Wednesday Weigh-In

It’s been two weeks, folks.

Yesterday it was time to STEP ON THE SCALE!

Here’s what happened:

Six Days Until the BolderBOULDER!

My next fitness challenge is only six days away. Next Monday (Memorial Day!), I’ll be in Boulder, Colorado, running with my sister Sarah in the BolderBOULDER, a ginormous 10K race that attracts runners from all over the world.

Because of my back-to-back stair climb challenges, I wasn’t able to start focusing on 10K training until about two weeks ago, after finishing my 163-Story Burj Khalifa Challenge. When the time came to step away from the StairMaster (finally), and get into a running mood, I wasn’t very excited. I hadn’t run in a couple months, and, if I’m being honest, I wasn’t really looking forward to it.

Then I had a couple really wonderful runs in New York City last weekend (including one across the Queensboro Bridge and back), and since getting back from the Big Apple, I’ve had a couple more really wonderful runs.

In total, I’ve run four times in the eight days since getting back from New York:

What’s In The Crockpot? Part Five

Wow. Has been really been 7 months since we last played “What’s In The Crockpot?” It has!  I published Part Four last October 31st – Halloween – and the dish that I featured was what I contributed to a Halloween party potluck (click here to see the recipe – I won’t spoil the game if you haven’t played yet!)

Just because I haven’t published any “What’s In The Crockpot?” posts doesn’t mean that my crockpot has gone unused. I made a perfectly mediocre vegetable and bean stew in it just the other day. But because it was just mediocre (at best), and the internet is already flooded with mediocre recipes (just google Sandra Lee if you need proof), I refrained from blogging about it.

OK, Enough chit-chat. Pull up your socks and lace up your sneakers, because it’s time to play!

WHAT’S IN THE CROCKPOT?

Uniqlo

Remember yesterday’s post, when I said I was done blogging about my trip to New York City?

I lied.

Just one more post. It’s about shopping! I found a store in Manhattan that I really like. It’s called Uniqlo.

That’s their store on Broadway in SoHo. There are two more Manhattan locations, on 5th Avenue and near Herald Square, and those are the only three locations in all the United States.

My Largest Produce Haul Ever?

First, some housekeeping: I did some much-needed page maintenance to Keep It Up, David yesterday, so click through some of the links at the top of the site when you have a chance. The STAIRS! page is gone, since my two stair climb challenges are over, and it’s been replaced with a new Races & Events page that collects info and links relating to all my fitness challenges. I’ve also revamped my motivational speaking page and changed its name from See Me At Whole Foods to the much more direct Motivational Speaking. On top of that, I added my Brooklyn Bridge “Before” and “Current” photos to the Photo Gallery, my two NYC runs to my Running Chart, and the Burj Khalifa to my Skyscraper Collection. Whew!

So I’ve been back from New York City for four days now, but you would never know it, since all my blogging has been about my trip. After three New York-centric posts in a row, it’s time to move on… to a post about a gargantuan amount of produce!

New York, New York (Part Two)

This post is a continuation of yesterday’s post, which is appropriate titled “New York, New York (Part 1)”. In it, I shared tons of pictures and discussed how I kept active during my 4-day trip to New York City last week. Click here if you missed it.

Since I’ve already discussed exercise, this post is gonna be about the other major part of health and weight loss: food. There have been times, when I’ve been traveling, where I’ve started to worry about when and what I’m going to eat, because as anyone who’s tried to lose weight knows, this shit is HARD. And it’s even harder when you have less control over your food, like you do when you’re traveling.

I’m happy because I don’t think I ever worried on this New York trip, which is thanks, I think, to the successful creation of new habits and a major shift in thinking when it comes to restaurant menus: I used to dread looking at menus, because I’d see all sorts of delicious items that I would love to eat but probably shouldn’t, and now, I consider finding healthy options on menus a fun challenge. What used to be a chore is now a game, and it’s a game I rarely lose.

New York, New York (Part One)

It’s hard to travel and stay on track with mindful eating and exercise. You don’t have your own kitchen full of healthy options, and it’s hard to work out when you’re in unfamiliar territory and not on your standard schedule. But with planning and thought, it can be done. I got back Sunday from four wonderful days in New York City, and I’m really proud of how I ate and how I moved. I’m also ridiculously proud of the ‘before’ and ‘current’ pictures I posted yesterday (click here if you missed it).

There’s lots to recap from my trip to New York, so I’m gonna divvy it up into two posts. I’m gonna focus today’s post on exercise, and, in my next post, I’ll share lots of food pictures.

There’s a lot to cover – are you ready?

Brooklyn Bridge “Before” and “Current” Photos

I’m exhausted.

In a post last week, I mentioned I was travelling, but I didn’t mention where. If you follow me on Twitter, you could’ve gotten a couple clues over the past few days, but in case you missed those tweets… I was in New York City!

I just got home a little while ago from a fantastic, jam-packed 4 days in Manhattan, and I’m pooped. I hung out with my brother, sister-in-law and two nephews, went to the wedding of one of my best high school friends, and saw a bunch of other friends from high school and college. I spent four days on the move – seeing landmarks, going to a Broadway play and, of course, eating well and exercising.

Most of my trip is well documented in photographs, but I’m way too tired to sort through all of it tonight. My next post will have a ton of photos and details. For right now, I thought I’d share a “Before” and “Current” Photo Comparison.

My Appearance on PYRAMID – Part 2

You’re in for a treat, folks!

Yesterday, I shared the first half of my appearance on the game show Pyramid from 2003, and talked about the audition process and my memories from the taping. Click here if you need to catch up.

Now it’s time for the second half! Sit back and relax… and see if I win the big bucks!

My Appearance on PYRAMID – Part 1

I used to love The $25,000 Pyramid when I was growing up. It was a smart, fun game show, and Dick Clark hosted it with such ease. You could tell he knew how to play the game really well, and I liked that. I had no idea who the celebrities were (Barry Jenner? Linda Kelsey?), but that didn’t matter. It was a show that celebrated quick thinking and effective communication, and to this day, if I stumble across a rerun on GSN, I’ll watch it, and I’ll enjoy it.

A few weeks after moving out to California in July 2002, I learned that a new version of Pyramid was coming on the air. It would be hosted by Donny Osmond, and they had already begun taping episodes. I decided it would be fun to audition, but had no idea how. So I got a ticket to be an audience member, and less than a week later, I was sitting in a soundstage on the Sony lot, watching them tape a show. During a commercial break, I asked someone about auditions, and got a number to call.

The audition process was long. First was a big cattle call audition where dozens of us took a written test. The people who passed the test (including me) stayed and played a quick mock version of the game. Then, a few days later, I was asked to come to a call-back audition, where a more in-depth mock game was played. Then I was asked to come to a third audition, which they called a “boot camp,” where I played the game yet again, and they went over all the rules. It was at that third audition that I was officially booked as a contestant. I was to return three weeks later to tape my appearance.