Oatmeal

So I've been on a bit of an oatmeal kick lately.  Why?  Thanks to this article (brought to my attention by Steve Nash via twitter) which reminded my how simple, delicious, and healthy oatmeal is by pointing out how UNHEALTHY McDonald's makes it.  Truly unbelievable.

Check it out: How To Make Oatmeal Wrong

I agree with Steve's sentiment:



Anyway, so I've been more eating oatmeal lately.  Awesome. I usually add some fresh berries.  Truly fascinating. Maybe a touch of honey.  By the way, Dan, this blog rocks.  It's really taking off...

...

No run today, worked at REI after work-work (but was able to prodeal a pair of running shorts).  Food was okay, good oatmeal, more quinoa leftovers, snacked on some snap peas and baby carrots.  Food: B-

Weight: 237.2 lbs

The Paradox That Drives Us On

Quick, what are the top 5 movie soundtracks of all-time?  Sure, you have your typical answers... Pulp Fiction, O Brother Where Art Thou, Forrest Gump, Purple Rain, Garden State, A Hard Day's Night, Saturday Night Fever, Superfly maybe The Graduate or Trainspotting sneaks in there... but you're forgetting the best motion picture soundtrack of all time...

ROCKY IV

Yes, that's right... a movie that is almost too good to be categorized (drama?  sports?  action?  documentary on how the Soviet Union *really* collapsed?) also has, without question, the greatest soundtrack ever conceived.  It's a fact.  I will not argue about this.

For evidence of its supremacy, I submit exhibit A... Survivor's best song (yes, better than "Eye of the Tiger") which not only pours the musical and emotional foundation for the epic fight between Rocky and Drago, but also serves as intellectually insightful political discourse on the prudent foreign policy (that still rings true, by the way, in light of the America's current influence in the 21st century, especially considering the Bush Doctrine).  Anyway, here it is.  Survivor's "Burning Heart"...

***SPOILER ALERT*** the ENTIRE plot of Rocky IV is shown in this video.  Literally, there is nothing of significance* that happens in the movie that is not in this 4:30 minute music video.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZ8GdV9GdlA&w=640&h=390]

 

Why do I bring this up here? Well, for one, I think its supremacy should be recognized. I seriously love this movie, and love the soundtrack. But perhaps more to the point, pretty much the whole soundtrack is on my work-out mix, so I was listening to it today while I ran.  Speaking of working out, Rocky IV also has the best training montage of any of the Rocky movies (or any other movie, for that matter).  Stallone and Lundgren at their absolute physical peaks.  USA vs Russia.  Good vs Evil.  Nature vs. Science.  THAT is how we won the Cold War... blue collar Amuricka just straight up working harder than those Godless commies.  You can find it in its entirety HERE.  I can't think of a better possible way for you to spend your next 7 and a half minutes.

Anyway, back to the running.  Felt good today, ran a 5k at a faster pace than I did on Wendesday, which felt good as an accomplishment on its own, but then I decided to add some more distance and finished pretty strong.  Distance: 7k total (that's 4.4 miles for my Amurickan audience).  That brings my total for Week 1 up to 15 miles... or 24k, for my canadian, european, and other non-Amurickan audience.  Not bad.  The best part was after my initial 5k... I wasn't dying.  The pace was sustainable.  I'm sure part of that is physical, and just getting my body used to running, but a huge part has to be mental... and I think I'm starting to get over a small hill here mentally.  The idea of running being pretty much impossible (and idea that seemed very real two weeks ago) is replaced with a "Oh, I can do this, the question is how well?"  Thanks to Survivor's "Burning Heart", we already have brilliant insight into the existential nature of pushing one's self... and I quote:

Deep in our soul; A quiet ember
Knows it's you against you
It's the paradox that drives us on

(silently nodding)

Anyway, I want to be careful about adding too much distance, but it'd be nice to try a longer run sometime soon.  I was at a point of "yeah, I can do this.  I can keep this up without it being seriously physically stressful".  I'm not sure I've ever experienced that before when running just to run.  It was good.  Definitely a significant improvement from as recently as a week ago... and I owe it all to Rocky IV... the same entity to which I owe my freedom.

