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Archives for 2008

100 Pushup Challenge: Back to Week 3, Day 1

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Saturday was day 3 of week 3 in my 100 pushup challenge. As I mentioned in a previous post I failed on the last set – only making it to 10 of the required 16 minimum pushups, although I did complete the pushups from my knees.  This week I’m doing week 3 over.

I didn’t get to the pushups until almost 10pm on Monday, at which time I was already pretty tired.  The sets for today calls for sets of 15, 12, 12, 10  and a final set of at least 15.

I started out with the set of 15, and noticed that once again I was pretty sore still from Saturday’s pushups.

After the two sets of 12 and the 10 I was struggling.

The last set I struggled mightily from 10 on, but I was able to push out 16 pushups.

I’m repeating week 3 this week, but after doing that set i think it actually felt harder doing it this time.  Is that even possible?  Could it be that my weekend off for vacation took that much of a toll on me?

After doing my pushups I got out our “Biggest Loser” workout video to get in a quick cardio workout as well. As far as I’m concerned the high-intensity cardio workout on that DVD is pretty tough, and it gets me sweating every time!

Stay tuned everyone – tomorrow I’ll have something for you all – related to the 100 pushups challenge. Check back here for an update!

Back from vacation – more pushups to ensue!

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Well, we’re back from vacation as of yesterday afternoon. We had a great time up in the Brainerd Lakes area of Minnesota, and will probably go back sometime soon. It’s a beautiful area, and we highly suggest checking it out if you haven’t already been! Here’s a photo that we took on our first night there from the deck of the restaurant we were eating at. Beautiful!

I’ll be back on the pushups kick tonight with Day one of week 3 again. As I posted last night I failed on the last set of week three, so I’m back to week three again this week. I’ll also probably go running tonight as well to help work off some of the delicious food I ate this weekend.

I know, I’m trying to lose weight – probably not the best time to go out and pig out. But I’m back on the healthy eating bandwagon today. I promise! Sometimes you need those off days to keep you motivated! More updates tonight after my pushups!

100 Pushup Challenge: Week 3, Day 3

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Saturday was day 3 of week 3 in my 100 pushup challenge. I was still pretty sore from the pushups on Wednesday, but I decided to give it a go anyway.

I did my pushups around 11:30 in the morning before my wife went out to do some exploring on our vacation this weekend.  I wasn’t feeling particularly strong, and my sets bore that out.

Today calls for sets of 20, 15, 15, 12 and  a final set of at least 16.

I started out with the set of 20, and was able to complete them without too much trouble. I did notice, however, that I had a bit more difficulty than other 1st sets this week.

The second two sets of 15 got progressively harder and I could feel my tired muscles protesting every pushup.  By the third set of 12 I was barely able to finish.

The last set I made it all the way to 12 pushups, struggling the whole time.  At that time I couldn’t go any further.  I finished the set of 16 by doing the pushups from my knees.  So I finished the set – albeit with a bit of cheating.

So I’ve failed a set for the first time – although I don’t count it as a complete failure. I still finished the set.

So next week I’ll be repeating week 3 of the 100 pushup challenge.  I knew it would probably happen sooner or later.   Hopefully this week I won’t be quite as sore after day 2 of week 3.  How are you doing on your challenge?

Exercise today & getting ready for the long weekend

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Today was the last day of work for me this week, I took the day off on Friday because my wife and I are going to be celebrating our 6th anniversary this weekend. Our anniversary is actually in June, but we had to move our trip to this weekend because of a death in the family on our anniversary.

We’re going up to the Brainerd Lakes area of Minnesota, and Hope to have a nice weekend of fun in the sun.

Clear Lake
Creative Commons License photo credit: cursedthing

I don’t anticipate getting a lot of exercise this weekend, except maybe for some pushups tomorrow or Saturday. I haven’t decided which day I’ll do that yet because I’m still a bit sore from doing pushups on Wednesday.

