Williams Will.

So William is still working out a few days a week. Unfortunately I do not have the time to blog about the progress he has made.

I asked William Monday night how much weight he has lost. He said 11 pounds. He was not happy about that. I don’t believe it; he has lost this weight and sill no excitement. He has set out to lose weight at a rapid rate and has not. This is the problem with watching Television shows. He is not going to lose 15 pounds in a week. This is a life style change not a quick fix.

Over the last few months William and I have had some very interesting conversations about being over weight and the struggle to lose it. One week we did nothing but talk about how he is self sabotaging when he does not see the results he likes. Another week we did very little workouts and talked about just eating. Each conversation we had he would break himself down and look at his life like he had never before. He can see how he wants to change. But getting there is so difficult he thinks it is easier to justify not doing it. He is right it is easier, but not what he truly wants. Here is why….

May 22,

William is going to be at my house at 4:30 with his wife to go do the Muddy Buddy of Nashville. This is a 6 mile bike/run with obstacles, and a giant mud pit at the end.  William has not trained as hard as he wanted to, but the price of this thing is not one you would back out on. We arrive and it is comedy from the start. William sees this giant mud pit and says I am going to crawl in that? WTH... “How in the world did you talk me into this?” he said.

He and his wife start out in the heat before me. William started on his bike and his wife started running. After about a mile William gets off his bike and starts running.  I start about 5 minutes behind William. When I catch him I expect to see him walking. By the time I catch William he is almost to the 3^rd leg where he is to get back on the bike and ride down this big hill. He was so pumped up he was still running and had almost ran the entire mile after the bike. After I passed William I did not see him until the end.

I was waiting at the finish line for William. I waited until the participants started to thin out. I waited so long I started to think he had not made it. I started going backwards to catch William. When I got there He was still riding his bike!!! He was so exhausted he could hardly talk. He finished the race, and there were quite a few people behind him. After we washed all the mud off we headed home.

Now I know this was very difficult for William. He had never done anything like this before. But he did, and managed to finish in good spirits. If he truly did not want to change his life he would have just simply walked. Just to say he did it. He also talked about how next year he will be in better shape for this.

 That is more than what most people did that day. Just going out there and doing something is a step on the right direction. How are you making that step?  You can accomplice that goal. Just get moving towards it. If it is a 16:27 5K time or just running one. Sitting there and just thinking about it is not going to get it done. Get Moving……..

Yet Another Challenge.

After I posted my last blog I called William to talk about our exercise plan for the weekend. He told me that he was waiting for his wife to get home and they were going to go for a run. Well I found out that did not happen his wife went by her self. William you need to keep moving just because you are counting calories it does not count as doing something for exercise, this might consume time but it is only a small part of your total goal.

I sent him a text to tell him we are going running in the morning and I expect to see him there. He did show up and run. Afterwards we joined the Nolensville Running Club for breakfast. While at breakfast we talked to Megan a personal trainer. She said if William keeps a food log for the week and brings it to her this Saturday she will help him cut some things to also help. He should not have a problem with this because he said he is going to continue counting calories. Thanks Megan, he needs all of the motivation he can get.

I know that William answers every challenge I have given him. So this week I offer him this challenge. Continue counting calories, but while he is sitting at his desk instead getting up to snack on something or just taking a break from work do push-ups. The goal for each day is as follows.

Monday-100

Tuesday-100

Wednesday-125

Thursday-125

Friday-150

Don’t do all of them at once. Break them up. Do 10 the first time, maybe 10 the second. Just make it all day goal if you can only 5 that a time that is okay. Just keep moving. The big thing is don’t stop all the other things you have started you need to do cardiovascular exercise 3 day this week. You don’t get to count Saturday, sorry buddy.  

Good luck William you can do it.

It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.
Theodore Roosevelt

I think William is getting it!

I just read William’s blog….

Hell yeah! My plan for William to keep track his daily calorie intake has worked. He posted a 4100 calorie day on Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday he consumed about what he needs to so that he can lose weight without working out. Then there was Thursday. 4,123 was the total. He now has a better idea of why the weight is not coming off. I posted my daily intake with him, and I run everyday but have never consumed 4000 calories. This is a big step for William he has now admitted to himself that he does not exercise enough, and he now knows that eating is the “Problem”.

