YRG

I've known a bunch of people who are into yoga and I've tried it a couple of times myself but I just couldn't get into it. Awhile back, I saw an article on the Weight Watchers site regarding the YRG Workout. YRG stands for Yoga for Regular Guys and it was developed by former pro wrestler Diamond Dallas Page (DDP). I was intrigued enough to order the DVD but I was worried it would probably be a waste of money. Thankfully it's turned out to be the real deal. The workout is intense (I'm seriously tired and sweaty by the end) and DDP brings a cool personality/edge to the program. His approach definitely makes yoga much more enjoyable and accessible to "regular guys". I've done the workout about three or four times now and each time I tell myself I should do it more often. Perhaps it will turn into my secret weapon for fitting into my skinny jeans. =)

33

I turned 33 just over two months ago. As many of may recall, I set a goal to reach a weight of 195 pounds by that birthday and barely made it (see post). I also signed up for Weight Watchers Online (see post) but I haven't really gotten into it. So I was trying to think of some new weight loss goal and decided to go with the "skinny jeans" approach rather than the "pick a target weight" approach. Toward that end, I bought a pair of size 33 jeans the other day. The jeans are a bit on the pricey side (ok, more than a bit) but I picked this brand since they also have a line of jeans based on my favorite HBO show Entourage. The pair of jeans I bought isn't from that line (since I didn't like any of the colors / styles) but that's how I ended up with this company. I suppose the other side-benefit of the jeans being expensive is that it will provide additional motivation to fit into them so I can get some use out of the investment. As many of you might know, it's hard for me to spend money on clothes. Just doesn't seem like the best use of money relative to other investment options.

In terms of how much of a "sketch goal" this is, I have a pair of 36-waist jeans and they're very baggy. I also have a pair of 35-waist jeans that fit but also have a bit of room in them. My best guess is that I'm a size 34 1/2 right now. So getting into a size 33 pair of jeans would represent going down roughly 1.5 to 2 pant sizes. The size 33 also have the nice coincidence of being the same number as my age - I love little symbolic connections like that. =)

Speaking of symbolic connections, I figure I'll set one more goal while I'm at it. Before I turn 34 next year, I'd like to figure out what I'm doing with organized religion. After this past birthday, my brother-in-law said to me: "did you know that Jesus was crucified when he was 33?" At the time, I said to myself that was a sign I should go the next step and try to figure things out further. But then I put the thought out of my mind. But it has lingered long enough that I think I need to do something about it. Not exactly sure what the "exit criteria" are for this goal but I'll figure it out as I go. If I were going to "affiliate" with a particular organized religion at this point, it would probably be the LDS Church but that's certainly not a given at this stage of the game.

I suppose if all goes well I'll be wearing my skinny jeans to a church function sometime in the next 10 months. =)

Weight Watchers

Now that I hit my weight loss goal, I was trying to decide what I should do for maintenance. I think the most important thing is better integrating exercise and better eating habits into my lifestyle. That's the only way this stuff is going to stick. I was trying to think of ways to do that and be accountable. I thought about developing a points system based on eating and exercise. Rather than reinvent the wheel, I decided to sign up for Weight Watchers Online. The first three months is $65 and I was able to finance the expense through a generous birthday gift from my wife's parents (thanks!). So we'll see how that goes. If nothing else, it's forcing me to log everything I eat and be conscious of my food choices. Hopefully I'll also be able to get a better handle on portion sizes and a more intuitive sense of the relative point values of different foods. So far I've only done this for two days. The web interface is pretty slick and makes things relatively painless - although there are some weird things (bugs?) in the site I haven't figured out yet.

The other thing I'm still getting my head around is what a good target weight should be (good target = healthy and achievable over the long-term). 190-195 pounds actually seems pretty good to me. But the system suggested setting a target of 143 pounds - 50+ pounds less than I am right now! I think this was based on BMI but that's totally crazy. When I stepped on the scale this morning, I was 193.4 pounds and 22.4% body fat - 43.3 pounds of fat and 150.1 pounds. So I currently have more muscle than Weight Watchers is telling me I should weigh total. Something doesn't fit here. Even if I got down to 8% body fat and maintained my muscle mass (which would be very challenging), I'd still weigh 163.2 pounds. Anyway, I entered 185 pounds into the system as my "goal weight" but I personally think 190-195 pounds makes more sense (even though it technically means I'm still "fat").

Made it, just barely

Six months ago, I set a target of getting to 195 pounds (or less) by my 33rd birthday (see prior post). To make things more interesting, I also put $1,000 at risk. With one day to spare, I achieved my goal. In the last 3 months, I've gone from 208 pounds to 194.8 pounds.

About a year and a half ago, my wife decided that she was going to lose 19 pounds and go from 139 pounds to 120 pounds. This morning, she achieved her goal as well.

