Let’s Talk About Goals

One thing I haven’t talked about yet was goals. The good news is I think I have it figured out. Back in college I loved that the senior year semesters were broken down into major projects and minor projects. Everything seemed very simple to handle.

The Major Project

Of the 70lbs I gained in the last 10 years, I want to lose half of that by the end of the year. That’s about three quarters of a pound per week.

Minor Projects

When I dropped some weight last year, nothing was felt more rewarding than fitting into some shirts and pants that haven’t seen the light of day in years. When I think about it, I have some great shirts in my closet. My minor projects are going to be ‘goal shirts’. I’ll post some photos of me squeezing into the shirts a bit later…

My Weight Loss Needs a Content Strategy

If weight loss was the focus of 100% of my day — where I can completely focus on it without distractions — maybe it would be easier. Unfortunately, life is full of distractions. Most of the content I consume everyday has nothing to do with health and weight loss. The work emails; the daily commute; the grocery store, CVS, the website I’m coding; they all have nothing to do with my health.

I need community. Talking about my goals every day will keep me focused. Seeing reminders throughout the day will remind me what I’m working for. My weight loss needs a content strategy. Here are my ideas:

1. Leave issues of Men’s Health around the house.
2. Sign up for for Men’s Health Newsletters. Sure, they’ll fill my inbox, but even reading the headlines will remind me of my goals.
3. Make a point to talk about it with others.

Beyond the Basics

For my Saturday workout I wanted to do something a bit more complex and found these three gems in the most recent issue of Men’s Health:

I’m loving the challenge, but find that I’m struggling with finding the right weight where I’m still working my upper body, without overdoing it with the lower body.

How to Feel Like Garbage in One Hour or Less

Alternate Title: I Should Have Opted for the Cole Slaw

I’m far from throwing in the towel just a few days into this, but I made a promise to a friend to grab lunch. Maybe a restaurant with ‘Wild Wings’ in its name wasn’t the best choice…

At first, my mind was bigger than my appetite — and thank goodness the calories were posted. I decreased my order from 15 wings to 10, but my downfall was ordering the fries and chips (not to mention the beer). Bad food tastes awesome, but I should have ended my meal much sooner. I was so stuffed after this meal, I almost considered skipping dinner. I felt like garbage; over-stuffed, tired, slow… you name it.

Today is a new day though… already started it off with a protein-rich breakfast and lots of water.

Healthy Dinner Number Two

For tonight’s dinner I really wanted to balance the veggies and the protein. Green beans with garlic and herb seasoning, chicken with a touch of tomato sauce and cheese, stolen sip of wine from my lovely wife, horrible dog begging for food.

My Career as a Professional Yo-Yoer

I swear I didn’t mean for of this to happen, but when it comes down to it I can tell you exactly why it did. I also know exactly what I need to do to reverse what I caused. I’m not another one of those guys who doesn’t understand the nutritional value of spinach versus a candy bar or that drinking water is a lot better than soda. The gym is not even considered a strange land of equipment I don’t know how to use.

How’d I Get Here?

This might be a good place to start: rewind a decade, back to 2002/03. I was about 20 years old living with my girlfriend (now my wife) in an apartment in Brooklyn. At the time I was working from home on graphic design projects with some small businesses. There was no shortage of time.

Almost every morning I woke up, went running in Prospect Park and did some dips, sit-ups and pull-ups. By 9 or 10 I was all cleaned up, back at my desk and working. On slower days I would even do a weight routine later in the afternoon. I specifically remember the feeling I had after being able to do a pull-up. I had been trying for weeks, just hanging on the bar and getting nowhere. There was a point that year where I think I saw some actual muscle definition.

Year: 2002/03
Shirt Size: L
Pants Size: 36, almost a 34
Weight: 195lbs at my lowest
Workout 1: Light running 3-5 days a week, 3.3mi. Sit-ups, pull-ups, dips.
Workout 2: Weights at home, 2 days a week
Diet: Whatever was cheap that could be cooked at home; cereal, sandwiches, etc.

Winter Downgrade

I continued running in the park until it got too cold in November or December. Unfortunately, most of my workout was taking place outside and there wasn’t a gym nearby. I ended up joining an aikido class at Aikido of Park Slope. I was not too far from my apartment – easy enough to walk, even on a cold evening.

The classes were amazing and the people were just as great. There were some challenges in the movements, but the workout was not as intense as what I had been doing in the park. In the two years I had been a member of the martial arts class from 2003 to 2005, I put on a few extra pounds. On top of the downgrade of the workout, I went from taking the class three or four days a week to only getting in one or two days.

In this period of time, we also had acquired a car. As convenient as it was, we suffered through a few parking tickets and even a towing nightmare. The car definitely impacted the amount of walking we did in the city. More car = more sitting. More sitting = less calories burned.

Year: 2004/05
Shirt Size: L/XL
Pants Size: 36
Weight: 215-225lbs
Workout 1: Aikido classes, 2-4 days a week.
Diet: Whatever was cheap that could be cooked at home; cereal, sandwiches, etc.

The Move to Long Island

After my wife’s grandmother passed away in 2005 we decided to move into her house out on Long Island. Neither of were exactly tied to the city. We had been discussing moving out of the city anyways. The house needed some extensive renovations and we spent the greater part of a half year sleeping on an air mattress at one of our friend’s mother’s house.

To give them time away from us (and to have some time to ourselves) we often went out to dinner or to have drinks. Burgers at Fridays or Ruby Tuesday were not an uncommon dinner. We added wine and martinis to the mix as well. This was a huge increase in calories for me and on top of that I was not working out. In my opinion, this was really the beginning of the end.

