Record Turnout!!

We had a record turnout today for the Monday night rualk.  Tonight, we had 4 people!!  It's becoming the place to be.

Everyone likes steps, right?  Five steps to be debt free.  Nine steps to a happy marriage.  Eleven steps to the perfect cheeseburger.

I admit, I'm no expert, and I don't have everything figured out, but here's four EASY steps to starting a workout program.

1. Figure out (or at least take a guess at) what you enjoy doing.  Walking?  Tennis?  Weights?  Aerobic dance?
2. Make sure you physically capable of participating in said activity.  (I'm not trying rock climbing any time soon.)   Consult your physician if necessary.
3. Choose when you are going to get active (not what year, but what day(s) of the week and what time).
4. FIND A PARTNER.  Get someone to join you.  Keep each other accountable.

That's it.  Simple, huh?

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If you decide to give my steps a try, let me know!

(88 days to Gobble Jog!!)

A Minor Revelation

As you may have read in my previous blog, Monday night I rualked the 5k course that I will be running on Thanksgiving Day - a.k.a. the Gobble Jog.  It was quite an adventure.

As I also said previously, concrete is a lot tougher on the old joints than asphalt.  So, when I got out of the car after driving back to the house, I had stiffened up a bit.  As I stretched and slowly worked out the kinks, I realized something.

That was the hardest 5k I would ever run.

Barring an injury, it's only going to get easier from here.  The NEXT time I run a 5k, I'll be lighter, faster, and stronger!

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Are you still trying to "get off the couch", literally or metaphorically?  Give it a try.  The first time is the toughest.  It's all downhill from there!

My First 5k

Tonight I rualked my first office 5k course.  It wasn't an actual race, but it was the honest-to-goodness course that will be used for the Gobble Jog on Thanksgiving Day.  I learned a few things (some of which you probably already knew) while I was tackling this.

1. Concrete really is harder than asphalt.  Really.  Since this wasn't the actual race, I was confined to the sidewalks, all of which are concrete.  By the end I could really feel it in my ankles and knees.
2. Both uphill AND downhill are difficult.
3. Though a small difference, 2.9 miles and 3.1 miles are not the same.  My normal route at home is 2.9 miles.  Today I went 3.1 miles.   Just .2 miles...no biggie, huh?
4. I'm a stroller by natural.  I saunter.  I have to constantly remind myself to keep my speed up when I'm not running.
5. Don't wear shorts that are too big when running a 5k.  They fall off at inopportune times.

It's approximately 90 days until the Gobble Jog.  I think I'll run it again in 30 days, and then a final time in 60 days.  Hopefully my time will improve with each attempt as I am lugging around less and less of me.

Let's get active!

Major Victory?

Major Victory is the alter-ego of a Marvel Superhero named Vance Astrovik.  Vance Astrovik was born in Saugerties, New York, the only son of a small-town butcher Arnold Astrovik and his wife Norma. Going into the U.S. Air Force at the age of 18, Astrovik (who changed his name to Astro when he was 21) became the youngest man to be accepted into the astronaut training program several years later. In 1988, Astro volunteered for the first manned interstellar mission ever conducted by the United States, Project: Starjump.

His ship, Odysseus I, was not equipped for faster-than-light speed; hence the journey to Earth's nearest interstellar neighbor, a planet in the Alpha Centauri system, would take about 10 centuries. To protect him from aging, Astro was covered with a skin-preserving copper alloy (which was upgraded with adamantium in the Guardians of the Galaxy series) body-suit, and his blood was transfused with a kind of preservative fluid. Astro was launched into space from the Houston Airport in the fall of 1988.

While on his way to Alpha Centauri, the ship automatically awoke him from his suspended animation in order for him to perform routine course adjustments. During the periods he was awake, sometimes for a year in duration, Astro eventually went insane from loneliness on several occasions, returning to a semblance of normality only after the ship automatically put him back in suspended animation again. During his long periods of sustained dream-state activities, Astro's latent psionic powers emerged. By the time he arrived on Centauri IV almost a thousand years later, he had full control over his psychokinetic abilities.


Major Victory is also what I experienced today when I had my blood pressure taken at work!!  Over the last few years, my blood pressure hovered just below "high".  At my last employee physical, it was 143/93.  That's actually pretty high, especially the second number.

Then there's today!  Today, my blood pressure was 111/71!!  Your eyes did not deceive you!  My blood pressure is totally normal!!!  Normal!

Switching Things Up a Bit

Those of you that have been keeping up with my journey know that I have my "own personal walking track" next to my house.  It's kind of a modified figure eight, with a 110+ yard straight-away in the middle.  We've been running the straight-away both directions, which constitutes about 1/3 of a lap.

