The Northern Experience

Taking it from the top

2009-01-01T22:02:00.002-05:00

Well, it's January 1, and that sound you hear is thousands of people either starting new weight loss blogs or returning to old ones. Why should I be any different?

It's been a difficult 9 months on the weight loss front. I did manage to complete the 5K at the end of May, in a time of 40:16.7. I even managed it with shoes that were a half size too small for me, which I didn't find out until after the race when I compared them to my older running shoes. After that, though, it was a steady downhill -- I injured my knee in May while golfing, then hurt my hip while compensating for the sore knee. As a result, I had to stop exercising right at the time when I most wanted to be outside doing things, because things just hurt too much. This resulted in a bout of depression that lasted through the entire summer and well into the fall. At my worst, I'd gained back every single pound I'd lost in the past year.

In the end, I got an X-ray and an MRI that told me there was nothing structurally wrong with me, and had some physiotherapy that alleviated some of the pain in my joints. That got me in a better mood, to the point where I was able to start exercising again a little less than a month ago. I'm working on the treadmill 3 times a week (restarting the Couch-to-5K program -- I'm currently in week 3) and the stationary bike 2-3 times a week. I've also managed to clear out our spare bedroom enough that I can put a mat down and do some strength training as well. My goal is to do something every day for 30 minutes or so. I've managed to lose 9 pounds doing this so far.

I've set some longer-term goals for myself this time around. I signed up for the 5K race on Ottawa Marathon weekend again, but I also signed up for a 10K race at the beginning of August, and a try-a-tri triathlon near the end of September. This should hopefully give me enough incentive to keep at it this time around (as well as to relearn how to swim!)

Happy New Year, and may everyone have a prosperous and enjoyable 2009.

Once more, with feeling

2008-03-28T09:52:00.002-04:00

I have returned. Returned from ten weeks of relative inactivity and mediocre nutrition. Returned to the land of accountability. Don't worry, I didn't go completely crazy and balloon up again, but I have made zero progress in the last two and a half months -- negative progress, actually -- and that is going to change.

Yesterday, I ran a mile outside for the first time since my cruise. (Incidentally, do you know how hard it is to run on a moving ship? It's not fun, not in the least.) It's only the sixth run of any kind I've done since mid-January. Today, I'm going to attempt to do the same, and Sunday I'm hoping to make it two. I have motivation -- my 5k run is in less than two months. Was that smart of me, or what? Start working out again, or forfeit thirty dollars and have to tell everyone who asks how I did that I never went. That's powerful.

On the plus side, my doctor told me last week that I only need to lose about twenty more pounds for me to be at what he would consider a manageable weight. And my blood pressure is excellent, which surprised me. He also said my cholesterol was just borderline, instead of being very bad, as I imagined it would. Apparently, I'm pretty healthy for being fairly overweight. That makes me pretty optimistic that I can become very healthy in a reasonable amount of time.

Results you can wear

2008-01-14T08:43:00.000-05:00

Is there any nicer feeling than comfortably fitting into a pair of pants you haven't worn in four years? I think not.

When I started this little expedition, I wore a size 46. I probably could have worn a 48 without them feeling baggy, too. Right now, I have on a pair of size 40 khakis that I haven't even thought of being able to fit into since before I was married. In a couple of weeks, I can probably also start wearing the size 40 jeans I bought last month (the size-42 incentive jeans are now starting to get a little loose). And at this rate, in a couple of months, I'll be able to leave the 40s altogether. Which means I can actually buy off the rack at the Haggar outlet store.

I punished myself quite a bit this weekend. Friday, I did 5k on the ergometer and a 40-minute hill program on the stationary bike. Saturday, I went outside and ran this 5k route in just under 40 minutes. (Check out how far uphill that is for the last mile -- it was a killer!) Sunday, I rowed another 5k and did 25 minutes of hill intervals on the stationary bike before deciding that was enough. I think I'll take today off.

45 pounds to go?

2008-01-08T14:51:00.000-05:00

I was poking around online on the weekend, looking for a way to measure body fat percentage. I found one site where, if you input your height, waist size, neck size and weight, will give you a reasonable estimate of body fat percentage. My body fat % is between 27 and 28, which seemed to me to be making some progress. However, I was more intrigued by another line of the output:

Your ideal weight: 225 lbs.

Isn't that interesting -- something that actually comes close to what I think I should really weigh!

Now, anyone who knows me knows that I absolutely detest BMI as a measurement of how "fat" or "thin" a person is. I believe it's a too-simplistic measurement tool designed to artifically inflate the "overweight" population, and doesn't even begin to take into account the number of factors that actually go into whether a person has a healthy weight or not.

According to BMI, since I'm 6' 2 1/2", my ideal weight range should be between 158 and 197 pounds. Now look to the right and see what my goal weight is. Now, let me tell you that even that target is about 10-15 pounds lower than the weight I would be happy with! The reason for that is that I was blessed with my dad's genetics, and he's built like a fullback. (He actually played fullback in semipro ball in the 60s.) My bone structure does not allow me to weigh 175 pounds...and yet BMI would tell you that that's what I should be shooting for.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still shooting for 200 pounds. But, if I happen to plateau around 215 -- or now even 225 -- I'm certainly not going to panic about it.

New toy / tough sledding

2008-01-05T14:05:00.000-05:00

My Forerunner is here! I was home again yesterday, so I was here when the UPS guy knocked on my door and presented it to me. It was like it was still Christmas.

Its first test was to take it out running this morning. Last I checked, the paths along the canal were well-plowed. But, last I checked was Monday. This morning...not so much. It was a lot harder than I was expecting, because of the packed-down snow/slush combination. It was almost like running on the beach. But I ran two miles anyway, and I was able to keep an eye on my mile pace, which was pretty much all I wanted for the first run. I was managing 13-minute miles while keeping my HR around 150 for the most part, which I thought was decent for the conditions.

If they don't plow a little better, though, I'll have a lot of time to read up on how to use the more advanced features, because I'm not running on that again. But then, there's three days of rain in the forecast, and that might clear off the sidewalks a bit.

Stupid sinuses.