Food was good today.  Oatmeal in the morning, some Recoverite after the run.  Snacked on some snap peas and carrots while I watched MSU get dominated by Purdue.  Haven't had dinner yet, but will probably go for some of the leftover Quinoa from last night with tufo and veggies.  Food: B+ (pending dinner)

Magic number... 237.6 lbs.

*except for Rocky's post-fight speech, which subsequently ended the Cold War, but that's really more of an epilogue.  As is this footnote... so without further ado, I might as well deliver to you The Speech That Brought Down the Iron Curtain:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsJnxlXepsY&w=640&h=390]

Expertise

As you may be aware from my previous posts... I don't have much expertise in running ("writing an interesting blog" might get added to the list soon, as well).  Fortunately, my friend Jeff (he of the 12bpm resting heart rate) does... in several things, but especially running... and blogging for that matter (you can observe some of this expertise first hand at jpurdom.wordpress.com)

So today, being the leechy free-loading friend that I am, I solicited some running advice from Jeff.  Basically, I was worried about how much I land on the outside of my foot, and my running form in general, some slight knee pain, and what that means for shoes, technique, and frequency as I try to move forward with this little experiment.

Jeff, as usual, was awesome.  We even recorded some video so he could show me some things he was talking about.  Incidentally, we were in a pretty small work out room at his apartment complex and there was a girl working out next to me... which made one dude video taping another dude running (with no explanation given) a delightfully awkward experience.  Classic #Cheers, if you ask me.  Anyway, as you can see below, I supinate (under pronate) just a bit, especially landing, but it balances okay by the time of my push-off.  So I think we're good... I need to pick out some new "neutral" running shoes soon since mine are over 2 years old.  (I'm open for suggestions on the new kicks...)

Also, if you were curious what a slightly inebriated overweight duck looks like when running... here is my best impression:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJb95ZRAO-4&hl=en&fs=1]

Look at me... just PUNISHING that treadmill.  (Also, it should be mentioned that this is in slow motion... I'm running WAY faster than that...)  Mostly a rest day, so only a mile for the testing today.  Distance: 1 mile

Food was good... cereal, Chipotle new pozole bowl (recommended), and a delicious quinoa veggie stir fry for dinner.  Food: B+

Still... 238.4 lbs. I'll be interested to see what my next Fat Friday check-in will be... definitely looking to drop at least 2-3 pounds a week (not recommended to lose more than 1% a week, but I think we could do a little better than that on the upper end here)...

We'll see...

The Tell-Tale Heart

Thanks to my moonlighting gig at REI, I have (among other things I don't need or use very often) a heart rate monitor... or "HRM" for those of us in "the biz".

What does a fat slob like me need an HRM for?  Nothin'.  But I'm also a curious fat slob, and have a bit of a nerdy streak.  I like numbers.  I've worn it the last couple times I've gone running, and I even ran a mini-fitness test this morning.  I was curious what my resting heart rate is.  Why?  I don't know... I guess it's an indicator of fitness.  You know, other than indicators I'm already getting like "hey dan, none of your pants fit" or "your belly shakes uncontrollably when you brush your teeth... and you have a sonicare"... you know, complicated scientific stuff like that.

Anyway, my findings were interesting.  I measured heart rate right after I woke up, and it was hovering right around 55, sometimes moving up into the high 50s, but staying around that point.  Is that good, you ask?  Well, according to the extensive research I've done (clicking on the first google link after typing something to the effect of "what's a good resting heart rate?"), yes, actually it is.

for a 26-35 year old male, 36-53 is considered excellent, 54-63 is good, 65-67 average, 69-71 below average, 72+ poor... so yeah, I'm doing okay.  Since I've been haphazardly throwing around a several unfounded and seemingly random goals lately, I might as well add to the list.  Let's get a resting heart rate below 50... you know, just for kicks.  It should be noted here, just for comparison's sake for someone who is really in shape, that my friend Jeff Purdom has a resting heart rate of 12.  Also, my friend Matt Browning, through concentration, can raise and lower his cholesterol at will.

