Joel: Take a Load Off

Yes I'm alive. No I haven't lost much weight.

I've come to realize that exercise by itself will not impact weight loss. It helps me to think more about changing my eating habits, and it definitely makes me feel tons better. But it doesn't shed the tons by itself.

Here's an example of why not:

This morning I went out and walked/ran for about 30 minutes. RunKeeper Pro (my new favorite iPhone App) told me that I only burned 232 calories. Do you realize how little food is contained in 232 calories? I think I have more than 232 calories in the crumbs in my truck!!!

So unfortunately, it looks like the ice cream and cookies are really gonna have to go. :(

On a less demotivational note, I now know that it will be pretty simple to make it happen. It's just a matter of working up the courage to do it. But if I could find the strength to get off my couch and do something, I bet I can find it in myself to stop eating fried crap and lovely desserts.

Increasing The Pace // Losing The Weight

So I have now run for 30 minutes nonstop a handful of times. It's great to be able to do it. The personal fulfillment and sense of accomplishment about that is incredible.

Okay, it's not really running. It might loosely be defined as jogging, but more truthfully, it's a brisk shuffle. But no worries. All year long so far, I have been focusing primarily on just getting off my butt and going out to work out.

The habit is established. It's amazing. I never thought it would happen, but it happened.

The temptation is just to sit back down on my butt and stay where I am. Eventually, this will lead to better overall health and all that jazz, but I don't want to just stay where I am. Part of why I never went out to run in the first place was because I am competitive by nature. I don't like losing. I felt like trying to run would be an entirely losing proposition. So I just didn't bother.

Now, I need to continue moving forward.

So far this year, I've lost between 12-15 pounds. I want to double that by the end of the summer. So my goal by the end of July is to weigh about 10 pounds less than I currently do. My goal will put me down 23.8 pounds from the beginning of the year.

Additionally, I want to increase my running pace. Ideally, I will be running 10 minute miles by the end of the year. I will settle for being able to run 3 miles in 48 minutes by the end of the summer (16:00 pace). I ran 1 mile last Wednesday in 17:32. I had my spring concert on Thursday, and went to Six Flags on Saturday with the band so I took Friday and Saturday off. Sunday night I ran 1 mile in 16:19. Monday morning I walked 34 minutes and then ran 1/2 mile in 7:29.

This confirms that I can do the pace, it's just a matter of keeping it up for 45 minutes. Endurance will come with more time on my feet.

So my plan of attack for this summer: No Strawberry Cheesequake Blizzards until I lose another 10 pounds (Booooooo). And run every day as soon as school lets out, sometimes even running and/or walking twice a day.

Joel: I did it

Real quick post here. Carol sent me a message on Facebook noting that I haven't updated this blog in a couple of months. I'm a horrible person. Okay, I'm over it.

I have been running regularly. Currently, my running pace is somewhere around 18:30 per mile or 3.2 miles per hour. Sometimes it gets faster, sometimes slower. Such is the nature of living in Texas and running outside rather than on a treadmill. Sometimes it's hot (it got up to 93 today), sometimes it's windy (I've literally gone running with 60mph gusts), sometimes it rains (I lost about a week of running due to some storms we had), and sometimes it is cold (back in January, I was stopped by 20mph winds and 25 degree temps).

In March, I stopped the fast walking and actually began running. Some might call it jogging. Some might call it shuffling. Some might call it looking like a fool. Whatever, I do it and it just about kills me every time. But I persist.

So this is the 20th week of my journey as a runner and I finally finished week 9 of the Couch To 5K Running Plan this evening.

I've hit some roadbumps along the way and gone back and started over a few times. Sometimes I don't accomplish the day's goal, and a few times I've actually pressed on past the goal and surprised myself.

I walked in a 5K back at the beginning of May and was surprised at how much faster my pace was on the race day.

This is a whole lot of scattered thoughts, but I'm exhausted and need to drive three hours to judge drum major tryouts tomorrow afternoon, and three hours back home afterwards to get ready to host my band's solo & ensemble contest Saturday morning. And I just ran for 30 minutes without stopping, came in and blogged about it.

Joel: The Art of Slow Slow Slow Running

I read a comment today on the Couch To 5K's Facebook wall that sorta got to me.