2008-01-03T08:07:00.001-05:00

So I'm at home sick with what may or may not be a cold. I have a sneaking suspicion that it's actually a sinus flare-up. In any event, my head feels like it weighs about 50 pounds. I missed my run last night, but if this clears up any, I'm going to try to get one in this evening.

On the up side, the weather's going to be improving enough this weekend that I'm going to be able to get outside to run. I found out that the pedestrian paths along the Rideau Canal, where I did a couple of weekend runs in November, are the only trails in the whole city that get plowed, so I can run there if I feel like it. I had originally planned to do it Monday or Tuesday, but it was snowing both days, and I didn't feel like running through two inches or more of snow on the sidewalks.

Two more pounds down this week. It's looking like I'm going to need a new scale, since I've somehow reached a weight where the display will no longer lock in on one number, but instead flickers within a 10-15 pound interval, and shuts itself off while it's still thinking about how much I weigh.

Looking back, and looking forward

2008-01-01T16:17:00.000-05:00

So, 2007 has come to a close. Honestly, if anyone had told me last January that I would lose over 33 pounds in 2007, I would've been ecstatic. The fact that I did it in only three months is absolutely mind-blowing to me.

That said, it's a time to look forward, not back. I still have about 68 pounds to go, and a full year to do it. I have the 5K to run at the end of May, so I still have something to train for in the short term. I'll probably schedule two or three events -- either runs, duathlons or triathlons -- for the summer and early fall, for more incentive. I've proven to myself that I can train for training's sake, but it's still nice to have a goal in mind besides a weight target.

I was very happy with how the Christmas holidays went for me. I had two Christmas dinners, but the only time I went back for seconds of anything was for another roll. I didn't have a lot in the way of sweets -- a couple of sticky buns and a small oatmeal chocolate chip muffin for breakfast Christmas morning, three or four small cherry shortbread cookies, and a divine piece of grasshopper cheesecake on Christmas Eve. Over the past week, I've only eaten out three times, with the worst meal being last night, when I had a filet mignon and baked potato, a couple of pieces of sourdough bread, a ginger ale, and an incredible brownie sundae. It was very satisfying, and a meal like that every once in a while keeps me sane.

As for exercise, I'll wager that I was the only person I know working out on Christmas morning! The plan all along was to get in a workout on my parents' elliptical machine, and despite not getting a lot of sleep, I woke up enough to do a good hill routine for 45 minutes. I did get to a spinning class on Sunday morning, and reaffirmed how much I hate morning workouts, as I got my ass kicked from beginning to end (figuratively AND literally -- those seats are just brutal, even with bike shorts). And I've started a new running plan, the beginner's 5K program from Cool Running. It says that you should be able to run comfortably on this schedule for 4-6 weeks before starting the main program:

Sunday - 3 miles
Monday - off
Tuesday - 3 miles
Wednesday - 3 miles
Thursday - 3 miles
Friday - off
Saturday - 2 miles

So I'm planning to run on that schedule from now until either the middle or the end of February, then starting on the main program. If I start the program at the beginning of March, it should end right at the time I run my 5K at the end of May.

And, as a reward for being so good, I bought myself the Garmin Forerunner 305 from Costco.ca. I was trying to find it at a relatively cheap price, but the only places I could find it were in the States. Then I found a discussion on BeginnerTriathlete.com saying people were getting it at a big discount at Costco, so I looked there. It wasn't the $180 in saw it for at Costco.com in the US, or even the $212 at Walmart.com, but $259 was pretty good considering I could only find it here in Canada for $349 minimum. I should have it in a week or two, and get to use it in earnest for a couple of weeks for before the cruise if the weather cooperates.

Happy New Year! May you achieve all the goals you set for yourself in 2008.

Resolutions made easy

2007-12-31T16:04:00.000-05:00

Listen up! You can be the only kid on your block to make and keep a New Year's resolution this year. Here's my secret:

"I, [your name here], hereby resolve not to make any resolutions for 2008 besides this one."

See? Simple.

I will blog tomorrow about my holidays. As my stats show, things actually went pretty well.

Happy holidays!

2007-12-24T10:42:00.000-05:00

If you see me sometime over the next two days reaching for the shortbread, you have my permission to slap my hand.

Victory is mine!

2007-12-23T11:00:00.000-05:00

I finished the Couch-to-5K program this morning, polishing off my last 30 minute run at 5.5 mph. My 5K time (including 5-minute warmup walk and cooldown) was 35:28. And I discovered that I definitely need to start carrying Gatorade instead of water on morning runs, because I had absolutely zero left in the tank after finishing.

And now, my reward:

You have successfully registered for an event in the Ottawa Race Weekend being held May 24 and 25, 2008.

Payment has been received/Confirmation d'inscription:
Chris Oster is registered for
Ottawa Race Weekend MDS Nordion 5K

Transaction ID: JME0899582

Important: You may use this confirmation in order to pick up your race kit at the Pfizer Health and Fitness Expo at Ottawa Lansdowne Park in the Aberdeen Pavilion. Bib numbers will be assigned about 2 weeks prior to the event in 2008. You can check back at: www.runottawa.ca at that time.

Now what?

2007-12-22T21:42:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow I will do my last run in the Couch-to-5K program. Now comes the hard part -- I have to design my own workouts.

It's a pretty good time to finish the program, since I have an entire week to try and make up a plan without having to worry about work or anything like that. Monday is a scheduled day off, Tuesday I'm planning to use the elliptical machine at my parents' place after Christmas breakfast, Wednesday is another day off, and Thursday I'll probably do a run or get in the pool (or both). That should give me a few days to try and put something together.

I'm going to have to increase my frequency of working out from three days a week if I want to incorporate weight training, swimming, biking and running into every week. That's something I've been planning to do anyway, because I think it's time to mix things up so that my body doesn't get used to what I'm doing. My biggest challenge will be coming up with a schedule where I don't overdo things, which I'm unfortunately prone to doing.

Thirty

2007-12-20T08:53:00.000-05:00

Two pretty cool things happened in the last 24 hours:

1) I completed a 30-minute run;
2) I passed the 30-pound mark in weight loss.

