No More Mr. Fat Guy!

Don’t worry; I haven’t given up on exercise.  I didn’t go to the gym for the past few days, so I didn’t post a weight.  But it wasn’t that hot yesterday, so I walked an hour or so last night on a dog-free stretch of my back roads.  The day before, I didn’t walk, but I spent an hour and a half using a push mower, so that was my workout that day.  It’s only 65 degrees right now (I almost felt like I needed a jacket when I walked outside this morning), so I think I’ll skip the gym again today, and head out on the back roads.

Well, I only walked an hour and 15 minutes tonight.  And then I ate a big meal, although, except for a quart of goat milk, that’s all I’ve eaten today.  I was planning on walking the full two hours or more, but the gym was very crowded today.  The walking track surrounds a weight room on the second floor, and it was pretty packed.  The weight area only takes up half the room; the other half is empty, and that end of the track looks over a basketball court.  Normally there will be one or two people in there from time to time when I walk.  But today, after about 45 minutes, about 10 kids showed up, and each one had his own ball.  With the acoustics of the place, the noise was deafening, despite my earmuffs.  So I got out of there.

Did 2 hours and 15 minutes of walking today. Plus, I chased one of the kid goats who got out of the pasture and into the yard for about twenty minutes, which was not fun. But one day he’ll be my supper, so it all evens out. Speaking of supper, I didn’t do too well on that front. Stopped at Hardees. They’re having a Buy One Thickburger Get One Free campaign, so I got two of their third pound mushroom burgers. And fries. And a Pepsi. I know, I know…

Back on the horse. I just finished milking the goats after I got back from a 2 hour walk at the gym. And I think I solved the noise problem. As regular readers know, I’d started walking at the gym instead of outside in my rural area on account of two things: the heat, and a couple of unpleasant interactions with dogs. But a few days after signing up for the gym, they began playing the radio so loud that it was difficult to hear my mp3 player. This was after they had assured me before I plunked my money down that they didn’t play the radio very loud at all. I’ve complained a couple of times, but was told that most people like it that loud so there was nothing they could do. I thought about calling the director or manager of the place, but past experience tells me that that might bring a couple days of respite, and then things would go back to normal. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to quit going to the gym because that would mean quitting walking unless I buy a treadmill. But I simply can’t put up with that kind of noise level. I was looking at some noise canceling headphones on Amazon, but from what I’ve read, they don’t work very well when it comes to blocking noise such as music. They’re good at blocking steady, constant noises such as bus or airplane engines, but not noise that’s constantly changing. Then I remembered what a friend of mine used to wear when he mowed his lawn - shooter’s earmuffs. So I stopped by Wal-Mart and got a pair of them for $14. And they worked great. I slip the earbuds from my mp3 player into my ear, and then put the muffs on. I could hardly tell the radio was on, and I was able to turn the volume on my player way down. It’s not the most comfortable solution in the world; the earpieces are very tight to keep noise out, and after a while it’s slightly uncomfortable. And because of the pressure on your ear, if you adjust the ear pieces, the earbuds tend to fall out. It can be tricky to get the buds in just right, and then get the earmuffs on without dislodging them. But these are minor problems, and they’re not that big of a deal. Ideally, the gym wouldn’t play the radio at all, and everyone would just listen to whatever they wanted with their own players. But I don’t see that happening for a long, long time. Until it does, I can live with this arrangement.

I work weekends, so no walking til Monday. Check back then.

Same Fat Time!

Same Fat Channel!

Well, today didn’t get off to a great start.  I was going to blow off heading for town to walk, but I talked myself out of it and got in the truck.  Went to the gym, popped my earplugs in to listen to George Noory, and took the first few steps.  And before I knew it, an hour was gone.  By this time they’d turned the radio up again, and so I left.  Sorta felt like a quitter, since I usually walk at least two hours a day, but then, that’s the nice thing about walking two hours a day - even when you only do half your normal workout, you still walked for an hour, and that’s a pretty good walk.  Then about 8 pm it had cooled off quite a bit, so when my friend John went out for a walk on the back roads, I went with him.  Got another hour in, and some good conversation.  So I made my quota after all.

Gotta work part time tomorrow.  Not sure if I’ll have time to walk or not.  Tune in to find out!

Just got back from the gym, where I did 90 more minutes of fitness walking.   That’s a total of three hours today.    Back at it tomorrow.

