I lost some weight and my clothes were getting loose again. As I added more cycling to my workouts, I added back more and more carbs and sugars because my body needed them. As things currently stand, I’m out of phase 3 and have been for awhile, but my clothes still kept getting bigger, so I didn’t mind. If it wasn’t for that darn scale not budging, I probably wouldn’t be thinking twice about it, but as I look at the television and see football players who are taller than me and weigh less than me, I can’t help but think that I’m a long way from where I want to be. Am I really losing my love handles if the scale won’t budge? Am I still fat?

How we perceive ourselves is one of the most relative things in the world. There are hugely obese people that think they are super-sexy and there are anorexic people who think their fat. So it’s obvious that a person’s self image is not based on what is reflected in the mirror. My self image has changed several times over the years and I’ve never really settled into a comfortable grasp of what my true self looks like.

The Lean Years
Growing up, I was the smallest and skinniest kid in the neighborhood. (I was also very quiet, but that’s a whole other story. ) I was always at the top of the pyramid in gym class, even if the pyramid had girls in it. As a result, I grew up with a self-image that I was small. I didn’t like it, but I at least knew where I stood. Every kid growing up wants to be bigger, but when you’re the smallest to resign yourself to your station in life. As I entered Junior High, I had taken up soccer and as a result, my legs became quite developed, but I was still fairly small. In high school I wrestled at the 98lb weight class, (insert your favorite 98lb weakling joke here) and by my sophomore year, I had only moved up to the 105lb division. Even though I was up a few pounds, I lacked the real strength to wrestle at that level, so when I started trying to lose weight to stay in a lower class, I realized it was time to leave the sport. Over the next few years, I continued to grow a little bit, but I stayed fairly lean due to all the soccer I was still playing. When I graduated from high school I think I weighed 135lb. I was taller and larger than I was in grade school, but in my head I was still the little runt.

The Tween Years
In college, my activity level diminished greatly. I was doing a lot of studying and practicing, but not a lot of exercise. Not only that, but in December of my senior year in high school, I broke both my knees in a freak accident, so I wasn’t playing soccer anymore. About the only exercise I was getting was riding my bicycle to and from class. Due to a more sedentary lifestyle, I started to fatten up a little bit.

I was eating like I had always eaten – whatever I wanted. In my youth, my Mom was always trying to fatten me up. For example, she’d always serve me the richest milk she could find – Klienpeter Guernsey Gold. Man, just thinking about that milk makes me drool. That stuff was one step removed from cream and oh so freakin’ good! Ahem. Excuse me, I digress. I also had a propensity for drinking a lot of Coca-Cola and coupled with my unfettered diet, I was losing my shape. I was getting a belly and getting some love handles, but in my mind I was still the scrawny little runt. I was now taller than some of my old school mates that used to loom over me in grade school, but I still thought of myself as a small person. I simply didn’t see the changes.

It took me a few years, but eventually I began to see myself more clearly in the mirror. It became hard to ignore my additional weight and I decided to do something about it. I started riding my bike a lot more and I began working out at the gym. I was dating Holly at the time and she’d meet me at the Wallbanger (yes that was the name of the gym. Racquetball was all the range at that time.) to do some aerobics and weight training with me. My Mom was working out with us too and thanks to a great instructor, we became hooked on the workouts. We were all doing Weight Watchers and coupled with the exercise, we were all seeing good results.

Low-Fat was all the rage at the time and I have to say that during that time I was the leanest I’ve ever been. I had zero love handles and I felt great. I should have taken more pictures, but I can only recall ever seeing one and I looked great if I do say so myself. This new lean me was a whole new discovery. I was skinny again and it felt like a homecoming. I may have been a little taller, I was now my final height of 5′ 10″, but my self-image of a runt was still in my head.

The Heavy Years.
After graduating from College, I went on a 6-month bicycle tour of Europe and put back a little weight. With a diet consisting of only the cheapest food I could find, it wasn’t hard to put a little back on. Even though I was cycling all day, every day, when you only eat canned Ravioli, or peanut butter, you’re going to gain weight. Yet, other than a little bit of a belly, the rest of me was fairly lean.

That all changed when I began working at the LHBA-SIF. I had a boss that was the worst crazy maker you’ve ever seen in your life. Working for him, I pulled more all-nighters than I ever have in my life. I almost lived behind my desk and spent many a night sleeping for an hour or two behind it. During a major transition, I lost an entire year of my life to that job. I think the only time I went home was to shower, change clothes, and head back to the office. With this insane lifestyle, my diet was mostly fast food, with an occasional fancy meal when entertaining clients. I was doing zero exercise.

