Sunday, September 28, 2008
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Let's Go Mets!
Sent from my Palm Centro smartphone.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Shea Stadium Again
Sent from my Palm Centro smartphone.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
How I Lost 20+ Pounds
I was picking out my clothes the day before my job interview with News 12 last week. My mom suggested that I try on the pants. At first, it seemed like a strange suggestion. I last wore these dress pants in mid-May. Why wouldn't they fit me now?
But they didn't fit. They were too big. So I had to go out and quickly buy new pants. (The belt also didn't fit -- not enough holes.)
It was the first time I had physical proof that I had lost weight.
May 24th was the date I chose to start "changing my life." Losing weight had always seemed like a good idea but I never felt all that motivated. Then, toward the end of my college career, I was talking with my buddy Matt Levy and he inspired me. He became my "coach" and I told him everything I was doing and all of the results. I picked a date after graduation and went with it.
The major change in my life would be the way I ate. I never liked to go hungry and that meant snacking whenever I had the urge (and my house has always been terrible for this -- there's junk food all over the place!). If I found myself eating out, I went with the chicken fingers and fries, sometimes opting for a burger instead. Not exactly longevity food.
So smaller portions of everything became the new rule. At restaurants, I usually now go with the caesar salad with grilled chicken (and dressing on the side so that I could be in control of how much). We're talking about someone who hated salads less than two years ago but I started ordering them at Hofstra University's Bits 'N' Bytes and started loving them. These days, I actually have cravings for salads. I know, what a turnaround. Also, my habit of snacking had to be severely cut -- I try not to snack more than three or four times a week now. And those snacks are smaller. Sure, sometimes I fail, but I try not to let that become the norm.
I had heard about how keeping a log of what you eat every day is helpful in eating less so I figured I'd give it a try. It actually was very helpful because it made me more aware of what I was eating. I only had to do it for the first month or so because I really got the hang of it after that.
The other big change would be the exercise. I started out using the elliptical in the basement for a half hour every day for almost two weeks, then cut it back to every other day. It was very tiring but I really felt like I was accomplishing something. Plus, I was able to get my cable news fix while doing it so I wasn't bored. (This routine unfortunately stopped after a few weeks. I went upstate with my grandparents on July 1st, then broke my toe four days later. I tried getting back on it last week but my toe bothered me for the next two days. I look forward to starting that up again, though.)
Matt said that cardio exercise was good but that I should also try ab exercises. Not something I ever would have thought of. So he had me Google that and find some things that would work for me. I went with the sit-ups and the "bicycle" (yes, I know it looks silly but it's quick and easy). And yes, I'm actually seeing some results.
Weighing myself every morning became a new routine for me as well. I'm not sure the last time I had weighed myself... and that was part of the problem: I wasn't aware of my gradual weight gain. On May 24th, the day this started, I weighed in at 165.0 pounds. Then I actually gained a pound over the next day or two somehow but Matt relaxed me by saying that he read that happens to people sometimes (yes, he read books about this and gave me the summaries). I didn't notice a whole lot of change with my weight for the first few weeks, basically going between a .5- and 1.5-pound loss. Not exactly the kind of results I was working so hard for. But the results came. June 20th was the first day my weight dropped below 160, measuring in at 159.5. It's milestones like that that helped encourage me. By July 16th, I was down to 154.5 -- down more than ten pounds. It felt good. And last week, for the first time, I was down 20 pounds. 20 pounds in 15 weeks... not bad!
So, a quick summary of how I did it:
The major change in my life would be the way I ate. I never liked to go hungry and that meant snacking whenever I had the urge (and my house has always been terrible for this -- there's junk food all over the place!). If I found myself eating out, I went with the chicken fingers and fries, sometimes opting for a burger instead. Not exactly longevity food.
So smaller portions of everything became the new rule. At restaurants, I usually now go with the caesar salad with grilled chicken (and dressing on the side so that I could be in control of how much). We're talking about someone who hated salads less than two years ago but I started ordering them at Hofstra University's Bits 'N' Bytes and started loving them. These days, I actually have cravings for salads. I know, what a turnaround. Also, my habit of snacking had to be severely cut -- I try not to snack more than three or four times a week now. And those snacks are smaller. Sure, sometimes I fail, but I try not to let that become the norm.
I had heard about how keeping a log of what you eat every day is helpful in eating less so I figured I'd give it a try. It actually was very helpful because it made me more aware of what I was eating. I only had to do it for the first month or so because I really got the hang of it after that.