With any luck -- and with Christmas approaching, I'll probably need some -- I'll be under 270 by the end of this year. That would be an incredible Christmas present to myself.

I mentioned I wanted to start swimming over the Christmas holidays. One thing I definitely will start again is weight training. I bought a pair of PowerBlock dumbbell sets a few months ago so that I wouldn't need to rely on the gym for any strength training I wanted to do, but haven't used them nearly enough. When I started my latest weight-loss regimen, I promised myself that when I got down to 270, I'd start lifting weights again to firm things up. Looks like that time is here.

The only problem I'm having is trying to figure out exactly when to do it. I'm thinking after supper would probably be the best time, because I really don't know if I have enough time in the morning to incorporate weightlifting into my routine, and because I'm really unsure about the timing of eating breakfast and lifting weights. I don't think lifting on an empty stomach is a very good idea, and I don't know how long after breakfast I should wait before lifting. These are the things I'll have to figure out in the next few weeks.

One week to go

2007-12-18T10:58:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow night I will start the 9th and final week of the Couch-to-5K program. The last two runs went much better than the one from last Thursday -- I was extremely comfortable for about the first fifteen minutes, then laboured some for the last thirteen, but never felt really distressed at any point. I knocked 0.1 mph off my speed on Saturday and felt great, and then I upped my speed above where I was on Thursday for last night's run and still felt great.

So, this week I'll be doing 3 30-minute runs. By Christmas, I should be able to run for five uninterrupted kilometres. At that point, I'll probably sign up for the 5K race on marathon weekend in May, to make sure I don't slack off. My 13-year-old nephew has already agreed to run with me if I sign up.

I'm planning to start swimming over the Christmas holidays, since I'll need to relearn how if I want to do a triathlon. I have a feeling it could take a while to get up to speed -- when I was a kid, I took swimming lessons, but failed orange (the second level) and never went back. (I just couldn't do the back swim.) If the swimming really doesn't really take hold, maybe I'll consider running a couple of duathlons (run/bike/run again) next year as an alternative.

40:17

2007-12-14T08:17:00.001-05:00

If I was in a race, that would now be my PR for 5K. I started week 8 of the Couch-to-5K program last night, which calls for a 28-minute run. Including warm-up and cool-down walking intervals, I covered 5K in 40:17, with just about 4 km covered by running. It was not an easy run by any stretch. During the last five minutes, I kept glancing down at the clock every few seconds, silently pleading, "Am I done yet? Am I done yet? Am I done yet?" as my heart rate climbed into the 170s. Hopefully, the next one will be a little easier. Still, covering 5K in 40 minutes feels pretty awesome.

Last week was not really a good week -- too much eating out, not enough exercise. Some of that couldn't be helped, as the vertigo and other factors combined to keep me from running for nearly a week. This week, I decided to really buckle down and stick rigidly to the program, and I'm starting to get good results again. If I can keep this up, I have a pretty good shot at being under 270 before Christmas.

Someone stop the room, please

2007-12-06T19:15:00.000-05:00

I woke up this morning feeling very peculiar. For some reason, the bedroom wouldn't stop spinning. When I tried to get out of bed, I took one step and immediately fell back down and felt quite nauseous. My wife, recognizing the symptoms, told me that I had vertigo.

And so I did -- when I got up to go to the bathroom at 9:15, I decided to step on the scale, and was immediately hit by a wave of nausea that probably would've caused me to throw up if there was anything in my stomach. I ended up not having any breakfast and barely able to stand long enough to make a little bit of lunch. I ended up spending nearly the entire day lying in bed, watching old game shows on GSN and listening to the radio.

Hopefully, this is a short-term thing, because I'd hate for this to ruin the holidays for me, not to mention throw my exercise schedule completely out of whack.

Free at last!

2007-12-05T13:51:00.000-05:00

We've been having trouble with our upstairs neighbours and their stereos over the last month. The owner of the unit decided to rent it out to a group of twentysomethings, and they've been nothing but trouble ever since.

We made three trips upstairs to ask them to turn down the music which was blasting its way through our ceiling at a level where we could clearly make out what song was being played. Then we wrote a letter to the condo board. Then we started calling the by-law office (four times in the last two weeks!) when the music started blaring after 1 am. Finally, last night, I wrote another letter to our building manager, as our superintendant recommended.

So you can imagine my absolute joy when the building manager wrote back to let us know that the owner had started eviction proceedings against the tenants! From what I know of the Condominium Act in Ontario, it's a lot easier to do in a condo than it is in an apartment building. So, with any luck, we should be noise-free by New Year's.

I updated my stats yesterday instead of Thursday, since yesterday was exactly two months since I started. 25 pounds...I'm speechless.

Bad day turned good

2007-12-03T18:26:00.000-05:00

What a brutal day this was -- we got a major winter storm that dumped over a foot of snow on Ottawa. Most of my co-workers stayed home and worked from there, either because their kids were at home or they just didn't want to go outside. I had to go in, though, because my wife had to go to work herself, and because I can't work from home (can't access the servers I need from home).

Because we wanted to get going before a bunch of idiots got on the road, we decided to leave early. But, since I was a big slowpoke this morning, I ended up not having time to make my lunch, and committed to buying lunch at work. I did this knowing that I was going to end up buying unhealthy food, because, well, that's what I always end up buying at work.

So I bought my bad lunch -- grilled cheese with bacon on whole wheat, fries and a Dr. Pepper. An interesting thing happened, though. By the time I got to the end of it, I'd really wasn't enjoying it at all. I ended up throwing about a quarter of the fries away. For the rest of the afternoon, I wasn't feeling all that terrific.

But then I got an email at ten to three saying that everyone was free to go home, due to the storm. I phoned my wife, and because she still had to work, I told her I was taking the bus home. After waiting about ten minutes past when the bus would normally arrive, though, and having no idea when it would finally get there, I elected to just walk to the intersection where my connecting bus would be, about ten minutes away. The walk made me feel a lot better, and then when I got home, I realized I had enough time before my wife got home to go down to the treadmill and get a workout in.

