Where do I begin?
Baseball season just wrapped up, the RiverHawks finished 19-29, not exactly post-season worthy. But I learned a lot from my first summer as an Assistant General Manager. It was a lot more work that I was ready for. On that note, I will be transitioning out of the position and stepping back into a lesser role to polish off and improve parts of the professional me.
On the personal side of life, I am very thankful. Part of my reasoning to move back to Spokane to spend more time with my parents (they travel a lot), my sister (she's engaged) and my best friends from high school (one moved to Corvallis, the other is in a fire fighting residency program) so you can see how well that worked out. Thank goodness for Josh Belknap. Dude and I have way to much fun together. He brings out the inner VanWilder in all of us, in that we shouldn't take life too seriously. Because we will never get out alive. These last eight months have been an adventure after adventure. And there will be more to come.
Where will life take me next? Who know. I am kicking around a lot of ideas from traveling the US, to moving back to the Midwest, to finding a job in Campus Recreation. My next career move will hopefully take me back to a college campus and working with college aged youth. Intramurals look out. I will be back.
On a side note, I'm down to 225, despite a long season without much gym time.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Belly Off! - The Start
So I was a little skeptical about the Belly Off! plan that I started. I thought it would be just a set of work outs that are boring, the food would be bland, and that I would grow tired of it. I was wrong. I am a week into it. And I love it. The food for the most part is really good, although the first week is really expensive. In addition, the prep time on the dinners can be a little lengthy the first week, but the recipes are big enough that you have leftovers to freeze for future weeks.
The workouts, on the other hand, are pretty tough. I can imagine that it would be very frustrating for someone who tried to start this program after living a couch potato life style. I consider myself pretty active, and I still find them hard. But they work! I have found that they are getting easier only after a week, not because I am used to them, but because I can feel myself getting stronger with them. And that is exciting.
So, as with any goal or plan, it is important to be able to measure the results. I am doing this in two ways. First is simple weight. Step on the scale, and record the number. I am doing this at the same day and time each week (Tuesday nights) for my "official" weight, but I weigh myself on a daily basis as motivation. I am also using a cloth measuring tape on my neck, waist, and hips. I am using the guidelines from livestrong.com as the basis for my measurements.
When I started my neck (general circumference) was just over 17 inches. My waist (a half inch above the belly button) was 42 inches. My hips (at the widest point) were 43 inches. I also tipped the scales at 236 pounds. My BMI, according to livestrong.com was 30.3. Also, using healthcentral.com, I have measures my body fat percentage. At the start it was at 28.5 percent, or 67.3 pounds.
After one week, I am happy to report that my neck has shrunk slightly to right about 17 inches, my waist has dropped to 41 inches, and my hips are down to 42 inches. My overall weight has dropped to 233 pounds. In addition, according to livestrong.com my Body Mass Index (BMI) has dropped to 29.9, which moves me from the obese category to the overweight category. Finally, my body fat percentage now stands at 27% or 63.7 pounds. A net change of 3.6 pounds of body fat. Go me. Seven weeks to go!
The workouts, on the other hand, are pretty tough. I can imagine that it would be very frustrating for someone who tried to start this program after living a couch potato life style. I consider myself pretty active, and I still find them hard. But they work! I have found that they are getting easier only after a week, not because I am used to them, but because I can feel myself getting stronger with them. And that is exciting.
So, as with any goal or plan, it is important to be able to measure the results. I am doing this in two ways. First is simple weight. Step on the scale, and record the number. I am doing this at the same day and time each week (Tuesday nights) for my "official" weight, but I weigh myself on a daily basis as motivation. I am also using a cloth measuring tape on my neck, waist, and hips. I am using the guidelines from livestrong.com as the basis for my measurements.
When I started my neck (general circumference) was just over 17 inches. My waist (a half inch above the belly button) was 42 inches. My hips (at the widest point) were 43 inches. I also tipped the scales at 236 pounds. My BMI, according to livestrong.com was 30.3. Also, using healthcentral.com, I have measures my body fat percentage. At the start it was at 28.5 percent, or 67.3 pounds.
After one week, I am happy to report that my neck has shrunk slightly to right about 17 inches, my waist has dropped to 41 inches, and my hips are down to 42 inches. My overall weight has dropped to 233 pounds. In addition, according to livestrong.com my Body Mass Index (BMI) has dropped to 29.9, which moves me from the obese category to the overweight category. Finally, my body fat percentage now stands at 27% or 63.7 pounds. A net change of 3.6 pounds of body fat. Go me. Seven weeks to go!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Belly Off - The Plan
So, from what I have been reading via my internet research my plan is two-fold. Exercise and healthy eating. Wow. That wasn't hard to figure out. But, what I didn't know was that to maintain and stay healthy I need to average 30 minutes a day, five times a week, and no get carried away on the weekends. If I want to actually see significant change, I need to average 60 minutes a day, five days a weekend. And be extra careful on the weekends. Which, I will do.
I will be following the Belly-Off! program from Men's Health. It is an eight-week program that not only gives me three workouts for the week, but also helps me plan all of my meals and snacks. This is wonderful. The problem with my self-created diets was the lack of creativity and lack of planning. I don't know what to cook, or rice and beans and veggies again, ugh! Let's go grab some take out. Not only does it give me a plan, it provides me the recipes and shopping lists. It is virtually fool-proof!
As for my workouts, I will be doing the Belly Off provided three days a week. My goal is to get them in on the mornings of M-W-F. I will supplement on Tues-Thurs with cardio in the morning. In addition I will get to the gym in the evenings and do some light circuit and strength training. While I know this is a lot, by budgeting additional time I will be able to adjust should something come up, and if I miss a workout I won't feel completely behind.
