I'm definitely the tortoise

Well I have been keeping on as I've posted previously. Food change in my life is getting harder, because I'm getting a bit bored with some of the food. The problem is that I'm not a veggie eater, I only like them raw, so carrots, broccoli, cauliflower and celery, raw, is getting really old, especially without some ranch...man I miss the feel of fat in my mouth. The gym schedule has been chaotic, everytime I say I'm going to start hitting it hard again, something happens. Yesterday would have been the day I pushed over the hump and got back "into it" but I hurt my back at work...thing serious, but I just didn't want to take any chances on hurting it more at the gym so my wife and I went on a long walk when I got home, so at least I did something.

Weight loss due to all this has been slower, obviously, but there has been more lost. I've lost another 3 pounds in 2 weeks, not great, but I'm focusing on the fact that I lost and didn't hold even or gain. So, I have a 1 week vacation and I plan on really pushing hard, getting back into hard working habits, it will just have to wait until Monday :( There is a 3 day conference in Fresno this weekend so the next time I can get to the gym will be Sunday afternoon, but I will try to sneak in a few leg raises, push-ups and squats - who needs weights, if I just do squats I'm pushing over 200 pounds with my legs and it will help strengthen my knees which need it desparately.

Forgive me Father...

For I have, if not sinned, at least strayed. It has been 6 weeks since my last soda, but Friday night my wife and I went out to dinner and I was soooo tired I needed caffeine, at least thought I did, and I'm not a big coffee drinker unless it has mocha and whip attached to it, and tea does nothing for me...so, yes, I had a diet Pepsi(insert circle R here). I know, I know, I already feel bad enough...but oh man was it good! It was insanely sweet, but there was that initial eye watering rush when you gulp the first drink from a carbonated beverage- ok I need to stop talking about it now.

This past week was insanely weird. Only got to work out 3 times, the food I ate was ok but not great and a couple of times it was not good at all; but I'm back on the wagon today, oatmeal for breakfast, chicken breast and veggies for lunch, nothing but water to drink again, some mid-day fruit or yogurt for snacks and as soon as I hit the Publish Post button I'm off to the gym. I haven't weighed myself since the elimination weigh in but after this past week, I'm going to put it off for at least another week. Pants do feel a bit baggier, shirts aren't as snug and other than the dreaded Pepsi (insert circle R) debacle night, I haven't felt tired...I take that back, we went to a prayer meeting Saturday night and didn't get home till almost 3a.m. and then of course there was time change, so I was tired Sunday, but that was due to lack of sleep, not being unhealthy.

For the rest of you keep it up, I'm enjoying keeping up on how you are doing thru your blogs and I see my teamates now and again at the gym and say hi. Missy and Lynn invited me to a Zumba class with them last week but I was so crunched for time it was all I could do to get an hour of workout in rather than my usual hour and a half, oh well, maybe next time.

Back in the saddle

Well, I said I was going to continue on and I have...several days later... :(
Didn't work out Sunday; Monday was all kaflooie, was supposed to have a meeting with a parent and it got canceled then we had a 4H meeting and then, and then...
Tuesday is church night for us, so no time. Finally, Wednesday, oh beautiful Wednesday; oh, and by the way I twisted my ankle Tuesday, which didn't bother me after I "walked it off", seriously, it didn't, but Tuesday night when we got back home from church and I took my shoes and socks off, it was all, you know, purply and a bit swollen, but it didn't hurt...weird. So Wednesday, I'm going to the gym and wondering if my ankle will give me any trouble, but it didn't, so it was a good hour and a half workout :)

I also had a Dr.'s appointment Wednesday morning- this was to follow up on some lab work I had done a month ago, yes, before the contest started. I had...get ready for it....high cholesterol levels *gasp*!!! But now its a month later, I've changed my diet, started working out, and all the Dr. told me to do for now(a month ago) was start taking Niacin (vitamin B3 - talk to your Dr to see if this is right for you, but it is a water soluable vitamin- my Dr. has me personally taking 1500mg/day). Anyway, its a month later and results of new blood work are in and my total cholesterol dropped 30 points, my LDL(bad cholesterol) dropped from high risk to borderline and my triglycerides dropped a whopping 100 points! I'm still high, but in just a month I went from very bad to just bad! Praise God. I know others in the contest have said that their Doctors have taken them off or reduced medications they were on also.