The house and move to Long Island also meant a mortgage. The mortgage meant that I needed a steady income. Enter the full time job and a 45 minute commute to and from work. When I would get worried about my weight gain I was back at the gym for a week or trying to pick up running, but these attempts would only last a week or two at the most.

Year: 2006/07
Shirt Size: XL
Pants Size: 38
Weight: 240-250lbs
Workout: Non-existent
Diet: Burgers and fries, wine, restaurant food. Cooked pasta and quesadillas at home.

Rock Bottom

My weight continued to increase from 2008 – 2011, creeping up from 250lbs up to almost 265lbs. There were contestants on The Biggest Loser who weighed more than me. I know I hide the weight well. The right shirts, the right pants… nobody would guess I weighted what I did. The dinners out got a little more tame, but I real downfall became pizza. You know, that delicious food that’s full of all kinds of nutrients. Pizza seems like it would okay in small doses, but usually don’t stop until I hit three or four slices. Multiply that by 1 to 2 times a week and add in a dose of skipping breakfast.

I was better with lunches at work – I’m known for my chicken and cheese wraps. Just grilled chicken and a slice of American cheese in a low-carb wrap. To counteract that, I began developing a real taste for sugar… I’m not ready to get into all the details yet, but we had all kinds of snacks available at work; sugar-filled granola bars, candy bars and pop-tarts were not uncommon a few days a week.

In the summer of 2010, I had my best attempt at getting my weight back on track. I was running, lifting weights at home and eating well. I took my weight down from 265 down to 260 pretty quickly. Plateaus came and went and eventually I worked my way down to 243lbs. Most of my workout was running. I started at running 1 mile and worked up to 3 miles at a slow but steady pace.

The progress stopped when I got leg pains in both my shins. I’m hesitant to call them shin splints since they were not properly diagnosed, but I wanted to be cautious and stay off running for a bit. It didn’t take long to get back up to 260lbs

Year: 2008-2011
Shirt Size: XL+
Pants Size: 38 (really tight)
Weight: 245-265lbs
Workout: Occasional, but not often enough
Diet: Pizza, wine… one to two healthy dinners a week. Pop-tarts, granola bars…

Next Steps

I think it is officially safe to crown myself a professional yo-yo’er at this point. I know where I want to be and fully understand what it takes to get there.

My lack of effort has cost me 70lbs, several pants sizes and self respect. I consider myself pretty lucky that it hasn’t cost me health problems. I’m not ready to list my goals just yet, but am ready to really make an effort to challenge myself mentally and physically. I know I want to feel better. Maybe This will be year I get it done.

Did I Just Join the Future of TV?

I just got off the phone with Optimum and cancelled my TV and phone service. With a newborn at home, spending as much as we do on TV, phone and internet just don’t make sense. There was nothing wrong with the service from Optimum – it was dependable – but I felt that most of the services they offered went unused. Features such as games and on-demand remain unused and I never got around to signing up for Optimum Rewards.

The fact is that television as we know it is changing as our fragmented media consumption habits continue to become more fragmented. My personal preference for television shows is to watch what I want, when I want it. The vast majority of the shows I watch are now DVR’d. This is why a product like the Roku box makes a lot of sense for me. Add a subscription to Hulu Plus and access to my Netflix and I believe I’ll be set.

Hopefully in another few weeks I’ll get around to posting a follow-up on my first impressions. Stay tuned!

A Dad’s Role in the Delivery Room

Whew! Asher was born on September 3rd and this is the first opening I’ve had to write a blog post. This entire process has been an amazing experience and I know it is just beginning. Hospital life was enjoyable – and easy. Nurses and doctors are there to help you and remind you to do things, food is just a quick walk down to the cafeteria and there was a Starbucks right in the lobby. You are just about cut off from the stresses of the outside world, but that doesn’t mean any of it is easy.

Here are a few tips for new dads in the delivery room and during the hospital stay:

1. Leave some stuff in the car. Don’t try to walk into hospital carrying your ‘go’ bag, suitcase, laptop, books, etc. Leave all that stuff in the car and come back for them later. When we got to the hospital, we were standing around a bit and spending time in a triage room before heading to the delivery room.

2. Sleep when she sleeps. Not everyone has a three hour labor. We got to the hospital around 12:30pm and Asher wasn’t born until 12:14pm the next day. There was a lot of downtime. We watched movies on the laptop, read a bit and got to sleep. Make sure to catch some zzz’s during downtime so you’ll be awake and alert when the time comes.

3. Be involved during labor. Labor can be a bonding moment or it can show everyone how lazy you are. Some nurses told us some guys just sit on the chair and watch TV during the intense parts of labor. Be next to your wife/girlfriend/parter to hold her hand, cool her off with cold towels, comfort her and cheer her on.

4. Don’t plan on leaving for long periods of time. I thought it would be safe to head down to the cafeteria to grab some food around 3am. I was in the middle of having a sandwich made when I got the call on my cell phone that my wife’s water broke. Having only been away for 10 minutes, I was surprised to come back to see her in lots of pain from contractions. Not being there when that happened definitely was not worth the ham and cheese sandwich.

5. Bring snacks. Hospital food adds up and can taste kind of gross. We ended up spending over $40 at Starbucks over the course of our stay. I’m curious to know if hospitals allow coffee makers in postpartum rooms…

6. Be there. While my wife was recovering, I was doing almost all the diaper changing, holding and comforting of our new baby. I was also the one getting coffee, doing paperwork and picking up food.