About a month ago, I got contacted by an editor at Everyday Health, a big health and wellness website. And by ‘big,’ I mean ‘gigantic’ – they get 20 million unique visitors a month. They were starting a new column featuring weight loss success stories, and the editor was curious if I’d be interested in being featured. Heck yea! I provided some photos and answered a bunch of questions and woke up today to an email saying that my column was published. Happy Friday to me! Check out my Everyday Health column by clicking here.
I filled out the questionnaire before I had my most recent weigh-in and before I fessed up to the troubles I’ve been having this month, but I just reread what I wrote, and it all rings true, and is all good advice for the situation I find myself in now. So nice that the me of the past is looking out for the me of the future!
EXCITING NEWS! You know how I’m featured in Richard Simmons’ new infomercial for Project H.O.P.E.? The infomercial clocks in at a full 30 minutes, but the online version is only 7 minutes, and I was left on the editing room floor. So unless you set your DVR, or happened to catch it on basic cable in the middle of the night, there’s a good chance you haven’t seen my little part of the infomercial yet.
UNTIL NOW! Check it out: the portion featuring the long-term success stories (me and my friends Joanne and Lori) is now on YouTube! It’s only 80 seconds – watch right here:
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.
Man, I love hard-boiled eggs. I typically hard-boil a dozen eggs a week, and eat them as part of my lunches and after workouts. Usually, I eat only the whites, and toss the yolks into the trash, along with the shells, but every once in a while, I’ll eat one whole egg in addition to 2 or 3 more whites. Egg whites are an excellent source of protein, are fat-free, and low in calories.
So I was very excited to get my hands on an infomercial product that promised to make hard-boiled eggs a snap to make. The product is called Eggies, and here’s the commercial, in case you haven’t seen it (I’ve seen it roughly 2,500 times):
I can’t divulge where I got the Eggies, but I’m happy that I didn’t pay for them (and, no, I didn’t shoplift them). I don’t think that hard-boiling eggs is a particularly difficult proposition, and I’ve never been nearly as flustered as the women at the beginning of the commercial, but I’m all for kitchen shortcuts. And, well, I love informercial products. I’m in! Read the rest of this entry »
My legs are still sore from last night’s workout. It was the best workout I’ve had in a while, partly because I pushed myself, and partly because it happened in a very cool new location. That location is called the St. Andrews Stairway, and it’s actually not very new at all.
Back in the 1920s, a public stairway was built up the side of the Hollywood Hills, to allow residents on higher streets an easy way to come down to catch the streetcars that used to zip around Los Angeles (hard to believe, but back in the day LA used to have one of the largest public transportation networks in the country). The stairway is cleverly called the St. Andrews Stairway, as it starts at the end of St. Andrews road. Despite it being there for nearly 100 years, I didn’t know it existed, even though last fall, I ran right past it during an evening run. It didn’t catch my eye during that run because it wasn’t lit at night, but that changed last month.
I read online a few weeks ago that some 8 or 9 decades after initial construction, the city of Los Angeles finally made good on their promise to install streetlights on the St. Andrews Stairway, and I realized that it was relatively close to my office. So last night, I laced up my running shoes and went for a run. And even though I’ve only been twice (once last night, and again today to take some photos to share here), I’ll come out and say it: I love the St. Andrews Stairway!
There are 153 stairs (I counted myself). That’s basically a 10-story building! Here’s what they look like from the bottom. The arrow is pointing to the wall at the very top of the stairs, all the way up on Tryon Drive.
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!
My exercise routine has evolved (or perhaps devolved) significantly over the course of 2012. For the first half of the year, I was easily meeting my goal of working out 6 times a week (with 5 times a week being acceptable). But that was an easy goal for me to reach, as I was unemployed at the time, with a lot of free time.
But then in June, I started my new job, and exercising became more difficult, as I went from jobless to 50-55 hours a week in an office. I never stopped exercising altogether, but I did cut back significantly, to 3 days a week. Earlier this fall, I felt myself getting a little lazier with my workouts, which was one of the reasons I signed up for the 10K I ran last month. My plan worked: prepping for the 10K was the perfect way to get focused and excited about working out again.
After the race was over, though, the laziness returned. And I had no plan in motion to combat that laziness. Until I stepped on a plane and flew to Colorado for Thanksgiving. Sometimes there’s nothing like a getaway to reboot your system!
By the time you read this, it’ll already be November 12th, and I just realized I never posted my most recent weigh-in results from… um… 12 days ago. Whoopsy, my bad! I got a little swept up in last weekend’s 10K race, which, by the way, left me sore in my quads and calves for nearly three days. Even though the race is over and done with, I still ran three more times last week, due to the convenience of running and my new habit of bringing a change of clothes to the office so I can hit the streets as soon as I’m done with work.
But I digress. I have a weight loss chart to update! For anyone that may be new here, I’ve kept a weight loss chart since I began this endeavor nearly three years ago (!), and every month I update it with my weight as a way to stay accountable, remind myself of my successes, and track my progress. After I weighed myself on November first, I updated my chart like this:
I stayed even at 241 pounds. I’ll confess that I was hoping for a loss, on account of all the running I’d been doing to prepare for the 10K, but I’ll take it! After two months of small gains, I’m glad that I stopped adding weight. And looking back at calendar year 2012, which that photo shows, I realized that I’ve stayed within the same 5-pound range since January. That’s pretty sweet, even though I’m at the high end of the range at the moment.
241 pounds represents a loss of 161 pounds.I don’t get tired of reminding myself of that! Here’s the chart in its entirety (for you new folks, it’s hanging on my closet wall, where I can see it every day as I dress):
I’ve been trying to focus on the positive the past few days, because it regards to my eating and exercise, it hasn’t been a fantastic few days.
I delayed this post a day so I could include the results of my October 1st weigh-in. Let’s see what the ol’ weight loss chart has to say, shall we?
Up three pounds. That’s five pounds that I’ve gained over the past two months. No bueno. And here’s the crappy part about having a weight loss chart… it only took me approximately 15 seconds to realize that this is the heaviest I’ve been in about 18 months. The last time I weighed 241 pounds was March 2011.
A big hello to everyone that's discovering Keep It Up, David for the first time! I'm glad you're here.
My name is David. I live in Los Angeles, and I'm 33 years old. In January 2010, I began eating better and exercising more, so I could lose weight. So far, so good - I've lost over 160 pounds! But now that it's getting tougher, and the weight is coming off more slowly, I need to find new ways to keep motivated and on-track. I'll blog about my progress and share my struggles and successes. Join me on my journey!
@debslosingit I know, right? I was just giving a friend a hard time. I'm sure it was delicious - but I wasn't there to try it! 1 hour ago
I heard Bruno Mars makes a great Margherita Pizza. @AntonioAerial Please weigh in with your thoughts. I think Margherita Pizza is #boring! 16 hours ago
Posted by David 
