A good problem to have

7 pairs of pants just came out of my closet and are getting ready to head off the the good will drop box. It will be my 4th good will drop off since 10-7-12 and I am happy to have this problem. I am running 5 miles a day, 8 miles once a week and eating ~1,400 calories a day while keeping sodium down and nutrition up. I've dropped about 60 lbs most of which was lost in the first two months. I am 185lbs now so losing more is getting harder.

Juicing

I bought a Breville juicer over the holidays to start juicing and as it turns out it, I love it!  I ended up buying the same model as Joe Cross from “Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead” uses (Amazon review were off the charts for this brand and model).  It shreds the fruit and vegetables, skin and all, so in such a way that it tears the fibers in the pulp and sends them into the juice with the other nutrients.  There is a masher style if you want more all the pulp, but you can just add the dry pulp back in if you want it (I am going to use it as compost for my new garden).  I didn’t know much about juicing before I bought a juicer, but what I did know is that there are some people who drink green drinks everyday and I knew that that I was not one of them, nor what I  eating nearly enough fruit or vegetables on a daily, weekly or lifetime basis.  So I decided to grow my snowball larger and make the lifestyle change to include more consumption of both.

Now there are as many different recipes available online as there are stars in the sky, but I just started by going to my local produce depot and loading up on everything, including things I had never heard of prior to that trip (i.e. Kale).  I tried a few different fruit and vegetable recipes and have really enjoyed them all.  Obviously the vegetable drinks are not as pleasurable to the palate as the fruit mixes as they lack the sugar of the delicious fruit, but as we all know, too much of a good thing is not so good for our health.  So I have decided to focus on the vegetable drinks and I must admit, they have gotten better as I drink more and more of them.  I will say that a few people have tried my green drink, but did not like them at all.  I suspect that is the result of not wanting to drink them in the first place.  I believe that if you have an open mind and are wanting to be more healthy, then you will find that these drinks do in fact taste good.

What was funny to me was that I bought the juicer so that I would consume more vegetables, then while looking for recipes I found a plethora of information and people who have documentary’s on the subject, which I subsequently watched.  So I guess I bought the juicer, then learned about juicing.  There is so much available on Netflix, as well as hulu to learn from that I am currently in overload mode right not and I am just trying to sift through, organize and decide what information is relevant and important to me specifically.  Then I will snowball that information just as I am snowballing my transition to a healthy and active lifestyle.  Not too much too soon for me.  I am taking a slow approach to new adjustments as I believe it will keep things fresh as well as prevent me from total burn out.  Some of the videos I have enjoyed are as follows:

-Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead

-Food Inc. (has inspired my wife and I to start our own garden this spring)

-Foodmatters

-Gerson Theory

Thanks for stopping by!

Post Holiday

I have been away from my computer for the holidays and have not had much to say anyway.  I did want to comment today on how my thoughts about getting past the holiday food.

The holidays were an enjoyable time, as usual, and I lost weight and continued to run each and every day throughout them.  I lost a total of 5 lbs during the two week period of holidays and that was while eating a little bit of bad food here and there.  Although it was difficult to avoid consuming most of the delicious looking food spreads, it was not as difficult as I thought it would be.  I have been staying focused on the idea that I can have it, but I don't want it vs. the former I want it, but I can't have it.  It seems to be helping me when I start to think about eating some things that I really enjoy and have not had in a while. 

I am excited for the new year and am looking forward to the weather warming up so I can start running outside again.  It certainly starts to get boring running inside day in and day out, but I am just not built to run outside in the unforgiving Chicago winter.  As mentioned, I also kept up on my daily runs (some days running twice for a real thrill, ha).  I also started using my Nike+ app for treadmill running so I could compete with  the few other friends who are using it.  It has given me another reason to run longer and harder.  I almost immediately took my daily miles up to a minimum of 5 just to stay on top of the others.  I don’t want to be second, so this is a great motivator for me.  I have invited many others so as to have as much competition as possible.

One last thought for today.  I have now been to the Good Will drop box 4 times in the past 3 months to drop off most of my winter “fat guy” clothes!  Out with the old and in with the new as the old saying goes!  I have slowed down my new clothes buying to a crawl, but my wife and I are looking forward to hitting an outlet mall in early spring so that we can get new spring/summer clothes for the both of us.  Both due to weight loss, me from running and a conversion to a healthier lifestyle, and her for snapping back into her normal size after delivering our second son. Not to mention the fact that most everyone likes new clothes, right?

Next blog I will write about a new juicer I bought during the holidays and started juicing.  I watched a few documentary’s over break and I think I have changed again.

Nike+ Chip

Does anyone use this and what is the benefit vs. just using the Nike + app on my iphone?

New Equipment

While I was out this weekend getting gifts for other people, I bought a few "gifts" for myself.  I was using an old pair of Bose earphones with a really long wire, which I had to wrap around the arm band a few times just to keep it out of the way, but not any more!  While at the Apple store in Orland Park, IL - I found a Bose sport set, which had the volume/talk/change song controller built into the wire (I never looked for one, so I didn't know it existed).  I bought it, but also a Thomas the Train ipad game so that I wouldn't feel guilty for buying for myself only, hehe.

Next I strolled into Finish Line just to take a look at running shoes.  They had a sale, so I stepped up the quality of my running shoes.  I bought a pair of Nike Freerun 5.0 running shoes and I really love them.  They have great arch support and seem to help roll my foot forward duing the run.  Anyone have thoughts on the Freerun's?

Now I know that these things are not needed to run successfully, but I will say that both of these purchases have helped me focus more on the running and less on the distractions that come with sub par running equipment.

Yesterday I signed up for 1 race a month from March to July 2013.  I also signed up for a 10 mile run into Soldier Field in May.  50 yard line in the home of the Chicago Bears...bad ass if you ask me!

Thanks for stopping by!

Adam

Shamrock Shuffle

As of yesterday's weigh in (and a weekly loss of 5.2lbs), I've lost a total 42.5 lbs in les than two months. Running has really helped me get back into shape. As such, I signed up for another run today, the Chicago Shamrock Shuffle an 8k in April. This ought to keep me running all through the winter.

It is 68F in Chicago today and I'm going to take advantage of this great weather and run outdoors when I get home.


Thanks for stopping by,
Adam

New clothes

Although it is a good problem to have, I find myself buying new clothes rapidly since my old clothes look funny on me now. And just to think, when I was still in denial about how much weight I had gained due to an increasingly sedentary lifestyle, I thought I looked good in all those XL & XXL clothes.

I am buying clothes slowly however, and a bit smaller than I currently am.

I bought my first Northface coat today and just wearing it makes me feel more active.

Adam
Blogged from my iPhone

Ps. Please excuse my wind hair