza and that makes it hard to say no. I don't look at my food choices and go "well since I worked out I can splurge a bit." I know that that is not a good mentality to have and it will only lead me to failure. So on Sunday I started to work on rectifying the situation by getting myself back on track with a nice dinner of Ahi Tuna, brown rice and boiled asparagus. Since I'm going to home a lot for a little while it will give me more time to focus on what meals I prepare during the day, dinner especially. I'm going to start making that my goal.

If you have any recipes or websites with good recipes etc. leave it in the comments area. I'm always looking to try new ones.

Alternative Workout

...and a real one as well.

So Wednesday I didn't end up making it into the gym. I was passed out in a leavened bread induced coma thanks to the end of Passover on Tuesday night. You know you've gone too far with gorging when you wake up next to a half eaten baguette that you don't even recall purchasing. But no the real reason was I decided to do a different workout other than the gym. Since it was such a gorgeous day and my buddy had the day off from his job, we decided to play our favorite 9 hole par 3 course instead. I know what you're thinking. "How could you play golf when you're unemployed!" Well before you all get worked up, I was called in the day two days before to do a temp gig for someone that was putting together a show pitch. So I had already worked a full day before I went to the course. So there. That is also a testament to how great the weather was that day. Just perfect. I even played a decent round.

Since I didn't go to the gym on Wednesday that meant I had to do a run/walk day on Thursday. For some reason I was really dreading the run/walk workout. I don't know why. I think it was partly because I had banged my toes the day before and it hurt a little bit to walk let alone run. But I still managed to get myself into the gym and onto the treadmill. And to my surprise I think I had one of my best run/walk workouts yet. Now I still felt a bit winded after the 90 second run portions at first, but then I found myself trying a couple of two minute runs and I even kept increasing the run speeds faster each time I had to run. Even on my last run I went my fastest yet and still felt like I could have done more. I could hear Joe Esposito singing in my ear and that inspiring guitar solo (Note to new readers please see earlier post to understand that reference). I don't know if it's just because I have shoes that don't make me hurt all over when I run or if this working out and training stuff is actually working. Or maybe I was fueled by the intensity of Tiger Woods's return to golf at The Masters. Who knows. Either way I actually left the gym wanting to go back in and do it again. I know I'm not supposed to go aggro just yet, but this last workout actually made me feel like I could and that was really cool.

Yay Treadmill Buddies!

So Tuesday was really just a normal old walk on the treadmill day for the most part. Not much to say in regards to the workout. Nothing really all that different today just a 30 minute brisk walk on the treadmill with a 2 incline (degrees? percent? not sure). However, I've started to notice something lately as sort of a trend at the branches of my gym that I've been going. There could be a bunch of empty treadmills around, as there usual are in the middle of the day, and people will just come to one of the ones next to me. Now granted I admit that I'm a handsome devil, but even guys do it to. I have a feeling it's because I'm a lard ass and people feel way better about their physique etc. when they're next to me. Or maybe it's because I seem like the least threatening of the gym bunch. I'm not the guy yelling "F**k Yeah!" in the middle of my workout like some of the weightlifters do. Although some days I feel that way. Of course I do this too. I usually try to find a heavier dude that's working out and hope the treadmill next to him isn't out of order. That way we have similar workouts and I don't look so out of place brisk walking for 30 minutes. There's this one guy at the gym that I see when I go in the evenings, a heavier set fellow just trying to get his sweat on. Every time I'm next to him on the treadmill I just want to high five him and say way to go be a motivating force. But as everyone knows it's only appropriate to to high five strangers at sporting events or in a bar. Alcohol is usually involved in both. That's why I miss working out with my nephew. We used to high five each other throughout our treadmill time. No particular reason. Just every once in a while it's nice to get a high five. So if you're reading this next to someone you know or care about I say turn to them and let them know it with a really awesome high five and a "F**k Yeah!"

Feel free to hit me up with a high five comment or any comment. I accept and appreciate them all the same.

