What Are You Listening Too?

I can’t believe that the first five months of 2011 are already gone. Have you started your exercise program yet? If not, there is not better day to begin than today.

I thought that this week I would share with you what kind of podcast I listen to so I can learn something about health and fitness. You can learn a lot listening to podcast. I have been listening to podcast for the past few years and have probably listened to hundreds of hours while driving over the road.

My favorite fitness podcast has got to be the Fat 2 Fit Radio podcast. This is a podcast with two guys and they give some great advise on how to lose weight and keep it off. They answer listener questions and share web stories as well. Click here to go to the podcast in iTunes or here to go to the shows website.

My second favorite podcast is hosted by someone you have probably heard about. She was one of the trainers on The Biggest Loser show. The Jillian Michaels Podcast is full of useful information and Jillian just tells it how it is with no bull. She also answers question via telephone from listeners too. I don’t know how you can get on the show but I believe they call the person and they get to ask their question. Click here to go the the podcast in iTunes.

Also this week, want to share with you a video that I found on Twitter and watched. It’s a video of a healthier way to make chicken instead of eating those frozen chicken nuggets. I think you will enjoy it. The video for Pretzel Crusted Chicken can be found here.

I did reach my goal of 50 miles this month and will try again for 50 miles in June too. Yesterday marked my 60th day with no soda and it’s not getting any easier. I have almost given in several times over the last couple of weeks but I have remained strong.

If everything works out, Rob and I will be running the Running with the King 5K in Tupelo this weekend and I will be reporting our results next week. I know he is going to do great!

Thanks for stopping by this week and look forward to seeing you again here next week.

Seen While Running Today

I saw this while running today and just happen to have my iPhone with me because I was running in an unfamiliar area.

Doesn't Make Any Sense

Yesterday I posted on Facebook that today’s post would probably make some people mad. As of 2010, Mississippi is still the fattest state in the country and I only point that out for one reason. According to some sources, Tupelo had a Bike to Work Day last week, which is a good thing except for one little thing. It wasn’t to promote health and fitness. It couldn’t have been. You may be asking, “Why?” The proof is in the fact that they served donuts and gravy and biscuits at the “start line”. Depending on how far I have to bike to work will determine how many calories I will burn. I am going to bet that not many people will bike more than a few miles. Then they are going to feed me a donut that has 200 or more calories along with a gray and biscuit? I don’t know who the organizers were for this “event” but they didn’t plan very well. They should have been giving away bowls of oatmeal, whole grain cereal with skim milk, and fruits. Maybe next year they will make this small change and I will feel much better about it.

I will get off my soapbox now and go on with my post.

I actually didn’t get much accomplished this last week because I was on the road all week and I was in unfamiliar territory. The towns I stayed in didn’t have any sidewalk near to where I parked and I didn’t want to take the chance of getting run over on the road. I made the decision to stay in the truck and get some things done while I had a chance. The things I done are for my other blog so you will have to check it out.

I finally got home and still didn’t gain or lose this week but that is still okay. I would love to get down to my goal weight but I will have to be patient. Rodney, from the gym, did make me weight training schedule and I will be starting that this week.

This is going to do me for this week and I will see you again next week. If you have any comments about the Bike to Work Day, please leave them in the comments. Thanks.

Vacation Week

I’m going to go ahead and get the scale thing out of the way. This past week I was on vacation and didn’t make such good choices in my diet. That doesn’t mean I wasn’t aware of what was going in my mouth because I was. I didn’t sit around and eat everything but I did eat some junk food. Now that I’ve said all of that, I am proud to say that I only gained 6/10 of a pound. That still gives me a total weight lose of 41 pounds over the last seven months.

While on vacation and since the Coke 10K, I ran a total of 16.7 miles. This was one mile more than I did the week of 4/11 but took me almost 30 minutes more. I am now trying to adjust to the heat. On Tuesday I went out and got in 2.5 miles and it was 84 degrees. The heat didn’t agree with me and I tried to run at my regular pace but I bombed.

