Over a month

Hey fans,

   So it has been over a month since my last post.  It has been a very busy month and some.  First of all, my break was due to my vacation that I took.  It was a great vacation, gave me a lot of motivation, by the reaction I got from EVERYONE.  Every person that I ran into commented on how good I looked and how it was amazing how good I was looking due to the weight loss.  I will say that I only gained 4 lbs over that week, but it was difficult to get back to the diet after a week of eating whatever I wanted.  Now I did run every day over vacation, so I am sure that it stymied the weight gain, and I attempted to keep my diet as best I could, but it was my vacation.  So at this moment, I am down 45lbs, but it has been a fight to try to get the last 30 lbs off.  I hurt my hip to an extreme, because of running and whatever, I have been in so much pain, but it is getting better.  I have been running but not being very good at staying on my diet, but after this weekend, I have about two months straight of staying in Greensburg, so I will hit my diet hard and get that last 30 lbs.  My goal is still 210, and I will reach it, but as of this morning, I am thinner than I have been since 2003!!!  Anyway, thought I would keep everyone up to date, I feel good, I look pretty good and I am doing well.  Thanks for reading!!!

Jim

Motviation

Hey fans,

   So I am now halfway to my goal of 70 lbs loss and even thought it doesn't seem like I have lost a lot of weight since my previous post, I must confess that I had two weekends in a row at the beginning of March where I did not eat correctly and paid for it not only in the weight loss, but also through my stomach and my overall feeling of blah.  That all being said, I am progressing now.  

   

    Earlier this month, I attended a friend's party where I had not seen a lot of the guys in at least a month, if not more.  Now, guys are not normally the ones who will say anything about another man's appearance, unless pretty drastic, we just are not like that.  I was told by several of my friends that whatever I was doing, keep doing it because it was working and even one close friend that I had not seen in about half a year did not recognize me.  Again, guys aren't that hung up on each other's appearance, but it made me happy that I was getting a good reaction.  

   The difficult part of losing the weight and staying motivated is multi-fold.  First, I am happy that I am losing the weight and that it is showing, but I have to stay motivated because it is not my ultimate goal.  It is difficult, because sometimes the mindset kicks in "I am Mr. Weightloss!" but just because I have reached this goal, does not mean that I am reach the end point.  The compliments are nice, but I really need to keep my mind set on the goal at hand, that is reaching that 70lbs loss.  I have had other friends tell me that I am too big of a guy to lose that much weight, that it will be unhealthy.  To them, I say, yes I WAS a big guy, and I ALWAYS will be a big guy, but I can still be a big guy and have LESS of me.  I have even more motivation now, as my mother told me if I can make it to August (when I will go see her and my sister for my sister's 30 birthday), then we can go shopping for new clothes.  I ALREADY NEED new clothes, but I can make what I have work.  So now my goal is to be 70lbs down by August (and I am half way there).

Weight: 243 (-35lbs)

Waist: 42 (-3 inches off)

Down 30

Fans,
     So after breaking my diet last weekend after seeing my mom and going to an Oscar party, I came back with a vengeance this week, and I am down 30 lbs after 3.5 weeks (my previous counting of weeks was off...).  I can say that I feel great, and love this diet.  I get to eat and I feel good...that is all that matters, I feel good.  I have energy and the ability to workout and still be okay.  This weekend may be another test, because I have a friend's baby (man) shower, but I think after this past weekend and knowing how bad I felt after my one day, that I may watch myself even more.  I will still have fun, but I may not drink (as much) or eat (as much).  It is nice to have those few days where I eat something, but it affects my diet and my feeling so much that it really isn't worth it.  In another month, I would like to be down 20-30 lbs, but for now, 30 lbs is great....

3 weeks

Well fans,
    After three weeks of using the weighnot diet program, I am happy to say that I am down 22 lbs.  It doesn't seem like a lot, but as a friend told me "It is the slow weight loss that usually stays off."  It is surprising that I am down this much after only a brief amount of time considering that I have not really been working out due to knee problems.  What I was doing was taking the dogs for longer walks, about a mile and a half or so, but nothing too extraneous because of my knee and I have a little dog who has had knee surgery and cannot keep up with  me and the bigger dog.  I did break my diet the other day at the Mexican restaurant here in town, as I met up with a friend to eat.  I ordered what I should, trying to stick to chicken, meat and veggies, but my downfall was chips and salsa.  Considering that I have not had any bread "carbs" in three weeks, it was a good treat, but something that I regretted later as it made me feel sick and not "good".

