***

Hi, Stellar Path readers! While Jeremy and Tina are off on their babymoon, I am going to take over Jeremy’s blog for the day. I blog about my life in general over at This Nebraska Life. I still report on my weight loss, but I don’t feel pressured to JUST talk about that!

Today, I wanted to talk about music. First and foremost, music is a very important part of my life. I grew up in a very music-oriented family. Several of my uncles have been in or currently play in bands. One of my cousins moved to California to pursue her dreams in musical theatre. I have another cousin who is the bassist for a Christian rock band. I grew up singing and playing every instrument I could get my hands on. Theatre was never a major interest, but I once portrayed Aunt Eller in Oklahoma!

But of course, I was skinnier then. Now, before you go thinking that I am beating myself up, I am not. I was always a chubster, but looking back, compared to where I’m at now… (shaking my head)

At my heaviest, I was in the 300 range and I started my weight loss journey in 2009. In 2010, I had lost about 75 pounds and was weighing in at about 227. After
that, “something came undone” and I ballooned back to 260 in late 2011. Currently, I am down to 244 and that number can keep on falling, as far as I’m concerned!

I still struggle with motivation, though. I love to run and I love to lift, but I’ve been definitely slacking in that area. Part of it is laziness, yes. Part of it is that I haven’t created the habit yet. That said, I am trying to create the habit. I went to the gym last night with a new playlist.

I felt like I had more energy, more vigor and more POWER as I worked out. I ran on the track, I walked on the track, but I also LIFTED for the first time in almost a year. It felt sooo good. I am sore as hell today, but I would rather be sore than full of regret over skipping another workout.

As I left the Y last night, I thought that maybe my new playlist was the reason behind my increased vigor. It was the mental boost I had needed. Yessir, it was. I was bored with my old playlist. It was great music, really it was. But I think I needed the change. It will certainly be interesting to see how long I use this playlist before I get bored again. Hopefully next time, I will notice it before the motivation dissipates.

Any songs I should consider for my next playlist? What motivates you in the gym?

Related Posts:

• See Ya Daily Scale Weigh-In
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• Will You Do It Every Day?

Yeah, I had that this week.

The weight I posted on Saturday was TWO pounds less than the weight I posted today.

Here’s the thing. I tracked EVERY bite that went into my mouth. I was UNDER my calorie target EVERY… SINGLE… DAY… And no, I wasn’t under it so significantly that I should have hit a starvation mode. My target is 1900 to 2900, based on a BMR of 3400. I was in that range, (admittedly the higher end), every single day of this past week.

So how did I do?

May 9, 2012
Weight: 360.4
Change from Last Week: -1.8 pounds
Change from All-Time Highest: -42.4 pounds

See, I weighed myself on Saturday, and it was 358.6. Woo hoo, right?

Well, why is it, then, when I weigh myself today, that I’m back in the 360s?

Because the human body is a jerk, that’s why. I know weight fluctuates, sometimes for no obviously discernible reason.

I understand that you are supposed to look at the big picture.

I understand that, if you can’t handle it mentally, you shouldn’t weigh yourself everyday.

So what am I going to do?

I’m going to look at the big picture.

And I’m only going to weigh myself once a week.

Because if I had done that this week, if I had not stepped on the scale since last Wednesday, I would have seen a loss of 1.8 pounds, and instead of Tina trying to cheer me up as I scrambled eggs, we would have done a little happy dance. (That… that sounds dirty. I literally just meant we would have done it… danced… in the kitch-… never mind.)

So I am saying adios to the daily scale. It is not for me right now. I hope it will be at some point. I want to be strong enough mentally that I can accept the number and not let it judge me. Right now, I just can’t do that.

This was a tremendously successful week. There is 1.8 pounds less of me!

I need to stay in the NOW of weight loss. From what I’ve heard from those who have made it to goal weight, losing weight is the fun, easy part. Maintenance (while doable and certainly worth achieving) is much harder and not nearly as much fun. I can’t beat myself up over the past where I gained weight; I can’t torture myself over dreams of getting to goal. I can only live in the RIGHT NOW, where I am going to try and be as healthy as I possibly can, regardless of what the scale says.

