Time for a "gut check" on my Goals

So in January, I laid out some goals for this year. I felt it was time to 'come clean' with my progress, re-assess, and re-commit for the last six months of this year.

Losing another 50 pounds

Well, gotta be honest on this one. I have lost and regained, and lost and regained the same 5-10 pounds all year long. Partly due to doing a little too much snacking and a few too many splurges (mostly during lunches with my office mates). My meals at home are great, but I really have to stop the snacking.

Other players here are my training and race schedules. I do need to eat to maintain the energy levels necessary to run 20-30 miles every week. If I don't nourish my body, it will not perform and I increase the potential for injury. People have told me that it is hard to lose weight and train for marathons. I am beginning to see their rationale.

Lastly, my body is accustomed to my running regimen. It is becoming more efficient in handling the demands I am placing upon it during running. That is a good thing. But it also means that I have to really start 'changing up' my workouts in order to 'shake up' the body into working harder. I plan to use cross-training to accomplish this.

I do not believe in the time remaining this year, with my race schedule as it is, that I will achieve a 50-pound loss in 2012. But I would at least like to see 20-25 pounds of it gone.

Maintaining a healthy, active lifestyle

On this score, I am doing a great job! I said that this would be the year of the Half Marathon. And to date, I have run four Half Marathons, and I have four more left to run, plus a 20-mile race. I qualified for membership in the Half Fanatics running club which was another goal I achieved in January.

I walked the AVON Walk for Breast Cancer and had a phenomenal experience! I raised $2500 for the cause, walking a total of 39.3 miles (a full marathon and a half marathon distance) in two days in early June. I cannot even begin to express how amazing that weekend was. I wrote up some thoughts on my Healthy Living blog if you are curious.

Lastly, I did register for the Chicago Marathon this October and have been busy training for this event. This will be my first 'running' Full Marathon. I am very excited and nervous about this one. But I will be prepared! I have run 11 races so far in 2012, and have another eight remaining including the Chicago Marathon.

Read the entire Bible

I began this journey but in recent months have allowed this to slip behind. I have been maintaining a spiritual discipline in other ways, listening to sermons and spiritual podcasts as well as keeping current on issues that will be discussed at our Episcopal General Convention starting July 3rd.

But nonetheless, I need to get back to the Bible and finish what I started. Reading the Bible can be enlightening and rewarding, and sometime a bit confusing. It was not laid out to be read 'in sequence'. That is why we have what's called a "Lectionary" to help put the readings in a chronological sequence that follows the Church Year (I hear those readings at church on Sundays).

Learn a new skill

I have decided to learn more about the Java programming language, specifically in relation to web development. This has become even more significant given the recent developments with Oracle and their 'ownership' of Java and what ripple-effects that is having on the development community.

So, there you have it. I will touch base again on my goals later in the year and see if my progress is continuing.

Opportunities and Goals for 2012

It is the year 2012, and it has started off with a bang. On January 4th, my wife and son and I traveled to Orlando,Florida for the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend. The last time we visited the House of Mouse was in 2007, when we went during the Labor Day weekend. This time, we were going for a purpose: so that I could compete in my first Half Marathon!

The experience was truly inspiring! Being out there running with 27,000 others in the Half Marathon, and running the 5K race with my son and 8000 other runners, was an emotional event that I will never forget. The fact that I ran my first Half Marathon was a big part of it. But also, meeting new friends, running mates, and members of the W.I.S.H. Racing Team (We're Inspired to Stay Healthy) made the whole weekend that much more enjoyable for me and my family. Needless to say, I plan to return to Disney World in 2013 to compete in all three races -- the 5K, Half Marathon, and Full Marathon. If I can do that, I will come home with four Disney medals for the effort.

For a more detailed report of my Disney experience, visit my Healthy Living blog site and read the posting about it.

After returning to the 'real world' of Illinois, I have been thinking about the past year and what this year might bring. I have been thinking about what I would like to accomplish in 2012, and I have come up with several.

