First Target Achieved, but the process is ongoing!

Hello Readers! I have been delinquent in posting, but I post with good news. My target date to have lost the initial 25 pounds was on March 15th. I was on a ski vacation with Dana at that point in time so that is why I am slow to post. I am very pleased to mention that I did hit my inital goal of 25 pounds by March 15th.

I have mentioned before though that this is a never ending journey for me. While in Colorado skiing my friend Andy Moore laid out a further challenge. He asked me how much more I truly wanted to lose. I am not afraid to share my weight with the world. I am down to 217 pounds now, compared to mind boggling 350 pounds I was once at this is a miracle. My next level that I really want to reach is the under 200 barrier with an ultimate goal of 185 pounds that would put me at a very healthy number. My friend Andy who is in very good shape wants to join in this quest so we have a bottle of a fine liquor on the line. This will keep the inspiration up.

I think an important point to make since I said I was on vacation is that working out or physical activity does not have to stop. Each of us owns a pair of running shoes, pack your shoes in with your luggage and do something while on vacation. For me the trip was skiing, and I think Dana will attest to this skiing is a very physical activity. Most people probably think going down a mountain is very easy, but you get an incredible leg workout in as well as a very good cardio workout in.

I look forward to keeping everyone up to date on my next goal. To everyone find your inspiration and use it to help you achieve all that you can. That was my motivational phrase of the day.

Destination is so close!

When I began the blog, my goal was to reach 25 pounds by March 15th, I am very close to this first goal. I am at 20 pounds with two weeks to go. The last five will be tough as I am going on vacation on March 11th. I am headed to Colorado for a ski trip. I am heading out there with Dana, we will be meeting Andy Moore his wife Leslie and their two and half year old Sydney. Nathan Hill (Opie) will be joining us as well. I am hoping the physical demands of skiing will offset the fun that will be had.

With the goal in sight, don't worry all this is not my end goal. This was just a nice starting point. I have two goals in sight. I will be competing in a Triathlon in Columbia in May and will need to be in top shape for this competition, then my YMCA buddy Andre has pushed me to join him in the Chicago Half Marathon in September. My ultimate goal is to get another 30 pounds off before it is all said and done. I want to finish my quest at about 190 pounds.

As promised last week, I am putting the link to my team and my profile page below for Relay for Life. Again this is a great cause, it will go toward ending the disease that is cancer. I am not great at asking for money, but if you have the ability I would ask that you contribute to this cause. When you read my story with cancer and especially Dana's hopefully it will inspire you to donate to the cause. If nothing else, join a team of your own and participate, you will find fitness wise you will gain much out of the adventure and the sense you will get from being on a team will be incredible.

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLFY10PL?team_id=645563&pg=team&fr_id=23828&fl=en_US&et=HKLZPLVynqVJCvQi_2hedg..&s_tafId=450058

Team link above,

My personal link below:

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLFY10National?px=14239109&pg=personal&fr_id=23828

Heavy Activity in Weeks 6 & 7

All, week 6 & 7 saw me very busy and posting time at a minimal as I was on the road for a good deal of the time. I will need to check the scale tomorrow for a complete update and will post further later this week as I have something very important to include on this blog. In June I will be a team member on a Relay for Life team in Columbia, Missouri. The Relay for Life is an extremely important cause, this is a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. Cancer has touched all of our lives in some way. I will post a link to the team I am on and hope that followers will read the special stories of my team captain Dana O'Loughlin, and then read other team members stories. If you are inspired by the stories, I recommend either donating or finding a local team to join and help fight the cause.

In week 6 I saw some of my best workouts done, I had to opportunity to work out twice a day in that time frame as I was able to run 4-5 miles everyday before work then I was able to attend my standard classes at night.

Valentine's Day saw me compete with my girlfriend in a four mile race here in KC at the downtown airport. The race was a success, I completed my run in 41 minutes roughly. Dana completed hers in a great time of 49 minutes, this was her first competitive race so congrats go out to her on the incredible effort. Races are very important for people as this gives you an opportunity put your training efforts to the test. Races are often a good motivating tool to push yourselft to new extremes.

