One month down...

I hit my weight goal for January. I tipped the scale at 248.8 on January 30th. Next milestone is 245 on February 28th. My eating habits still need some work, but I have made some progress in the night eating. Not perfect, but progress is being made. I drank fewer beers in January than the past few months. I've limited beer consumption to Friday, Saturday and Sundays. I usually have two Friday night, three on Saturday (unless I go out) and two on Sunday. Some Sunday's I don't drink any beer, it just depends on the conditions.

My workouts have varied due to some issues with my knee and shoulder. L.A. Boxing changed the morning boxing classes from Monday through Friday to Monday, Wed & Friday. I've started to workout a couple of times a week at another gym, working on the elliptical trainer, stretching, doing abs and dumbbells for my rotator cuff issue.

I think I'll have to continue working hard 5 days a week and work on my diet to meet this months goal. I believe that the diet is going to be the key for me.

Monday January 19th

Weighed in at 253.0 this morning after my workout.

I ate badly this weekend and didn't workout at all. I did walk the dog, but I didn't go to the gym or train at home. This was by design, although I should have spend some time stretching.

My knee and shoulder are both improving, and I continue to go easy on the lower body impact and perform the rotator cuff dumbbell exercises. I'm pleased with the way things are going and I may be able to get back to boxing next Monday morning. I want to be cautious about the shoulder in particular, but I really think I'm on to something with the exercise regimen.

253 is not too bad considering the weekend. I drank a total of 8 beers from Friday night to Sunday night and on Saturday night I ate a burger and fries. I'll be more disciplined this week. I have twelve days to drop 4lbs and be at my Jan 31st target weight of 249.

Looking up!

Today was my fourth consecutive day working out at Lifestyle Family Fitness. Due to the pain I've been experiencing with my shoulder and knee, I decided to curtail my boxing workouts in an effort to get my body feeling a little better.

The past four days I've been working on the elliptical for a minimum of 30 minutes, then shoulder stretching and dumbbell exercises for the rotator cuff. After completing the shoulder work, I've been stretching my lower body and then doing abdominal work. I'm happy to say that my shoulder is feeling much better. I'm not ready to go back to boxing yet, but I probably could if I wanted to push it. Instead I'm going to hold out for another week and continue the exercise routine and see how the joints react.

I'm optimistic! I weighed 252.8 this morning on the gym scale, down a couple of pounds from the other day. It's strange how my weight can vary a couple of pounds in a single day. My eating habits are still suspect, but I have cut back on my beer consumption. A day at a time....

Ugh....

2009 has started out kinda rough. My right shoulder has been bothering me quite a bit, so much so that I think I'll have to go see a doctor. I've had issues with the shoulder for a long time, but since I quit lifting weights, it had gotten better. A couple of weeks ago after a sparring session, the pain increased significantly. It's gotten to the point that I'm not going to my boxing classes in the mornings. Yesterday and today I went to a different gym and just worked out on the elliptical trainer, did some very light dumbbell exercises for the shoulder, stretched and did some abdominal work.

Last night I put ice on the shoulder, followed by mineral ice. It felt pretty good last night, but I noticed some discomfort when I was doing the elliptical this morning. I'm taking ibuprofen, but still experiencing some discomfort. On top of the shoulder issues, my right knee has been bothering me. The shoulder is one thing, while it's been more painful of late, at least I'm used to dealing with it. The knee is another story. I've managed to keep my lower body in pretty good shape over the years and haven't had many problems at all. The knee is the reason that I'm using the elliptical trainer and not running. I feel like the pounding that my legs take when running would only make the knee worse. The elliptical allows me to burn off some calories without putting a lot of weight on the knee and very little impact.

Such is life.... I'll have to deal with it and get through it. I'm weighing on a different scale now, one at my gym. Today's weight 255.5lbs. :(

So far, so good

I weighed in at 252.5 this morning, 3lbs down from the 1st. What have I done differently? Not much. I have slowed down my bad habit of eating late at night, but I still have room for improvement. I have added an evening walk of about 20 -25 minutes a couple of nights a week, but other than that my exercise has been about the same.