Lose another 50 pounds

In 2011, my weight loss efforts continued, bringing my total weight loss since May 2010 to over 110 pounds. This was very rewarding for me, seeing my shirt size go from a 4XL to just XL, my pants size go from a 58 to 44, and now being able to fit into clothes previously too small for me. I have given away tons of clothes to Good Will that are now way too big for me.

But, I am not done yet! My weight target is 190 pounds. I have 50 more pounds to lose and my goal is to lose them in 2012! The past few months have seen my weight loss stabilize -- no gaining but no losing either. I believe part of this is the result of my training for the Half Marathon, but another part of it is that I have become more lax in my tracking of what I eat.

So 2012, I re-dedicate myself to following my Weight Watchers PointsPLUS program more carefully, continue to eat healthy foods, and lose these last pounds.

Maintaining a healthy, active lifestyle

This will be the year of the Half Marathon! I ran my first on January 7th at Disney. My second will be on January 21st, when I run the Polar Dash down Lake Shore Drive in Chicago where it will be well below freezing and lots of fresh snow on the ground. After that, I have three other Half Marathons scheduled between April and September. I also have three 5Ks (one was completed on January 6th) and one 10 Mile race scheduled.

In June, I will be participating in the AVON Walk for Breast Cancer Research. This is a two-day event where the first day is a 26.2 mile walk, followed by a 13.1 mile walk the following day. I will be doing this to raise awareness and funds to help in the fight to find a cure for this terrible disease that affects both men and women alike. More on this soon. I hope I can count on your support to help me in this fight!

My biggest athletic challenge for 2012 will be my first Full Marathon: The Chicago Marathon in October! I am very excited and intimidated by this one. I am putting together my training plan for this race now, so that I will be prepared.

Other than running and walking, I will also be working out at my health club, doing some biking and swimming and strength training. Not only do I want to lose weight, I want to build more lean muscle mass, strengthen my core, and make sure that I am losing fat, not muscle. I want to be a lean mean fighting machine!

Read the entire Bible

I want to improve my Bible literacy this year by reading the entire Bible over the course of this calendar year. More importantly, I want to study the Bible more this year, finding out more about God's purpose for our lives and how His Word can both convict and encourage me to live a life worthy of the sacrifice that Jesus made for me on the Cross.

Learn a new skill

No one knows everything. I want to learn something new this year. Right now, I do not know what that might be. But I am going to keep my eyes open adn when the opportunity arises, I am going to grab on with both hands. He who stops learning, stops living!

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So, I guess that is it. These are my goals for the new year. What goals are you shooting for? If you haven't thought about it, then now is the time. What do you want? What do you value? How can you improve yourself, your life

Here is hoping that you have a wonderful and prosperous 2012!

My Reflections as 2011 comes to a close

Wow! Did you think I had been totally absent for the past 4 months? I am not surprised. It seems like after the Mission Trip I took down south for Katrina Relief work, and the Chciago Comic Con, I just dropped off the face of the publishing world.

But alas, it is just that with life being so busy, and with so much of my free time being taken up with my training for my upcoming Half Marathon race at Disney World next Saturday, I have only had time to post on my Healthy Living/Running blog. I am afraid this poor blog has paid the price. For this, I truly apologize. I will aim to do better in 2012.

But to keep things in perspective, I really have done pretty well as far as blogging in 2011. In fact, as I look back upon 2011, I think the year has been pretty positive and I have done pretty well on the resolutions I published here at the beginning of the year. So here is my final review of my resolutions.

Lose another 75 pounds

This has been a great year health-wise for me. I lost a total of 55 pounds in 2011, bringing my total weight loss since beginning my journey to 112. In the past two months, my weight has stablized due in part because of gaining more muscle mass while losing fat. I determine this because while my weight is staying the same, i am still losing inches off my waist, hips, and arms. So it is all good. I did not reach my 75 pound goal but I consider 55 a significant achievement and will place this in the "win" column!

Make exercise part of the regular routine

On this score, I have to say "Boo-yaa!" Since the beginning of 2011, I have been walking, running, biking, strength training, and swimming. I have allocated from 3-4 days each week to these activities and to great effect. I took up running in April, and since then I have run over 730 miles, run in 13 different races, logged over 150 'foot' hours, and burned over 108,000 calories in the process. I have over 188 exercise sessions in my logbook for this year! My first week in 2012 will include my first Half Marathon race so I have no intention of slowing down! Yet another resolution in the "win" column!

