Day 302 - Nieces Don't Stop

Nieces, I have a bunch of them. One of them, Taylor, stayed with us yesterday and today. She is 4-1/2 and has more energy than anyone I've been around for a long time. A good decade since our youngest was her age. She doesn't like to sit alone, actually sitting is not much on her mind, ever. 

Today we she helped me make waffles and bacon, both pork & venison (pictured above). She was disappointed we didn't have any bear bacon like they do at her house.

After breakfast we went to get her Aunt's car washed. They have some nice chairs there in the waiting room. She found this one comfortable for 4 seconds...

A dollar was put to the test on the Skill-Crane game. She really wanted that blue bear and we got two plays for a dollar, both unsuccessful...

Back at home and it is time to relax, write a blog post, etc. right? Wrong, it is time to play with stuffed animals. She had to know allof their names. The white-rabbit didn't have a name tag, but it's label said made-in-china so I named it Chop Suey for her; yeah I know, not very politically correct...

And just when I thought it might be time for a nap, it was instead time to dance...



Right now she is watching a blu-ray about some dragons and naming them versus killing them, I don't know. But what I do know is that she is standing up or bouncing around the family room while watching.

She leaves soon to go back home. She says she is having fun spending time with us, She also says I fart too much. Nieces!



Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 301 - Plunk Plink Plank

Time for another go at the Plank Challenge. Well before I chatter a bit about me, I know some of you have taken up the challenge and recorded your own plank. Christine from Phoenix Revolution did a few days ago. She held a outstanding 2:05 minute plank... she had help getting started from her cat; not sure the cats name so allow me to nickname it Citizen-Whiskers. Click on that link up there and watch her get her plank on!

Josie aka Yum Yucky (pictured taste testing some cake for us) continues to host this fine challenge. Even though she thinks that V8 Spicy Hot is hotter than the flames of hell, I find it tame and I main-line the stuff; Josie is a must-follow in my book.


I 'm not sure how long this challenge will have my attention but for now I have a somewhat obsessive-determination to put up a better number each time I make a go at it. Now that doesn't always happen. Earlier this week I made a go at it and only lasted about 1:20 on my straight-arm plank. A good distance short of the 2 minute plank I shared with you last week.

Not to be defeated twice in a row, I swilled an extra bottle of V8 Spicy Hot and had at it yesterday.
Would I break 2 minutes? Lets see... 


Well I guess the title I labeled that video with gave away the result before you watched it. You did watch it didn't you?!

Some how the magnitude of difficulty of this exercise doesn't seem to translate well in watching me do it; my opinion. Watching others, like Christine, you can get a much better appreciation for why something that looks easy, is in fact a gut-busting side-splitting challenge.

And certainly I need not say it must be easier on the eyes to watch others plank than to watch me. Why I still wear those 3XL-Extra Saggy Gray Sweat Pants I have no idea. They were loose when I was a bloated 320-pounder, hence why I wore them. Now at 250'ish I look like a fashion-impaired clown in them. Clown or not, I ask...

Whats Your Plank Time?


Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 298 - Breathe, Breathe I Say

source

Excellent excellent excellent responses to yesterdays fill in the blank post.
Some serious, e.g. M/W/F 40 MINUTE ELLIPTICAL WORKOUTS...
Some hilarious, e.g. challenge myself to try trapping cupids until leprechauns become available...
Some odd, e.g. when I stumble from plan I will immediately poke myself with one of those toothpicks...
Some creative, e.g. take the odd sock & make show booties for my dog out of it...
All just excellent!

Myself, I never did fill in the blanks myself. Let me do that now...
This week my eating plan contains a F/C/P nutrient mix of 25% / 25% / 50% with no more than 2000 calories a day.
This week I will take a box of toothpicks and dump them in the desk drawer of my cubical neighbor; he has been getting on my nerves.
This week my exercise will consist of 3x Cardio, 3x Weights & Stretching with each of those six.
This week when I stumble from plan I will go to Lose It and figure out why, and if I can't  I will borrow one of Julie's toothpicks and poke myself.
This week I will take that odd-sock from the laundry and send it to MandaPanda so she can make a whole family of sock puppets (all of you should send her your odd socks too).
This week I will challenge myself to balance my ME time with my FAMILY time & BLOG time; not always so easy.
This week I imagine myself punching the snot out of that dude that farted in front of me while climbing the stairs. Seriously man, back off the broccoli bean casserole and tighten that sphincter! 