Week 7 saw me push hard again early on. On Monday I cranked out three workouts as it was a holiday and I knew later in the week my efforts would not be as good. Tuesday I got in a nice 5 mile run before work, then did some heavy lifting post work that night. Thanks to Dana I was even pretty good on vacation as instead of doing nothing and just watching TV and enjoying adult beverages we walked around the campus at Mizzou and some neighborhoods so I walked roughly four miles each day which was nice.

This is something I always try to share with people, even though you are on vacation that is not an excuse to do nothing, as long as you have a pair of tennis shoes you should be able to get some sort of workout in. This is a real key in anyone's quest to lose weight, do not take your vacation or travel time off, find something active to do. That will help you make up for the eating and drinking you will probably over indulge in while on vacation.

Week 4&5 Combined

First of all sorry to those who follow, I have been swamped the last couple of weeks so I am combining week 4 and 5. I want to throw out a plug for the Greater Kansas City YMCA and my Vivion Road Branch of the YMCA who have added my blog to their websites so that more people will have the opportunity to follow.

Week 4 and 5 saw positive results for me, I lost a combined 4 pounds which I am very happy with, the effort was very intense. I put in a couple of hard workouts every weekday during this stretch. Right now I am concentrating on picking up my running intensity, I want to start building miles in anticipation of competing in a half marathon here very soon. In this stretch I did have a night in Columbia where I was overserved by some local establishments but this did not deter from my efforts.

I am looking forward to week six as next Sunday is my first run of the new year. I will be competing in the Valentine's Love to Run run at the downtown airport. This is a four mile run which is about my favorite distance to run as you will see with my workouts. I need to throw my shout out to Dana as well who is joining me on this run! Keep up your great work Dana!

Here is a list of this weeks workouts to try and motivate others:

Monday: Used the stair stepper for 1 hour and 10 minutes followed by Crystal's boot camp. Crystal was in a very fiesty mood this week and really picked up the intensity. Followed by the sauna.

Tuesday: I was only able to get one workout in that night as I had a late meeting. I ran 4 miles and lifted weights.

Wednesday: Again I only had one workout, it was intense as there was a going away happy hour for my friend Jay from US Central. I ran 6 miles after work.

Thursday: Heavy effort day, I put in 1 hour and 10 minutes on the stair stepper again as cross training then did Crystal's bosu boot camp which was heavy on legs. We did more squats and squat kicks than I would prefer to ever do, but her classes are so effective. For new people to the site if you belong to Vivion "Y" take any Crystal class you have the opportunity to.

Friday: Today is a 6 mile run after work.

Week 3 Results

Week 3 saw me have an off week, I had a no gain but a no loss week. This sounds disappointing but it was a very tough week. I continued with my standard steady workouts but the self discipline side of me had a rough week. I did not maintain my great portion control and I overindulged in my eating and drinking.

These weeks will happen, not every week is going to be the perfect week where the weight melts away. I still enjoy having my vices which are pizza and beer. Every once in a while I still like to have a very big meal. It is important to realize these moments will happen to anyone who is on a journey like this, it is all a matter of how you react and comeback from the slip.

Part of this blog it to hold myself accountable for weeks like week three when I slipped or over indulged in my vices. I want you to know when I have done this and hopefully if you see me you will push me not to overindulge.

Last week I was approached by the Greater Kansas City YMCA, they had been reading my blog and would like to use it by putting a link on their website. Hopefully soon you will see my site on their website as I actually felt very honored that they asked me.

When I started this blog, I mentioned my goal was to pass my inspiration on, I feel that this is happening as I have seen many people respond very positively. I have heard many people saying they have started a more active lifestyle just by reading this and realizing that if an average person like myself can do this they can. I am going to mention two people below who I am happy to have helped inspire or motivate.

I mentioned Dana in my first post as someone who inspired me to be a better person, I feel very proud to say that Dana will be running a four mile run with me in Kansas City in February. I am glad I could pay it forward a bit and help inspire her. I was very happy to work with her and help develop a plan to help her reach her goal for this race. Dana I look forward to seeing your smile when you succeed that day and complete the race in the time you wish.