This program is for eight-weeks, so here it goes. And i will continue to post updates, hopefully some before and after pics, and away we go!
I will be following the Belly-Off! program from Men's Health. It is an eight-week program that not only gives me three workouts for the week, but also helps me plan all of my meals and snacks. This is wonderful. The problem with my self-created diets was the lack of creativity and lack of planning. I don't know what to cook, or rice and beans and veggies again, ugh! Let's go grab some take out. Not only does it give me a plan, it provides me the recipes and shopping lists. It is virtually fool-proof!
As for my workouts, I will be doing the Belly Off provided three days a week. My goal is to get them in on the mornings of M-W-F. I will supplement on Tues-Thurs with cardio in the morning. In addition I will get to the gym in the evenings and do some light circuit and strength training. While I know this is a lot, by budgeting additional time I will be able to adjust should something come up, and if I miss a workout I won't feel completely behind.
This program is for eight-weeks, so here it goes. And i will continue to post updates, hopefully some before and after pics, and away we go!
Belly Off - The Journey
So, as with most people, I have decided that I would like to lose weight here in 2009. Hopefully it will mark a significant change in me. In a variety of ways. My life since high school, with it has turned how I hoped for the most part, has taken some crazy twists and turns. When i graduated high school I was around 190 pounds. I went to Western Washington University for two years, and when I transferred to Washington State University, I was at 205 pounds. A gain of 15. Not bad, as most people gain weight in college, but I decided to start working out. I worked out for a month or so, and then stopped. This cycle would repeat itself for most of my time at WSU. The downside to this was that during my time at WSU I discovered that I liked beer. And at times, lots of it. That led to late night runs to Jack In The Box. Upon graduation from WSU, I was right around 225. Up 2o from my start at WSU, and up 35 overall.
Upon finishing classes at WSU, I moved to Omaha, NE for my internship. I started working some odd jobs on the side, and also began running and doing "body weight" training, such as push-ups, sit-ups, and all that. I, and others, began to notice a difference. How ever all of that was soon negated by two things. I had to move in to a fraternity house (with no real ways of preparing or storing food) which meant all most all of my meals were fast food. The other was that I started spending way too much time at the bar I worked at (free beer). When I finished my internship and came back to Washington, I was 250. Up another 25, and now up 55 overall.
The good news in all of this? I was moving to Illinois for graduate school, and I was working for Campus Recreation. This meant more gym time. In the month before I moved I also started working out, and by the time Christmas came around, I was back down to 230. But, with the stresses of school, working three jobs (I eventually stopped working for Campus Rec), my social agenda, and my love of take out, I was never able to get below 225. Not bad, but not good.
I graduated from Illinois in December of 2007, and moved to Jacksonville, FL to start a job in Minor League Baseball. When I got to Jax, I weighed about 233. Up 8 from my best in Illinois, but down 17 from when i started. I figured down 17 pounds in a year and a half, while not great, was an improvement. I had also added weight training, and I could see that I had built some muscle mass. It was at this point that I started to take other measurements to track my progress. Measurements such as belly circumference, distance around the my hips and chest, bicep circumference, and all that fun stuff. At my peak in jax, I had dropped to about a 37 inch belly, and was weighing right around 220. I was happy.
Then, came the move back home. For a month I was pretty lazy, and was just a couch potato. I was able to get back into the gym in early November (after doing some running during October), and found that I was gone up to 228. Not bad, I thought. It will come off. Then, from about Thanksgiving until January 15th, I was a bum. No gym, lots of bad food, and just unhealthy living in general. But, that is all about to change. Currently, as of July 21, 2009 I am 236 pounds. Yes, I added another 8, negated all of my 2008 progress, with the exception of the muscle that I was able to add. But I have a plan. Here it comes.
Upon finishing classes at WSU, I moved to Omaha, NE for my internship. I started working some odd jobs on the side, and also began running and doing "body weight" training, such as push-ups, sit-ups, and all that. I, and others, began to notice a difference. How ever all of that was soon negated by two things. I had to move in to a fraternity house (with no real ways of preparing or storing food) which meant all most all of my meals were fast food. The other was that I started spending way too much time at the bar I worked at (free beer). When I finished my internship and came back to Washington, I was 250. Up another 25, and now up 55 overall.
The good news in all of this? I was moving to Illinois for graduate school, and I was working for Campus Recreation. This meant more gym time. In the month before I moved I also started working out, and by the time Christmas came around, I was back down to 230. But, with the stresses of school, working three jobs (I eventually stopped working for Campus Rec), my social agenda, and my love of take out, I was never able to get below 225. Not bad, but not good.
I graduated from Illinois in December of 2007, and moved to Jacksonville, FL to start a job in Minor League Baseball. When I got to Jax, I weighed about 233. Up 8 from my best in Illinois, but down 17 from when i started. I figured down 17 pounds in a year and a half, while not great, was an improvement. I had also added weight training, and I could see that I had built some muscle mass. It was at this point that I started to take other measurements to track my progress. Measurements such as belly circumference, distance around the my hips and chest, bicep circumference, and all that fun stuff. At my peak in jax, I had dropped to about a 37 inch belly, and was weighing right around 220. I was happy.
Then, came the move back home. For a month I was pretty lazy, and was just a couch potato. I was able to get back into the gym in early November (after doing some running during October), and found that I was gone up to 228. Not bad, I thought. It will come off. Then, from about Thanksgiving until January 15th, I was a bum. No gym, lots of bad food, and just unhealthy living in general. But, that is all about to change. Currently, as of July 21, 2009 I am 236 pounds. Yes, I added another 8, negated all of my 2008 progress, with the exception of the muscle that I was able to add. But I have a plan. Here it comes.
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