The plan was to bump my speed up another 0.1 mph from the last workout, to 5.3. I started out doing that, but about five minutes in, I realized that with the combination of the bad lunch and the long walk, there was a chance I might not be able to finish at that speed. So I knocked it down to 5.1 and ran other twenty minutes at that speed without much difficulty. Then my wife came home, we had a nice dinner, and now I'm feeling great.

Well, except for the part where there's two feet of snow on the ground.

Week 6 complete

2007-12-01T19:25:00.000-05:00

Wow. I'm now only three weeks away from running five uninterrupted kilometres. Crazy.

I think I've figured out the secret to working out in the morning -- work out late, so the energy from breakfast has a chance to be absorbed. When I was unable to finish a morning workout a couple of weeks ago, it was probably because I was doing it less than an hour after breakfast, so my energy stores were still depleted.

Of course, this means I can't work out before work during the week, which I'd hoped to do over the winter, unless I can come up with a bright idea to get some usable energy in me without relying on breakfast.

NBC aired their coverage of the 2007 Ironman World Championship this afternoon. Now I have even more motivational material to keep me going over the winter.

Another small milestone

2007-11-29T08:28:00.000-05:00

I'm under 280 this week! Woohoo! Actually, I've been under 280 since last Friday, but I promised I'd only update once a week.

I seem to be on schedule to be at 250 by the time we go on our cruise, but there's no telling whether I'll be able to keep this pace up for the next nine weeks. I don't think we'll end up going on any of the weight-restricted excursions, but it'd be really nice to know I could.

Tomorrow I'll be running over two solid miles. If I stay on schedule, I'll be running 5K in two weeks. The moment I complete 5K on the treadmill, I'm signing up for the 5K race on Ottawa marathon weekend at the end of May.

Exhilaration

2007-11-26T09:13:00.000-05:00

It's been a long time since I've had a feeling of accomplishment like I did Saturday night. At least, I think it must be a long time, because I don't remember the last feeling like this I've had. Maybe my university graduation, maybe landing my first permanent job.

So what did I do? I ran a mile and two-thirds without stopping. About half a 5K. That's all.

I really wasn't prepared for how I was going to feel when I finished the 20-minute run. It was an incredible feeling. The fact that "The Final Bell" from the Rocky soundtrack, the piece that closed the movie, was playing on my iPod at that exact point certainly enhanced the moment. I'm glad I was running in the exercise room in my condo building all alone, because I was able to just let loose with a series of fist pumps, excited whoops, arms in the air, etc. I probably looked like I'd just finished a marathon.

So, on to week 6 then. 5 run/3 walk/8 run/3 walk/5 run, then 10 run/3 walk/10 run, and then a 25-minute run. I'm ready. Bring it on.

Banished indoors

2007-11-23T10:52:00.000-05:00

Here in Ottawa, we got our first major snowfall of the season yesterday. Altogether I'd say it probably amounted to 8-10 inches. We're also getting flurries right now, which will probably put another 2 inches or so on the ground. All of which means that I'm retiring to the treadmill until spring (unless all of this melts, which is possible given the long-range forecast, but unlikely).

Now, if the trails in Ottawa were plowed regularly, I would probably keep running until it got so cold that I'd be in danger of body parts falling off. I'd imagine it would be pretty nice to run along the frozen Ottawa River. However, since there are so many trails that the city can't justify spending any of its snowplow budget on them, and/or because the cross-country skiers would scream bloody murder if they had to ski on pavement, the trails are left alone during winter, making them completely useless to runners, bikers, or any other people who like to pretend we don't get winter. I could run on sidewalks, I suppose, but then I'm dealing with icy patches, cars that speed through puddles, plows, and OK yes I'm a wuss what do you want from me?

The 8/5/8 run last night went perfectly fine, so I'm attempting the 20-minute run tomorrow. The thought of me finally running a continuous mile is a bit intimidating, to be honest.

Oops.

2007-11-22T13:13:00.000-05:00

Turns out I've been doing week 5 wrong. Only the first day of three was supposed to be three repeats of 5 min run/3 min walk. The second day is supposed to be 8 min run/5 min walk/8 min run, and then the third day is supposed to be (gulp!) 20 minutes of running with no walking. I had done three days of 5/3 repeats, thinking I was onto week 6, but no. So, I'll probably give day 2 a try tonight, with day 3 coming sometime on the weekend.

I'm glad I got onto the treadmill last night, because I really didn't need three days off. I just felt lazy as all get out last night, and I was thisclose to bagging my workout and trying tonight. That's been the week in a nutshell -- the newness of the whole regimen has worn off, and it's become a lot more difficult to stay in line. As a result, I'm only down 0.2 pounds this week, and didn't fulfil my goal of being under 280. The nice thing, though, is that I still haven't really lost any ground, and I can increase my effort this week to try and reach it.

All I want for Christmas is...

2007-11-20T08:42:00.000-05:00

...a Suunto T3 heart rate monitor with Foot Pod. Only $300. Surely someone's got that lying around.

One thing I noticed on the weekend is that I don't run as fast outside as I do on the treadmill. I used Google Earth to track two parts of my run on Sunday that I had timed, and both were right around 4.8 mph. Inside, I try to run at least 5.0 mph. Part of it is probably because the outside world is not flat and windless as it is indoors (no, I don't use the hill setting yet). Still, this might explain why I tend to have more trouble running indoors -- I'm running faster than my body expects! This is why I think I should get the watch, so I have an idea of how fast I'm going outside. Of course, with the weather getting progressively worse, I probably won't even need it until, oh, say March.

I'm going to test this theory tomorrow, when I try to complete week 5 of the Couch-to-5K program.

Another milestone

2007-11-15T11:42:00.000-05:00

Today was my first official day over 20 pounds lost. I'd bee flirting with it all week, but today I finally went under 281.6 for the first time. Yay! By this time next week, I'm hopeful that I'll be under 280 for the first time in years.

At my next running workout, I'll be starting week 5 of the Couck-to-5K program. That's three repeats of 5 min run/3 min walk. I actually think this has the potential to be easier than week 4, because what was killing me in week 4 was the 90-second rest periods after the three minute run. I was finding it difficult to recover adequately in such a short period. The 2.5 minute recovery after the 5 minute running segments was generally not a problem.