I want to mention my friend Jen Russell as well, Jen is my friend who I used to work with. Jen and I started running together about a year and a half ago. When we first started running Jen struggled and disliked running, I continued to push her and she is now in training for a marathon. I was at lunch with Jen the other day and mentioned she needed to show people what marathon training is like, Jen has created a blog now that I will support. I encourage those of you who want to be inspired and see the training involved in preparing for a marathon to follow Jen's trials and tribulations.

Here is the link to Jen's blog: http://kcrunnergirladventures.blogspot.com

Thanks to both of the people mentioned above for continuing to push me, hopefully I can continue to push both of you as well. Next week I will be back to posting my workouts for everyone as this has been a great push week.

Week 2: Goal is still on track

Week 2 saw me working a different shift at work so the duration of my workouts and the amount of my workouts was down. Week 2 also marked the start of winter semester at school so I had to dedicate some of my time toward coursework. I am now in the final stretch of school, three classes remain until completion in June. That being said I still had a very productive week of work and saw an additional 6 pounds melt off putting me at an even 230 pounds. Below is the workouts used to achieve this:

Monday: 50 situps, 25 push ups, boot camp with Crystal at the YMCA, a 15 minute sweat in the sauna, completed with 3 sets of tennis at the club that evening.

Tuesday: Weight Training focusing on chest and arms, Cross Training class at the YMCA, finished off with a 15 minute sauna.

Wednesday: Spin Class with John at the YMCA, followed by bosu (abs class) at the YMCA, topped off with the sauna.

Thursday: Weight Training and Upper Body work bosu class at the YMCA.

Friday: 100 situps, 30 push ups and a 4 1/2 mile run before work.

Saturday and Sunday were somewhat off days, I took the family dog Coco for a four mile walk each day. Saturday evening at dinner I may have decided on the half marathon that I will be running. The GO St. Louis half is the weekend of April 11th which should give me plenty of prep time to have myself in peak physical condition. I was discussing with Chip today at the gym and there is still a large contingent planning on competing in a Triathlon in Columbia in May so this will be one of my goals for the year.

Week One Results

Week One saw me push my body, after the Christmas Break it was time to shock my body and push it to the limits! I started the week at 242 pounds. Here were the workouts I used in week one:

Monday: 100 crunches followed by a 4 Mile Run followed by Boot Camp at the YMCA led by Chip last week, topped off with 15 minutes of relaxation in the sauna!

Tuesday: X-Training Day, I did 50 sit ups, 25 push ups, then an hour and ten minutes on the stair step machine for my cardio topped off with 15 minutes in the sauna.

Wednesday was the ultimate push day, I did 100 sit ups, 50 push ups, a 5 mile run at a medium pace of 55 minutes, an hour spin class with Crystal, topped off with the 15 minute sauna.

Thursday: X-Training Day number two, 50 sit ups, an hour an five minutes on the stair step machine, then Crystals Bosu Boot Camp which was primarily arms and chest lifting, finished off with 15 minutes in the sauna.

Friday: Biceps, 100 sit ups, and then 4.5 mile run.

Saturday: was rest day, I did splurge a bit packing on quite a few calories from beer, pizza, and wings.

Sunday: I sweat out some of the toxins put in my body on Saturday by sitting in the sauna for 20 minutes.

Even with the splurge on Saturday week one was a successful week I saw 6 pounds come off and am now sitting at 236 pounds.

The key to me sticking to my guns and staying with this are the people who inspired me, and setting target goals to hit. It is my intention to run a half marathon by either the end of March or early in April. I have also committed to completing a triathlon in Columbia, Missouri in May. My recommendations for those looking for motivation is to pick targets, set goals and hold yourself accountable to reach these goals. If you are lacking the motivation find a friend or pick a person to help push you, never be afraid to ask your friends for help!!!! I have found all the people who have inspired me will push me and are always willing to help me achieve the goals.