Today marks a milestone that excites me as much as any other I've passed, and more than most! In fact, I think I am happier over today's accomplishment than any other I've reached so far!!
I did my first push-up today! It wasn't pretty and it wasn't graceful, but it was all mine! I have been trying to do a push-up since April 23rd. Back then I couldn't even hold a plank position for very long and I couldn't lower all the way down without collapsing to the floor. The best I could do was to lower and hold for as long as I could and slowly work my way to being able to lower all the way. Forget about getting back up!
Until about a week ago the best I could do was lower all the way. Then I could come back up just a tiny bit... hardly noticeable if you were watching, but I noticed! In the past few days I've been able to come up just a bit further... and today, just as I was about to quite and congratulate myself for coming up a bit further than ever before I realized I was still moving... so I gave it all I had and before I knew it I was all the way back up!!
So today, June 21st, 2012, the first full day of Summer, a mere 17 days after starting DDP Yoga, weighing in at 295 pounds, I did my first push-up in more than a decade!!
I credit the DDP Yoga as much as anything else. It is really building up my strength. I am pleased!
-Norm aka John Smith
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Monday, June 18, 2012
Weight Loss Update: 06/17/12
Usually weigh-in day is every other Wednesday. That is changing. Now that I can weigh myself on the home scale I can change it to any day I want. And I choose Sunday. The scale Sunday morning reported I had lost 1.0 pound since weigh-in on Wednesday. So my official weight is now 298. I will not update the graph or other stats over one pound. I may decide to weigh-in every Sunday or every other Sunday. Haven't decided yet.
Happy Eating!
-Norm aka John Smith
Happy Eating!
-Norm aka John Smith
Saturday, June 16, 2012
One Year And 160 Pounds Ago...
I just noticed while looking over my weigh-in log that I had two weigh-in days exactly 1 year apart. On June 13th 2011 I weighed 459 pounds and on June 13th 2012 I weighed 299 pounds. A difference of 160 pounds! I was pretty confident a year ago that I would eventually get where I am today, but I honestly thought it'd take much longer.
I still ate meat a year ago, but I had really started to cut down on it. By June 13th 2011 I had already bought the last of the meat I would ever buy and would continue eating down what was left in my freezer until one day I just didn't want to and took what was left to the food bank.
I still consumed dairy a year ago. It would take me several more months to finally wrap my head around that change, but it would come.
A year ago I was just starting to walk for exercise. Not far, and at first I used two canes, one in each hand, to help me. I was thrilled the first time I made it all the way around the block! That was a whole quarter mile! Today I walked 4 miles and have walked as many as 8 in one day.
A year ago I could ride my trike around the housing area I live. Now I can ride my trike 30 miles on the bike path. In addition, I'm now recently back to riding on two wheels! I rode my bicycle 15 miles today. I haven't ridden a bicycle that far in 25 or more years. A year ago I had been used to the idea that I'd never ride a bicycle again, but here I am! And not only riding a bicycle, but I'm looking for a unicycle to learn to ride!
A year ago living life at a reasonable weight was just a dream... Today it's still not quite a reality but it's no longer just a dream, it's my inevitable future!
Happy Eating!
-Norm aka John Smith
I still ate meat a year ago, but I had really started to cut down on it. By June 13th 2011 I had already bought the last of the meat I would ever buy and would continue eating down what was left in my freezer until one day I just didn't want to and took what was left to the food bank.
I still consumed dairy a year ago. It would take me several more months to finally wrap my head around that change, but it would come.
A year ago I was just starting to walk for exercise. Not far, and at first I used two canes, one in each hand, to help me. I was thrilled the first time I made it all the way around the block! That was a whole quarter mile! Today I walked 4 miles and have walked as many as 8 in one day.
A year ago I could ride my trike around the housing area I live. Now I can ride my trike 30 miles on the bike path. In addition, I'm now recently back to riding on two wheels! I rode my bicycle 15 miles today. I haven't ridden a bicycle that far in 25 or more years. A year ago I had been used to the idea that I'd never ride a bicycle again, but here I am! And not only riding a bicycle, but I'm looking for a unicycle to learn to ride!
A year ago living life at a reasonable weight was just a dream... Today it's still not quite a reality but it's no longer just a dream, it's my inevitable future!
Happy Eating!
-Norm aka John Smith
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Weight Loss Update: 06/13/12 - The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly.
Today's magic number is:
The scale reports I've lost 6.0 pounds since last weigh-in, two weeks ago bringing my total weight loss to 187 pounds. Much has happened and there is much to report! Some of it is good, some of it is bad, and some of it is just plain ugly! Hence the title of this blog post.
The Good.
I am light enough that I can now use my wife's bathroom scale! Today I weighed myself on it just before going to the doctors office to weigh-in there. I wanted to see how close the two scales were, for accuracy sakes. I stepped on my wife's scale 4 times and got two readings of 302.5, one reading of 303, and one reading of 304. I stepped on the doctors scale twice and it said 302.4 both times. So my wife's scale is just about right on the money! Certainly accurate enough to use on a regular basis instead of having to drive to the doctors office. What's more, I can now weigh myself without shoes and clothing, and when I did so the scale reported I weighed 299 pounds.
299 pounds!!