Same Fat Time!

Same Fat Channel!

I couldn’t sleep last night, probably because of too much caffeine intake. So I was up late reading a fascinating book I found in the library downstairs called Radical Honesty: How To Transform Your Life By Telling The Truth. John had told me about the book a while back, but it didn’t interest me. But after reading this article I had to check it out. I haven’t decided if the guy’s completely nuts, or a genius. But it’s probably one or the other. After reading about his week long workshops, which (according to the article) include one day where everybody’s naked, I’m inclined to go with at least somewhat nuts. But the book does have some interesting ideas, and there’s no doubt that all of us spend much of our time lying to ourselves and others about lots of different things. More honesty would definitely be a good thing. Anyway, so I got up late, and decided that it was more important to take care of some things around here than to head to the gym today. Not sure if it was the right decision, but it’s the one I made. So no walking or weight report today. And I’m working tomorrow and Sunday, so it’ll be Monday before I’m back at it. But I’ve had a good week so far - nine hours of fitness walking, and eating a lot better than normal.

Just got back from the gym. I only walked 2 hours today. I was planning on 2.5, but after the hour and 15 mark, my battery went dead in my mp3 player. So I took a break, drank some water, had a cigarette, and went out to my truck and got a new battery. When I got back, the radio had been turned up so loud that it was impossible to hear my mp3. It was already very loud, but I could turn up my volume and live with it. But now it was impossibly loud. So I went to the treadmill room and did another 45 minutes. I find treadmills boring; I’d much rather walk naturally. So after I got two hours in I left.

I don’t know when it became a federal law that all public accommodations must blare a TV or radio at all times and all over the establishment. If it’s not a federal law, it might as well be. One of these days people are going to wake up to the real, health damaging, harmful effects of all this extremely pervasive noise pollution. I can’t believe how used to it we’ve all gotten. Restaurants sometimes have 5 different TVs going, all on different stations, in addition to a radio or jukebox. It’s ungodly loud in almost every public place you go to. But of all the places you shouldn’t have to put up with this garbage, health clubs are near the top. It never ceases to amaze and infuriate me.

Rant over.

Tune in tomorrow.

Same Fat Time!

Same Fat Channel!

That’s what the scale at the Patrick Wellness Center in Fayetteville says. That’s the gym where I walk. I just got back from another 2.5 hour walk. That’s a total of seven hours walking since Sunday. I did an hour and a half, then took a break. Unfortunately, the water at the gym was shut off for repairs, so instead of rehydrating with H2O, I had little choice but to buy a can of pop. But that’s OK; that’s only two pops so far this week, and I haven’t had an A&W root beer in quite a while. So I had the pop, stepped outside and smoked a cigarette (yep, I’m still cool!), and got back to it. Did another hour, and then headed home.

And boy, am I starving. I had a cantaloupe this morning, and 24 ounces of goat milk. I’m trying to eat more fruits and veggies, and Dollar General had some cantaloupes that are a little past their prime for fifty cents each. I picked out two that were still nice and firm, and I’ll have the other one tomorrow. I mix in this health drink called Rice and Shine with the goat milk, along with some peanut butter to make it more filling. It’s actually pretty good. But after a 150 minute power walk, I’m famished. So I’m having some goat meat chili, courtesy of two male goats I took to the butcher a couple months ago.

Back at it tomorrow. Same Fat Time, Same Fat Channel!

Cron’s right - bodies and scales sure do fluctuate. I decided that for the blog I’ll use the readings from the scale at the gym since I’ll be there at least five days a week to walk. It reads about 5 pounds higher than my scale at home. Yesterday the gym scale said 284.2 and today it reads a pound higher. Now, since I walked 2 hours yesterday, and didn’t eat all that much, I think it’s highly unlikely that I gained a pound these past 24 hours. It’s just the normal range of fluctuations. I’m not really too worried about what the scales say right now, anyway. I’m just recording the data for those who are following along at home, and to track my long term progress. I know that if I keep walking and eating right the pounds will eventually drop off.

I just got home from the gym as a matter of fact. I’d planned on walking 2 hours today, but I felt so good that I went a half hour over, for a total of 2.5 hours. A lot of people wonder how I can walk that long without getting bored. They can’t imagine doing it themselves. Well, I love walking to start with, so that helps. I’ve always enjoyed it, even if I haven’t always done it as much as I should have. But there’s no way I could walk a couple hours a day on my own. I can go an hour with no problem, and could do it every day. But much longer than an hour and the boredom factor becomes a significant obstacle.

