Archive for July, 2004
July 22nd, 2004
Had a setback this past week, I’ve been slacking. Worked on a Exchange 5.5 to Exchange 2003 migration over the weekend and it’s been killing all my free time. I know that’s no excuse. Anyway, here’s an update:
Saturday I played rball with Mark. Then I went into work for Exchange hell that last about 4 days.
Sunday. Monday, Tuesday I didn’t no any real exercise. Argh. So I have a feeling I won’t experience much progress this week when I weigh-in.
Yesterday I played rball again with Mark and it was a really good game. We tied, 1-1, and didn’t have time to play a 3rd game. Some awesome volleys, got a really good workout. I also went out for a walk a little bit of jogging after I got home last night. So yesterday was a good day.
July 16th, 2004
Hola, boys and girls, it is I.
Wednesday I went to the gym after work and did 15 minutes of intervals on the exercise bike followed by some deadlifts, dips and pullups in the weight room. Mark was also there and he showed by some wacky alternative exercises like the Crouching Tiger Hidden Military Press (this is my name for it) and new exercise to work the obliques.
Thursday I headed over to the gym over lunch and did another 15 minutes of intervals on the bike. I also went out for a 2 mile walk after work and used the ab-wheel afterwards.
Today I went over for my weekly weigh-in: 279. Only 2 pounds since last week but still a downward trend so I remain happy. I still feel like I’m just getting in the groove and have a lot more notches to kick it up. I also did 20 minutes on the elliptical machine upstairs.
After a crappy beginning of the week the weather finally seems to be shaping up here in Amish country. I’ll try to spend as much time outdoors as I can this weekend in between an Exchange 2003 migration. Yay.
July 15th, 2004
Let’s hope so! This particular fad drives me crazy. The theory that the unchecked eating of foods that are bad for you can actually be good for you never made much sense to me (just me? sounds like common sense in my book). I think it appeals to the typical American “easy way out” mentality–path of least resistance.
Anyway, this MeFi thread includes a plethora of links showing that the hammer is falling on Atkins and people are starting to realize it. Could this be the end of Low cArby’s and low-carb (but no no-carb!) Coke?
Yes, please.
July 13th, 2004
The biggest problem I have with my user base at work is the payload of spyware that gets installed on a (probably) daily basis. Some of this is caused by users gleefully clicking on any window that says “Click Here!”, just oh so happy to oblige. And of course there is the plethora of Internet Explorer security holes that appear at least once a week, just to keep me on my hotfix installing toes.
So today we have some new “extremely critical” vulnerabilities to IE that were just announced. Fantastic! Trustworthy Computing indeed. It’s gotten to the point where IE is the single largest malware vector into my company. The big target used to be Outlook and email worms/viruses. But between filtering out executables and virii at the gateway level, plus Outlook’s security patches those are mainly a non-issue. In fact I can’t even think of a large virus outbreak we’ve had since ILOVEYOU.
So I’ve reached the point where it’s just not worth the hassle and doesn’t make business sense to run IE. Between my time to fix spyware problems and users’ lost productivity while I perform said fixes, it ends up costing the company quite a bit of money. I’m sure someone out that has computed the tim and money lost, on average, to spyware infestations.
This means it’s time to install Firefox on the desktop. I’ve been using it on my own desktop for a while now and .9 version is really solid. I’ll need to keep IE around to run our local Siebel application but I’m sure I can figure out a way to restrict IE to intranet use only. I’ve just got to label the Firefox shortcut “The Internet” and the users will never be the wiser. 
Now I just need to find out the easiest way to roll it out to a bunch of desktops without having to walk around to each person. yay.
July 13th, 2004
Another game of rball at lunch, this time a victory. But I think I need to give Mark a few days to cool down before we play again–my extreme skill and godlike abilities had him a bit flustered.
On another topic, I think I’ve gotten a good handle on eating less, now I need to make an effort to eat better. Not going for the random snacks or eating in front of the TV has made a difference but I spend a lot of time feeling hungry. I think there’s some dietary niche that needs to be filled. Mark thinks I should see a dietician and perhaps that is a good idea (I usually stay away from medican professionals. In the past 10 years I’ve been to a doctor maybe 3 or 4 times–insurance companies LOVE me!)
July 12th, 2004
Whew, been a couple days since I last updated. Let me try to remember (I gotta get a tracking system up and running!)
Last Thursday, 7/8, I played a crappy game of rball and Mark beat me handily, 2-0. The sudden and random falling down near the beginning of the first game didn’t help, either.
Friday I went to the gym and weighed in: 281! So I lost 4 lbs in the first week. I think that was a pretty good start. I also did some intervals on the exercise bike and some dips/pullups on the counterbalance machine in the weight room.
This past weekend I didn’t do any formal exercising since I had Alex, just the normal running around after kid stuff. 
We checked out some new parks and playgrounds.
Looking forward to getting back in the groove this week. I think the first week went really well considering I was sorta ramping up and not going full-bore on the exercises. I think watching what I ate made a huge difference.
July 7th, 2004
Pretty good day. Had a banana for breakfast and a vendor brought in soft pretzels around mid-morning–I ate one because a banana just isn’t a good enough breakfast.
Had leftover rice and chicken for lunch topped off with a small fruit cup. Mmm.
Went to gym after work, did 15 minutes of HIIT on the bike followed by dead lifts and military presses down in the weight room.
Stopped by the grocery store on the way home for some pita fixin’s. Mark joined me at home for a culinary journey of falafel baked with PAM. He also learned the wonder of steaming corn on the cob, versus boiling. There was some other revelation as well but I forget.
All in all, a good day on the road to Dec. 31st.
Excelsior!
July 6th, 2004
After doing some work in the office yesterday I went home then out for a walk. Other than the heat, humidy and poor choice in wearing a dark t-shirt it was a nice walk, about two miles. Got home, stretched and did 10 reps on the Ab-Wheel (what the recommend for “beginners.”)
Ate some teriyaki chicken and rice conconction for dinner. Kinda blah, need to do more experimenting with healthy foods.
July 5th, 2004
Okay, well, this was supposed to be the big announcement on the 1st of July but you’ll just have to settle with this after-the-fact post:
I’ve got a new fitness goal and I’m counting on the accountability of the friends, family and heck even the complete strangers who might read this site to make it happen. My goal is this: To lose 120 lbs in 6 months–July 1st 2004 to December 31st 2004. That’s 20 lbs/month; 4.6 lbs/week; .65 lbs/day. Doable? I think so.
“That’s a lot of poundage! So what’s the plan?” The plan is simple: Eat right, exercise A LOT, and blog about it. I’ll be doing daily updates on the workouts I do, food I eat. I’ll be weighing in weekly with the scale at the gym and also taking weekly photos to track progress.
I hope to have some sort of database to track progress real soon but for right now I’ll be tracking stuff manually. I’ll be using a new Fitness category within the blog to keep updates seperate. I’ll get them off the front page and onto their own page to keep everything nice and neat.
So what can you, dear readers, do to help? Why just reading will be the biggest help. Or feel free to make comments. Just knowing that there are people out there reading my site will help me keep my focus. I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me.
I did my first weigh in last Friday, the 2nd: 285. So that would make my goal at the end of 6 months 165.
Last Friday, the 2nd, I did 15 minutes of HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) on the bike machine at the gym. I was feeling it, but it was a good start.
Saturday, the 3rd, played racquetball with Mark. Won 2 games to 1.
Sunday, the 4th. Took a walk and rode bike with Alex. Not real strenuous but it was at least something.
More stuff to come later!