This past Sunday, I started working out again.  I started doing my Insanity program, partially because it was inside and it was too flipping cold out to do anything.  I like running and more than likely will start doing it as well, once it gets a little warmer (today is supposed to be in the 70s!!!), but I began slowly with the Insanity program.  It is a lot of quick moves and can cause some issues with knees, but I am happy to report that the pain in the knee was kept to minimal and I was able to finish the programmed DVD.  I am on day 3 and am doing okay, but icing the knee every evening just in case.  I am hoping that the next couple of weekends, even though I have things planned, I can stick to my diet as best as I can (it will be difficult, going to a couple of parties over the next two weekends, but my plan is to try my willpower).  I will continue to workout, so that should help with any lapses in my diet that I have, but I truly hope to reach my goal.

Weight: 257.2
Waist: 45"

After a week and some on weightnot

Well fans,
     After my first few days of weightnot, I was feeling pretty damn good....the weight loss had slowed, so I assumed it was all just water weight, but nonetheless, I was still positive on my journey...then came the weekend.  For many of you, you many live in an area or have things that you do on the weekend...unfortunately, where I live, the options are not as fruitful.  I rented 6 movies, worked on my homework, played with my puppy dogs and that was only on Saturday evening.  I still had Sunday and Monday to get through.  Lucky for me, I had a friend visit, which took a little of that temptation away from eating (which if any of you read one of my previous blogs, you will know that I am a bored eater.)  Anyway, I made it through (although with a friend in town, I had a little bit of alcohol, not a lot, maybe two shots of Crown Black, but I immediately got drunk and then as quick as I had it in my system, I became sober again....the detoxing of my liver must really work, because my liver worked like a CHAMP!!!)
     
     So now I am on to the next phase of weightnot, which is called RapidLoss.  The first two days are Lipidloading, in which I eat bigger portions, which is crucial to "...helping with a satisfied feeling and low hunger levels early in the program."  It is also supposed to help with the way your body burns calories.  Then it is off to the Rapidloss portion, which is basically caloric intake of around 800 calories and their fiber supplements and vitamins (which are fine).  Then one day a week, I get to eat what is called Nutripace, which is "...designed to keep your weight loss on track by helping to avoid slow-downs or stalls in fat burning."

     My knee is feeling better, not good enough to do a lot, but I went for a long walk with the puppies last night and it held up, so I think after this week, I might be alright to start running again, maybe even an attempt at Insanity as well, but I will take it easy.  So for the past week and a day, stats are:

Weight: 262.2 (total loss of 16.3lbs)
Waist: 45"

Day 4 of Weightnot

So yesterday's meals were quite wonderful.  I can't imagine anything wouldn't be after going through two days of fasting.  I also felt that now that I would be able to eat, I would gain some of my weight back, just because of course, if my body wasn't taking in any calories (except for a fiber supplement) and now I am putting calories into my body.  Well, I woke up this morning and I was another 1.5 lbs down.  Not as drastic as the past couple of days, but still losing weight.  So total for the week, I am down 16 lbs (15.9 lbs...we will round up).  I cannot tell you how excited I am.  I am no where near what I want to be, but I am on my way.  The food I cooked tastes great, the veggies are good and I am not hungry.  I have a lot of energy and I am feeling better.  Now, I have as of yet lost any "serious" weight, but I am sure after a month, that will work.  Well, there it is fans, for right now, here are my stats:

Weight: 262.6
Waist: 45

Day 3 of Weightnot...I GET TO EAT!!!