Weirdly fun things to do while losing weight: The other night, without meaning to, I pulled my jeans down around my ankles without undoing them.

WHAM

2007-11-11T13:52:00.000-05:00

I hit a wall today in my running plan. I ran on the treadmill this morning, intending this to be the last leg of week four, but couldn't finish the last five-minute segment.

I'm wondering if it's a result of working out in the morning, not long after breakfast. I think if I'm going to work out in the morning, I'm going to need to eat more and/or wait longer for my body to absorb the fuel and/or take some Gatorade instead of water. All I know is, right now I feel like I couldn't even walk to the kitchen.

Now THAT was hard.

2007-11-07T08:31:00.000-05:00

I started week 4 of the Couch-to-5K running program yesterday. I had taken the day off work due to sinus problems (my head felt like it was caving in on itself when I woke up), but I was feeling well enough by the afternoon to go out running. Of course, by the time I got changed, stretched and got downstairs, it had started to rain. It was one of those cold November showers that are horrible for running. So I changed course and headed for the ancient treadmill in my building.

The plan for week 4 is: 3 min run/90 sec walk/5 min run/2.5 min walk x 2. So, 16 minutes of running overall, a big jump from the 9 minutes of running in week 3. Everything went reasonably well until the last 5 minute running segment. I didn't feel like I recovered well enough during the 90 second walk, and so when I looked down at my watch halfway through the segment and saw my pulse was already 165, I was legitimately concerned that I wasn't going to finish. Incredibly, my pulse didn't get above 167 after that. But my legs were feeling quite wobbly when I was done.

Incidentally, I was watching The Biggest Loser last night, and watched Neil post a -18 for the week. To put that in perspective, I wasn't even able to post a -18 for the entire month of October. I'm glad I can watch this show without saying, "Why can't I do that?" and then going out and killing myself trying to do it.

Running is fun

2007-11-04T20:20:00.000-05:00

If running wasn't fun, then how could I derive so much pleasure from two runs this weekend?

Yesterday, since the weather was so nice (albeit a bit cold), I decided to go outdoors for my workouts this weekend. I set out to run this route, 2 miles starting from Running Room and going through the Glebe to the highway. I altered it a bit, though so that I went all the way to the end of 5th Avenue and onto the path along the Rideau Canal. I was quite cold for the first bit, but warmed up nicely after about 10 minutes. (It probably didn't help that I was wearing shorts.) It was clearly harder than running on the treadmill, because I can't tell how fast I'm going and probably tend to run faster than indoors, but it was really nice being out among so many other runners.

I enjoyed it so much that I decided to go out and do it this morning. This time, I mapped out my own route, doing an out-and-back through downtown that went around the National War Memorial and past the Canadian Parliament buildings. This turned out to be a more difficult route than yesterday, because of the rather steep hill at the start, and the longish uphill past the Parliament buildings on the way back. Even worse was that I hit the uphill right at the start of my second 3-minute run section. But, when you look across the street and see this statue:

it's easy to find some extra motivation.

I don't know how long I'll be able to keep running outside, since I don't plan on doing much when the snow and -30 days arrive, but it's such a nice change from the monotony of the treadmill that I'm going to try and keep doing these weekend runs whenever I can.

Weight update / shoes

2007-11-02T09:53:00.000-04:00

I've updated my weight stats on the right. I plan to do this every Thursday, but just didn't get a chance to do it yesterday, with me being at an all-day planning session and away from my computer, then not having an opportunity to do so at night, with it being a workout night and other stuff.

Anyway, I'm weighing myself every day, but will only update once a week to prevent information overload. Yesterday I weighed in at 285.8, which is lower than I've been in nearly a year and a half.

I tried out the new shoes last night on the treadmill. Initially, there weren't any problems, other than tightness I normally associate with new shoes, but my left arch started to hurt in the last 5-10 minutes of my workout. I'll try them out a couple more times to see if it's just something about the shoes being brand new, but if the pain persists, I'm taking them back and getting a pair with better arch supports.

Running: getting easier

2007-10-31T16:12:00.000-04:00

Turns out I didn't need to be as skeptical of my ability to complete week 3 of the couch-to-5k program as I was. Last night's workout went remarkably easy. I didn't feel nearly as physically taxed during the two three-minute runs as I was expecting. It actually felt easy.

Am I turning into a runner? Perish the thought.

I managed to get through the workday without indulging in candy (besides a couple of Hershey's dark chocolate truffle kisses). Time to go trick-or-treating now. Neither my niece nor my nephew are big fans of candy -- so why do they go out in the first place? Must be the joy of getting stuff for free -- and they try to give a lot of it away. Tonight, I'm not buying.

New shoes

2007-10-30T10:49:00.000-04:00

I am now the proud owner of a pair of 2007 Nike Air Pegasus + running shoes. Sounds like I just bought a car, doesn't it?

I had to try on seven pairs of shoes before finally settling on this one. Ironically, this was the first pair I tried on. I didn't really like the look of them, but the next several pairs I tried were either too narrow or too short.

I'm taking them for a spin on the treadmill tonight. The nice thing about getting shoes at Running Room is that you can take them back within 30 days as long as you haven't worn them outdoors.

Weekend Update

2007-10-29T10:06:00.000-04:00

Not much to update, really. I've run for the last four days, so today will be a rest day before I start week 3 of the Couch to 5K program: two intervals of 1:30 run/1:30 walk/3:00 run/3:00 walk.

This week will be the first week in a while we're going out to eat twice. Tonight we're going to The Works Burger Bistro on our way to Running Room to get me a pair of indoor running shoes. Nepean Sportsplex is banning outdoor shoes starting Friday, necessitating the new shoes. Wednesday, we'll probably be picking up some fast food on the way to joining Lynne's niece and nephew in trick-or-treating. I'm only holding myself to two rules, no soda and reasonable portions, so hopefully I won't see too much of a weight gain this week (if at all). If I could get through Thanksgiving weekend without gaining, I can make it through this week, right?