After 4 or so years, I left that job to start my own consulting firm. That was a busy time as I tried to be everything to everybody and build my fledgling little business. My habits from LHBA-SIF hadn’t changed much and so my waistline continued to expand. I tried several diets, but none of them really worked because I wasn’t putting the time in with exercise and wasn’t really changing my habits.

As time passed and I continued to look at myself in the mirror, it became clear that I was no longer the skinny runt that I had in my mind’s eye. I wasn’t little or skinny anymore. What I saw instead was my old me buried under a blanket of fat. Yet, it took years for me to see that picture clearly. My mind kept reflecting back my old self and so I would resolve that things were really that bad and that I had only put on a little weight. When I finally did see through the lie that my brain was telling me, it was all too clear – I was fat.

This point was drilled home when I went to go buy a suit for a pa1m0ne Zire launch party in New York. I went to the mall determined to buy something that fit, regardless of the size. Still not sure if I was seeing my true self, I called my mother to give me her opinion. She showed up a few minutes later and confirmed that I had made a good choice and that the clothes did indeed fit. The numbers stunned me. My coat was a 48R, up from my usual 44 and the most astonishing number was my waist size – a 44. In high school I was a 32 at most.

Time For A Change
That was in October 2003, by January I had done all the research on what diets were out there and had decided on the South Beach Diet. I made a concerted effort to stick to the plan and saw that it was working. During Phase One, I would go to the scale almost every day and see the pounds coming right off. It was fantastic! I hadn’t begun working out heavily, but the weight was still coming off. As I entered Phase 2 the weight loss slowed somewhat, but I was still losing weight. This was to be expected and the book clearly stated that this would happen. I was still losing weight, but not as dramatically as the first two weeks, when I was in Phase 1, had been.

Then I kicked things up another notch when I began cycling a lot and working out harder at the gym. I had to start adding some PowerBars and other supplements to the diet, because I found my body responding poorly after a long workout. For example, I would ride the 12 miles to the gym on my bicycle, do about an hour of weights, and then ride the 12 miles back. As I made the big climb to my house, I found myself getting a little light headed. So I simply added ate a Clif Bar on the way there and on the way back. That gave my body the energy it needed without breaking the diet too bad.

Unfortunately, I slowly began to slide off of the diet. I was justifying my poor decisions off of the fact that I was working out so much. Riding almost every day gave me the excuse to eat a Snickers bar here or there, or so I told myself. Even though I was off the wagon, I was still eating healthier than I ever had in my life. That’s the good thing about South Beach, even if you think diets are all bunk, or simply a fad, you can’t help but come away from this diet with a healthier lifestyle. Eating more vegetables and better carbs isn’t a bad side effect.

Now In Limbo
So 8 months after I started getting healthier, I’m now in a state of limbo. I know that I’m healthier and thinner than I was 8 months ago, but because of that blasted scale, I’m not sure where I stand. It hasn’t budged in months. I know that you’re not supposed to factor the scale into your feelings of success, but it’s hard not to when that is the one scientific measurement that can give you conclusive proof that you’re indeed succeeding on the diet.

So I’ve focused on other things, like the hang of my clothes. For starters, all of my new clothes are too big. I’ve even begun wearing clothes that had become too small from a few years back. THAT’S a good feeling. When I was packing recently for a wedding, I put on the last suit that I purchased and a stunned at how big it was. It looked as if I was a child wearing his daddy’s coat. That was some of the best validation that I could have had. It may not have been scientific, but it was certainly definitive and visible.

Sparked by that success, I started thinking about what other clothes I might be able to fit into now. If my fat clothes were too big, could I fit into my skinny clothes? The only hurdle with that has been the fact that I don’t have any of my skinny clothes around any more. I had long given up hope of wearing them ever again and gave most of them to Goodwill. In getting ready for the BRAT ride, I came across my old rain gear. I had purchased this rainwear when I was my skinniest, back before I took the Europe bicycle trip. If I could fit into this, then I was seriously near my goal. I may not be at the imagined weight that I wanted the scale to read, but if I could fit into clothes that I wore back in college, then that was a huge step.