What A Difference A Shoe Makes

So as the title implies I finally went out and found a pair of shoes that I like. While not perfect just yet, they are far better than the worn out sneakers I have been working out in. Of course I just had to go out and do a full workout in them without really breaking them in at all. So other than the need to loosen them up a little bit, the shoes worked really well. Having the extra padding in the heel area of the shoe really made a difference in my workout. For the first time since I started this journey, I had a workout where my knees and shins weren't killing me after a run/walk day.

Today, I also started phase two of the Couch to 5K plan. The new goal is to warm-up for five minutes and then run and walk intermittently for 90 seconds at a time for each. With the exception of the last 90 second run (which I ended up cutting to a minute) I felt good doing the workout. That doesn't mean it didn't kick my butt too, because it did, but that's the point right? I was definitely sucking wind during the whole thing, but it really felt like I was making progress. In fact I am making progress, the result of today's weigh in is 271.6, which means a drop of 3.4 pounds for the week. This brings the two week total to 6.4 pounds. I guess all this time at the gym is actually doing something. I might have to bust out my skinny jeans after all.

Betty Crock of Sh*t

I know I didn't do a post for Friday so this is going to be a combined Friday/Saturday post.

Friday was my first full day home without anything planned to get me out of the house. So I did what any new domestic would do with their time, I baked a cake. I know the last things a fat man needs in the house are excuses not to work out and a whole cake fresh out of the oven. To make matters worse it was a chocolate cake. The back story is, I was making a practice flourless chocolate cake before I made the real deal to take to my Aunt and Uncle's house for Passover. I needed to make sure I could make it right and that it wouldn't cause involuntary projectile vomiting, so naturally I took it to my wife's work and had her co-workers try it out. I even had a small piece myself. Everyone seemed to enjoy it so that was cool. Version two while slightly lopsided was also a hit at Passover, so take that Betty Crocker. Your boxed recipes can shove it.

Friday was another run/walk day on the good old treadmill. Same routine as usual, I warmed up with a 5 minute fairly brisk walk and then ran for a minute and walked for 90 seconds intermittently. I don't know what it was but Friday felt good. Despite my long worn out shoes, the running didn't hit me as hard as it usually does, so maybe I'm making progress after all. I also did a few runs that were over 60 seconds to see if I could do them without being too gassed. My last run for the session was a 90 second run, which is phase two of the Couch to 5K plan, and I was able to get through that pretty easily, despite being at the end of my workout. So that was inspiring. We'll see how it goes on Monday.

Saturday being an "off" day from the run/walk plan I decided to take a long brisk walk with a friend of mine along the beach. I mean come on! I live in LA, but I almost never go to the beach. No reason why. I just don't. So we started at Venice Beach and walked all the way to just south of the Santa Monica pier. I know that's a distance that only my local readers will fully understand. All told from the car back to the car we walked for about 90 minutes. Next Saturday we're planning on going at least to the pier and back so if any of my locals want to join us send me a comment, or call if you know me. One thing I did notice is my feet were killing me at the end of the walk. My shoes rubbed my feet pretty raw. Fortunately there were no blisters which worried me because I didn't want to be sidelined from really working out because of huge blisters on my feet. I think today is going to be a movie/shoe shopping day. Now if I could only trick the wife into going to Sport Chalet.

Matzah As An Excuse To Eat Healthy?!

That's right. I actually used Passover as an excuse to stick to healthy eating. My former co-worker and I would every once in a while go down the street from work and grab a pizza and a few beers after work, if I was working an early shift. Yesterday was our final hurrah together as a group. We all met where most dejected soon-to-be-unemployed people go to kill the pain: Cheesecake Factory. Say what you will but the Hibachi Steak is great! (And I got it without the tempura asparagus because of the holiday.) Anyway, my co-worker had to finish some stuff up at his new job and wanted to grab some pizza and beer for old time's sake. I partially froze for a second because I didn't want to say no (not to him, to the pizza) but I also wanted to maintain the good streak I was on in terms of healthy eating. And then, like a message from G-d, it popped in my head- it was Passover. So I told him sorry I can't because of the holiday. So I was able to dodge that bullet, but when I went downstairs to say final goodbyes, there were donuts from the morning that someone had brought in, and good ones too. I'm usually pretty good about avoiding them but damn they looked good. Again though, that voice popped in my head, Passover! So I easily just walked away. If only every day could be Passover. Well maybe not.