One person commented that she ran a mile in 33 minutes. Someone asked if she meant that she ran it in 13 minutes, because she couldn't see how someone could run for 33 minutes and only go a mile. One more person chimed in basically saying that even someone walking slow could walk a mile in 20 minutes.

While I understand that it was an issue of confusion, I responded:

---

How does it take someone 30 minutes to run a mile? They have the guts to get out there no matter how out of shape they used to be in and run slower than most people walk.

They get over the years of excuses to not work out and just set out with a plan to push themselves harder than they have in years (or decades). The first day they realize that 60 seconds nonstop is miserable. ONE TIME.

But they don't give up.

They don't make it through the first day, but they don't give up. Maybe it takes them two months to get to Week 1 Day 1, maybe it takes longer.

But they don't give up.

The weight loss is slow, it's not like the fad diets they have tried numerous times in the past. It's frustratingly slow, because they know that when they lose the weight, their speed will go up and their risk of injury will go down dramatically.

But they don't give up.

By the time this person is to the point where they can run 1 mile nonstop, something inside of them changes.

So they don't give up.

They see the benefits, they feel that they can breathe like a normal human being again (at least sometimes), they can't imagine going back to the place they were just a few months ago.

So they don't give up.

It may take them an hour or more to finish a 5K race. But they run the entire time. How many people finish the race in 30 minutes and can't run the whole thing? It took years of bad decisions to get them to this point, but they have seen the results and have developed the fortitude to push through no matter what other people are doing.

So they don't give up.

I have a friend who can run 5K in 17:30. I can walk/run it in 53:00. Now. But eventually, I'll be running 10K, and half marathons, and who knows what else...

This is why people like me don't go to the gym for years and years...not because there are a bunch of rude and judgmental people (you're not, just confused...I understand that), but because the fear exists that there are a bunch of rude and judgmental people.

Joel: I'm Alive!

The last few weeks have been pretty busy, and so I haven't updated on here. I have been slowly making my way through the Couch To 5K program doing my "low-impact running". This evening, I did Week 3 Day 2. I used a treadmill for the first time this year on Friday morning when I was in San Antonio for the Texas Music Educators Associaion Convention. It was really cool. When I got tired, I was able to hold myself up so my legs could keep working but wouldn't have to support my entire body weight. Not sure it's the best thing for the treadmill, but it was the hotel's and not mine!

This is the beginning of my eighth week of working out. A few weeks ago, I decided to only run 3 days a week and try to do Wii Fit the rest of the days. After three weeks of doing that, I am certain that this plan will not be most effective for weight-loss. So I'm going back to exploring outdoors 5-7 days a week. If it gets too bad, I'll just run around my living room for 30 minutes with Wii Fit, but I really do prefer the outdoors. Something about nature and open air.

I have been doing this now for seven weeks. It's crazy when I think that I hadn't run in over a decade as recently as January 3rd. Now I am getting my breathing under control when I run and things are starting to get easier.

Slowly.

The weight loss has slowed a bit, but I think a lot of that has to do with me not getting out of the house to exercise every day. So far in 7 weeks, I have lost at least 5 pounds. If I can maintain even this slowed rate, I am on track to lose more than 35 pounds this year.

And this is without the use of any underhanded methods such as low-carb crash dieting or even as extreme as fasting.

Speaking of extreme methods, the school weigh-in is coming up on March 8th. I need to schedule about 5-9 days of fasting between now and then. Hey, I do want to win the money since it's there for the taking!

Joel: No More Excuses

I haven't blogged on here in a week and a half, but I have definitely been working out. I started the Couch To 5K workout plan for real except that instead of actual running, I am doing my low-impact running (also called power walking). I figure the last thing I need to do is blow out a knee or ankle trying to act like I'm 20 years old. So until I can lose about 25 more pounds, I'm sticking with the low-impact running. And Wii Fit!

So what I have been doing is posting status updates on my personal Facebook account chronicling my workouts and getting encouragement from friends. As I read some of them, I find people who are in far better shape than I am giving excuses about time or schedules or whatever. It's easy to do, I did it for over a decade.