I have to admit that it's satisfying to have met my goal. But I don't really like how I got here. Even after missing my last goal and setting up this self-bet, I didn't take it seriously for the first three months. Then I got motivated and pulled out the stops in the last three months and just barely made my target. It's the moral equivalent of cramming for an exam the night before and then getting an A. It's satisfying but it's not the work ethic that I want to teach my kids. I much more of a believer in "slow and steady wins the race" and not cutting things so close. At some point, these other tactics are going to catch up with you and not going to produce the results you want long-term.

That's why I'm so much more proud of my wife achieving her goal. She's been at this every day for the last 18 months. She injured her knee at one point and she battled through it. We decided to discontinue our membership at the YMCA so she did her workouts at home - early in the morning before the kids got up. The last 5 pounds were just as challenging as the first 14 but she didn't give up. She just stuck to it and made it happen. That's the example that I want my kids to follow, not mine. I couldn't be more proud of my wife's accomplishment.

As an aside, even though I won my self-bet, I just made a $20 donation to Heifer.org to buy a flock of geese for a family in need somewhere in the world.

PS - If folks have ideas for maintenance goals, please let me know. Thanks.

You there?

A friend of mine sent me an email yesterday afternoon saying "Are you around? You’ve been quiet and I wanted to see how you were doing?" I appreciate the interest and concern. I've been meaning to post more but just can't seem to find the time. Recently, I've been spending a lot of time trying to work out and lose weight. I need to lose another 2 pounds or so in the next two weeks or I'll need to donate $1,000 to Heifer.org (see prior post). My target weight is 195 pounds and, as of Saturday morning, I was around 197 pounds. We're also way ahead of schedule at work science-wise so things are heating up for me on the business side. More soon...

Complete failure

Awhile ago, I set a goal for myself to weigh 190 pounds by Christmas (see this post). With Christmas only a couple of days ago, I can confidently say I won't achieve my goal. I won't even come close. Despite a post three months ago regarding convictions, I weigh more now than I did then. It's pathetic and the exact opposite example to set for my kids.

So, what to do? I'm going to put my money where my mouth is. It's a self-bet. If I weigh less than 195 pounds on my next birthday (in June), I'll put $1,000 into my kids' college savings account. Otherwise, I'll donate $1,000 to Heifer.org for a heifer, two goats, and a water buffalo. Basically, I'm putting $1,000 at risk. If I succeed, the money will go toward something that I care about deeply. If I fail, I forfeit the money to something I don't care about (but at least it will do some good in the world).

It's unfortunate I have to resort to tactics like this but such is life. There are consequences for all of our actions and inactions. This just extends those consequences into the physical world and makes them more tangible for me.

Convictions

One of my favorite quotes is "the true measure of a man is not where he stands in times of comfort and convenience, but where he stands in times of challenge and controversy" (Martin Luther King). In a prior post, I said that when I'm gone, I'd like people to remember me as someone who lived his beliefs, could be counted on when it counted, and left things better than he found them. Thus, my current attempt to reorient my career around fighting global warming. But living with conviction has subtler, more day-to-day consequences. One is doing what you say you're going to do - whether big or small. Awhile ago (see this post), I said I was going to get down to 190 pounds by Christmas. My wife asked me yesterday whether I'm still planning to do that. Honestly, I was planning to ignore I ever set that goal. But that's not the example I want to set for my kids or the precedent I want to set for myself. So, despite an overwhelming desire not to, I'm going to try my best to meet my goal by Christmas. Losing 15-16 pounds in 3 months is still achievable without doing something drastic or unhealthy - although Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and business breakfasts/lunches/dinners (for my job search) will certainly increase the degree of difficulty.

The Rock

Dwayne Douglas Johnson a.k.a The Rock is an interesting guy. I've seen a couple of interviews with him and he seems quite down-to-earth in real life. There was an article about him in the September 2006 issue of Men's Health's magazine entitled "The Rock's Rules for Reinvention". Some of my favorite excerpts were:

"Always improve. Always evolve. Never give up."

"Clarity is king: being very clear on what your intention is, on what your goal is ... When you have that, the truth shall set you free ... those are the most powerful tools we have in life: truth and knowledge. A lot of times the truth can hurt, the truth sucks, it can crush your ego. But it's freeing just to know it. Make sure that everyone is very, very clear on things."

"My director once quoted a basketball player who said, 'When you are not practicing, remember, someone somewhere is practicing, and when you meet him, he will win.' I think I jumped up and threw my table across the restaurant, it connected so well with me. But a lot of times you have to dial it down a bit ... Going without sleep is counterproductive. At some point, you just have to get off that treadmill."