Post a blog each week

When I posted this resolution, I only had one blog. Now I have two! In 2010, I posted nothing on my blog. In 2011, I have made 25 posts to this blog and 72 postings to my Healthy Living blog. That's a total of 97 posts for 2011 which is far more than one posting per week! Score another in the "win" column!

Improve my spiritual discipline

This is an area where I feel I can always improve. I was very active in the first part of 2011 with my Cursillo Reunion Group, meeting with the group or another Cursillista on a weekly basis. I participated in a Christian Journey study group at church which met monthly to discuss and support one another on our journey towards a better understanding of what God is calling us to do.

In the Fall, I started teaching the high school Christian Formation class at church on Sunday mornings. This has been really rewarding for me, and hopefully the youth who have been attending feel the same. I want to do more with the kids next year, adding activities and other events outside of Sunday morning. And I spent more time this year studying the Bible, and working with the youth of our Diocese on retreats, mission trips, and other church-based activities.

To conclude 2011:

This has been a fun year! Getting more healthy, losing weight, gaining strength and endurance, learning how to 'run' and doing these races (race reports are on my Healthy Living blog), and doing a lot of things with my Youth Ministry work. I also was able to attend the Chicago Comic-Con, the Episcopal Youth Event, and had fun with new techie gadgetry. And let's not forget having the awesome opportunity to play a cameo role -- in full Klingon costume and makeup -- in this year's production of "A Klingon Christmas Carol"!

In the next post, I will share with you my thoughts about goals for 2012!

2011 Resolutions -- A Progress Report

Well, it has been eight months since I first posted my goals for 2011 (I hate the word 'resolutions'). So I thought this would be a good time to post my progress on those goals as a way of making myself accountable to you for how things are going.

Lose another 75 pounds

Since the beginning of 2011, I have lost a total of 47.5 pounds, and if I continue with this pace, I will be on track to reach the goal of 75 by the end of the year. In fact, as of this posting I have lost over 102 pounds since May 2010 (when I first started my weight loss journey).

I am very pleased and excited about this achievement! It feels great to be so much lighter! Just this year I have gone from a size 3XL to XL in my shirt size and have donated a ton of clothes because they are TOO BIG for me now!

Make exercise part of the regular routine

This goal has truly been accomplished! I have been working out at LifeTime Fitness since the beginning of January and at this point, exercise is now a major part of my weekly life. I work out a minimum of three days each week for at least an hour each time. I do both strength training and cardio workouts each week.

In March, I added running to my exercise regimen. I have run in four 5K races thus far and each time, my finishing time has improved significantly. I have a 10K race scheduled in 10 days, and I have five more races scheduled for the remainder of the calendar year, including one 15K race in November. In January 2012, I will be running my first Half Marathon at Disney World!! It is safe to say that running has become a new and enduring part of my life and I really love it!

Post a blog entry each week

By the 'letter' of the goal, I have met this goal. But that is not to say I have been lax in my blogging for 2011. I am happy to say that I have posted more entries this year (21) than I did in 2009 (and I posted nothing back in 2010). And I have been doing some podcasting this year as well which has been fun.

I created a new blog this year around Easter to chronicle my health and fitness (and running) journey and have posted 31 entries there already! You can follow it online here.

So for total posting activity, I feel good about being much more intentional about my online communications.

Improve my spiritual discipline

The major focus of this year has been more intentional prayer. Feeling the need to be closer to God has been more prevalent this year for some reason. So talking to God while on my runs, or commuting, or while preparing for my monthly adult study gathering has been awesome. I really felt connected during the last Happening retreat weekend and the recent Mission Trip to Mississippi.

I still need to do some more 'study' and reading of The Word. As I continue to prepare for my high school Christian Formation class (I am teaching it this fall), I look forward to being more immersed in Scripture as I work to bring His Word to the youth in my church.

SO......

