achievement

weight update - 145.5 lbs after breakfast, a 7 mile run, and then a banana and fruit smoothie. 10 lb initial goal - CHECK!!

agua, agua, agua

every person, article, or suggestion regarding losing weight has always had one common thread - drink plenty of water. water is the most important thing, it's makes up most of your body, blah, blah, blah. whether its drinking the suggested 8 glasses/day to keep you regulated, or even so-called diet weight loss pills that make u chug over a gallon/day, water has always been the constant between everything.

over the past few years, i cut down on sugary soda drinks, teas, etc. it wasn't necessarily for the weight loss, but rather, i just developed less desire for those types of drinks. water was always cheap and available and so everything works out, right? i'd have the occasional coke every now and then, and of course the more-than-occasional happy hours, but up to now i've drastically cut down on unhealthy beverages.

i've been putting down a good 70-80 oz of water daily for over a month. before that, i really only drank during meals. with my weight loss over the past month, i can be nothing short of a believer. i mean, water has no calories or no fat. it gets absorbed, then either pissed or you sweat out. i don't see the harm.

on a side note, i'm happy to see that some of those around me have joined in efforts to better themselves as well. though i don't think i could do some of the methods out there (BEYONCE MASTER CLEANSE!), i'm just happy that people are taking notice and doing something about it. after my month of losing weight, i'm happy that i've maintained the loss, but i'm still aiming toward the another 8 lb goal. high school skinny has never been so close...though i'm still 20 lbs removed from that weight...haha!

-EZ

EZE 3.0

it's not an easy thing to incorporate and embrace change. some people like it, while others flat out reject the thought. are we creatures of habit? do we like to do the same thing over and over again until perfect? or are we determined to make changes in our life to become better?

i texted a friend of mine that i rarely see or speak to anymore and checked how she was doing. given her personality, her answer back wasn't surprising, yet it still stuck in my mind: "just relaxing and still trying to figure out why we are here." she was convinced that human beings weren't meant to sit at computers all day...and to some extent, i agree.

as previously mentioned, when i turned 30 in june, i realized that my lifestyle needed a little change. slowly start to eat better and incorporate a little more exercise. so far, i've fared well and a lot of help goes to my wife for the support. we've kept up with the vow to avoid our beloved weekly chicken wing outing. i think we've only had them once in the last 4 months, and only because it was the one thing to eat at a friends gathering. i don't remember mentioning this before, but starting about 3-4 yrs ago, whenever i had wings for dinner (along with a few beers and fries), i had trouble sleeping at night. and it wasn't just a toss/turn uncomfortableness, but rather i started feeling very hot and greasy. i know, not attractive. but anyways, i would lie in bed and say to myself, 'man, i shouldn't have eaten wings tonight' while my wife would get annoyed. some may say it's not a big change, but i propose this: how many people can give up something they truly like and eaten every 1-2 weeks (for years)? it's not an easy thing to do.....man, i miss those wings.

yesterday, i ate a chili cheese hot dog and fries for lunch. i went back and got a second plate of chili cheese fries (it was free). look - no one is perfect!

i think for the most part, i'm off to a good start. long term, if i'm 40 and feel 30ish, then i'm doing my job. my entire 20's life was a party-like-a-rockstar binge fest. i made several piss poor attempts to work out, be active, and change.....all of which obviously failed.

my 3.0 life is here and if it takes several months to over a year to get me back to satisfaction, then so be it.

-EZ

full training...

it's been about 2 weeks since my last post. i want to say that i've been more busy than anything else, but truthfully, i just had a small case of blog writers block....if that were a term.

today marks 18 weeks from the official marathon day. i'm supposed to start Hal Higdon's (my choice) novice training guide which for week one looks like this:

M: rest
Tu: 3m run
W: 3m run
Th: 3m run
F: rest
Sa: 6m run
Su: cross train

I think ol' Hal was assuming that the person starting this 'novice' training is already in somewhat decent running shape. 6 miles on week one can be brutal for anyone who hasn't run very much. even though time is not an issue with this training, i'm still aiming to start keeping track of my mile splits. it would be something new to me since i never really watch the time, because i believe that the effect is mentally draining ("i've been running HOW LONG?!").