Usually I gain a couple of pounds during months of Jan, Feb & Mar, due to my work schedule. I work a second job a couple of nights a week and I find myself coming home at 9:30 or 10:30pm and eating too much of the wrong foods. I think I'll be okay if I can keep my eye on the goal. Slow and steady is what works best. Oh yeah, I'm not going to be drinking beer during the work week any longer. A couple on Friday night, a couple on Saturday night and maybe one on Sunday afternoon is going to be my limit.

On the exercise front, I continue to train 5 mornings a week at L.A. Boxing. I am currently experiencing some pain in my right knee and right shoulder. The shoulder is nothing new, but the knee is another story. I'm hoping that I'll be able to work through it, but if not, I'll have to go to another gym and get my exercise on an elliptical trainer for a couple of weeks until the pain subsides and I can continue my boxing and kick boxing training.

2009

I weighed myself first thing yesterday morning, and I tipped the scales at 255.5 lbs. Not awful, but not where I want to be. Of course on New Years Eve I stayed up late, drank a few beers and ate a lot of junk food, so the 255.5 lbs might be a pound or two higher than my norm. Nevertheless 255.5 is my starting point. Here is my weight goal for the year. 235 lbs. is the number. This will require a loss of 20.5 lbs or 8% of my current bodyweight. My target dates and weights are as follows:

January 31: 249 lbs. This will be a 6.5 lb decrease in the first 31 days. It may seem like a lot, but it's easiest to lose pounds in the beginning and as previously mentioned the 255.5 may be a bit over my norm.

February 28: 245 lbs.

March 31: 241 lbs.

April 30: 238 lbs.

May 31: 235 lbs.

From the time I achieve my weight goal going forward, the goal will be to either maintain the 235 lbs, or I'll reevaluate and set a new lower weight goal.

How will I achieve my goal? Here are the steps I plan to take.

1. I won't diet. I'll make some modifications, but counting calories, weighing food and other "diet" processes are out.

2. Reduce my beer drinking. I love my beer, and I'm going to drink it, but I will reduce the overall number of beers that I consume.

3. Walk more. I'll regularly walk my dog and I'll increase the distance of the walks that we take.

4. I'll continue to workout 5 days a week at the boxing gym.

5. I'll drink more water.

6. I'll curb my late night eating. This is probably the most important step that I'll take. I generally do pretty well with my eating during the day, but at night my willpower gets weak. I'll combat this by eating smaller portions more frequently during the day, stay properly hydrated and keep healthy snacks available.

7. I'll keep track of my weight on a daily basis. It's easy to fall off the wagon for a few days and forget to weigh in. Doing so allows you to gain a pound or two, get frustrated and lose focus.

I'll reevaluate at the end of every month.

Other goals.

Perform 100 consecutive push ups without resting.

perform 10 consecutive pull ups without resting.

perform 100 burpees within 10 minutes.

Of all the goals, the burpees will be the most difficult, but it can be done.

Okay there it is, my fitness goals for 2009.

Treading water....

I think I still weigh around 250, maybe a couple of pounds more.... I've been eating anything and everything of late, including a lot of beer. I continue to train at L.A. Boxing every weekday morning, but I need to supplement those sessions. I have been taking the occasional evening walk with my boxer puppy, Zoey, but it's hardly the supplemental exercise I need.

I need to incorporate some strength training and cardio to my boxing regimen. The additional exercise should help me to drop a few pounds and improve my endurance, something I really need to do. I sparred a couple of rounds last Friday and was gassing pretty badly near the end. This is due in part to being tight, but my wind isn't where it needs to be if I want to compete.

I'm going to be thinking about setting specific goals for 2009. I like to use the new year as a starting point for goal setting. The problem I have is being specific with my goals. It's too easy to state I want to "lose weight", or "increase my stamina". I have to put some thought into the goals and how I'm going to measure my progress. I will have the goals posted by the 1st.