Category Archives: 5k

Day 677: Race Day Stuff

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Here are pictures of my day. The race was awesome and I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow (I’m falling asleep as I’m typing this post). All in all, I had a personal best and I placed 5th in the men’s 25-30.

In other awesome news, Megan placed second and our running pal Erin placed third in the women’s 25-30! Their prize? Chocolate chip bread! The race benefitted a local high school athletic program so the prizes were made baked. Needless to say the race had a very small, hometown feel to it. Our friend Becky did awesome too! This was her first 5k!

Anyway, after that ridiculousness, we went to another ridiculous activity: canning peaches. Yes, we canned peaches at Becky’s friend’s house. It is a really intriguing process with multiple steps. I did everything from peeling to stirring the peach mixture to going to Ace Hardware to get more caning jars. It was a fun day, but exhausting.

So enjoy the pics and we’ll talk more on Sunday. See ya tomorrow.

Da 665: Monday Yo!

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So for those of you who don’t know, I’m a huge fan of social media, blogging and really any kind or marketing or PR. I liked it enough that I have two degrees in it. Well a while back I was asked to contribute an article to a local magazine called Capital Executive regarding blogs and their importance in a professional setting. If you have ever wondered what it sounds like (or… reads like) when I’m not talking about eating food, you should check it out here!

Alright, let’s get back to today. Overall, I ate pretty well… but I guess you can be the judge.

Breakfast: This morning I had a delicious bowl of oatmeal. It’s such an awesome, stick-to-your-ribs kind of breakfast! (Oh yeah, and aren’t those bowl so awesome!?!)

Lunch: I came home and had some quinoa with beans and corn. It was basically the same thing as last night but a different protein.

 

 

 

 

 

 
Dinner: It wouldn’t be a FFK post without another awesome recipe from Skinny Taste! Tonight, we made the Garlic Lime Pork Chops and had leftover quinoa instead of the rice which was an awesome combination! If you want a white meat alternative, buy some pork folks! Yumtastic awesomeness.

Fo dessert, I had two delicious peaches from the farmer’s market on Saturday. If you don’t think you like peaches, buy some locally. It really makes all the difference.

SAWS of Sorts: Tonight, I went over to my friends Mallory and Lynn’s house and mowed their lawn. It was still hot, so I definitely got a good sweat out of it.

When I got home I had a few more peaches and some popcorn. Like I said it was a pretty good day. Tomorrow I’m going on another 3.5 mile run that I am super stoked for.Care to join me? See ya tomorrow.

 

 

Day 558: Thursday and Stuff

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Hello!

I love all of you. There, I said it.

I still can’t believe my Facebook Page got to 200+ Likes last night!

This week I was feeling a little sluggish and lazy. Luckily I was able to pull myself out of it and have an awesome day! Good things. Alright, let’s get at it.

Breakfast: This morning, as per usual, we went to Atomic Coffee before class and school and stuff. I just had a bagel with butter and a little honey. It was fantastic and filling. Awesomeness.

Lunch: Today I had to go to a luncheon for a class. I walked from campus uphill both ways (yes, like your parents did when they were kids) to the downtown Double Tree. The menu had a lot of awesome healthy choices, but I was still thinking about getting something a little heavier. That was when my friend Andrew (the Edward Cullen lookalike) told the whole I was his dietician and then asked for a healthy option. It was the conviction I needed to make a much better decision. I ended up getting a grouper sandwich and instead of fries I got a salad with honey mustard. It was delicious, but it was also hard to conceal my picture taking ability in front of a bunch of strangers. When I got home I had a 100 calorie Klondike ice cream sandwich that was awesome. Then I ate two servings of chips.

Awesome Non Scale Victory: So today I was organizing my old fat clothes in order to sell them online (anyone want size 54 khakis or some really nice XXL polo t-shirts?) and then I found these bad boys. I bought these plaid shorts a few weeks before I started grad school. It was like folding up an American flag. Those things are huge. I was huge. Anyway, I held them up, thought for a second, and then got in one of the leg holes. They fit me in the waist. I know I’m not half them man I used to be, but I am making awesome progress. It was seriously the motivation I needed to get focused on losing weight. It also made me proud because this kind of picture is usually in an infomercial for some weight loss cookie or some shake that tastes like ground up chalk. This is proof that all you need is a healthier diet, a good pair of running shoes, a little patience and a persistent attitude. Oh yeah, and a bunch of awesome supportive friends doesn’t hurt either ;).

