Week 6: Rock Climbing

Week 5 Recap: Weightlifting

This week I slacked off. To be completely honest, I played a lot of poker. On the bright side, I made a lot of money, on the downside, my rep and set count was below twenty. I plan on making it up this week, though, pinky swear! (On a completely off topic note, Blogspot is telling me the word "pinky" is not a word - I refuse to believe this and will now make it my mission to use the word "pinky" more often to spite the squiggly red line.)

Week 6: Rock Climbing

When I went to Iowa State University, they had a gym with a rock climbing wall. I attempted this a few times and had fun doing it, but holy crapola, it's a workout! Fast forward to today, and I now weigh a good 60 pounds more, so this will be quite the difficult task. There is a place called Climb Iowa (located in Grimes) that I plan on going to at least twice this week, most likely Wednesday and Saturday. I made a new friend at the casino while playing poker, and he wanted to go rock climbing as well, so that'll make it more fun than trying it alone. Sorry for the late and short post, but I'll take pictures at Climb Iowa and share those with you next week!

Week 5: Weightlifting

Week 4 Recap: Yoga

I "successfully" completed the yoga week, although there were a few minor tweaks in the schedule. This weekend I played a lot of poker at the casino (one of my favorite hobbies, plus I make money, what's not to love?), and I ended up playing until midnight on Friday and didn't take the time to do yoga. I decided then that it would be OK to double up on Saturday. Well... Saturday rolls around, and I didn't wake up until 2pm I think... I was still jonesing for some poker, so I lazed around for a bit and then went to play some poker at 5pm thinking I would play until about 10, and then finish up the week with my double booked yoga session. I was having a fantastic session and ended up playing until 6:30AM - a 13.5 hour session. I crashed when I got home and then realized I forgot to do yoga! I ended up doing my double session earlier today, but my bank account has decided to give me a pass on the lackadaisical effort I put into yoga. I had to stick to the most basic beginner poses due to my extreme lack of flexibility, so the week consisted mostly of just stretching and none of the crazy one armed body lift maneuvers. I did find that planks are an extremely good ab workout, and I will continue to use them in the future. Also, downward facing dog is fantastic as it's a whole body workout.

Week 5: Weightlifing

Now that I've got my diet somewhat on track (currently down about 10 lbs), it's time to involve more toning. I chose yoga for this reason as well, so hopefully by the end of this week I can find a routine that incorporates both styles. Last winter, I bought some free weights and I've used them sparingly, but it is such an easy workout to do while watching a show, there's no excuse to not utilize them more.

My plan is to do a full set of upper arm workouts every other day, and on the other days I plan on doing 20 minutes of activity. I'm sure some of you are wondering "well what about leg day?!" - I will incorporate lunges and squats (using the free weights), but I do not plan on making leg workouts a big thing due to the fact that my legs are already massive. I seriously have legs the size of a horse. I cannot purchase any jean type except loose fit as every other type (straight, relaxed, etc) don't fit because of my leggy beef sticks. Once the weather gets better, my legs will get plenty of a workout mountain biking. Anyway, this week's post is kind of short, but I hope everyone following along is enjoying my blog! Next month will be more focused on trying new activities (such as rock climbing and trampolining) which should be fun to write about. Have a good week!

Week 4: Yoga! 20 Minutes of Yoga Everyday

Week 3 Recap: No Pop

Week 3 has BY FAR been the most difficult week, but I am proud to say that I finished it successfully! The first day was not very difficult because I did not have any pop available and it was cold outside, so I had no interest in going anywhere just for a fizzy beverage. Then day 2 hit me like a truck. Day 2's are Monday's which inherently suck, add on top of that not being able to have my favorite morning indulgence makes it suck infinite +1. Has anyone ever had a good Monday? I don't believe I have. Monday rant aside, I really started feeling the addictive effects from pop, which were two-fold. One was from a scientific standpoint - caffeine is mildly addictive, the other was from a personal preference - I love me some sugary goodness. To say I was irritable on Monday is an understatement. Here's a list of things I find most irritable:

1. Uncomfortable pants
2. Recorders (the clarinet-like instrument that younger kids are often required to play)
3. Loading screens that load 1-98% super quick, and then stop at 99% for 10 minutes

Monday was the equivalent of wearing pants that shrunk way too much in the dryer and having an itch in the unacceptable-to-itch-in-public-places spot, while listening to 1000 third graders having a recorder concert, and waiting for my computer to finish loading that last 1% for 30 minutes. Trying to explain this to others made me sound like a recovering drug addict (which I suppose I was since caffeine is a drug.)

