Wow... still going strong!!!

A long time since my last post, I know..... but a lot has happened.
After nearly one year since my "Day of Decision" to lose weight and aging control of my health, I am still on target.


   My son and coach, Matt Garwood - see him at his website http://anysizefitness.com  - has been such an encouragement as he has totally transformed himself. His adventures with P90X and now P90X2, and Insanity has impressed me to no end. He is currently exercising as if he were a professional athlete. And if you look at his pictures you will see HIS transformation story. For crying out loud - just LOOK at this guy!

    But my son and I are different men... and we have different paths to walk. Similar, but different. We both have realized the importance of our achieving good health. We both love our families dearly and also realize that our sticking around  is important to our families. We both know the importance of the food we eat.

     The biggest enemy to my personal health is my eating habits for the last 30+ years.

    As I have tried to educate myself about nutrition and exercise - especially as it relates to a man closer to 60 than 50 (I will be 56 in April of this year) - I am learning that I NEED nutrition that pretty much only Shakeology can give me. I have learned that MY secret to overcoming cravings for the junk I have been tossing down my gullet is to satisfy my body's nutritional needs. I have learned that my cravings for the McDonalds, Wendy's burgers, fries etc was my mis-interpretations of what my body was telling me it needed. It NEEDED protein, carbs, vitamins, minerals .... gosh it coulda been a thousand things. But after eating HUGE fast food meals, I was hungry again within an hour or two. How could that be? The simple answer is that though I fed myself, my body didn't get what it needed. So I was "hungry" again soon after eating all that junk food.
  Enter my son and his introducing me to Shakeology. The super nutrients, along with the umpty-zillion other nutritional blessings in that powder gave my body all it needed. How do I know that? I drink a Shakeology shake in the morning, and I am not hungry in an hour or two. Cravings went away - now I wave at the fast food joints as I drive by, rather than turning in to buy a meal. Also, mysteriously enough, I found myself drinking water - and LIKING it!!!! I still can't explain that one.

  Now I eat to live - I do NOT live to eat. Shakeology in the morning, snacks throughout the day - nuts, a piece of fruit, couple cups of coffee (Used to drink a pot a day!) and a lean and green dinner  -usually chicken and a salad or green vegetables.

   In April of last year, I also bought and started ChaLean Xtreme - an incredible workout routine using slow movements, small weights... and consistency. Between April and August of 2011, I lost 30 lbs. I started the school year (I am a teacher) at 235 lbs (down from 265 in April).

   Knowing my schedule, I made the decision to back off exercising as much. I know - not what you would expect - but I know me. Once the school year gets into full swing, I am rocking and rolling from sun up to sundown 6 to 7 days a week. I was still going to exercise twice to three times a week, but nowhere near as intensive as my summer months were. I decided to really concentrate on my eating and finding out what really worked for me. I knew I would have to adjust my diet to account for less exercise, and that is what I did.
   The result? I maintained my summers weight loss throughout the Fall and the holidays! I was able to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas, eating Christmas goodies - all of it! On January, I was still around 235. Starting in Mid-January I started out to gear it up a bit and work on losing more weight, ratcheting the exercise back into my life and focusing on my diet even more. I went Dairy and Gluten free in January. My sinuses started drying up... wow. I started losing weight again. After 45 days, I had a "dairy" day - cheese, milk at each of my three meals. My head plugged up like crazy! Guess what? Dairy is not good for me, so it is pretty much gone for good.
    So that brings me to today... 11 months from the day I set my determination and started to change my life. I have lost an additional 10 lbs since January 1st - I am now at 225 lbs. The school year will be gearing down over the next 6 weeks. I am setting my sights on another season of more extensive exercising and making the push to lose the next 25 lbs. I want to be at 200 lbs by August of this year. Stand by - a new Paige emerged from last summer. A newer Paige is gonna be here in August.
    My son and I are different - that kid looks like a professional football player - and he is training like one! I am very excited to see his progress. Me? I am going to be a healthy 56 year old man, wearing smaller clothes, able to carry my own gear to and from gigs, move furniture at my wife's behest and able to walk 18 holes of golf. I think being able to run/walk a 5k would be incredible. None of that was possible a year and a half ago. Yeah, Matt and I are different.... but I am proud to say this tree didn't fall far from the apple.... I know - screwy play on an old analogy. But my son has become my mentor in this phase in my life - neat and rewarding turn of events. To quote Darth Vader "The student has become the master...". We are both getting healthier and stronger. Gonna be a great year.
Blessings!
Paige

