James' Weight Loss

Long time coming

2009-02-17T07:56:00.002-05:00

Well, it has been a month since my last post but I will try to keep up. I have tried to go to the gym at least 2 or 3 days a week. Upcoming implementations and meeting has helped me in not going to the gym during the lunch at least twice a week. Since the beginning of the year, I have lost between 4.5 to 6 pounds. I am happy about that but I would like to lose a lot more. I will keep you posted on any new developments.

First Week Back

2009-01-12T07:30:00.002-05:00

Well, the first week back into the swing of things went well. I lost 3 pounds. I did 3 days of walking on the treadmill and 2 days of lifting light weights (didn't want to tear any muscles). I am happy that I was able to do it.

New Year, New Me

2009-01-06T07:19:00.003-05:00

It has been almost 4 months since I last posted. I have had a bad last part of the year with work not allowing me to do anything concerning working out. Well, it is a new year and hopefully I can get better results than last year. I went to the gym yesterday for the first time in a few months. I took it easy and just walked on the treadmill for 30 minutes. I also restarted my South Beach Diet. The one good thing is that I really didn't gain much weight since my last post. I am around 228.5 but my belly is showing that I have losed the muscle and gained the fat. Let's see what happens this year.

Bad Month

2008-10-13T07:19:00.002-04:00

I have had another bad month where I haven't had time to work out due to work. The good thing is I haven't gained any weight but I haven't losed any either. The rest of the month doesn't look good either with a vacation coming up.

Well, hopefully I can start getting back in the swing of thing in November.

Phase 1

2008-09-08T10:56:00.002-04:00

Today, I am going back on Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet. I have been struggling with my weight not going down. Hopefully this kick starts my weight loss. I will hopefully keep up with it. If you want to learn more about the South Beach Diet, go to southbeachdiet.com.

Struggling

2008-07-30T07:48:00.002-04:00

Over the last month, I have been struggling losing the weight. This week I have gotten back into the weightlifting and I an sore from Monday's workout. I hope I can do it today. Yesterday was cardio day. After doing this for a couple months, I might try Crossfit which I read on my friend Mal's blog. His link is on the right. It looks very intense. I will keep you posted.

Nothing New

2008-07-01T12:40:00.002-04:00

It has been over a month since my last post. I have not lost any weight. Work has been kicking my butt where I can't do anything productive. Plus my shins are still giving me fits. Next week I go on vacation from work. So, when I return to work, I might have a different atttitude and will get back in stride.

New Program

2008-05-22T12:57:00.002-04:00

I started a new workout program this week set up by the Fitness coordinator. I killed me on Monday. I am still a little sore today. Weight is fluctuating. I still need to look at what I am eating. Well, talk to you later and everyone have a good Memorial Day.

Gym Time

2008-05-02T10:19:00.002-04:00

This week was the first time I got back into the gym. I worked out for 3 days this week. My biceps hurt for 2 days. I am up to 221 as of this morning. I think I need to cut back on how much I am eating and stop eating the bad stuff. Well, I will keep you posted.

Last Couple Weeks

2008-04-16T10:53:00.002-04:00

Well, I still have not been back into the gym in the last couple weeks. I have been doing a little exercise playing with my daughter. I have only gained .8 pounds since my last post. So, I am happy about that. This weekend will be a different story. I will be going to a Scottish Festival in North Carolina where I will not be able to eat healthy. Hopefully next week I can get back into the gym.

Can you say FLU

2008-04-02T09:17:00.002-04:00

Well, since my last post, I have still not done anything concerning working out. Then last week I got the FLU. I thought I had gotten my normal sinus infection but by Wednesday afternoon I was dying. I left work early. That night, I had a temperature of 101. So, I took off Thursday and went to the doctor and he told me that I had the FLU. He gave me a prescription for Tamiflu and a cough medicine. I finally felt better Saturday. I came back to work on Monday. Over the period of having the FLU, my weight dropped to 216.8. I have since added weight back and weighed 218.6 this morning. I was kinda glad that I got the FLU except for no feeling well. I will keep you posted.

