Been a while.

Me?  Well, I guess I’m basically skinny, now.  Weighing between 185 and 190, and have essentially lost 100 pounds.  Still only ride a bike, and recently started running again after a year off.  4 miles wasn’t too hard to do on my third outing.  About to go do that again.  Also, I pedicab now.  Wearing medium size shirts, fitting into a 35 waist, or 36, depending on the maker of the pants.  I got the wide hips, so I’m not sure I’ll ever wear anything much skinnier.

Anyway, since I started biking I’ve noticed an overall increase in the amount of energy I have, which is great.  Running did that a little bit, but not like this.  I think it’s because when I started running, I was killing myself to get where I needed to, and biking just isn’t as hard on you.

Speaking of which, I need to shoot for 4 miles tomorrow morning.  5k is in a couple weeks and I still haven’t registered.  I should probably do that, as well.

Weighing less than 230 now.  Kinda hovering between 225 and 230.  I need to get some more cardio and get strict with the old diet again.  The bike helps, but I’ve been lax on the running.

I’m renting a house on the east side of Austin with two of my friends, in a pretty perfect area.  The best thing about this is that I’m now living very close to the action, and now have a perfect excuse to get a bike!

I’m going to be continuing my 5k training, presently, though with the move and everything, I’ve gotten lax with the workouts.  I only went to the gym once this week!  Though actually I did manage to go for two runs.  One was around Town Lake, and I didn’t quite make it to 2.75 miles non-stop.  I got a really bad stomach cramp and ended up having to stop running.  I ran 2 miles Thursday night after charting a course through the new neighborhood.  It was a nice way to sort of get to know the area, for sure.

No real weight loss to speak of since my last entry.  I dropped a pound or two, depending on the day, but I haven’t reached my next goal of 235 yet, which is a damn shame, because I’m getting a Casino El Camino burger when that happens.  For those not in the know, that is the best burger in this whole town.  Hands down.

Oh yeah, I bought some new shorts yesterday, and was able to pretty comfortably fit into size 36 pants!  I was wearing 42 when I started!

I’m up to 2 miles in the 5k program.  It’s been kind of rough, and I’ve had some joint pain, but I definitely expected that.  I’m not a light guy, and I’m not used to running, so and adjustment period isn’t a surprise, but it’s starting to subside.

I’ve actually found that I’m improving at this much faster than expected.  I’ve been running the initial distance, then taking a walking break and running more after that.  I think the first day I had to stop and walk for or five times, and probably walked most of the remaining 1.5 miles, but in my most recent run, I actually only walked once, for probably about a quarter mile, so I ran almost the full 3 miles, all told.  The heat makes it mighty rough, though.  I’m in Texas.  And it’s June.  Sooooo it’s getting up to the upper 90s most of the time, and in the 100s occasionally, and it’s only going to get worse until the end of August.

Oh, and I bled from one of my nipples, one day!  That prompted me to start band-aiding the old nip-nips.

Also, I’m at 239, as of my last weigh-in.  

I’m worried about something:  I got all crazy dizzy today, such that I felt like I was going to pass out, and I was just sitting at my desk at work.  This could be a number of things, such as an iron deficiency, or an inner ear infection…OR A STROKE.

I’m going with iron deficiency.

Well I’m still at it.  Been doing regular weight training and keeping the journal, and have noticed major improvements there.  I’m still not paying the most attention to my diet as I should be, but for now I’m still in a position to lose a lot of weight really quickly, due to still being overweight.  At this point, I’m approaching a total 50 pounds lost since October, and I decided recently that I should go ahead and train for a 5k, since I said at the outset of this I’d like to run one by the end of the summer.  I’ve been doing a lot more running outdoors now, and found out the other day that the route I run around the block at my Apartment is actually a mile and a half.

If you haven’t run at the Town Lake hike and bike trail, and you live in Austin, I heartily recommend the thing.  It’s scenic as hell, and the dirt is nice and soft beneath your feet, with no real pot holes or rough spots(unless you take some of the less well-trodden shortcuts).  It’s a roughly 3 mile course if you take it from Lamar to Mopac and back, but you have a 10 mile option if you’re insane.

Anyway, starting tomorrow, I’m going to run Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, with a steady increase each week up to 3 miles.  The training program I’m using was recommended by a friend who is going to school for nutrition and exercise or some such, and it seems pretty reasonable.

Wish me luck?