I changed it up a little on Wednesday and went to the gym for some bike riding. On Thursday I went out and had a nice 6 miler and it was better. I slowed my pace down and the run was much better and I felt good afterwards. The wife and I went to the gym on Friday and I had a good 3 miler on the treadmill.

Since I had to leave out on Saturday morning, I decided to get up early and get in a few miles. I ended up with a great 5 miler that morning. The weather had cooled down to about 59 degrees and I still slowed my pace because I had some tired legs. I don’t feel like I did too much but I almost did.

That’s going to do me for this week. Hope you all have a great week and will see you again next week.

Proud of My Sister

This past Saturday had to be the best day that I have had since the beginning of my running and weight loss journey. The Coke 10K was held in Corinth, MS, and I ran it along with 1290 other people. I enjoyed every minute of the run and even had a couple of conversations with other runners.

My sister, Chiquita, my friend, Rob, and I all walked from my house down toward the start line and hung around looking for other people that we knew. I did a little warm up shortly before the gun went off so was ready to go. My sister and I started out side-by-side but quickly separated because she’s a walker.

There was plenty of water on the course along with some volunteers handing out wet paper towels in a couple of spots too. I was amazing all of the volunteers coming together and help pull this event off. I’m thankful for them because without them we wouldn’t have race so I was glad these folks came out.

I had decided that I was going to give an all out effort at the six mile mark and I did. When I made the last turn I noticed that my shoe had come untied and I wasn’t about to stop and tie it. As I was approaching the finish line the announcer called out my name and then I saw my family. I gave them a quick wave and then crossed the finish line. I picked up a few things to snack on and returned to where my family was. I then called my sister to see where she was and then went back to meet her.

As I was making my way back, I clapped for the other runners/walkers and cheered them on. It fells good to be cheered on and I wanted to give them that feeling too. I finally saw my sis and then walked the last quarter mile or so with her. I got her so far and when I couldn’t go any father with her I saw she sprinted the rest of the way. I was really proud of her. She ended up finishing in 1:41:04.

It was a great day for a run and I ended up finishing in 1:10:57. That was a lot better than I wanted but I know the crowd and other runners helped me.

Thanks to Rob I have video of my finish and you can see it below. Thanks for stopping by this week and will see you again next week.

Time & Motivation

A few weeks ago I was having a conversation with a person and they asked me two questions that I want to talk about today. I have covered these topics before back in January but I don’t think it will hurt to cover them again.

The two questions were where do you find the time and how do you stay motivated? The answers are real simple. To find the time I have to give up something. For me that is either television time or computer time. If you have time to sit down and watch a 30 minute program then you have time to exercise. As I pointed out in my post back in the first of the year, I don’t make excuses. I face the same challenges as everybody else. I don’t have any more time than anyone else. We all have to same 24 hours and we just have to find out where exercise comes in our priorities. If it’s something that you really want you will find the time.

Staying motivated is hard. Over the last month or so I have seen very little weight loss and for some that can be frustrating. It is for me some weeks. Knowing that I did everything that I could to lose it and it’s not coming off. The main thing for me right now though is that what I have lost is staying off. My current goal is to lose the remaining 10 pounds of my original goal and keep it off. If it take me another six months to get it off then so be it.

This past Friday I came in and went out to run but the two miles were bad. I got a good nights sleep and went out Saturday morning and ran an easy 6.22 miles and it felt great. I ended the month of April with a total of 60.1 miles and that is the most I’ve ever ran in a month.

I’m really looking forward to this weekend and spending the afternoon with family and friends. My next race is already on the blog and will be in Tupelo on June 4th. It’s the “Running with the King” 5K. They serve peanut butter and bananna sandwiches afterwards. Rob will be running this one with me. He’s committed because he is already signed up for it.

Still no loss or gain this week. This is getting kind of old but I know it will come off eventually. I’ve just got to be patient.

Thanks for stopping by again this week and will see you again next week.