200by40 – Weight Loss the Right Way

The Blog Lives On!

Hey all, it’s me. And I know it’s been a while since my last post–nearly 6 months–so I thought I’d post a new entry and go back over what I’ve been doing since then.

Okay, so my last post was late September. That meant that my son, now almost 6, started kindergarten and I became Mr. Mom by being his chauffeur to and from school. I devoted my time at home to do housework which mostly consisted of laundry. And being that I’m still unemployed, that left a lot of time to sit around the house and do a whole lot of nothing.

It became a habit going into the holiday season and by the time they were all over in January, the combination of laziness and holiday indulgences proved to be a bad thing–a really bad thing.

As a result of this, I was almost up to 205 lbs. and had gained nearly 10 pounds by the end of January. Not only was I unhappy with what had happened, I was angry with myself. Not to mention that my size 36 pants were getting a little um…snug. It’s not like I immediately started eating bad foods again; I just couldn’t control myself during the holidays. And really, who can? It’s the ultimate test of wills.

Another factor was my choice of beverage. I got back into the bad habit of drinking diet sodas once again, something which I had put a complete halt to during my program. Needless to say, it had a negative impact on my weight.

Knowing I had had enough, I kicked myself into losing weight the right way and got back on the wagon.

I started to walk again, now covering between 3-5 miles each time I head out. When I’m walking not out in the great outdoors, I’ve been spending my time on the treadmill and again, running between 3-5 miles or 30-60 minutes at a time. When I’m not in the walking mood, I’m riding my bike at least 10 miles each trip.

I’ve also added something new to my routine. After we got our taxes done, my wife Ann and I decided to buy a birthday gift for each other. I was torn between a new bike or a 64GB iPod Touch and when I weighed the options, the iPod Touch won by a mile. The way I saw it, my bike was still in great shape and only needs some TLC to get it ready for…something. More on that later.

At any rate, my new iPod Touch has the Nike + iPod system built into it, something I had been curious about for some time now. So I went ahead and bought the iPod, the Nike + sensor, and a sensor pouch (since my feet and Nike shoes don’t quite get along).

My assessment as a non-professional athlete? It’s pretty cool. There a number of workouts to choose from (Basic, Time, Distance, Calorie) and each keeps track of your distance, calories burned, pace, and when you press the Home button, your stats are spoken to you so you don’t have to look down at the screen while you’re on the go. And if you’re really good and set a personal best, the voice of Lance Armstrong himself congratulates you on your achievement. It’s cool the first few times but after that it’s completely a novelty.

As far as accuracy goes, I measured the distance the Nike + iPod app recorded against Google Earth. I was surprised to learn that it was fairly accurate, provided I had it calibrated. All in all, it’s a great motivator/workout partner and I’d recommend it to anybody interested in an easy way to keep track of their walks or runs. In fact, it motivated me enough to join two Challenges on the NikeRunning site: 210 Miles in 2010 and St. Paddy’s Lucky Runner Challenge (10 miles in 10 days). And if you want to see my progress, check out my Nike + profile on the NikeRunning site.

Oh yes, the “something” I had mentioned earlier? Here’s what that’s about. Since my knees can’t handle the punishment of jogging out in the real world (but the treadmill is just fine), I have decided to not run in any 5ks. Walks, however, are still in the slate.

Taking all of those things into consideration, I have chosen to participate in the Long Beach Marathon’s Bike Tour, which is happening this October. Yes, 26.2 miles of riding my favorite bike through the lovely city I call my home. I’m actually ready for it right now but I guess I have to wait until October which, at this point, seems light years away. For fun, I will have my Flip Video camera attached to my bike and shoot clips of my progress, how I’m feeling, etc. as the race goes on.

No, I’m not in it to win it. This is something I’m doing to once again prove to myself that I made a lifestyle change, not participate in some fad diet that would have no doubt failed me by now.

Hope you are doing well with your programs!