I've discovered one other physiological factoid using my HRM this week... on Wednesday, I ALMOST DIED!  More extensive scientific research has informed me that my max heart rate should be somewhere around 192.  Keep that in mind as you view a graph of my heart rate during my 5k run on Wednesday:



You might first notice that my time, while undisclosed, was "pretty fast"... and also that my heart was doing some nice steady work.  But you'll also notice a slight trend... a gradual rise in my rate.  If I had run another few minutes, my heart rate would have gradually increased to what I've dubbed "my death number" (noted above in green, much to the silent appreciation of all my readers who are Harry Potter fans.)  Now, I'm no scientist, but I think that critical number... 192 beats per minute... is when my heart would explode... and not in a good Grinch way.  Sudden Death.

Thankfully, having narrowly escaped death's clutches, I took advantage of another day by running 5k today.  I was going to go a little longer, but I don't want to pile too much on too early, or so I've been told.  (and when I say "don't want to pile too much on" I mean "don't want to pile too much fat-impact on my poor brittle knees, ankles, feet, and generally underdeveloped muscle tissue").  Distance: 5k

Had a small fruit smoothie for breakfast, with a half of a home-made granola (and more!) bar from my lovely, beautiful, and immensely talented wife Kelly.  For lunch, we took advantage of the Chipotle two-for-one coupon you get on facebook for watching that commercial for that show that looks awesome (yup, your trick worked, Chipotle/NBC, congrats).  I went with my typical "light" option... no extras, really.  Still for half off... it's a steal.  A delicious delicious steal.  Dinner was a heavier, slightly more protein-y smoothie that what I had for breakfast, with some veggies thrown in.  (more on this later, the vita-mix deserves its own post).  Food: B (two smoothies for meals?  And I had a couple chips with my burrito bowl... cheater)

Weight = 238.4 lbs ... Fridays, henceforth on this blog, will be known as Fat Fridays (which is not at all a nod to Fat Tuesday, but rather my appreciation for additional astoundingly awesome alliteration).  This will be my week-to-week measurement.  Also, I'll check resting heart rate on Fat Friday mornings to see how that is going...

Food Rules

In retrospect, a multitude of various forces were compelling me toward this blog (or more appropriately, the shift in lifestyle this blog is attempting to narrate).  Primarily, it was a slow build-up, growing increasingly weary of my abhorrent fitness.  Sure, there were times where I was more acutely aware of this: splitting the crotch of my favorite khakis while on a leisurely bike ride, for instance.  Another driving force for the blog was the desire to embarrass myself, add accountability, and at least have some fun with this mess (see previous sentence).

Another factor influencing my recent decision making has been the book Food Rules by Michael Pollan.  The full title is Food Rules: An Eater's Manual. If you recognize Michael Pollan's name, he wrote The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food.  I haven't read those books, although I've read parts of In Defense of Food.

In fact, Food Rules is an extension, or rather a distillation, of the longer much more in-depth In Defense of Food. Pollan takes much of the science and research he had already completed for previous books, and extracts 64 aphoristic rules.  The beauty of the book is in its elegant simplicity, typified by its thesis (a thesis it shares with In Defense of Food)...  Pollan argues that all of our incredibly complicated nutritional science can/should be boiled down into 7 instructive words:

Eat food.  Not too much.  Mostly plants.

Again, beautifully simplistic.  As far as a "diet"... this is pretty much what I'm trying to do.  I might not be militant about it (yesterday's chef boyardee debacle would be a prime example), but I'm doing a pretty good job so far.  I'm eating real food (recognizable ingredients, most of them fresh, etc), careful with portions (probably my biggest problem), and mostly plants... I've been loading up the veggies and salads.  Maybe not quite as much as my friends Rob & Lindsey... but like I said in my first post... baby steps.