Now big struggle for William will be to change his eating habits. You can’t change everything you do in one day, but by picking one weakness and attacking it for a week or until you get it will make changing easier, and more successful.

5 Tips for a Healthier Lifestyle

1.        Everything in moderation. Reducing portions you eat to one helping makes your relationship with food much healthier.

2.        Replace quantity with quality. Substitute homemade and home cooked for instant and drive-thru.

3.        Change your daily eating patterns. Three balanced meals with healthy snacks in between is a far better choice than the latest fad diet.

4.        Exercise is where you find it. Take stairs instead of the elevator. Park further away from the store. Every little bit helps, and doing something is better than doing nothing.

5.        Slow down and enjoy what you eat. It's there to bring you pleasure, not guilt. Enjoy the experience and you'll be healthier for it.

 William is going to need some support for his next step. Friends and family are going to want to go out for dinner. Making better choices when eating out is going to be hard. The menu makes everything look so good. It also does not list the calories. He needs to be aware of what he is eating. Maybe looking up the calories up on his phone before ordering will help with this. I know this sucks; having to count calories everyday is very difficult. Until he creates a new habit this is what he has to do. Good luck William!

Run Schedule

I have added a list of events on the blog. The list is the runs that William and I will be doing hope that you can join us. You can also follow us on the facebook page.

It's about time.

William and I have been working out, but I have not been blogging. I feel that he has started to work out more on his own. I am very excited he has. The one thing that is hurting his weight loss is the eating. My first thought was that if he just gets moving the weight will come off. Well…. Wrong we need to work on a diet. That is because when he does not work out for a day or two he eats the wrong food. For example last week we worked out to the point of William getting dizzy and feeling like he could puke. Afterwards we ate, and then went to get a treat. When we got there he ordered more food! My comment was “for real?”  He said he loves those things and he never gets to eat them. On the way home he eats it and says that it was not as good as he thought it would be. I don’t think he even realizes how bad his eating habits are. When we first started I asked William to count his calories and the result was shocking. His calorie count was very low. I wonder if William did not count everything. This is a tricky situation I have found myself in. How do you convince a friend that he is not eating properly without making him mad? It is important that we are aware of the food we put in our body daily. It is easy to just eat what you want, and do what we want, without thinking of the toll it will take on us.

Now that William is exercising his new war is on food. I am challenging William to redo his calorie counter and put Everything in it even water. This needs to happen not just for a day but a week. We need to see where to go from here. I challenge everyone to give it a try. It is the best way to know what you are taking in, and the easiest way to find out what you need to cut out. But in order for this to be a success you have to be honest with yourself.  That is going to be the hardest part, it is easy to just tuck that voice in your head that says “don’t eat that” away. On Monday February 14 (yes valentines day) I ask you to join us for a week of calorie counting. A very easy way to count online is http://www.acaloriecounter.com/ . There are many apps for your smart phone. It would be awesome to know what your daily intake is post is on the strength2act face book page. I think it will help William understand where he should be with his daily intake of calories. Just remember be honest to your self, maybe you eat to much so what lets hear it.

1/24/11

Well I did not do the things with William this past weekend. Not his fault! I went to look at houses. Sorry William! William and his wife watched my kids while we were out. After that his wife made a wonderful dinner, and he talked about his struggles. Best of all William thanked me for getting him moving. He said he is not seeing the weight loss, but feels better in general. He said the he changed the Batteries in the smoke alarm. To do this he had to stand on a kitchen chair. He would have never done that in the past. Awesome!!!


William this is not just a weight loss this is a change of life, you are doing great man. Keep your head up. Things will all come together soon!

A New Direction!

I, again, have not been blogging…. I went to Williams to do P90x, which went well. William up until yesterday was slacking on exercising. His wonderful wife told him what she was thinking about his journey so far. What she said, I thought, was a little harsh, but true! I hope it hit home, which I think it may have. Thank you, Shannon, for saying what I was thinking! The one hard part about doing this with William is that I want to help him, but I also want to still be friends. Sometimes I feel I can’t be too harsh otherwise I might jeopardize our friendship, which I would never want to do!