Dairy Free and Gluten free: Day 7

Well, here it is...
Day 7 - my first week dairy free and gluten free. For me, this simply means I am not doing any grains nor any dairy products. Primarily, no breads and no milk or cheese.  I am sure that it is more complicated than that, but that is where I am choosing to draw the line. As my son says "You can go as far down the gluten/dairy rabbit hole as you want". In the reading I have done so far, I am becoming more convinced that removing dairy, especially, will do me more good than harm. And the gluten? It's not hurting me to ignore it for a time, So I will stay off it for awhile longer.
The really great news here is that on Monday morning last week, I weighed 237 lbs. Today, 7 days later, I weighed 230 lbs!
Basically I am eating "Lean and Green". Chicken, salad, almonds, eggs, fresh fruit, vegetables and Shakeology are the major components of my current diet. I have tightened it up a bit more by paying more attention to portions. I am keeping my calories to between 1500 and 1700 calories. I am eating something every three hours. Doing this is proving to be very helpful in this weight loss process.

Here is a sobering thought that points to the severity of my weight issue. When I started this process towards good health in April of 2011, I weighed really close to 260. I was classified as morbidly obese. I lost thirty pounds last year, which got me to being simply obese. Thirty more pounds, and I will be merely overweight. Wow - I have to lose sixty lbs to become overweight!
My goal is to be under 220 by Valentines day, and by the end of summer to be at 200. I am on my way.... when I get into the 220's this next week it will be the first time I have seen that part of my bathroom scale in probably over 20 years.... Woo-Hoo!!!!!

Join me on my journey. Start exercising. Start figuring out how to eat to live rather than living to eat. Explore eating fresh fruits and vegetables. You don't have to go gluten or dairy free - this is just my personal experiment, not a requirement for good health, necessarily.

Regards,
PAige

day one gluten and dairy free done... bring on day two

Day one  - gluten and dairy free.... in the tank. Not bad. Shakeology for breakfast, three handfuls of peanuts or almonds throughout the day, a four egg omelet with salsa for lunch and a large salad for dinner. The calories were really low... I need to up those. I am discovering that ultra low-calorie days don't really work for me when it comes to weight loss, especially when I am exercising (which I am). I stopped at the store on the way home to pick up some Silk Almond milk (sugar free) to replace the dairy I use, some bananas, and some chicken, along with salad stuff. Today I started with the 4 egg omelet with salsa.

Several things that are going to help me here...
1. Variety, for me, isn't an absolute necessity... when I find something I like, I tend to stick with it. I am not a picky eater. I find I REALLY like 4 egg omelets cooked in virgin olive oil. So I expect I will see these on my menu alot. Me and eggs - we're buds....

2. Eating something every 3 hours really appeals to me... and the foods I get to use I really like... almonds, peanuts, fruits... I like ALL that stuff.

3. The weight loss... every lb lost is a pound towards being non-obese. Below is a link to a site that does a Body Mass Index (BMI) calculator.
BMI For Adults Widget

A BMI over 30 is considered obese. My BMI is currently 33.7, according to this calculator. When I get to 205, my BMI will be at 29.4, and for the first time in 15- 20 years, I won't be considered obese... just overweight.



So... my first goal - to not be obese. That means I have 32 lbs to lose from yesterday.