The back story

2007-10-24T09:18:00.000-04:00

So what prompted this latest attempt at weight loss? It actually started about two months before I really began in earnest, when I TiVo'ed NBC's rebroadcast of the 2006 Ironman World Championship from Hawaii. (Incidentally, Hawaii in high definition is breathtaking.) As I was watching it, it rekindled an old desire I had to do a triathlon someday. I watched it three or four times before going on vacation, and it motivated me more and more each time.

Now, of course, being around 300 lbs. and completely out of shape like I was is not really conducive to running a triathlon, even the shorter sprint variety. So, I slowly started to get myself in shape. And I do mean slowly, at least at first. So slowly, in fact, that I once again found myself at a complete stop shortly after coming back from vacation.

But I watched that recording again and again, and something must have finally snapped, because I started a new routine at the beginning of October and haven't stopped yet. I started out doing laps around my block, which I measured out to be almost exactly a mile. I walked it at first, then started to run for short bursts. When it was too dark to do that, I ran/walked on the treadmill in my building. I did two laps of the block in the rain one day, which is completely unheard of for me.

It got better. I started doing the Couch-to-5K program on Cool Running. I improved my eating habits, to the point where it's now second nature for me to have breakfast at home and take my lunch to work, instead of buying both meals in the cafeteria. I got a 6-month membership at the local municipal fitness complex, giving me somewhere to run on a decent treadmill and ride on a decent stationary bike in the winter. I'm planning on signing up for spinning classes, and on getting myself in the pool. I'm even to the point where I'm considering signing up to run the 5K on marathon weekend here in Ottawa next May.

The results so far have been tremendous. I'm currently down 11.8 pounds in 20 days, and I'm excited for more. My current goal is to get under 250 by February 1. We're going on a cruise to the Southern Caribbean, and I want to be able to sign up for some of the excursions that require you to be under 250 to participate. Long-term, though, the goal is still to get under 200, and I really think I'm going to make it this time.

Ten down

2007-10-23T14:11:00.000-04:00

I weighed myself back on October 4, and clocked in at 301.6 lbs. My weight yesterday morning was 291.0.

More details soon.

WHAM

2007-08-15T11:46:00.000-04:00

That was the sound of my mid-August allergies hitting me. My exercising may be curtailed somewhat while I lay in bed with horrible sinus headaches, wishing for sweet, sweet death.

14 months later...

2007-08-14T15:08:00.000-04:00

I wasn't away. Honest. I just had a really, really long nap.

Oh, who am I kidding? I was away. Away gaining weight. Away not being active. This last year's been a pretty hard one to just get through -- I probably had clinical depression, although I never went to see anyone about it. To be honest, I probably still have it, but I'm working my way through it. It's like trying to make your way through a very thick fog. You have no idea which way you're going for a while, but eventually (if you're lucky), the sun burns it off and you can see your way again.

I put on a total of nine pounds in the last fourteen months, so it wasn't a complete disaster. 95 pounds is still doable. I'll try starting with 5 pounds by the end of August, though, especially since I'll be travelling for a week starting Sunday.

Weight update - June 7 (belated)

2006-06-09T09:28:00.000-04:00

After a bad week where I didn't get to the gym at all, although I did walk a few times...I'm down to 285.2, 3 pounds lighter than last week. That's over 15 pounds lost overall.

I think the diet is more important than the exercise right now. I managed to stick to my eating regimen for the most part, so I still burned off calories despite being more sedentary than what's been normal recently.

Two notes:

- I started geocaching again this week, so that's at least gotten my butt out of the house (or office). I've found six caches this week alone, after finding only two all last year. W00t!

- I have a pre-op exam with a laser eye surgeon tomorrow. Getting LASIK has been something I've wanted to do since I first heard of it, and now I finally have the means to do it. It'll be so nice to be able to see at all times -- no fumbling for glasses to see the clock radio, no glasses fogging up in the winter, no glasses to get in the way when towelling down my face during a workout...awesome.

Weight update - May 31

2006-05-31T09:59:00.000-04:00

288.0 pounds, accourding to Not So Evil, Slowly Becoming My Friend Digital Scale. That puts me at a double-digit loss after five weeks (yay!).

Today I get back on track after a rough day yesterday. I felt pretty miserable waking up, and ended up not eating breakfast at home OR taking my lunch to work. I did both of those things today, and I have a cardio workout planned for this evening.

This is getting exciting.

Good and bad

2006-05-29T10:49:00.000-04:00

90 percent of life is just showing up.
--Woody Allen

I thought of this quote Friday night at the gym. It turned out that, despite having no excuses to skip the gym, I still didn't want to go. I actually didn't think I was going to go, so strong was my apathy. (Can you have strong apathy? Whatever.)

I knew though, that just showing up at the gym would be winning the battle, because once I got to the gym, working out would be easy. So I made up something to overcome my inertia and get me out of the house -- namely, a trip to Athlete's World for a new pair of workout shorts, because one of the pairs I bought in the States was 2X, despite saying 1X on the hanger. (Thankfully, I'm not THAT big.) All the way to the store, I kept thinking, "I'm never getting to the gym."

I bought the shorts -- a really cheap, really nice pair of Adidas shorts -- and left the mall, still thinking I'd never get to the gym.

I drove around aimlessly for a bit. "Not happening."

I turned around and started for the gym. "You'll never make it."

I pulled into the gym parking lot. "You honestly think you're getting out of the car?"

I walked into the gym and completed a nice workout. "Show-off."

The bad news is, I seem to have plantar fasciitis. So it looks like my running regimen is on hold for awhile. I hope to make it to the sports medicine clinic sometime soon to get it looked at, although I don't really know what they can do about it.

Curses!

2006-05-26T14:50:00.000-04:00

I'm getting infuriated with the sports networks around here. How is it that, with three major sports networks in Canada, Blue Jays fans like myself can go EIGHT DAYS without seeing but one game on television?

Oh well...it leaves me with no excuses for not going to the gym tonight. Not that I was planning not to.

Running

2006-05-25T14:00:00.000-04:00

And I ran
I ran so far away
--A Flock Of Seagulls

I never thought I would be a runner. I'd heard all the horror stories -- running kills your knees, your feet, your shins, etc. Having a heavy frame, I didn't think I was cut out to be a runner. And running scared the hell out of me, just because of the feeling of utter exhaustion I always got when I ran somewhere, thanks to my complete lack of conditioning.

