Archive for the ‘Weight Management’ Category

Happy New Year!

Tuesday, January 5th, 2010

Okay, so I am late with this post, but I have been enjoying the time with my family over the holidays and things have been hectic!

I will take some ideas from Melissa for an “end of year” post and reflect back on 2009 and then focus on what I am planning for 2010.

Family Changes

2009 marked the 3rd birthday of my oldest daughter, Mia.  She is a wonderful girl who has me completely wrapped around her fingers.  The year also marked the 1st birthday of my youngest, Sadie.  She is an independent spirit who will be giving Mia hell in the coming years, I am sure.  Parents turn the other cheek when it is payback, you know.  My wife, Jenn, and I celebrated our 5 year Anniversary.  My sister, Jenny, and her husband, Chuck,  had their first baby, a boy named Cai and he is so adorable!  See Melissa’s post on her experience being there with them.

Weight Loss

In the beginning of 2009, I started my weight loss journey.  At the peak, I had lost about 40 pounds, but have slipped off since.  During marathon training I actually saw a weight gain, which I have heard can happen.  For the entire year, I lost about 30 pounds.

Running/Triathlon

In January 2009, I could not run a mile.  I started the Couch 2 5K program from PodRunner Intervals and ran my first 5K with Melissa in February.  I was hooked.  I went on to run a 4.1 mile race in April, my first triathlon in May, a 10K in June, off-road triathlon in July, international distance triathlon in August, a 211 mile relay run in the mountains of North Carolina in September and a Marathon in December.

Hiking/Camping

2009 was a bit of a slow year in this department.  I did manage to make the MitchellWinter trip with Melissa, Jeff and Chris.  I also got up to the Linville Gorge for a weekend with Andrew and Chad.  I was able to incorporate camping before a couple of triathlons.  I hope that as the kids get older, I will be able to take them places that I haven’t yet been able to.

Special Places

You have followed some of my new special places this year, and I appreciate you all bearing with my strange sense of humor!

2010

I hope to continue the weight loss journey in 2010 and to increase my physical ability.  I have already signed up for 4 triathlons including a Half Ironman in November.  This will be my biggest physical challenge of my life and I have a long way to get prepared for it.  I also look forward to another year of milestones with my wonderful girls and my beautiful wife!

13.1 miles down. Now I have to figure out how to double that!

Saturday, November 14th, 2009

I ran the first half of the Thunder Road Marathon course with Melissa this morning.  We started out well, but less than a mile in, I thought there was a problem: shin pain!  I tried to run through it for a bit, changed my stride focusing on correct form, but it seemed to do little.  I finally mentioned to Melissa that my shins were hurting and finally caved and stopped to walk and stretch a bit.  This helped some, but I didn’t get much relief until something that I never thought would bring me relief: an uphill section.  It somehow stretched out my lower shins and although was more taxing on my quads, felt good to my shins.  We continued on at a comfortable pace with a few walk/potty stops until I completed the 13.1 miles in 2:26:32, technically a new PR for a half marathon for me, but this wasn’t a for real race, just a preview run.  Melissa actually ran on to complete 15 miles which was what her training schedule called for today.  I will attempt the 15 miles next Saturday and she will run 20!  She will then taper for the marathon, but I will go on one more long run: 18 miles the following Saturday.  As long as I don’t injure myself doing this, I should be able to complete the marathon.  Fingers crossed!

Also, some of you are wondering where my weekly weigh in was.  I truly was just strapped for time and frankly forgot.  I might move the day to Saturday, when I should have more time.  So I weighed myself on the Wii today and I came in at 159.1 pounds.

weekly weigh-in 11/4/09

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009

I weighed myself this morning, but did not have time to use the Wii system due to Mia waking up early and requiring a cartoon to allow me to get a shower before work.  I had to use the cheap bathroom scale that we have.  It appeared to read between 159 and 160, so I will go with 159.5.  This was a pleasant surprise for me considering I have not weighed myself in several months.  I weighed 194 pounds when I started the weight loss journey in January.  The last time I weighed myself, August I think, I weighed 154 pounds.  Considering I have not followed a healthy diet in almost 3 months, 5.5 pounds gained is not too bad.  I would like to lose about 10 pounds though and stay around 150, which would calculate my BMI around 22, a healthy number.

On a running note, I ran 4 miles at lunch yesterday, but I felt extremely tired.  I don’t know if it was the 10 mile run on Sunday or if it was just an off day, but I hope to feel better tomorrow.  Have a great Wednesday everyone!