Today when I got home from work I went out to play some tennis with my next door neighbor. We’ve been trying to play tennis at least once a week, and every time we go out, I’m amazed at how much of a workout you can get playing tennis. Quick bursts of speed, hard swings and back and forth across the court can give you quite the workout.

We played for about an hour or hour and a half, and then headed home. From there I went out and ran about 2-3 miles. It was a beautiful night out tonight despite the heavy rains and hail we had earlier in the day. Beautiful ending to a nasty stormy day.

I’m feeling pretty good tonight, although a bit sore. I’m thinking I may skip the pushups tomorrow and do them Saturday while we’re away on our anniversary trip. We’ll see.

I may not be posting for the next few days as I don’t have a laptop to bring with me, but I’ll be back to report on my pushups early next week. See you then!

Roadblocks to fitness

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Everyone has roadblocks on their road to fitness.  For some, it is motivation. They just can’t get up the energy to go out and exercise.  For others their roadblock might be health issues or an injury.  Still others may not have the knowledge needed to overcome and make healthy choices.

I feel like I have the head knowledge that I need in order to lose weight and become healthy, and I’m pretty motivated, but I still have a roadblock that keeps stopping me dead in my tracks.  My roadblock right now is emotional eating.

Detour 1
Creative Commons License photo credit: catatronic

Emotional Eating – Wean yourself off of unhealthy foods

In a recent article at weightladder.com, Kevin talks about emotional eating, and how sometimes it functions much like a drug addiction.  We eat when we’re down, we eat when we’ve had a hard day.  We crave those foods to help give us a positive boost.   We NEED that boost.

When you’re trying to eat healthier, and stop emotional eating it’s important to start with baby steps.  Instead of trying to quit cold turkey (pun intended?),  you can wean yourself off of the unhealthy foods gradually.  If you eat a lot of cookies, try eating some that are lower in sugar.  If you like ice cream, try eating frozen yogurt.  Once you’re weaned yourself off of those you can move to even healthier options.   Something I have to keep reminding myself is that I eat to live, I’m not living to eat.

Healthier Options

I’m beginning to work some healthier options into my diet right now. I still struggle with feeling like I need those naughty foods in my diet, but the longer I go without them, the less I want them.  I am also working one day a week into my diet where I’m allowed to eat unhealthy – eating whatever I want.

Health Food Spending

When you start eating healthier it can be easy to go overboard and spend a ton of money on health foods, supplements and so on.  Over at stronglifts.com this week they talked about some simple ways that you can eat healthy when you’re on a budget.  Lots of great tips and tricks to get you going.  A couple of my favorites include:

  • Avoid Impulse Buying: Make a list, and stick to it, shop after eating, and shop alone.
  • Prepare your own foods: It’s cheaper, and you an control your portions and ingredients better.

Find more tips at stronglifts.com

No Excuses – Knock Down Your Roadblock!

Now there is no excuse for my roadblock to stay up!  Knock yours down too, and get moving!

Links:

How to Stop Emotional Eating

20 Simple Ways to Eat Healthy on a Budget

100 Pushup Challenge: Week 3, Day 2. Challenge Participant Roundup!

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Today is day 2 of week 3. Monday’s workout was tough for me, and I just barely made it through the last set of 15.   Today’s workout steps it up another notch, and I am 50/50 on whether I’d be able to finish or not.

To get some added inspiration today I checked out some other fitness and finance bloggers who are taking the challenge.   I thought you might enjoy reading some of them too, so here they are! If you want to be added to the list – leave me a comment or go to the forum and tell us after taking our poll.

100 Pushup Challenge Participants

Today’s workout is 16, 14, 14, 12, 15(max) pushups.

I’ll be doing the workout tonight when I get home for work. Just trying to psych myself up to do it. I’ll update here once I give it a shot.

UPDATE: I just finished the pushups for today, and I have to say this was the hardest one yet!  I was able to do: 16, 14, 14, 12, 16.  That means I did a total of 72 pushups!