I still may not be a runner...but running doesn't scare me like it used to.

During this past month, I never felt like I was getting all I could out of my cardio training. I could do the machines I was on without too much trouble, and my heart rate was up to where it should have been for cardio, but I never felt like I was pushing myself. I wondered if I needed to try something more intense. And with all the walking I've been doing, I started to think that maybe I could run after all.

I got a book two weeks ago called The Beginning Runner's Handbook, which describes a 13-week program designed to get anyone to be able to run a 5-K or 10-K run by the end of it. I read the program, and immediately thought, "I can do this." So today, I went out to try the first step:

Run one minute. Walk two minutes. Do this 12 times.

How simple is that? You don't have to run any kind of distance. Just run for one minute. Then walk off the laboured breathing. Then run one more minute.

And you know something? I did it. (Well, almost -- I miscalculated, and got back to my building after the tenth repetition. I know I could have done all 12, though, even if I was getting jelly-legged after the 10th run.) It was challenging, but not super-difficult. And at no point during the run/walk did I think I couldn't finish.

Can I do this for 13 weeks? Do I want to do this for 13 weeks? I don't know. But I want to do it again on Monday, and that's what matters.

Weight update - May 24

2006-05-24T15:13:00.000-04:00

Getting-Less-Evil-With-Each-Passing-Day Digital Scale has me at 290.8, down 3.2 pounds from last week. Most of that weight came off in the first three days, and I stayed pretty even for the rest of the week -- excellent news, considering my weekend meals included stops at McDonald's, Arby's and Denny's.

I'm hoping this week will be a big week, since I don't have anything that would have me eating away from home for an extended period like this past week did, and it looks like it's going to be sunny for awhile, so I can walk to work without needing to carry the big giant umbrella, and then eventually getting driven to work because I HATE carrying the big giant umbrella for a half hour.

Wow, that was quite the run-on sentence.

Road trip

2006-05-21T16:13:00.000-04:00

My wife and I decided to go to Syracuse this weekend. With the Canadian dollar at over 90 cents US, shopping across the border is amazing. We're saving at least 20% on everything we buy just by being in the States!

Even better, we went to a big outlet mall about a half hour west of Syracuse and saved even more. I'd say we got about $750 worth of clothes for $400. I went to the Reebok store and got some awesome new workout clothes, plus some new summer wear. Incredibly, I've already used the workout clothes -- I got up early, on a SUNDAY, to work out on the recumbent bike in the fitness centre. I swear, I don't even recognize myself sometimes.

I haven't been eating at the greatest places, but I'm not eating as much. Plus, all of the walking we've done through shopping centres (probably about 7 hours worth) helps me keep things in balance as well.

On the down side, Syracuse is quite a dreary little city.

Small victory

2006-05-19T14:44:00.000-04:00

I realized just now that I managed to eat breakfast at home and bring lunch to work every day this week. I haven't done this in...well, ever. It seems like such a simple thing, but it makes such an incredible difference in my sense of well-being. Last week, when I bought breakfast at work twice (oatmeal muffin) and lunch three times (grilled cheese and bacon sandwich w/fries), I felt like crawling under my desk for a nap in the middle of the afternoon nearly every day.

Exercise has suffered, though, thanks to the constant threat of rain that got me driven to work every day this week and kept me from the gym every day but one. I'm such a wuss.

Weight update - May 17

2006-05-17T10:13:00.000-04:00

Evil Digital Scale had good news this morning -- I'm down 0.2 pounds to 294. Any decrease is a good decrease, especially when it hasn't been a great week since my last weigh-in.

This week should be better. The only times I'll be eating away from home are Friday night at my niece's birthday (and that shouldn't be too bad, given the food at my Portuguese sister-in-law's gatherings generally isn't that good), and a Monday afternoon BBQ at my parents' place to celebrate the long weekend. I'm determined to make it to the gym five times this week, since the weather is likely going to be crappy enough that I won't be walking to work much, if at all.

I got a good tip for using the elliptical machine yesterday. Loosening my shoes before getting on the machine kept my feet from falling asleep as they normally do. If you have tight shoes, your feet won't move at all while on the machine, and will fall asleep halfway through the workout. Loosening them causes your feet to rise slightly on each stride, and keeps the blood circulating enough to maintain the feeling in them.

Fearing the scale

2006-05-16T14:33:00.000-04:00

I'm not looking forward to weighing myself tomorrow. I had a pretty bad week, at least as far as eating went.

My exercise was OK, although not up to expectations. I walked six miles, did one round of weight training, and tried the ill-fated BodyPump class on Sunday. Other than that class, though, I haven't had any exercise since Friday, and haven't been to the gym since last Wednesday. I have plans to go tonight to work out on either the elliptical trainer or the treadmill.

Eating is what's killed me, though. I failed to bring my lunch to work twice last week. I had two Mother's Day meals out on the weekend, neither of which you could really consider particularly healthy (although they weren't super-high in calories, either). Last night was the killer, though -- I was feeling a bit tired and low, so my wife and I went out to the local BBQ restaurant, where I had the rib platter, followed by a wonderful brownie sundae. Well, at least it was wonderful while I was eating it.

I'm getting better at making meals at home, but I still have a ways to go before it becomes a habit.

Exercising and work

2006-05-15T15:26:00.000-04:00

One of the real perks about my new job is the proximity. I left my old job for good because they moved to a place that would take me over an hour each way by bus. (It was 20 minutes each way at the original location.) My current commute is half an hour...on foot:

(I love Google Maps.)

So I save $70 a month on public transit, plus I get the added benefit of walking four miles every day. And the neighbourhood on the bottom part of the map is very pleasant to walk through. It almost makes up for having to cross two busy highway on-ramps in the other half of the walk.

My legs have gone from feeling like jelly to screaming with pain, so I may not do the walk home today.

Near-death experience

2006-05-14T20:42:00.000-04:00

SCALE UPDATE: My parents' scale had me at around 291. That's only 4 pounds lower than my digital scale, but over 10 pounds higher than the rotary scale. Looks like evil digital scale wins.

