A Tight Squeeze

Things are still going pretty well, ladies and gentlemen. I’m now on Day 5 of getting back on track, which means 5 days of making good food choices and 5 days of exercise (I haven’t worked out yet today, but I will).  On Sunday, I made a big crockpot of chicken and veggie soup, so I’ve been enjoying that for my lunches. I’ve brought workout clothes to work, so I can get my exercise in after I’m done in the office.

While it’s a big improvement from how I was eating last week, I haven’t been perfect.

1,393 Steps From the Sidewalk TO THE ROOF!

It’s been a rather triumphant weekend, and I’m so proud to share it here. On Saturday, I competed in my second stair climb race, up the stairwell of the Aon Center in downtown Los Angeles, and it was a fantastically excruciating, wonderfully brutal morning. Grab your favorite hot beverage… and I’ll tell you all about it!

The event was the American Lung Association’s Fight for Air Stair Climb 2013. I did the same event last year (read about it here), and while I was nervous, I wasn’t nervous for the same reasons. Last year, I didn’t really know what to expect when I made my way up that stairwell, but now that I’ve done it before, I wasn’t so nervous about that. I was more nervous about how I’d do.

I was significantly less prepared than I was last year. Last year, I spent months and months training for this thing, and this time around, I only really started training in earnest a few weeks ago. Plus, I’d been battling a cold that kept me home from work one day last week and messed up my exercise regimen. Prior to the event on Saturday, the last time I had worked out was way back on Monday.

Then, of course, there was the realization that the Aon Center is still a big ass tall fucking building. I was reminded of that when I saw it looming in the distance as I drove downtown.

It only gets taller as you get closer.

2012 Year-End Progress Report

We’re already halfway through January? 2013 is just flying by! At the moment, I feel like I’m finally free and clear of the cold that I’ve been fighting for about 2 weeks now, but I won’t feel that way in the morning. Every morning I wake up stuffed up and snotty, and by the end of the day, I feel much better. Then, I wake up the next day feeling stuffed up and snotty again, and the cycle resumes. I’m tired of it.

I haven’t been letting my cold affect my routine too much. I’ve still been working out 3-4 times a week, which has become my norm, including a workout today, and another one yesterday, too. And I’m still logging all my workouts in my calendar (8 so far in January), and brings me to the focus of today’s post:

My 2012 Year-End Progress Report! Even though I haven’t posted a monthly report since July, I’ve still been tracking everything, and it’s time to summarize my year in exercise.

First Weigh-In of 2013!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!

I hope your holidays were fantastic, like mine were. I went to Michigan for Christmas, and then to Chicago for a couple days for New Years. Now I’m back in Los Angeles, where I’m fighting a nasty cold and working my way through a box of tissues like nobody’s business. I have a (hopefully) fun post with lots of (hopefully) fun pictures planned of some highlights from my Christmas vacation, but I’m just too tired to start working on it now. But, I didn’t want to leave you hanging, since it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything – 17 days, as it was pointed out to me via text message from a friend and reader.  So… here’s what happened when I stepped on the scale this morning! It’s my first weigh in of 2013!

I made it through the holidays without gaining weight!

weSPARK Universal Studios Backlot 10K RECAP!

My legs are still sore, ladies and gentleman, from the 10K race I ran on Sunday. That means I really pushed myself. And I’m really proud of how things turned out. But I’m jumping ahead of myself… I should start at the beginning.

Sunday was a beautiful day for a race: sunny and clear, although it was hot. It ended up being 90 degrees that day, and even though the race was held early in the morning, it was obvious that the day was going to be a scorcher. I got to Universal Studios a little before 8am, and met up with a bunch of friends that were also participating in either the 10K or the 5K run/walk. My buddy Mikael took this picture of me near the starting line…

A New Chapter for Keep It Up, David

Change is good. We can all agree on that, right? Change fuels progress and growth and leads to good things. Change can turn your life around, like it did mine. Had I not started making changes, I never would have gone from this…

Me in 2007 at a family get-together in Chicago. That’s my sister and sister-in-law that I unceremoniously cropped out.

..to this…

Me, trying on sunglasses in June 2012. (I didn’t buy them)

That right there is a visual representation of the 166 pounds that I’ve lost and kept off, and it’s all because I had the courage to embrace change.

Now it’s time to embrace change and start a new chapter for Keep It Up, David.

Creating My Own Olympic Memories

Check it out, I’m in LONDON!

Okay, Okay, I’m lying. I’m nowhere near London. But I did have a fantastic afternoon on Saturday that directly connects me to the events happening over in England. Everything about this post has me nerding out, so get ready, because I learned a ton putting it together, and hopefully you’ll learn something too.

A Letter to Myself at Age 23.

Thanks to a couple recent events, I’ve been reflecting a lot on my life ten years ago. The reflection began on Friday, my anniversary. On that day 10 years ago, I arrived in southern California. That means I’ve lived in Los Angeles for a decade, which seems both like a monumental amount of time and like no time at all. On top of that, Friday was a big day for another reason: There was a reunion of a big group of friends from that period in my life, many of whom I haven’t seen in years.

I made it to Los Angeles fresh out of college, and my first job here was 

“Being Heavy… is Painful.”

Are you watching “Food Network Star“? It’s a reality competition program where the winner gets their own cooking show. I’ve watched from the beginning – it’s currently in its 8th season – and while I used to be a huge fan, my interest has severely decreased in the past couple years.

What’s changed? Me.

Hopeless

A lot of people have reached out as a result of the Montreal Gazette article that ran yesterday (read it online here), and the last 24 hours have been really wonderful. There are emails and comments and messages and tweets that I’m going to respond to (I haven’t responded yet, but I promise I will!), but I thought I’d share one that has really stuck in my mind.

A new reader sent an email and shared with me her own struggles with weight. Because it was an email, and not a blog comment intended for public eyes, I’m not going to share any identifying details, but she ended her email with this sentence: