Do You Have the Stones?

If you’re looking for an update about my impending surgery, you’ll have to wait a little longer. I wrote this post a few days ago and scheduled it for today, just to have some fresh content up. You know, because I’m an awesome blogger! Speaking of the surgery, a big thank you for all the messages of concern, support, love, and well wishes – they’ve been coming in from all over the place, and even though I haven’t been able to respond to all of them, I’ve read them and appreciated them!

Anyway, because the surgery will keep me away from strenuous exercise for 2-4 weeks, I decided I better get my fill of Slimmons classes while I could. So, last week, I went twice, with Thursday being my last class for a while.

It was a really fun class, and Richard Simmons was his

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.

My Motivation Has Left Me.

Sometimes I’m really excited to share what’s going on in my little corner of the world. Other times, I’m not. This is one of those times.

I don’t want to beat around the bush, so I’ll just say it: I’ve let myself go, and I’m struggling to find any motivation to make healthy choices whatsoever. A big part of the reason why is thanks to a health concern that’s arisen in the past couple weeks. I’m going to be cryptic here, because I’m still processing what’s going on, and I’m not ready to share it yet. I’m sure I probably will, at some point, but not yet. It first reared its ugly head a few days after my wonderfully successful stair climb, and as a result, I decided to take a few days off from working out.

It’s now been over two weeks since my last workout. I’m not out of the woods in regards to that health concern, but I’m physically able to exercise, and I haven’t been. There’s a packed gym bag in my home, but I’m walking by it every morning.

In addition to that,

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.

Punched in the Gut By ‘The Whale’

I don’t think I’ve ever really shared on this blog what a huge fan I am of live theater. I haven’t consciously been hiding that part of my life from you, it’s just that my theater-going and my escapades in healthy living and weight loss don’t ever really overlap. They overlapped this weekend, though, when I saw a powerful new play that ended up leaving me breathless. It features strong performances and a compelling story, but what really brought the tears to my eyes (literally) was the fact that it hit really close to home. Too close to home.

The play is called “The Whale,” and South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, California is presenting the West Coast premiere. “The Whale,” written by Samuel D. Hunter, tells the story of the final days of a man named Charlie, who is succumbing to congestive heart failure and other complications brought on by his extreme obesity. Charlie weighs 600 pounds, refuses medical treatment except for that provided by his only friend, a nurse named Liz, and is a complete shut-in in his small apartment in rural Idaho.

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!

Athlete?

There’s a big question I’ve been pondering lately, but before I get to it, I have a little housekeeping to do.

1) Weight Loss Chart. It’s September! It’s the end of summer… and back-to-school time… the start of the new television season… and time to update my chart with the results of my most recent weigh-in!

I stepped on the scale Saturday morning, and I’ll let my chart show you the number I saw:

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.

July 2012 Progress Report

Let’s start this post off with a photograph:

A photo of a calendar can only mean one thing: time for a MONTHLY PROGRESS REPORT!