OUT OF THE BLUE

Archive for the ‘Fitness’ Category

Okay, so I’m a Madison transplant– but I’m a little closer to being a native. Not only have I made it around Lake Monona by bike (once, the easy way, but it still counts), I’ve started biking to work a couple of days a week.

It took a while to get started, even in bike friendly Madison. Getting in the car is easy– it’s still a pain to get up and go to work, but the trip there doesn’t require any effort. You get in the car, start it up, and off you go. Riding a bike involves leaving earlier, checking the weather, bringing clothes to change into when you get there, and making sure you take (enough) water along.

The route I take to work involves two different, and each fairly short, dedicated bike paths plus bike lanes and two legs of just plain old streets. There are a few hills, but nothing I can’t deal with. It’s an easy ride. The streets I do ride on aren’t busy in the morning on the way to work, and are still easy to navigate in the afternoon. They’re city streets, but not “main artery” streets. Without the two bike paths, and a short chunk of asphalt (thank you, PDQ @ Stoughton Rd. & Anderson St.!) that connects one street to another, my bike commute wouldn’t happen. If anyone wonders if those short bike paths and connector sidewalks are worth the money property owners and the city of Madison spend on them, the answer is yes. So are the bike lanes.

And since I’m handing out thank you’s, thanks to those nice folks who give me extra room on the street even when I have a bike lane to ride in. It’s appreciated.

(Now, if I could convince The Man at work that a place to shower at work would be a good thing, I’d be willing to call my employer bike friendly, too.)

Links:

• City of Madison, WI Traffic Engineering Bike Maps
• Where to get a Dane County (paper) bike map
• Reindahl Park info (one of the paths I use
• Wisconsin DOT Bicycle Projects

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This year’s Crazylegs Classic time: 8K in 1:05:33, which was just slightly longer than my Crazylegs 2007 time of 58:54:00. There are reasons for taking the extra time: first, it was windy, which is a condition I’m not used to when running (most of my running is done on a treadmill at the YMCA). Second, I think I tried to keep up with other runners a little too much over the first mile or two. Once I started listening to the cadences and the voice in my head saying “just run your own race”, I got into more of the rhythm that I was used to running.

Listen to me, talking about my running technique. Heh.

I wish I had thought of it earlier– at last month’s VFW post meeting, an info packet had arrived asking if Post 7591 was interested in putting a team together for Crazylegs. I was the only one that raised my hand, but there may be others around from other Posts or people who don’t attend meetings. So I’ll put it out there now, 364 days before Crazylegs 2009. If you’re a Veterans of Foreign Wars member (or you’re eligible) and would like to run with me in next year’s Crazylegs, leave a comment and let me know. I’ll get in touch when registration opens for 2009.

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I finished the Crazylegs Classic last Saturday in 58:54, a minute or so ahead of my target time of 60:00.

For people who “are runners”, this is no big deal. For me, this is a milestone. Before this year’s Crazylegs Classic, I had never run in any kind of organized run or walk. Zip. Zilch. Nada. That was for, you know, those cross country and track and runner type people. I was busy doing cool computer stuff, sloshing down Mountain Dew and eating healthy things like Twinkies. Now, I can not only run five miles at a time, I can do it without the need for medical assistance. (In fact, I run five miles three times a week.)

Now, I’ll admit the fact that I knew there was free beer waiting for me at Camp Randall. And that Bud Light tasted pretty damn good. But that wasn’t my main motivation for running the race.

If you’re one of the three or so people who actually follow my blog, you know I’ve been working on losing weight and getting in shape. At a certain point, you have to do something to test yourself. I’ve been running for an hour at a time on a treadmill at the Y, but running outside with other people on real streets and hills is a different thing when you haven’t done it before. You ask yourself, “Self, can I say I’m in good shape now?” And so you pay your money and do things like run the Crazylegs Classic.

And when you finish under your goal time, knowing you trained hard, and ran up all the hills instead of walking, and just plain kept going and got it done… that’s when you can say “Self, you’re in a whole lot better shape than you used to be.”

And when you hear yourself saying “I bet I can run it faster next year…”, that’s when you know you’ve made a change and stuck with it, and it’s going to be permanent.

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One of the most important things I’ve discovered in this journey I’m on to lose weight (goal is 100 pounds; I’ve lost about 67 of it) is that as you get lighter, the things you have to do to continue losing have to change. Every milestone I make, I’m all of a sudden working with a different body that has different nutrition needs as well as different capabilities. My life outside of losing weight also has gone on, including some changes to my schedule. I’m now working a second job, with shifts in the evening that vary from week to week — meaning I can’t always do three full two-hour sessions at the YMCA like I’ve been doing, and I can’t always get the exact healthy meal or snack that I need to stay with the Biggest Loser diet. I work in a sports venue; the food’s yummy, it’s readily available, and it’s not at all what I should be eating if I’m trying to lose weight, even if I burn a lot of calories while I work. The new challenge of having comfort food available, while also having my workout schedule disrupted, means I have to change my strategy in order to stay on track.

Here are my main issues on days when I work at night:

• I go straight from one job to the next. The easiest thing to do is just grab a brat or hot dog for supper at the night job.
• I have no time for a structured workout that day.
• I get home late, meaning I get even less sleep than normal.
• I have even less time to prep meals and snacks for the next day, so I also don’t eat well enough at my day job.

I think the first thing I need to address is diet; I’m not going to lose weight having brats for dinner, and I’m not going to lose weight by eating the wrong things for lunch and snacks during the day. So, first change is a new rule: if I don’t have time to prep a good lunch and snacks for work, I can get a salad with lite dressing for lunch at work. For snacks, I can take veggies and fruit that don’t require any preparation. I don’t know the calorie count of the salad, unfortunately, but it’s my best option within the building.

Second change is that if I try, I can find something healthy to eat between jobs instead of taking the easy (and not healthy) route. Enter one of my favorite apps, Google Maps. By looking at the route I take between jobs, I’ve discovered that I pass a Subway on the way. I can get a 6 inch Veggie Delite with 230 total calories (30 from fat) at Subway; if I eat at work, just a single Johnsonville brat (without the bun) contains 270 calories (200 from fat!).

Okay– now on to the workout problem. My night job involves a lot of standing around, along with some lifting and carrying of boxes and containers. I do have some time to walk around, though, and since most of the stuff I have to carry is located one or two floors down, I can take the stairs. So I can get some exercise in, although not all at once. But that’s okay; it’s still calories burned. The change I’m going to make is that I’m going to look at my schedule every week, and out of every seven days, Sunday through Saturday, I’m going to find three days when I can get to the Y to do a full workout. The days will need to shift, and I’ll need to do some back-to-back days, meaning I might have to adjust the amount of weights I do on a given day, but I’ll still fit in three trips. As an emergency backup, I can do a Biggest Loser workout at home if my schedule’s just that insane (like it was this week).

Of course, saying I’m going to do this and getting it done are two different things; one of my problems is that I get so busy I lose track of where I am in the schedule. So, two mechanisms for managing all this. I’m going to use my personal planner to hold my work, workout, and other activity schedule, including meals away from home. If I have a plan, I can follow it; it’s when I don’t have a plan that I get into trouble. Second, for things where I need to be reminded that something’s coming up, I’m going to expand my use of Yahoo! Calendar and its incredibly useful calendar reminders that go to my cellphone.

I don’t have an answer for the lack of sleep issue; I’m under a lot of stress right now, making more changes than just losing weight and getting in physical shape. I’m also working on getting in emotional and spiritual shape as well. Sleep tends to lose in the battle for the 24 hours a day I have to work with… stay tuned for more on that…

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I keep seeing ads on TV for weight loss pills, diets, and exercise
machines that say “Billybob lost 60 lbs! (Results not typical)”. Seeing
the fine print makes me wonder if the companies that produce these
products are just covering their asses, or if they really don’t think
you’ll lose that much. If they don’t think you’ll lose 60 lbs, and
they’re marketing the product to people who need/want to lose that much, then what’s the point? And more important, how are you supposed to believe the product will actually work for you?

I’m going to go ahead and admit something frightening: when I really,
seriously committed myself to losing weight and getting back in shape, I weighed 276 pounds. I might have actually weighed a little more than that at one point, but that’s what the scale said the morning I started the journey. Today, the scale says 218. I’ve lost close to 60 pounds since the second week of January 2006. Holy cow, I’ve joined the results not typical club.

I am often asked, especially at work, “What’s your secret?” My answer is always the same:

• The Biggest Loser. The weekly series showed me that it
  was possible to make changes and turn my life around. The book and DVD gave me a plan to follow.
• My friends, especially Danielle (who I’ve finally mentioned in my blog), Lee, and Heather, who have been my supporters the entire way.
• Determination. Putting one foot in front of the other.

