Kickin' Tae Bo

This morning Cindy and I were going for a run, which I was really excited about. Being together with her and challenging each other with our running pace is really fun. Instead, we woke though to the sound of a steady drizzle.

We reconsidered our workout plan. "Let's do Tae Bo", Cindy said. "We haven't done that together in a while!" I have to admit that my response wasn't enthusiastic. I'm embarrassed to admit, but I thought I had "graduated" from Tae Bo as I'd lost some of this weight.


You see, Tae Bo was one of the exercises that I was able to do when I was severely obese and over 300 lbs. Ok... Well, I couldn't do it at the same pace as Billy Blanks, but I could do the routine at a 1/2 speed pace, get a great workout, burn the calories, and see improvement over time. Somehow I had decided that my more recent swimming, biking, and running in preparation for a triathlon was much more cool exercise and a better workout. WRONG!

We went into the living room, moved around the furniture and started the workout. I had put on my heartrate monitor, because I was curious what kind of workout I was going to get. My goodness! Within minutes I was at 120 beats per minutes and then the real workout began. A few minutes later, I glance at my watch and it's registering 149 beats per minute! I'm getting a serious workout.

In the months since I did Tae Bo last, I'd forgotten what a fun workout it is. Billy Blanks is always so encouraging and I was amazed that after losing 109 lbs, I can do the workout at full speed, rather than my old 1/2 speed pace.

What a awesome workout! I promise... I will not diss Tae Bo again! Promise!

The Lost Weekend

In 1945 there was a great film, which won an Oscar, called "The Lost Weekend" that chronicled a weekend binge of an alcoholic.

I feel like I had a "lost weekend" with food this weekend. On top of that, I didn't exercise either! For some reason, I just ate to my hearts content...

In the past month, I did great over vacation and lost weight and was getting back in the rhythm of daily workouts. This weekend though, I just blew it. I ate anything I wanted and didn't workout like I should. By the end of the weekend, the losses of the past week and a half were erased on the scale.

Why did I do this? I'm disappointed but not being overly harsh. I've had great workouts during the past two days and I can see the scale starting to move in the right direction again. I have realized this journey isn't about any day or weekend but about the long run.

I know that I'm an emotional eater at times and want to identify my "triggers". One thing that I realized is that I need to keep apples on hand as they're a great snack food that I love, is healthy, and won't pack on the pounds.

It's hard to share the tough times but it's part of the journey.

Open Invitation - Hickory Knob Triathlon

I thought I'd put a note here about the triathlon that I'll be doing in October in the USA. I'll be home for visits with churches and Montreat College and have signed up to run the Hickory Knob Sprint Triathlon on October 11th.

I would love to have some people join me! If you've ever wanted to do a triathlon but it's never happened, this is the one! The sprint distance is 750 m swim, 20 km bike, and a 5 km run. The Olympic distance is twice those distances.

Let me know if you'd like to do the triathlon! It would be a LOT of fun to connect up and run it together. It's going to be a great celebration of the fitness gained over this past year. It's going to mark a year for me after the beginning of the weight loss journey. It will be interesting to see what my final weight range is by that time.

Also, if anyone knows of a used bike I could buy let me know. I'd love to have one to use when I'm in the states, I need one for the triathlon, and in a year we plan to be in the states for some further missions training and it would great to have. I'm 6'6" tall, so need a road or possibly mountain bike made for a tall guy.

Where's the focus?

Once I took a Skip Barber Racing School and I remember well a piece of advice they gave. They said as your car starts to spin out of control, focus your eyes on a spot where you want to go. Wherever you're focused is where the car will steer. Isn’t that true in life?

I want to pick a possibility on the horizon that is exciting and head that direction. By keeping my eyes on what’s great in life and where I want to go, I'll “steer” my life in that direction! I'm finding this crucial in my journey to gain health and part of the reason that focusing on gaining health has been more powerful for me than "losing weight".

The trick is keeping the focus...

New Swimming Time

When I started swimming in January, it took 30 minutes to swim 750 meters. By the end of February I had it down to 25 minutes and today I swam the 750 meters in 21:30. I have 20 minutes in my sights!

One of the reasons that I've enjoyed the swimming is because I was SO BAD. Because I was so bad, it has been easy to see some serious progress. I get motivated by progress! I've been using a technique called Total Immersion after a friend (SUB6) recommended the book by Terry Laughlin. It really helped me learn an actual style of crawl and begin improving my consistency.

