Bill's 20/20 Lifestyle Program

A final update, a farewell, and a new blog...

2012-01-23T21:25:00.000-08:00

For those who are interested: here's what's been happening for me since I was actively blogging here:

I did a pretty keeping my weight off for quite a while, but my work got very stressful and slowly I put weight back on. I put on about 7 pounds and was at about 190 when I started cycling pretty regularly, including commuting to work regularly. However, after about a year and a half, I took a job that required significant travel, and the eating I'd been doing as a cyclist did not work as a non-cyclist. I put on more weight, getting to about 205. :-(

At about this time, my family and I moved to Arizona and I took yet another job that also involved significant travel. I continued to put on weight until I got to about 210, which was just 10 pounds less than my starting weight on the 20/20 program. Needless to say, this was very disappointing.

At this point, my wife and I decided to take decisive action: a doctor friend of my brother-in-law runs a medical weight loss center. We decided to go there as a team. I knew how to keep the weight off, but getting the weight off slowly was not something I was very good at. So she and I did a medically supervised fasting program to get a bunch of weight off quickly. Basically, I went from 211 to 183 in about 10 weeks which is where I am at right now. I also managed to get off my high blood pressure medicine which is pretty great as well. My wife dropped over 20 pounds and is looking great.

Now that I live in Arizona, I am doing a significant amount of cycling. This has become my primary form of excercise, and I really enjoy it. I am keeping the weight off by riding, and this has been pretty successful so far.

One of the things that helps me stay exercising is to plan on doing events that I have to train for. When I was running, it was 5Ks, 10Ks, and half-marathons. Now that I'm cycling it's half centuries, metric centuries and centuries. So far this year, I've ridden the 85 mile route of El Tour de Tucson and plan to ride a metric century (62 miles) for the Phoenix Tour de Cure, a full century plus another 50 miles at the Sedona MS Bike 150, and some long ride at the Livestrong Challenge in Davis, CA (with Team Fatty). These give me something to train for and keep me on the bike, burning calories and improving my fitness all the while.

I am no longer on the 20/20 program, and will no longer be blogging at this site. If you want to find out what I'm up to now, check out tdf2012.blogspot.com. On this blog, I'm writing about the planning I'm doing to prepare for a trip to the 2012 Tour de France, as well as lots of posts about my cycling exploits.

In closing, I am glad I did the 20/20 program, and felt that it was very successful for me. Even though I put some of my weight back on, I was able to correct that situation (albeit with a pretty major intervention), but now that the weight off again, I know I have the tools to keep it off. In addition, I have learned how to eat right, exercise effectively, and the tricks that help me stay training. While I wish I'd not fallen off the wagon, I am back on and doing all the right things again, and am feeling good. I really think I might actually end up weighing less than I did when I was on the 20/20 program.

It was a lot of fun doing this blog, and I heartily recommend the 20/20 program to anyone who is looking to lose weight. Check my current posts out at Tour de France Travellog.

Illness!

2007-02-20T11:50:00.000-08:00

Well, the bug that's been going around finally hit me. At least it is with 9 weeks left in my training program. I've been sick the past two days, and will likely miss at least 2 runs. Hopefully, I'll be back in running shape by Thursday or Friday. If I'm back in shape by Thursday, I'll try to get in 26 miles this week. If it takes until Friday, I'll only get in 19 miles.

Marathon training: week 9 update

2007-02-20T11:43:00.000-08:00

Well, I've reached the halfway point of my training program. This week was a back off week, meaning my long run mileage was not an increase over the previous week. I was supposed to run 24 miles this week: 3 miles, 7 miles, 4 miles, and a 10 mile long run.

I'm happy to report, especially after last week's disaster, that this week was a high quality week. I ran all runs as scheduled, and even finished my long run with no walking breaks. My pace on the long run was under 11:00 min/mile, which is pretty quick for a long run (for me).

Next week will be the real test. I've stated that if I can run more than a 14 mile long run, I should be able to finish my training and do the marathon. That run occurs this week. I've got a 15 mile long run on the schedule for this weekend. In addition, I have a 3 miler, a 7 miler, and a 4 miler during the week. This is a total of 29 miles (which makes it the first week I will have actually run a marathon distance in one week).

I'll let you know how it works out...

Skiing update

2007-02-20T11:34:00.000-08:00

Well, now that I've skied one black, I've been skiing them regularly now. I tend to be able to get down the groomed blacks without too much trouble, although I would hardly say I look good on them. The bumpy blacks still give me some trouble.

I rented some longer skis last weekend (178cm Salomon X Wing Tornados), and I learned something very valuable: while I like how fast I can go on these skis, I could not maneuver them well enough. I'd like to be able to ski moguls well, and I think these skis were just too long and heavy to get them turned around as quickly as I would have liked.

One final update: it looks like Nathan and I are going to go to Whistler for a ski weekend before the season ends. We were planning to go this weekend, but it looks like something is going on up there that is making all the rooms extra expensive. We will try to go sometime in the next few weeks, before the snow starts to melt.

Marathon training: week 8 update

2007-02-20T11:23:00.000-08:00

This week was not good. TechReady 4 was in town, and I spent most of the week downtown. Not only did I not get any runs in during the week, I also didn't eat right while I was there.

Anyway, I went out for my long run on Sunday, which was scheduled for 13 miles. I figured I'd extend it by a little and make it into a half marathon.

Things started out okay, but by mile 5 I was starting to really get tired. I hit the turnaround at 6.5 miles and was really struggling. By the time I hit 7 miles, I was absolutely out of gas. I basically walked most of the way back. When I tried to get started running again, I could only go for a few hundred yards before my legs just refused to go.

I'm not sure what it was: the lack of running, the poor diet, the food I ate before the run, etc., but it really worried me that I could have such trouble at a distance I've done before and was only a mile longer than the distance I ran the week before. In addition, it was especially troubling given that I started having trouble so early in my run...

Anyway, I posting this message over a week late and can say that things have worked out (check my next post).

Marathon training: week 7 update

2007-02-05T08:52:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I completed the 7th week of my training program. I was scheduled to run 24 miles, but cut short one run by a mile (I think I ate really bad that day and competely ran out of gas after just 2 miles). That means I ran 23 miles last week, including a 12 mile long run.

Here's a recap:

Monday: Scheduled Rest Day
Tuesday: No run (scheduled for 3 miles)
Wednesday: 6 miles at marathon pace
Thursday: 3 miles
Friday: 2 miles
Saturday: Skiing
Sunday: 12 miles (11:04 pace)

I talked to a guy at work who has run a couple marathons about pace during his training runs. He ran one run per week at planned marathon pace (PMP), typical training runs at about 30 seconds below PMP, and long runs at 60-90 seconds below PMP. I think I will try to follow this approach.

Next week adds one mile to the plan for a total of 25 miles. My long run next Sunday will be 13 miles, or basically a half marathon. The sad part is I still haven't run the distance in a week that I will (hopefully) be running in a day!

Marathon training: week 6 update

2007-01-28T12:52:00.000-08:00

This was a back off week, and I managed to get all my training runs in. Tuesday I did a faster pace 3 miler. I will continue to take my short runs at a faster pace to help work on a little extra speed. Wednesday I was supposed to do a 5 miler at planned marathon pace (for me, 10:18 min/mile), but I had to cut it short because I had to pick up Jordan. I cut that to a 3 miler, and then did Thursday's run on Friday, making up the distance by extending to a 5 miler. Saturday was another ski day, then today (Sunday) was my 7 mile long run. After doing a 10 miler, it is really nice to step back a bit and do a shorter long run: you have something to look forward to every few weeks instead of always increasing in mileage.

So far, I've run 92.5 miles as part of my marathon training. According to the program, I should have run 104 miles. I'm off by a bit, but I've never skimped on the long runs, and am back on schedule this week.

Next week is going to be a hard week: I jump up to 24 miles. I'll keep you posted...

Marathon training: week 5 update

2007-01-21T18:16:00.000-08:00

Wow, this week was a mess... Monday was a scheduled rest day, which I took. Tuesday, it snowed at early in the morning, and we were basically stuck in our house, so I couldn't run. Wednesday was our team's ski day at Crystal Mountain, so I didn't run that day. Thursday and Friday, I was killing myself trying to get my project shipped, and wasn't able to get away for my runs on either day. Saturday was another ski day, and while I thought it might be possible to run afterwards, that was a crazy idea.

That left today, Sunday, and my long run. I ran 10 miles today, running the railroad trail out and back. As I've said before, running after skiing the day before is pretty difficult. I was beat after about 5 miles, and walked a few times for about 10 minutes of the run. I also had a really slow pace: 11:28. This included the walking, so I guess it wasn't that bad.

I will have to wait until the Saturday skiing is over to see how I really do. That will be in 5 weeks. Then we'll see just how good/bad it really is.