My first step in living in the positive NOW is to get rid of the daily scale. And if I happen to gain, then I’ll look at my inch measurements and celebrate any change there. And if that is a gain, too, then I’ll truthfully examine my diet and see if it was earned or accidental.

I am about to leave for San Diego in a few days. Next Wednesday, I will be on the road. I have some awesome guest posts lined up. As a result of this babymoon Tina and I are going on, I will not be weighing in next Wednesday. I’m taking my tape measure, though, and I still plan to track all of my food and get in LOTS of activity.

In two weeks, I plan to post another loss, and no matter what it is, I plan to be happy about it.

Failure to plan is plan for failure.

I have many, many strategies to make this vacation one of the healthiest vacations I have ever taken. Recap, of course, will be coming when I get back.

How often do you weigh? Can you successfully weigh every day?

Related Posts:

• Babymoon Guest Post: Erin’s Music = Motivation
• A New Way of Thinking Weigh-In
• Busy, busy, busy!

Chosen via random.org, our winner is comment #1!

Congrats to Amanda Heathman and her husband! I hope you enjoy the race.

And on to other news…

I am VERY excited about my weigh-in on Wednesday. Last time I checked the scale, it seems I am clearly on target to get below 360! Woo hoo! That will put me ever closer to hitting the 50 pound mark.

The main thing that I am finding helps me right now is visualization.

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I am vain. My fitness goal, honestly, is to look like this.

Heck, you can judge me. But I want to look like Ryan Reynolds. I want his arms and I really want his abs.

Right now, whether I am flying through a cardio workout or struggling with Jillian Michaels yelling at me, I literally visualize my way through the workout.

No, I don’t necessarily think about Ryan Reynolds’ abs for the entire time. (Much.)

I mostly envision the physical body I hope to have.

Don’t get me wrong – I KNOW I have a long way to go. I know that to even get a semblance of that body will eventually require a tummy tuck and a much stricter, cleaner diet than I am eating currently.

As for the tummy tuck, I freaking can’t wait. I know it’ll hurt, both my body and my wallet, but I want to do it so badly I can taste it.

And as for the diet, well… I’m a firm believer that moderation in all things is key. However, as I stick to my healthy eating plan (which is just “eat less junk and more real food”), I find myself gravitating to healthier and healthier options.

So, my tip in all of this? Visualize. Think through your workout. Picture your end result. Right now, I’m not worrying about if it is super realistic or attainable. I’m doing what I have to do to get through each drop of sweat.

No matter where I am, the end result will be worth it.

Related Posts:

• Stellar Giveaway: Run For Your Lives Indianapolis Tickets!
• My Reason #2 – The Vanity Fantasy
• Green Lantern & Weight Loss

May 2, 2012
Weight: 362.2
Change from All-Time Highest: -40.6 pounds! (Woo hoo!)

I’m not going to post a change from my last weigh-in, as that was SEVERAL weeks ago, but my weight is significantly down. It’s finally starting to sink in. I have to change more than just my diet. I have to change my thinking, because otherwise, this won’t be a permanent change, and it has to be.

There is only one thing I’m doing different at the moment, and it’s very grade school, but so far, it’s working.

Tina and I are eating the rainbow.

If you have kids, you know what this means. If you don’t, it’s basically this.

We eat vegetables and fruit in the color of the rainbow. Just by making sure we get in all five colors (technically, there are seven, of course, but blue, indigo, and violet are lumped together), we automatically ensure we get in at least five servings.

For instance, for red, today, I ate strawberries and tomatoes. For yellow, I had a banana and an ear of corn. For orange, I ate a sweet potato and some oranges. For green, I’m going to have cabbage with dinner. And for blue/violet, I had purple grapes.

Understand, this is by no means ALL that we are eating. It is just a surprisingly easy, fun way to get our fruits and vegetables in. And yes, it’s lame, but I’m a dad now. I think I have to be lame.

Lastly, I want to point out a great sale going on right now for anyone who is thinking they may want to start their own business. I JUST now bought this package myself. Only72.com periodically hosts 72-hour sales for a HUGE package of various ebooks. This package is all about small business start-ups (essentially). This is the second one I’ve taken advantage of, and while I just got it, if it is even an iota as good as the first one I took purchased, it will be worth every penny. The links in this paragraph are my affiliate link, but if you are wary about that, you can google Only72 and find it pretty quickly. This one has a huge perk – you are going to be getting an actual hard-cover in-your-hands book as well.