That’s why I bought the mp3 player a while back. They’re getting cheaper all the time; mine holds 24 hours of talk and I paid about $35 for it from Amazon. If you want to get into some real heavy duty fitness walking I strongly suggest you pick one up. They’re a lot lighter and more manageable than a CD player. Anyway, as regular readers know, I generally listen to George Noory and his Coast to Coast AM talk show on my mp3. But there for a while he started having a lot of guests and discussions that I just had no interest in. That’s part of the reason I slacked off on walking, along with my heel problems. So really, if you think about it, it’s George Noory’s fault I’m still fat. Nah, just kidding there! Anyway, it had been a long time since I walked, or listened to George, or even checked the website to see who the guests have been lately. And then, out of the blue, a very good friend who lives in Los Angeles sent me a package in the mail. It was a brand new copy of Noory’s book. She knows how much I love the program, and out of the kindness of her heart decided to do that for me. It was really sweet and generous of her, and I still can’t get over it. And it reminded me how much I love listening to Coast to Coast AM. And it played a big part in getting me back to walking again. So thanks again, Melissa!

I got in two full hours of serious walking today. Went to the gym around 3 in the afternoon. I walked moderately for 20 minutes, then took a 5 minute break. Then I walked for 40, very briskly, and took another break. Then 45 more minutes at a brisk pace, another break, and then a final 15 minutes of leisurely walking. I feel great. I’m disappointed in the gym, though. When I joined several months ago, one of the main reasons I joined was because they didn’t play the radio very loudly. That policy has apparently changed in the interim. I’ve really got to turn the volume up high on my mp3 player to hear George Noory. Oh well. It’s unpleasant, but it’s too hot to walk outside, and there are worse things in the world to put up with.

The show I listened to today was with John Robbins. You may be familiar with his story. He was the heir to the Baskin-Robbins ice cream chain, but walked away from it all and began crusading for a healthier America. He’s written some books. I think his most famous is called Diet For A New America, but I could be wrong, and don’t feel like looking it up right now. He’s got a fairly new one out, which is what he was promoting on George Noory, called Healthy At 100. (My book will be called Unhealthy At 300.) Here’s his website.

Got a brisk 90 minutes of walking in today at the gym. That’s three days this week, for a total of 4.75 hours of walking. Not too shabby for a fat guy.

I have to work tomorrow, so I won’t be able to walk. But back at it Monday!

That’s what the scale at the gym said today.  Ouch.  I’ve backslid worse than I thought.  Actually, two scales at the gym said the same thing; one was a medical scale and the other was a digital.  I was wearing tennies, socks, shorts, underwear, and a tee shirt.   I think from now on I’ll use the gym scale as the standard.  Mine says 283 at home, but I think the medical scale is more accurate.  Not good news.  I’ve really lost my focus, in large part due to the part time job I took.  I may have to rethink that.  Especially since it’s turning into more of a full time job lately.  My full time job should be getting healthy and thin.
But the good news is that I walked again for the second time in a few days.  Got an hour and a half in.  I didn’t eat as much today as I usually do, to boot.  And I’m eating more fruits and vegetables this week.

Things are going pretty well. I was afraid my new part time job delivering pizzas would cause me to put the weight back on, but that hasn’t been the case. One of the reasons I was worried is that we can have all the fountain drinks we want, for the entire shift. A while back, that would’ve been a real problem for me. I’d have been drinking them all shift long. But I’m not. I drink water. Every now and then I’ll get a Sprite or a Coke or a sweet tea, but most of the time it’s water.

And for some reason I have no desire to eat in the evening lately. On the days I work, before I head to the pizza shop, I’ll have a breakfast of 24 ounces of goat milk with chocolate flavored powder mixed in. It’s not Hershey, but one of those health drinks. It actually tastes pretty good. Sometimes I’ll drop a couple teaspoons of peanut butter into the blender, too. But that’s all I eat until mid-afternoon. Then, I’ll eat a small 7 inch pizza, or 10 wings, or a submarine sandwich (we get a big discount when we work, so it’s only a couple bucks). And, surprisingly, I then have no desire to eat in the evening. I’m not sure why that’s happening, but I’m sure glad it is. I’m also managing to get in an hour walk every other day or so, and my feet are holding up well.

