Tomorrow is the day!

Tomorrow is the halfway point. It is something I have been eagerly anticipating. I have worked so hard on losing weight and changing the way I live, not only until my birthday, but for the rest of my life. I cannot be content living the way I used too. I was slowly but surely constricting my quality of life and shortening the time I have here for momentary satisfaction and comfort found in food.

Tomorrow I will step on the scale and I will get to see what all the hard work has done! It will hopefully read below 295 Lbs. I hope those of you who have been with me since the beginning of this have been inspired!

Tomorrow is the day! I will reveal the new weight at the halfway point and post pictures of what I look like to date!

Almost Halfway There...

As I looked at the calendar this morning, it dawned on me, I AM ALMOST HALFWAY THROUGH! I started all of this the 1st of June and I set a deadline for myself of December 1st to lose 60 lbs. I was looking at my calendar and saw the note I had put on next months calendar for the 1st and when I read it, I was so excited!

Now, for those of you who are keeping track of my progress and everything going on in my life, here are the numbers:

1. Next Wednesday (September 1st)) will be the official halfway point!
2. The goal was to drop 60 lbs by December 1st
3. To be on track, I need to have lost at least 30 lbs by next Wednesday
4. I started at 325 lbs, so if I am at my target weight on September 1st I need to be at or below 295 lbs.
5. I weighed in last week and I have decided to keep the numbers to myself (for now)...this way there is a little more suspense built up until next wednesday!

Thanks to everyone who reads this and comments on it! Your encouraging words give me fuel when I am physically exhausted and would rather take a few days off!

I have upped my workouts to 4 times a week and have gone completely GLUTEN FREE! It is a hard switch, but once I got in the swing of it, it has become easy!

So, my final thought for the day is this...

KEEP ENCOURAGING! BE THE FUEL FOR THOSE WHO'S TANK ARE EMPTY!

Finding Your Stride.

It is finally happening! After months of running on an elliptical, several attempts at running in the heat and finally settling in on the treadmill, I feel like I am hitting my stride! I start my runs and after a few minutes of legs burning and lugs struggling to keep up with the oxygen needs my body is screaming for, I hit my stride!

Your stride is what shifts your body to an almost numb state and you feel like you could go forever. It is an incredible thing to experience! To push beyond fatigue and into such a rhythm that your legs forget their pain and your lungs steady their pattern to where the cognitive thought that usually accompanies the motion of running is replaced by an effortless exhale of all strain. It is what makes a runner (which I am not...yet) NEED to run! It is the point at which running begins to transform into a time of rest.

Push beyond the pain and find your stride! But don't let it stop at the physical level...move beyond and figure out what it takes to hit your stride in every aspect of your life. There will be times when you feel like you are not in shape enough to push, you may hit the wall and give up from time to time, but when you hit your stride, it will all be worth it!

By The Numbers

I am sitting in my office, getting ready to go workout for the day and I realized that I have not been very consistent at putting up my workout stats here on a regular basis. So here are yesterdays:

Chest/Back

Bench Press
Lat Pull Downs
Incline Bench
Seated Rows
Decline Bench
Straight Bar Pulls
Pectoral Flys

Running

I have started my running program from the start once again! This time though, I am doing it solely on the treadmill. Last time I did it on the elliptical machines but realized that it is a cake walk compared to the treadmill so I started from scratch!

I ran 1.7 miles in 27 minutes and burned 315 calories!

New Definition!

Over the past two weeks I have made the switch from machines to free weights! And after only two weeks, I have seen drastic improvement and (comparatively) tons of added muscle and definition! It is even more rewarding to look in the mirror and see results every couple of days.

Now, I'm not bashing weight lifting machines, but its essentially training wheels for your workout. If you frequently workout and you use machines, try switching to free weights for two weeks and be prepared to be amazed! You will see and feel a huge difference.

TAKE THE TRAINING WHEELS OFF!

Day of Rest!

Wednesday, I took the day off for recovery! I worked out so hard on Monday and Tuesday that my body was screaming for relief on Wednesday morning. So, I fought off the urge to at least go run so that my body could rebuild and recover. After taking yesterday off, I feel so re-energized and recharged. It is incredible what sleep and rest can do!

Keeping that in mind, I think it not only applies in our physical state of being, but also in our spiritual and mental! God, the Creator of everything, designed us to need rest! When we feel the need to be in a constant state of kinetic mayhem, we miss out on what simply being quiet and at peace can show us!

TAKE TIME TO REST!!!

Yesterday's Workout!

Yesterday, I worked out for almost an hour and a half. It was SO amazing. Up until a week ago, I had been using machines for all of my weight lifting for several reasons:

1. It helps with form
2. I don't have a workout partner so it is much safer since I don't have a spotter
3. Its quicker

But, I made the switch to free weights and holy crap, what a difference.

Free weights force you to use your core a lot more. It also forces your to not only focus on motion on the exercise, but also on stabilization of the weights which brings "quick-fire" muscles into the equation. It is a huge difference from my first two months on working out, but I am happy I made the switch.

Here is what all I did yesterday:

Bench Press - Chest
Abs
Lat Pulldowns - Back
Abs
Incline and Decline Bench - Chest
Abs
Rows - Back
Run - 1.7 Miles
- Burned 370 calories!

I am going back today to hit the arms!

Stuck.

Here I am a little over 2 months into working out/dieting and I have accomplished SO much, but I find myself stuck! The scale has not moved much over the past week and a half and it is hard not to get a little down because of it. I have worked so hard to see change and yet I am feeling the change, but not seeing its fruits in the numbers.

Have you ever been here? have you felt like you put your head down and push as hard as you can, only to look back up and see that you are pushing against a brick wall?

Its where I'm at!

I guess some changes are in order to get the ball rolling again.