Just think, the money you put into gym fees may be paid for by being taken off medications, or at the very least offset the cost some...and it all starts with you stopping reading my blog and go to the gym. Yes the hard part is getting up, but once you get there, you're committed, no not that type of committed, but their are those of my co-workers who think I should be, but not for working out...well that's another blog ;)

Its Official

Well they announced this morning on KDUV the first round of eliminations and I was one of them. Does that make me a loser Loser? Double negative? Remember in math when they taught you that a negative and a negative, when multiplied together make a positive? Well that's how I'm looking at it, not the addition where 2 negatives added together make a bigger negative, because that would mean I'm going to gain weight now; and I don't want to do the subtraction rule because then I'd be at zero, right where I started...so yeah, I'm going for the multiplication rule...a positive.

Dale asked what I was doing this morning, when they announced my name as Porterville's first eliminated team member and being bummed already and in a negative frame of mind from being eliminated, I took it personally, like he was accusing me of slacking...but then my bassett hound jumped on me and licked me like he was trying to console me, but he really just wanted to play, but I was looking for consoling so I convinced myself that's what it was about...anyway, I got over the little pity party, and I know Dale wasn't intending it to sound like how I took it at first, he was trying to sound encouraging, in his own Scrabble rule deficent sort of way ;)

Prematurely Bummed Out

I'm a bit bummed out this weekend. I'm gonna ramble here as I work this out. I'm bummed out because Team Porterville Results got posted in the gym sometime between Thursday afternoon and our team workout with Rocky on Saturday morning, and just going by what I see on the board of how our team did, I'll most likely be eliminated officially on Monday morning. Don't get me wrong, the rest of my team did AWESOME and I'm so proud of them. I did well to, I did just shy of 3 pounds a week, which is great, but I don't think it will be enough compared to the numbers the others put up. So that is why I'm bummed...because I most likely will be out of the competition; yet this too shall pass because this isn't completely about a contest, its about changing my life, and it has. I'll be going to the gym here in a little while, and everyday after today and I am still sticky to a better way of eating (nothing but water to drink in over 5 weeks, well, some 1% milk in a bowl of bran ceral now and then). I will keep blogging, and letting you know how the battle is going, but for now, I'll be a little bummed...maybe I'll take it out on the eliptical at the gym...yeah, that's it, work out the stress and depression at the gym instead of watching tv or surfing on the computer, now where have I heard that before...oh yeah..thanks Rocky, I'll be seein' ya at the gym.

Drumroll Please

Well the Porterville team weighed in this morning. A couple of my teammates told me how much they lost but none of the other measurements so they will tell you on their blog...if they so choose. I did ok. In the grand scheme of things I did great, but I won't know till Monday how I did in the scheme of the team. I'll just give you a few of the bullet points; I won't tell you how much weight I lost, because, as I was reminded this morning, that's the number that is almost deceptive because it doesn't give you an idea of other health factors. I lost over 3% body fat, I lost inches off chest, waist and hips. I feel better, I don't get tired during the day at work(at least not the kind of tired where you know you could just stop and take a nap).

These are the kind of results that one needs to focus on to keep going with a LIFE change. If I was to focus on only the pounds lost, I think I would begin to wonder if all this work and effort are worth it; yet by focusing on how my WHOLE LIFE as benifited, it is definitely worth it and definitely going on with even if I get eliminated this week or in 2 weeks or whenever. This Challenge has already been what I wanted it to be, a kick in the butt to make a permanent change, to be here longer for my family.

PS
I'm looking forward to winning ;)

I've been reading the other contestants blogs and I must say I'm getting a bit, let's say, twitchy. It seems that some of the other teams have got to weigh during the last 3+ weeks, and a couple have even checked their body fat percentage. I haven't seen any numbers since the initial weigh in and its got me nervous. This is one of those situations where I am trusting in those around me because, as warned, my vision is blurred in respect to myself; yet those around me say they can see a difference - I don't. Rocky keeps asking if my clothes fit better or different and I have to honestly say I can't tell a difference, but then again your reading the blog of a man who buys 2XX or 3XX shirts so it doesn't show all the unsightly bulges (by the way, does it work? Not so much). Here, 2 days before first weigh in my pants sorta, kinda, maybe seem to be not as tight. So, the fact that some of the other contestants have an idea of how they are doing makes me nervous but on the other hand maybe its one of those situations where you are better off not knowing.

