Who Wants to Get Active--Brian

Whine about my feet or get to the gym? Dah!!!!!!!!!!!

guest — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 06:12:04 GMT

As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, I was battling my feet. With collapsed arches, and not necessarily being light as a feather, I occassionally experience pretty severe foot pain. The good new is it is usually temporary and goes away. This time it lasted much longer than normal and I didn't want to rush it. All the training may have caught up with me a little, so the feet said take a break. So on the surface, without having the ability to jog or do much on my feet, it could have been a tough, depressing couple of weeks. However, as I look back, I really made a lot of progress.

Rather than skip workouts, I found myself heading to the gym to weight train and riding the bike. I am doing a circuit workout across 10 different weight lifting exercises.that focus on all aspects of my body (arms, legs, shoulders, chest, back and stomach). I am doing high reps, three sets of each and working back and forth between two exercises at a time. The results in just two weeks have been very good. My strength is picking back up and I am toning in ways my cardio workouts won't accomplish. There is no question that lifting will help me accomplish my overall fitness goals and I very much plan to continue it.

I think in some ways having my feet go out was a blessing. It forced me to find other things to do and showed that a well rounded fitness program cross training different parts of my body can have a positive impact on my mentally and physically. Although I am very excited to be able to resume my running again tomorrow, I will undoubtedly continue to mix my workout up. Whether it be running, lifting, hiking, or riding the bike, it all really seems to work. Variety will keep things interesting and I clearly learned that this week.

I expect great results over the next couple weeks having my feet back and having the ability to do all of my exercises. Wish me luck.

Busting through foot pain and the flu

guest — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 07:37:08 GMT

Yep, this was a challenging week. Got the stomach flu last week and this week by dreaded feet decided to give me issues. Maybe a little too much running. Do not fret, though. I still had a pretty good week because I got most of my workouts in.

Lifting, running and eating well (ok, sort of well) is all going great. In addition, on the weekends I am taking the kids out hiking to get an extra level of activity. Not strenuous my any stretch, but activity is activity. And it feels great. The issue with my feet is an ongoing thing. Being 200lb+ for the past 10 years and still being active, I have pretty much destroyed my arches. I have orthodics and overall they do the trick. They aren't the best when it comes to complete comfort and running super long distances. But overall they are a blessing. Yes, occasionally something goes wrong in my feet and they will swell up. Nothing worse than foot pain. It usually takes a couple days to overcome that (with the help of my good friend Alleve), and I am back on track. So, that is my big pain (no pun intended) this week. Nope, not the big macs this time. If there are any podiatrists out there, speak up. I would love to know the answer to getting my feet back. Do they make Rocket Shoes???? OK, just getting giddy now.

Anyhow, I am learning to fit in the workouts throughout my terribly busy schedule. It feels good. Not easy, but rewarding when I complete them. Thank you for all the tips. They work and it is nice to get that advice. Keep it coming.

Time to step up

guest — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 15:56:09 GMT

To this point, I have allowed by 24/7 career, travel and family responsibilities interfere with my ability to get in a workout every day. Then, of course, eating has been a treat, literally. Well, a few days ago I said no more and feel I have the ball rolling. I realize I am not the only person on the planet with a schedule like mine, and thos people figure it out. I, however, have not. It is clear I have the propensity to work hard at my diet and excercise, then slip back into bad habits when my schedule gets crazy and my tress levels increase. So although I am doing what I think I need to, I realize that I not only have to have to be disciplined, but also efficient. So, that being said, I have a couple questions I would love feedback on:

1. What is considered the best calorie burning excercise?

2. What is the best time to excercise to maximize calorie burn and fat loss (morning, afternoon, night)?

3. Is weight lifting a key element to weight loss? If so, what type (repition or increasing weight / strength)?

4. Most important, what kind of foods truly fill you up, but don't possess a boat load of calories? I really need to find foods that are easily accessible, I can travel with and really do satisfy. I can live without the pizza, but I am not sure an all fruit diet is gonna work for me either. I really would love help in this area. I need the secret formula here. Is it time to power down some hoodia pills?

OK, running at lunch today and looking forward to it. Thanks for all the support. Sorry to have been such a slacker up to this point. Everyone has been great.

Average at Best

guest — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 05:30:06 GMT

If I had to grade my progress over the past couple weeks, I woul dsay it is "Average at Best". Yes I get a couple runs in a week, and overall I am doing ok. However, time really has been a major challenge for me lately and my overall results are not where I would like them. Nobody to blame but me. But I have really struggled to find a way around it. Work and home responsibilities are literally consuming my days from 6am to 10pm at night. I know this sounds crazy, but it is true. I literally have to squeeze in a workout when I can. I am yet to get my arms around my diet, and my goal this week is to really figure that out.