If you didn't get in on the fun that was yesterdays fill in the blanks post by all means do so now, good fun and also meant to be a nudge to plan your weeks success out.

So, the title of this post is breathe something or other, why, because I thought you might want to hear me breathe heavy. Focus, don't let your minds stray towards unsavory thoughts, just listen...



So why did I share this? An acceptable answer is 'because I have a screw loose'. But as well I have been told I breathe too heavy when I work out. Really, can you breathe too heavy? Those wight lifting veterans out there please do let me know if I need to dial down the force of the hurricane that is my breathing.

Have fun today & remember to Breathe!  

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 292 - Come On, Out Plank Me Already!!

Snow, yes, we have allot of snow. Schools are closed, my wife & I are working from home, winter can kiss my round yet knavish hindquarters...

Moving on... last week I spread the news of Josie's (Yum Yucky) plank challenge known as The Planktastic Plankathon Challenge. Hit up her link there and check it our if you have not yet done so and enjoy the videos of the challengers taking on this tough yet fun exercise.

Myself, I made a go at it on Saturday and chose to do the Straight-arm plank hold, I did better than I expected by holding position for 90-seconds. Josie was cool enough to include my video on her page (link above). She surprised me when she noted that I was current male challenge champ for that hold.

Huh, over-weight / weak-core me is the champ? Never would have guessed that.

Pondering that I figured the male bloggers out there who follow Yum Yucky just haven't participated. Oh some have in different categories; Reinaldo of DarnFitness put up an insane 6 minute Forearm plank hold.

Quite a few female bloggers have taken up the challenge in various categories, again check out her blog to see them in action. There are even some doing slightly easier holds such as the knee plank or the assisted plank. My fave, 88-year-old MamaMcFoodie getting her forearm plank hold on! Her video alone is worth the visit!

But I am sure that is just a matter of time until other male bloggers play along with Josie. But until they do, I suppose I have to challenge myself to up the time in this grueling category.

And I did just that. Here is my effort Tuesday afternoon, I nudged the time up to 2 minutes!...


What it is about this challenge I like I am not sure. Perhaps because it is quick to do; a minute or two or a few is all it takes if you've got game. Perhaps it is because I realize my core is weak and this does wonders for addressing that. Perhaps it is because I like feeling my whole body quiver and quake and know it is not a bad thing. Perhaps because I find it FUN!

Now, ENOUGH about me. What about YOU?

I am CALLING out my fellow male bloggers, you got game?

No way 2 minutes should be the championship mark men!

Female bloggers, many of you inspire me to move, so I know you got game!

Pick a category, get your video going and get in the fun being had here if you deem yourself healthy enough to take this challenge.

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 285 - Oops, I Did It Again...

So sorry for any of you that came here looking for some Britney Spears love. If you want that go HERE.

Recall last week I brought you this peek into my workout.

So, I was on a roll this past Monday and had another such moment and shot this for you...


Now was that not the best 79 minutes of entertainment no money could buy or what?

Hit me up with any chuckles, comments on form, the music in the background that I didn't realize would come over so loud, or referrals to a basement remodeler.

Yesterday was cardio day, me and the elliptical got busy!

Today is a day of rest, whew.

Food this week has been good

A few have asked, my next weigh-in is this coming Sunday; first in 3-weeks hopeful for great numbers.

How is your week going?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 201 - My Endurance Video

Fruit Count: 73 - We have collectively eaten 73 pieces of fruit the past two days. Nearing 1/2-way to our goal of 199. Let's keep eating fruit people, it's good food for you; shout out how many pieces you eat today!

Our picture riddle was a good one if I may say so. Anne our Carb Tripper came right out of the gate with a great guess; a ceramic cow moo moo pitcher that pours cream. Now I have seen such a thing, and not just pouring cream. I wish I had one (Ok not really, don't add that to my list for Santa please) for if I had that would've made a great pic-riddle.

