Weekend Update

I took it easy for the most part on Friday. Marissa and I had supper at Chili's that night and I had the Portabello Fajitas. It's an extra two bucks, but adding the big shroom onto it is worth it. Chili's doesn't really put enough meat on their fajitas in my opinion, but I have them hold the green peppers and then mix in the cheese to make it my favorite low carb meal right now.

We went to the mall after dinner and I did end up walking a little over half a mile there after I bought some new boot laces and tried to find Marissa. I checked out some caving gear I want to buy soon. I'm planning on spending a little extra and getting a Petzl Ecrin helmet since head gear is probably not something you want to skimp on.

With my new laces installed on the hiking boots, I wanted to wear them on the greenway on Saturday. I couldn't find either pair of Smart Wool socks, so I dug into our master closet and ended up washing about 5 loads of clothes. Since I've lost a good bit of weight already, I found a lot of clothes I haven't worn in a while and got them washed and ready. My size 44 pants are starting to fit a little loose, so I should be able to move into my old size 42 stuff soon.

After I found my socks, I laced up the old hiking boots and took the dachshund out to the greenway. I'd forgotten how comfortable those boots are to walk around in. Having all that extra ankle support and shock absorption from the Vibram soles makes you feel a lot better about walking, even though the boots are a lot heavier than my sneakers.

I pushed myself harder this time and added another half mile with a round trip total of 2.4 miles this week. This also included a fairly steep hill going up to the halfway point. From past experience, when you're trying to loose weight and push your endurance, hills are your best friend. The more elevation you can force yourself to do, the faster that fat burns off.

I keep forgetting to take my camera out to the greenway when I go. Yesterday there were two really pretty herons on the water, plus there's a really big ground hog that has a burrow about 30 or 40 yards off the path.

I know you're all wondering about the latest D.B.A.N. This morning it was right at 300, so I've lost 24 pounds and should crack under 300 in the next couple of days. I still haven't cheated on my low carb regimen. I've had some dreams this past week that I cheated, and I had some real cravings yesterday afternoon, but I resisted. At this point my goal is to not cheat until Thanksgiving. There's no way I'm not going to eat a bunch of dressing with my turkey. I'll be right back on it the next day though.

My first long term goal is to do a long hike in the Savage Gulf area the weekend of my birthday, March 26. It'll be about a 10 mile hike with about 800 feet of total elevation change. Everyone is welcome to join me. That's a little over 5 months from now, so I'm shooting to be down to at least 250 by then. I think 10 pounds a month on average is doable.

Ok, I'm off to walk on the greenway again. Can't have that dachshund getting chubby on me.

2005 Heart Walk

On October 23 my daughter Victoria and I will be walking in the annual American Heart Association's Heart Walk. My employer is sponsoring several teams this year and we all have personal goals of raising $200 for the AHA.

As most of you know, I received a pacemaker implant back in January of 2004. Even though I'm no longer dependent on the pacemaker, I still have a keen interest in keeping up with research in heart disease, which the American Heart Association is a great supporter of.

I'm also in the beginning stages of a long term plan to change my life style from fat couch potato to healthy outdoors stud. I started on September 13, and in the last 23 days I've dropped 20 pounds and I'm walking almost 2 miles a day.

I'm asking all my friends, family, and strangers who happen to stumble over this blog to consider making a donation to the American Heart Association by clicking on this link. Thanks in advance from Alan, Marissa, and Victoria.

Please feel free to post the link to my AHA website on your blog or website. Every donation helps. Here's the full link:

http://nashvilleheartwalk.kintera.org/faf/r.asp?t=4&i=92623&u=92623-102082421

Wednesday Night

I made it to the Nashville Grotto monthly meeting last night at the Adventure Science Center here in Nashville. There were about 25 or 30 people there and I met a lot of nice caving folks. Someone gave a slideshow presentation showing how he had visited approximately 100 caves in Tennessee and North Alabama during the last 12 months. Very impressive and informative. I'm definitely going back and I'm going to be joining the local grotto and the NSS. There are a lot of vertical caves that the grotto members visit regularly, so being able to go up and down 200 feet of rope is a great incentive to keep dropping weight.

After I got home last night about 9:30 I changed into my walking outfit for my nightly 1 mile trip. I had a lot of energy when I started, so I actually jogged for about 50 strides on three separate occasions during the walk. This is basically me starting to do some interval training, so if I can keep it up along with my good diet habits there should be no problem with me being in good hiking/caving shape by the spring.