I am picking up this package for a few reasons. One, my wife wants to become an event planner, and that is definitely a small business. Two, I want to be published. And three, I’d like to grow my blog. There are literally thousands of reasons why this sale might appeal to you, but it’s almost over. As of the time this is published, you only have about sixteen hours left. At 12 pm (noon) Eastern on May 3, 2012, this sale ends. Take advantage before it’s too late!

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I have no other words to say.

Okay, one more.

Busy.

But not bad.

I don’t know if I’ve shared or not, but I am completing my second Master’s Degree in Educational Technology. One of the most amazing perks of my job is that I get free tuition, and before I go on to get my doctorate (which is coming within probably a semester of me completing this degree), I want to increase my skill set a bit.

I had a major project due last night. Yes, I procrastinated. And I paid for it last night, by working pretty much nonstop from 2 p.m. until 10:30. It was due at midnight, and I got it done with ninety minutes to spare.

Whew.

This is the last project of that class, and although I have another big project due for another class, it isn’t due until May 11th, and I plan to finish it next week when the class I teach is over and I only meet with them once more for the final.

Whew.

This has been a busy semester, but I’ve loved every second of it.

And that is my way of saying why I am just now getting around to posting about my first weekend in the Weekend Warriors!

So, would I have survived Clove’s knife attack? Can I climb a tree yet? Can I run for my life?

Well, no. Not yet. However, I did successfully accomplish all of my goals! I exercised every day! I tracked my calories every day, drank all my water, and yesterday morning, I saw a number (363) on the scale I had not seen in a LOOOONG time.

I think I’m going back to weekly weigh-ins. I’m going to keep doing PhysicsDiet, because I like seeing my average weight drop, but I just miss the excitement of a weekly weigh-in.

Wednesday seem like they’ll be a good day, as the summer is almost here, and as a college instructor, I get the summers (mostly) off! Woo hoo! I only teach on Tuesday and Thursday this summer, so Wednesday just feels like a good weigh-in day for now.

That’s just my way of explaining that I’ll be back tomorrow with a for-real weigh-in.

Weekend Warriors will definitely be back at the end of May. We had three participants this time (thanks Brandon and Erin!), but hopefully, we’ll have more as it goes. Once a month, I need to light a fire under me. Hopefully, this weekend will carry me through until then!

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This match-up is between Yoga Booty Ballet (Tina’s suggestion) and the Abs Diet Workout 2.

I’ll be honest – Yoga Booty Ballet was a LOT more fun than I was expecting it to be. It involves dancing, yoga, and some light toning type moves.

However, it didn’t burn NEARLY as many calories as I would have guessed it would. I like the yoga aspect, because I am SO stiff, I need to stretch more, but I wanted more dancing to get more of a sweat going. Didn’t happen, although I did burn enough calories that I’d be willing to do this workout again.

The second video in the match up was the Abs Diet Workout 2. (I can’t find Abs Diet Workout 1.)

This video was boring. It consisted of some guy coaching two women lifting weights on a boring set.

For a long time.

There was a cardio session, too, but this is not a video that I would ever select to do for fun.

So who was the winner?

Abs Diet Workout 2. Of course. The boring video.

I can’t say I hated this video, because it wasn’t dangerous, it wasn’t too easy, it wasn’t too hard, and it wasn’t overly complicated. It was just boring. The closet analogy I can think of is imagine going to the gym to lift weights and run on the treadmill for an hour, but you forgot your iPod at home and the gym’s music speakers are boring, so all you have to listen to is gym noise. You still get a good workout, but dang. It was boring.

When this video shows up in the next round, I may put a little music on in the background to help me get through this video, because the calorie burn was decent and I do feel like I got a good workout.

How do you get through a boring workout?

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A few years ago, several of us noticed that we did much better during the week than we did on weekends. Thus was born the Weekend Warriors, as we pledged to support one another and make a weekend as successful as the week. Last time around, they were very often themed, and this first one out is no different. I have chosen as the theme The Hunger Games!

Why The Hunger Games? It is a competition, and for the most part, only the fit survive.