Next week is a step back week: the long run is only 7 miles. I am supposed to do 3 miles, 5 miles, then 3 miles on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. After this past week, I really need to get back into it.

Skiing update

2007-01-21T17:39:00.000-08:00

I've been out 3 times so far this season. Twice I've gone to The Summit at Snoqualmie as an Issaquah Ski School chaperone, and last Wednesday we went on a Microsoft team event to Crystal Mountain. I think that I'm really improving, especially now that I'm skiing much more regularly. I can really carve on the blues, and have figured out how to use my poles to help stay out over my skis.

My big update is that yesterday at The Summit, I skied my first black run: Triple 60 face. I had one fall on the way down, but it was one of the fall sideways into the face of the mountain type falls, rather than the fall face first down the mountain falls. It was actually really easy to recover: I just pushed myself up with one arm and I was back on the move. The main issue was getting over the fear factor when standing at the top of the run. You know inside that once you commit by going over the edge, you can't change your mind! That first move was the hardest...

Next week, I have to chaperone at lunch time while the kids eat, but I'm free in the afternoon. I'm going to take a lesson from one of the ski school instructors. I really think that I may be capable of more than I'm doing now, but I need someone to push me more.

Marathon training: week 4 recap

2007-01-21T17:31:00.000-08:00

The wierd weather has continued in Seattle, and I was only able to get out and run 3 times this week. I did get my long run in though, and did 9 miles on Sunday. This was after skiing all day on Saturday. For the week, I did 15 miles.

We had a lot of snow (for Seattle) last week, and I did my first long run (or any run) on snow. It was about 24 degrees, and once I was bundled up, it was fine. I did notice that I was extremely tired toward the end of the run. I had to walk 3 times for a total of about 6 minutes or so. I attribute this tiredness to the fact that I'd gone skiing less than 24 hours prior to my run.

Speaking of skiing, it was great to be out after a year off. I got to use my new boots, and they were really good. They still need a bit of tweaking just under the ankle, but in generally they really fit well. I'm renting skis every time I go, so I'll be able to try out a lot of different styles. I hope to be able to buy a pair of skis at the end of the season when everything goes on sale.

Next week is another step up in distance for my long run: 10 miles. This will be the longest I've ever run when it wasn't a race.

Weird knee issue

2007-01-10T11:01:00.000-08:00

No, I'm not injured (I don't think), but I have been having some weirdness in my knees for quite some time. Basically, whenever I do something like a deep knee bend, I feel a lot of muscular weakness centered around my knees. This is especially pronounced after running. For example, if I have done a longer run (on the treadmill at the gym, for example), the simple process of walking up the stairs to leave the locker room at the Pro Club causes pain around my knees.

The pain is not in the joints, which is positive (I think), but more in the tendons or muscles around the area. It does tend to go away after a while. I am wondering if, because I am almost exclusively running and have been neglecting my strength training, I am neglecting certain muscles that don't get exercised during running but do get used when doing squats and other leg press type motions. I have decided that I will start doing basic squats and ball squats regularly to see if working on this motion will help the problem to go away. One good thing is that this does not seem to impact my running at all.

If you've experienced something like this, please leave a comment and let me know a) what it was, and b) what you did about it.

Hard(er) run

2007-01-10T10:56:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I ran a bit of a faster run than I've been doing recently. I ran a (gasp!) 9:30 pace for 3 miles. I think that I need to push myself on the shorter runs, use my Wednesday semi-long run for running my planned marathon pace, and not worry about pace on my weekend long runs. This will help me improve my cardio capacity and speed (faster runs), get used to marathon pace (semi-long runs), and build a base of mileage (long runs). This seems like a reasonable approach to me...

Woohoo! I've hit the 10% mark!

2007-01-08T09:35:00.000-08:00

To date, I've run 46 miles for my marathon training program, which totals 456 miles. That means I've hit the 10% mark!

No skiing after all

2007-01-08T09:30:00.000-08:00

I was unable to ski on Saturday after all. It turned out that there was a big storm on Friday night, and the power at Snoqualmie was knocked out.

Oh well, I guess it will be one more week before I can break in my new boots.

Marathon training: week 3 recap

2007-01-08T09:23:00.000-08:00

I finished my third week of marathon training successfully. I felt like I might have a bit of a cold coming on toward the end of the week, and I was kind of run down for my long run, but I got through it. Fortunately, week 3 is a back off week where the long run is shorter than the previous 2 weeks, so that made the long doable.

I ran 15 miles last week, with a 5 mile long run. I did this yesterday at the Pro Club on the treadmill. I really hate running long runs inside, but I had to send my Garmin ForeRunner in for repair and have not received it back yet. As soon as it is back from Garmin, I will be outside for next weekend's long run.

This coming week is where things get much more difficult. My long run next weekend is 9 miles. This is equal to the longest non-half marathon run I've ever done. From here on in I will be in uncharted territory. This is where it gets interesting...

Skiing tomorrow

2007-01-05T23:09:00.000-08:00

Unless the weather gets really bad (which could happen), I'll be skiing tomorrow for the first time this season. I'll be chaperoning about 45 kids on a bus up to Snoqualmie for the Issaquah Ski School. When I'm not "on duty", I get to ski for free. I'll get the chance to ski with Nathan in the afternoon which should be fun.

I'm looking forward to it...

Planned marathon pace

2007-01-02T18:57:00.000-08:00

I have decided that I am going to set a (hopefully) realistic goal for my first marathon. I hope to finish in 4:30. This may be a little optimistic, but that is my goal.

To finish in 4:30, I will need to run a 10:18 pace. This is a little faster than the pace I ran in the LV Half Marathon, but I expect to be in a lot better shape for this race than the last one.

As part of preparing for the race, I'm going to make Wednesdays my race pace day. This will hopefully get me used to this pace for longer and longer runs. This is a modification I'm making to the Higdon program.

Lots of miles to go...

2007-01-02T15:01:00.000-08:00

I added up all the miles I've run so far, thinking I was really getting somewhere. Since I started the training program, I've run 38.5 miles. Three and half of those were additional miles, not officially a part of the program, so I've run 35 official miles of my training plan. I was pretty proud of myself until I added up all the miles in the training plan. The full program consists of 456 miles of training. Therefore, I'm officially 7.7% of the way finished with my training and have 421 miles to go.

That's a lot of miles...

This week's plan

2007-01-01T18:52:00.000-08:00

I am off tomorrow, so while I'm supposed to do a 4 miler on Wednesday and a 3 miler tomorrow, I'm going to swap them to fit my schedule better. In addition, I'm going skiing on Saturday (for sure), so I will count that as my cross training and do my long run (sorta long: 5 miles) on Sunday. At least that's the plan, we'll see what the reality is...

No skiing and no Resolution Run

2007-01-01T18:48:00.000-08:00

We ended up not doing either. I told Nathan that I would take him to Snoqualmie but did not want to ski, but he didn't want to snowboard by himself. Therefore, we decided not to go. I had a great idea (not that great!) that he and I could run in the Resolution Run together (he's expressed some interest in running). Unfortunately, his running shoes were at school, and I didn't think it was a good idea to do a 5K in skate shoes. We ended up doing nothing today. Truth be told, this was supposed to be my rest day anyway, so I wasn't too bummed...

Resolution Run Scrubbed

2006-12-31T22:01:00.000-08:00

I will not be running in the Resolution Run after all. Instead, I'm going to take Nathan snowboarding. I may or may not ski myself, although I did buy some ski boots last week (Head S9 Heatfit). I got them from the Alpine Hut in Seattle (www.alpinehut.com). These guys don't sell the really cheap stuff, but they do guarantee that they will make your boots fit no matter how much work they have to put into them. Given that I'm going to have these things for years, I think it's worth it to pay an extra $100 now for that peace of mind.

Marathon Training: Week 2 Recap

2006-12-31T21:48:00.000-08:00

Well, I finished my second week of marathon training, even with Christmas during the week. I did three 3-milers during the week. Then this weekend, I planned to do a 7-miler on Saturday, but had to cut it short because I needed to get home to take Nathan to guitar practice. Instead of the planned 7 mile run, I did a 3.5 mile run. To get things back on track, I ran my 7-miler today. This was 3.5 miles more than I should have run this week, but it's more important that get in my long runs than I slowly put on mileage. Also, since I had been doing 20 mile weeks recently, I felt that it wouldn't be a problem to run 4.5 miles more than the previous week.

My pace is still slow, about 10:15 per mile. I put some extra weight on over the holidays, so that is probably part of it. I am also not too concerned about speed, so the fact that I'm running slow is not critical, as long as I can run long.

Next week I back off on my long run (only 5 miles), but add a mile to my mid-week run. I will do 3, 4, 3, and 5 for a total of 15 miles. This is part of the Hal Higdon program: 2 weeks of increasing mileage followed by a back off week. Following next week's back off week, I will do 19 miles, including a 9 mile long run.

I'm pretty pleased with how things are going so far. I just home I can keep it up!