I’ve learned a great deal so far; this is a review of some of the things that have been working for me. As time goes on, it’s easier and easier to slow down and slip a little off track, so this is also a sort of review and rededication for me. If it’s useful for you, comments are welcome. Here then, are my top tips for losing a bunch of weight:

• EAT. Don’t go without food. Eat enough of stuff that’s good for you.
• You have to learn to cook and plan meals ahead of time.
• You have to find foods that are healthy that you like. Experiment with trying new things and modifying recipes. Admit to yourself that a lot of the comfort foods you like are really not good for you. You’re going to have to find some that are.
• Follow the diet in the book to the letter at first. It’s a big change, and you need the book to guide you. Later on when you’re better at shopping and cooking healthy, you can get more creative.
• Find a Whole Foods or natural foods store, and buy stuff there.
• It will cost you more to eat healthy; fresh and whole foods spoil, so you can’t always stock up like you can with boxes of pasta and other processed foods. You’ll need to shop more often, too.
• Buy healthy stuff in bulk when you can, and divide it into portions. I buy family size packages of boneless, skinless chicken breasts from Sam’s Club, then cut each one in half and freeze them separately with seasonings added in the freezer bag. It’s not only cheaper, but it makes cooking easier. At night I get out a chicken breast to cook for supper tomorrow, add some veggies, and I’ve got supper.
• If you don’t already have one, go get a George Foreman Grill and use it to cook your meats.
• Not going out to eat helps a lot, but changing your diet doesn’t mean you’re less busy with other things in your life. You don’t always have time to cook right, so eating out is something you have to learn to live with.
  • Get to know which restaurants offer lighter alternatives. Most restaurants post their menus online, so do your reading before you go out to eat. Have something in mind ahead of time, so you don’t let your stomach do the choosing once you get there.
  • If you can’t look at the menu ahead of time, be adaptable.
    • Look for the seniors/55+ section of the menu for healthier food. Pretend you’re 60 years old, diabetic, and have high cholesterol and high blood pressure.
    • Learn from vegans. Many burger and fries places now offer veggie burgers that don’t suck, and most places will subsititute a salad, veggies, or small serving of pasta salad for a serving of fries.
    • Hot sauce and salsa are great additions to veggies. Especially with mexican food, see if you can get salsa as a subsitute for meat and cheese.
    • Ask for a to-go box when you order your food, and put half of it away immediately.
    • If you have access to vending machines at work, *don’t carry change*. Bring a cooler with diet soda and healthy snacks instead. Pack a lunch in the same cooler, so you’re not faced with a choice between a not-so-healthy lunch and skipping lunch altogether.
  • Don’t lose hope if your only choice is a greasy cheeseburger, or if you break down and eat too much or the wrong thing(s). Straighten up and get it right tomorrow.
• The diet doesn’t work if you don’t exercise. You will need a pair of dumbbells and a yoga mat. Start with the exercises in the book, and once those get easier, move up to the DVD. Once the DVD starts getting easier, join a gym/health club. (I joined the YMCA. Visit several gyms and pick one you’re most comfortable with.)
  • Make exercise a habit. Schedule times during the week to do your workout, and don’t let anything else interfere. If you do need to reschedule a workout, don’t put it off. Reschedule it for tomorrow, not whenever.
  • Yes, I said join a gym. If you’re really overweight, getting into a gym populated by 2% body fat fitness nazis can seem pretty intimidating; it certainly was for me.
    • Don’t be afraid to be the fat sweaty guy. It will seem like everyone else is in way better shape than you. They’re in the gym working out for the same reason you are, they want to be healthy and look good. Get up on that treadmill and go for it. This is about you, not them.
    • Being a regular at the Y does not make you the jock that used to pick on you for being heavy in high school. You’re still you, just in better shape.
    • Health clubs have TV. You don’t have to miss your favorite shows (like Biggest Loser), because you can watch them while you’re working out. Bring a walkman with an FM radio, so you can hear the audio.
    • Make full use of trainers, classes, etc. offered by the gym. Learn everything you can.
• Your clothes will at some point start to hang off of your body like tarps over a car. I’ve gone from wearing 4X shirts to wearing XL shirts, and even those are too big. I’ve also gone from a 44 inch waist to almost fitting into 38 inch waist pants. Your clothes won’t fit right for a while. Be baggy and be proud.