And that’s a promise.

I can’t believe how long I’ve been gone. It wasn’t intentional. I’ve had a family situation to deal with, car problems one after another, I’ve been trying to drum up more freelance writing work, and so many goats have died this Spring that I’ve probably buried more bodies than John Wayne Gacy.

The good news is that even with all this stress, and no time to exercise, my weight is staying right around 275-280. I’m not gaining, and that’s what’s important. Cutting out the pop was a huge factor. I only drink it these days when I eat out, which is not that often. I hardly ever buy it at home. I did splurge on a 12 pack of Faygo Red Pop recently, but that’s the first in a long time, and it lasted several days. In the old days, it would’ve been gone in two days max, if it had lasted that long.

There’s another new development that I’ll be writing about in the days ahead. I don’t want to give up my writing, but it’s not paying a whole lot right now, so I need some extra income. I don’t want to get a factory or office job, because I don’t want to be cooped up 8 hours a day, and I don’t want a full time commitment. So, for the money and the flexibility, I took a job in the belly of the beast. I’ll be delivering pizzas part time.

Which should be interesting.

I’m back home, but really busy with writing, so not much time to blog.

I’m still at my friend’s house, but I should be home sometime Tuesday. I’m on a terrible sleep schedule-going to be around 10am and getting up around 5pm. I’ve really got to figure out how to get back to the standard circadian rhythms and be a normal human being again.

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I’m still right around 275.  I’ll be heading back to my house in a day or two, and I hope to keep up the momentum I’ve built up in the past few days.  I’m going to try to ride my bike for at least half an hour a day, and possibly walk half an hour a day with my Exerstriders, and lay off the sweet tea, substituting water instead.  I’m feeling really good about my progress, although I’d hoped it would be faster.  But almost 30 pounds since December 22 is nothing to sneeze at.  My weight has fluctuated for the past several years between 285 and 303, and now that I’m down to 275 I feel like I’ve broken through an important psychological and physiological barrier.  My next milestone will be to look down and see a weight below 270, even if only 269.9 pounds.  Also, since I’m not quite as big as I was, and exercise isn’t quite as uncomfortable, I’m going to try to work some things besides cardio in.  I’m sure you’ve all seen the informercials with Chuck Norris for the Total Gym.  My friend John has something like that, and I may start using it a little each day.  I also want to work on pushups and situps.  Not sure how many I can do of either, but it won’t be very many.

First, the bad news. I bought a pack of cigarettes last night. Smoked several of them, and the rest are still in the truck.

Now the good news. I went back over to my house for a cookout last night. John has a bunch of relatives in, so I’m staying with a friend to make room for them, and last night they decided to grill hamburgers so my friend Deb and I headed over there about 5. Now, I did have some Dr. Pepper, but not a whole lot, and some chocolate fudge brownie ice cream, also in moderation. By the way, if you like your cookies and cream ice cream to contain whole, uncrushed Oreos, go with the Wal-Mart brand. They had a half gallon of it last night, and they found three whole cookies in the container. I’d never seen that before.

Anyway, one of John’s relatives is into biking, and he brought along his nice Raleigh road bike. My bicycle has been sitting in the garage disassembled since I moved here a couple years ago. I never put it back together after moving because I wasn’t able to ride it due to the numbness problem. But I thought it might be nice to give it a whirl since I’ve lost some weight and see if anything’s changed. John and his brother in law were nice enough to put it together for me (I’m not mechanical at all), and I took it out for a spin. Actually a couple spins, about 25 minutes each time. And, while it wasn’t the most comfortable experience due to my weight, I didn’t suffer from any numbness. Which is really good news. I’ve had to cut back on walking due to my plantar fasciitis, and I thought I couldn’t ride a bike. But I was able to ride last night. So if I can ride for a half hour to 45 minutes a day, and maybe walk for 15-30, I think my heels might be able to handle that, and I can continue to exercise, while also eating better.

Riding was tough, though. I haven’t done it in years, and I’m still way overweight, and I probably need to adjust the seat height for a proper fit. I couldn’t even make it up a small hill without getting off and walking. And then last night in bed my legs were sore (in a good way) that wasn’t the same kind of sore I get from walking. So I’m using different muscles. And I only averaged about 8 miles an hour according to my wireless cyclometer. But it’s a start, and there’s no where to go but up. Look out Lance Armstrong!