I put on the pants first and was jumping for joy that they fit. I took them off, looked at the label and saw that they were a Large. That was a good first step, so I tried on the jacket. It fit in the shoulders, but when I went to zip it up, I looked like a sausage, it was still too small. The fact that I could even zip it up was a good, but just not the final goal I was looking for. When I took off the jacket, I looked at the label, I was blown away – it was a medium! I was happy just to be wearing a large after years of wearing an extra-large, to think that I was inching closer to a medium was beyond my wildest dreams.

What Does The Future Hold?
I’m happy with the progress that I’ve made thus far this year. I’ve made huge strides not only in losing weight, but also in changing my diet to a more healthy one. The biggest thing I’ve learned though is that it takes time – a LOT of time to lose weight. It took me 20 years to put on all this weight, so it shouldn’t surprise me that it won’t all come off in 3-months. It’s been 8 thus far and the fact that I can now wear my bomber jacket, something I wore in college, is a great piece of encouragement.

I’m still a little bit confused when it comes to my self-image. I’m not “skinny Mike”, but clearly I’m not “fatso Mike” either. I must be somewhere in between. This is a new place for me and one that I’m slowly growing more accustomed to. However, I don’t plan on staying here. I want that scale to go down, so I’ll start up with South Beach again in a few days. The plan clearly works and getting back on track with it is the best way I know to continue dropping the weight. I may not know exactly where I am physically right now, but I know where I’m going. The fact that these baby steps are taking me there is enough to keep me marching forward.

In a world where your personal information is constantly under attack in order to sell you more stuff, it’s nice to see a large corporation “take the high road” and do something honorable. It’s this type of gesture that makes me want to support a company and purchase their products.

To submit your name, and for more information, please visit this link.

It seems so silly to think of yoga as this muscle busting, sweat inducing, intense workout, but that’s exactly what it is. All you’re doing is simply putting your body into certain positions, you’re sitting, or standing, or crouching, or even lying down. That’s all there is to it, yet you’re pushing your body to the limits of it’s capacity at the same time. You’re using your own weight as a dumbell as you focus on one part of the body at a time. Along the way you’re stretching and pushing the limits of your flexibility. You “play with your edge” as you push a muscle to stretch further and relax more, because relaxing is the key.

No matter how hard it is to hold a position, or how difficult it is to breathe, the overall goal is to let go and relax. Your mind is a buzz with the chaos and confusion that a stretch is providing through a new position and your goal is to push through that chaos and relax. To seek a calm state of mind while your leg is sending signals that “this is crazy!” There’s been a few brief moments where I’ve found that yoga state of mind and it was definitely an “ah ha” moment where I finally got the point of the practice. I was doing the Warrior position and my knees were shaking, my back was straining, sweat was pouring down my face and I was panting to catch a breath. Then Bliss, our instructor, reminded us to relax and let go. Somehow my body understood the signal and I just “let go.” Suddenly, it was easy to breath, my muscles weren’t straining and I felt like I could have held that position forever. I was solid as a rock and yet relaxed at the same time The only way I can describe the feeling is that it was as if I were standing in the eye of a hurricane. I knew that there was a storm all around me, but I was in the center where it was calm and still. It was a great feeling.

However, like I said, those “ah ha” moments have been few and far between. Most of the time I don’t find that calm center. Instead I’m swirling in the winds of “when is this pose going to end?!” That’s how it was last Wednesday in fact. I hadn’t been to yoga class in about a month, so my memories were of relaxing and calming stretches. 5 minutes into the practice and all those memories of “playing with the edge” all came rushing back. That’s when I remembered that yoga IS a workout.

Bliss moved slowly from one part of our body to the other, beginning with light stretching and then moving into deeper stretches and poses. About two thirds of the way through the class she began to really put us through our paces. She had us in the pose Downward Facing Dog and she kept us there for awhile, making sure that we were doing the pose correctly, then she moved us into Plank, down to Staff Pose and then into Upward-Facing Dog, all in one long smooth motion. Then it was back into Downward Facing Dog. Now for those of you that have never taken yoga, these terms may seem like nothing but gibberish, but if you take a look at the links on each of the poses, I think you’ll get the general idea. At the time, I was just hanging on for dear life trying to get through the routine. We still had 20 minutes left in the class when we began this progression, so I knew that there was a lot more in store and so I tried to keep up as best I could.