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Today’s a chill morning… cuppa coffee, tunes, websurfing. While browsing madison.com, I came across the Rhythm Restaurant & Entertainment Guide. Hmm, there’s a section on “Tips for Healthy Dining” (PDF). Okay, that’s something I’m interested in; there are times when you do need or want to go out to eat. Eating most of my meals at restaurants is part of what got me overweight in the first place, so I’m interested in minimizing the diet damage whenever possible. So I click the link, and start reading…

With choices like fettucini alfredo, chocolate decadence and a big juicy cheeseburger on many restaurant menus, eating out healthy can seem like an impossible feat.

(http://www.madison.com/features/restaurant/pdf/15_healthydining.pdf)

Amen. Got that right. Then I get to the bottom of the page, and there’s ads for Pasta Night, Fish Fry, Sunday Brunch, the Smiling Burger, Bottomless Steak Fries. That’s when I realize that the reason the odds feel like they’re stacked against me… is because they are. I’m going to go have some organic carrots now. I can live without eating half a cow for lunch.

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Recently, a line spoken by Red from the movie Shawshank Redemption comes to mind: “That’s all it takes really, pressure, and time.” (imdb.com) Red was talking about Andy digging his way through a prison cell wall, slowly, one grain at a time, and eventually getting all the way through to the other side. I think he could just as well have been talking about trying to lose a large part of yourself through diet and exercise. According to my bathroom scale and the time of day, I’ve lost about 30 lbs. since mid-January. Which is really awesome; I’ve lost as much as some of the contestants on the Biggest Loser special edition shows. It is truly a challenge though, every single day. Especially at work, where there’s always someone that has treats (cake, candy, chips, etc), and it’s so damn easy to have a handful of this, or a piece of that, because I work in a very frustrating and stressful environment and food’s an easy comfort. Even if no one has treats, there are vending machines full of evil and temptation, made worse because they’re convenient when you didn’t get a chance to make a healthy lunch and snacks to take to work.

I can generally manage all right at home. I can even go out to eat at a restaurant and do all right. Work is a problem. I spend nine hours a day at work, always under the watchful eye of the clock and the sheet that keeps track of how much work I’m doing. Not keeping up with the numbers today? That apple fruit pie for .85 in the vending machine would make the day better. Right? Bzzzt… wrong answer! I think something that gets missed in the overall plan of losing weight, eating right, getting fit, and being healthy is that there’s more to it than getting the right number of calories and the right amount of physical exercise. There’s the mental side, the emotional side, the Zen that you have to learn (or relearn) in order to make it all work. If I end up in a truck parked on a mountain in Afghanistan next year, or I’m still at my current job sitting in my half-cube, I can’t go and do something to relieve the stress. I’m on duty, I’m working; I can’t exercise, I can’t meditate, I have to focus and I have to just manage it.

The day will come when I step on that scale and see my target weight smiling back at me, and I’ll jump on a treadmill and run 1.25 miles in ~12 minutes, and I’ll look back and see that it took two things: pressure, and time.

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For those who are keeping track, I’ve lost ~23 lbs. Being at the YMCA 3-4 times a week might have something to do with that… general cardio workout this past week has been about 30 minutes on a bike, about 40 minutes of intervals running/walking on a treadmill, and about 10 minutes on the Evil Elliptical Cross Training Device. Damn, that machine’s tough. Especially in reverse. That machine works muscles that I didn’t know I had. I also do leg presses, and am working on pullups… the Y has a contraption that lets you use counterweight to help do pullups, instead of using all of your body weight. That machine’s evil too. I also do circuit training at home with 5 lb. dumbbells; roughly a 1/2 hour routine that includes pushups, lunges, situps, etc. (It’s the routine in the Biggest Loser book.)

This week, I need to revise my calorie intake level downward (again!). I’ve discovered that I really have to plan ahead and make sure I have good healthy food available. It’s so easy to just make two pieces of toast as a snack… but when you’ve already had cereal for breakfast, and a pita for lunch, that’s way over the amount of grains for the day (even if it is whole grain bread). If I have a fridge full of carrots and other crunchy rabbit food, I’m all right. So it’s off to Whole Foods this afternoon to stock up. (Winter can get overwith, and farmer’s markets can get started any time now.)

Still not to the point where I can run two miles in 18 minutes. But I can still hear that TI’s voice in my head telling me I’d better find a way.

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