All this to say that I'm nervous about Thursday's weigh in but not about the changes I've made in my life. It is weird that in this contest, a teammate is going to be eliminated; in most game/survival shows, the team works together to keep each other in the game, to support each other against the other team, this one is a bit backwards...get to know someone, encourage them, sweat and moan and groan with them just to say goodbye to one of them, or if its me, to say goodbye to 4 of them. This is going to be where we show ourselves to the world as Christians, by how we love one another.

So Monday, after the names are announced, I will be back in the gym, eliminated or not, on the blogosphere reading how the others are doing and posting how I am doing.

Apparently Spelling Counts in Workouts

Had a good weekend, very sore today. I meet with our trainer Rocky 2 days in a row, Friday mornings for my 1 on 1 and Saturday mornings with our group. I posted about Friday and my headache already, well Saturday the headache was finally gone and now that I was able to focus, apparently Rocky really doesn't go easy on us LOL! Yet its all good, I feel good now about being sore several hours after a workout, it means my body is still working, burning calories even hours after the workout.

Thursday is our first weigh in and we won't know the results until Monday morning when the rest of the KDUV world finds out. On the way to work this morning, Cari & Dale, were talking about that and how they have to give the bad news, Dale mentioning not to kill the messenger. They were also talking about the blogs and how some of them tended to ramble and had some grammer issues. Well all I can say, is you two need to get pounded by a personal trainer and then come type about it!! It hurts, your fingers hurt, your forearms hurt, you're leaning back in your chair because it takes too much energy to lean forward. You're trying to make a coherent thought but all you can think about is how you're going to make it to the shower and the 5 calories you're going to eat for lunch instead of the 10,000 calorie double double from In & Out(insert circle R). I may not have to kill the messenger, but I can sure make them feel a small piece of my anguish. In the midst of fighting with myself, trying to let God work through me and take care of the temple I've screwed up over the years, I get the grammer police. Well Okay, God can handle that too :)

Welcome to California Dale!

P.S.
The thoughts put down here are not necessarily those of the owner of this blog as he is undergoing the effects of Pepsi withdraw (some of you might understand if you're coffee drinkers or some other love). Just know that he does Love you and is glad you stopped by to read his ramblings...really...he is....honestly!

Headaches Come in different forms

Well over the last week or so, I've been fighting off migraines. I've had them all my life, but can count on one had how many I get in a year, but over the last week its been crazy; I've got a Dr's appointment to ask some serious questions. Anyway, I went to work out with Rocky this morning, headache and all and it was painful- the lights, the noise, the motion, but I fought it out and finished, but I think Rocky was being kind because it just didn't seem like he pushed me that hard- or it could have just been that I was so focused on not banging my head on the weights equipment to kill the pain I just wasn't focused on the workout. Needless to say I didn't make it to work, so I'm at home(late afternoon now) resting up for tomorrow-group workout with Rocky. Come what may I'm gonna push hard.

Only 1 more week and even though people are telling me they can see a difference, I don't, might just be paranoia speaking. I know I will continue this once I am eliminated, if eliminated, but the contest, lets face it, is in all our heads. Its hard not to think about it, but I'm trying- really need to focus on just living better for my family and my students - that's what I got into this for.

I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Mathew 17:20

Start by doing what's necessary;
then do what's possible;
and suddenly you are doing the impossible. - St. Francis of Assisi

The three qualities necessary for training
Great faith. Great doubt. Great effort. - Anonymous

