Today is the second update of my goal to to return to race weight by April 13th. I am in a "sort of" competition with my brother-in-law Mike to reach our mutual goal of 169 pounds. See my first blog for details on where we started. I think you will see we both tackle weight loss in a completely different way. The goal of this series of posts is to show how a couple of average guys get back to their goal race weight.
Creating a weight loss plan can be fun and exciting. Starting the plan and then sticking to it is a lot less fun. Since we are only in week 2, hopefully it is not a struggle at this point to stick with your plan. Take your plan day by day and try not to get short sighted. You didn't gain the weight in a week or two....Even to lose the 20 pounds I need to lose I expect months of behavior modification.
Dave
Week Two Strategy and Results:
This week unfortunately I had a relapse of my bronchitis I suffered with at the end of 2012. I ended up going back to the doctors on Tuesday and have been taking antibiotics, cough syrup, an inhaler, and Advil all week. Strategy out the window...I have maintained my portion control but I have been sedentary most of the week. A couple of days I barely left the couch. Not a good week. The good news is I didn't use this as an excuse to overeat or completely throw away all of my workouts. I still managed some weight loss and I will push on to week three.
Exercise:
Sunday-40 minutes on bike trainer
Monday-ran 4 miles easy
Tuesday-Ran 5 miles with 4 "pickups" of 1 min
Wednesday-on couch all day
Thursday-on couch most of day
Friday-Ran 5 miles (9 x 2 minutes at 10k race pace at 2-3% grade)
Saturday- Ran 4 miles easy
Totals: 40 minutes on the bike and 18 miles of running
Results:
Starting weight: 189 Jan 12th weigh-in: 186.5 Total weight loss: 2.5 pounds
Mike
Week Two Strategy and Results:
Every war is won before it is fought, I heard someone in my sales bullpen say this week and it is true. Strategy and preparation are the two things you can control going into any situation that will have a huge impact on the outcome. As I moved into my second week of the juice fast, I kept strong in remembering what Dave and I are working towards is a goal weight that will make our times better than last year. Being ten pounds lighter alone will knock 20-30 seconds off my mile time, and the confidence of being under 170 will carry me a long way in speed training come April.
Today, I come off my juice fast and will continue on my controlled calorie, single ingredient diet. Last year I lost more weight eating that way than when I juice fasted. These last 13 pounds will be very difficult to take off, so I have no illusions of any more rapid weight loss. I anticipate months of focusing on the goal at hand. Some ask how I can spend 90 minutes on the elliptical in January, don't you get bored? To them I say "the under 22 minute 5k I will run in May will be worth it."
Exercise:
Sunday-90 minutes easy on treadmill (running)
Monday-75 minutes in the pool (swim class)
Tuesday-60 minutes spin + 45 minutes yoga
Wednesday-yoga 45 minutes + elliptical 80 minutes
Thursday-yoga 45 minutes + 45 minutes treadmill
Friday-elliptical 75 minutes
Saturday-60 minutes treadmill
Totals: 3.25 hours of running + 2.6 hours elliptical + 2.25 hours of yoga + 1 hour spin +
1.25 hours swimming
Results:
Starting weight: 192.5 Jan 12th weigh-in: 182.6 Weight loss: 9.9 pounds
Week Two Recap:
After 12 days you can see the results..Mike has lost almost 10 pounds and I have lost 2.5 pounds. Believe it or not I am actually happy where I stand. After being sick for the entire week I still managed to drop a pound. It would have been very easy to end up gaining a pound of two or to skip a few workouts. I have to give credit to Mike...he has started the year hardcore with a 10 day juice fast and he worked out all 7 days last week. Kind of hard to compete with that....It must be nice to drop 10 pounds in two weeks! If you would like to see details on how Mike manages his juice fast check out his juice blogs from last year.
The next update will be 9 days out and I think it will be a very important status check. Both of us will be three weeks deep and hopefully we will both post some nice numbers. Can Mike continue this torrid pace? Can I finally post some decent losses or will I continue plodding along at a pound a week?
Next update January 21st!
, or any other device while running outdoors. Call me "old school", but I truly believe a big part of the enjoyment of running is smelling the air, enjoying the sounds of nature, and the freedom to explore new areas. There is nothing like running on a cool October morning on a country road, enjoying the sights and sounds as you cruise along at a comfortable pace. Running is a great way to escape from the day to day grind and the time to exercise your body and relax your mind.