These are, of course, not reasons for me to give up, but instead just more reasons to continue with the same vigor I’ve been putting forth this entire time.  Maybe more vigor.  This stuff is only going to get worse, and it will get worse so much faster if I continue to be overweight.  So, while I may never get to do gymnastics in the Olympics, at least I’ll be fit and healthy and happy.  The best thing, for now, I’ve found, is to take it easy if you have any joint pain, down some advil, and let your body rest.  I push myself too hard sometimes and my body never fails to let me know.  The week I tried sprinting I felt like I had broken my body in half.  I might try that again, but it was stupid to do that at 265 pounds.

I’m mildly worried about the remainder of this month.  I joined a new band, and we have no completed songs, but we have a gig at the end of the month that we really need to be ready for, which means a really intense practice schedule that I fear might interfere with my workout schedule.  I’ll need to address that, as I don’t want to drop out of this habit, now.

So, I think I’m probably going to hit my goal, after all.  And then, ice cream!

I hate squats.  Hate them.  It’s a dreadful exercise – probably because I don’t really know what weight is appropriate to do.  I can’t really get the full range of motion on the weight I’ve been using, but then again it’s hard to do even with my own body weight.  Plus I have a bum knee from an injury at a concert a few years back when my knee bent sideways, and since then I’ve gotten random nagging pains in it.  Today I was walking around on it after squats yesterday and for a little while got a pretty severe spike of pain every time I bent it.  I think I’m going to switch to leg presses, for a while, and avoid the treadmill until I’ve lost a good bit more weight.  I told myself I’d start doing treadmill cardio when I hit 245 but I’m now thinking that weight might still be too high.  I’m not as young as I used to be!  Plus, being severely overweight my whole life has probably aged my joints a lot more than the average person.

Other than that, I’ve begun to notice some small differences that are really encouraging!  When flexing in the mirror(don’t laugh, you do it too), I see lines that weren’t there before, and generally my posture seems to be improving.  I’m also finding it easier to pick up random things that I found heavy before.  In addition, stairs, which haven’t been that much of a problem since I started cardio 7 months ago, are even easier now.  Collar bones are poking out more, and crunches are significantly more possible.

I have a weigh-in today, and I sure hope I see some results there.  I know with weight training it might not be quite what I’d like, but I did finally drop below 250 this week, per my weigh-in Tuesday night(yeah I weighed monday, too, but Tuesday I used a more reliable scale).  Of course, I was only down by .2 pounds, but that’s still progress!  In just 4.8 more pounds, I shall enjoy that delicious ice cream I so long for!

A few interesting differences noticed recently.

My ankles are suddenly, after just a little over a week of weight training, looking more like they oughtta.  You can see my achilles tendon on my right ankle!  In addition, my calves are becoming more well-defined.

I was told today that my face looks a lot thinner all of a sudden.  This may be due to having recently trimmed my ridiculous beard, but I did notice last week when I had my hand on my face that my cheek bones are starting to jut a little.  And my jaw bone is more noticeably defined.

My upper arms feel smaller, and crossing my arms across my chest feels different.  More comfortable.

Collar bones stick out more.

My back is straighter, and somehow less fat-looking, though I can’t really identify how.

I don’t know if you want to know this(you probably don’t), but my ass looks more like an ass, and less like, well, not an ass.

Man boobies have shrunk.  When laying on my back, they are no longer perceivable.  In addition, I can feel my ribs when on my back without having to press down for them.  I have kind of a huge rib cage, and when I was working out a few years ago, at just around 230 lbs you could see my ribs when I was laying down, even though I still had a fairly sizeable gut.

My feet bones are sticking out.

Hands are skinnier.  This was pointed out by my friend Chad one day, who seemed very surprised.  Indeed, when I look at that picture I posted a few days ago, I am surprised by how fat my hands looked.

Clothing:

Shirts that were once tight are now starting to become dress-like.  I have a reserve of shirts that were too small for me that are now fitting very well, some of those even starting to get a little big.  Most of my shirts are not flattering at all, now.  They poof out at the bottom, making me look bigger than I actually am.  I am going to need to go shirt shopping soon.  I’m thinking when I hit about 235 or so.

Pants are all loose, even the shorts that were tight on me when I bought them back when I worked at Lowe’s.

I now fit into every single one of my button-up shirts, and some of them are unwearable.

Maybe soon I’ll be able to fit into that leather jacket that’s way too long for me.  I’ll have to get it tailored when that’s the case.  It’s a cool jacket!  I’m going to be sad next winter when my tweed is too big for me.  Maybe I can find another one, this time with patches!