I know for a fact that I wouldn’t have survived. I probably wouldn’t have even managed to fall off of my pedestal before Clove had gotten me between the eyes with a throwing knife…

If I did managed to avoid a knife to the eyes death, I sure enough wouldn’t have been able to climb trees fast enough to hide from the careers…

And I’m way too uncoordinated to actually run for my life…

I would have died right away, and I want to change that.

There are no hard and fast rules for participating. Basically, you come up with the rules that will make YOUR weekend successful. If you have a blog, it would be awesome if you’d post about it. If not, hey, still feel free to participate. (You can submit your link below!)

This is what I am going to accomplish this weekend.

1. Eat between my calorie target of 1900-2400 calories and track all food.
2. Drink at least 4 Nalgene bottles of water per day.
3. Exercise daily.

Are you in? What are your goals?

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I am giving away two tickets to the 9 a.m. wave of the Indianapolis Run For Your Lives on June 23rd.

Here’s what happened. Tina and I signed up for this race BEFORE she got pregnant.

Pregnant women and zombies don’t mix.

I’m not much of a runner anyway. I keep wanting to be, and someday I will, but for now, my weight is just too much for me to comfortable run. Oh well. It is what it is. I am not using it as an excuse to not be active, because I work out. I just don’t run yet.

Well, that means I have two tickets for Indianapolis that we aren’t going to use. I contacted the race organizers, they said that a ticket transfer was no problem (and offered congrats on our upcoming baby), so here I am.

Two tickets. 9 a.m. Indianapolis Run for Your Lives. June 23rd.

Please note – the wave, date, and location CANNOT BE CHANGED. You are literally going to just be taking our place in the race.

Here’s how you win.

Leave a comment, telling me whether you want one or both tickets.

I’ll select a winner with random.org. If the first person selected wants both ticket, then they get both tickets. If they want one, I’ll draw again for another. If that person wants the remaining ticket, they get it. If not, I’ll keep going until I’ve given away the other ticket.

Leave a comment.

Win ticket(s).

That easy.

And as I give these tickets away, I look forward to the day that I can compete in Run For Your Lives.

Contest is open until end of day, May 3rd. Winner will be announced on May 4th (assuming I get the contacts made quickly.) You will have three days to reply to my email to you (if you don’t notice on the blog), and if I don’t hear from you, I’ll keep moving down the list of potential winners.

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Katniss is my hero.

I grew up on a farm with a dad who hunts, and this summer, I’m going to have him refresh me on archery. (I learned how to shoot a bow fairly young, but I certainly didn’t keep up with it as I’m just not a hunter.)

The movie was great. The book, as the book always is, was better.

The universe created by Suzanne Collins is a fascinating place.

On my 35 Goals Before I Turn 35, I mentioned that I wanted to bake the 13 Breads of Panem (one for each of the 12 districts and the Capitol).

If you have read the books, you know that bread, in the Hunger Games universe, is life. Quite literally. Katniss’s entire outlook on living was changed by a loaf of bread. She was thanked with bread. Her fellow tribute from her district is a baker.

Bread is a big deal.

But what got me really interested was the fact that the characters, in the first book, were discussing how each of the 12 Districts of Panem produce a different type of bread. Only fourare described. District 3’s bread is described as bite-sized, square-shaped rolls. District 4 is fish-shaped with a fishy, salty taste and a green tint. District 11 is dark, crescent-shaped rolls with seeds. And lastly, District 12, home of our heroine, is just meager drop biscuits. Although we weren’t privy to their conversation, Peeta and Katniss discussed how the qualities of the districts coincided with the type of bread they made.

Okay, if you haven’t read the books, at this point, you probably think they are only about bread and the Hunger Games must be some reality television show about baking. It isn’t. I promise. Read the books. You won’t regret it. (And I’ll try to avoid spoilers in my descriptions.)

I’m by no means the first person to try to recreate the food of Panem. Admittedly, most recipes I’ve seen involve reproducing groosling (a type of bird), the lamb stew that Katniss raved about, or the very unique fishy bread of District 4.

As I mentioned, I want to create 13 breads in all, and I am going to start with District 1.