So here is the news fans.  As of this morning, my 3rd day of my diet, I am down 14.5 lbs.  I will say that it is probably, mostly water weight...which is fine.  Today is the first day I get to eat my food.  Last night, I purchased a bunch of organic, fresh or flash frozen food from my list of approved items and cooked a week's worth last night.  The good news, I had the willpower to not eat or sample a single thing.  The bad news...I WAS STARVING!!!  But then I had my fiber shake and went to bed, so it was okay.  I feel good today, nothing real bad.  This morning I was allowed several choices, but since I did not get up early enough to cook anything, I just had 1 whole hard boiled egg and then 2 hard boiled eggs but I removed the yoke, so just the whites.  I also had a bag (I weighed it) of blackberries.  Not too bad of a breakfast.  I am not hungry, and I actually feel pretty energized.  I also had my supplements this morning.  Because of the limited food intake that I am on, I am sure that I will lose weight, but for the most part, it is food that I am willing to eat and try.

Last night I cooked Tilapia, Cod and Steak (all weighted BEFORE cooking) and then sauteed mushrooms, asparagus, and green beans.  I also weighed out my tomatoes, my fruit and put them all in the fridge in their own individual containers so that I can just grab one, heat it up and then go.  I think that this will work for the first week, if not the entire month.  Now, on this part of the diet, I am only supposed to lose 3-7 lbs or more, and I am definitely on the "or more" side of things.  I am still not able to do any physical activity (which I HATE!!!) because my knee is not healing or not healed up yet and it still is sore and hurts to even move around, but it has only been about two weeks, so maybe just a little more time.  If it doesn't get better by the time I am onto the next phase of my diet, I will either go see the doc or just tough it out and start working out, maybe it just needs to get the some blood flowing to it, stretch and stuff.  On another injury note, my plantar fasciitis is still painful, and I have been stretching and doing everything I can to get rid of the pain, but it remains as well...hopefully IF I go see the doctor, I can get both fixed or some assistance, or if I start working out, maybe it will fix itself.

Day 3: 264
Waist: 45.5

On with day 3!!!  

Weightnot...DAY 1

Well fans,
     I arrived home last night from a good time out in Wichita, visiting friends, watching the Superbowl and of course over-consuming, to a package from my diet/supplement plan weightnot.com.  I was ecstatic!!!  This meant that I could start my entire program the next day (today).  So I opened the box, looked through everything, read everything and made the firm commitment that I would start February 7, 2012.  The first part of the program is called the "Jump Start" program.  For a brief overview of it, basically it is the "detox" part of the diet program.  This part lasts 7 days and starts out with a 2 day fast.  Well I use the term fast and it is, but it is a fast but taking their supplements.  The diet offers a fiber option, that is supposed to be taken in the morning and the evening and then taking their vitamins both and morning and night.  This is going to last 2 days and is supposed to not only gear your body up for the diet, but to detoxify your system from any toxins (including any chemicals from processed foods, etc.)  The diet states that "The body has incredible detoxification powers all on its own.  However, it needs proper fuel to carry out these processes, mostly in the form of proper nutrition.  This is one of the major reasons that the WeightNot program stresses eating organic food as much as possible."  It also states that for this particular part of the detoxification process that, "There will be a significant release of stored toxins in your body as a result of the following program guidelines.  As your body processes these toxins, it is possible that you may experience symptoms that reflect your body's efforts to eliminate these toxins, such as: headache, fatigue, body aches, nausea, acne, and mood changes"  THEY ARE NOT LYING!!!!  I have only been doing this for half a day and I have all these symptoms!!! (excluding acne...which I had anyway).

         So I am going to stay strong on this, even if I am a little crabby because apparently I eat way too much processed foods, drink too many chemicals and my body needs to detoxify.  I will say that I am excited because even if this is all psychological, after two days, I should be feeling better.  It states that after the 7 day jump start, I will feel an increase in energy, improvement in mood, a feeling of well-being and weight loss of 3-7 lbs or MORE....let's go for more.  Currently I am still stuck to the couch as far as exercise goes, but I keep walking my puppy dogs, icing my knee and hoping for the best...it will just take more than a week of healing...but soon....VERY SOON, I will be able to run again (and really, at the current moment, its snowing...not the best elements for running....cold I can do...ice and snow....not so much).  What I will also get back on is the Insanity program...I miss doing it and am excited once my knee is healed enough to get back on it.  That, paired with this diet, I should achieve my goals of 60 lbs.