My workplace has a fridge about 30 steps away from my desk that is loaded with free pop. On top of that, said fridge needs to be walked past to fill up my water bottle - what a tease. I tried to quench my need for sweetness by using water enhancers, but they just don't compare to my love for pop. By Thursday, the NEED had subsided, and then I just needed to fight off the WANT. It certainly became easier as the days passed, but even as I write this, I feel like I'm not complete without having a pop on my desk. It's like an old friend I miss dearly :( I still plan on going as long as I can without drinking some, but I believe the pop free days are extremely limited. My goal was never to stop drinking pop for good, but to limit my dependence on it and to increase my water intake. Based off of that criteria, I would say my goal has been met!

I set a challenge bonus for myself this week: 7 hours of sleep per day. I did not successfully accomplish this, but not for lack of trying. I typically don't think about what time it is until I need to do something. I tend to not think about bed until I start feeling tired, and this just happens to usually be after midnight. A few nights I just found myself laying in bed bored because I simply wasn't tired. Towards the end of the week (Thursday and Friday) I was able to get at least 7 hours in. On Saturday, I just let myself sleep until I felt like getting up, which ended up being 2pm. I can't explain my sleep habits. Anyway, I did feel more alert in the mornings, so I plan on continuing this challenge to see if my body just needs more time to adjust.

Week 4: Yoga! 20 Minutes of Yoga Everyday

Yoga. Hot Yoga. Wii Yoga. Yoga Pants (what a great invention). Yoga is everywhere. I tried it out on my Wii Fit a few years ago, but it never kept me hooked. Yoga has the benefit of mixing in strength, stretching, and toning. These are all things I need since my prior week challenges have helped me lose 8 lbs so far, and I don't plan on stopping there! I want to continue mixing healthier eating and activity together to create a better me in 2014. I started 2014 weighing 287.5 lbs which is absolutely ridiculous. I remember 200 lb me thinking to myself "we need to lose some weight, Austin". If I could have seen a glimpse into my current life about 6 years ago, I can guarantee I wouldn't be as hefty as I am today. 

After already gaining an unacceptable amount weight, I've tried many times to lose it - clearly those attempts were unsuccessful. I tried pushing myself too hard too fast, and often that just leads to failure. By breaking certain tasks down into focused weeks, I have been able to hold myself to my promises, and my motivation to continue couldn't be higher! I have been warned by many that yoga is no piece of cake, so I have no intentions of taking it lightly. Several have told me to visit a yoga studio, but I would rather not interrupt a class of serious yoga enthusiasts when the inevitable blast of hot air is released, followed by uncontrollable and immature laughter. I will keep my tuba playing and embarrassing lack of flexibility limited to my room while watching Yoga For Beginners on youtube. If you are ever feeling down this week, just imagine a man of my size trying yoga, hopefully that brings a smile to your face.

Week 3: No Pop (or soda, or coke, or whatever you call it)

Week 2 Recap: No Fast Food

It hasn't even been two full weeks, and I've already surprised myself. I thought for sure this would have been a very difficult task to accomplish, but I breezed right through it. The only day I had an urge to cheat was the first day, and that was only because it was -40 outside. After I had my fridge and cupboards overflowing with delicious food, I had absolutely no urge to go out to eat. It certainly helps that my workplace has a cafeteria with chefs, but I opted for the salad bar most days. I have already had one person say I look skinnier, so I'm not going to stop this one, and I'll see how long I can go without eating fast food!