Anyway, I would definitely recommend the book.  For more detail, I'd check out In Defense of Food, but for quick advice like "Avoid foods you see advertised on television" or "Don't eat breakfast cereals that change the color of the milk" with brief yet insightful explanations... go for it.  When I mention my "Food Rules", these are the rules I am referencing.

Pretty simple, really.

Rest day today, another 5k tomorrow.  Distance: 0

Had a bowl of gross healthy cereal for breakfast and left-over delicious chicken & rice with lots of veggies for lunch (photo below)... thanks to Jeff and/or Beth Purdom for the extra home-made salsa to top it off.  (had that meal for dinner as well, incidentally)... Food: B- (Love that chicken meal, but the repeat and the cereal hurt the enjoyment... good healthy day though).



Magic Number: 238.6 lbs

Milestone?

Hey how about that?  I ran 5k without stopping.  Distance: 5k.  I realize there are several possible responses to this:

- "I don't really care" - A popular choice to be sure.  Thanks for stopping by.

- "Yeah, so did I... when I was like 11.  You must be in horrific shape to be celebrating such a trivial athletic achievement" - Right, yes, quite astute of you.  I'm a physical train wreck.  Along those lines though, I can assure that running for a longer distance is more difficult when you're the size of an adolescent rhinoceros.  Why don't you strap on one of those pregnancy simulating vests and give that 5k another shot... yeah, welcome to my world.

- "Wait a minute, I thought you've been running around 3 miles pretty regularly lately.  You posted that you ran a 5k on Monday!  Have you been lying?  You're a liar!  Where did you learn this kind of behavior?!" - You!  Alright?!  I learned it by watching you! But seriously, I actually have been running 5k, just with intermittent walk breaks... I'm on the "you're too fat to run, try a run-walk" program.  Usually run 10min / walk 1.  Or something like that...

If I could bring it back to cycling (where I belong)... today was my first day with the training wheels off.  It felt good.

- "What was your time?" - Shut up.  I just said it felt good.  Don't ruin this for me.

On the food side, a pretty good day.  Fruit smoothie in the morning (fruit smoothie consists of fruit, a small amount of fruit juice, and sometimes some unsweetened soy milk or some light protein/vitamin powder... it's mostly just fruit though).  I had chef boyardee ravoli for lunch.  Not ideal, but it's cheap, fast, hot, and not horrendously unhealthy... although it does fly in the face of the Food Rules credo I'm trying to stick with... more on that later.

Dinner... well, I owe my delicious dinner to my wonderful Crock Pot.  What a brilliant and under-appreciated machine.  The steps for making this dinner are as follows:

1 - put some raw chicken in the crock pot (I used 3 chicken breasts)

2 - pour a jar of salsa over the chicken

3 - turn on the crock pot, cover, go to work.

Or if you're illiterate and can't read, you can just look at this photo and pretty much figure out what's going on.



By the time I got home from my post-work run, I had delicious (crazy flavorful) succulent juicy chicken that just fell apart on a fork.  I put it on some wild rice with some steamed spinach, but it would go great in ANYTHING... burrito, sandwich, quesadillas (I make a mean quesadilla), soup, casserole, on top of nachos... really anything at all that is even remotely mexican themed and calls for protein... you're good to go.  I'm sure this could work with other toppings as well (bbq sauce for one).  I look forward to the possibilities...  Food: B

And the magic number: 239.4 lbs As a side note here, I realize it's slightly ridiculous to weigh myself every single day.  I'm hoping for change (not an Obama reference) on a broad scale (ha, see what I did there?) over time.  Hopefully, my week to week measurements show steady progress... I'm not going to worry about each individual daily measurement (although I'm hoping that weighing it at about the same time each day will provide some consistency)

Good Eats

I knew I wasn't running today, so hit the bike for the first half of the Illinois-Ohio State game (which incidentally was perhaps the strangest half of basketball I've ever seen... Illinois was 8-9 from distance and was down 15 at half). I wanted to take it easy, so I kept the resistance down and tried to keep the RPMs up. It ended up being 49 minutes of spinning... Distance: 12.5 miles (like I said... take it easy)

Also, I *really* miss biking outside. Can't wait to a) get my bike back and b) ride it outdoors. I might need to further expound on this in a later post, but "cycling" on a stationary bike sucks. Real bad. I haven't pinpointed exact cause... but I think it has to do with the fact that you don't move. It's stationary. Yuck.