Tonight, we took it up a notch!  We're now doing what I call "running 6ths."  I've mentally divided our track into 6 (fairly) even pieces and we're alternating running and walking each segment.  Simply put, we're now running 1/2 of each lap!

From 1/3 to 1/2 doesn't seem like much of a difference, but it sure felt like a big difference!

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Have you been exercising regularly but doing the same old thing?  Tony Horton (from P90X) is always talking about muscle confusion.  I think that applies not only to your muscles, but to your mind.  Switch something up.  Make a little change.  Take a different route on your run.  Maybe go for a bike ride instead of the treadmill.  Keep it fresh however you can!

Places I've Vanquished

Below is a list of all the places I have vanquished in the past month and a half.

Stevi B's Pizza
McDonald's
La Parilla
Marietta Diner
Burger King
Firehouse Subs
Subway
Pizza Hut
Willy's
Starbucks
All Star Pizza

So what does that mean, "vanquished"?  It means that I not only ate there, but I controlled my portions, made good choices, and in most cases took some food home with me.  In the past, if Cheryl and I ate out and we brought something hope with us, it was because it was poultry, and I couldn't eat it.  (In case you didn't know, I'm allergic to poultry...that's why they call it fowl.)

Not so anymore!  Every time I walk out of a restaurant know that I've eaten right, I know I've taken another step in the right direction.  All this different eating has changed my taste buds.

For the last few days, I've been craving...salad.  Salad!  Can you believe it?  I've also started to really have a taste for peppers.  Bell peppers (red, orange, yellow, green...any color), banana peppers, pepperoncinis, jalapenos, you name it!

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Have you had any small victories lately, like going to a restaurant and not over doing it?  Walking instead of sitting?  Water instead of Pepsi?

Where Are You Reading This?

Many of you are reading this as a note in Facebook.  Some of you are reading this in an email right now.  You've subscribed to my blog and have it handily delivered to your inbox each time I post.  Others of you might be reading this via an RSS feed.  Or maybe you have just pulled it up in a web browser.  None of this is really the point...I don't know why I'm going on so.

If you are reading this in Facebook, then you might have already read my latest status, giving an update on my weight loss:  40.8 lbs so far!  If you aren't my Facebook friend, then let me give you an update on my weight loss:  40.8 lbs so far!

This past week I didn't get much exercise in because I had strained my Achilles tendon a couple of weeks ago.  However, I got my Cho-Fan Achilles Brace in the mail yesterday, so I can't wait to try it out tomorrow night with a good run-walk!  I think it's going to help.

And hey!! If you aren't my Facebook friend, you can be:  www.facebook.com/aaroneousfindings

Quick Weight Loss Secrets

Would you like to lose 5 lbs a week, each and every week, until you reach your goal?  With no expensive meals, supplements or videos to buy?  No gym membership required?  Do you want a workout plan that's all plan and no work?  A plan that let's you eat what you want and not change your activity level and STILL lose all the weight you want?

Unfortunately, it doesn't exist.  But on the flip-side, there is a super simple 2-step plan that works every time.

1)  Eat less
2)  Be more active

That's the plan I've been on for the past month and a half, and it's working great.  But, like many simple things in life, simple doesn't necessarily mean easy.

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If you're struggling to do one of these two simple steps, allow me to make a suggestion.  Pick one step.  Pick the one that is the most difficult for you.  Now, decide right now one thing you are going to do to take a step in the right direction for that step.  Here are some examples.

Eat a healthy breakfast.
Park further from your office.
Don't drink your afternoon Dr. Pepper.
Go for a walk after dinner.
Don't have seconds at dinner.
Shoot some hoops.
Turn off the TV.

Take a step in the right direction, and let me know how it goes!

110 Days Until Gobble Jog

I just thought I would give you a quick status update.

Last week I pulled my Achilles tendon.  Just slightly, but I did pull it.   I've taken it easy this week, but still tried to do what I could.  It's feeling better.  I'm going to try for a real workout on Monday.

As of this morning's weigh-in (which occurs every Saturday in my bathroom), I have lost a total of 36.4 lbs. from my "official starting weight", which is pretty exciting.

My countdown clock on my computer desktop tells me that I have 110 days left until the Gobble Jog.  That's more than 15 weeks.  If I can average losing 2 lbs a week, I should be down 30 lbs more by the Gobble Jog, which would be about 65 lbs total.  However, my goal for the Gobble Jog is to be down 75 lbs.

Hope to see you there!

I Need Your Help

Hello all my friends out there.  I need your help.  We have two sweet little dogs named Bonnie and Smallville. They need a new home.

Bonnie is a 5 year-old female (spayed) brown and white Jack Russell Terrier.  Smallville is 4 year-old male (neutered) black and white (and a little brown) Jack Russell Terrier.  Both of them are full-blooded, healthy, housebroken, crate trained, and can do quite a few tricks.