General running schedule

2006-12-28T12:37:00.000-08:00

My general training schedule (from www.halhigdon.com) is:

Monday: Rest Day
Tuesday: Short Run (3-4 miles)
Wednesday: Medium/Long Run (starting at 3 miles and progressing to 10 miles)
Thursday: Short Run (3-4 miles)
Friday: Rest Day
Saturday: Long Run (starting at 6 miles and progressing to 20 miles)
Sunday: Cross Training (non-running cardio)

I may modify this plan a bit by swapping Wednesday's and Thursday's runs (Wednesday is not a good day for a 10 miler). In addition, I will be skiing for a number of Saturdays in January and February, and on those days I will call that cross training and do my long run on Sunday.

Resolution Run 2007

2006-12-27T11:34:00.000-08:00

I think I'm going to run the 2007 Resolution Run on January 1st at Sand Point Park in Seattle. This is a very flat 5K race. I won't be PRing on this one, but I think it will count nicely toward my marathon training.

New Running Goal: Spirit of St. Louis Marathon

2006-12-27T11:25:00.000-08:00

As I've said before, I have to have something to train for in order to stay on track. I've therefore chosen to train for the Spirit of St. Louis Marathon on April 15th, 2007. This allows me to immediately slip into an 18 week training program that started a week after the LV Half. No breaks means no backsliding.

I am setting my sights on doing the full marathon. I always wanted to do one, and this one is as good as any. Obviously, its a long way away and I could ratchet back to the half (or even not doing the race at all), but for now I'm going to be training as if I'm doing the 26.2 race.

I started the Hal Higdon Novice Marathon training plan last week with 15 miles of running. This week I move up to 16 miles. Hal's novice program peaks at 20 miles in week 15.

Anyway, I'm on track to complete a full marathon on tax day of 2007. Keep your eyes on this blog to get details of my training and (hopefully) results of the race.

Results of the Las Vegas Half Marathon

2006-12-27T11:18:00.000-08:00

Well, I had several issues that impacted me during the final weeks of preparation for the half marathon. I was sick for two solid weeks, and although I was able to do shorter runs during that time, my long runs we definitely impacted. My final long run was only 4 miles (!). In addition, Seattle had a major snow storm that basically meant we couldn't leave the house for about 3 days.

Anyway, I was concerned when I did the half that I might not even be able to finish it. My longest long run during training for this race was only 8 miles. However, it was an easy course and I finished in 2:20:32. This does not count a 2 minute potty break I took where I turned my watch off. It turns out that this is about 20 seconds better than my first half, so I got a new PR! :-)

As far as the race itself went, it was not that fantastic, although it was cool to run with so many thousand runners (about 15,500). It was also cool to have a big crowd cheering us on (although it would have been nice if they were there at the end of the race rather than the beginning. Being in Vegas was fun, and I had a good time with Mark Dinman and the other Asynchrony guys, as well as Mark's buddy, Mike Fitzgerald from New York.

Mark seems to think that this will be an annual event for all of us. I'm not sure if I'll do it every year, but it was definitely fun this time.

Long time coming...

2006-10-24T12:12:00.000-07:00

This post has been a long time coming. Just wanted to get a little update in. Basically, the weight is still in pretty good shape. I'm fluctuating around 182-185 range. This is an weight that I'm happy with. My trainer felt that 175-180 was too skinny for me.

I had slowed down on running a bit as my schedule had gotten really hectic at work (I know, no excuse), but I've been back running pretty steadily the past 3 weeks. A buddy of mine has convinced me to run the Las Vegas Half Marathon in early December, so I'm on a full training program for this race. I have been running about 16 miles a week for the past few weeks, and will be ratcheting that up to 24 miles in the week preceding the race.

I've figured out that having a specific goal to work toward is critical for me to stay motivated. I have no problem looking at my training plan for the half and saying, okay, I've gotta run 3 miles today. I have a big problem just saying I've gotta run 3 miles today without the training plan. It looks like I need to always have a race coming.

In case your interested, I've got the following runs scheduled for this week: rest day, 2 miles, 3 miles, 2 miles, 3 miles, rest day, 7 miles.

I'll keep you posted as the race draws nearer. I definitely hope to be better prepared than I was for the Seafair Half Marathon.

Best 5K ever

2006-08-07T09:03:00.000-07:00

I ran the Foot Zone 5K yesterday in Redmond. This is a pretty small race with probably less than 500 runners. It is nice in that the course is pretty much perfectly flat. I figured that if there was ever a time to improve my PR on a 5K this was it.

My strategy was to run based on my heart rate. My Run Coach software says I should average about a 171 to 177 HR for a 5K, so that's what I tried to do. I didn't wear my GPS, so my first indication that I was running an okay time was when I hit the 1 Mile mark. After the first mile, I had a 7:30 pace going. The second mile was a little slower, finishing the second mile in about 8:30. I picked it up in the last full mile, finishing it in 8:20. I had a bit of energy left for the last 200 yards. I finished with my HR registering 189. My time was 25:15.

The last decent 5K I ran was the Resolution Run on 1/1/05. I finished that in 29:30. That means I shaved 4 minutes and 15 seconds off my 5K personal record. Not too shabby!!!

Seafair Torchlight Run

2006-08-04T23:23:00.000-07:00

I ran in the Seafair Torchlight Run last Saturday evening. This is an 8K in downtown Seattle. The course covers the route of the Torchlight Parade, so there are about 300,000 people watching as you run. It provided a lot of encouragement to run fast.

The course is pretty fast with only gentle upslopes. I guess all those spectators spurred me on to run a PR for an 8K. I finished the race in 43:40, 1 minute and 40 seconds faster than the Beat the Bridge. I know it's not that fast, but I did break a 9:00 pace for the whole race which is good for me.

My next race is the Foot Zone 5K in Redmond on Sunday. I hope to run a sub-25:00 5K. Again, not too fast, but faster than I've ever done a 5k before.

Training is over

2006-07-25T08:51:00.000-07:00

Well, last Thursday was my last real training day of the 20/20 maintenance phase. Today I get some measurements taken, then it's all over. Since February 7th, 2006, I've:

Gone from 221.5 lbs to 179 lbs (42 lbs loss)
Gone from not getting any exercise to running a half marathon
Increased my strength a lot (from almost zero to something more than that!)
Gone from a 38" to a 32" waist
Run 344 miles
Gone from a BMI of 30.0 to 23.6
Increase my stamina dramatically
Learned how to eat healthy
Learned how NOT to get hungry
Kept from getting injured

I'll get final measurements today. I am hopeful that I've started putting on some muscle my last measurements. We'll see...

Upcoming races

2006-07-24T11:56:00.000-07:00

This Friday I will be running in the Seafair Torchlight run. This is an 8K that runs in front of the Seafair Torchlight Parade through downtown Seattle. It will probably be pretty hot this day, so my goal is just to survive!

On August 6th I will be running in the Foot Zone 5K. This is a perfectly flat course that should be an opportunity for me to set a new PR. I'll be shooting for under 27 minutes.

Night & Day Results

2006-07-24T09:25:00.000-07:00

Team RCPG finished the Night and Day Challenge under 3 hours (about 2:48:00) and visited 13 locations. My ForeRunner said we went about 8.68 miles. I'd say we ran about 40 to 50% of the time.

We did a pretty good job finding the locations and covered a fair amount of territory during the race. Where we did not do so good was planning what sites to visit. Each location had a point value ranging from 10 points to over 100. We probably should have concentrated on higher point locations and not visited so many. As it was, we got 430 points. The winners got over 600...

It was very tiring and very hot, but still was a lot of fun. I definitely think I will do this again next year.

One good note, we did finish on top of the women's division! The results are here: http://www.nightanddaychallenge.com/results.asp.

Seattle Night & Day Challenge

2006-07-18T15:44:00.000-07:00

I will be participating in the Seattle Night & Day Challenge this weekend. A colleague and I will be doing the 3 hour version of the race where you orienteer around downtown Seattle visiting various points as marked on a map. You can find more information at http://www.nightanddaychallenge.com.

Conferences

2006-07-13T08:40:00.000-07:00

I think going to conferences may be one of the worst things for staying on a weight control plan. You're out of town, you're often in a new time zone and messed up schedule-wise, the food they give you is generally not super healthy, and you are eating out.

I'm at Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference this week, and my diet has not been going so well. Fortunately (or unfortunately), I don't have a way to find out what I weigh.

I don't think that I've been too terribly bad this week, but I could have done better. I'll have to get back on track when I get home tomorrow.

Results from the Seafair half marathon

2006-07-12T17:34:00.000-07:00

Just thought I'd fill everyone in on my first half marathon that I ran last Sunday. I completed the run (13.1 miles) in 2:20:52. This was good for 83rd out of 88 runners in my age group. The way I see it, I have plenty of room for improvement. I ran all but about 2 minutes of that time. I think this was the most physically challenging thing I've done in my life.