There was also a good swiss-ball exercise I'll need to keep in mind for the future:

Get into pushup position, resting your shins on a Swiss ball. Raise your hips as high as you can as you roll the ball toward your body. This is the starting position. From here, bend your elbows to lower your chest toward the floor, pause, then push yourself back up. "You can do so many variations," says Johnson. "Lift one leg, come down slow, isometrically hold the pushup, with your face 6 inches off the ground. It works your core, shoulders, triceps, chest, balance, everything."

Interesting that I'm taking life advice from a former pro wrestler but it's important not to judge a book by the cover. I'm learning that everyone has something to share with us if we're willing to really listen.

fat2phat: Week 5 results

Well, just like that, I'm back up again. Not a big surprise. I haven't been focused on this, haven't been eating well (not terrible but not well), and haven't really been exercising. At any rate, I weighed myself yesterday morning and I was 204.6 pounds and 20.6% body fat (up almost a pound and a half from last week but the same as the week before that).

I was telling my wife yesterday that my weight-loss situation is actually pretty similar to the situation that the planet faces with global warming (see this post). From a long-term health perspective, there is "a substantial (and uncertain) time lag between cause and effect". From a day-to-day perspective, there is "inertia in all the key drivers of the problem [including] ingrained daily habits at the household level". And, from a time-allocation perspective, there are "a set of hard-wired incentives, career and otherwise, that inhibit focused attention and action on the issue". Especially since the end-point for my stated goal is Christmas, I'm currently in the mode of saying I'll start for real next week - that I have time so I'll focus on different things this week. That's like most people saying we have 10-20 (maybe 30-50) years to solve global warming so I don't need to make (inconvenient) changes in my lifestyle or daily habits today.

fat2phat: Week 4 results

Weight can be such a random thing sometimes. That's why a friend of mine recommended focusing my goals around things that I control (frequency of workouts, quality of eating) than things I don't control (what the scale says). This week, I failed on the things I control - I ate poorly and didn't workout - but I succeeded on the thing I don't control - when I weighed myself this morning, I was 203.2 pounds and 19.9% body fat (down almost a pound and a half from last week).

fat2phat: Week 3 results

I did my week 3 weigh-in earlier this week for fat2phat but didn't have time to post the results. I was 204.6 pounds and 20% body fat - so basically no change from the prior week. I started off the week really well but things have gone downhill since then - mostly due to lots of eating out. It will be interesting to see what my week 4 results are in a couple of days.

fat2phat: Week 2 results

I did my week 2 weigh-in this morning for fat2phat. I was 204.4 pounds and 19.6% body fat (see updated spreadsheet). So up almost two pounds from last week and up about a pound from the initial weigh-in. Last week, I commented that my weight loss seemed like a fluke. Obviously it was. This past week, I managed to exercise twice (one trip to the gym and one day walking to/from work) but my eating was pretty pathetic. I was definitely in grazing mode a lot. To combat that, I'm going to keep a food log this week. In general, though, I've got to admit that I'm not particularly motivated to lose weight at the moment. There's so much other stuff going on right now that I don't want another thing to worry about.

fat2phat: Week 1 results

I did my week 1 weigh-in this morning for fat2phat. I was 202.8 pounds and 18.7% body fat. So down almost a pound from the initial weigh-in but still 12.8 pounds to my goal. Honestly, I'm a little surprised I lost any weight at all. It seems a little random considering I didn't eat particularly well and I didn't work out. If I have another week like last week, I wouldn't be surprised if I bounce back up to where I was before (or slightly higher).

fat2phat: initial weigh-in

Today kicked off the new fat2phat (see this post). I weighed 203.6 pounds with a body fat percentage of 19.1%. I've noticed that the body fat percentages on my scale are pretty suspect - or at least very sensitive to factors like hydration - so I wouldn't put much stock in that. Anyway, I weighed 203.6 pounds. So, relative to my goal of 190 pounds by Christmas, I have 13.6 pounds to go - or an average of 0.45 pounds per week. You can chart my progress with this spreadsheet (download here).

fat2phat revisited

About two years ago, I decided I needed to lose some weight. I weighed 235 pounds at the time. I set a goal for myself to lose 40 pounds in a year (a process I called "fat2phat"). It ended up taking me about 10 months to reach my goal. Since then, I've kept the weight off but recently it's been creeping back on. The last time I weighed myself (about 1-2 weeks ago), I weighed about 205 pounds. So, time for a new goal. By Christmas (7 months from now), I want to lose 15 pounds and get down to 190 pounds. That's realistic - it's about 2 pounds per month. When I lost weight the last time, I lost about 2 pounds per week.



To build some accountability into this process, I'm going to post an update on this blog once a week (every Sunday morning). The first one will be in two days. That will be the official weigh-in and starting point for improvement.