weight update: 146.5 this AM (no breakfast at the time). i think my metabolism is catching up! over the past 2-3 weeks since the end of the meal plan, i've mainly kept up with all meals and snacks, but i've eaten bad quite a bit as well. i took a vacation trip to philly where i admit that my diet was surely not under 1500 cals/day. i will give props to my wife - she kept me motivated to workout/run - while out of town.....something i never do on vacation.

so, i'm fairly proud of myself as i'm on the cusp of hitting my 10 lb initial goal. is it fair that i've already set another goal to hit 140? probably not, but with the marathon training (LOTS OF RUNNING) only set to increase in mileage over the next 4 months (week 15 is 40 miles total)....i don't see why i couldn't be high school weight once again (the latter years of course). according to the official BMI (body mass index) scale, i'm currently considered overweight. to be in the 'normal' zone, i need to be 132 or below. i highly doubt i'll be considered normal weight anytime soon!

i'm not promising to keep up 100% with the training guide i'm following. i will throw in a few modificiations every now and then, but i should at least get the long runs down.

-EZE

minor inconvenience

weight update: 149 lbs (after breakfast!)

after getting up a little late this morning, i ate breakfast and got ready in my normal fashion. the routine is actually quite cumbersome: snooze button a few times, get up, put on shorts, walk the dog, poop (the dog...and maybe me), feed dog, prepare/eat breakfast, lay out work and workout clothes, shower, clean ears, deodorant, get dressed, put on contacts, brush teeth, gel hair, put on cologne, put on hand lotion, blow nose, use allergy nasal spray, get wallet/phone/keys, attach blackberry to hip, put on right sock, then left sock, then right shoe, then left shoe, grab workout bag, walk downstairs, grab lunch/snacks in fridge, and walk to car, drive to work. whew. i've actually thought about my morning routine DURING my morning routine. it's pretty sad, but i'm not lying when i say this is 95% of what i do every weekday morning.

THIS morning, however, upon walking up to my car, i notice that there is a bunch of junk/papers all over both front seats. about 2 seconds later, i realized that my car was broken into. i looked quickly at the windows and didn't notice any glass broken. i looked at the door locks and they were open. could i have forgetten to lock the doors last night after coming back from the gym? there's no way - i'm usually very anal about stuff like that..... but i stood in amazement questioning myself. upon further investigation, i found glass in the rear seat. apparently, the thieves/vandals broke a small triangular vent window on the rear passenger door and reached in to unlock the door. i call them vandals instead of thieves because, well.... they didn't appear to steal anything. how can one steal if there is nothing of value TO steal?! i chuckled internally for a moment.

i screened the front seat area: old air freshener, 50 spf sunblock (generic brand), old lottery tickets, 2 prs of sunglasses. it was clear that my cheapy sunglasses weren't of any value to the suspects. i mean, who wants to take sunglasses worth less than $5?! i could see the vandals cursing themselves....."man, there ain't sh*t in this car!". everything that i could remember being there...was there. in the glove compartment, they took out all my honda maintenance paperwork and napkins. they LEFT my old radar detector! no cd's were taken and my trunk was unopened because i locked the switch from inside a few weeks ago when Hang wanted to stash her purse inside while we went to a bar/lounge. they couldv'e taken my bowling ball and workout tire if i hadn't done so! overall, i took some pictures of the area and moved about my business. i told the maintenance guy in our complex and when i got to work, i called the non-emergency line for the police to file a report. i'm set up for 7am tomorrow morning to pay $85 for the window replacement. probably going to eat IHOP while he's fixing the problem, then go run at memorial - 6 miles.

after a quick heat-of-the-moment panic, i stopped and realized that this ordeal is really minor and relatively comical. the car Gods are evening up my tallies from all the stupid crap i did back in high school to other people. i guess it's a little bit of karma. good thing i never killed anyone......right?! this morning, i watched news of a girl that was kidnapped at the age of 11 in 1991 reappear with her captors. 18 yrs in a backyard compound made up from tents, shrubbery, and extensions cords. she is very close to my age...with an 11 yr old education and 2 children bred from her sicko captor. those children have never been to school or a hospital. my thoughts on this are endless, but lets just say that i feel there are some people in this world that deserve a public beatdown. my $85 window and 2 hr inconvience is nothing.

so...an eventful friday so far. possible dinner at a friends tonight and early bedtime so i can get my errands done in the morning. maybe my good spirits will net me the texas lottery tonight or this weekend. i promise to keep updating (and running) if i win....

