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Day 112

B: oatmeal with flax and cinnamon
2 cups herbal tea
S: herbal tea
L: mixed veggies with salsa
banana
D: baked potato and sweet potato
apple

E: 45 mins walking - 5283 steps. Stair climbing - down/up 17 floors. Total steps for day - 9449 steps.
M: 10 mins

Felt great today. A bit hectic at work today with moderate stress. Did my stair walking in the morning and felt strong, best performance yet.
Did my walking in the evening as it was a pretty warm/humid day and sweated up a good bit but it didnt seem to bother me all that much. In the past I would have performed very badly or not finished. Now it doesn't bother me at all

Between work and exercising, there wasn't much time to do much else today. Watched a show or two with wife and then went to sleep easily...simple boring, but productive day

Oh and Thanks Pechke for the kind words! It definitely is life changing and not as hard as I would have expected it to be. I like simplicity and this lifestyle is definitely simple. If you read more of my journal you'll get a better idea of my goals, I listed them back a couple weeks ago.

Day 113

B: oatmeal with flax and cinnamon
2 cups herbal tea
L: mex veggies with salsa
banana
herbal tea
D: baked potato and sweet potato
mango

E: 46 mins walking - 5271 steps. Stair walking- 17 floors down. Total steps for day - 8047 steps.
M: 10 mins

Felt good today. Was a very busy day at work so only had a chance to do a quick walk down stairs in the morning. I did an evening walk after work that was good and felt strong. I did notice all day that if I sat for an hour my legs would be very tight when I got up and I was sitting a lot today talking on the phone. Not a stressful day but very busy.

Not a lot else went on today. Wife took dau to her dance classes while I took my walk. Afterwards did a bit of reading and watched a tv show before heading off to bed and getting a good nights sleep.

Day 114

B: oatmeal with cinnamon
2 cups of herbal tea
L: mixed veggies with salsa
banana
herbal tea
D: baked potato and sweet potato
grapefruit

E: 43 mins walking - 5143 steps. Stair walking - down/up/down 17 floors. Total steps for day - 8839 steps.
M: 10 mins

Great day today. Felt strong and energetic all day. Did the stair walking down/up in the morning and it was my best effort to date. Definitely getting stronger everytime I do it. Walked down the stairs in the afternoon and did my walk in the evening. My walk was really powerful and i believe I had my best effort so far. I was walking fast and smooth almost effortlessly.

Another busy day at work. Stress levels though were relatively low and got a lot done. For some reason, everything just seemed to click today even though there was nothing really special going on.

When I got home last night the skies were very dark with thunderstorm clouds overhead. I wasn't going to take my walk as I convinced myself it was going to rain hard at any time and I didn't really feel like getting soaked. So I stayed home, but my body kept telling me to get up off the couch and do something. 2 hours later, I was just itching to get outside as it hadn't started raining yet, so I went for it and did my walking. It felt great and I could tell I was really moving fast. And in the end it didn't rain and my walk was fantastic. I think I'm getting addicted to my walks...and I don't think thats a bad thing

Day 115

B: oatmeal with flax and cinnamon
L: black rice with mex veggies and salsa
apple
D: baked potato and sweet potato
orange

E: 90 mins walking - 10,637 steps.Total steps for day - 13,752 steps
M: 10 mins

Great day. Was energetic and strong today. Did my walk in morning and then again in evening. Worked from home because wife had her Dr's appointment today but couldn't go with her. Overall a low stress day. Also did some food shopping and took dau and her friend to the pool. So was fairly active today with lots of walking.

Got a new book today thats truly excellent - Strength Training Anatomy - by Frederic Delavier. It covers all the basic weight training exercises showing illustrations of the muscle and skeletal system involved in that exercise. The illustrations are amazing and beautiful, over 600 of them in the book. This is not an exercise book per se, its an anatomy book and if you want to know what is being effected by a particular exercise this is the best book out there. He has a whole series of these illustrated strength training books that also cover stretching anatomy and core anatomy as well. If you want to know what muscles and bones you have and which are effected by specific exercises this is it.

