Breakfast

Breakfast this morning-

It occurred to me that sometimes when I will be doing my menu items for the day, that I might want to shorten some of the nomenclature.  Or in other words, use abbreviations.

So, in that thought- Here is EXACTLY what I had for breakfast this morning.

6oz Orange Juice- Minute Maid

2 pieces WHOLE WHEAT toast- Sara Lee Wheat with Honey- spread with Jif reduced fat peanut butter and drizzled with Sue Bee Honey

Three cups coffee- Community Decaf with Target brand fat free creamer and Splenda

When possible, I will try to give brand names of what I like.

More later.

Tuesday in Jackson

O.K.- First let me finish my menu from yesterday and then I can do it for today.

4:45pm- Granola bar (Nature Valley- Oats and Honey)

6:45pm- Three 5oz grilled catfish fillets, 1/2 cup of canned corn, Tea with Splenda

Tuesday May 6th Menu-

4:35am- Diet bar and 32oz water

6:05am- 24oz coffee with fat free powdered creamer and Splenda

8:15am- Bowl of Grape Nuts with Splenda, 6oz Orange Juice

11:05am- 140 calorie South Beach Diet Bar

12:45pm- Small Pizza from Schlotski’s Deli (chicken and jalapeño), bag of chips, tea with Splenda

6:10pm- Cup of Tuna casserole (steamed broccoli, whole wheat veggi rotini, skim milk, fat free crackers, 98% ff cream of mushroom soup, 2% Velveeta)

Now, for the more fun stuff. Worked out this morning. Was on an elliptical machine that I was not really that familiar with. I mean, I was aware that it existed, it was there all the time, but I had never used it. The motion of the machine was a little awkward. But I guess they all were when I first started working out. So, I just made the best of it and tried to get used to it.

Other than that, all is well. Just another day of working out. Oh, Henry, my 2yr old, tried to talk us into Bruster’s Ice Cream tonight while we were out shopping. It was tough to resist.

Monday in Tupelo

I wanted to take note of a couple of things today.

First, I was reading an article in USA Today newspaper about a guy in Illinois that has been loosing weight since 2003. He has lost about 100lbs. He said a couple of things in the article that really rang home for me. He said that he had been following a lifestyle of eating too much, not eating the right things and not exercising. Sounds very familiar. In the article, it states that he woke up one morning and had a big problem. Went to the gym and that is where it all started.

Well, I guess that is kind of what happened to me. When my sister got me involved with the People Magazine Weight Loss Challenge, I was not sure that I wanted to do it. I had tried lots of different diets and not been all that successful. I was a little jaded about it and just thought that it would be more of the same. Trying, failing, then beating myself up about it. Well, it has been different. I think that the thing that is different is the exercise component.

I was talking to Paul (my trainer) about someone that had lost some weight (about 40lbs) but had just done it by dieting. They had not been working out that much. Paul said, and I quote, “Well, he is going to gain that shit right back”. I think he is EXACTLY right. The way that Paul explained it to me that first week of training was that he wanted me to gain muscle. “That way I could “loose weight while I am driving in my car.”

Part of my project that I am working on is that I want to not only inspire others, particularly Mississippians to loose weight and become more healthy, but I also wanted to to help them do that by speaking or writing in simple terms.  I want to tell them how to do this in an easy to follow exercise and diet plan.  Part of my success so far has been that I write down what I eat.  And I mean everything that I put in my mouth.  The reason that I do this is to stay accountable to myself as well as to be able to go back in my notes and what I am thinking is that if I put my daily eating on this blog, then I would kill two birds.  Well, the article this morning listed and eating plan as a sample plan, but it only gave one day-just a few choices.  Maybe if I list this stuff every day, then people that look at it can do like you do in AA-take what you want and leave the rest.  If you see something on here that you don’t like,  then just wait, because there will be more.

O.K. so here goes- this is EXACTLY how I have it written down in my book.  I am writing at 2:30 in the afternoon so dinner is not on here yet, but I will try to put dinner on tomorrows, or later tonight or something.

6:10am- 28 oz water (I would not normally write down water, but it was all I have in the morning to drink)- 140 calorie South Beach Diet Bar

6:20am- about 33 minutes on elliptical trainer

7:50am- Coffee with Fat Free creamer and Splenda- 140 calorie South Beach Diet Bar

9:25am- Diet Coke and granola bar (Nature Valley Oats and Honey)

11:50am- garden salad with vinaigrette dressing – grilled chicken sandwich with tomato, mustard lettuce, mayo and iced tea with Splenda

2:05pm- two cups Starbucks regular coffee with Splenda and FF milk

Changing gears a little, I wanted to address something else in the USA Today article from this morning.  In the article, they talk about a customer of this guy (he is an I.T. guy) gaining inspiration from him.  He says (the customer) that he had a vague feeling of needing ans wanting to get into shape, but was not sure how to do it.  I think that this describes me pretty well.  Even this morning, I got up in a hotel in Tupelo and had to stretch and run on my own and I felt a little weird.  I reached own for my ankles and thought, there is no one here to tell me how long to hold it and switch over to the other leg.  You know,  it is funny how the mind works.  I have been doing those stretches for 3 months, most every day, and I am not confident of how long to hold it.  I think that this is a testament to how important Paul has been in my whole program.  And not just Paul, but also Bruce and some other folks that I work out with.  Having a support team is VITAL!!