I have not weighed under 300 pounds in 20 years!! I am now 13 pounds away from having lost 200 pounds, 39 pounds away from what I weighed graduating high school, and 49 pounds away from the lowest I've weighed as an adult.
The difference between last weigh-in and this one, as recorded by the doctors office, puts me 0.13 pound behind my goal of 1% body weight per week. Not bad! Not bad at all. Not when you consider the new exercise regimen I've started, which has already started to add muscle to my frame. Certainly more than 0.13 pound worth! So I am more than confident my fat loss easily exceeded the 1% goal.
How much muscle? Who knows? I can tell you this... I have a recumbent trike I ride along the bike path near here. There is a spot on the path where it goes up a hill and across an old train bridge. That hill has always been tough for me on my trike. I have slowly worked up to being able to get up it more comfortably, but even then I'm in 1st gear of my 3 speed trike, and I'm huffing and puffing and heart pounding by the time I get to the top. Today, just 10 days after starting DDP Yoga, I was determined to see if I could make it up that hill in 2nd speed. I did not! I never got into 2nd speed! I climbed that hill in 3rd speed! My heart was pounding but my breathing was deep, controlled, and comfortable, and my legs delivered the strength needed to get up that hill in high gear! After only 10 days on the program! Incredible!
The Bad.
My chronic inflammation is back, in full force, wreaking havoc. The inflammation almost always comes with some water retention, which reflects on the scale. So even though I'm happy with where the scale was, it's probably a bit higher than it would be otherwise, just because of the inflammation. The cause of the inflammation is, I believe, more toxins being dumped into my system than I can process out, due to an increase in fat burning brought on by the DDP Yoga. If this is the cause then cutting back on the yoga should relieve my symptoms. I am in a lot of discomfort due to the inflammation, so I am inclined to slow up on the yoga for now, even though I REALLY enjoy the workouts. For now I will cut back to doing it every other day and see if that helps any. I have been at this long enough to know it's not a race and that this journey will take some time. So I'll cut back as necessary. Progress will still come, just not as fast as I want it to!
The Ugly.
Losing weight leaves a lot of loose skin! Use your imagination! It's starting to get pretty bad!
That is all!
-Norm aka John Smith
The scale reports I've lost 6.0 pounds since last weigh-in, two weeks ago bringing my total weight loss to 187 pounds. Much has happened and there is much to report! Some of it is good, some of it is bad, and some of it is just plain ugly! Hence the title of this blog post.
The Good.
I am light enough that I can now use my wife's bathroom scale! Today I weighed myself on it just before going to the doctors office to weigh-in there. I wanted to see how close the two scales were, for accuracy sakes. I stepped on my wife's scale 4 times and got two readings of 302.5, one reading of 303, and one reading of 304. I stepped on the doctors scale twice and it said 302.4 both times. So my wife's scale is just about right on the money! Certainly accurate enough to use on a regular basis instead of having to drive to the doctors office. What's more, I can now weigh myself without shoes and clothing, and when I did so the scale reported I weighed 299 pounds.
299 pounds!!
I have not weighed under 300 pounds in 20 years!! I am now 13 pounds away from having lost 200 pounds, 39 pounds away from what I weighed graduating high school, and 49 pounds away from the lowest I've weighed as an adult.
The difference between last weigh-in and this one, as recorded by the doctors office, puts me 0.13 pound behind my goal of 1% body weight per week. Not bad! Not bad at all. Not when you consider the new exercise regimen I've started, which has already started to add muscle to my frame. Certainly more than 0.13 pound worth! So I am more than confident my fat loss easily exceeded the 1% goal.
How much muscle? Who knows? I can tell you this... I have a recumbent trike I ride along the bike path near here. There is a spot on the path where it goes up a hill and across an old train bridge. That hill has always been tough for me on my trike. I have slowly worked up to being able to get up it more comfortably, but even then I'm in 1st gear of my 3 speed trike, and I'm huffing and puffing and heart pounding by the time I get to the top. Today, just 10 days after starting DDP Yoga, I was determined to see if I could make it up that hill in 2nd speed. I did not! I never got into 2nd speed! I climbed that hill in 3rd speed! My heart was pounding but my breathing was deep, controlled, and comfortable, and my legs delivered the strength needed to get up that hill in high gear! After only 10 days on the program! Incredible!
The Bad.
My chronic inflammation is back, in full force, wreaking havoc. The inflammation almost always comes with some water retention, which reflects on the scale. So even though I'm happy with where the scale was, it's probably a bit higher than it would be otherwise, just because of the inflammation. The cause of the inflammation is, I believe, more toxins being dumped into my system than I can process out, due to an increase in fat burning brought on by the DDP Yoga. If this is the cause then cutting back on the yoga should relieve my symptoms. I am in a lot of discomfort due to the inflammation, so I am inclined to slow up on the yoga for now, even though I REALLY enjoy the workouts. For now I will cut back to doing it every other day and see if that helps any. I have been at this long enough to know it's not a race and that this journey will take some time. So I'll cut back as necessary. Progress will still come, just not as fast as I want it to!
The Ugly.
Losing weight leaves a lot of loose skin! Use your imagination! It's starting to get pretty bad!
That is all!
-Norm aka John Smith
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