Now - a word to my friends who know as I do that fast weight loss doesn't necessarily mean long term weight loss. Many folks who lose weight quickly via a fad diet, or medication, gain the weight back. What I am doing is not that. My Beachbody program (Shakeology, 5 meals/snacks a day plus exercise) is NOT a fad program. They encourage keeping your calories up. I want long term, steady weight loss... a pound or two a week is just fine with me. And this is not JUST about weight loss - I want to use this time to learn more about my body, how it reacts to various foods and activities. I want this to be become a lifestyle - not a diet.

But having said that - I expect there will be some fairly rapid weight loss at the beginning of this push to escape the clutches of obesity - in fact I am depending on it. I have a bet with my son, who is roughly the same weight as I. The first one to get under 220 gets a movie ticket from the other. He should be smarter than to challenge a fat guy to a weight loss contest. When we apply ourselves, we can be very impressive  :-)
Have a wonderful day....
Paige

new year, no resolutions....

I am not a big believer in resolutions.... but having said that, Jan 1st is a good day to assess what worked the previous year and what didn't.
Here is a list of what worked for me:
1. Shakeology - honestly, I have NEVER used a product as effective for getting my predilection for junk food under control. From a daily consumption of McD's breakfasts and Wendy's hamburgers and fries to MAYBE once a month getting an egg McMuffin on the run... huge  improvement for me.

2. Learning to eat more  "lean and green" than the way I used to. My diet used to be so screwed up. No breakfast (or McD's if I had $$$ in my pocket), cookies and junk food from the teacher's table at school, and then a HUGE plate of food for dinner (usually around 8 pm) because I was starving. I learned to eat breakfast - Shakeology, usually... and something healthier than cookies for lunch and smaller plate of food for dinner.
3.Exercising at least three times a week. ChaLean Xtreme was an incredible experience and was instrumental in getting me stronger and functionally fit. An incredible DVD exercise program. This was very important for me - being very heavy and having not exercised for decades, this program used light dumbbells and averaged 30 - 40 minutes per session. And it was a 90 day program... pretty substantial.




Here is what I need to work on for this year:
Diet:
1. I need to learn to eat every three hours, small portions.
2. I need to eliminate gluten and dairy from my diet as much as possible. I have seen such incredible results with my son and his allergies that I really want to give this a shot. I know removing dairy and gluten won't hurt me, so let's see if this is doable. I think it is.
3. I need to change my mindset about the caloric intake as it relates to weight loss. My natural bent is to think "eat as few calories as possible to lose weight". To a degree, this is right. But there IS a line that says if you cross it, your body goes into "starvation" mode and the fat quits leaving. I need to keep my calories higher than I have been used to... right now it is around 1900 calories.
4. I need to become knowledgeable about food and exercise and nutrition.
5. I need to lose 30 more pounds. Seem like a lot of weight? Hey - in April of 2011, it was "lose 60 lbs"! I am halfway there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      Finally - all of the above is a moving target - as my weight drops, as I change my dietary habits and my exercise routines change - my metabolism will change. My body's needs will change. I have to be aware of this and be willing to change up something if necessary. As a great example - I made it from 260 to 232-ish this summer. I have plateaued around 232, so I need to look at what has happened, and make a change or changes. 232 is still obese for me. I can't stop here. So what do I do? change up my diet. change up my exercise routine. keep moving forward. This is shaping up to be a great year.
I would be honored if you would join me in this weight loss journey - let's make 2012 the year the fat melts away and we achieve some kind of fitness goal.
Regards,
Paige

What's in Shakeology?

