Jason and I picked up a set of racketball rackets and hit the court last night. Not an ounce of knowledge about the rules, just a ball in hand and a confined space to hit that sucker as hard as we could hahahaha. It was pretty fun, and a great workout! Its been a long time since I’ve worked up that much of a sweat and been out of breathe from running around.

I’m sure if anyone was watching through the window they got a good laugh. As we finished up our hour and dropped the rackets at the front desk the guy tells us he has instructions if we want them! hahahah So we reserved the court for tonight and will be making a repeat with rules this time lol.

Weight loss is still on track, i’m less than 10lbs away from my target of 175. Still gotta get rid of this damned birch belly, but I’m working on it!

Skydiving has taken center stage during my weekends (and some week days, hehe). I got cleared to coach jumps so I get to jump with Darin, can’t wait should be a blast! I hope we get to jump together before the season winds down completely I’ve made 2 jumps out of the cessna, much better exit the 2nd time! My right of passage was completely fullfilled on my first cessna exit, completely screwing up the exit putting myself into a spin that my instructor had to fix, d’oh! Much happier with my 2nd cessna exit, but I was still nervous as hell in the door as a fellow skydiver noted that was on that load with me hahaha.

We are putting together a tandem day for “Coworkers & Friends” for next season! A few people I work with are actually very interested in at least a tandem skydive! I’m shocked at who stepped up to the plate with little to no coercion. I think we’ve got 4 people lined up and possibly more on the way. It would probably be late May or early June. If you want to come share the sky with us let me know! Even if you don’t want to jump you are more than welcome to hang out on the ground and enjoy the fun!

Tags: exercise, skydiving

Ya so I haven’t kept up with posting about weight loss on a weekly schedule, oh well, been too busy skydiving!

So I’m down to 190 lbs, 53 total pounds have been shed. I am very happy with the progress. I haven’t been getting to the gym as much lately because of either skydiving or work. My goal is to get somewhere around 175, so I’m almost there.

People at work who haven’t seen me since I started loosing weight are taken by complete surprise, almost not recognizing me, hehe. Having to get all new clothes and actually dress somewhat nice probably didn’t help either.

Here’s hoping for blue skies for as long as possible this season!

Tags: diet, exercise, skydiving

Guess I missed last week’s entry, been too busy (in a good way). Let’s see, I’ve lost 33 pounds, bought some smaller clothing, and have been spending even more time away from the TV

I’ve missed a day here or there at the gym, but nothing too bad. We missed a fair amount of walking days but got back on that horse. We played tennis yesterday morning. It was a blast but I don’t think going to the high school courts is a good idea in the morning. Way too much traffic and they have gym class early in the morning, what gives with that! It was ok though, we got enough time in to have fun, and besides they need the practice more than us hahaha!

I’ve been spending more time at the DZ, taking lots of pics, having a blast! It’s great spending time outside away from computers and mindless TV. Just gotta remember the sun block next time hehe

Tags: diet, exercise

Time flies when you’re not spending it eating out and sitting on the couch all the time. I’ve been on the diet and exercise plan for 4 weeks now and have lost a total of 26 pounds!

I set out to accomplish one of my goals last weekend - reclaim the summit of Mount Ascutney. Check out the previous post for details, great time.

Recovery from the hike is coming along. My calf muscles are still a little tight but I got back to the gym last night and was able to run around the basketball court a little. Got back out walking again today also, but I couldn’t do my last section speed up like I normally do. It’s going uphill and my calves were not quite ready for that yet. The sore spots on my palms from the trekking poles are still visable but don’t hurt anymore, next time gotta pick up some gloves for the descent.

Good news… my right knee is almost back to normal, very happy not to see any swelling or bruising so I don’t think I damaged anything.

Surprisingly my back doesn’t hurt at all, and my knees and thighs aren’t bad either. Trekking poles did their job!

This weekend have some activities planned including a huge party at an old co-workers house. Will be nice seeing a lot of faces I haven’t seen for some time. Just gotta watch what I eat

Tags: diet, exercise, hiking

I am very happy with myself, I made it to the summit of Mount Ascutney. And no I didn’t cheat and drive all the way up, I hiked the entire Windsor trail up and down. All the new gear gets an A+, except for hiking shoes, they weren’t the best, but they got the job done. The Trekking Poles were awesome! I’ve always just used a branch in the woods as a walking stick, but what a difference dual carbon fiber poles make! I honestly don’t think I would have made it up or down without them. Once you get into a good rhythm they take a lot of pressure off your legs and back. And they help you scoot along a little faster. Think cross country skis with the ‘push-off’ affect of planting the pole behind your step and pushing it back. Puts a little extra umph in your step. And coming down the mountain they are invaluable. You can push a faster than normal pace, great for balance and control, and they save your knees.