I made it to the end and thankfully we began our focused meditation at the end of class, like we always do. This is the best part and what brings me back week after week. We lay on our backs, close our eyes, Bliss lowers the lights and calmly talks to us as we focus on our breathing and relaxing our bodies. I’ve been known to fall asleep during this section and snore, so it’s always a challenge to stay focused and alert. The overall effect is very relaxing and when class is over I am very mellow. In fact, it’s the quietest I’ve been all day. Who me? Quiet?

After class that Wednesday, I felt wonderful. I didn’t feel sore, or strained in the least. I felt like I’d had a good workout and I was spent, that was for sure, but it wasn’t until the next day where I felt the effects of my workout. My soreness came right between my shoulder blades. It didn’t feel like I had torn any muscles or anything, just that I’d really worked the muscles hard. By Friday I felt like someone had cracked a 2 x 4 across my back and that’s when the full realization of what yoga had done to me on Wednesday. That workout really kicked my butt.

The yoga class starts at 6:00pm and there wasn’t time to do anything treadmill, or any other activity before class. The class fills up very fast, so you want to make sure you get a place by getting there early. 15 minutes before the start of class and the room was nearly full. I laid out my mat and then went to ask Bliss, our instructor a question.

On April 10th, she’s teaching a class about integrating yoga into your daily life. In it, she’s going to create two 10 minute routines and a 30 minute routine. The longer routine is for when you start your day and the shorter 10 minutes ones are for throughout the day when you need a boost of energy, etc. It sounds very exciting and I would REALLY like to attend, but NPUG has it’s regular meeting on that day and I won’t be able to attend. I asked Bliss if she would be teaching this class anywhere else and unfortunately she said she didn’t. She did say that the topic would probably come up again in a few months, so at least there’s hope for me down the road. I went back to the mat and relaxed for about 10 minutes until class started.

Bliss announced at the start of class that she had just returned from an instructor’s workshop where they focused on the belly and everyone let out a collective “uh oh” and then we all laughed. Class was tough, especially on the stomach, but it wasn’t as tough as some of them have been. Maybe I’m getting better? I do notice that my stretches are going deeper and that I’m closer to my toes that I’ve ever been.

One interesting, yet odd thing happened towards the end. We were doing a pose and I was getting tired of holding it. I’m panting like a dog in heat and Bliss is saying “… and breathe…”. She saying that was should just be relaxed and breathing as deeply as if we were lying down resting. I’m taking many shallow breaths because I physically can’t breathe any deeper. Then all of a sudden, I felt myself give. It felt as if I had been hanging onto a ledge and just let go. I was relaxed, yet my pose was solid as a rock. I felt like I could have held that position all day. Breathing became much easier too. It happened a second time in one of our final poses. That pose is typically very uncomfortable and hard to hold, but again it felt like I just let go and it became very easy. I don’t know what this means, but I certainly hope to reach that place again.

On Monday’s I start with 30 minutes of treadmill. If I’ve gotten to the gym early enough and if there isn’t anyone waiting on a machine, I’ll go another 30 minutes if I can. I choose a program that varies the elevation of the treadmill as well as the speed so that it varies things up a bit. Last night I cranked up the speed to 7 and I was flat out running my ass off for 3 – 4 minute stretches and then I’d kick it down to a fast walk. It’s the hardest I’ve gone on the treadmill yet, but it felt good.

When I’m done with the walking, I usually walk around the gym a bit to cool down and then I hit the machines. My legs are pretty well defined from my years of soccer, but my upper body could use some work. Holly really like muscles and she hasn’t had any to speak of since we’ve known each other, so I’m trying to pump up my arms and chest. On each machine I do two sets of 12 reps. The machines I hit last night were: bicep curls, lat pull down, butterfly, bench press, and a higher bench press. I’ll have to write down the names of the machines next time I go.

When it comes to weights, I go until I’m exhaustion, but not until failure. I remember hearing somewhere the you should do it until your muscles can’t do anymore. I did that my first time on the machines and I couldn’t move my arms for a week, so I stop when I get to the point that I’m exhausted. When I finished last night my entire upper body was shaking.

On Wednesday, I do the treadmill for 30 minutes if I get to the gym on time and then I do an hour of yoga. You wouldn’t think it, but yoga is my hardest workout! On Friday I basically do the same routine as Monday’s, but I’m thinking that I may start swimming on Friday just to be different. Every swimmer I’ve ever seen has a killer body, so it couldn’t hurt.

