2018 goal and a new one for 2019

First 2018...

I initially had a goal when I started April 2, 2018 on keto to lose weight down to 300 lbs by 31 December. I had begun at about 360 and over the first couple of months made rapid progress. I dropped down to 330 and adjusted the goal to accomplish it by my birthday at the end of October. I thought losing too fast could cause problems such as "surplus skin" as well as some heart issues, problems I had been warned about my whole life.

I began "cheating" by adding things like diet sodas and other "diet things that were low in carbs but otherwise had no other value. I rationalized this by saying it was to keep my sanity. I had gone months without soda and it was hard to not have a root beer. My weight continued to creep down but much more slowly and more noticeably when I resorted to uncomfortable levels in intermittent fasting.

Occasionally, on a date with Elizabeth, we would eat out and in restaurants, it had been hard to get a good solid meal that was solidly keto. Again, we would cheat so as to not have to pay for a full meal and only get a part of one.

Things really started to fall apart after Halloween and by Thanksgiving, I had largely thrown in the towel when it was inconvenient to eat keto. Ultimately I had bottomed out at 315 pounds and had crept back up bit by bit. I enjoyed my holiday foods, candies, etc. but there were some times where I had seriously overeaten and was "sugared out". A couple of times I had serious regrets and aggravated my Diabetes symptoms to uncomfortable levels. If anything is served as a memorable reminder about how unhealthy my former lifestyle was.

Now and forward...CHARGE!!!

Now on 1 January, 2019 I am back to 340lbs. Without dismissing the successes at having lost weight far more effectively than in any other way I have tried, I am willing and ready to recommit to Keto, Intermittent fasting (IF) and High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) Below is a "before" picture.

A modest "Vetruvian man", yes but it is and will be easier to see progress. To forestall nightmares, I used one of my regular loose t-shirts rather than a tighter one. Now for some baseline measurements,

Neck: 19"
Chest: 55.5"
Stomach: 57"
Waist (da belt): 49"
Bicep: 17"
Thigh: 25"
Calf: 18.5"
GRAND TOTAL: 241"

These are the places where I expect to see the most change and evidence of progress. Some like my chest, thigh, and calf I don't expect to lose a lot of size. I actually hope to gain some muscle.

Other benchmarks are as follows (measured today):

Chest Press: 150 lbs
Plank: 0:35.4.
Mile:15:52

Health indicators:

Resting HR: 84
Time to get to resting HR from racing: 7 minutes
Resting BP: pending in a couple of days. Need a new cuff.

Goals for 2019

As much as I want to find time to relax, if this is going to work I am going to need to work. Accordingly, I have decided on the following goals:

Exercise 

- HIIT workout twice a week. (Wed and Sat)
- Walking nightly, weather permitting.
- Swimming once a week. This is not intended to be much of a workout but relief for my joints.

Diet 

- Keto diet with intermittent fasting.
- Intermittent fasting on a 20/4 fasting/eating window.
- No Soda.

Weight

- 25 lbs per quarter.
- Ultimately down to 250 by years end.
- Stretch goal down to 225 by years end.

Many would consider many of these goals as being unrealistic. However, these past 9 months have demonstrated I can do the diet and it will work. I also feel much better on the diet. The challenge will be to stay away from poor food choices, avoid snacking of any kind, and find other solutions to boredom.

My partner and coach in these goals is my beloved companion Elizabeth. Without her, I would not have begun this journey. Without her, I would not continue either. I have other motivations but she is by far the best one.

Diabetes, keto, and successes

It has been three years since I last posted here and a lot has happened since then. I will summarize...You're welcome.

First, April 2017 I was diagnosed with Diabetes Type 2, which I had already long suspected. I had been losing weight after not having changed anything and got down to 330 pounds from my all-time high of 375 pounds. I went to my doctor and it seemed to be a story he had seen plenty of times before. I had also long been mildly hypertensive for years and it was getting worse. My cholesterol was high and so here it came. Metformin, Atorvastatin, Ramipril and a low-dose aspirin in a pear tree.

Fast forward a year. I had gained a bunch of weight back but not all the way. I felt like I had gotten my rampant sugar under control but every effort I made to lose weight met with no success. I had read about some of the dangers of statins and Metformin but didn't really know what I could do to change anything. Then at the end of March earlier this year, Elizabeth had been doing some research and had read quite a bit on the Ketogenic Diet. I spent some time and watched some videos on the topic. She wanted to go on it and so we decided to try it together.