Fat Memories

On May 12, 2004 I weighed 281 pounds. So in one year I packed on 43 pounds on top of already being fat in the first place. Oh well, at least I'm losing again and I'm a lot more serious about it this time.

I did my 1.1 mile walk today at lunch. I'm going to the Nashville Grotto caving meeting tonight and I'll walk another mile when I get home and get the wife tucked into bed. So far this week I've been eating about 1000 calories a day with less than 10 carbs, and except for Monday I've walked at least a mile each day. This morning I was down to 304 or 305. My scales still suck, but I'm down almost 20 pounds in 23 days on my current fitness plan.

Another Boring Walking Post

Since it's been getting a little cooler and my wind is getting better I added another block to my walking route at work today. After I walked it I drove it and it's 1.1 miles. It also has a nice uphill segment so there was some extra burn there.

I walked another mile tonight about 10 and I've still got a lot of what feels like nervous energy. I think getting lots of sleep last night probably helped with that. Speaking of which, it's about time for some of that now.

When I Turn Sideways, I Disappear

OK, not really, but I am down to 306 this morning. The plateau has finally been overcome and hopefully within a week I'll move below 300. I walked for 15 minutes at lunch yesterday, and had planned to walk last night, but after I ate supper I just became exhausted and could barely hold my head up. I snoozed on the couch most of the evening and then slept from 10:30 til 7, so I'm feeling very refreshed this morning.

It's already great not to have an extra 18 pounds to lug around anymore. I picked up a 20 pound bag of dog food at the grocery store this week to remind me of how much weight that is. Now imagine carrying five of those bags strapped around your waist every day and that's what I've been doing for the last 4 years. Gravity sucks. Heh.

I'm also planning to go to the Nashville Grotto meeting tomorrow night. It's the local caving society and I'll probably become a member. One of my goals for 2006 is to make a trip back to Sinking Cove cave again. You have to hike up the side of a mountain, slide down a huge sinkhole, crawl under a waterfall into a hole, then follow the water down the mountain underground for about 2 miles. There's another entrance I didn't do last time where you have to rappel into the cave, so I'm hoping to learn some rope techniques and try that sometime as well.

Weekend Update

During the day Friday I took two 15 minute walks around the block at work. I've got a nice little route going and the weather was perfect Friday for walking at a brisk pace and not sweating too much. I met Paul for supper about 6:00 and we ate the huge Ruby Tuesday burger sans bun and a trip and half to the salad bar. I ate too much, but there were practically no carbs involved.

We walked from the Ruby Tuesday to the movie theatre to see Serenity. It should have been a 5 minute walk, but some construction was in the way. Paul had the brilliant idea of taking a route through Dillards and the mall. So instead of a one minute detour we took almost 20 minutes to get to the movie. Never follow a Clemmons anywhere. He's got no sense of direction. Must be how he was raised. Heh. (Just kidding Mrs. Clemmons!)

Anyway, Serenity was truly an incredible movie. I rarely gush over a film, but I plan to see it again in the theatre and definitely buy the DVD when it comes out. Paul and I agreed that to come up with another Scifi movie that was this good, you have to go all the way back to Aliens or Empire Strikes Back. It's seriously that good. If you like Scifi at all, go see this movie.

So Saturday I didn't feel so great when I woke up. I might have overdone it slightly on the walking on Friday. I was still at 308 of course. I'm on a serious plateau right now. I pretty much stayed glued to the couch, especially when the Alabama game came on. What a great game. Unfortunately I made the mistake of watching Prothro break his leg frame by frame. Nasty break. I hate to see him go, but I don't think it should kill our chances this season. If our defense keeps playing the way they're playing we should be able to dominate other teams like we did in 92.

After church today I dropped Marissa off at her dad's house and Victoria and I hit the greenway. I walked about 1.7 miles in about 35 minutes. Not very fast, but I maintained a good walking rate and wasn't heaving at the end. It's sad to go as hard as you can and your 12 year old daughter is staying about a quarter of a mile in front of you telling you to hurry up. Then earlier tonight I walked the dog about 3/4 of a mile, so I put in 2.5 miles in today. I'm going to have to keep this kind of thing up so I can bust through the plateau. I can't be too upset though, tomorrow will be my 21st full day on my plan and even if I'm still at 308 that's 16 pounds in 21 days which is not too shabby.