Shakeology has proven itself to be the best investment I have made in my health. It costs me 3.00 a day to drink this stuff (actually a few cents more than that because I throw in a banana and a spoon of peanut butter... oh, yeah.....). My cravings have been knocked wayyyyyyy back, and I am not eating nearly so much now, and my energy has soared. Honestly, this is the secret to my having lost 26 pounds since May of this year. Yes I have exercised, this is true, and that IS an integral part of my weight loss, but it ALL started with Shakeology. I know I sound a bit like an evangelist for BeachBody and Shakeology (we're not a cult - I swear!!!!!!  grin), but the plain and simple truth is I felt like crud and had no desire to exercise before the Shakeology revolution in my life. Within a week of drinking Shakeology every day for breakfast, my body was FINALLY getting the nutrition it needed, so it quit begging me for more food. I used to drink two pots of coffee a day. Why did I want that much coffee? Because I was dragging and needed the constant artificial pick-me-up that coffee provided. Within two weeks of starting Shakeology, I realized I had gone three days without thinking about coffee. Today, I will have about two cups of coffee a WEEK... because I really enjoy a good cup of coffee.

Folks - your body would LOVE this stuff. Look at the summary below and see all the incredible stuff that goes into this product. 

The Shakeology drink is made of super-food ingredients that provide a nutritious option for everyone, including:

• 140 calories per serving with 15-17 grams of whey protein
• 1 gram of fat and 100 mg of sodium
• 23 vitamins and minerals, including all the B vitamins and 500 mg of calcium
• Antioxidants and phytochemicals derived from whole plants and fruit sources
• No artificial sweeteners. Gluten free. Caffeine free.

With the nutrients in Shakeology, you get optimal nutrition. Combine it with an exercise program and you can also reduce blood lipids and disease risk factors and improve your overall health.

Here is a short list of the different nutrient groups and the Shakeology ingredients that are in those groups:

• Protein and Amino Acids – Proteins are the building blocks of life. Amino acids are necessary to build the various proteins used in your body tissues for growth, repair, and maintenance. Amino acids play many roles in your health and disease.
  Shakeology ingredients – Amaranth, Camu-Camu, Goji berry, Sacha Inchi, sprouted quinoa, whey protein.

• Phytonutrients – Known for prevention of cancer and heart disease, phytonutrients contain natural antioxidants that provide protection from free radicals. Other benefits include slowing down of the aging process and protection from cataracts and macular degeneration.
  Shakeology ingredients – Barley grass, blue-green algae, Chia seeds, Chlorella, flax, grape seed extract, Hydrilla, spinach, Spirulina, sprouted quinoa, wheat grass.

• Antioxidants – Offering excellent protection again those damaging free radicals, antioxidants promote the healthy cell growth and support the immune system.
  Shakeology ingredients – Açai berry, Acerola cherry, bilberry, Camu-Camu, Goji berry, grape seed extract, green tea, Maca root, pomegranate.

• Adaptogens – Used for centuries in Chinese medicine, Adaptogens help bring your body to homeostasis and help your body adapt to stress.
  Shakeology ingredients – Ashwagandha, Astragalus, Cordyceps, holy basil leaf, Maca root, Reishi mushroom, Schisandra, Suma root.

• Prebiotics – Known to improve colon health, prebiotics also help improve the immune system.
  Shakeology ingredients - Pea fiber, yacon root.

• Digestive Enzymes – Help with food digestion, brain stimulation, tissue, cell and organ repairing and generating cellular energy.
  Shakeology ingredients – Amylase, bromelain from pineapple, cellulose, lactase, lipase, papain from papaya, protease.

With over 70 whole-foods, Shakeology contains no caffeine, is gluten free and is certified low-glycemic.

Just felt "informative" today. Blessings!!!!

Paige

Rest.....

Here I am, resting.... on the day we call the Lord's day at my house. My wife is resting, I just woke up, and I am getting ready to do a bit of typing for college, drink a cup of coffee and simply chill for the day. I have walked the dog, said hello to neighbors and ahhhhh...... rest.

I said in an earlier blog that I am not training for an event  - but I am training for life. I am not training for a triathlon, pentathlon or any other kind of "thlon". I am training for health and to live as long as I can so I can enjoy all my God has given me - my friends, my family, my church - and yes, Millie, the Wonder-Dog.

 And this includes rest. Let's talk about this rest for a minute....