Worst couple of weeks

2008-03-19T14:48:00.002-04:00

Since my last post, my weight has been up and down. I have not been able to workout because I have had meetings or issues around lunchtime that has allowed me to do anything. I has stayed around the 222.5 - 224 mark. I hope that I can get back in stride after the first weekend of April when things will calm down. Plus, I might have to stop running because I might have stress fractures in my shins (haven't been diagnosed but talking to other runners and Sports Medicine Doctor thinks I do). I will keep you posted.

Bad Week

2008-03-07T14:11:00.002-05:00

This week was a very bad week. Meetings galore or issues where I could not go work out or even go outside especially Monday and Tuesday when it was in the low 70s. But I was down .5 pounds for the week with no workouts or cardio. Hopefully next week will be better.

OK Week and a Half

2008-02-28T08:05:00.004-05:00

The first week really getting back into the swing of things. It was an OK week. I had some setbacks with eating bad food but I worked out 5 days (3 running days and 2 weight lifting days). I gained a couple pounds and up to 222.5. I can tell you that not lifting in 4 months can really make your muscles hurt. After the first day of lifting, I was hurting (luckily I decided to drop to half what I use to do so I would not tear anything). I hope that I have a better week next week.

First Blog

2008-02-20T12:50:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my blog. I have come to the decision to start a blog on my weight loss. My wieght has been creeping up on me and I think it is time to really start looking into losing some. I have had troubles with my weight since my senior year in college.
Let me start from the beginning. When I graduated from high school in '93, I was 5' 11" and 125 lbs. After 3 yrs of college, I was 185 because of muscle (not fat). I did a lot of weight lifting. My senior year, I was still lifting but also started a bad habit of drinking. I hovered around the 185 mark.
After college, this is when the weight started to creep up. I didn't have a stable job so I couldn't join a gym and the gym I had at the apartment complex sucked. In addition, I was still drinking every weekend and not eating healthy. Therefore, my weight went up to 200 by 1999. My muscle mass was disappearing and the fat was showing up.
In 1999, a few things happened that changed my life for the better. I got a job as a contractor for Dominion Virginia Power as an Oracle Database Administrator. After a year as a contractor, I became a employee as an Associate Database Administrator. The other thing is I started dating my future wife, Sondra. We got married on February 14th, 2001.
Plus, my wife also got me to stop drinking by saying that I might be allergic. Every since I started drinking, I would get a headache after one sip. Now, if I smell any form of alcohol, I get a headache.
Based on becoming an employee in 2000, I got access to the gym at work. This got me back into the mindset of working out. My eating habits did not change though. So, I started getting back my muscle mass but was not losing weight. My weight was up to 215 by mid-2004.
Around mid-2004, my aunt was telling my wife about a program called HerbaLife. My wife started on the program around July/Aug 2004 and was losing weight. So, I decided to start in November. By January 2005, I was down to 195 lbs. I was looking good. I decided to stop taking it because I was down to a weight I can handle and plus the money coming out of my pocket.
Then my life changed again in February 2005 when my wife and I found out that she was pregnant. When I found out, my mindset went from working out to my unborn child. My workouts suffered and so did my body. I was again gaining weight and losing muscle mass.
My daughter, Rachel, was born on September 27, 2005. I was so happy but my mindset was still on her instead of my health.
From October 2005 until the end of 2006, I kept gaining weight until I was up to my max weight of 229 lbs. My wife read about the South Beach Diet near the end of 2006. So we decided to start in January 2007. When I started, I was down to 221.5 somehow.
By mid May 2007, I has lost 15 lbs and down to 206. I was so-so back in the mindset of me working out.
In May 2007, my SUV (Honda Passport) was starting to have issues plus draining my wallet due to gas prices going up (20 mpg). So, I decided to get a more gas-efficient car (Honda Fit). By doing this, my financial situation was drained. This became my midset instead of working out. Therefore, I started gaining the weight back that I lost during the beginning of 2007.
So, we are up to today where I am now at 220 lbs on Monday and not looking the best. My mindset is now back on working out.
Yes, I know that 220 is not that big but I want to be here as long as I can for my wife and daughter. Plus, 30-40 lbs excess weight is not good for my heart. So, I need to get this body back in shape.
I will try to update this blog on a weekly basis on what is going on. Plus, I will try to add pictures of my progress from the beginning to now plus in the future.