SAWS:So after that moment of NSV clarity, I decided I needed to keep it up so I can no longer fit in my current clothes and went to the gym. It’s kind of sad because it was one of my last times working out at Leach. I’ve burned a ton of calories in that place. Anyway, I wanted to keep up the same intensity I had when I was working with Joe so I went after it. I divided my hour into three 20 minute segments. The first 20 I did a circuit that involved stairs, burpees, box jumps, jump squats, push ups and running up and down stairs. It was awesome. Then, I got on the ARC Trainer and did 20 minutes on the weight loss setting which was a hill climb pattern of awesomeness. Finally, I did 20 minutes of abs. Elevated sit ups, this weird leg lift row and then holding a plank position. I felt like I made really good use of my hour, I did what I came there to do: sweat through my shirt.

 

 

 

 

Late Night Dinner: After staying on campus to try to get some work done, Megan and I went through the drive thru at Jimmy John’s (the only thing faster than their delivery dudes) and had a Turkey Tom sans mayo and a nice layer of avocado spread. Not to mention their classic pickle. The healthiest drive thru around.

So that was my day. Not too shabby. Although I didn’t write them down, I’m definitely back in the mindset of counting points and being better about what I eat. I was looking at an older post and I realized it took me 4 months to lose the last 15 pounds to break the 100 pound mark. It was because I was kind of a slacker and wasn’t strict with my points. With my new-found love for weight lifting, sticking with my points should be the perfect recipe for some serious weight loss. If anything my body would feel better, and isn’t that what it’s all about? See ya tomorrow.

 

Day 507: Reaching Out Attempt No. 1

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So tonight I tried to reach out to somebody and I’m worried that it failed miserably. Wait, let me backtrack…

I am apart of the FSU Racquetball Club via Facebook (I’m not like an official member or anything) and the other day this guy in the group said he was going to quit. He was frustrated with losing all the time. Well, as you can tell from this blog, I have a terrible record, think Montreal Expos franchise record bad, when it comes to racquetball. Last week, I told him to keep at it and that it’s just a process to get better. But there is an entire other facet to this story, he’s me from 2010. Our body types were exactly the same. He even has blonde hair! I’ve watched him play before and I can only imagine that’s what I looked like when I started out. Anyway, over the weekend, I was thinking how I could reach out to him without being too intrusive and  just let him know that I’ve been there and that it gets better. Tonight when I was working out, I saw him running around the track. I stalkerishly waited for him to walk off the track to make my move. I had so many things I wanted to say. I tend to think of things in a movie situation, so I had high hopes that we would at least have a conversation. I introduced myself, he nodded. I asked him if he was going to quit racquetball and he told me he wasn’t sure. Then I went in to my diatribe about keeping at it. I told him a little bit about my story and that I knew how he felt completely. I told him he would really regret quitting. I told him that I would love to play with him sometime. I was speaking to silence. He didn’t say anything the whole time. I walked off and I just felt like crap. I felt like I had completely failed on my first attempt to try to help someone. I think it’s hard because I’ve been there. I always had people trying to give me advice and even some saying “You’re going to die if you don’t lose this weight.” I knew they always meant well, but I was hoping this time it would be different. We are exactly the same! An overweight blonde playing racquetball??? It couldn’t have been better scripted! It’s just so hard when you have such a great message, the salvation of weight loss if you will, and you want to deliver people from this lifestyle that they were not meant to live. No one should go through life obese. It’s miserable. I know because it plagued my entire life until my fantastic wife bought that scale to see how overweight we really were. You never forget that life, how awkward you are in your own skin. I appreciate this new life I have been blessed with so much because I never forget. How do you get that across to people? Even though I’m really beating up myself about it, my wise mom reminded me that at least a seed was planted. Maybe it wont click for this guy now, tomorrow, or even in a month. But maybe it was a step in the right direction.

Day 506: Weigh In Day Time!

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Hello!!!

So the 500th episode of The Simpsons was on tonight… it was disappointing. Awe well. Anyway, so after Wednesday night, my stress level went down considerably which in turn made the rest of the week much better. I only got to work out once this week, but I was good with my food. With that all being said, I lost 2.2 pounds this week! This doesn’t get me back down before last week’s super gain, but I’m going to work really hard this week to get down to where I was two weeks ago (but if I lost more I would be cool with that too 😉 ) I’m really ready to even just be at 237 because that will mean I would have lost 120 pounds which would be pretty sweet. Also, I looked back in to my blog and I realized I have been stuck in the 240’s region since October… OCTOBER! In a way, I kind of feel I haven’t lost really any weight for a while. It’s time to get crackin! I know today wasn’t great, but this week is going to be Healthfest 2012! (Whatever the crap that is…)

Breakfast: This morning, a small group at church hosted breakfast before Sunday School (did I ever mention I’m teaching a Sunday morning class called “The Legit Women of the Bible?”) so we hit up that deliciousness. As you can see, I had a muffin, a piece of banana nut bread and fruit.