The concepts seemed counter-intuitive and when I learned about intermittent fasting a few days later I thought, "Whoah! I won't be able to do this." I can rarely fast past lunchtime without feeling sick and was not optimistic.

After a few weeks of eating Keto, I was able to transition to eating just two meals a day. I was losing weight and wasn't feeling sick. My blood pressure was down and I had tested my sugar which, though was not perfect, had been steadily dropping. Eventually, I dropped all my meds and my sugar remained low. I dropped two pants sizes, now three and even they fit nice and loose. Booyah! new wardrobe comin!

There have been many conflicting results and thoughts about keto and largely we follow Dr. Eric Berg and his advice on videos, though I also follow Ron Berry among a few others. Ultimately it is learning principles of keto and finding what works for you.

Over the past couple of months, I haven't done as well at intermittent fasting and have stopped losing. Part of the issue was commitment and part has been the stress of the summer months on top of several projects which demand my time. I haven't done much running or exercise as my time is entirely consumed by other needs.

I am ready to take a new step now and plow in. In the next week, I will do a new mile run and see how much I have progressed. I will post then. Until then, tell me your thoughts. 

Workout number 3:Accidentally Overachieving

In my last post, I mentioned how I went with some of my kids to see their mile times but my two oldest 13 and 12 years old respectively ran theirs in 9:00 and 9:35 respectively. Not bad for a first run. My son, who had the better time of the two commented it is a record for him by far, at least compared to his school time. I could visualize it in my head. Him plodding along, not last but not first. At first I thought that is what he was doing here -- jogging just behind his sister so in the last lap he could sprint past her and get the better time, all without really exerting himself. I smiled a bit to myself as I saw it, but eventually his impatience won out and he moved past her in the fourth of eleven laps and she never caught up. Their weights were impressive too and well around where I expected. She really didn't push herself as she ran a couple of more laps afterward. Obviously still had some gas in the tank.

Weigh in....
372.8 lbs down .4

Mile time
16:58 down 2:09 from last record;2:13 from last run

Now don't think I am all sunshine and rainbows about my improvement. Remember, I am still brushing the roof of my weight high of 375. I had just eaten a good Chinese food dinner with that weight where before I have just eaten lightly. I was concerned about stress on my joints and am still concerned about shin splints and stress fractures. I am easing into it.

Today's run I was going with the attitude of a constant speed walk -- as fast as I could walk without setting into a jogging rhythm. I was barely breaking a sweat and my heart rate was probably about 140 most of the time. Samuel was timing me with his phone, a process that I had to explain how the lap timer worked. he sort of got it and looked rather bored watching me "walk" around the track. Towards the end he was getting a little impatient and at the tenth and last lap he was kind of waving me to get me to hussle to beat my last time. I picked it up a bit and pushed the walk/jog boundary a little. when I crossed he showed me a time that looked like 18:24 or something thereabouts. he then looked at the screen and asked,"Dad, is this at 11 laps or 12?" I had him scroll down to check the lap/time markings and sure enough, I had done 12 laps not 11. My lap time at 11 was as stated above 16;58. if Samuel didn't look genuinely abashed at his flub, I would of thought he did it on purpose to juice an extra lap out of his old man!

After this run, we came home. it as after 9pm and I still have to go to work tomorrow. I knew I wanted to tell you all about this time around and I have other things to finish before I went to bed so we called it a night and came home.

This is not the first time I have tried running. I have done day or two spurts, and even a time or two gone as far as a week before getting wrapped up in something else and it slowly fades to the background. Regret at failing to continue bothers me a bit and inwardly I resolve to try again. Well this is again and I hope to keep going. I am losing weight, I am shortening my mile time, and one last effect, an effect I noticed before and it is starting to creep in again. I feel good and I hope to continue to do well. The endorphins are flowing and I like them. I am not so sure it will continue to do so as I gently push myself harder and harder. I am trying to find a comfortable ceiling that is still fat burning, even aerobic, but won't sideline me. As long as my family keeps joining in, I hope to continue to succeed?

How much does working out with someone play into any fitness routine you do? Is there things you have to do with someone? Is there things you have to do alone? 