They like to be outdoors, but are comfortable in the house as well.  Jack Russell Terriers are notorious for two things:  being one of the smartest, if not THE smartest dog breed, and being hyperactive.  I prefer the term high energy.  They love to run and play, but every evening the come inside, play fetch and tug-o-war a little bit, then turn into lap dogs.  They love people, and are very friendly.

We recently moved into a new house, and that's where our problems started.  They've gotten out of the fence many times.  In Texas, they never got out of the fence.  In our past three and half years, they only escaped a handful of times, and they usually just came around and scratched on the front door.

Monday, they escaped AGAIN, and this time they ended up instigating a tussle with a Maltese that was being walked by her owner.  The Maltese wasn't hurt,  but the lady was pretty shook up.  She managed to catch both dogs (which isn't difficult) and called Animal Control, who came and picked them up.  We received two citations for each dog:  2 "Failure to Control Animal", and 2 "Vicious Animal".  These are not "vicious" animals.

Our fence just can't seem to hold them.  We need someone that would be willing to give them a new home.  They come with a crate!  The person that would be perfect to adopt these dogs would either have A)  a QUALITY fenced yard, or B)  a couple of hundred acres.  They really don't need to be all-day-inside dogs.

Please pass the word on this.  I'll drive 100 miles to bring them to a good home.

Smallville

Bonnie

I'm Something of an Expert

There's few things in life that I claim to be an expert about.  One of those few things is hamburgers.   I know hamburgers.  Home grilled, fast food, and everything in between.  It's absolutely my favorite food.

I have definite ideas on what constitutes a good home grilled burger, and there are a couple of restaurants that make great burgers (Hello, Jucy's!) that should not be classified as "fast food".

I've never tried to do this, but I guarantee you that I could demolish a blind taste test of the most popular fast food burgers.  If you blindfolded me and gave me a bite of a McDonald's burger, a Wendy's burger, a Burger King burger, a Krystal Burger burger (too easy), a Whataburger burger, a Jack-in-the-Box burger, a Sonic hamburger, a Braum's burger, and a Steak n' Shake burger, a couple of things would happen.  First of all, I would be full. Second, I think I could identify each one.

In my opinion, with few exceptions, the best way to eat a hamburger is with double-meat, cheese (which, of course, technically makes it a cheeseburger), mustard, and pickles.  That's all.   If you start adding lettuce, tomato, onions, and other things, it begins to mask the real taste of the MEAT, which, after all  is what a burger is really all about. Do NOT be tempted to put bacon on your burger.  Bacon is perfect by itself, and should not be mixed with any other flavor unnecessarily. 

Then take that burger, and dip it into ketchup.  One bite at a time. Do not put the ketchup ON the burger.  Dip the burger IN the ketchup.  Don't knock it till you try it.  I'm an expert.

Of all the fast food burgers I listed above, my favorite is Sonic's Super Sonic Cheeseburger, which is their double-meat quarter-pounder.  Before I said that double-meat, cheese, pickles and mustard, dipped in ketchup is the perfect way to eat a burger.  This is the one exception:  jalapeños.  Sonic's Super Sonic JALAPEÑO Cheeseburger is a work of art.  Sonic's jalapeños have the best flavor, and just the right amount of heat.

For the past day and a half, I've had a nagging craving for something.  I tried a bunch of different things: strawberries, Cheetos, cheese.  Nothing did it.  It has been six weeks or so since I had a "real burger", so this evening I decided to "jump off the wagon" and get a Super Sonic Jalapeño Cheeseburger.

Maybe that's what I need! Maybe that's what I'm craving!  Right?

I will admit.  The burger tasted great.  Really, REALLY, great.  The problem?  After about 4 bites, I was over it.  I finished it.  I couldn't waste a Super Sonic Jalapeño Cheeseburger.  I just couldn't do it.

Afterwards, I wished I hadn't eaten it. I didn't feel guilty.  I felt cheated.

The burger was good.  But the problem was that it wasn't good enough for me to justify the calories and fat.  The promise of how good the burger would taste didn't justify the calories.  And the fat.  And the sugar.

I enjoyed the burger, but now I actually enjoy eating healthy even more.  It's not even about taste.  It's that it makes me feel better.  Physically as well as how I feel ABOUT myself.

So when your favorite (not-so-good-for-you) food whispers "eat me" in your ear, ask yourself the following question.  "How will I really feel after I've eaten this?"

I wish I would have asked myself that question.

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One last note...  I know there many other burgers out there I didn't mention:  White Castle, In-and-Out, etc.  I was just focusing on the ones that have been local to where I've lived.  Sorry.