The Gym-It's Not just for Exercise

With my new goal to keep my blogs short..er, here goes. Went to the gym yesterday after work. Tuesdays are hard for me to squeeze gym time in because we have church on Tuesday nights so time is tight - but I used Monday (holiday) as my day of rest and didn't want to miss 2 days in a week - oh and by the way Missy, I agree with you 100% , down time is the hardest-God Bless my wife for stocking sugar free jello and tons of fruit!! Anyway(so much for shorter), I squeezed in a workout yesterday and I saw a friend in there and we got to talking about God as we worked out-which is a a work out in itself for me because there is the obligatory gasping for air between "God is great" and "Amen". Now this is the 2nd or 3rd time this has happened and as I was thinking about it last night, I had to ask myself "how many people around me and my friends heard us talking about Jesus?" So now I have a new addition to my prayer before going to the gym - "Oh gracious and heavenly Father, please don't let me die on the elliptical, or at least not fall off and whack myself with a rotating pedal, but if I do, give me the opportunity to tell someone about You between gasps of breath and whacks of the pedal....Amen"

Rest is good

I thought I was doing good; working out everyday, burning calories, watching what I eat etc. I was sore as I mentioned, and tired, but not so much that I didn't think I was doing well. I've struggled with the eliptical, I just couldn't seem to stay on for any continuous length of time longer than 5 minutes, so a 30 min. workout took 45 min, then of course there was hitting the weights. Then Tuesday came and that's the day of the week for me that if even 1 thing is off schedule, workout isn't going to happen, and guess what? Yep, about 3 things went long or got added and I couldn't work out Tuesday, so I got an unintentional day of rest; so come Wednesday, I'm ready to get back at it so I get on the eliptical and the most amazing thing happened--I did my 15 minute warmup non-stop and I could have kept going!!! It was amazing! Next is Thursday so I go in about 15 minutes earlier than planned because I'm gonna test myself, see how long I can go before rubbery legs and sore knees hit...30 minutes and I can still keep going!! Well of course I don't, I go into the weight training that Rocky (Our Trainer) set up. I had been hitting the eliptical at home also, trying and trying to build that endurance with just no luck, my legs would burn, knees would hurt, lungs would suck in air...then BAM! I'm cranking out a full 30 minute warm-up. God gave us a day of rest for a reason...use it.

I had a couple of people comment to me about the length of my last post so when I have xtra stuff to post, I'll post them in the comment section of the post so you don't have to read them if you don't want to...like this post is an awesome recipe my wife found and made for us...problem was not eating all in one sitting :)

Decisions Decisons

I have a dilema...how often to work out? Right now I'm fired up and want to work out whenever possible, but in the back of my mind I wonder if I do that, will I burn out; so I only work out 1 time a day at the gym for an hour and then do stuff at home...we have an eliptical and a Bowflex (insert circled R here for trademark). What I really want to do is go to the gym 2 times a day but I just fear burning out and then not going at all which would be worse. So at this point, like I said, I'm going 1/day to the gym and doing stuff at home.

The food lifestyle change is going good. Haven't had anything but water in over a week now. Friends and others keep telling me about these things called....oh what was it...oh yeah, "Diet" drinks. Sweet drinks as I think I mentioned previously, are my downfall. Pepsi (another circled R here) especially, and fruit juices (speaking of devious things...you'd think fruit juice would be healthy...I mean in the back of your head you know it really isn't but you grasp at anything to justify eating/drinking something you shouldn't) are really dangerous for me, I should have been in a program for Soda recovery...what I'm trying to say is that I don't even want to drink Diet Pepsi(circle R) or Crystaly Light((R)) etc. because I won't stop at just one, or I'd go back to justifying fruit juice once and then since I know fruit juice isn't really healthy then I can just say "Oh well, I've already blown it might as well go all the way" then you find me in the minute mart with my head under the Pepsi( (R) ) fountain like Pauly Shore drinking Slurppee ( (R) ) in the movie Encino Man. Not pretty.

I'm keeping my calorie count right around 1200/day and I'm going to try that as long as I can, but it's getting harder, the workouts have really boosted my metabolism and I can feel myself getting hungry more often...oh, I guess I should explain. Rocky, the Porterville trainer, has me eating 5 - 7 SMALL meals per day instead of 3 and always, Always, ALWAYS!!! breakfast. I was good about 3 squares/day, but of course they were very large squares. So now I'm eating smaller, healthier meals more often daily example for those that might need a bit of help:
Breakfast ( 7:30): 1/2 cup oatmeal and water 130 calories (can do light oatmeal for 100 cal)
Snack (9:30): 6 oz fat free Yogurt & water 100 calories (there are brands that are 80 cal)
Snack 11:30: 1.3 oz cereal bar & water 130 calories
Lunch 1:00: Turkey sandwich, ( use low carb whole grain bread and read label on turkey)
veggies (1cup) 1 med Orange
& Water 210 calories
Snack 2:30 6 oz Yogurt & water 100 calories
Dinner 6:30 (recipe my wife made not
sure ingredients) but 2, 2 oz hamburger patties (called Oriental Salsibury
steak) Green Salad with vinegreete or Balsamic dressing & water
500 calories