 

 

 

 

 

Lunch: So the plan was to just go home and eat whatever leftover we had lying around in the fridge. As we were taking our awesome friend Julie home, I thought about this one place really close to campus that was suppose to be pretty good called Bandidos Burrito Company.  Since we have moved to Tallahassee, we have been on the hunt for some decent Mexican food or at least decent chips and salsa. Our epicurean prayers have finally been answered! Their salsa was fantastic and chips were epic. I had the chicken and bean burrito (which was the size of a roll of paper towels) and Julie tried this really cool sampler of mini burritos (chicken, beef and bean) that I thought would be noteworthy as well. (Or Julie did, I can’t remember…) Anyway, it was reasonably priced, they had a $1 Taco Tuesday and it’s within walking distance to my part of campus. It’s pretty hard to beat. I can’t wait to go back!

Snack: When Megan and I did some clothe shopping at the mall (where I bought this studly blazer and new jeans a size smaller!) I had a skinny caramel machiatto from Starbucks. Pretty good stuff.

So yeah, about that new jeans thing… I’m down to 40’s! Pretty awesome considering about 17 months ago I was year size 54 pants. (At one point I was even wearing 56’s…) Anyway, so since I bought my new jeans from Old Navy, they are having a promotion that you can buy another pair between March 1-31st. My goal is to buy a new pair of 38’s on March 31st. This is going to require a lot of core workout and sadly… more Insanity. Better get started…

 

(Somewhere in here I had some hummus and chips…)

 

 

 

Dinner: I just had some leftover chili with some basmati rice. I also had some light strawberry shortcake. So today wasn’t too bad, but there is always room for improvement. Last week, there literally wasn’t enough time to work out, but this week there is a little more room in my schedule so I’m going to work out more to get some inches off of my body. See ya tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 395: Halloween Edition!

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Happy

Halloween!!!

I cannot believe it’s already almost November! I also cannot believe how much I love Halloween! It was a pretty awesome Halloween even though no trick-or-treaters came to visit our house. Awe well, maybe next year. Anyways, today was another of grazing and my metabolism being kicked in to high gear. It feels like I am just continuously hungry and I’m hoping it is my metabolism instead of something bad. I don’t know. My body has been in it’s own world ever since I went down to the 28 point daily allotment. I don’t know if it’s enough because I have been really bad about counting or staying within my points. I’m really going to start working on that.

Breakfast: I had a wafflewich sans bananas. It was a good start to the day as always.

 

Lunch: Today was the Halloween lunch party/costume contest at work! I wasn’t really sure what to wear, but I eventually came up Tom Cruise in Risky Business. (I think I pulled it off pretty well if I do say so myself.) Anyways, we had Gumby’s Pizza which was pretty good (first time Gumby-er) and then I had half of a little divinity bar with reese’s pieces on top. I know I have been whining about everything in regards to this lull/rut in my weight loss journey, but you you can see from this pic in 2009, you can tell I have made some strides when you compare these pics. Pretty awesome stuff.

 

Running: I was going to go run in the morning, but sleep is so much more in vogue right now in Switzerland so I went the trendy route and slept in. So this evening I went out for a 3 mile run for my 10k training. I decided to do a 5k (what’s more .11 mile?) and it was rough because my quads were sore, but I’m still okay with my time. I’m going to try to keep my 5k time down below 33 minutes from now on so we’ll see how that goes. Anyways, overall it was a pretty good run! I have another 3 mile run on Wednesday and then a 5 miler on Friday. That should be fun…

Dinner: I had some leftover chicken and rice which wasn’t really filling enough because I was starving. This led up to mass grazing. After I ran I did have a pb sandwich, and then I had some pistachios, a piece of pie, some pumpkin seeds and other stuff. Then I went and picked up Megan from a long meeting so we went to Moe’s so she could have dinner so I had some chips and salsa. I think I need to eat more protein or something because I’m just not full after meals. Hmmm… Well tomorrow, I am going to actually count my points and see where I’m at. Wait… count out points? Who does that? Oh yeah… See ya tomorrow.

Day 394: Weigh In Time

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So I wasn’t really sure how this week was going to go (I know, I feel like I’ve said that before) but I did have a pretty good feeling about it. I’ve been really inconsistent with weight loss and gaining during October, but I’m going to make November a month of weight loss awesomeness. Anyways, I lost 1.6 pounds so I’m to where I was from the the gain and then some.