Day 116

B: nothing
L:black rice with mixed veggies, corn and salsa
grapefruit
D: baked potato and sweet potato
Watermelon - I love ice cold watermelon!

E: 88 mins walking - 10,610 steps. Total steps for day - 13,282 steps
M: 10 mins
BF: 30mins - lucid dreaming

Another really good day. lots of energy and eager to exercise Did my morning walk at a good strong pace and my evening walk was the same, one of my strongest even walks. Took dau and friend for a swim last night too which let me get a bit of reading in.

I also did some clothes shopping in the morning. Got some new shorts - size 38 - that fit perfect!!! 4 months ago I was a tight 46+ waist. Thats 4+ sizes down in 4 months Tomorrow I need to go out and get some work pants and new belt as well. They should hold me over for the next few months.

And finally I took the car in for its usual oil change. I had been neglecting it lately so it really needed it done. I still need to take it in to get the timing belt replaced, hopefully in the next month or so when money's not so tight. So I guess you could say it was a busy Saturday.

Day 117

B: oatmeal with flax and cinnamon
herbal tea
L: black rice with mex veggies and salsa
apple
D: baked potato and sweet potato
watermelon

E: 88 mins walking - 10,547 steps. Total steps for day - 11,952 steps.
M: 10 mins

Felt good and strong today. Did my morning and evening walks as usual and was strong and energetic in both. Today was a lazy day. Went shopping for some new pants and belt for work. Bought size 38 in both and they just fit The belt is on the last hole so it should fit for a few months.

Other than that, took dau and her friends to swimming pool for awhile. Spent the rest of the day lounging around the house, reading some and even took a nap for awhile. Nice end to a weekend. Now its back to the grind of work tomorrow

Day 118 - Week 17

Its been 16 complete weeks now and here are my latest numbers:

Weight: 201.6 down from: 203.6 started at: 261
BP: 106/63 down from: 109/71 started at: 153/92
Pulse: 50 down from: 52 started at: 88
BMI: 27.3 started at: 35.4

Well another 2 pounds down this week and 59.4 lbs overall. A little less than expected but probably retaining a bit of water (been eating a lot of watermelon recently). Everything continues to move in the right direction and I'm less than 2 pounds away from the next goal of under 200. I should make this by next week.My BP and pulse continue to stay nice and low. I now have my wife help me every week with my BP cuff as it really needs a second set of hands to be put on properly for measurements, so that issue is resolved for now and my readings are quite stable.

B: oatmeal with flax and cinnamon
2 cups of herbal tea
S: herbal tea
L: mixed veggies with salsa
apple
D: baked potato and sweet potato
a little watermelon and a cutie

E: 44 mins walking - 5192 steps. Walked down/up/down 17 floors. Total steps for day - 9557 steps.
M: 10 mins

Felt really good today. Hated to go into work today but what can you do ... walked down and back up 17 floors in the morning and walked back down in the afternoon. The days are getting so busy that its hard to find time to do any exercise at work. I did my walking after work and that felt good and strong though with a bit of high inner thigh soreness from the stair walking today. My boss is off this week which means I'm now covering for him as well. Sigh, nothing like more work at work...

Looking forward to hitting my next goal this time next week. Its been a long time coming and I'm really happy about it. Everyday now someone is telling me I'm looking good with all the weight loss. But no one seems to really care about the how or why, not that its really important, just an observation. I haven't really noticed anyone else in the office following my lead but maybe that will change

Day 119

B: oatmeal with flax and cinnamon
herbal tea
L: black rice and baked potato with mex veggies and salsa
grapefruit
D: baked potato and sweet potato
watermelon and some strawberries

E: 87 mins walking - 10,531 steps. Total Steps for day - 12,210 steps.
M: 10 mins

Good day with lots of energy. Had one of the best days walking today. Was very strong and quick pace. Did early morning and evening walk. And was faster in evening which is very unusual, especially since it was hotter then. Worked from home but was a really stressful day with lots of issues to deal with, not a lot of fun

Did a little grocery shopping as well, ran out of potatoes and gotta have those of course Also got a nice big watermelon on sale as well, mmmmm. Didn't get any reading done today but did play on the computer some. Overall a busy day with not a lot of play time.