Total Calories for this day 1220

you do this and you keep hunger at bay and you are eating way healthy. And maybe for some people the "Water will fill you up" may be true, but it doesn't keep me from being hungry. This does, eat small and more often...and KEEP A JOURNAL!!! it really does keep you honest; and you need to right everything down...if you have a cracker as you're walking by the counter...write it down! its amazing how fast it adds up.

Anyway, this is where I'm at as of this post...Do more exercise? Drink diet drinks? I'm gonna go with what the Holy Spirit seems to be telling me...Slow and steady wins the race...push where and when you can, but don't burn out, its a long race.

Wow!

The previous post I did from work on a break. After work I went to the gym and as I was checking in here comes Rocky. He asked me how I was doing, what I've been doing at the gym and so I told him the treadmill and the Re-Shape circuit. He said good, but he'd like me on the eliptical instead of the treadmill because it burns more calories for the same amount of time spent...well there is a reason for that...ITS HARDER!!!! 30 minutes on the eliptical ( a post all its own *gasp*) at an rpm, for me, of between 65 and 70....Wow! Then I did go to the Re-Shape circuit and after that, Rocky wanted me to start working on the lat machine...that's the weight machine where you sit on a bench facing the weights and the bar is over your head and you pull down either behind your head to your shoulders or in front down to your chest.

Lets just say it was a much harder workout today, trainer gloves came off, and it was a long, slow, tiring walk back to the truck....but there was a smile on my face...I feel good

Praise God

But it's a dry heat!

Well, I'm a little behind but here we go. I made it to In-Shape on Monday, congested and all and hit the treadmill first. I put in 30 minutes with my heart rate (HR) up around 140 for that fat burning cardio workout. The treadmills are nice at In Shape because you can set it to a cardio workout, plug in your info (weight, age, etc) and it will adjust the incline of the machine to work you harder or easier depending on where your HR is, so you just keep plugging along.

After that, and drinking plenty of water, I went to the Re-Shape circuit. It's a 29 minute workout that has that has strength and cardio intervals, followed by flexibility/stretching training; and what is the importance of each of these you may ask?

• flexibility for fewer aches/pains
• cardiovascular training for increasing energy expenditure
• resistance training for preserving and/or increasing lean muscle tissue

If this is fewer aches and pains, then I'm glad I flex'd. It has only been 4 days but I really can feel a difference - by cutting out sodas and drinking only water, I still have a low energy level but I don't have the dramatic dips, the sudden energy crashes that I used to have, and whether its me tolerating more or making progress (we'll say both), each day I can do just a bit more, push myself a little bit farther than the day before.

I'm still waiting for the intense craving for something sweet, but so far I'm good, and in the past I would have been thinking about it, waiting for it and probably caving into it, but now...not so much. God has always wanted me to take care of this temple but as I said in a previous post, my mind wasn't right; it wasn't ready to submit, now I am ready and I am submitting.

So you may have wondered about the title. Well there is the joke that talks about an area being so hot and we quip, "But its a dry heat"; meaning it could be worse, it could be humid also. Well this is hard, I spent years neglecting my body and its going to take time to repair the damage, but its a good work; so it is hard, but its a good hard!