-EZ

mid week thoughts...

i need to post some more pictures of my progress after the meal plan. friends and family have stated my noticible weight loss...especially in my jelly belly area. positive reinforment is always good.

less than a week after ending the plan and my weight is at a solid 149. the 147.5 from saturday was a fluke in my mind, since i just ran 5 miles and easily saturated my clothing with sweat. i'm keeping up with the morning liver cleanse drink upon waking. a combination of two reasons: i feel it's actually doing it's job and i still had enough to keep going for another week. considering the 'benefits' of what it supposedly does... i figure that it can't hurt to keep it up for awhile. i mean, losing 7-8 lbs in 3 wks is a considerable amount for someone my size imo.

anyways, it was a little weird this morning when i found myself a giddy inside. i was thinking about the 6 miles i was going to run this coming saturday. could i possibly be excited to run? was i looking forward to getting up early and braving through the houston morning humidity?--which i guess is better than midday humidity. all i know is that i have to do it regardless. i guess it doesn't hurt that the marathon kickoff party will also be at memorial park handing out info on running groups and serving refreshments (read: BEER). who passes that up?

next week i have a planned vacay with the wifey. looks like austin and possibly dallas for 3 days. austin should bring us a little reminder of our engagement. should be a fun and relaxing trip, although vacays are hard on us. we tend to eat a lot and not do much exercise. we do a fair amount of walking, but it's never enough. i've made a personal reminder to actually use the hotel gym provided this time. i think they even have a pool, so it's even better.

very sleepy this morning for some reason.....
-E

embarrassment

quick update on weight: i hit 147.5 this past weekend after a 5 mile run. i still had good energy after the run which was great. congrats to me.

the 21 day meal plan is over and my wife and i decided that it's best to somewhat keep up with a healthier eating lifestyle. we agreed to buy breakfast foods and cook them on sunday to be available during the week in addition to making snacks for me to munch on during the day between meals. the first result this morning was great. turkey breakfast tacos with corn tortillas, egg whites, low fat cheddar cheese, and salsa. also boiled some red potatoes with seasoning to mix it up later in the week.

the meal this morning was a much better result than my disastrous quick dinner last night. in a bit of a rush, i had some chicken breasts thawing with the assumption i was going to cook 'chicken cooked in butter' from a recipe book i've had since my single living days. the recipe called for the use of flour, which i didn't have. so, in my quick-witted thinking, i said i would just bake the chicken in a lime and garlic marinade.

*quick background note - i would like to disclose that my wife and i are NOT cooks. since living together, we've maybe cooked 15-20 meals together in the last 2 1/2 yrs. we love food, just not the work that goes into it...sad.

anyways - i preheat the oven, squeeze the lime, and mash the garlic. i drizzle the marinade over the chicken that is resting on some foil in a shallow baking tray. after checking that the base of the chicken is surrounded by the juices, i place it in the oven to bake for around 30 mins. i heat up some green giant niblets corn as a side dish in the meantime. after confirming that the chicken was fully cooked, i neatly assembled everything on a dinner plate and set our normal places in front of the tv. over the next 10 minutes, i sat and ate the worst chicken i've ever had. i understand it's not hard to mess up chicken, but in my lack of cooking experience, i was able to do just that. it was dry, tasteless and bland. it looked like a poor pale chicken breast in desperate need of a tan. the chicken didn't even taste like....chicken. it had no taste. i was lucky that i dribbled the leftover marinade onto our plates. my wife hadn't said anything after a few bites over 5 minutes. her eyes were set on the tv watching food network. i had gone through about 3/4 of the large chicken breast before i stopped and blurted out, "this is the worst chicken i've ever had". Hang looks at me and laughs. i dunno if she wanted to be nice, but she smiles and says... "it is a little bland" and keeps eating. ugh. i told her i couldn't eat anymore and cut a few pieces for my dog and placed them in his bowl. to my amazement, Peanut ate up the chicken bites, but only after he had a few quick pick-up and drops to make sure it was up to his standard. great - i wondered.... how bad would this be if my DOG didn't even eat this?! a sigh of relief came after i noticed he consumed everything. i even forbid Hang to take a picture of it after she found my thoughts to be hysterical. there was no way i wanted to remember this meal, but unfortunately when you've had the 'worst' of something...forgetting about it is hard to do.

-E