Sunday night was spent staggering around the house trying not to aggravate the areas that suffered from chafing. The dumb part was that I put Body Glide on my feet to help prevent blisters, but I thought chafing like that was reserved for the marathoners! Things kept getting worse until by bedtime it was pretty painful getting up the stairs. I never knew my knees could make so much noise...

The really humbling part is that when I was finishing nearly collapsing after 13.1 miles, the full marathoners were hitting the halfway point. I have a whole new level of respect for these people (and I always had plenty of respect for them).

One last tidbit: my heart rate monitor estimated that I burned 2200 calories during my run. That's a full days worth of eating. Ouch!!!

Running plans for July

2006-06-27T09:32:00.000-07:00

I am still staying fit, with my weight hovering around 178. In order to keep things going, I'm planning on doing the following runs next month:

July 9th: Virginia Mason Team Medicine SeaFAIR Half Marathon (www.seafairmarathon.com)

July 29th: Seafair Torchlight 8k (http://www.seafair.com/x392.asp)

Wikicheatia launches

2006-06-25T08:55:00.000-07:00

My kids and I came up with the idea of a wiki site for cheat codes. This started out as a joke because one of my kids is a big Wikipedia fan and used to be a huge consumer of cheat codes on video games. From that we came up with the name "Wikicheatia". However, the more we thought about it, it sounded like a good idea, so over the weekend I created www.wikicheatia.com. The site is running the familiar MediaWiki software that also runs Wikipedia, so it should be easy for wiki users to use.

Please take a look and while you're there, add your favorite cheat, hint, etc. to Wikicheatia!

Two and a half pounds from my goal

2006-06-07T23:06:00.000-07:00

The past couple of days I've weighed 177.5 on my home scales. This is 2.5 lbs. away from my goal weight. If I continue losing at the rate I've been over the past few weeks, I should hit my goal in two weeks or so.

As I get further along, it is harder to stay on course eating-wise when you know you don't have much left to lose. For instance, I've been averaging about 1700-1800 calories per day, rather than 1500-1700 calories like I'm supposed to. As I'm so close to my goal weight, and since I'm still losing, my dietician is not troubled by this.

I actually indulged the other day and had McDonald's (and not the Asian Chicken Salad which is remarkably good, by the way). I had my standard "low cal" meal from Micky D's, the two cheeseburger and fries value meal. This sucker is 1000 calories!! This is one you can fit in weekly, but not daily like I was doing!

Anyway, the losing is just about at an end and I'm feeling pretty good about it...

Big challenge coming up

2006-06-07T23:01:00.000-07:00

Next week is TechEd in Boston. I will be out of town from Sunday through Friday. This is going to be a big challenge to eat right, as these conferences are notorious for alcohol and junk food.

I made some preparations by picking up a box of PureFit bars. In addition, I need to score some EAS AdvantEdge Meal Replacement shakes as well. With these things plus some organic yogurt, soy nuts, light string cheese, and some turkey jerky, I should be pretty well set for snacks. Add in a little sensible breakfast, lunch and dinner and I should do okay.

I'll try to blog from TechEd and give you an idea how I do.

New trainer

2006-06-07T22:57:00.000-07:00

My original trainer, David Sams, is taking time off to be with his family who are coming over from Australia this summer. I therefore have a new trainer: David Joyce. I've had a few sessions with the new David and I can honestly say he's been a lot tougher on me than the original David. It's probably best that I didn't start off with David Joyce: he might have killed me!

15 week update

2006-05-30T17:46:00.000-07:00

I have slacked off on posting for a while, but I thought I'd just check in and let people know how I'm doing. I've gotten down to 178.5 lbs on my scales at home. This is 3.5 lbs. away from my stretch goal. The other day I had to buy 32" waist pants for the first time in who knows how long. The 33" waist pants I bought awhile back are now too big.

Overall things are going well. I've got a new trainer which is cool because he brings a whole new vibe to my sessions at the PRO Club. Hopefully, I'll reach my goal of 175 before the program is over. I'll keep you posted.

Beat the Bridge Race Report

2006-05-30T17:44:00.000-07:00

I am happy to report that I did indeed beat the bridge. I finished the 8 kilometer (just under 5 mile) race in 45:20. This was an excellent time for me as my goal going into the race was to beat 50:00.

There were over 9000 runners in this race, taking off in 3 waves. By far, my wave was the largest with probably 4500 runners in it. I did not want to be caught behind walkers or runners that were likely to not beat the bridge, so I lined up at the front of the pack. When the horn sounded, I went out faster than I had originally intended. I was using my heart rate monitor to guage my level of effort, and had planned on shooting for about 165 beats per minute for the race. I started out much higher than that, and about 1 minute into the race, my HRM was reading 172. Even though I was going faster than I had planned, I was feeling good and thought I'd put some time in the bank while I was still feeling good. I finished the first mile in 8:34, which is probably the fastest I've ever done a competitive mile.

My second mile was my slowest, with a fair number of hills and the bridge coming in this section of the race. I kept up the higher heart rate, but finished this mile in 9:57. I had originally planned to take the 3rd mile easy, but since I was still doing well at an HR around 170, I kept up my faster pace and finished the next 2 miles in 9:28 and 8:24. The last mile I started getting pretty ragged. I hardly had any energy left when we turned the corner and entered Husky Stadium for the finish. The last 50 yards of the race were on the astroturf. My final kick was from the endzone to the 50 yard line where the finish line was. Not much of a kick, but I can honestly say I didn't leave much in the tank. When I checked out the watch, I had run a 9:07 pace, with an average heart rate of 173. My HR maxed out at 185. I would guess that I ran 80%+ of this race anaerobically, which is way better than I thought I could.

I'd have to say that I'm very pleased with my results, and look forward to my next race. What that race will be I have not decided.

Inching closer to my next goal

2006-05-14T14:18:00.000-07:00

I am 1 pound away from being in the 170s. I hit 180.5 this morning. I can't even remember when I didn't weigh over 180.

One pound from my goal!

2006-05-12T14:46:00.000-07:00

I currently weigh 181 lbs according to the scales at home. This is 1 pound away from my goal weight of 180.

I've decided that since I have a fair amount of time left on my maintenance program that I will try to get to my stretch goal of 175. Then I will consider 180 as my redline weight. This is the weight at which I take major steps to lose weight to avoid putting too much weight back on.

Who would have thought that at the beginning of February I'd be where I am today?!

Phase 1 recap

2006-05-11T06:53:00.000-07:00

I had my doctor's visit on Tuesday. During the visit, Dr. Upton went over my results from my fitness assessment and we discussed my progress so far on the program. Here are some of the stats:

Weight:
Before: 221
After: 184

BMI:
Before: 30.0 (Obese)
After: 24.3 (Normal)

Blood Pressure:
Before: 145/107
After: 136/86

Blood Glucose:
Before: 100
After: 96*

Cholesterol:
Before: 200
After: 189*

Triglycerides:
Before: 325
After: 110*

HDL:
Before: 34
After: 42*

LDL:
Before: 130 (est.)
After: 125

The measurements with asterisks are considered normal.

A little more data: I've lost 4.25" in my chest, 6.25" in my waist, 3.25" in my hips, 0.75" in my bicep, and 2.5" in my thigh.

On the whole, I'd say I've done pretty well...

Week 13 update

2006-05-11T06:51:00.000-07:00

Quick check in: my weight was down to 181.8 lbs. I've run 8 mile long runs the past 2 weeks now. In addition, my running pace is almost down to 10:00 miles on average. Since I pace myself based on my heart rate, I am definitely getting much more fit.

Law School

2006-05-07T09:02:00.000-07:00

I have always thought that I would like to law school, but it was never possible because of work. I recently found out that Seattle University has an evening law school that would be a good fit for me. After discussing the possibility of going to evening school with my wife and boss, I have decide that I am going to pursue this.

I will be blogging about my law school journey on my personal blog at http://spaces.msn.com/billsplace.

Another MS employee blogging his 20/20 program

2006-05-02T23:00:00.000-07:00

Dan Boerner will be blogging his 20-week 20/20 program on his site, http://www.danboe.net. Check it out...

Week 12 update

2006-05-02T22:33:00.000-07:00

I lost another 1.6 lbs. this week. I've lost a grand total of 39.2 lbs. so far, and am down to 183.2 at today's weigh in. I haven't weighed this since I lived in St. Louis over 8 years ago!

Today I ran 5 miles on the treadmill and did it at the pace I'll need to run for the Beat the Bridge. I finished in 49:45, which is a sub-10:00 minute/mile pace. Tomorrow is my fitness test to see how well I've done during the 10 week main phase of the program.

New running goal reached

2006-05-02T22:30:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, I ran 8 miles. Things went really well, and I even had enough gas left in the tank to kick for the last quarter mile.