One of the problems I have while exercising is that I often overestimate my abilities. I'll try too high a setting on the elliptical trainer, or I'll try and lift too much weight, or I'll try and go for too long on the bike. Normally, this isn't much of a problem, as I'll just adjust a bit, or cut a workout short.

This morning, though...well, read the title of this post.

I decided to try one of the BodyPump classes at my gym. It's basically high reps of light weights at a quick pace set to music. Think "weight training meets aerobics class". I'd been doing strength training twice a week for the last month or so, and my cardio was improving, so I decided to give it a shot. It started out OK, doing a warmup with a 5 lb. barbell. But -- and this was my critical error -- I put too much weight on the bar (20 lbs.) for the first real set of exercises. LEG exercises. I managed to make my way through the set with some difficulty. I then did OK with the next set, which were bench presses, done lying down. When I went to get back up for the next set (back and hamstrings), I knew my legs were totally done. I had completely burned them out with the quad exercises.

I went for the water bottle, but I didn't have anything with sugar in it, so I had no chance of getting any energy back. I started to feel queasy. I sat through the next two sets, then left the studio to take a walk. BIG mistake. I should have stayed right where I was. Getting up just made my queasiness worse, and I quickly ended up in the washroom riding the porcelain bus.

As I write this, I'm still a bit jelly-legged. I think I'm just going to go back to my regular routine for the time being. I'm still proud of myself for at least giving it a shot, though.

Kicking the coke habit

2006-05-12T20:25:00.000-04:00

No, not THAT coke.

It's now been five weeks -- 35 whole days! -- since I had my last can of Coke. Or any other soft drink, for that matter. Nothing fancy, I just decided I wasn't going to drink pop anymore, and I haven't since. And I have seven sets of tally marks on my refrigerator as a nice reminder.

I can't be certain, but I'm pretty sure that's the longest I've ever gone in my adult life without pop. Maybe my first crack at Atkins in 1999, but that's definitely it. I'm not even drinking diet pop, because I don't like the aftertaste, and it usually gives me a headache.

The great part about it? I can honestly say that I don't miss it. Me discovering Mr. Pibb on a trip to Las Vegas at the end of February and craving it for the rest of the trip seems a lifetime ago.

And we're off

2006-05-11T10:03:00.000-04:00

Actually, I've been going at this for a couple of weeks now, but I haven't been keeping records because of scale issues.

I bought a new digital scale a couple of weeks ago because I'd had my little old rotary-dial Ikea scale for about 10 years now -- Do scales go bad? Can you tell? It's not like it was moldy or anything -- and I wanted to get something a little more precise. THAT scale (the Ikea one) told me I weighed about 283 the last time I stepped on it. And the one at the gym, also an Ikea scale (although a different model), confirmed it. When I stepped on the digital scale, I nearly fainted when I saw it settle on a number starting with 3.

300.6 lbs., to be exact.

Which to believe? My old faithful Ikea scale that's been with me through thick and thin (mostly thick)? Or this new evil scale telling me I've been lied to all these years?

I decided to break the tie this weekend, when I visit my parents. Their scale is doctor's office quality. It'll tell me the truth.

In the meantime, I weighed myself this morning, two weeks after getting that scale. I'm down to 294.2. Just for kicks, I got on the Ikea scale, and it came in at 277. Any way you slice it, I'm down 6 pounds in two weeks. Huzzah!

Introducing Chris

2006-05-10T14:50:00.000-04:00

Welcome, one and all, to my new Google-powered blog. If all goes well, I intend for this to be a chronicle of my weight-loss journey (destination: 199 pounds!). If all doesn't go well...well, hopefully someone will find this and give me a good kick in the ass.

I'm 31 years old, married nearly two years, and living in Ottawa, Canada. In an incredible stroke of irony, I just started a new job last week, as senior statistician for nutrition data at Health Canada. Hey, if I'm going to be counting everyone else's calories, the least I could do is keep track of my own, right?

I've had trouble with my weight for pretty much the entire time since leaving university. I used to be thin. Really thin. My wife looks at my grad photo from university and can't believe it's the same person. Back in university, I was broke more often than not. This had two beneficial effects on my health: I couldn't eat a lot, and my main form of transportation was my bike.

I used to ride everywhere. I went to school in Waterloo, Ontario, which is one of what are called the Tri-Cities, Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge. Waterloo was in the north part of the area, and it was a long ride to get anywhere in Kitchener. Getting to Cambridge was even further. As a result, I logged hundreds of miles on my bike in those years. I even did a couple of really long rides, one to Guelph for a surprise visit to my aunt and uncle, and another to Hamilton, just because I was bored one day and wanted something to do. Go to Yahoo! Maps and look at the distance between the two cities, and you'll see how in shape I must have been (and how nuts, as well - it's not exactly flat when you get near Hamilton, as the main road goes straight down the Niagara Escarpment).

Now? Well, I still love the idea of biking, even though I haven't been on a serious ride in years. After I got my first full-time job with the government, and more specifically after I broke up with my live-in girlfriend of two years, I became interested in a lot more sedentary pursuits, like gambling, or sitting in front of the TV and/or computer for hours (sometimes days) at a time. My eating habits became much worse. I travelled everywhere by bus, and later by car, instead of on my bike. Of course, I put on weight, and the more weight I put on, the more sedentary I became. It was a truly vicious circle.

My only real experiences with dieting were two bouts with the Atkins Diet. The first time, I entered a weight-loss bet with two colleagues from work right around the same time as Atkins was starting to gain momentum. Three months later, I'd lost around 40 pounds, and won the bet with ease. Of course, immediately after I went off the diet, I ballooned right back up. The second time, I went on it for two weeks, and got off right after meeting my future wife.

Right now, I'm somewhere between 280 and 300 lbs., depending on which scale you believe. I'm trying to get somewhere under 200. Even one pound -- one OUNCE, even -- and I'd be ecstatic. I don't have a date in mind to achieve this goal, but one mini-goal I've set is to be wearing a tuxedo at my sister's wedding in October that's smaller than the size-46 I wore to my own wedding two Augusts ago.