    To keep me honest, I am going to list my daily or weekly progress here.  Today, you will know how fat I really am for my 6'2 big boned (ha, I said "boned"), muscular (YES...don't test me), ex-two sport college athlete, frame.  This morning's stats are as follows:

Weight: 278.4
Waist (in inches): 45.5
Goal: 218

That's it.

Bound to the couch

Fans,
    I attempted just last Friday, my first attempt at Ju Jitsu.  It is not structured like a real martial art, at least not this class.  This class is what is called "non-gui" which means there is no ranking, no belts.  Basically, this class is taught by a guy who knows a lot of ju jitsu and does fight in tournaments, but isn't able to legitimately teach.  I went to the class and found out that I am actually pretty good at this.  I was good at Tae kwon Do, enough to reach an elite level, but because my teacher moved, because I moved, I was unable to continue.  So Friday, I attempted this class, which I enjoyed, but soon after getting home, my knee was in so much pain that I could not sleep.  I iced it, I heated it and it still hurt.  Immense pain.  After ibuprofen and tylenol, I am still in considerable amounts of pain, but things are getting better.  My knee is stable, so there is a positive, but apparently the moving, the holds, etc., caused a strain.

     Because of all of this, I am bound to the couch for the foreseeable future.  Which really sucks because it is a very nice day and I could use a good run.  The good news, the diet system with everything I ordered is coming in, so let's hope that my knee will be better.  My plan is to start after the Superbowl, the Monday after (if the program is here) and then I will be on my way.  I hope that my knee gets better and it should be...as for now, I am couch bound and watching movies.

It just takes WAY to long

Fans,
    Well there are some new developments in my fitness life and my life overall.  First, I will say that I am not a patient person.  I have gotten a LOT better at being patient, but when I want something done, when I want to do something, I want to do it NOW.  That being said, I have been waiting and saving my money to purchase my new diet plan.  I am FINALLY getting to that point where I can purchase it!!!  I have a couple of more weeks of saving and then I will have the money for it.  I am uber excited and want to start...NOW.  I am still running, still working out and trying to eat right, but for some reason, when my mind knows that I am going to start a new "diet" program, my mind tells me "its okay to eat whatever you want... you will lose it once you get the new diet", which I, more often than not do whatever I want...but then I pay for it when I go run or workout.  I have now gotten to the point that I can tell how I am going to run or how well the run will go by what I have had to eat or drink the previous day.  Its not that I wasn't aware that they were connected, but I always just ran and hated every step.  At least now, I know what to expect.
     
     A second big thing going on right now is my cross training.  I recently purchased (just arrived today) the UFC trainer for xbox, which puts you through a workout and progression through the Kinect and you can train "like a UFC fighter".  Now, it has gotten good and bad reviews, but I have decided it would be just another workout.  Since I was trained in Tae Kwon Do, I felt that this would be another great opportunity, THEN I found out that the small workout/rec center here in my small town offers...JU JITSU!!!  Ju Jitsu is a martial art that is similar to wrestling, but also incorporates holds, etc.  I am so excited to see what they do, who it works with and what other adults will be there because it will be a great learning experience and another martial art I can claim to know in case I ever get into a UFC match (accidentally of course...lol)
   
     Lastly, my friends and I have finally finished our second show for our radio podcast, you can listen at www.recycledradioshow.com and read all about us and listen to our second show (the first has disappeared).  We are currently working with iTunes and will have that there as well.  So, with the new diet, with the new workouts and the new opportunity to learn another martial art, I am going to be busy.  Once I get the new diet plan, I will list everything on here and allow everything to come out.  Also, I will talk about it on our podcast, www.recycledradioshow.com and you can follow me on my diet, my exercise and my life.  Also, sign up and become a reader of this blog, so that I can tell who is following!!!

For now ciao!!!