Week 3: No Pop

I never realized how divided the country is when it comes to calling it pop, soda, coke, or anything else. Here's a fun website that breaks down the usage in the United States all the way to the county level: http://www.popvssoda.com/  When I was originally planning out my tasks weeks ago, I figured this could be one of the toughest challenges since I enjoy fizzy beverages quite a lot. Thankfully, I've been weening myself off of it the past few weeks. I figured with the health kick I'm on, I could certainly do without drinking so much. But now is the true challenge since I do not think I've gone a week without pop ever. I'm also limiting myself from having energy drinks, but I am allowing sweet tea.

If I had to guess why I enjoy pop so much, I can come up with a few reasons. My body loves sweets and carbs, so I naturally get lots of cravings for something of the sort. Mix in my desire to find the path of least resistance, and the answer is right in the fridge. Pop is self-contained, easy to buy and consume, and easy to dispose of. If I want water, I have to find a clean glass, turn on the faucet and wait for the coldest of cold water to flow, avoid putting it in a position where my curious cat can have a go at it and spilling it everywhere, and then when I'm finished, the glass needs to be cleaned. Trust me, I'm aware at how lazy and pathetic that sounds, welcome to my life. Fortunately, I've found something that works very well for me. I bought a Camelbak water bottle that is easy to drink out of without having to worry about spills. Also, I tried some water flavoring - my favorite being the Mio Fruit Punch. This combination allows me to drink plenty of water, and the flavor helps make it less bland, and I'm sure the sucralose is helping trick my brain into thinking it's getting something sweet.

Week 3 Bonus Challenge: 7 Hours of Sleep A Night

I figured since I've been doing the challenges successfully for 12 days so far, now would be a good time to mix in a bonus challenge. Also, the lack of caffeine might make this one easier to accomplish, so it seemed like the right time. I have absolutely no problems sleeping, which is awesome. I hear horror stories of some people who absolutely cannot fall asleep, and that sounds terrible. My problem is I get such an inconsistent amount of sleep throughout the week, that it probably isn't good from a health standpoint. I know that I'm a night owl, this fact cannot be denied. Back in college during holiday breaks, my body would ALWAYS go to a night schedule. I would go to bed at 8 AM (yes, that's right, AM), and I would wake up at 4 PM. This happened every break, and if I found myself without a job right now, I guarantee it would happen again. 

With that in mind, my typical weekday sleep time averages between 5-6 hours of sleep. My typical weekend sleep time averages between 10-12 hours. This usually results in waking up at 12-3pm on the weekends. I always hear people say "well you just wasted your whole day!" and I say good, because I prefer night. I don't try to get such a small amount of hours in on the weekdays, but I don't ever get tired before 11:30pm, and usually it's 12:30 and I reluctantly force myself to go to bed. I really am surprised that I don't have sleeping troubles due to the odd hours, but as my roommate puts it, he can hear the train within minutes of saying good night (I snore so loud that it sounds like a train, and he moved his bed as far from our shared wall as possible).

I'm making this a bonus challenge because it's quite possible I'll cheat on this one, and I don't want it to officially count if I don't complete it successfully. It's easy to make wide sweeping decisions when you're wide awake and rational, but I can just imagine this Saturday I'll hear my alarm go off sometime well before noon, I'll look at the clock and grumble "this is stupid" or something of the sort, and then probably just knock the alarm on the ground. I was originally going to make it 8 hours, but that'd mean I would have to be in bed already (seeing as it's 10:38pm right this minute, and my alarm is set for 6:30am), but I absolutely cannot see myself being in bed at 10:30 every night, so 7 hours a night seemed to be a reasonable compromise. This could be an interesting week as it'll be the healthiest of them all so far since I'm still being striving to be active for 30 minutes, I will continue to avoid fast food, and now I'll be mixing in no pop and 7 hours of sleep. Here's to a successful week and a healthier me!

Week 2: No Fast Food

Week 1 Recap: 30 Minutes of Activity A Day

Week 1 was a success! I did a mixture of running on the elliptical and weight lifting, as well as mixing in situps and pushups. Since the first of the year landed on a Wednesday, I unfortunately had to cut the week short to get all of the other weeks onto a regular Sunday schedule. I will continue to add activity into my day as much as possible, although this -40 degree crap needs to stop so I can do something outside! As mentioned before, January is health centered, so I will now be transitioning into a week full of no fast food!