I have been running mostly to a target heart rate, and I can see that my pace is improving. I am still extremely slow (11 min/mile). It takes a loooong time to run 8 miles at this pace!

Week 11 update

2006-05-02T22:23:00.000-07:00

Okay, I haven't posted for a while, so here's the update. I weighed in last Tuesday and was at 184.8 lbs. This was a loss of 4.2 lbs. This was a really great result.

I had my first maintenance phase dietician appointment and was told that all foods are on the table again. I can even have candy, if I want to use the calories on it. I'm still on 1500-1700 calories per day until I get to my target weight, which I've actually revised down to 175.

On the down side, my blood pressure still is not quite low enough, even after losing all this weight. Oh well, I guess you can't have it all. The guy who runs our group session said that he found his BP dropping for a while even after the program was over, so there is still some hope that I'll get off the meds, but right now it's not looking too promising.

Upcoming appointments

2006-04-20T07:08:00.000-07:00

I have several end of phase 1 appointments coming up. First, I have to get a blood test to see how my blood chemistry has changed over course of the program. Next, I will get a second fitness evaluation to see if my fitness has improved (somehow I think it has!) Finally, I will meet with the doctor again to go over the results and talk about next steps.

Week 10 update

2006-04-20T07:00:00.000-07:00

Tuesday was the first day of my maintenance phase. What this means is I cut back to 2 trainer days a week and a dietician visit every other week. This goes on for another 10 weeks.

What this means is that I didn't meet with Megan today, so I had to do my weigh-in on my own. My weight when jumped on the official scales was 189.0 lbs.! This means I have met two of my weight loss goals: 1) get out of the 190s, and 2) get down to "normal weight" according to BMI.

This means that for my entire 10 week 20/20 program, I have lost 33.4 lbs., or 3.3 lbs. per week on average. I've got to say that I like the way I look and feel a lot more than I used to. That said, I've still got a fair amount of belly fat that I would really like to get rid of. I have lost about .25" of unsightly wrist fat which makes my watch not fit right.

Just to give a quick running update, I've done 21 miles per week the last 2 weeks, and am going to do 24 miles this week. This will include an 8 miler either tomorrow or Saturday and a 5 miler either Saturday or Sunday. My training for the Beat the Bridge is going well and my pace is slowly getting better and better.

My running program

2006-04-12T15:42:00.000-07:00

In case anyone is interested, here is my current running program. I am focusing on heart rate zone training, and adjusting my pace to keep my HR in the right range. The one exception to this policy is that for most runs I will not drop below a certain pace. Usually this means that for the last half mile or so I will allow my HR to drift above the upper limit. This starts to happen around the end of some of my longer runs, especially if I've run a few days in a row.

My schedule is as follows:

Sunday - Rest day
Monday - Short easy run (3 miles with my HR in the 133 to 146 range)
Tuesday - Medium distance easy run (4-5 miles with the same HR as above)
Wednesday - Rest Day
Thursday - Short threshold run (3 miles with my HR in the 161 to 173 range)
Friday - Medium distance easy run (same as Tuesday)
Saturday - Long run (6-8 miles with my HR in the 147 to 160 range)

Once I finish Beat the Bridge, I might mix up my schedule some. I think that I'm doing well enough on my training and endurance that I am probably going to go straight into training for the Seafair Half-Marathon that comes in July.

Week 9 update: what a difference a week makes!

2006-04-11T23:52:00.000-07:00

Well, I had my week 9 weigh-in today and it was a really good week. I managed to drop 4.0 lbs. This was really a boost after my 0.6 lbs loss last week. I weighed 190.6 lbs. today, a mere 0.8 lbs away from the 180s.

My trainer is out of town this week, so I worked out on my own. I was a bit rushed for time so I skipped my core workout. I'll hit those again on Thursday. I did run 4 miles though, and went up 10 lbs on 2 different exercises (leg curl and overhead press).

There were no changes to my diet this week. Megan said I could eat cook grains, but I haven't gotten around to doing that yet. I have been eating ham or turkey sandwiches on my Orowheat Light Whole Wheat bread. As long as I load up on the mustard, these are fine sandwiches.

Beat the Bridge Update

2006-04-08T15:59:00.000-07:00

Today I registered for the Nordstrom Beat the Bridge to Beat Diabetes 5 mile race. I am running this race as a celebration of my return to fitness after being overweight and unhealthy. In fact, my blood test results indicated that I was a few points away from being diagnosed as a Type 2 diabetic myself before I started the program.

This race is a fundraiser for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. If you are interested in sponsoring me, please visit my fundraising page.

This week's running update

2006-04-08T15:55:00.000-07:00

This week I ran 4 times, and did an indoor cycling class on Friday. I ran the following:

Sunday - Rest
Monday - 3 miles
Tuesday - 4 miles
Wednesday - Rest
Thursday - 3 miles
Friday - 5.5 effective miles (cycling instead of running)
Saturday - 7 miles

The grand total was 22.5 miles.

Next week I'm scheduled for 21 miles again.

Week 8 update

2006-04-08T15:50:00.000-07:00

I know you were wondering when I'd provide an update for my 8th week on the 20/20 program. Well, here it is: I lost 0.6 lbs. this week. I must admit this was a bit of a disappointment, but it could definitely be worse.

In response to this almost a setback, I am going to try to keep my calories toward the lower end of the acceptable range (1500 calories). We'll see if this has an impact next week.

Running update

2006-04-02T19:42:00.000-07:00

I've been running now a bit over 7 weeks, and I'm very pleased with my progress. Last week (Sunday to Saturday), I ran 22 miles. On Thursday I ran a hard 2 miles, and did it in about 18 minutes and 20 seconds. This may not sound very fast, but it's almost 3 minutes per mile faster than I typically run.

On Saturday, I hit another of my running goals: I ran 5 miles. In fact, I ran 6 miles...

Campbell's Chunky Turkey Chili

2006-03-29T11:30:00.000-08:00

Last night I had the Campbell's Chunky Turkey Chili. It was really good. I believe I'm going to add this into my rotation...

I guess that adding beans to my diet really was a good thing!

Program goal review

2006-03-29T11:25:00.000-08:00

When you sign up for the program, they set a weight loss goal for you of 2 lbs. per week of the program. I'm on the 10 week program, so I'm supposed to lose 20 lbs. I've lost 27.2 and have 3 weeks left in the program.

If I project out reasonable (even conservative) weight loss for the rest of my time on the program, it looks like I will easily make my personal goal, and may even make my stretch goal. I figure that if I lose 2 lbs. per week for the rest of the 10 week program, and then lose 1 lb. per week for the maintenance part of my program, I will lose (3 x 2) + (12 x 1) = 18 lbs. Subtract 18 lbs. from what I weigh now (195 lbs.) and you get 177 lbs. My main goal weight is 180, and my stretch goal is 175. It certainly seems reasonable that I can reach these goals if I keep things up.

Week 7 update

2006-03-29T11:18:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was my 8th dietician visit and the end of week 7 of the program. I'm over two thirds done with the main part of the program and am still going strong.

Here's the lowdown: I weighed in at 195.2 lbs, which is a loss of 2.8 lbs. this week. This means I've lost a total of 27.2 lbs. in 7 weeks. In addition, this week I got to start having grains again. They are starting me off on 1 slice of whole wheat bread per day (woohoo!). Hey, it's a start.

I was at a celebration in St. Louis over the weekend, and while I only ate on the plan while I was there (no cake, brownies, etc.), I did not do my meal tracking religiously for two days. I did have my White Castles (3 cheeseburgers, please!) and although they were good, they weren't quite as good as I seem to remember. I also managed to run twice while I was there, getting in about 8.5 miles outside.

Off the wagon

2006-03-28T20:11:00.000-08:00

I fell off the wagon while I was in St. Louis this weekend. No, I didn't pig out on brownies or popcorn. It's actually pretty lame: I didn't track my meals for two days.

My dietician was forgiving, especially since I went out of town for a celebration and didn't cheat.

Hardest run to date

2006-03-28T20:08:00.000-08:00

I was in St. Louis this weekend and ran with one of my buddies. He has been running steadily for the past year, and is in training for a half marathon. Anyway, he was due for a 4.5 miler so I ran with him last Friday.

It was really good running with someone, and especially good running with someone faster than you. We also ran outside in his neighborhood which has a lot of hills which I've been avoiding so far. Long story short, I ran 4.45 miles at a 10:30 min. per mile pace. This was really hard but very rewarding.

I think I need to get a running buddy. I also need to get outside more once the weather gets a tad warmer.

Waist size decrease

2006-03-28T20:05:00.000-08:00

I've lost about 3-4 inches in my waist since I began the program. I've also started wearing my 34" waist pants that I used wear back when I was running regularly. This is pretty exciting.

New goal reached

2006-03-21T18:01:00.000-08:00

I've officially broken the 200 lb. barrier! This is the 3rd of my weight loss goals that I have reached so far. Next stop: 190...