Slow Start

I've been fighting a cold for the last 4 days but I've been pushing through. Yesterday was our orientation and weigh in for the challenge and today was the first official day of the contest - and I was laid up in bed sick - the cold hit hard. Good news...I got lots of sleep and didn't eat much, bad news I missed the first day of working out :( I will meet with Rocky tomorrow morning, he is the Porterville team's trainer, and he will work out with me and give me what he wants me to work on for the rest of the week. I did work out last night, did some simple cardio so I did get a little tiny exercise. Anyway, it begins tomorrow, I'm a day behind, but I've got to be careful not to push to hard with the goal of making up time, I just have to focus on the day, work out with Rocky in the morning, keep my eating journal, and ask the Holy Spirit, to keep showing me His Love, when I want to feel sorry for myself. Many of you that are reading these blogs, applied to this contest and I owe it to you too, to not focus on what has happened, but to focus on today

Math. 6:34 - "So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Casting Crowns
"God Is With Us"

The skies don't seem to be as dark as usual
The stars seem brighter then they've been before
Deep within I feel my soul a stirring
As though my hope has been restored
The shepherds say they've heard the voice of angels
Confirming rumors spread across the land
That a child protected well from Herod's anger
Is our Father's Son, and the son of man

Love is raining down on the world tonight
There's a presence here I can tell
God is in us, God is for us, God is with us, Emmanuel
He's the Savior we have been praying for
In our humble hearts He will dwell
God is in us, God is for us, God is with us, Emmanuel

I feel compelled to tell all who will listen
That peace on earth is not so out of reach
If we can find grace, mercy and forgiveness
He has come to save, He is all of these

You're the Savior we have been praying for
In our humble hearts You will dwell
You are in us, You are for us, You are with us, Emmanuel

Ummmm....me...without a t-shirt? Really?

Ok this whole, take a before and after picture is cool, I get it, but guys, i.e. me, without a t-shirt is not a good idea. I mean I'm sure there are some FCC regulations about showing that sort of thing, I mean, I don't even think I've seen myself without a shirt in a loooooonnnng time, just turn out the lights, etc. Really KDUV, I'm trying to save you some grief...ok not you so much as me, and not grief so much as embarrassment...ok...ok...I'm trying to save myself some embarassment. T-shirt, it can be somewhat tight *eww* to show unsightly curves in places there shouldn't be curves, but it should be a red t-shirt so when I'm turning red with embarrassment it won't show as much. Ok, fine, whatever..but don't say I didn't warn you...and parents, make sure your kids are not in the room....for their own safety, I don't want to be the guy that scars them...I mean talk about poking out your minds eye...

Still Waiting

Well I've had the weekend to absorb and contemplate what will officially start on Feb. 1 - the KDUV In-Shape Challenge. I say officially because I have actually started warming up now by, using the quote from the movie "Cool Hand Luke", "getting my mind right". I've started getting mentally and, I hope physically, somewhat prepared for what the next several months have in store and what that will do to jump start the rest of my life. I've begun by looking at my portion sizes and asking myself, "do you really need that much Scott, or do you just feel bad for the parts of the plate that have nothing to do?" My biggest downfall is soda, specifically Pepsi, so I've switched to diet *shiver* (I'm sure I'll come to like it -in time) and consciously make myself drink more water, lots of water. I've started walking with my wife around the neighborhood after work, so that hopefully the initial workout soreness that is inevitable will be lessened; I have no dillusions that I won't have any, so I'm just getting ready.
I know a couple of my Porterville teammates so that's exciting and can't wait to meet the rest of them. Its going to be fun encouraging each other and rooting on all the contestants that have committed themselves to improving the quality of our lives.

Scott

Day 1 - Waiting

Well, here is my first blog entry. The contestants have been announced on KDUV's In-Shape challenge and I have been selected to participate in this prestigious event. Hi, my name is Scott Unser and I live in Porterville, which makes it convenient that I was selected for the Porterville Team. I am a Special Education teacher, working with students who are severely handicapped and I work for the Tulare County Office of Education, and have for the last 19 years. I'm married to the bestest wife in the world, we just celebrated 16 years of a fantabulous life together. We have a 15 year old daughter who is a freshman in high school.
I applied for this challenge not only to lose weight, but to get healthy. Like many people, I tried the diets even though I knew that it would only be temporary, that they wouldn't create a lifestyle change, and I knew....I knew that's what had to happen. That's what this Challenge is for me, a jump start to a lifestyle change so that my wife and I can have a long, long, long fantabulous marriage, that my active daughter can have a dad that can keep up, and that my kids at school have an upbeat, happy and healthy teacher. I feel tired quite a bit and that gets taken into other aspects of my life, and its not fair to the other people in my life and its time for me to stop being selfish.
So I covet your prayers as I will be praying for all of the other contestants.

Scott