There you have it. I feel very good about this year and the accomplishments I have made thus far. There is still a lot of work ahead of me, but with perseverance, God's help, and the support of all my friends and family, I am confident that I can keep this momentum going and continue moving forward.

Moving forward with my weight loss goals

It all started last May when I decided to lose all the weight that I have been slowly gaining over the past five years. I was tired of looking at myself in photographs on Facebook because they made me feel like I needed to purchase a bigger digital display just to see the entire photo!

I met with a Registered Dietician several times, talking about my eating habits, what I like and did not like to eat, and what I needed to change. Then he and I worked out a strategy and a plan for what I should be eating for good nutrition, how to count my daily nutritional consumption (and what those numbers should be), and what is considered an appropriate 'portion' by normal (not American) standards.

I also decided to go back to what works; I went back to Weight Watchers. This time, I went to their 'At Work' program where the weekly meetings take place at your office and your support group are people with whom you work. It was the most convenient solution I could think of.

From May to December, I lost 50 pounds! Just by eating more intelligently, making better food and portion choices, and pretty much giving up fast food and sodas (drinking mostly water, iced tea, and an occasional Coke Zero).

Starting this year, I started working out at a local fitness center. I do both cardio (treadmill & biking) and strength training workouts and go at least five times a week. It is really making a difference in my endurance, strength, and my self image too. This week, I started a new program called Team Weight Loss which is a cardio program focused on weight loss and nutrition with a group of like-minded people. It is a challenge but it is kinda fun and the people are nice.

I am expecting good things from all this work! To date, I have lost almost 75 pounds. Very exciting progress, right? I am about halfway to my goal so I have to keep things interesting so I can stay motivated.

Then I joined their 90-day Challenge, where you weigh in at the start and then are weighed again at the end. There are prizes for the biggest 'losers'. But the two big cool things with this are 1) there are two 5K races I get to walk/run, and 2) twice each week I get to do any of their classes for free. I plan to take advantage of that deal!

In fact, I am doing a total of three 5K races. Two with the Challenge (in April and July), and a third sponsored by Weight Watchers in May. Hopefully I will survive -- I have never done a real 5K before. Hopefully, fast walking 5K on the Treadmill for several months has prepped me for this...

My bottom line goal is to lose another 75 pounds by this time next year and then to keep the weight off. I am going to be a lean, mean, fighting machine!

It is going to be hard work but it is so worth it! Pray for me! :)

Resolutions for 2011

Let me first state that I do not believe in New Years Resolutions. Usually they are not well conceived, frequently ignored after January, and are frequently negative rather than positive.

And, I guess I just don't like the word 'resolution'. What is it, anyway? The word brings legislation to my mind. "Be it resolved,..." is just not my style for personal goals. In point of fact, I like the term 'goal' much better. I understand what a goal is. So here are my goals for the coming year.

Lose another 75 pounds
2010 has been a mixed blessing on the health front. After a wake-up call for me to get serious about my weight and diet, I joined Weight Watchers which is one of the best ways to learn how to change your eating habits for life. I have lost 54 pounds in 2010 and I have no intention of slowing my progress. It really feels good to be that much lighter on my feet!

Make exercize part of the regular routine
Now that I have lost a good amount of weight, I need to add more exercise into my daily/weekly routine. Walking was a definite starting point but I need to do more of it. Some weight training will be a goal for 2011 also. Gotta tone these poor muscles!

Post a blog entry each week
Well seeing as how this is the first posting I have made since my daugher started college in 2009, I have to say that blogging has been a major #FAIL for me. Outside of FaceBook and Twitter, I am just not sure I have anything worthwhile to share! But I am going to give this 'personal publishing' thing another try in 2011. If anyone has ideas on topics, I am all ears.

Improve my spiritual discipline
This is a lifelong journey, right? I am always looking for ways to gain a deeper understanding of God and what His goals are for my life. Sometimes I have a clue, often times it is just beyond my reach. But I am going to keep reaching and finding ways to stay in relationship with The Holy.


So there they are. The proverbial guantlet has been thrown. We will see how 2011 unfolds.