Addendum to June 27, 2012

I weighed myself first thing this morning as I always do. Officially my weigh-ins are on Mondays and I report them as such. But actually I weigh myself everyday. I like to see how my weight is changing daily and usually its no surprise. But I have noticed over the past 4 months that my weight can vary as much as 2 lbs from day to day. That doesn't surprise me and I can usually track it down to one of 2 things. A change in the usual food I'm eating or some temporary water weight I'm holding on too.

But whats important is that any temporary weight gain or slowdown I might see on a day to day basis, is always followed by a loss equal to or more than that particular gain. And that's why I have my official weigh-ins on Mondays as opposed to everyday. Those daily variabilities get evened out on a weekly basis making the tracking of my progress easier.

I might also add that when I am a little heavier on any day than expected, that doesn't in any way discourage me. I understand whats happening and I make a mental note of it and then steel my resolve to get through that barrier. Its actually very motivational for me to recommit often to this woe. I hope I don't make that sound hard or anything because its not

At any rate, the reason for this note is that I weighed myself this morning and I've finally, if not unofficially, broken through my mental goal of 200 lbs.

I weighed myself at 199.8 lbs this morning 06-27-2012.

Thats a few days ahead of my prediction of end of June and I still have until next monday to officially weigh-in. But I'm very happy right now and may do some celebrating tonight after work...I'm thinking a small frozen strawberry/banana ice cream after dinner instead of my usual piece of fruit

Life is very good right now and I wish the best for everyone following their own journey's today

Congratulations on your success! You are doing an excellent job of setting goals and patiently, methodically working towards them. You are showing a great way to approach this adventure we are on.

Have to tell you, I bought the pedometer you recommended not only for myself, but also for my elderly mother and sisters. My 89 year old mother is in a competition with others in her home to "walk to the border with Mexico", and she reports her steps once a week. With this great little device, her arthritis is a non-issue. She loves it.

Anyway, congratulations again. Looking forward to continuing to watch your progress!

Day 120

B: oatmeal with flax and cinnamon
2 cups herbal tea
S: herbal tea
L: mixed veggies with salsa
peach
herbal tea
D: baked potato and sweet potato
fresh cut pineapple

E: 44 mins walking - 5237 steps. Stair climbing - down/up/down 17 floors. Total steps for day - 9522 steps.
M: 10 mins

Good day today. Felt strong and stress levels low for a change. Did my stairs d/u in the morning and d in the afternoon as usual. It was my best effort to date. Less time to recover and strongest performance yet. My evening walk also went very well and strong. Had much tightness in upper thighs and a bit of soreness all day from the stair climbing.

At the end of the day I decided not to celebrate my current weight goal until its official and then celebrate it on 4th July with my family. I.e., I'm still doing MWL and I want to limit how much outside of that program I go so I don't accidentally sabotage my efforts. Sometimes restraint is good. So instead I sliced up a nice fresh, very sweet pineapple and indulged in that treat after dinner

Oh and thanks "Working at it". I love that little pedometer. I wear it on me everyday. Its still working like a charm and very accurate! I'll talk about my next goal on Monday

Day 121

B: oatmeal with flax and cinnamon
Herbal tea
L: basmati rice with mex veggies and salsa
banana
D: baked potato and sweet potato
black grapes and pineapple

E: 88 mins walking - 10,479 steps. Total steps for day - 12,385 steps
M: 10 mins

Good day, felt strong. Worked from home so stress levels were down a bit though was a busy day. Did a morning and evening walk. Morning walk was really good, evening walk was tiring as it was almost 90's with very high humidity. Sweated quite a bit. Upper thighs felt tight during walk. Also did some minor food shopping after work.