It all started when I decided I would begin waking up earlier. My normal internal clock makes me a bit of a night owl. My normal clock would have be going to bed around 3am and waking up between 10am and Noon. That’s not a realistic time frame for running your own business, so I’m not able to indulge my internal clock much. That being said, it’s rare when I go to bed before Midnight, or 1am. I tried simply waking up earlier, but that wasn’t working. I was still going to bed at the same time, so waking up earlier wasn’t going to happen. I tried going to bed earlier, but I was just getting another boost of energy at 10pm and going to bed just wasn’t working. So I did the only thing a not-so-sane person would do. I stayed up all night.

My thinking was that I would be so tired that I’d crash no later than 10pm, if I even made it that late. From that point on it would be much easier to wake up earlier. I stayed awake all night on Thursday night last week and come Friday evening, I was asleep by 8pm. I had set my alarm for 5:30am and sure enough I woke up! Even through the weekend, I woke up no later than 6:30am and I’ve been able to keep my clock set to “Early” ever since. So now that I’m waking up earlier what exactly am I doing with my time? I’m doing yoga.

There is a Wednesday Night yoga class at the Y that I attend fairly regularly. The class is taught by Bliss Wood and it’s a fantastic class. Bliss is really good about mixing things up and keeping it interesting, yet at the same time she works your butt off big time. Whenever I’m doing with her class, I’m always tired and yet so very relaxed at the same time. I’m so mellow that I even talk different. My voice is lower and more mellow. Holly calls it my “yoga voice.” It’s a wonderful state to be in and it usually lasts for the rest of the evening.

With me waking up earlier, I thought that perhaps I could extend that “yoga state of mind” that I have after Bliss’ class, so I purchased a VHS set called “AM / PM Yoga For Beginners“. The series consists of two tapes, one for the morning and one for the evening. The idea is that you do yoga at the beginning and end of each day. I’ve only done the evening tape a few times, but I’ve been doing the AM Yoga tape almost every morning.

The AM Yoga tape is led by Rodney Yee and is broken down into three segments: conscious relaxation which awakens the mind (4 minutes), a yoga workout that energizes the body (14 minutes), and a guided meditation which centers your mind and body (2 minutes). The whole tape is a little over 20 minutes, so it doesn’t take a lot of time to do it The workout is very easy and is a great way to ease into trying yoga. The stretches are minimal and are not held for very long, however just because this is a beginners tape, don’t think you’re not going to get a workout. Although it’s more subtle than the regular yoga class I’m used to, I do notice a difference after doing it for a week.

The PM Yoga tape is led by Patrica Walden and also has three segments: centering poses to quiet the body and mind (4 minutes), a yoga workout that stretches and soothes the body (13 minutes), and guided relaxation designed to revitalize the mind (3 minutes). For me, the PM yoga tape is a little bit harder than the AM one. Although they are the same length, I get a little bit deeper stretch and actually built up a sweat.

Both tapes are beautifully shot. AM was filmed on Maui and the PM one was filmed in Death Valley. Both instructors lead quite well and the poses are easy to follow. Yee and Walden are leaders in the world of yoga, so they know what they are doing and easily translate their knowledge for the beginner. If you’re thinking of trying yoga, but would rather try it in the comfort of your home, instead of a public class, I highly recommend these tapes.

Now that I’m waking up earlier and doing yoga almost daily, I have to say that I like the results. I’m more relaxed, focused and centered throughout my day. My morning routine is time that I’ve set aside for me. I’m not spending it focused on clients, my Palm OS commitments, or projects I have around the house. It’s just quiet time focused on me. A little yoga, a little journaling, a little weblogging and I’m ready to take on the day. Namaste

My Rating: (4 out of 5 stars)
Amazon Link: AM/PM Yoga for Beginners

My waist has been on a long slow climb since college. In fact, the first increase in my waistband happened in college, I moved up to a size 34 from a size 32. Since then, I’ve been going up and up, little by little, year after year. Each time I needed a larger size, I took another hit to my self esteem. Reading the label on a new pair of Dockers only validated my feeling of low self worth. As of January 1st of this year, I’m the heaviest I’ve ever been and I’ve grown to absolutely detest going shopping for clothes. Sure I would leave the mall with fancy new clothes, but each tag screamed that I was larger than last year and that’s all that I could hear.

