Week one over this year already so it's time to check in. Still going strong? I am. I spent this week focusing on nutrition. I started using "My Fitness Pal" about two weeks ago. The first step to fixing a problem is to know exactly what the problem is in the first place.
I tracked my nutrition for a week, eating my normal diet without changing anything and found that I was eating more than DOUBLE my recommended caloric intake. Now, I realize that the recommended number is not exact, but it is a wonderful guide and double is way past the realm of acceptable. I also learned that what I was getting from all those calories was all wrong as well. A VAST majority of what I was eating were sugars and carbohydrates. These two nutritional components are mainly stored as fat for emergency reserves if you're not active enough to burn them off. From the rough calculation, I was on track to be over 230 lbs in 5 weeks. A gain of almost 10 pounds by the middle of February?!?
So, New Years Day, I changed it up. I started paying more attention to what I ate. I figure, if I cut down the calories going in, then the calories I have to burn up aren't as high and I can start building a strong foundation to be successful at this. I use the calorie goal as more of a guide than an absolute must. If I'm within 10% of my goal of 1750 calories a day then I should start to see some results....
AND I DID!! This week, I went from 221 when I first posted, to 215.5 as I'm typing now! 5.5 pounds in the first week?! I never would have expected results like that just from changing diet. I did run three days this week but no more than 3 miles on any given day. I truly believe that a proper diet is the staple to being successful.
Results like this aren't going to happen each week. There's going to be off days, in fact I went over a couple days this week by a few hundred calories. The point is, we don't need to eat grilled boneless, skinless, chicken breast and steamed broccoli for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. We don't need to work out 7 days a week for hours at a time. The best thing to do, is take a look at what is going wrong right now, focus on that, and fix it. I even drank a couple beers this weekend... shhhhh.... I'm not perfect. It would be nice, but none of us are. Develop healthy habits and when you have a "cheat" day, understand that the next day you have to kick it in high gear and make up for it.
This was a good week for me and I hope it was for you too. I know a lot of people have already given up and a lot more are struggling with whatever their goals are. Keep pushing on and stay focused on your goal. If you have given up, start over. Don't wait until next year to start again! The first couple of months are going to be the hardest. After that, it's all habit. After that, what you used to do will be foreign and the habits you have developed will make this year the best of your life!
Monday, January 7, 2013
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
6 Ways to Keep a New Years Resolution
Welcome to 2013! It's that time of year again when hopes are highest and we get to set goals to do better for ourselves than we did the year before. Savings account balances increase, liquor sales decrease, and it's nearly impossible to find a treadmill at the gym. The year looks bright and we all can't wait to change ourselves and rush headlong into a brighter future. Unfortunately, by February, today is a distant memory and resolutions are slowly fading away for many of us and we forget or have given up on the goals we have set.
Here are 6 ways to keep those resolutions and help prevent falling back into old ways that we so desperately wanted to change when the New Year was fresh in our minds:
1. Keep it positive
On average, people respond and follow through on positive goals more often than they do on the the negative counterpart. Create a resolution that makes you feel better about yourself and who you are and your odds of keeping it are greatly increased. Instead of "I want to not drink as much," try "I will drink less than 75% of the year." This keeps it tangible, sets a goal, and it replaces what you're "not" going to do with something you "will" do.
2. Keep it realistic
There will be another New Year next year, and if you're successful this year you can continue to build on it next year. So keep whatever goal you set something that can realistically be attained. We've all seen the "Biggest Loser" where they lose 150 lbs in a matter of months but is that really realistic for you? If a goal is set that is far outside the realm of being achievable, it becomes much easier to give up once you realise you aren't on pace for success.
3. Keep it from getting daunting
"I will lose 50 lbs by the end of this year" is a big goal. Instead, break it up. Since you know you want to lose that weight in a year, break up the 50 lbs by 12 and set a goal for what you want to lose a month. Change it to "I want to lose 4 lbs a month.," (or round up to 5 and beat your goal for the year!) This is a much more achievable goal and 4 is a much less daunting number than 50.
4. Track your progress
Find a way to keep track of where you are at towards achieving your goal, (not in your head.) Having a way to physically see where you are at on the path to success can help keep you motivated, focused, and excited about achieving a goal. Sometimes you may find that the original goal wasn't big enough, or maybe was too big and you can make minor adjustments as needed. It's much easier to fail at a goal if you have no idea where you're at on the path to achieving it.
5. Tell someone
Tell people about your goal. Have them help keep you accountable. Have them tell you about their resolution and you help keep them accountable. Challenge each other, motivate each other, work on each other's goals together even if theirs wasn't the same as yours. Resolutions are much easier to be successful at if you're not doing on your own. If nothing else, just having a friend, spouse, or a loved one that can call you up and ask how you're doing might be just enough accountability to keep you pushing towards your goal.
6. Challenge yourself
All of this isn't to say don't challenge yourself. After all, if it's not a challenge then why would you set it as a goal in the first place? We're trying to better ourselves and even if all of these steps are follwed its going to be a challenging 2013. After all, it's the challenges and stumbling blocks we overcome along the way that makes the sweet tase of victory at the end of the road so worth it.
Good luck to everyone on their New Years resolutions this year. I truly hope you are successful. Here's looking back on a great 2012 and to making 2013 the best year anyone's ever seen!!!!