District 1 is the district that produces luxury goods for the Capitol. As described in the books, the citizens of District 1 are extremely loyal to the Capitol. Winning the Hunger Games is a huge honor for people from District 1, so much so that children there train to complete. While in other districts, becoming a tribute basically means becoming a corpse, in District 1, it is a thing of envy.

They are well-fed in District 1.

District 1 produced such tributes as Glimmer (super hottie) and Marvel (bastard who killed… well, just read the book.)

I had nothing to go on from the books to make their bread. So, knowing that they were close to the Capitol and created luxurious things, I envisioned their bread as being less of a dinner staple and more of a treat.

As such, I present to you my take on the bread of District 1.

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Knots

The recipe was adapted from one given by Elise at Hungry Hungry Hippie. Modifications are my own.

1. Mix together 1 ½ cups of warm water, 1 tablespoon of sugar, and 1 packet (or 2 ¼ teaspoons) of active yeast. Stir together and let sit for about five minutes until bubbles form on the surface of the water.
2. Add in 2 cups of all-purpose flour and 2 ½ cups of white whole wheat flour. (Rather than make the entire batch out of all-purpose, I thought that District 1 might have to supplement cheaper flour. Even if they make luxury goods there, their products still have to go to the Capitol first.) To this, add 1 teaspoon of salt and 2 tablespoons of oil. (I used olive oil.)
3. Knead all this together. Knead hard. If it gets too dry, add a little more water. Be VERY sparing with your water. Mine was a big ball of hard, dry dough, so I wet my hands with warm water and resumed kneading. Just the water on my hands was plenty to get it where it needed to be. Mold it into a ball.
4. Grease a large bowl with oil, put the dough ball in it, cover with a towel, and let rise in a warm place for two hours. (Be warned – because of the whole wheat, it won’t rise as much as all white flour would.)
5. After two hours, punch the dough down and form back into a ball. Let it rise again for one hour.
6. At this point, you have a big wad of dough. Take a cookie sheet and either grease lightly or place down parchment paper. Tear off chunks of dough, roll out into “snakes” (you know, like you did with Play-doh as a kid), and sprinkle with brown sugar. (I kept a bowl of brown sugar near me, and I dipped each snack in the dry brown sugar.) Then, tie it into a knot. Don’t worry if it isn’t pretty. They’ll rise as they bake and still turn out awesome.
7. Once you’ve made your knots (I ended up with 15), brush with melted butter and then sprinkle cinnamon on top.
8. Stick your rolls into a 425 degree oven for 15 minutes (or until brown on top). Fifteen minutes was perfect for me.

Each knot works out to around 250 calories. As with all treats, enjoy in moderation.

Enjoy the bread of District 1.

District 2 coming soon!

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Wait, let me clarify. I had a fine weekend, as far as just being alive goes. Still here, so win there!

Bad weekend as far as the diet goes.

And I’m finding it happens pretty much every weekened.

Basically, this is how my diet is progressing at the moment. I do well Monday thru Friday, and according to Physics Diet, my weight is more or less dropping. And then Saturday and Sunday show up, and I find myself just… not doing anything right.

I view the weekends as a vacation from healthy eating and living. This is especially stupid for me as NO foods are off limits and I can have whatever I want if I count my calories. As for exercise, I freaking LIKE to exercise. Why don’t I?!

Because I like playing around more.

But this stops.

About two-ish years ago, Brandon from I Run Alaska hosted a weekend challenge once a month called Weekend Warriors. Basically, he noticed that he was doing the same thing I described above, sabotaging himself, and he was tired of it. Hence, Weekend Warriors was born, and we were all invited to participate. It happened about once a month, and I think all of us who participated did well on those weekends.

I want to reclaim my weekends for health.

I emailed (actually, I direct messaged on Twitter) Brandon and asked for permission to resurrect his idea. He gave me permission, so here we are.

Weekend Warriors is back!

I am quite aware that my blog is one of the smaller fish in the healthy blog ocean (I think I may even be plankton), so this may be a tiny group. Heck, it may just be me.

But I encourage anyone who wants to do better on their weekends to take part.

There are no rules. You set your own rules. You decide what you want to do to make your weekend a success, and you do it. It’d be awesome if you’d write a post about it, but that’s obviously up to you. I will do a link party here on Stellar Path.

I’ll write the official Weekend Warriors Post on Thursday.

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