For the last few years, my Mother has enjoyed taking me shopping for my birthday and not just to the mall mind you. One year she flew Holly and I to Chicago for sight seeing and shopping. That’s an INCREDIBLE gift and I knew she meant well and I DID appreciate what she was trying to do, but shopping has been the LAST thing that I’ve wanted to do in a long while. Shopping on my birthday just added insult to injury. As I’d try on sizes that I wore the year before, I would be reminded that I’m not only a year older, but fatter too! Trying to wear last year’s sizes was akin to making sausage, only I was the stuffing. So I’ve grown to hate shopping for anything clothes related except for shoes. At least my feet haven’t grown. Come to think of it, that might not be such a bad thing.

Last year when I needed some new clothes for an upcoming event, I had high hopes of staying in the same size as the last time I went shopping, but it was the same old story – I needed a bigger size. As I tried on the size that I thought I still wore, I’d feel like I was a stuffed sausage, ready to burst of those pants at any moment. So I only bought three pair of pants and vowed that I would go no larger. Either that, or I would never go shopping again. For the most part, I’ve stayed in that final size and not expanded beyond, however I haven’t tested my theory because I haven’t gone shopping either.

The downside to only having 3 pairs of pants is that you have to do a lot of wash. As I stood there this morning, looking at my closet full of everything that doesn’t fit anymore, I grabbed a pair of “last season’s” pants. “What the hell,” I thought, “you never know.” Yes I’ve been on the South Beach Diet for a couple of months now, but I haven’t had the courage to attempt to wear any of my older, skinnier clothes. If they fit, I would be ecstatic, but if they didn’t, my attitude would be in the dumper. I felt like I just couldn’t risk it. For some reason, I felt a wee bit more confident this morning and had an attitude that didn’t’ care one way or another if the pants fit or not. “I have to get dressed and I don’t want to dig anything out of the dirty clothes,” was all that I was thinking.

There was no dilly dallying. I threw on those pants like a stable boy caught with the master’s daughter and before I knew it, they were zipped up and buttoned. I stood there almost in shock as I realized that, of all things – they fit. They fit! Woo hoo! I bounced around the room like I was crazy for Coco Puffs. For once in a very long time, I went DOWN a size. I may have felt like Fonzie when I decided to try on my old pants, but clearly it was all a ruse. As I shook my fun cabin, it was clear that being able to fit into my old pants was a very big deal.

I may have a ways to go before I reach my goal weight, but this one small step certainly gave me a much needed boost to my self esteem. Seeing hard evidence that the diet is working bolsters my resole to keep eating healthy and not slip into the old routines of eating to make myself feel better. I’ve opened up a new vista in my wardrobe and I have to admit I like the view.

I woke up at 6:30am and took a shower and dressed. I felt more like myself, so I put on some walking clothes. It was still early, so I worked on a web site I’m trying to finish for a little while until it was time to wake up Holly. I meant to wake her up at 7:30am, but I lost track of time, so it was 7:50am before I tip toed into the bedroom to gently wake her.

At first, she woke up and smiled because she was all toasty warm in the bed surrounded by all the cats (the like it when I get out of the bed). Then she saw what I was wearing and that smile quickly disappeared. I wasn’t greeted with the wrath of the day before, but Holly wasn’t happy I was waking her up to go walk either.

Ten minutes later were out the door and walking down the street. We didn’t have as much time as yesterday so we walked up and down just a couple of streets. To help boost the time we did have, we walked at a faster pace. Gracie seemed to appreciate it. We did have one very nice surprise on this walk – we saw a flock of turkeys. There’s a family of turkeys that come around every now and then. I’ve taken some pictures of them, but I’ve never been able to get close. As we walked down our street, we got within 30 yards of them before they ran off. We didn’t even see them until the flurry of feathers alerted us that something was up, but it gave us enough time to make us glad we were up walking at that hour.

It wasn’t raining, but it was definitely misty. Holly pointed that out, but she didn’t complain, or say that she wasn’t going to walk, which was a pleasant surprise. It was also colder than the day before and I was actually the one who did a wee bit of complaining. I’m going to have to put on gloves tomorrow.

As we made the steep climb back up our street, Holly asked if we were going to walk everyday. She reminded me that every workout plan has days where you rest, but I insisted that this could hardly be considered a true workout. We were only walking through the neighborhood and we weren’t even breaking a sweat. She insisted that this was cardio because of the hill and I’d agreed to think about it.