12 Weeks complete!!!!!!

Friday morning we finished up our 12 weeks in the Fitness Class. We finished up with a 5k run. I am amazed at how I can do that. I NEVER thought that running a 5K race was something that I could or would want to do. It really is unbelievable.

After the run, I had an appointment at St. Dominic’s Health Center to do a fitness assessment. Results were pretty wild. It is a little hard to compare the two (I also had a health assessment in January) because they were done a little differently. The main difference is that in January, they did a 7 site test and Friday they did a 3 site. This just means that when they were evaluating and measuring the % of body fat, they measured at 3 sites Friday and 7 sites in January. But the big differences are as follows:

January 18, 2008                                 May 02, 2008

Weight                                               281                                                   241

Thigh Skin fold measurement             36mm                                              20.8mm

Abdomen Skin fold measurement        60mm                                              35.8mm

Chest Skin fold measurement 35mm 21.2mm

Body Fat % 35.0%                                               23.9%

Pretty good for a guy that just got into the gym in January. I have to tell you that I am very proud of these numbers and I am going to keep working on it.

Later on Friday night, Paul Lacoste Sports/Next Level Fitness had a party at Newk’s deli here in Jackson. Very nice party and really good food. PIZZA!!! We had some sandwiches as well. But, it was funny, I ate my dinner and did not really pig out. Did not really have a desire to pig out. I mean, I could have had another couple of pieces of pizza or something, but I just listened to my body and did not really WANT to eat any more. WEIRD for me.

We had a really good time Friday. Beth went with me and everyone was so nice to her and wanted to know all about the baby. We are due May 30th with our second child. We know it is a boy, most likely he will become George Robert Dyess.  Anyway, I was really looking forward to getting my Paul Lacoste T-shirt. I had heard it was something like tough as nails. I really feel like I earned that shirt and I will wear it with GREAT pride, because it represents something that I have never done before. It represents something that I worked so hard for and it represents something that I was not sure I could do. When I started the fitness class, I had a lot of anxiety about my ability to do it. I DID IT!!!!!! I am so proud of myself!!!!

I also, very surprisingly, received a “brass balls” award. Paul announced several people that got them, and I feel very honored that Paul thought that I deserved them. When announcing my prize, he told everyone that when I started, he was not sure that I was going to make it. I am so glad that he did not tell me that!!!

So, for me, the big weekend is almost over. I really have taken this weekend to sit back and really feel proud of myself. But, it is back to work tomorrow. I have to go to Tupelo tonight and I think I am going to get up at the hotel early and go running. How strange am I???? A little hard for me to wrap my mind around. But, the thing is, I don’t want to be behind. I don’t want to have to go back to work out on Tuesday having laid off for 3 days. I want to keep it going. I have new goals!!

Start of a New Adventure- A new ME

Interesting that this would be the first day of my new blog. Because today was the last day of my first Fitness Class with Paul Lacoste and NEXT LEVEL FITNESS/NEXT LEVEL SPORTS. I will try to post a link to Paul’s website as soon as I can. I heard this morning that it is down for maintenance right now, but will be back up soon in a new and improved state.

In case you have not heard… I am People Magazine boy as Paul loves to call me. I have been chosen to participate in the People Magazine Weight Loss Challenge for 2008. Eight people in the state of MS have been chosen to take part in the challenge. I am one of the eight.

I am 40 years old and live in Ridgeland. I have a small and expanding family. My beautiful wife Beth is due to have our second son in less than 30 days. Henry, the pride and joy of my life, is 2.5 years old and is very much anticipating the arrival of his baby SISTER. This is regardless of the number of times that we have told him that the ultrasound tells us otherwise.

I am a salesman for Ingram Equipment Company based in Birmingham AL. I am the Mississippi sales manager and go all over the state each day selling garbage trucks, street sweepers and other “waste equipment”. I have worked there for about 4 years.

I have lived in the Jackson area most of my life. I did move to Oxford in college (go rebs!) then New York City and Atlanta for a while after college.

I am sure that there are LOTS of people that might find all of this facinating, but the main point that I want to convey with this blog and any other project that I might undertake is that I am a fairly REGULAR guy. I don’t have any degrees in fitness or nutrition or any of that stuff. As a matter of fact, up until very reciently, I HATED to work out and I HATED to diet. I hope that I can tell you about this journey that I am on and how I am doing. I hope that I can inspire someone else to undertake the challenge. I think it might be worth it………… I don’t know, I think that the jury is still out. I will let you know.

Not much time tonight, as it is almost 9pm, and I have to get up at 4:20am to work out. I will come back and write more and maybe someone will visit and I would be happy to answer any questions.

Rob