Good food day... fruit smoothie with some protein/vitamin supplement powder for breakfast. Lunch was delicious Chipotle on the way to a client visit. Went with the bowl - half rice, sprinkling of cheese, no sour cream or guac. It's basically black beans, chicken, some rice & salsa... good stuff, and nutritious especially given the locale.

Dinner was especially good. Good enough to post a pic:



What we have here is a teriyaki-glazed seared Ahi Tuna steak on a salad of spinach, broccoli, and bell peppers. Topped with a sesame soy vinaigrette... deeeeelicious. Food: A

Also, I bought a scale last night, so this morning I was able to have my first "official" weigh in. The magic number: 239.6 lbs.

Day 1

Technically, it's not really Day 1.

I started last week.  But I'm considering this my first week, so I guess that makes this my first day.  The goal is to run 3 times a week for the next 3 weeks.  Really, I'd like to run more often than 3 times a week, but might bike or swim those other days instead... I've been told not to try too much too soon.

Running is hard for me, mostly because I'm fat, weak, and mentally feeble.  I've been trying to run about half an hour.  The overall goal would be to break a 24-minute 5k.  Eventually, I'd like to be lower than that, obviously... but, you know, baby steps.

Today's run was not good.  I had a great run on Saturday... really saw some improvement.  Today I tried to start at the pace that I ended with on Saturday, and it just did not work for me.  Also, I think I was a bit dehydrated.  But I struggled around the 1.5 mile mark and had to walk more than I wanted.  (I've been doing some run-walk sometimes to ease into, but never walking for more than a minute).  Distance: 5k

Ate okay today.  Bowl of crappy cereal, home-made chicken noodle soup for lunch (delicious, thanks to Kel), and when I got home Kelly and the YL kids had eaten all the spaghetti & meatballs, so I just had a protein shake and a couple pretzels.  Then, I had a brownie because Kel had made them fresh for our aforementioned company.  C'mon, fresh brownies!  How can you blame me? I think I'll give myself a food grade for each day... a mixture of enjoyment and health (although those two can be dichotomous... I'm trying to enjoy bad food less, and vice-versa) .  Food: C+

And the grand finale?  Well... that's where it gets tricky.  I want my weigh-ins to be normalized to measure progress better, but don't own a scale.  I've seen a decent variance so far on the scale at HealthTrack, due to going different times of day... but the high end from last week (with running clothes/shoes on) was 247 lbs.  We can start there.  That is the most I've ever weighed.

And it's the most I ever WILL weigh...

What It Is

So I'm trying to start another blog, I guess.  This one will be shorter, more haphazard, and far less insightful than any previous attempts (not saying much)... in the hope that I actually stay with it.

The primary purpose of this blog is public humiliation in hopes that it spurs motivation.  I am big and fat and slow and embarrassingly bad at sports in which I could have only recently been classified as highly as "below average".  Anyway, this blog will chronicle my weight loss... my epic battle against fat that is trying to kill me... my meager attempt to live a healthier life style... however you want to look at it, I guess.  I'm dropping weight.  You get the idea.

I'll try to discuss what I'm eating, how I'm training, and how both of those experiences are affecting me... along with other various thoughts.

At the bottom of each post will be a driving push for motivation: my current weight.  Unfortunately, I wear it reasonably well, so while you'd notice I'm far from svelte, I don't think people really understand how jarringly unhealthy I've become...   Well, now you'll know... if you're bored enough to read this blog.  And I'll know you know.  And I'll have to do something about it.

It begins tomorrow.