Quick week 6 update

2006-03-21T17:57:00.000-08:00

Well, I weighed in today for the end of week 6 and the beginning of week 7. I lost 3.6 lbs. in the past week, for a total of 24 lbs. This is in 6 weeks, for an average of 4 lbs. per week in weight loss.

I'll post more about my mid-program checkup results and some other appointments I had later...

Arghh!!!

2006-03-21T17:53:00.000-08:00

No, nothing really bad happened. It's just that I found out today that the folks at the Pro Club have been reading this blog. Now I have to watch what I say...

But since they are reading, let me take this opportunity to say that all the people I've worked with from the club have been extremely friendly and supportive throughout my program. I highly recommend both Megan and David Sams (aka "Aussie"). They are really doing the trick for me.

Update on goals

2006-03-14T17:33:00.000-08:00

Here is an update on how I'm doing on the goals from a previous post:

Goals Reached:

Get down to where I was when I decided I should start running because I was too heavy
Meet my 20/20 program weight loss goal (20 lbs)
Run 3 miles with no stops

Current Goals:

Get out of the 200s
Get blood pressure to normal with medication
Run 5 miles with no stops

I should be able to hit one of my current goals this week, and one the following week. Here's to goals!

Week 5 update

2006-03-14T15:48:00.000-08:00

I just got back from my 6th dietician appointment, which marks the end of my fifth week in the program. The big news was the weigh-in where I weighed 201.8 lbs.! That means I lost 2.6 lbs. this week, and a total of 20.6 lbs. for the program so far! I can therefore check my second weight loss goal off my list (reach my 20/20 program weight loss goal). Next stop, breaking 200 lbs. which should happen this week.

Other than that, I had my measurements taken this week, and have lost 3 inches in my waist. This must be why my pants are fitting better (okay, fitting!). I've got an appointment next Tuesday with the doctor after my dietician. I will talk to him then about my blood pressure medication, which I may be able to reduce a bit.

I did get chastised a bit because I was not eating enough fruit. Also, we talked about how to eat at restaurants, but I've been doing that for weeks. I was informed that next week would be the week I get to add beans to my diet. Mmmm, beans...

I confess: I had french onion soup this week, and ate the bread at the bottom of the bowl.

My updated goals

2006-03-14T15:29:00.000-08:00

I have set a number of goals for myself on the program. I figure that many smaller goals always gives me something to look forward to achieving without having to wait months and months. Here are my goals (including a new goal that I just recently added: more on that later).

Bill's Weight Loss Goals (in rough order of expected acheivement):

Get down to where I was when I decided I should start running because I was too heavy
Meet my 20/20 program weight loss goal (20 lbs)
Get out of the 200s
Get down to 190
Get to "normal" weight (BMI < 25.0 which is 189 for me)
Get down to 180
Stay at or below 180 for 1 year

Bill's Health Goals:

Get blood pressure to normal with medication
Get HBP medication reduced
Get off HBP medication altogether
Get clean blood chemistry results
Stay healthy for 1 year

Bill's Fitness Goals:

Run 3 miles with no stops
Run 5 miles with no stops
Run 8 miles with no stops
Run in the "Beat the Bridge" 5 mile race (requires running first 2 miles in 20 minutes or less)
Do an unassisted pull up (this is embarrassing!)
Do 20 unassisted pull ups
Run the Salmon Days Rotary Run (5K) in under 27 minutes
Run a 10K
Run a half-marathon by the end of 2006
Run a marathon by the end of 2007
Keep my running program going for 2 solid years

I will be updating on the status of these goals as I go along. I've already met some of them, but I'll save that for other postings.

Week 4 results

2006-03-09T07:19:00.000-08:00

Tuesday was my 5th dietician visit, and the end of my first 4 weeks on the program. My weight was at 204.4 lbs., for a total loss of 18 lbs. I lost 3.6 lbs. last week. I've got to say the weight loss is pretty spectacular, and I can really see that I've dropped a lot of pounds. I was actually able to fit into a pair of 34" waist jeans yesterday (although they were pretty tight!)

When I checked my blood pressure yesterday, it averaged around 130/74. The bottom number seems to be dropping faster than the top. If I recall my experience from Washington University Medical School (my first job out of college), the top number is the pressure when the heart is pumping while the bottom number is when the heart is between pumps. I've got a theory that the bottom number drops faster because my heart got used to having to pump harder to deal with the high blood pressure, and it takes it a little while to ratchet down. The bottom number is more indicative of the overall reduction in BP. This is probably nonsense, but its the best I can come up with.

My dietician said I can have low glycemic fruit now, which is mostly any fruit except bananas and cherries. I can't have juice or dried fruit either. I'm not a big fruit eater, so this is not a big win for me. I'm still waiting for pasta and bread. That's going to be big!

She also said I need to watch for light headedness that could be an indication that it's time to drop my HBP medication. I've got an appointment coming up with Dr. Upton, so I will talk to him about my medication then.

Finally, I still am not hungry and not terribly bored with the food I can eat. I can have chicken, fish, some beef, pork, yogurt, milk, cheese, vegetables, most fruit, small amounts of nuts, and some other foods. Basically, I can't have sweets, bread, pasta, beans, corn, cream (no creamy soups!), and high fat proteins (hamburger, regular sausage, etc.).

I'm really glad I did the program. I think that this is going to be a real lifestyle change that I can stick with.

A moment of worry...

2006-03-06T10:13:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I was doing my cardio on the treadmill as usual. After about 10 minutes, I started feeling a pain in the outside of my left knee. I kept running for a couple minutes and it didn't go away. I was sidelined by a problem in this knee before, so I don't take chances with it. I slowed down to a brisk walk and went on until I had gone 20 minutes total, at which point I quit. The pain went away when I slowed down.

Today, I did a slow run (4.5 mph) for 45 minutes and the good news is that had no pain.

I need to be careful not to overdo it as my cardiovascular system gets more fit than my muscles and joints. This is one of the quickest ways to injure yourself as a runner.

Week 3 results

2006-03-01T12:25:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I met with my dietician for the 4th time. The big news was that I lost 2.6 lbs. in week three of the program. This gives me a total weight loss of 14.4 lbs. officially.

I've got to say that such effective weight loss in 3 weeks is a HUGE motivator. It gives me a reason to think that my goal of 175 lbs. is not out of the question. I keep running the numbers like this: if I can lose 2 lbs. per week for the next 7 weeks of the actual 20/20 program, I'll be down to193. Then if I can lose 1 lb. per week during the 12 week maintenance phase of the program, I'll be at 181. That weight would be awesome for me, but I would also be within striking distance of 175. If I can lose 2.5 lbs. per week it's even better!

Another bit of good news: I checked my blood pressure at home this morning and it was at 128/75. This is getting much better than it had been. At some point I'm probably going to have to talk to Dr. Upton (my 20/20 physician) about decreasing my BP medication...

On the food front, I get to have cheese from now on. This is good too, as it gives me other options for snacks.

Finally, I talked to the dietician about my salad situation. I was regularly making a salad for lunch, and topping it with tuna for protein and vinegar and oil for dressing. Unfortunately, this was creating a salad that had about 14+ grams of fat, which really seemed a lot for a salad. For some reason, I forgot that Megan had mentioned some really good fat-free salad dressings that I could use. This cuts the salad from 14 grams of fat to 4. I now have to have a little supplemental fat to go with my tuna, but this still saves 5 grams of fat. Given that I'm allowed 35-49 gram per day, every savings is important!

Finally, I'm down to 2 to 3 shakes a day. I always have a shake for breakfast (with a peanut butter chaser!). That means one more shake a day, probably as a late afternoon or evening snack.

Anyway, things are going well. There have been no setbacks, and I couldn't be happier with the results. All in all, 20/20 may have been one of the best investments I've ever made.

Unofficial weight loss update

2006-02-28T10:47:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned previously, I usually jump on the scale every morning. This morning I got on and it said 207.0 lbs. The first day of my program it said 221.5 lbs. That means I'm unofficially down 14.5 lbs in 3 weeks. I'll get my official numbers this afternoon.

Blood pressure down?

2006-02-28T10:36:00.000-08:00

I've been checking my BP at home recently, and it looks like it is getting better. Over two days, it averaged about 138/79. I know the top number is still high (it should be 120), but the bottom number is actually really good (it should be 80 or below).

I think I heard that the bottom number is more important to overall goodness than the top number, but I'm not sure if this is true. Either way, my BP at my health assessment was 145/107, so the trend is in the right direction.

One goal reached

2006-02-28T10:33:00.000-08:00

I have gotten down to the weight I was at when I started running about 2 years ago. While I was running, I managed to lose about 18 lbs to get down to 190. Unfortunately, I didn't change my diet and when I got injured I put the weight back on. Now that I have a little more understanding of diet and how my body works, I hope to be able to survive and exercise setbacks without completely losing it.