Here’s the progress chart for the challenge so far:

What is your biggest health & fitness vice?

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I was tagged by the great deflabbifier over at Deflabbify yesterday in a new health fitness meme that asks:

What is your biggest health or fitness vice?

That’s an easy question to answer.  I love pastries!  Donuts, cheese danish, cinnamon rolls, bagels, cookies, toaster strudels, you name it. If it has a flaky crust and a sweet topping, I’ll eat it.  In fact, as I write this it is early in the morning and I’m starting to drool..  It’s gonna be tough not to stop at a gas station on the way into work!

Dessert @ Ceci-Cela Pâtisserie
Creative Commons License photo credit: wEnDaLicious

One thing that is so tough at my job is the fact that we always have sweets available.  One lady’s husband works for a local bakery, and she is always bringing in boxes of donuts and other pastries.  Still others at my job love to cook, and are always bringing in the tasty leftovers.  If all else fails there is our good friend the vending machine (which has several yummy pastries selected just for me).

I’ve found that if I don’t plan ahead and bring some sort of healthy substitute, more often than not I’ll end up indulging in whatever happens to be there on that day.  But if I bring my own healthy snacks with me it’s much easier to resist the temptation to take part in all the high calorie treats. So there it is – tip for the day – pack your lunch, and bring plenty of healthy snacks to help you resist all the yummy eats at the office.

Hmmm, who to tag next? How about:

Rules of the Meme:

  1. Post on your biggest health/fitness vice;
  2. Link back to the person who tagged you;
  3. Tag someone else and let them know they’ve been tagged.  Enjoy!

100 Pushup Challenge: Week 3, Day 1

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Today is the big day – day one of the 3rd week. After yesterday’s exhaustion test I’ll be starting in column one of this week’s regimen.

That means today’s workout was 15, 12, 12, 10, 15(max) pushups.  Even though I’ve been progressing, this seemed like quite a bump for me, but what else can I do but give it a shot?

I got home from work, drank plenty of water and then started the sets off.  The first set of 15 was no problem. The second set of 12 was done in no time.  The third set of 12 got a little harder.  The next to last set of 10 was a struggle.  I wasn’t sure if I would be able to finish the set, but I did.  The last set of 15 was even harder.  I went steadily until about 10 pushups.   At ten they became a bit more labor intensive.

Pushups 11-15 were extremely difficult.  On 15 I pushed up about half of the way, and then struggled with my arms to make them push up the rest of the way.  I did it!

Well, I made it through today’s workout, but with how much I struggled on those last couple sets today, I’m afraid I might not make it through the next one.  Stay tuned  – will it be a train wreck – or will I make it through another day?

Here’s the progress chart for the challenge:

So, how’s that dietary part of your weight loss plan going?

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FAIL!

It’s been a rough few days on the dietary front of my weight loss plan. I had planned on eating healthy, eating smaller portions, and eating six times a day instead of three mega-sized meals.

Over the 4th of July weekened I managed to eat unhealthy, eat mondo-sized portions and eat 2-3 huge meals every day.  Exactly what I was trying to avoid!

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Oh well, what are you going to do when it’s a holiday weekend and there are tons of yummy foods surrounding you on every side?

Blizzard Brownies
Creative Commons License photo credit: rizkapb

My theory is that if you eat healthy 90% of the time, and every once in a while indulge yourself with a nice dessert, a beer or a big juicy burger (a jucy lucy maybe?), that you’ll be just fine. I think that if you never let yourself indulge that you’re bound to backslide, and go back to eating unhealthy like you used to.

At the same time, boy did I go crazy this weekend!  Time to get back on the straight and narrow, and start losing some real weight!

Some other healthy eating tips:

Food Glorious Food @ MizFitOnline.com

Hotel Friendly Food @ LazyManandHealth.com

Stock up on emergency foods @ MizFitOnline.com

Drinking Water Only @ GetFitSlowly.com

Living Healthy While on Vacation @ Fit36.com