Here are 6 ways to keep those resolutions and help prevent falling back into old ways that we so desperately wanted to change when the New Year was fresh in our minds:
1. Keep it positive
On average, people respond and follow through on positive goals more often than they do on the the negative counterpart. Create a resolution that makes you feel better about yourself and who you are and your odds of keeping it are greatly increased. Instead of "I want to not drink as much," try "I will drink less than 75% of the year." This keeps it tangible, sets a goal, and it replaces what you're "not" going to do with something you "will" do.
2. Keep it realistic
There will be another New Year next year, and if you're successful this year you can continue to build on it next year. So keep whatever goal you set something that can realistically be attained. We've all seen the "Biggest Loser" where they lose 150 lbs in a matter of months but is that really realistic for you? If a goal is set that is far outside the realm of being achievable, it becomes much easier to give up once you realise you aren't on pace for success.
3. Keep it from getting daunting
"I will lose 50 lbs by the end of this year" is a big goal. Instead, break it up. Since you know you want to lose that weight in a year, break up the 50 lbs by 12 and set a goal for what you want to lose a month. Change it to "I want to lose 4 lbs a month.," (or round up to 5 and beat your goal for the year!) This is a much more achievable goal and 4 is a much less daunting number than 50.
4. Track your progress
Find a way to keep track of where you are at towards achieving your goal, (not in your head.) Having a way to physically see where you are at on the path to success can help keep you motivated, focused, and excited about achieving a goal. Sometimes you may find that the original goal wasn't big enough, or maybe was too big and you can make minor adjustments as needed. It's much easier to fail at a goal if you have no idea where you're at on the path to achieving it.
5. Tell someone
Tell people about your goal. Have them help keep you accountable. Have them tell you about their resolution and you help keep them accountable. Challenge each other, motivate each other, work on each other's goals together even if theirs wasn't the same as yours. Resolutions are much easier to be successful at if you're not doing on your own. If nothing else, just having a friend, spouse, or a loved one that can call you up and ask how you're doing might be just enough accountability to keep you pushing towards your goal.
6. Challenge yourself
All of this isn't to say don't challenge yourself. After all, if it's not a challenge then why would you set it as a goal in the first place? We're trying to better ourselves and even if all of these steps are follwed its going to be a challenging 2013. After all, it's the challenges and stumbling blocks we overcome along the way that makes the sweet tase of victory at the end of the road so worth it.
Good luck to everyone on their New Years resolutions this year. I truly hope you are successful. Here's looking back on a great 2012 and to making 2013 the best year anyone's ever seen!!!!
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Bring it on 2013!
Been a while since I've posted. A lot has happened since you last heard from me. Let's see.... it was April that I fell away into oblivion so I'll give you a quick rundown. I got married to my beautiful (now) wife. I did continue training and finished my first half marathon in September! I have been back to Colorado to visit family, have finally started figuring out the life of South Dakota, and have managed to take a new position at work that is WAY better than what I was doing before. I lived through the end of the world, (thank you goes out to the ancient Mayans for keeping the end of the year entertaining), and the biggest news of all... me and my wife are expecting a baby boy in April! 2012 was a year to remember and one that I will always consider a cornerstone in my life.
A little update on where I'm at now... I ran the half marathon in September and honestly my training leading up to the race fell off a little bit. I still ran the race and finished with a time of JUST over two hours; two hours and two minutes to be exact. The month following that was filled with excruciating pain from what I can only assume was an injury from lack of training and preparation. In October I enjoyed ample amounts of couch and beer time, November brought unlimited snacks and turkey, while December quickly followed with lots of travel, fast food, and Grandma's cooking. Combine all of this with what I'd like to deem as "sympathy weight" gain for my wife being pregnant, I currently tip the scale at 221 lbs. I am 6'0" tall and from the BMI calculator that I so easily googled, I come in at a 30, or "obese." Hard to believe that I just ran that race barely three months ago huh?
Well, I want you to know that for 2013, I'll be here. No more disappearing into oblivion. I will be here laying it out on the line every step of the way on how I'm going to fix myself. I have a new baby on the way and he deserves a roll model. I want to say I'm doing this for him, and in part I am, but number one on the list of who this is for is myself. I believe that has to be the case in order to be successful. There will be ups and downs, and hopefully you come with. September 2013 at 6:45am I will be at Howard Wood Field in Sioux Falls, SD to run my first full marathon!
To start... here are my pictures for everyone to see:
A little update on where I'm at now... I ran the half marathon in September and honestly my training leading up to the race fell off a little bit. I still ran the race and finished with a time of JUST over two hours; two hours and two minutes to be exact. The month following that was filled with excruciating pain from what I can only assume was an injury from lack of training and preparation. In October I enjoyed ample amounts of couch and beer time, November brought unlimited snacks and turkey, while December quickly followed with lots of travel, fast food, and Grandma's cooking. Combine all of this with what I'd like to deem as "sympathy weight" gain for my wife being pregnant, I currently tip the scale at 221 lbs. I am 6'0" tall and from the BMI calculator that I so easily googled, I come in at a 30, or "obese." Hard to believe that I just ran that race barely three months ago huh?
Well, I want you to know that for 2013, I'll be here. No more disappearing into oblivion. I will be here laying it out on the line every step of the way on how I'm going to fix myself. I have a new baby on the way and he deserves a roll model. I want to say I'm doing this for him, and in part I am, but number one on the list of who this is for is myself. I believe that has to be the case in order to be successful. There will be ups and downs, and hopefully you come with. September 2013 at 6:45am I will be at Howard Wood Field in Sioux Falls, SD to run my first full marathon!
To start... here are my pictures for everyone to see:
There's a long way to go but even the David started as an unshapely piece of marble.
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