I started going back to the gym the week of June 16th, 2008 in order to regain my fitness after being ill. I changed my diet and started to lift weights, which is something I've done in about 5 years. I didn't have a goal in mind when I started, but here are results 7 weeks later:

Started: 214 lbs (23.3% body fat = 49.862 lbs of fat)
Today: 205 lbs (17.1% body fat = 35.005 lbs of fat )

So I lost 14.807 lbs of fat. And by the numbers I gain 5.193 lbs of muscle.

Huzzah!

How did I do it? Well, I am no longer eating whole pies ... so that may have something to do with it. I haven't touched McDonald's/Burger King/etc... in 7 weeks, and when I do go out I would forgo the fatty foods. I love my burgers and I had one last Sunday at Twist Root Burger Co. and I had a (delicious)Greek Burger made with ground lamb at Ziziki's about a month ago. I also need my chocolate so I swipe a couple of piece of dark chocolate from our receptionist's desk at work. It keeps me sane. I eat all day, and never skip a meal. My typical day of meals:

8:30am - Oatmeal with raisin
11:00ish - Almonds or mixed nuts
12:30ish - Turkey sandwich or chicken salad with chips and fruit
3:00ish - Granola bar or nuts
4:00ish - Yogurt
5:15 - Gym
7:00ish - protein shake
8:30ish - Fish, turkey or chick with veggies, brown rice or pasta w/ pesto.
10:00ish - Fruit or some other snack

So I am eating a lot and drink a lot of water and very little soda or sugary drinks. When I am at work I think drink about 5-7 16oz. cups of water (which is about a gallon) and I drink about gallon more of water when I play tennis. I am only in the gym 3 times a week for about an hour. My workouts:

Monday - 30 minutes on treadmill (varying speeds), chest/biceps workouts
Wednesday - 30 min. on treadmill (varying speeds), legs/shoulders workouts
Thursday - 30 min. on treadmill (varying speeds), back/triceps workouts

That's about it. On the treadmill: I start with an 4.0 inclined walk at 3.0 mph, then run at 5.0 mph for 10 min, then up to 6.0 mph for another 10 min and during the last 3 minutes I up the speed to 6.5 or 7.0 for a sprint.

I really see the difference in my body. I am not ripped, and that's not my goal, but I am definitely leaner than when I started. I don't want to get too muscular or lose too much body fat because makes me look gaunt.. As Rich from FourFour shows that having body fat can be a good thing. The positives are that my arms are more defined, my legs are much stronger and my tuchus has never looked better (round, yielding yet firm. lol). I got some v-neck shirts from the Gap last week in a size Large, and they are a bit too big on me. I would never thought I would say those words because I have been in XL territory for so long.

I am going to increase the intensity of my workouts and do another update in 7 weeks. My goal for the end of the year is to be about 190-195 lbs and 10-13% body fat. This is a lofty goal, but I am committed to becoming healthier.

Labels: health

In my efforts to get back in shape after my long illness, I decided to cut out my drink of choice: Sprite. I am trying to make a conscious effort to cut down on the amount of sugar and high fructose corn syrup I consume. So, instead of sugar for tea I will use honey; and instead of store brand syrup for waffles/pancakes I will use natural maple syrup. This past weekend during dinner with some people I know, I ordered a unsweetened iced tea, which caused some illicit stares. I explained my new "plan" and people seemed interested in what I was doing.

In an effort to find a new drink to tide me over, I decided to go back to the drink of my childhood: Kool-Aid. I went to the store yesterday to seek out my favorite flavor ... red. Red for me is either cherry or tropical punch -- strawberry is not allowed. I found the aisle and I began my search for some red. While searching, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that some people were watching me ... but I am not sure why. I got some red, orange (color, not the flavor), and blue. While walking from the aisle, I ran into someone from my tennis club. We said hello and looked at the items in my hand.

"Kool-Aid?" he asked.

I said yes and explained why I got the drink while he just smiled and nodded. We had a bit of small-talk before saying our goodbyes. As he walked away, he gave me this look. It was the same look that people gave me earlier.

Is there a stigma on Kool-Aid that I am not aware of?

Labels: health, Random

Hey all!

It's been a really long time since I've posted a message on my blog. I have been battling a virus which wiped me of my energy and I have been out of work on a medical leave since 5/7/2008. I have been laying on my couch for 5 weeks trying to recuperate, and I am about 90% recovered. I will need another month or so for rest and exercise before I am back to 100 percent.

The most upsetting part of being out of commission for weeks is that I missed tennis tournaments in May and will not be able to participate in tournaments in June. I am looking to get back into things in July but I need to practice because I haven't touch my racket in 5 weeks. I played this past Sunday and I was winded during the 10 minutes warm-up. I had to take several breaks during the 1.5 hour session so I only player for about 40 minutes. It was good to be back on the court and hitting balls after being laid up for weeks -- but I have lost some of my game. I will be using June to regain my fitness and tennis form.

I am finally back at work, and it is good to be back. I like going to work because it gives me a sense of structure and it allows me to plan the rest of my day. And besides, you can only watch so much television before it because kind of boring. But, I was able to watch a number of things while being on my couch for weeks:

- The Simpsons (Seasons 16, 17, 18 ,19)
- American Dad (Seasons 2-3)
- The Secret Diary of a Call Girl (UK Version, but now being shown in the US on Showtime)
- Code Monkeys (Season 1)
- Australia's Next Top Model (Season 4, eps 1-7)
- French Open Live Coverage

So I had somethings to keep my occupied.

Things are getting back to normal so I should resume normal postings next week.

Did you miss me?

Labels: drama, health, television

I couple of weeks ago, I was at the Marrying Guy's house and he persuaded me to get to get into his hot tub. I was against it because I am not a hot tub type of guy. I like saunas, but he didn't have one of those. After some cajoling, I decided to get in, against my better judgment.

Four weeks later ...

I went to a dermatologist because I started to develop a weird rash a couple of days after being in the hot tub. It started on my left shoulder, and now it is all on my torso and back. It is not horrible, but it just won't go away.

The dermatologist I first went to didn't know what it was and wanted to do a biopsy. I was not about to let some guy cut my skin off. Especially since he had a framed certificate from the American Board of Dermatology which expired in 2002. When I arrive back home I called another dermatologist at UT Southwestern and I was able to get an appointment for the same day 20 minutes later. I ran out the door and arrived for my appointment just in the nick of time.

Filled out forms, waited in lobby for 15 minutes before the nurse brought me to the examination room, waited 35 minutes before being seen by the resident dermatologist.

He looked me over and gave me a more through examination than the first doctor I saw. He presented his ideas to the doctor, who was wearing a leather jacket (?) and they both weren't sure what I had. Which was great, and frightening. I told them about the hot tub and they thought it was the cause but they needed to do a biopsy to be sure.

I was prepped, and had Lidocaine injected in the part of the skin that was going to be removed. Ten minutes later, the doctor cutting my skin off. I was unable to see the skin as it was being cut off, but seeing the doctor's hands cut me while feeing no pain was very odd. My wound was stitched up, and I giving a prescription for Cipro just in case what I got was a bacterial infection.

I go back next week to get my lab results, and hopefully I will have a definitive answer regarding what I have. Meanwhile, I am half way through my Cipro and I haven't experienced any of the bad side effects (knock wood). Until then...

...I wait.

Labels: drama, health