February 3, 2013

On this frigid but sunny day in the great south I have come to the realization that I have been stuck on a yo-yo. I will go hard on a healthy lifestyle kick for several months, go off, go on and so forth. For my birthday, the 8th, I am giving myself the gift of life long health. I am going to monitor more so of how much I eat and drink than what. If I can practice moderation and start exercising I can make this a prolonged effort.

On a completely different note, all you ladies out there that religiously follow the bachelor on TV, WHY? That show disgusts me. Why would any woman want to go on national television and make out with a guy who has just made out with 6 girls before you. What are they doing while the cameras are off? This is not the way I would encourage any woman to find love. It disappoints me when I see Christian women getting excited about discussing the show on their Facebook page.

Can't wait to hit the gym tomorrow morning.

Checking in....

Good gracious it's been a minute since I have updated this thing. I'm still kicking fat out of my life. I'm working hard in the gym and trying to maintain healthy eating. Very rarely do I indulge in sweets and I avoid eating seconds at meal times. If I decide I want to have something unhealthy I eat it and don't feel guilty about it. I'm putting in about an hour of weights 4 days a week and an hour of cardio 4 days a week. I'm pretty active even on my off days. I'm sure you guys love the southern way I talk even in my writing. I hope everyone is doing well. I'm not seeing the results on the scale I want to see, but I can see it in the mirror and how I feel. All kinds of women are commenting on my weight loss too (no they aren't blind or ugly). Can't wait to run in another 5k. My work schedule doesn't align well with races though seeing how I work on Saturday mornings. What are you gonna do? Gotta work. Start posting comments or I'm going to start posting more pictures of me with no shirt. Headed in the right direction, Shep

Still Rocking Baby

I have been going strong. I am still hitting up the gym religiously. I am going to work out 4 to 6 days each week. I did an hour of cardio this morning logging 4.75 miles and burning 785 calories. I am maintainging pretty decent eating habits. I limit the amount of sugar and refined carbs. I am down to 227. I feel amazing and I am starting to look pretty good too. I want to attempt to run a half marathon before November. I am excited about the changes I have made and the results I am seeing.


Rocking it out,
SHEP

Still going strong

I have not posted in a while. It is tough to keep up with blogging while working like crazy and working out like crazy. I am down 31 pounds since January. I am having a blast working out and getting my body squared away.

3-18-2012

Today was not the brightest day of my weight loss journey. I was facing some hard truth about some things in my non-weight loss personal life that I would rather not have to face. I was angry, upset, hurt and frustrated. I did not have time to get to the gym to work off some steam, so instead of simply going for a walk or a run (which I did have time and space for) I chose to have a sweet biscuit from a fast food chicken place with my grilled chicken salad and diet Pepsi. Several hours later I was still pissed off and feeling sorry for my self. I decided the pity party could not go on with out some candy. And what party isn't complete without a cheeseburger? To top it all off, I went home and had dinner as well. A BBQ sandwich and potato chips.

I will tell you the truth about this, I am pissed off at myself that I did not try to get my frustration out in a more helpful manner. That food did not make me feel any better about what is going on in my life, it just made me feel worse about things. I could make a list of at least 5 things that I could have done instead of eating the unhealthy foods I chose to try and fill an emotion in my life.

I am going to learn from this mistake and move on. I cannot dwell on it for long or it will make matters worse. I know that I cannot let my emotions be the driving force of why I am eating something.

SHEP

Improving is Harder Work.

When you make a decision to improve something it is usually hard work. My wife and I decided we did not like the carpet in our house. We stripped all of the carpet and padding from the floor. We had to scrape some excess glue and carpet tacks up. Sounds like a lot of work, right? That was just the beginning. We wanted to etch and stain the concrete underneath all of the carpet and padding. I went to the local equipment rental company and rented a HUGE industrial grinder. This thing was massive. It weighed at least 300 pounds. I was drenched in sweat by the time I had finished grinding the floor to an acceptable standard. I had to work very hard at getting this machine to go in a straight line much less just to get the machine to even move forward.

Every aspect of life improvement is hard work. Doing any do-it-yourself home improvement task requires lots of time, patience and hard work. Being a good employee is hard work. Becoming an improved employee is harder work. Being a good father is hard work. Becoming a better father is harder work. Staying alive is hard work. Staying alive and becoming fit and healthy is harder work.

By no stretch of the imagination is any of this unattainable. It will take a lot of the cliche adjectives that people like to use to describe hard working people. Dedicated. Motivated. Inspired. Responsible. Intentional. Deliberate. Somewhat obsessed. Focused. Driven.

I have been busting my butt in the gym. I do not think I have been any of the above mentioned adjectives enough to get to where I want to be. I have to become more intentional about what I do in the weight room and when I do it. I have to become more driven to get the results I desire.

My first 5K of the year is this Saturday. This week I will be focusing on upping the amount of cardio I do this week. I hope to get in 4 to 5 miles Monday through Thursday.

Lets get it done.
SHEP

Drop me some comments and or questions. I would love to interact with the readers of this awesome publication.

Rest Day

I decided to take the day off today. I worked out hard Friday, moderately Saturday, and hard on Sunday. I got lots of extra sleep. With a face like mine, lots of extra sleep is needed. I picked my children up from school this afternoon. We piled into the car and they started yapping about needing a snack. I told them that a snack was something I could accommodate for them. When we passed by the gas station they started moaning about me not getting them a snack. I told them I would stop and get them a snack, just not at a gas station where you can get a bunch of junk food. I took them to the local super market and got us some veggies and fruits. I am getting my children involved in eating healthy and exercising. We stopped at a local sporting good store today and they were picking out new shoes. I told them if they wanted the new shoes, then they would have to earn them. We already make them do chores as their way of giving back to living in the house and having all that they need. They agreed to my idea of them earning new shoes. I told them they would have to log 10 miles on the treadmill or on the track by Sunday and they could get new shoes. If they were in NEED of new shoes, I would have bought them on the spot, but they do not NEED new shoes. They are gung-ho about this idea. Each kid has logged at least one mile already. The two girls have already knocked out 2.

I am very much into this new healthy lifestyle. I have fought the temptation of the foods I know aren't good for me and I have stayed away from the sugary drinks as well. I cannot believe I am actually liking the salads and vegetables. I am turning into a gym rat rather quickly. I get kinda perturbed when I don't get to go to the gym or if I don't have enough time to finish my full workout.

My next 5K is just around the corner. I cannot wait. My goal is to get in under 31 minutes. I think I can get there, but it will take hard work and sticking with my training. Come out and join the Fat Funny Guy for the Walhalla Elementary 5K.

SHEP