Exhausted

          Well fans, it has been a few days since my last blog and I have to tell you, I am exhausted.  I have been running on and off for about 12 days (taking a few days off in between to heal or get needed rest) but I have also been doing Tae Bo 24/7 PT.  I have to say that next to Insanity, Tae Bo is simple.  It isn't a bad workout, but it isn't near the workout that Insanity is or my running.  I should start my new diet program at the beginning of February, which will suck for the Superbowl, but I think that it will be entirely worth the time and money.  I did even  more research and watch some guy on YouTube track his progress and I am even more excited because that guy lost 53 lbs in 60 days.  I am way more active than he is/was and I think that it will benefit me a lot.  I am only buying the 60 day program, but according to a majority of the reviews from people who use the diet, they lose a considerable amount of weight and keep it off because they are eating mostly organic and fresh food and using good portion sizes.  Portion sizes I can do on my own, but I am excited to having a program to keep track of everything.  Of course, I will go all in on it because, what else to do I have to do?

              I will say that Tae Bo does workout the muscles, my shoulders, my tricepts, my lats, my delts are very sore the next day after a workout and it does work and for someone who does not workout at all, it may be a great workout, definitely get someone in shape, but for me (not saying that I am in great shape) but I am not "out of shape", so it is a way to try to get defined and if I used it with my diet and everything, then it would be great.  Now if I can just get my small dog to let me sleep more than two hours at a time, instead of taking him outside, I may just feel less exhausted...but for now, I am excited to get my program.

Thanks for reading...stay tuned

Possibly in time for Vegas????

         Well fans, it has been a few days since I wrote my last blog and I will say, if you are really reading my blog, you haven't missed much.  I ran for several days in a row and am starting to look forward to them, not because of the run itself, but because of the radio podcast I listen to while I am running and the feeling I get after I run.  That runners high is by far one of the best feelings I have ever felt and after taking a day off (Saturday) from any type of exercise and enjoying a few adult beverages, I can honestly say, you can keep the drinking.  I enjoy my occasional beer or drink (I had Crown Black last night...very smooth, very nice) but it makes my body feel toxic and I don't really enjoy that or the feeling the next day.

           I woke up this morning not intending to workout, but after seeing how nice of a day it is, I decided to go ahead and do my Tae Bo.  The Tae bo is not as difficult as one would think.  Now that being said, I do work up a sweat and can feel my shoulders, lats and arms getting in shape, but really, it is not as difficult as, say Insanity, which I am thinking of getting back into.  I also ordered the Xbox Kinect game UFC trainer, which I may do on occasion as well, because it appears to be fun.  I am starting to really get into the workouts and the feeling of it, I just wish the weight would come off.  I am going to order weightnot next week and start that by the end of the month.  Everything I have researched, everyone that I have talked to about it state that it is an excellent way to lose the weight as long as you follow it.  That is probably true of ANY diet, but I am excited to try it in combination with my workouts...hopefully by the summer I will be RIPPED (doubtful, but I can hope...I have never been ripped, but I plan on being in good shape...maybe just in time for Vegas in July!!!!)

Holy Shoulder Pain

    The following day after my first attempt at Tae Bo 24/7 Boot Camp, I am INCREDIBLY SORE!!!  I understand that boxing, kicking and cardio...along with my 2.5 mile run can make for an incredibly tired person, which I was, however I did not expect what occurred today.  After my afternoon run (my job is great, I get to workout over my lunch).  The bands are creating a pain in my left shoulder that really intensifies every time I throw a punch with the damn bands on.  This is something I will just have to deal with as I go through the workouts, the problem is, that is one major part of the workout!!!  I will just do my best with it, but if anyone was curious as to if the bands work and the workout is good...it is, but the joint pain can be an issue.  I am sure I just overdid it with my shoulder and I will just push through the pain...unless I am not able to hold up my shoulder the next day...then Mr. Billy Blanks...I am taking a break

Stepping up my training

     Starting today, I began incorporating my running with attempting my new Tae Bo 24/7 Boot camp.  Let me first say that I ran Day 4 and Day 5, 2.5 miles each day.  The running is getting "easier", but it is never easy.  My foot is healing, or the pain is becoming more bearable, or who knows.  I weighed today, my first legitimate weigh in since before the holidays.  I dropped 3.5 lbs since last Thursday.  I am now at 269, which is still way too much more than I want, but hopefully this will keep me motivated.
 