Breakfast: I had some grapenuts. Deliciousness.

Lunch: We made some grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup. It wasn’t too filling, but it was the perfect fall lunch! Last night, Megan made her first pumpkin pie of the season so I had a slice for dessert.

Throughout the day, I snacked on some toasted pumpkin seeds.

Dinner: Megan tried out this new chicken and rice recipe from the Joy of Cooking and it was awesome with some mixed veggies. I was really impressed with how it turned out. Luckily, we have plenty of leftovers! Score!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Starbucks: My friend Andrea and I have a presentation on Wednesday so we met up at Starbucks and worked on all that fun stuff. I had a skinny caramel machiatto but hot instead of my usual cold. When I got home I had a bowl of rice krispies.

So as you can tell, it was an exciting day… I guess. Like I said yesterday, Megan and I are going to start a Nike+ 10K training program this week. I’m hoping running three times a week will really help me get back in to working out regularly. Get stoked. See ya tomorrow.

 

 

 

Day 393: Saturday Recap of the Week

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So I didn’t post on Thursday because the Rangers had ripped out my heart to the point of exhaustion. By then, I had realized I had wasted four and a half hours of my life  in the respect that I could have been doing plenty of homework in that time frame. (Yes, I know that sounded pretty nerdy. It is what it is.) Friday, I wasn’t able to because we were at our young pros and college annual Halloween bash. It was a blast to chill by the fire after the race. Oh yeah…

RACE RECAP! The Trick or Trot was my first evening race (which I was nervous about since I had been sedentary all day) and it was awesome! I blew my records out the water yo! The race started downhill and since it wasn’t a big race, I was able to book it the first mile and set a good pace. It then started to even out and before I knew it, mile 1 was done… in 8:40! WHABAM! Through mile 2 or so, the hills were bad but still not as bad as the ones I’m use to so I just pushed through it. The last .1 was straight uphill which really sucked but again I just worked through it (even though at that point I was losing steam fast) and I’m glad I did. I busted out a 30:38 5k time. I was secretly hoping to break 30 minutes, but I was pretty freakin’ close. I was also wondering if I was going to place in the 20-29 mens bracket, but considering the thrid place time was a little over 18 minutes and the first place time was 16:25, I didn’t have a shot :). Overall, it was a pretty awesome race! Starting on Monday, Megan and I are going to start a 12 week Nike+ 10k training program so I’m pretty stoked about that too!

 

 

 

Alright let’s get back to today.

Breakfast: I just had a wafflewich of awesomeness. Fantastic.

Lunch: This morning, the Farmer’s Market downtown had owls!!!! The St. Francis Wildlife Refuge brought out the owls they use for educational purposes. It was pretty awesome. Anyways, that had nothing to do with lunch, but who cares. For lunch, we just came home and I had leftover chili from the other night. Awesomeness.

 

 

 

 

Oh yeah, we found bacon flavored syrup at Wold Market. Bacon lattes anyone?

[Insert this time of the day with intermittent rice krispy treat and pistachio grazing. Ruh roh…]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner: Tonight, we carved our massive pumpkins and roasted pumpkin seeds. Megan carved out a super awesome jack-o-lantern and completely overshadowed mine that looked like a seven year olds. Anyways, Megan made the Southwest quinoa recipe that we know and love for dinner. It was delicious as usual.

So today wasn’t too bad. Like I said I did graze a little bit and we will just have to see how that affects tomorrow’s weigh in. Either way, I feel pretty decent about this week so we will see how it goes. See ya tomorrow.

Day 389: Tuesday

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So yeah, I messed up the day number. I’m losing my mind.

It was a pretty good day I guess, just another day in grad school. I’m ready to retire in to the real world. (Yes, you read that right.) Anyways, let’s talk about food and stuff.

Breakfast: I was out of milk and organic peanut butter (what’s a boy to do?) but we had some conventional Peter Pan Peanut Butter so I had that on my waffles. It just wasn’t the same.

Lunch: I just had some pretzels and hummus (you know, the usual) and it was good as usual.

Snack: I had a couple atomic fire balls which really aren’t bad but I had to get rid of the rest of them so I would stop eating out of stress.

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner: Tonight, I made some chili awesomeness for dinner and we had it with some tortilla chips. It was one of the better batches I have made.

So as you can tell, it was just another boring day. Nothing too exciting. Maybe tomorrow will be a little better BECAUSE IT’S GAME 6 AND WORDLESS WEDNESDAY!!! Get stoked. See ya tomorrow.