Also was hiking with a new backpack the Osprey Stratos 24 with a 100oz bladder insert. First time I have ever used a bladder hydration system. Works pretty darn well, the night before fill it half way and freeze it, on the way to the entry once it thaws a little fill it up the rest of the way with water. Gives you nice cold water for a long time as it melts. I think next time I need to lighten the load, without water it was a 18lb pack job. With full water it was 25lbs. My shoulders felt that a little at the end of the day. But overall a very comfy backpack with great support and a cool ‘air’ chamber to help ventilate your back. I never felt like my back was really sweaty and overheating. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: exercise, hiking

I’ve been on the diet for 3 weeks now, lost a total of 20 pounds so far! I’m pretty happy so far. I fear when end-of-release cycle hits again at work, I know I’ll start missing gym days Gyming is getting better, I think I have learned to compensate for my weaker right arm and am slowly going up in weights.

And no I will never push leg day so hard that I have to puke, no matter who or how many people say that is the goal. I do not subscribe to the philosophy of any action that results in that reaction, period.

We gave tennis a shot a few days ago and discovered a few things… 1) it is a great cardio workout without it feeling like a workout, 2) we both really suck at tennis, and 3) we had at blast! We’ve got to start adding that to the rotation of activities hehe

Last 2 days my back has started to act up a little, it’s the first time since I started exercising. It doesn’t ‘hurt’ it just has a slight ache to it, like it needs to be cracked and just won’t. It didn’t stop me from exercising last night, I just had to take it a little easy and make sure I didn’t push it to hard. That and being exhausted from a little sleep deprivation didn’t help the matter.

Diets still going great, having a half a cow in the freezer helps! We’ve had some of the lower quality cuts recently. These are cuts I usually wouldn’t buy from the store, but fresh from our cow they still taste fine.

Tags: diet, exercise

Well one week is in the bag since I started the diet and exercising. I’ve lost 10 pounds and 2 inches on my waist. I’m pretty happy so far. I’m still getting up early and walking with Jay, going to the gym every night.

I haven’t really had any cravings, but I’ve got to start experimenting with some new recipes to get some variety in my foods. Maybe I’ll try one of those BBQ sauce recipes. I need some type of condiment to compliment my meals, only so many plain hamburger patties can be consumed with nothing on them before they start to get boring hehe

I found a Jicama at a larger Hannaford a few exists away, still gotta cook that bad boy up and see how it tastes, maybe I’ll do that tonight.

It is a strange feeling for me to be going to bed before midnight and waking up while there is still morning dew covering the lawn. I haven’t woken up early like this since I was in charge of opening the computer labs in the morning at high school haha. Oh the good ol’ days of running the Mac Lab

Well here’s hoping the diet and exercising continues at a good pace!

Tags: diet, exercise

Well the first day of the new ‘lifestyle’ went fine, gym workout was good - arms and back. We were hoping to see someone get litup by lightening but the storm didn’t develop, hehe

I’m transitioning myself to go to bed earlier and wake up earlier, big change for me! I usually work a later schedule so I miss traffic. Then I get sucked into watching episode after episode of TNG. Hopefully I’ll start getting up early enough to start going on walks before heading to work.

And what happens today at work? They decide to throw an ice cream celebration party! I wonder if my hard boiled egg crushed in a bowl would pass as icecream haha

Tags: diet, exercise

I guess it was inevitable that one day I would wake up and decide I had to get over my distaste for the common vegetable and start down the road of getting into shape. Well the day has come and indeed I turned a new leaf today.  I will be putting my own strength and perseverance to the test.

I have in the past few years gone through periods of getting rid of something unhealthy that I consumed too much of, with soda high on that list, but I never really stuck to it. Like many American children I got hooked on soda at a young age and the consumption rate only grew. So I would go on these few month spats where I would slowly move away from soda to energy drinks (gatorade/vitamin water) then eventually to only drinking water. Then once I was down to water I would try to cut down on my sugar intake, yes I have a horrible sweat tooth.

Well this time around I said what the heck, why not go the extra step and make it official… go on a diet and add exercising to the menu. I’ve never really been a workout geek so this will be a new experience in more than one way

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: diet, exercise