      Now back to what you are interested in, if you are in fact interested in anything of this.  I purchased Billy Blanks Tae Bo 24/7 boot camp.  It is Tae bo from the late 90s and early aughts, but incorporates bands that are connected to the gloves and straps that go around the shoes.  Let me first say that any exercise program will help get people in shape, anyone.  This, at first glance seems to be a little bit of a gimmick to sell an "updated" version and help Billy make more money.  The box comes with a DVD set and two sets of gloves and two sets of bands (I am guessing because they break quite a bit).
     
     Starting the exercise program out, the first disc is an introduction disc.  Billy starts off right away with the different punches that he wants to incorporate.  You learn each punch, with both hands and then goes into the kicks.  After learning each punch and kick, Billy goes into some cardio workout with each punch and kick, giving you many different combos and actually gets the heart rate up and got me to breathing heavy.  By the end of the basic disc, I was sweating good and breathing pretty heavily.  One thing that Billy does at the end of the workout is asks you to disconnect the bands from the gloves and the straps and then do the punches and kicks without the bands connected.  After doing this, there was a difference, the bands to help, but really even without the bands, it would be a decent workout.
   
   Now for the negative aspects of this.  I did and have done martial arts throughout my life, and the main one that I was successful in, did the best was Tae Kwon Do.  I had to put in 4 years of Tae Kwon Do and I was still not an expert by any means, but I knew how to do my punches, my stance, my kicks.  Billy attempts to teach you all of the ways to kick, punch and stand in 2 minutes.  It is not as serious as tae kwon do, but form is everything.  If someone's form is bad, it is possible to get hurt and Billy takes no time to teach form.  He jumps right into the workout and there are no other references to form in the DVD or materials that come with it.  The only other negative aspect of it that I can see from the first disc is that Billy goes extremely too fast.  He puts these combos in and then expects you to do them and have them down right away.  It will take time to get them down and I am sure once I start the more aggressive training disc, it will be even quicker.

   I can say that I felt my muscles in my shoulders and my legs really straining and I am sure I will be very sore tomorrow.  That all being said, I am also running and walking my dogs for a total 4 miles or more.  I am excited to do the next disc, but these discs do lack better instruction, better examples and Billy Blanks seems to not be as articulate as he was, stumbling over himself in the instruction and not keeping it consistent.  If these discs were combined with Insanity and Shaun T's instruction, they would be better, but for the time being, I will do the month long program and document my progress.  The tag line something about feeling the difference in one day and seeing results in 7.  I am sure there will be something to that, but I am adding the extra running to it as well, so this should be interesting.

Days 2 & 3

     Over the last two days I have basically kept up my running.  Day 2 was a GORGEOUS Day!!!!  I cannot believe that it was almost 70 degrees in the beginning of JANUARY...no wind (which is weird)...I ran 2.5 miles, then on day 3, even though it was chillier, it was still 50, in January.  I do believe that global climate change does exist, but those temperatures are just ridiculous, but I won't complain too much because of how nice the days were when I was running.
   
      I am not sure how many days I will string together before I take a break, but I may take Tuesday off from running because Monday will be the first day I attempt the Tae Bo and based on the bands and everything, I will probably hurt myself somehow and will need the break.  I have kept off caffeine and am doing pretty good.  I will weigh on Monday as well and see where I am at with that.  Now, for football...the playoffs!!!

