From The Vault

Hey everyone… HAPPY HOLIDAYS! It’s been a crazy busy week for me, but thankfully it’s over and chances are by the time you read this, I’ll be on a jet plane, off to visit the family for Christmas. I still have cleaning and packing to do, so I gotta keep this short. But the other day, I realized that I just hit a big anniversary – two years ago this month, I surpassed a major weight loss goal, when I hit 150 pounds lost for the very first time. I’m not the greatest at math, but I’m pretty sure that means I’ve kept off 150 pounds for two years now!

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Nerd Alert!

NEWS FLASH! I’m a nerd. A great, big, Urkel-sized nerd. Well, thanks to my weight loss, I’m not as big a nerd as I used to be, but I’m still a nerd, and I’m proud of it. I don’t consider ‘nerd’ to be a derogatory term – I just think it means that I know what I like and am not afraid to express it, embrace it, learn every little thing I can about it, and share it with others.

Long-time readers know one of the things I nerd out about: charts, graphs and statistics. This weight loss journey I’ve been on has been well documented by all of these things: I have a weight loss chart that I update once a month. I have a running chart (more on this later). I track StairMaster workouts with a chart that I call my Skyscraper Collection (more on this later, too!). Even though I haven’t blogged about it lately, I keep statistics on my workouts in the form of Monthly Progress Reports. Long story short (or is it too late for that?), if I can monitor what I’m doing and how I’m doing it in a fun, interesting way, than I’m all for it.

I find all these charts incredibly beneficial. They provide concrete evidence of my improvement in areas like running and stair climbing, both of which are still rather new to me. They allow easy ways for me to look back at where I’ve been, and help me project where I can go in the future. They assist in the setting of both short-term and long-term goals, whether it’s training for a big race or event, or helping me plan my week so I get in enough workouts. They give me a reason to pause, smile and congratulate myself on a great week or a great workout, and offer the opportunity to immortalize that feeling of pride and accomplishment by creating a permanent record of it. They fuel me. They push me.

There’s a new chart in my life, and I’ve kept it a secret from you for months. I keep it on the wall in my office, and it occurred to me the other day that there’s no reason for it to be a secret anymore. Here’s the story behind this new chart, which I’m going to unveil today.

Return of the Produce Haul!

I haven’t done a produce haul post in an eternity, if you define ‘eternity’ to mean a few months. But it sure seems like an eternity has passed since I’ve carefully arranged the contents of a shopping excursion on my coffee table, and it’s time to do something about that. I was inspired to do a produce haul this past weekend, when I noticed my cupboards were nearly completely bare. My fruit bowl had 3 heads of garlic and two lemons, and check out my fridge:

Nothing but condiments, egg whites, water, 1 yogurt, and some low-sodium V8 in there!

The Fat-Burning Man

I totally forgot to mention this in yesterday’s post… but I’m the guest this week on The Fat-Burning Man Show podcast!

The Fat-Burning Man is the growing mini-empire started by Abel James, a Texas-based author and health and fitness expert. At the beginning of this year, he started interviewing people for a podcast series, and I was honored to be his very first guest. Read about it here. Last week, Abel reached out and asked if I was free for another interview. Hell yeah! 

LISTEN TO MY INTERVIEW ON THE FAT-BURNING MAN PODCAST HERE.

Exercise Victories and Weight Loss Chart Update

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!