Dawn of Fixing Myself Thinner was first to touch on what it is with her guess of 'plastic horse toy or something'. Ann who is Livin' Large immediately followed up with her guess of  'a chess piece'. Then not long after that yet another Anne, Anne of How I am Losing It finished off the completeness of our riddle with her guess of 'a Knight from a chess set'. As you see there, that is indeed what it is. Good Fun. Well done!

Yesterday I got in my second of two committed cardio sessions for this week. My son & I returned to Lake Andrea where I set a challenge for this visit of jogging 1 mile of it's 2.25 mile loop. Not 1 mile consciously, that would be nice, but I am not there yet. Previous visits I jogged .85 of a mile, so I was looking for a slight challenge up for me to make it a mile.

Different from those previous attempts as well was the length of the jogs. Before, most legs were .125 miles; now for this challenge I mapped out four .25 legs; thank you Google Earth. As well as actually completing those four .25 mile jogging legs without stopping (my primary challenge here) was the added challenge to try and complete the loop in less than 29:32, my previous best. Here is the course I mapped out...

Away we went and the skinny on our result is this...

• The four .25 mile jogs: Achieved, all four loops jogged without stopping!
• The loop time: We completed the loop in 29:46 minutes, oh so close but no PR (Personal Record) today.Oh Yeah!

Andrew ran ahead of me at the end of the loop & took a short video of me finishing. Enjoy at my expense ;-)

The heavy breathing you hear is him, the cold air tickled his asthma. The heavy dude in black coming towards you, that's me. As I neared the line & saw him shooting I let out what was supposed to be a laugh but instead sounded like a goat giving birth to a pregnant-moose; a moment to visualize... I also blurted out 'Enough' although I am not sure why. Probably glad the the end was achieved. I'll give myself an Oh Yeah!

Endurance, that is the word for the day. This trait to me speaks to the ability to overcome the stress and fatigue that can come with the effort needed to be better than obese over the span of a lifetime. Sure, it applies to smaller spans too, such as my Lake Andrea challenge there. I've had to build up my endurance to be able to do that. Six months ago, no way. Eating better and Exercising better allowed that to happen. Now six months from now, whether I just maintain what I have now or improve my ability to do better; either way I'll have to endure the effort needed to do so. If I stop putting in the effort, then my endurance recedes and I recede back towards greater obesity. That's not going to happen.

Quickly, this post is way too long already; but here is yesterday's food intake...

Note to self; the "Red Robin Fajita Fiesta Pollo Salad" that appeared to be healthy and which was my dinner actually accounted for 910 (F54, C57, P49) of those calories; ugh! I should've known better, and I do.

Give me your FRUIT and give me your latest OhYeah! moment!

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 159 - My First VLog

Out of no where as I was wrapping up typing this post I got the notion to try a vlog. So, at the end of the post there you see a video of me rambling on for 8-9 minutes. Much of what I wrote here is in that video, and there are a few tidbits in the video not in the post. So if you have the time, give it a look, let me know what you think. Sound and picture quality Ok? Just used a basic digital camera, no fancy equipment. Hope you enjoy, it was fun to record, play back and stick in this post. Now on to the post itself...

Seems like this week I have been slowly catching up on news from last week which I didn't get around to bloggin about. So here is another tidbit from last Friday...

Finally we closed on the purchase of hunting land in west-central Wisconsin; that picture there is an aerial view of the the general area we bought. Doesn't look like much, but it is a haven for deer & turkey.

We've been working on this deal for about five months now. HERE I blogged about it way back on day 28 when we started exploring the purchase. Two & a half weeks from now we will be up there for the youth hunt, can't wait to get the kids set up and watch them fill the freezer. Us adults get our turn the following weekend and then there will be four more open seasons in November through early January.

Lots of good cardio opportunities await me in walking up and down the hills of that land. Climbing up and down tree stands. And hopefully hauling hundreds of pounds worth of deer away.

All went well yesterday with the surgeon and the removal of more tissue from my cheek. So just healing to be done now on that topic. Here is a pic of the sport new face bandage, just a mess of steri-strips. Twice as many of them as the first go-around. Probably twice as hard to keep it all from getting wet too...

Walking, walking, walking is what is in store for me for exercise this next week. With the changing seasons the weather is very comfortable so I have zero issues getting out there and burning some calories by foot.

The weekend is fast approaching folks, are you getting plans for fun and health together for it?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!