In all honesty, I don’t know what the full workout plan is. My initial goal is just to get in the habit of moving our bodies in the morning. A daily walk should be just that – daily. I’d also like to add an evening walk just after dinner, but we’ll tackle that a little bit later on.

What made this conversation a little different was the fact that Holly alluded to the fact that her libido was directly tied to her self image. Every man I know wishes that his wife was frisky more often and I am no exception. When I delved a little deeper on the subject and confirmed what she had said I discovered motivation I had no idea even existed. All of a sudden, the idea of getting healthy had purpose. In fact, losing weight was no longer just about shedding pounds, it was about a sexual revolution!

So I told Holly as we were going to sleep to remember that I loved her because starting the next morning, she was entering my personal boot camp. I fell asleep with a smile on my face knowing what tomorrow would bring.

This morning I let her sleep in till 7:15am, but that was a far cry from her normal 9am (she doesn’t have to be at work until 10am). As her eyes opened and she heard me explain that it was time to get up, Holly turned from the sleeping angel to the cranky bear. Over and over she insisted that it was not time to get up and that I needed to leave her alone. I gently, but firmly persisted until she was out of the bed. Not that being up on two feet changed her attitude one iota.

Still grumbling, Holly eventually made her way downstairs dressed to take a morning walk with me. We took Gracie with us and started an easy, but somewhat brisk pace walking down the street. As we walked Holly made the ultimatum that she was never going to walk if it was raining. It had rained during the night and it was very overcast and windy as we walked, but it wasn’t raining. However, if it was raining she re-iterated that she was not going to be taking a walk. Now I’m not an overbearing person usually, but if Holly truly wanted my help and if this little “boot camp” was going to work, there was only going to be one chef in the kitchen.

“Are you sure you want to give me this ultimatum?” I asked with a smile. “Michael, I am not walking in the rain, period.” was her reply. “Fine, then if it’s raining I’m going to wake you up an hour early so that I can drive you to the gym and put you through a brutal treadmill workout. The choice is yours.” I wasn’t kidding. I was taking on the role of being her coach and as such she had to respect me as one. Holly has to know that if she things she can get out of something by simply smiling, or by putting her little foot down, that it’s not going to work. I’m not being harsh mind you. I’m saying all this with a smile on my face, but there is going to be a program and it’s important that she get on board.

We walked for approximately 45 minutes around the lower portion of the neighborhood. I kept the pace moderate thanks to Gracie and her constant quest to see what was just down the way. As we walked, Holly and I talked about the day and what was coming up for the week. it was really nice. Eventually we made our way up the big hill to our home and I pushed Holly a little bit to keep up the pace and not to rest halfway up the hill. It was a good walk and I plan on doing another one tomorrow morning.

I did manage to take a little extended walk that afternoon with Gracie. Our street is at the top of a very steep hill, so walking down and back can give you quite a little workout. I need to get an inclinometer, so that I can figure out what the grade is and then really impress you. In the meantime, take my word for it, it’s steep.

This morning was all about Monkey too and tonight is the Friends season premier, so I doubt there will be much walking then either. Until we find out the status of Monkey’s health, things are a bit on hold at the moment.

We hit the snooze button a few times this morning and didn’t get up until 6:30am. Even Gracie wanted to stay in bed longer. At around 6:45am we finally made it out the door and took a walk for about 30 minutes. We walked a good part of the neighboorhood, but decided that it was time to get ready for work and what not.

It was nice having Holly up in the morning. She’s not a morning person, so it was rare to have her up with me. We were both groggy, but we didn’t sucomb to going back to bed. Instead we had breakfast and talked about our day. It was really, really nice.

I don’t have any stats to report because I don’t have a pedometer yet, but we’re working on it. Maybe by next week, I can start tracking some of this stuff.

This idea all started with an episode of Rock Bodies on VH1 called From Flab To Fab. In a nutshell, they took 4 normal women and did a 3 month makeover by giving them a team of people to help them lose weight. They had a trainer, chef, the works. At the end they all had lost a ton of weight and I was quite impressed! The regimen had them working out twice a day for 5 days a week. They were restricted to 1350 calories a day and they burned 1000 a day. Given that I’m a bit extreme by nature, that type of grueling workout touched a nerve and I wanted to do the same thing.