While it's good to reach this weight again, it is a little depressing that I've had to work so hard just to get back to where I started before.

First group session

2006-02-28T10:30:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday, I had my first group session. There were a lot of guys there, some focused entirely on weight loss, some on other health issues (bad blood chemistry, high blood pressure, etc.) Basically, this session was just an introduction to the group concept and introductions from the people in the session. Interestingly (but possibly not surprisingly) everyone was from Microsoft.

Circuit training

2006-02-22T22:43:00.000-08:00

I tried circuit training for the first time today. It was really hard, but I made it through. I managed to do 80% of the exercises, which I felt was pretty good, considering how exhausting it was.

Week 3 update

2006-02-21T19:26:00.000-08:00

I had my 3rd visit with the dietician today. At my weigh-in, I had lost another 2.4 lbs. My grand total so far is 11.8 lbs. I also got to add milk and yogurt to my diet, and drop one more shake. The dietician said it is very important to always eat a protein or fat along with a carbohydrate such as yogurt. My plan is to pair up yogurt and a serving of almonds to take the place of a shake. We'll see how it goes...

Back from Whistler

2006-02-21T19:21:00.000-08:00

I got back from Whistler on Sunday night. We skied a day and a half and had a great time. I stayed on my diet, although I didn't track my meals immediately and I didn't keep under the daily fat limit (I was eating almonds on the slopes for energy). I didn't eat anything off the plan, so I was pretty proud of that.

Going to Whistler

2006-02-16T22:21:00.000-08:00

I will probably not post over the weekend as I'm going skiing at Whistler.

Woohoo!!!

2006-02-14T21:49:00.000-08:00

Well, I've finished the first week of the program. As I mentioned in my previous post, I made it through pretty well. I worked hard during my session with the trainer. The lunge exercise that he has me do is unbelievably hard. I kept my heart rate monitor on throughout the entire workout session. When I was done, the HRM said I'd burned 1000 calories. I know this is probably way overestimated, but still it was pretty interesting.

When I got together with my dietician, I got bits of good news. First, I get to have vegetables now! This was really exciting! To celebrate after my appointment, I grabbed a Thai Beef Salad from the Bistro. It was really tasty!

The really exciting news is from my weigh-in. I got on the scales today and weighed 213.0 lbs. This means I lost 9.4 lbs. in 1 week! I was really shocked. I understand that next week I will probably lose much less than I lost this week, but even if I lose only a pound, this will still be an average of 5 lbs. a week.

I celebrated my successful week and Valentine's Day with my family at Applebee's. It was a good end to a pretty great day.

Ready for Week 2

2006-02-14T07:40:00.000-08:00

I'm feeling good this morning (not that I haven't been previous mornings) and am ready for the start of Week 2. I meet with my trainer again at 12:00 and my dietician at 1:30 today. Here's the recap for the first week:

I have not cheated once this week. There have been tons of temptations, especially when I come home from work and the kids have spread all their snack foods all over the counter. I was really tempted yesterday (by Chex Mix) but stopped myself.
I've been exercising vigorously with my trainer, but I have not been particularly sore afterwards. This has been surprising. I wonder if it's the fish oil (which supposedly helps with inflammation).
Drinking so much water means that I spend a lot of time in the restroom.
I've generally not been hungry. The last couple days have been a little worse, but the shakes take care of that.
I've been getting a lot more sleep than I had been. Part of this is a defensive tactic since I tended to eat a lot after 10:00pm.
Over the past few days, I've started to feel like I've had a low-grade fever. I think this may be my metabolism starting to pick up, which in turn is raising my temperature. (This is just a theory.)

Disappointing

2006-02-13T21:13:00.000-08:00

This morning I jumped on the scales at home and it said I was down another 0.5 lb. However, when I weighed myself at the club, it said I was up 1.4 lbs from last time. This was a bit disappointing...

Hungry this morning

2006-02-12T10:45:00.000-08:00

This morning I was much hungrier than I've ever been so far. I had my shake and peanut butter at 8:00, and by 9:00 I was getting hungry. I held out until 10:30 untill I had my snack shake, and that seemed to do the trick.

I'm starting to get excited over moving to the next stage of the diet. I'm not sure when this will happen, but I'm hoping it will be this week. If I'm reading the literature correctly, next thing will be to add certain vegetables. This will be very exciting! This is wierd because I've never been a big vegetable fan.

This may be why the diet doesn't allow "free" foods like many diets (things like cucumbers, peppers, celery, etc. that really don't have many calories). My wife asked me this yesterday and I didn't have an answer, but now I might. Perhaps the purpose of the shake-only thing is to get you so tired of eating the same thing over and over again, that you actually get excited about healthy foods that you'd normally only eat because they are on the plate. If this is the strategy, I can tell you that it's working...

First Saturday session

2006-02-11T15:57:00.000-08:00

I really worked hard this morning with my personal trainer. The hardest thing I had to do was the military press. I'd never done this with David before, and I think he set the weight too high.

While I was at the club, I ran up to the 20/20 offices and jumped on the scales. My number: 216.4 lbs. This means I've lost 6 pounds since I started on Tuesday! I know there is no way to keep this up, but I'll take it as long as I can. Losing a bunch of weight right at the beginning is certainly good for my motivation. I'm really excited to see just how well I can do on the diet...

David also checked my BP while I was there. It was 134/88, which is down 6 on the top number and 2 on the bottom number. Again, things are moving in the right direction.

I've still not gone off the diet at all, although I've not been anal about when I eat and drink my shakes. I've found that I'm full after eating my 6oz. of protein at lunch (chicken sausage cooked on the grill today!), so I hold off on the lunch shake until a little later. Same thing with my dinner shake.

Other observations:

I was getting pretty good at drinking the vanilla shakes, but the past few have been really bad. Chocolate is still working for me.
Today I felt pretty good in general. I was a little tired in the early afternoon, but I think that was just from my workout.
It was nice to be able to relax a bit around the club after my workout, rather than having to rush straight back to work.
I'm going skiing next weekend, and I need to figure out how to stay on the diet while still getting the energy needed to ski for two days.
For some reason, the video I watched today (after exercising) was almost exactly the same (but not quite) as the one I watched on Thursday. I'm not sure why...

Vital statistics:

Weight: 216.4 lbs.
Blood pressure: 134/88

Quick update

2006-02-10T10:32:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I hit strength training hard for the first time with my trainer. As this was the first time, we had some issues where the weight was too light or too heavy, but in general, it went well. The hardest thing I had to do was lunges while holding a medicine ball. This was much harder than I would have expected. I could only do 5 on each side. In addition to the weights, I ran/walked 2.5 miles. Surprisingly, I was not as sore this morning as I expected to be.

The diet also continues to go well. I've got chicken and pork going now, and am going to add chicken sausage this weekend.

I got on the "Official" scales this morning before my cardio. The verdict: 217.6. This means I've lost 4.8 lbs in about 3 days! Woohoo!!

Weight loss confirmed!

2006-02-09T21:46:00.000-08:00

I jumped on the official scales today at the club. It is confirmed: I've lost 3.2 lbs. Not bad for less than 2 full days...

General observations after one day

2006-02-09T08:02:00.000-08:00

Well, I've been at this coming up on two days, and I'd like to share some of my observations so far.

I've not been hungry. Considering that I've probably cut my calories by at least 40%, this is pretty cool.
The best way I've found to make the shakes is to mix the powder with 12 oz. of water and no ice (plus berries of course). This keeps the shakes from becoming too thick, and cuts some of the bad flavor of the shake mix.
I've already gotten to the point that I can stand drinking the shakes. I don't need to use the "straight down the gullet" technique I described earlier.
Yesterday (my first full day on the diet) I was very tired. I'm not sure if this was caused by the diet. I may have taken two of my blood pressure pills (I'm not sure) which can cause drowsiness.
I've been going to bed earlier, mostly because I regularly get hungry around 10:30 or 11:00 at night. Since the diet doesn't allow snacking that late, I figure it's better just to go to bed before that hunger hits.
I've had less trouble getting up in the morning. Could this be because I've been going to bed earlier???
My muscles were a bit sore after my workout on Tuesday, but were not too bad.
The temptations to eat illegal foods are still there, but I've overcome them. I have not cheated one time.
It's a good idea to make sure all the foods you can't eat are put away out of sight. I have stored all my "food" (ok, packets of shake mix, fiber supplement, vitimins, and fish oil!) in my own cabinet so I don't have to see all the cereal, Chex mix, pop tarts, etc.
Chicken sausages are on the approved list. I'm looking forward to grilling up a bunch of these!

Anyway, so far, so good...

Can this be for real?!

2006-02-09T07:55:00.000-08:00

I tend to jump on the scales as part of my morning ritual. On Tuesday morning (the day of my first 20/20 appointments) I weighed 221.5 lbs. I weighed myself this morning and was 217.0 lbs. According to my scales, I've lost 4.5 lbs. already!