Workout was great too. I was in a really good mood actually and not just because of the Hibachi Steak. I introduced myself to someone who may be hiring soon and he seemed pretty excited when I told him about my qualifications and popped up and grabbed a business card for me. So that was really cool. So all told it was a pretty alright day. One job now officially over and a door that's been cracked a little bit. So we'll see. I'll keep you all posted.

So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Adieu

So despite what the title might imply, this is not my last post on this blog. If my math is correct, I still have 355 more posts to go. Wednesday was my last shift at my job. So with that, I say a fond farewell to the place I called my employer for the last three years.

I've had people ask me why I'm so bothered by it closing down. The fact of the matter is I didn't like the job that much. This is true. And my boss was sort of like Michael Scott, but with severe bouts of male PMS. So how could I say I was sad about the whole place going under? Well first off there's the money thing. Yes, I know that life is more than a paycheck. If I've learned anything from this experience, it's that. Secondly, I spent more time working there than I did with my wife, so my co-workers were essentially a second family. Some of whom I actually liked as people. We weren't as tight as my CVTV Brotherhood, but pretty darn close. Plus we had a channel softball team. I'm really going to miss that. So it's really the people that I'll miss more than anything else, not so much the job. I think my buddy put it best when he said the whole situation sort of felt like an odd break-up with your boyfriend or girlfriend.

Today was the first day where I went to work prior to going to the gym. As I was getting in my car, I started thinking, "Maybe today I'll just take a day off from the gym. Maybe today it'll be okay to just not go. I don't think anyone would blame you for not going." But I knew that kind of thinking would just lead me to more excuses not to go. So even though I had no desire to be there, and even though it was a run/walk day which meant pain, I still pushed myself into the gym. I lumbered to the treadmill and did my 30 minute workout without any excuses and without giving up. That made me proud of myself.

Day Nine

Yes, I know I'm back to the unoriginal titles for the posts. Sorry. I challenge you all out there to come up with 365 different creative titles for blog posts about dieting and working out. No seriously any help would be greatly appreciated, I'm dying here.

Today started out as a pretty slow day. There wasn't a whole lot going on at job one until about the last couple of hours, so the day just sort of dragged on. To make it worse, every time I went to the break room to get coffee or water, there was the giant box of bagels and bread staring at me the whole time. You know how hard it is for a Jew to say no to a bagel? I think we're actually genetically predisposed to needing them for survival, sort of like salt and water. The good news is I usually don't give in to the midday temptation of taking a bagel back to the edit bay with me, although on occasion I have. Bringing my lunch with me and making sure I had plenty of snacks around to keep me full all day really helped me fight the bagel craving. I think I heard one call me a wimp for backing down, but I might have just been hearing things.

Today was just a walking on the treadmill day, but for some reason it just felt really good today. I did a fairly brisk walk and really got the old heartbeat up and pumping. It was one of those workouts where even though I didn't really do much at all, I was still walking back to the locker room afterwards like I was hot shit. I even gave a head nod to the weird dude in the locker room that stares at himself topless in the mirror to admire his muscles. I felt like Travolta at the beginning of Saturday Night Fever. It was one of those feelings where if you were working out at home you'd slap your significant other on the butt afterwards and say "Yeah!" Butt slapping of significant others not recommended while at the gym. Talk to your doctor first before starting a butt slapping regimen. Use only as directed.

Unfortunately, this mood was soured a bit by going to job 2 which is ending this week. It's difficult even walking in there, knowing it's almost over. The whole time I was working it felt like those last couple of days before graduation, but without the fun partying and enjoying yourself. Just the weird trepidation of "what's next?" There are positives etc. and I'll have more on that in the next post.

Another Manic Monday

Again to all my faithful readers, I apologize that I didn't get this post written up last night. I had to work really late and only had time last night to eat a bit, shower and pass out. And kudos to those of you who put together that the title of this post and the last post are lyrics from The Bangles "Manic Monday". And for those of you who didn't figure it out. That's okay. You're not missing much.