But there must come a time when excuses run out

Until that time comes, you're not going to change a thing. But once it comes, everything changes in the way you view your time. Have you had that change yet?

Joel: More Wii Fit Fun

So I took Tuesday off from any physical activity. Yesterday, I took a much more reasonable approach to the running and opted to go to my middle school's track (flat surface and all) and did four cycles of 4 minutes walking and 1 minute running. It worked out fantastically. I guess the only real problem was that I didn't drink enough water throughout the day and it was somewhat humid out, so I had to stop at the water fountain and get a quick drink about halfway through. No worries.

Today, I decided to opt out of walking or running and spend some quality time with my Wii again. on Saturday afternoon, one of my friends called me and reminded me that the new season of 24 debuted on Sunday night. He offered to let me borrow the DVD from last season to get caught up (I had a big DVR fiasco during spring break where I lost all of my unwatched episodes of 24, so I just blew it off till later knowing he would get it). So I went over and got it and have been watching that all week. As a result, I have done very little with Wii Fit except for the almost daily check-ins and maybe a little bit of stretching.

Tonight, I spent 34 minutes with it so far, am going to go have dinner with some friends, and then will come back and watch some 24 and probably do some step aerobics and walking around my house a little bit. So which exercises did I choose tonight?

• Lunges (ugh)
• Rhythm Kung Fu
• Snowboard Slalom
• Skateboard Arena
• Rhythm Boxing
• Lotus Focus (not really a workout, but more relaxation)

I also decided that it's time for me to lose the carbonation. I am replacing sodas with mostly water, and some occasional tea and/or coffee. I'll allow myself cappuccinos on the weekends if I've been good. So the journey continues...

Joel: Couch To 5K? More Like Couch To EKG

Well, yesterday I tried to do Week 1, Day 1 of the Couch To 5K program. Wow, that was intense. It was supposed to do a warm-up walk for 5 minutes and then alternate 60 seconds running and 90 seconds walking for 8 cycles, then do a warm-down walk for another 5 minutes.

What happened was that I walked for 5 minutes, did 3 60/90 cycles, then limped along for the next 6 minutes until I could crawl into my truck. I bought this cool C25K app for my iPhone and was jamming along to my music and as I was limping along at the end, I heard the guy telling me to run. Then after what seemed like an eternity, he said I could walk again. I cracked up.

But I did get about 16 minutes of exercise in, and I did actually run for three straight one-minute segments. I've come to realize that I go about 75 steps with each foot in a minute, so even if I don't have my phone or a stopwatch with me, I can still estimate how much running I've done.

Today, I boycotted physical activity in commemoration of the new semester. Tomorrow, I'll do a more reasonable approach to running, which will include better stretching beforehand and longer segments of walking between. The one that has worked best for me so far has been walking 4 minutes and running 1. If I do that four times, I can pace it out more thoroughly, and I still get 20 minutes of exercise in. Including 4 minutes of running.

Oh yeah, I have lost about 3 pounds since January 1st, so I'm pretty much on track. They say if you lose about a pound a week, it's a healthy pace. But I want to lose it all NOW!

Oh well, tomorrow's a new day!

Joel: Week 2 Wrap-Up

Well, this was the last week of our semester as well at school, but for some reason they didn't give us a modified schedule. Everything went as normal. In fact, we had a few days with rain, and my students behaved really well in spite of that. So much so that my first period class Friday morning was eerily quiet. It was awesome!

So, in spite of setbacks early in the week and the realization that I won't be able to stick to the prescribed Week 2 regimen this week, I pushed through and tried.

Monday, I ran a total of 3 minutes. Wednesday, I ran a total of 4 minutes, and Friday, it rained. So I used that as my excuse to take the day off. Then I woke up this morning and ran a total of 6 minutes.

The coolest thing that happened this week was that this morning, I got my first running-related injury. More accurately, my left Tibialis Anterior muscle cramped some. I called a friend of mine who is a physical therapist and has been going to massage school and asked her what I should do. She suggested ice. I continued stretching it out for about 20 minutes, crawled into my truck, and went home. By the time I was home, it was feeling better, so I hobbled around a little more, took a shower, and everything was good. But even so, I got a running injury!