Oh yeah - the scale says 275 this morning/afternoon!

A carton of Marlboro Light 100s, a case of Pepsi, or at this point Mountain Dew, a bottle of No-Doz, and about three of those 1 pound Hershey Bars. And I want Christmas to be tonight.

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A couple people left some greatly informative comments on my Heel Spurs post. I’ve been reading up on it, and I’m learning some exercises and stretches that may help. But for now it sounds like the best thing to do is stay off my feet, and not take my two hour walks for a while.

I’d ride my bicycle, but I’m too fat to do that, too. Because of my weight, when I ride a bike I get severe numbness in my, uh, you know what. Many urologists say that that’s a danger sign, and you shouldn’t continue to ride or you’re risking permanent impotence. Others say the danger is overblown. But they all agree that if you experience numbness from your bike seat you should stop riding for awhile. And even if they didn’t recommend that, I’d still do it, because it’s a very unpleasant experience, no matter if there are long term health risks or not.

A couple years ago, when I last decided to try to lose some weight, I bought a special bike saddle that was supposed to alleviate the problem. It helped, in that I was able to ride longer before the numbness set in, but it still happened if I rode longer than just a few minutes. The manufacturer said they don’t recommend it for anyone over 250 pounds. Maybe I should’ve gone with The Spongy Wonder.

So it looks like I’m going to have to concentrate on diet for a while, while I work on rehabbing my feet. Thanks for the advice, cron and Lesalu.

I’m at 278 pounds today.

I didn’t walk today. Someone mentioned heel spurs in a comment recently, and I know all about them, believe me. And with my walking regimen, they’re really acting up. Actually, only my left foot really bothers me. I have a small spur in my right foot, but it’s nothing compared to my left one. I had to have my foot X-rayed a couple years ago after an injury, and the doctor asked me if I had any trouble with my heel. I told him it hurt from time to time, but it wasn’t too bad. He said he was surprised I can walk, as I have one of the biggest heel spurs he’s ever seen.

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I told them and told them and told them. But would they listen? No. And so I put all the blame for me reaching 300 pounds squarely on their shoulders. It’s not my fault.

Thanks, Mom and Dad. Thanks a lot.

But it may not be too late to save the next generation. Some parents in Australia are finally starting to see the light.

Homework contributing to childhood obesity, parents say

The Tasmanian Parents and Friends Association believes homework could be contributing to childhood obesity.

The national president of the association wants homework banned in Tasmanian primary and high schools.

Parents and Friends chief Jenny Branch says as childhood obesity becomes a major problem, homework is forcing children to sit in front of computers instead of exercise.

She has questioned the need for after school study.

“When I started to research it, I couldn’t find any good evidence to say that homework at home improves the student learning,” she said.

See, Mom–I told ya!

Of course, as always, some meddling bureaucrat is doing all they can to stand in the way of enlightenment and progress.

The state secretary of the Education Union, Jean Walker, says it is a policy issue for individual schools, but she does not think a ban is the cure for obesity.

“Children seemed to be able to do both homework and not be obese, until this generation,” she said.

Darn egghead liberals. They don’t care about the kids, just about keeping their jobs.

HOW MANY CHEESEBURGERS HAVE GOT TO DIE BEFORE WE WAKE UP AND BAN HOMEWORK?

That’s the official weight for this week. I just got back from a 90 minute walk, and earlier I cleaned out the goat barn and scrubbed down the milk barn. That’s the most physical work I’ve done in months.

I may have to find something else to listen to while I walk, as the weirdo guest quotient on the Coast to Coast AM show seems to be at an all time high lately. George Noory is still going to be my first choice, but I need a back up to make sure I’ve got something interesting to listen to every day.  Music doesn’t interest me, at least not while I’m walking. I’m thinking of going with either the Diane Rehm show from NPR, which is free, or the Bob and Tom morning show, which I’ll have to pay for. Any other talk show podcast suggestions are welcome, as long as they don’t involve religion or politics.

One more pound and I’ll have lost 20 since January 1. Four more pounds and I’ll be 30 below my all time high of 303.

Randy Salas wrote about me a while back in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, and I was checking out his blog. Here’s a great post he wrote which includes links to some very useful tools for anyone wanting to lose weight and get in shape.