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.

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.

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!)

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.

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!

Ate some teriyaki chicken and rice conconction for dinner. Kinda blah, need to do more experimenting with healthy foods.

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!