A couple of people of have asked me to talk a bit about my dietary plans while I'm going through this journey toward insanity a.k.a. the marathon and I figured now would be the best time since as of last night I started on the original low-carb diet. No not Atkins. Although you have to love a diet that tells you bacon is good for you. Last night was in fact the beginning of Passover and believe me nothing will make you want to eat carbs less than the knowledge that your only option is matzah. For those of you who don't know, we Jews eat matzah to honor the fleeing of the Israelites out of Egypt. We ran so fast, that our bread didn't have time to rise and thus was only baked into a delicious cracker like food. That is also I believe that last time anyone saw a Jew run. I'll wikipedia that to double check. However, it makes me wish they would have grabbed a few things of beef and carried them on their back instead. Wouldn't it be better if Passover was instead known as the Festival of the Medium Rare Steak? I'd have Seder every night.

A lot of my gentile co-workers ask me if it sucks to give up bread etc. for a week and I say "Of Course," but by focusing only on the lack of bread, you really miss the point of Passover. Yes it is predominately about remembering our time as slaves and what tremendous acts of G-d, bravery and faith it took to get us out, but I say that there is another level to it. Holidays are in part meant to be times of reflection and I think that Passover offers the best time to focus on what we eat and how imbalanced our diets and subsequently our lives really are. I could rattle off a huge litany of foods that I am going without this week and yes I will miss them, but it gives me a chance to see how focused I am sometimes on just one food and hopefully I'll benefit from finding other alternatives to my regular routine such as salads.

Okay but enough about faith etc. I promised I would talk more about food and also my workout, plus the results of the first weigh in. You see how I set that up as a tease. That's marketing! Please don't scroll to the bottom and see the results. Remember we're on this journey together now.

I don't really know what to say in regards to food except I'm trying hard to be mindful of portion control and just overall what foods I put in my body. That didn't stop me from slipping a bit and having a brisket dip the other night at Junior's Deli however, but during the week I'm pretty spot on. I take my lunch with me to work everyday which I find accomplishes three goals. One, it saves money, which I obviously need to do right now. Two, it ensures that I have something to eat if things get hectic and I can't get away from my edit bay for a while. And three, it puts me in control over what I'm eating. That's also why I've been trying to cook and eat dinner at home more often. I'm not forced into having my choices reduced to what someone puts on their menu and I can control the portion size as well. Someone that messaged me mentioned snacks. There is nothing I love more than snack foods, but I have been focusing on replacing pretty much all of them with fruits and vegetables. I have started packing a banana or a couple little clementine oranges in my lunch. Also, one of my favorite snack foods which also helps me get my vegetables in and still kind of makes it feel like you're cheating is sugar snap peas. They're freaking good, don't make you feel all crappy like carrots can and they have a bit of a sweetness to them that makes feel like you're eating candy, if candy were crispy and good for you.

Wow this is a long post. Sorry. This is what happens when you ask a fat man to talk about food. I could go on for hours. So let me talk a bit about the workout and let's call it a day. I was feeling super sore on Monday because of all that awesome kickball action so I decided to try the eliptical again. Since Monday was a run/walk day, I still incorporated that element of training into the eliptical, where I would go slower for 90 seconds and then increase my speed considerably for 60. I don't know if the same principle does apply away from the treadmill, but I wasn't hurting as much and the workout felt really good. I do love the eliptical. I've decided after last Friday's depressing showing on the treadmill that I would repeat week one of my Couch to 5K plan. I'm going to spread it out to hopefully 2 1/2 months instead of just two. I might even go three with it. I'm trying to be kind to myself as my brother suggested.

And now to the part you've patiently waited for, the weigh in. Okay, probably most of you don't care, but I had to hype something and really I had very little to work with to entice you to stay. Maybe next post I'll put a cute picture of my cat at the bottom to keep you reading until the end. Anyways, as of yesterday morning when I stepped on the scale I was 275, down three pounds from day one. At this rate, I'll burn off 156 pounds by the day of the marathon. Putting me at a scary 122. Yeah...something tells me the weight loss will plateau at some point, but until I'll keep working at keeping it at a peak.

Thanks for reading!