I need rest. But not just the "interval between workouts to allow my muscles recovery time so I can go full out the next workout session" type of rest. I have expanded my definition of rest a little. When I do something  that does not have ME as the central focus, I call it rest. My wife is exhausted after a day of teaching. So I get her to sit in the Lazy Boy, and I do the dishes and clean the kitchen. Rest. I see a pile of laundry so I throw it in the washer, so Glenda doesn't have to. Rest. A friend is sick so I bring dinner over. Rest.

Of course there are times for me to be alone, no music, no exercise, no tv - just me and a book and a glass of iced tea on my porch on a sunny summer night. Rest.

My point is this - my life, in order to be successful, can't be all about me. There are many motivations for me to exercise, but there are several that have to do with others. I want my Grandchildren to have their own stories about their Boppa, and not have to rely on stories their Dad (my son) tells them. So I change my eating and exercise habits - so I can stick around long enough for them to have their own goofy stories about their goofy Boppa. Much of what I am doing now is outward - focused. I want to see others get healthy. I want to be able to help others when help is needed.

Believe it or not, helping others gives me joy and a sense of completion and rest. It's all a break from me concentrating on ME.

So there you have it. A wandering, slightly scattered view of my philosophy of rest. We all need it. We all need our quiet times away from the noise and confusion of the day. We all need to be involved in someone else's life - not just our own. We all need rest.

Enjoy your day of rest....
paige50plus

Perfect Practice Makes Perfect... right????

Ok... first of all, a new milestone for me today. For some reason, I have been "stuck" at 236 lbs for an entire month. I have been doing what I have always done, ChaLEAN Xtreme, eating as healthy as I know how, but the weight just wasn't going down. Today?

Here is a shot of a scale showing the breakthrough!!!! Not my scale - I didn't think to take a picture as I was rushing around getting ready for work - so I found this on the Internet. But it tells the truth! So on the way to work, I was ruminating over the significance of the new weight (btw - I honestly cannot remember the last time I saw 234 lbs on my scale...). I was thinking about how this so perfectly illustrates the last blog I made about how if you do the right things long enough, right things happen. I don't understand all there is about the human body and its cycles, but I know this... build muscle mass, more calories get burned. Eat healthy with less calories, and the extra calories kicked to the curb will add up to weight loss. Even when the scale doesn't show the results you think it should, if you are doing the right things, eventually the scale HAS to bow in submission. So on the way to work, those thoughts were in my head...

All this got me to thinking about how perfect I HAVEN'T been in my exercise routines. And yet I am seeing results. Have you ever heard that saying "Practice makes Perfect"? Well, as a music teacher, I modify that to say "PERFECT Practice makes Perfect." That is fine for music... but I have tried to apply that everywhere in my life and frankly, it doesn't work in many other places. When I decided to start doing the ChaLEAN Xtreme workout, I was so embarrassed that I could not do the routines flawlessly, in fact the first time I hit play on my DVD, I was so humiliated because I felt so stupid and awkward just doing the warmups, I turned it off and went walking instead......... but...I came back the next day and stumbled through the workout, feeling awkward, clumsy - ugh. It wasn't until the 3rd week that I started to get the hang of the workouts, and be able to do most of the exercises relatively correctly. I remember talking to my coach (also my son) about thinking about repeating the first phase of ChaLEAN Xtreme because I felt I had done so poorly... that was me trying to apply the Perfect Practice Makes Perfect thing... Matt told me to continue on the next phase of ChaLEAN Xtreme, because as he said "Dad - you stumbled... you didn't do all of the exercises as well as you would like, and I know you felt stupid and awkward... but look at the scale, look at your functional fitness (the current buzzword between my son and I) - Dad - you LOST WEIGHT!!!! You made it a point to sweat multiple times in a week". And he was right. I did do my best when working out - but I am not pretty when I exercise - not like Chalene Johnson - and sometimes I even missed a workout.... but I sweated and the weight loss happened, So - don't worry - just sweat. Perfection is not the goal. Sweating is.
Gotta run!!!!!
Have a wonderful day....
Another step on the Journey!!!!!
paige
p50+