PR for 5K and start of diet

Monday, November 2nd, 2009

I ran in the Great Pumpkin 5K on Saturday morning and since it was Halloween, I decided to run in a costume.  I wanted it to be funny, so I decided on dressing as a beer bottle.  I figured this would slow me some, and it did, but I still managed to set a new PR for 5K at 25:42.  My previous PR was at the Concord Bunny run in April and my time there was 26:55.  It was a fun event and my brother-in-law, Alex, placed 1st in his age group!  The costume slowed me a bit and it wasn’t the most comfortable thing to run in, but it was still fun to do, especially with everyone cheering me in with “Hooray Beer!”  After the 5K, they had a 1 mile fun run for the kids and Mia attempted to run and did run for a while, but not the whole way.  She earned a medal anyway though!  As always, it was great to have Jenn, Mia and Sadie at the finish line to cheer me in.

Almost there!

Almost there!

Hooray Beer!!!

Hooray Beer!!!

On Sunday, I decided it was time to test my shin on a long run.  I set out to run at least 7 miles, but I ended up running 10 miles in 1:48:45, a nice and easy pace with a few walk breaks.  My legs were tired, but the shin still feels okay.  Hopefully this means I will be able to work my mileage up to be able to still run the marathon.

And today is the day I resume the “Daryl Diet.”  I have decided to do as Tyler does and post a weekly weigh in on Wednesdays.  See you then!

a confession

Monday, October 26th, 2009

Okay, so I have a confession to make. I have become very lazy with my diet over the last few months. I have not stepped on a scale for several months, but I can guarantee you that I have put on a few. For a while there, I was exercising so much that I burned most of it off, but the injury brought back the weight. I tell you all this for accountability. I am going to start the “Daryl Diet” (named for my boss that crafted the heart of the plan) once again.  Not only am I doing this for weight management, but for overall health and my athletic performance.

Melissa requested that I put the diet on this blog so that she and others could follow if they wish.  So I will outline what I will start doing.

Breakfast: 

1. Skim milk with 1-2 scoops of whey protein.  I prefer Hammer Whey, but there are others out there.  Just look for whey protein isolate, not concentrate.

2. 15 almonds

3. 8oz V-8, low sodium

4. 8oz Coffee no sugar (I don’t drink coffee, so this is out for me and no, Mountain Dew is not acceptable, even diet)

Mid-Morning snack:

1. Apple

2. 10 almonds

3. at least 8oz of water

Lunch:

1. Tuna, Chicken, Salmon or Turkey on a salad with balsamic vinaigrette or sandwich with wheat bread.  I can’t eat fish, so I either have a chicken salad or a Morningstar Farms Grillers Original (soybean burger) on wheat with a slice of fat free cheese and one ketchup and one mustard packet.

2. 16oz of water

Afternoon snack:

1. 1 scoop whey protein in 4oz water

2. 1 orange

Dinner:

1. Baked chicken or baked fish, you may do turkey as well and you can bake or grill.  Also, Morningstar Farms meat substitutes are good as well, although a bit higher in sodium than what is ideal, so keep an eye on that.

2. Green beans, or something green

3. Brown rice if desired

Late Snack:

1. 15 almonds

2. 1 scoop whey protein in 8oz skim milk

Another note from the Daryl himself:

“You may want to get a fat burner to take to boost your metabolism. I recommend Xenadrine RFA-X [now replaced with Xenadrine RZR-X].  Take 2, 30 minutes before lunch. On workout days, take 2, 30 minutes prior to going to Gym or doing cardio”

The idea is this: follow this plan for 6 days a week and the 7th you get a “cheat day” and you can eat anything you want that day.  This diet will increase your protein intake and reduce fat and sodium and will cause you to lose weight.  Cardio is needed too though.  At a minimum of 30-45 minutes per day, 4 days a week.

I also use a fiber supplement called Konsyl.  It really helps keep you “regular”. 

As far as my other supplements, I take a flax seed oil caplet (1000 mg), Hammer Premuim Insurance Caps, Hammer Race Caps Supreme Hammer Mito Caps.

Before a run or workout, I consume a serving of Hammer Gel and if the run is 5 miles or longer, I will drink HEED while I am running.  If the workout is to be 2-3 hours or longer, protein is needed during the workout and Perpetuem is ideal.  Immediately after each workout, I consume 2 scoops of Recoverite in water.  This may seem all very complicated, but the folks at Hammer have really made it very easy to get exactly what you need.  Sure, you could eat certain foods that contain protein and carbohydrates, but to measure everything out and ensure you aren’t getting excesses of fats and sodium would get quite difficult.  If you are interested in ordering Hammer products, let me know and I can get you 15% off your first order.  They will give me some credit too, just to be upfront, but that is not why I recommend them.  I truly believe they are the best choice out there for fueling endurance athletes.  If you ever have any question about fueling or supplementation or just diet in general, a wealth of free knowledge can be found on Hammer’s website.

And I guess I need to step back on the scale and see the damage I have done.  Perhaps I will go a step father and post weekly “weigh ins” like Tyler does.  What do you all think?