I doubt this is entirely accurate, but it's certainly a good omen...

How to drink a 20/20 shake

2006-02-08T12:12:00.000-08:00

First thing's first: I have not found a shake combination that tastes good yet. I've tried several combinations, mostly using the vanilla flavored shake, and they are pretty bad. I talked to an associate who did the plan, and he swore by a combination I've not tried yet: chocolate flavored mix with raspberries. I've got a chocolate packet and will try this combo later today.

In the meantime, I've got to get down a bunch of vanilla flavored shakes. Last night I discovered a technique that actually helps. The shakes are pretty thick, especially if you add ice to the mix. If you work it right, you can more or less pour the shake straight down your throat. This means little to no interaction with the taste buds!

I know that this is not a long term solution, but at least it can keep me going until I figure out a good tasting shake combination.

FYI: Jeff Newfeld's Palletable 20/20 Shake Recipe: Use 12 oz. water, 1/2 cup raspberries, and a chocolate shake mix. Do NOT add ice. Put it all in the blender and mix well. The breakfast version of the shake adds 1 tbsp. of peanut butter and 1 tsp. of fiber powder. Bon appetit!

Initial appointments

2006-02-08T06:53:00.000-08:00

Well, yesterday was my first appointments with my personal trainer (David) and my dietician (Megan). Everything went pretty well, and I've survived the first day of the rest of my life. Here's the lowdown:

I met the personal trainer at 12:00. First, we had a conversation about my goals for the program. Next, because my blood sugar was high and I have high blood pressure, they measured both. My blood sugar test required 4 finger sticks for some reason, but my blood sugar was good (84). My BP was 140/90, which is not great but is a lot better than my BP during my fitness evaluation.

With that out of the way, I started on some cardio. David put me on the treadmill for a 25 minute run. I started at 5 mph and dropped down to 4.5 as my heart rate got too high. I was really happy to know that I could still run. I ran right around 2 miles, and burned about 300 calories (according to my heart rate monitor).

Next, we did some strength training, but because of the preliminary interview and blood stick fiasco, we only got in a set of chest presses and a set of lat pulldowns. We're going to work on muscular endurance, both for running and for bass drumming. This means more reps at lower weights.

Finally, we did a bit of stretching. I am not very flexible, especially my hamstrings. We did about 4 stretches before my time with the trainer was up. Before he left, David gave me a 10 lesson punch card for either circuit training or indoor cycling. I think I'll try out the circuit training at some point, but I want to get in better shape first!

Next, David handed me off to a different PRO Club guy for the video portion of my day. I watched an introductory video for about 15 minutes while I pedaled a recumbent bike. Not much new information, but a good review of the rules.

After I was done with my video, I had about 15 minutes until my dietician appointment. Basically, the dietician went over the meal replacement diet and all the things I need to do during the week. I drink 5 shakes a day, along with 12 oz. of very lean or lean protein daily. Add in a bit of fat here and there, and that's what I eat for the first week.

I was happy to find out that chicken was not the only thing on the menu. I can also eat pork, lean beef, etc. That was very exciting for me, as I like chicken just fine, but I would like a little variety.

Megan gave me a bunch of papers, a couple coupons to the bistro, and a coupon to take to the pro club to pick up all my other stuff. This stuff includes:

The first box of shake mix
A sample pack of shakes
A calorie counting book
Fish oil capsules
Calcium supplements
Multivitimins
A meal tracker with extra pages
Fiber supplement (woohoo! I get to stay regular!)

On the whole, it was very exciting to be finally moving forward!

Vital Statistics:

Weight: 222.4 lbs.

Tomorrow's the big day!

2006-02-06T20:44:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow things take off: I've got my first appointment with my personal trainer and dietician. I'm already to go, having purchased the various equipment that I'll need, including a portable blender and a scale for weighing food. I've picked up some fish oil. I purchased a bunch of berries (that go in the protein shakes). I think I'm ready to go.

I just got a call from my trainer, David Sams. David is from Australia, if I recognize the accent. I'll know for sure tomorrow.

Get ready... get set...

2006-02-01T12:53:00.000-08:00

I've recently spent some time getting ready for the start of my program. I rummaged through my exercise stuff and found my heart rate monitor (a Polar S210 in case you're interested). I celebrated finding it by walking on the treadmill at the Pro Club for 35 minutes. According to my HRM, I burned 300 calories. According to the treadmill, I burned 400. I'm not sure which is right, but one thing's for sure: I burned some calories...

While I was at the club, I checked out the pro shop for the blenders that they sell (for blending shakes). They sell a Tribest blender for $60. I found the same blender on Amazon.com for $50, so I ordered it and a carrying case. I know this is pretty pricey, but I figure that I can sell it afterwards if we don't want it any more. It will sure beat carrying a traditional blender back and forth to work and home.

I also went by Costco and picked up fish oil capsules. Dr. Upton mentioned that he got his fish oil from Costco, and if they're good enough for him, they're good enough for me.

I still need to get a scale for weighing food portions. Beyond that, I think I'm ready to go. Six days to go and counting...

Another 20/20 blog

2006-01-31T10:58:00.000-08:00

Steve is blogging about his 20/20 experience at http://spaces.msn.com/stevewort/.

My visit with the doctor

2006-01-31T07:36:00.000-08:00

Well, yesterday was my visit with my 20/20 doctor (Dr. Upton). This is my final appointment before I actually start my diet and exercise program. Basically, the doctor told me what I already knew:

My cholesterol is a bit too high (at risk for heart disease, etc.)
My blood sugar is a bit too high (at risk for diabetes)
My tryglicerides are way too high (at risk for a heart attack)
My blood pressure is too high (at risk for a stroke or heart disease)
I'm overweight and out of shape

He said that I have insulin resistance/metabolic syndrome, which basically is all the symptoms above. That's the bad news. The good news is that he said the 20/20 Program can fix all these problems at once. Most of these problems above are fixed by losing weight, exercising, and getting better nutrition. Dr. Upton said that the 20/20 Program actually hits all three of these areas, and this "triple whammy" is very effective at fixing all these problems.

He let me in on the meal replacement shake thing: basically, I'll be eating primarily shakes and chicken breasts for the first few weeks of the program. He also told me that to be a 20/20 superstar, you had to do the 30-60 minute cardio workouts on your own during the week.

I'll be meeting with Dr. Upton again after 5 weeks of the program.

Weekly weight loss goals

2006-01-29T13:20:00.000-08:00

I read on a web site formula that helps you calculate your base caloric requirements to maintain your current weight. According to this calculation, I need to eat 2501 calories a day to maintain my weight. From what I hear of the Pro Club diet plan, they keep you on about 1500 calories per day. That means that over a week, I will be 7000 calories lower than what's needed to maintain my current weight (not counting exercise). Given that to lose a pound you need a caloric deficit of 3500 calories, I should lose two pounds per week (assuming that formula was accurate as was my math). Exercise should help increase this as will losing water weight.

I've seen other, less complicated formulas for calories required to maintain a given weight. One formula says to muliply your weight by 14. This would put me at 3080 calories to maintain my weight. This seems high, but let's go with it. If this is accurate, then I will lose a little over 3 pounds per week.

My goal is to lose 2 pounds per week of the 10 week program, and 1 pound per week during maintenance (12 weeks). That would equal 32 lbs lost during the whole program. This is not my final goal, but I would be pleased with this result. What would really be good is if I could lose 2.5 lbs per week during the 10 week program. This would put my total loss at 37 pounds. That would be awesome.

A shared secret

2006-01-27T09:16:00.000-08:00

It turns out my dirty little secret (pigging out on things before I go on my diet) may not be anything to be proud of, but I am not unique in doing this. In fact, Nelson (the trainer who conducted my fitness evaluation) actually said this is fairly normal and didn't discourage it. He also mentioned that some people had entered the program having put on over 5 pounds between the time that they signed up for the program and their fitness evaluation (I've put on 2)...

Eliminating caffeine

2006-01-27T09:02:00.000-08:00

In an effort to avoid depriving myself of everything at once (food, caffeine, candy, lethargy, etc.), I have decided to eliminate caffeine from my diet now. Hopefully, this will make things a little easier when I actually begin dieting.

So how much caffeine do I consume each week? Well, weekdays I generally have at least 2 cups of coffee every morning. On top of that, I drink quite a bit of Diet Pepsi every day. When I was filling out the forms for the program, one of the questions was "How many diet soft drinks do you drink a week?" I answered 20 cans.

I'm no expert, but that seems like a fair amount of caffeine every week. I've pretty much stopped the caffeine over the past week. I do feel a bit more draggy than normal, but I haven't gotten headaches or anything (which I've heard can happen to people). Today I fell off the wagon a bit: I'm sitting here at the MINI dealership in Fife waiting for my car. It is so cold in here that I am having a cup of coffee to warm up. Unfortunately, they only have regular coffee.

So, I guess I've already begun my lifestyle change!