Fast Sunday. Physical, Mental, Emotional and Spiritual Benefits of Fasting

In the beliefs of many religions, Fasting is a part of their worship. For some it is an abstention from certain things for certain times, For others it is an abstention from all foods for certain time periods. For those who are of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or "Mormons" the first Sunday of every month is a Fast Sunday. For two meals in time, usually from dinner the night before 'till dinner that Sunday evening, we abstain from everything food and water. The only thing we eat or drink in that time is what is known as the Eucharist in other religions. To us it is the Sacrament of the Lords Supper. A morsel of bread and a small cup of water, During that time, we focus even more intently on spiritual things to strengthen our bodies while weakening our carnal temporal natures. It is often hard to tame the physical desires and the body screaming for food, even to the point where it often drowns out the spiritual voices.

Physical Benefits of Fasting 
There have been a number of studies have been done on the physical benefits of periodic fasting. Some of the benefits include allowing the body time to cleanse itself. With many of the abuses we pile upon ourselves through our diet, it is good for the body to get a small break allowing it to clear out and clean up the mess we have made. If we just constantly eat, then our bodies use resources to digest the food we have and has none to repair the damage we do to ourselves. However, if we periodically allow our bodies to go full bore on the "repair" cycle. a lot of damage can be undone. Of course it could also benefit us to not do some of the damage we do anyway.

http://www.livescience.com/48888-intermittent-fasting-benefits-weight-loss.html

Mental benefits of Fasting
When we are not constantly feeding the screaming fat man within, we prove to ourselves that we are in control and not our stomachs. When we can walk by our favorite fast food place, see the idealized advertisement for our favorite junk food, and then be "repulsed' by the calories, fat, and salt we see there, that self control is beginning to be made manifest.

Emotional Benefits of Fasting
To have a goal that we want to reach in weight loss and greater health really helps in what we want to achieve. For me it is to regain some things i have lost over the years and really want back. I have mentioned some in past posts but as I sit here and write I want to mention a few that rise to the top at this moment. I want to look at myself in the mirror, fully clothed and be happy with the shape that I am in. I want to think of a hike in the beautiful Wasatch mountains, that I drive to every day for work and not be immediately seized with the physical exhaustion that it seems to present. I want to beat my all time mile run record which I set in sixth grade at East wood Elementary of 7:53. My time has only gotten worse since. I want to be able to run and play with my kids at whatever game or activity they want to do and not have to turn them down because I am too tired. I want to be able to go swing dancing with my wife and not be heaving a lung after twenty seconds. I see a mental picture of a man with a skinnier version of my face, healthy, trim, full of energy and I never fail to see him as happy. I want so much to be that man. Fasting is one component of that.

Spiritual Benefits of Fasting
The spirit in my mind is the inner me, separate and distinct from my body that in likeness of my body controls it  and uses it  as a hand would a glove to move, act, etc in life to live and be. As we care for our bodies or abuse them, the condition of our bodies improves, degrades, etc and that can have an effect on our spiritual well being as well. In my religion, as mentioned before, one of the purposes of our life here is to subjugate the physical nature of man and bring it in line with the eternal nature of God. The natural impulses of man to eat and over eat, to drink and get drunk, and to rest or oversleep are all manifestations of how well we are doing at that battle to subjugate the carnal, sensual and even devilish elements of our physical natures.

When we are born our spirits are clean and ,being joined with a body, embark on a new experience of physical desires and temptations. How well we respond to them and go through them dictates how well we can control those passions which are part of this mortal experience. Babies cry when hungry and over time, they learn to soothe themselves and feed themselves. Children likewise go in search for food but when guided by parents,and other wise adults, they can control their passions and again only eat as necessary and not be beholden to the "screaming fat man within" Fasting weakens that natural man and allows the quiet whisper of the spirit to come through. I want to hear more from that spirit and this year will be working to strengthen my connection to it.

Fasting is a powerful way of subjugating the body to the mind, emotions and spirit. Properly done and done based on ones own needs and situation, it can be a great help. I also want to testify tot he role that Jesus Christ plays in fasting. I know many of you who may read this are not religious but it is in my religion that fasting begins for me. In the bible, the Lord comes down from the mount of Transfiguration with Peter, James and John. below the other apostles had struggled all night to free a man from possession by evil spirits and failed. The Lord rebuked the devils within the man and they departed. Afterward, the apostles asked why they were unable and the Lords response in part was "This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting."

 In essence what he was telling them is this problem was not a typical one and needed greater power and strength in the spirit to overcome. He having been both on the mount and likely fasted through his experiences as well as being the Lord himself and the source of the power of which he spoke had that power and authority sufficient to rebuke them.