There’s not a lot of information regarding the day-to-day things they did, so I tried to find some supplemental information on the web. That’s when I stumbled upon a weblog at Men’s Health magazine where Lou Schuler wrote after seeing the episode, “Nearly lost my mind… How these idiot trainers get a special is beyond belief. ” (see “No-B.S. Zone”). That got me to thinking that perhaps Flab To Fab wasn’t such a good idea. Besides, Holly said there was no way she was going to do the liver flush.

Back at square one, I got to thinking that most weight management programs require that you monitor your intake and exercise. So even if I don’t have a workout program yet, I know what it’s going to require. Since I would want to log this information into my Palm, I figured I’d take a look at what was out there for PalmOS that I could use. I scanned a couple of freeware apps, but I remember reading an article in Handheld Computing Magazine on BalanceLog, so I checked out the demo and it looks like we have a winner. There’s a Palm OS application as well as a desktop application. There’s a variety of diet plans to choose from, such as the AMA Heart Healthy Plan, and a very detailed library of food to help enter your meals faster.

So what’s the plan you ask?

1. Holly and I need to purchase a pedometer to count how many steps we take each day. We have to take a certain number of steps each day and this little clip on will help count those.

2. Next, we have to find a local place where we can get our Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) tested.

3. We also need to take a body fat test. This will tell us how much of our body is fat. We’re trying to see if our local YMCA can administer the test, or if we need to get a Body Fat Scale. Either way, this is one of the major vectors that we’ll be tracking.

4. Begin regular morning walks. It was raining cats and dogs this morning, but Holly and I plan on walking in the mornings. This is how we’ll start, but who knows what type of exercise we’ll engage in over time? Cycling perhaps? Dare I dream!?!

5. Evening workouts. Right now it looks like Monday, Wednesday and Thursday are the only nights that we can go to the gym. With morning walks, we’ll be focusing on some muscle building at night.

6. As far as eating goes, that will be based on the diet plan that we choose after we purchase and install the software.

Holly and I are going to talk about it tonight as we eat the last of the fatty foods left in our kitchen. I’ll keep you posted as things progress either here, or in the workout log. Wish us luck!

Holly and I had choir rehearsal at 7:00pm, so when we got out at 8:00pm we headed straight to the Harding Place Family YMCA. We had never been to this location, so it took a little orienting to figure out what we could do. All in all, it’s a very nice facility albeit a little smaller than the Maryland Farms location.

I did 20 minutes on the treadmill and then a series of weight machines for my legs. When I said I was ready to go, Holly tried to delay me by asking me to do some sit ups. It was on an incline bench and without even thinking about it, I just jumped on it and did 10. I was dying at the high elevation it was set at, so I lowered it down to a very small incline and did 10 more.

Overall it felt pretty good considering that it has been over 2 months since I’ve been in the gym. I’m guessing that it’s been all the manual labor that I’ve been doing on the weekends.

I arrived there feeling all loose and ready to tackle the class having cycled for the last hour and a half. Of course that’s not the ideal state of your “body mind” when you enter a yoga class , but I was still breathing a little heavy and cruising on the adrenaline of accomplishment. The class is an hour long and as the class progressed, I was feeling more and more relaxed, but still getting a good workout from all the poses. Towards the end of the class, she leads us in a bit of guided meditation. It’s one of the best parts of the class because you really feel open and relaxed and mellow. At the end of the meditation, she rings a little bell and then has us sit up as she closes the class.

As soon as the bell rang, I moved into a sitting position and brought my focus back to the room and to the instructor. I was feeling great, but oh so mellow and calm. That’s when my state of peace was gently bumped by a few giggles. My wife was having a hard time not giggling as she looked in my direction. I gave her a questioning look, but it was time to close the class, so my focus was turned back to Bliss Wood.

Once the class was over I was politely informed by those around me that during the meditation phase I zonked out and began snoring quite prominently. :O I quickly asked Holly if it was my “bad snoring,” the kind that can rattle the rafters, and she gave this knowing look of “oh no, it wasn’t THAT bad.” As we all rolled up our mats and put back on our shoes, everyone in the class confirmed what I had done by joining in the giggling. There’s little you can do in situations like this, so I just had to laugh along. It was rather funny and I just had to shake my head in embarrassment and giggle. Here everyone was in a relaxed state, meditating while gentle music played in the background and I’m at the front of the class sawing logs! LOL

Later that evening, Holly and I got to laughing again as we tried to go to sleep. Lying in bed we just kept laughing at how silly it all was. I tried to down play just how loud the snoring was, but Holly was quick to interject “Baby, you got to remember – the back wall heard you.”