This week, I'm going to probably jump over to the Couch To 5K plan and do week 1, which is a 5-minute walk and then alternating 60 seconds running/90 seconds walking for the next 20 minutes. This will be a total of 8 minutes of running and 17 minutes of walking. I may ease my way into it by doing 6 reps on Monday, 7 on Wednesday, and then 8 on Friday.

I'm not exactly sticking to one specific plan or anything, but I am making forward progress, and that's what counts. I've come to the belief that the 9-week or 12-week plans were made for people who are only 40 pounds overweight in the first place.

A friend of mine tells me that the true test is when I can climb a flight of stairs without losing my breath. I'm still not there, but maybe next week...

Joel: Week 1 Wrap-Up

This year is going to be a year of discipline development for me, I assure you. As I mentioned before, our school nurse sent out an email Monday morning inviting us all to participate in this weight loss challenge thing. So the other band director told me that I need to enter since I am planning on running a 5K this spring anyway.

I went in Wednesday, paid my $10, and weighed in. I made sure to wear as heavy of a coat and boots as I possibly could for the weigh-in. Then we got an email on Friday telling us that the first place winner gets 80% of the kitty, and the second place winner gets %20. Right now, the winner's set to get $264. HELLO revolutionary life change! There may be some last-ditch, over-the-top efforts to win come the first week of March in preparation for the March 8th weigh-out. Somehow I think wearing only a t-shirt and boxers for the weigh-out that day is definitely in the plans! Maybe not. But one good side-effect of this is that I will be focusing not only on the running aspect, but also really keeping weight loss in the crosshairs. Can this be a bad thing?

So this week didn't go quite as well as I had anticipated. Here's how it panned out:

Sunday
Supposed to Walk 15 minutes (actually walked 15 minutes and did some Wii stuff)

Monday

Supposed to Walk 5 minutes, Run 1 minute, Walk 5 minutes, Run 1 minute, Walk 5 minutes (actually walked 5 minutes, ran 1 minute, walked 5 minutes)

Tuesday
Supposed to Walk 15 minutes (decided to make-up for yesterday and did the full walk/run/walk/run/walk routine and did some Wii stuff)

Wednesday

Supposed to Walk 5 minutes, Run 1 minute, Walk 5 minutes, Run 1 minute, Walk 5 minutes (actually walked 15 minutes)

Thursday

Supposed to Walk 15 minutes (woke up early to go run, walked for 3 minutes in 20+ mph winds, couldn't catch my breath, went back home...then I walked another 12 minutes including some stairs during my conference period and did some Wii stuff)

Friday
Supposed to Walk 5 minutes, Run 1 minute, Walk 5 minutes, Run 1 minute, Walk 5 minutes (actually it was too cold and windy to do much outside, and I don't have a treadmill for running...so I didn't even do the Wii)

Saturday

Supposed to rest, but I'm actually going to do some Wii stuff in a little bit and also do the walk/run/walk/run/walk routine I was supposed to do yesterday.

All in all not too bad. This week I'm supposed to do some 3-minute running sessions, but I'm just not sure if they'll happen. I'll try it on Monday and see where I end up.

Be sure to check out the latest article on So You Want To Teach? entitled Running and Reading

Joel: Favorite Wii Fit Plus Workouts

So my workout schedule is here. It's not a distance thing as much as a time thing, which works well for my analytical/logic-based mind. I started on Sunday by walking 15 minutes. Then I went out yesterday to Walk 5 minutes, Run 1, Walk 5, Run 1, Walk 5. But I only glanced at the schedule quickly and forgot the "Repeat 1x" thing, so I only Walked 5, Ran 1, and Walked 5. So today I went out and did yesterday's workout right. Tomorrow and Friday, I'll Walk 15 and do today's workout again Thursday.

In addition to the walking/running, I am trying to do a little bit on the Wii Fit each day. I actually have Wii Fit Plus, which has some additional exercises that the original one didn't. So far, I really am enjoying the Rhythm Boxing and Driving Range workouts. I started playing golf this past summer (see post), so the driving range is great in that it helps me with my stroke, and also counts as exercise. The rhythm boxing is cool because it's sort of like step aerobics stuff, and it involves both arms and some somewhat involved footwork. The step aerobics thing is also kinda fun. The cool thing about these is that they don't require a whole lot of intense coordination, so they fit my style just great!