Bored Eating

               So yesterday, January 5, 2012 was my first day of running in about 2 weeks.  The reason that I have not been running was due to plantar fasciitis issues in my left foot.  I decided to pull my big boy pants on and run.  I ran for about 2.5 miles.  One reason for my decision to start running was due to my unscheduled weigh in yesterday morning.  Once I stepped on that scale, I found myself NEEDING to start working out, I found myself NEEDING to start getting my exercise in.  I was up about 8 lbs, to the heaviest I have been since last year, 272 lbs.     
     Now I realize that one day does not make a diet, or a does not make me lose any weight, however one day at a time does help and it all starts out with just one day.  The run yesterday was good.  It was difficult because I am out of shape again, but I finished the entire run, even though there were a couple of places I wanted to stop.  Now that I have started, I will keep doing it, or at least try to do it everyday.  My biggest problem now is the dieting.  As much as I want to purchase weightnot, I just don't know if I will have the money to invest in it.  We will see later this month, but at the current moment, I have to try to do it myself.  I currently use an app on my phone, myfitnesspal, which really helps to keep track of what I eat.  It has almost everything that is in a grocery store, listed on the app and all I have to do it just plug in what I normally eat.  The difficulty is when I am at home at night, just sitting there, after I do my homework, after I walk my dogs, after I do everything I need to do, sitting there reading or watching tv...and I get bored.  Unfortunately, I am a bored eater...I get bored, to do something...I eat.  It is something I really have to fight against.  I will keep trying, but it hasn't been a real good couple of days.
      Starting Monday, I will start my Tae bo and update how that goes, but for right now, this is the best I can do.  I will continue running, I will do the tae bo and update my weight.  My weigh day is Monday, so I will not have any unscheduled weigh-ins until that point.

New Year's Resolutions

Hello Fans!!!
   So the new year is upon us and as is normally the case, we make resolutions to start out our new year.  Why is it the new year that we put ourselves to task to become better people?  Is it the concept of "New Year"?  Is it the same reason that we start our new diets on Monday (because we want that one last day to gorge ourselves on the food we want to eat and the things we want to drink before our deprivation?).  I believe that the road to hell is paved with good intentions and usually, those resolutions go the way of the good intention after about a month, especially if it comes to losing weight, eating better and etc, etc, etc.

    My new year's resolutions, unfortunately, are going to be along the same type of those described above. The reason that I am doing, yet another list of resolutions is that I believe that I can stick to them.  Whether or not you do resolutions, they are not stupid, no matter how many of them go away after a certain amount of time.  I feel that listing them in my blog would help me to stay on track.  Obviously, if you are reading this (the two or three of you) and you know me, I have been working out quite a bit over the last year, lost quite a bit of weight and have the determination to do a prolonged workout regimen as long as I stay away from injury (something I am dealing with right now.)
   
   So, after a lot of thought, my 2012 lists of resolutions are as follows:
    1. Become caffeine free, which I am happy to say that as of 1/4/2012, I am caffeine free...so one resolution down
    2. STAY caffeine free.  This seems to be the kink in my armor.  No matter where I go, what I do, caffeine is everywhere.  Now, having one or two sodas is not being addicted, but having three to four days or one or two sodas (all diet) IS an addiction.  I will do my best to watch that.
     3. Over the span of the year, lose 60 lbs.  This is something I feel that I can fully achieve, especially living where I live (there is little to do).  That all being said, my goals are broken down.  I would like to be at 40 lbs down by September (my birthday) and I feel that I can totally do that.
      4. Be out of credit card debt by December 2012.  I figured if the world is going to end, at the very least I can die with my debt being paid off (except my student loans...but no government, no loans....lol)
      5.  I would like to start on another degree (again, nothing much to do here).  I have to find an online class or one that is out of a community college or college near me.  I was thinking something in the sciences, since that is one area I don't have a lot of knowledge.
      6. Just overall become a better brother, son, and friend.  This is something that I can always work on and need to work on.  I don't have a set date to become "better" but it is just something that needs to be worked on at ALL times.

      Those above are my resolutions.  Obviously, I am not going to achieve all of them in the next month, and I think that is the biggest problem with resolutions.  If things doing start changing right away, then people get frustrated and give up.  On a positive note, my Tae Bo PT 24/7 came in the mail and OH MY GOD!!!  I think with all of the bands and crap, I am going to end up hurting myself more than I already do working out.  This should be an interesting...exercise.  I will probably start on Sunday or Monday, depending on how my foot heals, as it is not healing right now.  This plantar fasciitis is not healing, so I may just have to workout, stretch, ice and then deal with the pain.  I am going to start on the weightnot diet as soon as it gets here, which is supposed to be by the end of the month.  I am excited and scared.  It is a drastic diet, with vitamins, and very few calories, but if I can stick to it, then I can lose the weight and feel better.  We will see.  Stay tuned.