My temptations for food and junk and other things like that are the proverbial possession by a devil, one I brought on myself through years of overeating, lack of exercise and subjugation to the carnal. For me to succeed at this, it will not succeed or go out but that I include prayer and fasting in it.

What are some of the elements in your religion that you connect with good health and weight loss?

What are your traditions in fasting? Why do you do it?

If you don't fast, is it something you see yourself as being beneficial? Why or why not? 

Day 2: Another Mile and More

I have returned to the gym for another round. This time I brought 3 of my 4 daughters. We each did a mile run for baselines for the year it was interesting to watch them and in the end, my oldest of the three came in first, then the next came in second and the last came in third. I found that result interesting as the first and third are overweight by a considerable amount, a genetic gift they got from me. The middle, is more or less on target. However, I am not writing about them. For their privacy, I exclude details but for their encouragement, I give anecdotes of them as encouragement as well as indication that we do this as a family.

I also did another mile and came in today at 19:11.This is just four seconds longer than yesterday. The differences between them was yesterday I was in a long sleeved shirt and coat and cargo pants, (I brought no lock for the locker and did not want to set them aside.) Today I was in athletic shorts, shirt and shoes. Yesterday, I was marking lap times with my phone to compare laps. Today, I had my daughters count laps and just let the timer run. I felt that today, could have been shorter, but I did not push myself.

After the mile walk today, My girls went to swim and I went to the treadmill. I wanted to try a run with a pulse measurement. A brief 6 second measure yesterday showed a rate of 140 BPM. Today, as I am working on a fat burn, I targeted 120 BPM. I started at 2 miles/hour and by 10 minutes accelerated to 3 in two increments. I remained at 3.0 MPH until 55 minutes, than began a cool down. I burned 550 calories and in the hour ran 2.75 miles. If we factor in the mile walk than I burned about 750 calories over the whole walk of 3.75 miles.

Before the run I weighed in at 373.2. I am not expecting a large weight change day to day or even over a week. However, I want enough data points to demonstrate a weight drop with my efforts. The difference in clothing could easily account for the difference day to day.

What do you do different from what I did? What suggestions do you have? On Monday, I will be doing another mile and then swimming in the pool.

Will report again then. 

The 19 Minute Mile

Well 19:08.89 is what my phone said it was. Pretty pathetic huh? Well let me lay down a few numbers for you. I am 38 years old, I weigh 375 pounds, I have mild hypertension, and I overeat, sometimes by as much as three times the calories I should have in a day in a single meal. The upside? I am not yet diabetic and I still can do most everything physically I want to do. Does a 19 minute mile sound so terrible anymore? Yes, it does. It just doesn't sound as surprising as it did to me before I started.

Many people set new years resolutions with the idea that they are going to make miraculous changes in their lives. many people make a long list of the huge things they are changing in their lives to make their resolution a reality. I can't do that and expect to succeed. Why? Well, first, I like food too much to just cut out everything. Second, I have been morbidly obese like this for a long time, Third, I like my job and my hobbies which have me in front of a computer for hours at a time too much to believe, I can just walk away from them. Besides, I have eight children and a beautiful wife to support so right now is not the time for changes in career.

However, besides what has been mentioned, I do want to make changes in my life. First, I find it almost impossible to run anymore for any stretch. Every time I do, my body panics and after a few dozen feet, I am heaving. I can't play basketball. I can't run around with my kids playing soccer. They like camping but for me, the sheer weight of my body on the hard earth just hurts all by itself without other issues. I also can't fit in a regular sleeping bag. I have also in the past three years been on a CPAP machine. It was that or  I keep putting up with the constant headaches every morning brought on by oxygen deprivation.

All of this has culminated into one big disgusted view of myself. I know I am a good person and people love me. I just don't want to disappoint anymore at my lack of ability to do things with my kids. I don't want to wonder if my wife, despite what she says, wishes I was thinner. I don't want to get ripped or become some other freak of nature where my body fat is measured in decimals. I just want to get to normal.

Accordingly, I will periodically record some of my stats here and some annotations about my experience. My goal is to get down to 300 by years end and then go from there. I have not been down there since 2001. It is time.

So here are a few stats.
Jan 3 (The beginning)
I weighed yesterday at 375.0 lbs on the nose.
Today my chest is at 57.5 inches
My chubby hubby Goodyear tire comes in at 60 even
My thigh comes in at 30 inches

As those are my biggest problem areas, though I do have others, I am hoping for the biggest changes there.