Note to Carol: Set a goal that is specific, realistic, measurable, and written. It will work wonders for your motivation. Also, tell people about it. Nothing's worse than the guilt you put on yourself. Personally, I'm more interested in telling my friends who already run about my goals. I hate running, but they motivate me. My lazy friends say stuff like, "cool!" My active friends say stuff like, "Awesome! You can do it! You'll love it!" I'll take that one any day.

So we haven't gotten any comments yet. I know people are coming here and reading...so feedback time. What are your Goals for the New Year? What are you doing to make your goal be more than a wish?

Joel: Shamed Into Doing This...

Well, I got this crazy idea yesterday to just do something I've long wished I could do, but also long since lost the ability to do. I wrote about it last night (I've Had It! Why I'm Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired, and What I'm Doing About It) and then went to school this morning. Shortly after my 3rd period Beginner Band class, I got an email from one of my fellow (albeit a tad eccentric) blogging friends with the proposition to start up this blog. I have to admit, her zeal and eagerness to get it up and running has me railing to keep up, so we'll see just how well it all pans out.

A little background
When I was in 2nd grade, I was the fastest kid in class. I was running all over the place. I was happy. I was nerdy, but I just didn't care. It was great!

Over the years, that quickness has left me, as well as the happiness, and just not caring. I remain a nerd. I guess somewhere around 4th grade, I really began to struggle with my weight. I use the term struggle loosely, as I honestly didn't care much about it then. I played some sports on and off (even played football at my junior high my freshman year), but was never much of an avid workout type. Marching band was a lot of fun in high school, but not nearly as physically challenging as the sports had been. But it took up a lot of my time and sports had to go.

The summer after high school, I marched with a drum and bugle corps, touring the United States and Canada throughout the summer. By the end of the summer of 1996, I was really tan and weighed 160 pounds. That is the best shape I have been in in my life.

Fast forward

In the summer of 1997, I was in a pretty severe car wreck, which seriously reduced my physical activity. Laziness compounded, and I entered the fall of 1999 weighing in at just around 230 pounds. A few months of vegetarian low-carb dieting (don't ask why) brought me down to just under 200 pounds in early 2000. I was walking some again, and felt really good. Then low carb turned into less low-carb, turned into regular-carb, turned into high-carb, turned into freak-out-high-carb diet.

Student teaching band = NO TIME FOR ANYTHING

In the summer of 2001, I got back into the walking habit (around an hour three to five times a week), but student teaching really ate up my time. That and the tumor I had between my lung and heart which made breathing a challenge. Finally found it and had it removed in early 2002, followed by months of not lifting anything heaver than 5 pounds. That's not so good for the ol' workout.

Now in my eighth year of teaching

I've had stints of exercising followed by long droughts over the years. This summer, I began suffering from allergies pretty heavily. I also started playing golf and was again reminded of how great it is to be outside in South Texas in the summer. I have been considering getting a Wii (and Wii Fit) for a couple of years now, so when the price dropped in October, I knew it was time to act.

Time to get this whole weight thing under control again

So I have friends who run marathons and half marathons and all these things. None of them have a physique similar to mine. (ahem) So I decided this year to challenge myself and finally step up. I asked one of them who lives in the Austin area if she'll run a 5K with me in April, and she said she'd love to. So it's time to get crackin'.

On top of all this, our school nurse sent out an email today for a two-month weight loss challenge. Weigh-in is tomorrow and weigh-out is just a few days before spring break.

As many years as I've live telling myself I'll lose weight or exercise more or whatever, this time I have specific goals. In order to achieve a goal, the experts tell us, it must be specific, realistic, measurable, and written.

So two goals:

1. Run a 5K by the end of the school year
   If I end up walking in the one in April, I have a month and a half to get to where I can run one before June
2. Lose 60 pounds by the end of 2010
   5 pounds a month is definitely realistic and sustainable, and it puts me weighing under 200 pounds (185 puts me at the top of the overweight category, while 186 puts me at the bottom of the obese category) by the end of 2010

I'm going to be using Wii Fit to do the calculations and post updated numbers each Sunday. Let's see how it goes!