If I can figure out the eating and continue my running and lifting, I should be in a good place come May (Half Marathon). Anyhow, I am clearly not going to be put on the cover of Health and Fitness Magazine anytime soon. But I am doing ok.

Diet Detective, expect a call from me this week. You clearly need to whip me into shape. Thanks.

Holy Smokes . . . .

guest — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 17:05:50 GMT

Married, children, dog and the craziest schedule ever. Yep, this is gonna take some discipline. No question that the focusing on the diet has to be a priority. A busy schedule is not somehing that many of us can change. We have responsibilities that we need to uphold. Diet, however, is the easiest thing to work into it. If you miss a work out here and there (which hopefully I won't), at least you won't hurt yourself if you ate correctly that day. My biggest struggle is finding the right foods to supplement. We all know the difference between low cal and high cal foods. But which ones really satisfy and curb your appetite. That is my biggest struggle right now. I will work through it. Thanks for all the support out there.

Progress - running is going well, lifting is going well, eating is not going well. I know, consistent theme. We will get there.

Tis the Season to be Jolly

guest — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 06:30:04 GMT

OK, three days before Christmas and overall I have been donig ok. I am definitely getting my lifting in, doing some running (should be doing a little more there), playing some basketball and feeling good overall. But, as I was worried about during the holidays, diet is still not optimal. Holiday parties and dinners make it a little challenging to drop pounds. Let's just say that my family and friends aren't serving celery and prune juice at their parties. And I clearly can't miss a good party, right? Anyhow, I am targeting Dec. 26 as the day to really dig in on the diet and eat right. Since my workouts are going well, getting control of my diet should really help me make progress. I will be consulting with the Diet Detective and coming up with a plan that works for me. After next week, things should really get going.

Life As of Today

guest — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 19:44:00 GMT

Characterizing the person I am today is rather difficult. On one hand, I consider myself an active individual and an accomplished athlete. On the other hand, I realize I am not as active as I should be and I "was" an accomplished athlete. Not any more. Instead, I am someone who has very little time to work out, eats far more than he should, and is a far cry from what he use to be. Sound familiar anyone?

The first 20 years of my life were very much focused on playing sports (football, basketball, baseball). I played competitive sports year round from the age of six thru college, and truly gained a love for athletic competition and achievement. I enjoyed working out and constantly pushing myself to new heights. Eventually I went on to play football in college and had aspirations to play professional sports. I was in incredible shape (low body fat, good muscle definition and great cardio-vascular condition) and my overall speed and strength were very good.

Then came graduation, and the realization that a professional sports career was likely not in the cards. This marked the beginning of the next 15 years and the gradual decline in my physical fitness level. Long work days, extensive travel, and family demands made working out very difficult. I attempted to maintain some sense of a lifting and running regiment, but time made that difficult and continuity was a challenge. This has been my personal battle for the past 15 years. I work out for a couple weeks, then all of the sudden stop. Overall I have gained 25 - 30 lbs. over the years, lost much of my muscle definition and surely cannot run at the speeds or distances that I use to. Although I convince myself that this is just the realities of life, I know deep down I can do better.

Clearly time has truly been a major impediment in my struggle to stay in shape, but my biggest enemy has always been food. I developed my eating habits early on in life (playing sports and eating for the most part whatever I wanted, in the quantities I wanted) and have never really been able to curb that appetite. Yeah, maybe I don't eat the three Big Mac's after practice anymore, but I do eat more than I should. I go through phases where I eat well and do in fact drop weight. However, the more I work out, the hungrier I get (especially from weight lifting). And that begins the awful cycle of gaining all the weight back. Once the eating starts up after dieting for a while, it is hard to stop. This is the dreaded cycle I have been trapped in forever.

I am so frustrated with how far "off the apple cart" I have fallen and desire so much to get back the real me. I am still in ok shape and some might think I am crazy for complaining about my weight and lack of conditioning. I still play basketball, can easily run a 10K and do lift weights (when time permits). But the level I do those activities is a far cry from where I was 15 years ago.

So the question is do I "accept my reality" or do I "do something about it".

Getting involved in the "Who wants to get Active" campaign is very exciting for me. I clearly need help understanding how to change my diet, need help integrating workouts into my busy work and family schedules, and most of all need help holding myself accountable.

I am ready to make a change in my life and to dedicate myself to the pursuit of health and fitness.

My goals are to lose 25-30 lbs., become leaner and stronger and improve my running performance (speed and distance). My first major athletic goal is to run a half marathon in the next 6 months. Then, I would like to continue progressing and eventually run a marathon in the next year. Most important, though, I desire to obtain "permanent" results, breaking away from the 15 year cycle I have been trapped in.

I have the fire and passion to make this happen and am excited to partner with the diet professionals and athletic trainers at Active. It is time!!!!