Week 2: No Fast Food

Some people might be thinking "no fast food, that's easy!" Well, not for all of us! I have already deduced that my taste buds are extremely unrefined (I willingly buy Ramen noodles because I think they taste great), mix in my procrastinating personality, and I find myself getting way too many meals through windows. Easy meals are a total weakness of mine. I despise cooking, it just seems like so much effort to put into something and then 5 minutes later you've eaten it all! I do recognize that fast food is, for the most part, awful for my health. The problem is... I can't seem to stop myself! What truly needs to happen is I need to find a woman who loves to cook - this would easily be the best thing to happen to me.

I started this week on Sunday. I also realized Sunday afternoon that I have no food :(, and then I realized that it's -20 wind chill... crap. I was debating with myself "does Jimmy John's really count as fast food, I mean, sure they're freaky fast, but it's healthy-ish!" I just really didn't want to go outside! Eventually I buttoned up and braved the cold to make a trip to the grocery store - I really didn't want to fail my challenge on Day 1 of Week 2. Once I'm in the store I enjoy picking out food, but until that point I despise the errand. Keep in mind, this week isn't about eating like the healthiest person, but I ATTEMPTED to pick items to create balanced meals - the pizza rolls, corn dogs, and ice cream beg to differ, but I digress...

In previous weight loss attempts, I've jumped head first into eating healthy. After many failed attempts, I've come to the realization that this technique doesn't last long term for me. The goal of this week is to help transition into a healthier mindset, and over time transform my whole diet into making better choices. Still, staying away from fast food should help decrease my caloric intake and put me on the path towards a healthier me in 2014! If you have any easy recipes, feel free to share!

Week 1: 30 Minutes of Activity Everyday

Well here we are, it's finally 2014! Today marks the official start to my 52 Things Challenge. I decided to start with a traditional New Year's Resolution: workout. That's right, being really original, huh? I figured I would make all of my January things health centered, giving me the best chance for the "health bug" in me to stick around. Hopefully this cold weather doesn't scare him off.

I bought an elliptical a few months ago, and after a few uses, it became just another dust catcher in my living room. This bad boy will start to see a lot of use in the next week GUARANTEED, and hopefully mild usage at a minimum in the near-to-extended future *fingers crossed*. I certainly won't be doing anything active outside as the forecast here in Iowa is looking a bit chilly (a HIGH of -4 on Monday, wtf?)

I already did my 30 minutes of activity on the elliptical earlier... and then ate some left over pizza - it was already purchased and was just going to go to waste, I couldn't let that happen! We can go ahead and blame New Year's Eve.. I had to get one last pizza out of the way before starting my challenge. To be completely honest, I was going to start this challenge off with a "no fast food" week, but decided that'd be cheating since I knew I would have left over pizza, so I decided that will be Week 2.

I really plan on holding steady to this plan and not cheating, not even a little bit! If I know myself, if I cheat a little, I'll cheat a lot - especially when it comes to food. You don't get to being 285 lbs by sticking to a healthy diet... To help start the year off right, I've joined several groups with a focus on activity and weight loss. One of those groups is through an initiative at work called Living Healthy. The group I joined has decided to track activity (the other option was weight loss) so we have a chance of winning prizes if our group is more active than the others. I figured this would be helpful since if I start slacking, my coworkers will get on my case. The other group I joined is a Biggest Loser type challenge a friend invited me to join. It is taking place over Facebook with a handful of friends of friends. With a $25 entry fee, that isn't nearly enough incentive to keep me interested if I go off track, but worst case scenario is my $25 goes to whoever is successful in losing the most weight.

Hopefully with all of these items set in motion, I can finally start shedding some pounds and start my year off with a bang. At a minimum I will update this blog once a week involving a recap of the previous week, and a summary of what the next week will entail, but if something exciting happens, I will post a mid-week update. Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a great 2014!

First post, woohoo!

Hi everyone! My name is Austin, and I would like to thank you for reading my first post. If you are confused about what the purpose of this blog is for, please check out my About 52 Things page! Once you've completed that, feel free to catch up on my latest posts or feel free to start your own 52 Things list! Feel free to leave me a comment on here. I hope I can keep you entertained throughout 2014, and I also hope I can inspire you along the way!