I have a sprint triathlon scheduled for May 23rd, which I'm excited about. It's going to be me and a dozen friends, here in Chiang Rai, Thailand. 750m swim, a 20 km bike, and a 5 km run... Should be fun!

Balance

Since we live in Thailand, our bathtub is a small asian size. I used to be scared to take a shower because I was sure I would fall. Several times I almost did... At 359 lbs, I had a hard time turning around and I couldn't reach down very far without losing my balance. If I dropped the soap, I'd open another one because I couldn't reach it.

Today, at 252 lbs (Down 107 lbs with another 30 or so to lose), my balance is completely changed! I can easily pick something off the floor, stand in the shower, and walk a tightwire like I did at Treetop Adventure Park last week.

Today, when I put on my socks, I can either bend over to put them on or I can stand on one foot while I bring the other near my waist and put on the sock! How crazy is that! 6 months ago I felt unstable in the shower and today I can stand on one foot perfectly balanced. I even do that in the shower to wash my feet!

Anyway, this blog isn't about how balanced I've become even though that's cool. My ability to balance has just made me think about balance in other areas of life including this quest for health.

Isn't it funny how exercise will help you become healthy unless you do so much that you don't give your body time to recover... balance.

Healthy foods create healthy bodies unless the foods are consumed in excess... balance.

Being active burns calories and sleep gives you the rest you need to be active...balance.

Attaining and maintaining a healthy weight... balance.

I am beginning to believe that the secret to long-term success is realizing that the goal is balance rather than a finish line. There is a challenge with balance being the goal. Balance is never completely attained but instead is a continual process of adjustment. I'm enjoying and looking forward to continuing this process of developing balance...

Back in the Saddle... Again!

I'm thrilled! I'm back in Chiang Rai and got an hour bike ride and 30 minutes of swimming today. My first "double" in a month...

It's just nice to be back. The great news is that I ended up losing weight while I was on vacation. While I wasn't working out as much and eating some snacks, my meals have just shifted to healthy stuff. I crave vegetables and fruit. I love fresh stuff. Fried just doesn't cut it anymore!

Anyway, before we had a church team visit and vacation, I had hit the 100 lbs weight loss mark (259 lbs) and bounced up a little to the low 260's. I weighed myself after my first week of vacation and I was at 264. I kept the course by eating healthy foods and getting in workouts where I could.

On coming back to Chiang Rai on Sunday, I weighed in at 257 lbs (lower than my prior low) and today I weighed in at 252! That's 107 lbs lost total since Sept 1st 2007!

Anyway, vacation was great but I'm thrilled to be back home with my bike, a nearby swimming pool, and my weight bench and elliptical machine out on the back porch!

Treetop Adventure Park - Part 2

I spent the morning with the boys doing the Treetop Adventure Park in Koh Chang. I had never had such a workout, as yesterday when Emily and I did the whole course. It took about 2.5 hours of upper body strength, core strength, lower body strength. Every part was sore! I'll also say I haven't felt that strong in a long time.

The folks at the park asked if I'd like to take the boys through the first half of the course today. It's as challenging as the second half, but only 15-25 feet off the ground. It was amazing and I was very physically challenged again. They set us off and I was the guide! We went through every step together with me checking their safety clips at every step. Marshall, our youngest is 7 years old and John William is 8. John William could reach the upper guide wires on all the elements but Marshall wasn't always tall enough. They both powered through with Marshall often having to balance without hand supports.

We were on the course for an hour and 1/2. By the end of the time, I was as exhausted as yesterday!

What a wonderful thing that this process of gaining health has allowed me this special time with the kids. We are so blessed to be together in good health.

This vacation has been so different for us, because we're so different now. We look for activities and challenges. We swim and run and climb and walk and kayak.

Thanks for reading the ramble... I'm so blessed.

Treetop Adventure Park

One of the things that I'm enjoying on holiday is doing things that I never could have done FAT! After losing 100 lbs, there are a lot of new options for active workouts and I've been enjoying them in Koh Chang, Thailand, where our family has been on vacation.

We've ocean kayaked a couple of times and the last time I paddled for almost 2 hours! It's a lot of fun getting out in nature and enjoying the experience.

Tomorrow, Emily and I are going to do the Treetop Adventure experience, here in Koh Chang. It's a 200 meter walk from our hotel and they said it takes about 2.5 hrs to complete! There's even a 150 meter flying fox (zipline)!

Here's the link if you want to check it out.

I'll post pictures tomorrow!