I'm changeing the OS on my laptop and went through several different ones today and am not happy with anything I have installed at this point. I need to find a better solution I can live with for awhile so I'll probably play more with it tomorrow and maybe Saturday. At least the weekend is coming up...oh and ordered my dau a new ripstick. She's gonna be very surprised when it comes next week. She's been wanting a new larger model for awhile now and I got her a really nice one Of course my wife still thinks she going to hurt herself on it But she loves riding them so much.

Day 122

B: oatmeal with flax and cinnamon
2 cups herbal tea
L: mixed veggies with salsa
herbal tea
banana
S: herbal tea
D: baked potato and sweet potato
black grapes
S: baby carrots

E: 45 mins walking - 5287 steps. Stair climbing - down/up/down 17 floors. Total steps for day - 9418 steps.
M: 10 mins

Felt great today. Did my d/u stair climbing in morning and I felt very strong. It was my best performance so far and recovery was quick as well, Did a second walk down in the afternoon that was easy. Work was very light on stress today and seem to go by quickly. Did my regular walk in the evening and it was very comfortable as well. Just seemed like everything went well today.

I gave my dau her new ripstick and she was really happy. It wasn't the exact color she was hoping for but she went ahead and customized it with patterned duct tape that she really likes so she was pleased with herself

My wife scheduled herself for a colonoscopy in 3 weeks. That has me a bit worried, but since her father died from cancer, her doctor has been highly recommending it for past 2-3 years. They will put her under for the procedure so I will be there with her. Being a nurse, she knows the risks and I can tell shes a bit worried, but she also believes she needs this done so I will support her through this even though I'm generally against the procedure itself.

Day 123

B: nothing
L: basmati rice with mex veggies and salsa
banana
D: baked potato and sweet potato
peach

E: 90 mins walking - 10,612 steps. Total steps for day - 14,128 steps
M: 10 mins

Felt good today. Did an early morning and late evening walk today. Both went well but not especially fast. No soreness or tightness. Just an average day. It was a bit warm and humid as its been for the past few days. Hard to get real excited to walk in the heat you know

Went out and got a few minor fireworks for my dau, she loves them, but I only get her the simpler sparklers and such, no firecrackers or such, fountains I do myself. She loves dancing around with the sparklers in her hands. She's always inviting the neighbor kids to enjoy them with her so I always end up buying a lot.

Also got some pork ribs to make for the rest of the family tomorrow. I don't eat them any more, but the rest of the family love how I make them so I do it for them on special occasions. My hope is one day I never will again. As for me I will just enjoy my usual MWL meal...

I also got me a month supply of probiotics. After reading DrM's article about them I decided I should add them in for a month and replenish all the good bacteria I've lost over the years. I don't really expect to feel any different. But its a cheap price for a little piece of mind and its only something you need to do once to replenish the bacteria and then you should be good until the next time you take any antibiotics.

Day 124

B: oatmeal with flax and cinnamon
herbal tea
L: basmati rice with mixed veggies and salsa
banana
D: baked potato and sweet potato
apple
S: baby carrots

E: 89 mins walking - 10,620 steps. Total steps for day - 13,123 steps.
M: 10 mins.

Felt great today. Did the usual early morning walk and late evening walk and felt strong during both. No soreness or tightness today. The walking has become very routine, yet I enjoy them and want to do them everyday. On days that I work, I actually miss only doing one walk in the day.

Made the pork ribs for the family today. They were good I'm told, but I didn't enjoy the smell from them the way I used too. For the 4th, I'll be grilling some rib eye steaks for the family and that should be the last of my special meat cooking for awhile.

Took dau and friend swimming today during the afternoon. It was a hot day today and sat in the shade. Not really enjoyable in the heat. But the girls had fun. Got a bit of reading in while they swam. Afterward watched a bit TV with the wife...So you think you can dance was dvr'd and we watched 3 shows of it. I really enjoy the dancing these days as I see my dau dancing all the time.