The other big change would be the exercise. I started out using the elliptical in the basement for a half hour every day for almost two weeks, then cut it back to every other day. It was very tiring but I really felt like I was accomplishing something. Plus, I was able to get my cable news fix while doing it so I wasn't bored. (This routine unfortunately stopped after a few weeks. I went upstate with my grandparents on July 1st, then broke my toe four days later. I tried getting back on it last week but my toe bothered me for the next two days. I look forward to starting that up again, though.)
Matt said that cardio exercise was good but that I should also try ab exercises. Not something I ever would have thought of. So he had me Google that and find some things that would work for me. I went with the sit-ups and the "bicycle" (yes, I know it looks silly but it's quick and easy). And yes, I'm actually seeing some results.
Weighing myself every morning became a new routine for me as well. I'm not sure the last time I had weighed myself... and that was part of the problem: I wasn't aware of my gradual weight gain. On May 24th, the day this started, I weighed in at 165.0 pounds. Then I actually gained a pound over the next day or two somehow but Matt relaxed me by saying that he read that happens to people sometimes (yes, he read books about this and gave me the summaries). I didn't notice a whole lot of change with my weight for the first few weeks, basically going between a .5- and 1.5-pound loss. Not exactly the kind of results I was working so hard for. But the results came. June 20th was the first day my weight dropped below 160, measuring in at 159.5. It's milestones like that that helped encourage me. By July 16th, I was down to 154.5 -- down more than ten pounds. It felt good. And last week, for the first time, I was down 20 pounds. 20 pounds in 15 weeks... not bad!
So, a quick summary of how I did it:
- Eating smaller portions (it can be done gradually -- no need to stuff yourself!)
- Eating healthier foods: salads instead of fried stuff
- Snacking on less, and snacking less often (chewing gum actually helps)
- Keeping a food log
- Cardio and ab exercising
- Going on the scale often
- Having a coach to help and inspire you
(By the way, about the job: I got it. I start training for my position as freelance production assistant next week and will hopefully work my way up through the ranks.)
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Last Play at Shea
Sent from my Palm Centro smartphone.
Friday, September 5, 2008
So Long, Summer
Seeing the summer come to an end is always a sad moment. When it's on its way, you can feel the excitement in the air. And then it's gone before you know it.
It feels just like yesterday when I went upstate with my Uncle Eric. We arrived late at night in the middle of June. It was quiet and somewhat chilly. Most of the people hadn't yet gotten there but I knew that they would, and soon. I kept thinking about having the whole summer to look forward to and spending many weekends up at Brant Lake. That's why Uncle Eric and I "summerized" our trailer and cleaned up everything that had fallen (leaves, branches and even kitchen ceiling tiles) over the winter.
I went up again with my Grandma and Grandpa on July 1st, two days before the rest of the family would arrive for the Fourth of July holiday weekend. And it was a great weekend with the family (despite breaking my toe) and, by the end of that weekend, I made the decision to spend another week up there. I spent that week hanging out on the beach with some kids that feel like my younger cousins. There were also the two kids Nick and Tyler, who met me every morning at 10:30 to take the boat out for a few hours to go swimming and again at night to look up at the stars (while somehow fitting intense games of Uno H2O and Monopoly in between). I just felt like a kid as I had no schedule to follow and could play all day and night.
Later that month, my friend Dylan from Milwaukee made the trip out here. He had never before been to New York City and so I got to be his tour guide (though I'm more tourist than guide). We checked out, among others, Times Square, Bryant Park and Top of the Rock. We also toured ABC News/ABC 7, CBS 2 and CNN -- all very fun.
A week later, I went with my friend Chris as he moved to Philadelphia ahead of starting dental school. Helping him settle in to his new place was fun but the highlight was going to a Phillies game at the last minute -- so last-minute that we could only get standing room tickets. Seeing Citizens Bank Park really makes me look forward to Citi Field next year. (And the Phillies lost in extras!!)
Then the next week, my sister and I drove up to the Boston area to visit some friends. Jaclyn spent two nights with her old roommate and I hung out with my friend Kim. The second night, Kim's awesome family brought me along to a Red Sox game. Wow, Fenway is really cool. I couldn't believe I was really there.
Other than that, I've just been hanging out with friends and going upstate a few more times.
People like to call Labor Day the unofficial end of summer but I think my summer ended the weekend before, the last time I was upstate. I saw a bunch of people taking their boats out of the lake, a sure sign that the summer has come to an end.
There's always next summer...
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