Summertime 2011

So... while I haven't updated since February, I have been doing pretty well keep up with some of the goals I set. My soda consumption has greatly decreased. Though I'm still addicted to my soy lattes. I have been trying to stay on my physical activity levels. Since Spring Break, I have been keeping an above average routine. I have lost over 15 pounds since then.

I've reached some good personal records recently. Today, I ran 6.37 miles in 64:09. I have never ran that long. And I'm keeping it at a 10:00 average pace which is really great. Today and yesterday were both routes that had some major hills, but we trooped through them.

I'm excited for this summer. It's the first summer where I will not be moving and not changing jobs. A little consistency will be good for my life. I hope to lose about 15 more pounds by the end of the summer. Run a 5K in under 25:00. Go camping. See the Royals play twice. Read 5 books for fun. Finish a screenplay. Live within my means (stay on top of my budget). Finally, unpack ALL my boxes. Practice Spanish. Cook more! I'm excited for the summer. It's going to be great.

2011

Okay. So I'm back in the serious game.

No more than 12 ounces of soda per week
Regular exercise
More fruits and vegetables

It's going to be great.

Today I weighed in at 192... ugh. Back to 165 for me :) then 145

Renewed passion

Okay... maybe not a passion. But it's 10-2010 and it's about time I make some of my goals.

New goal is to improve my running game. Today was the 5th time in the last 2 weeks. Last week, I started going once every three days, and after consulting with my hall government President (who runs cross country on scholarship), I decided to start going every other day.

I have already seen a great improvement. First day, I did 2 miles consecutively and took a break before finishing the route. Did 3 miles total running-ish. Then next time I did 3.4 miles consecutively in 42 minutes.

Now I did it in 37 minutes and 6 seconds. That's quite an improvement.

Also, today has been 31 days Taco Bell free and 21 days soda free!!!! That doesn't include beer or alcohol or fizzy waters :) At first I was overcompensating with soy lattes-- iced or hot--but I've cut back... probably only because I am running out of meal points... tis sad.

I haven't actually lifted or worked out other than jogging for a long time. I pay for a gym membership, so you think I should use it.

But I have been sleeping too much. But I guess once I get into a good routine, I can add it into the mix.



On another note, I am beginning to figure out what my next step is. I want to get my PhD in Psychology but my undergraduate studies were in pre-medicine, biochemistry, Spanish, and political science. My first Master's was in College Student Personnel Administration.

Got to start taking classes to get prepped for Psych PhD. But Where should I go?

I've been trying to figure out how to decide. My interest is in men's identity development. So is that social psych or developmental? I have yet to find a research lab that specifically looks at men's identity development.

Who knows... the search is fun. I need to take the GRE sometime within the calendar year. So we'll see how that goes.

Oh gosh

Sunday I pushed myself to jog 4 miles in 40 minutes. This is the furthest I have ever jogged in a row.

Today... I jogged 3 miles... now I'm very sore. I definitely needed a rest day. But it's recoverable. I'll be good after resting.

Hello

So this was the first week of my new routine... it's a little different than what I had posted before. Instead of working out in the mornings on Mondays and Fridays, I'm still working out in the afternoons.

Today, I achieved a personal goal of running/jogging 4 miles in 40 minutes.

I weighed in a few days ago at 166. I haven't had that weigh in since... so we'll see if I have some consistency in my weigh in.

Post 2 of a new century

So I have been doing well, I believe, over the past few weeks in terms of being fit. I mean, granted, there are moments where I choose to eat something that isn't necessarily good for me. But I am at a point in my life where I am not governed by those foods and am able to work through a decision-making process as to whether I can afford to eat the food.

The last two days I weighed in at 168 which is a good consistent weight. I hope to be starting another downward trend. Again, the goal is 145 and being stronger too.

It's hard to gauge at this point how my workout should be balanced--strength training or cardiovascular.

I think I have my Spring 2010 workout routine down:

Monday - Workout in the morning (5:30am) - Do some lifting, minor cardio, and abs
Tuesday - Workout in the afternoon (around 3 to 5 pm) - Lots of cardio, maybe abs
Wednesday - Intentional Day Off
Thursday - Workout in the afternoon (around 3 to 5 pm) - Lots of cardio, maybe abs
Friday - Workout in the morning (5:30am) - Do some lifting, minor cardio, and abs
Weekends - if I am in town and able, I try to workout at least once on the weekend

This is a good workout. My goal is to increase heartrate, increase duration of cardio, and increase calorie burn. I want to continue cutting the fat while maintaining the healthy constitution of my body.

My other goal is to build strength slowly and steadily. I have definitely shown great improvement in this area.

This past weekend I went to Chicago with a friend. It was a lot of fun. Though I got strangely sick on Saturday. I'm not sure what happened; hopefully it is not a recurrence of a chronic childhood illness. We ate at a great vegetarian restaurant. Amazing. It was a great time to get away from town. I have had a lot on my mind in terms of my future and what I should do.

Hopefully my weigh ins will continue to be stable this week and next.

Update!

It's a new year with some more good goals for the Great Fat Off.

I've been working diligently to lose weight and be healthy. I am 170.6 pounds right now which means I have lost 38 pounds since I've started this challenge.

The one thing I realized over break is that I am very weak in terms of upper body strength. So I have been working on improving in that area.

Also, I finally found my body fat percentage -- 25.9%.

My BMI is 29.6

Goals -- Get to 145 pounds and decrease body fat percentage to less than 15%. We'll see how this goes.