Yesterday, I talked to William about why he is not motivated to do better. He said when he was playing football he was trying to be better than the guy who is after is position. Now he feels no need to push hard. I need him to see himself as the adversary. That should be easy in my mind; being better than that guy sitting in the couch.  Right?

All he needs to do is stop the excuses of why he can’t do it; the cold weather, he has a cold, or he is tired. We all have that voice in our head telling us to take it easy. Punch that voice in the mouth and show it who is really in control! Doing things the easy way got him to where he is now! That’s why we also discussed a new training protocol.  Taking what William said about trying to be better than the enemy has made me think I need to turn William’s weight into the enemy! I can’t believe I did not do this to start! I want to design a program for William in which he doing things that make him push his weight around a little more, something like pushups, sit ups, 300 yard dash, etc.  Things we can log and see progress, so that William can see that he is better than the enemy! Saturday is going to be the day.

William and his wife came over the other night and planned out the dates of some 5K’s and a duathlon that we can all do together. They plan on doing the Muddy Buddy in May, which is a 3 mile run and 3 mile bike done with a buddy and some mud! I am pumped that they are going to do a 5K a month I think this will help keep William motivated to keep training for something. I hope his friends and family can join us.

William it’s a long journey keep your head up & keep kicking ass!!! . I know you can do it. You have it in you. The last two days have been a step in the right direction, keep pushing!!!

Things to do when you can't get out.

The weather outside is not good for exercising. I know William will not run or bike in the snow. I have a few things I like to do when I can not get out.

-Pushups, I like to do 10 pushups every commercial break while watching Television.

-Sit-ups, I do the same thing. 10 sit-ups every commercial break.

-Lunges, after doing pushups or sit-ups do lunges to my water bottle, and back again.

You could also put in one of the exercise DVDs you have collecting dust on your shelf.

Just find a way to move when you can’t get out. You will feel better!

Good luck, have fun.

Get moving!!!!

Making the right choice.

Today on my way home from work I called William to see how he was feeling. He answered the phone and there was a lot on commotion, he told me to hold on. I waited a minute and then said that I could call him back. Then asked what he was doing. HE WAS OUT RUNNING!!!! OMG!!!  I then yell get off the phone and call me later.

I am so glad to see that he is out there running. Maybe that 5K was the spark he needed. He has said that he is going to run 11 more 5K’s this year. Keep up the good work William. You are making the right choices. You will make your goal if you keep this up!

The first 5K

Happy New Year, Coagulations to William for completing his first 5K EVER!!!!!

What a day for a run?! On the way there it was pouring down rain! What better for a first 5k than to have it raining and cold?  Well it stopped raining before we ever got there. As we were standing in line to pick up our bibs I could see that William was nervous. I told the group of ladies behind us that this was William’s first 5K, they got excited and took a picture of him and said this is going on Facebook! I was thinking this is the exciting part of doing a 5K; surrounding your self with motivated people who are all there to support you. I could tell that this eased William a little, but it was not to last.

The starting gun went off and we took off, a little fast but we were moving. We got to the first hill and William hit the wall. We are only about ½ mile and we are walking and William is starting to complain about his calf muscles hurting. I know he can run 3 miles, but he was struggling mentally. I think it was all the people passing him that he knows he is better than, but we are at a race where people are prepared for this. We struggle along awhile and I can see he is getting frustrated at my persistent pushing.  I was thinking I know he can do better he needs to get out of his head!  When I ask him what he is mad at?  He tells me the fact that he is running, at me and at himself.  I ask him why is he mad at himself? He said “I am mad that I let myself get to this point.” I ask what can you do about it? “Get off the couch!”, he replies. I think it is now hitting home!

We run a little more I am pushing William by yelling “Come on 81!” (his bib number) . There are a few ladies running near us and they look at me and laugh. I tell them that I am here to motivate him on his first 5K. They start cheering him on. One lady yells back to him that she has lost 73 pounds since March. Wow! That blew my mind.  Here he is looking at what could be him in a few months! There also was an older lady just steadily walking by us while all this was going on. She told us she was 64 years old, and she has only been doing 5K’s for 2 years. William was not able to keep up with the older lady so I stayed with her and talked for a minute. I told her that she was William’s “carrot” he was to keep up with her. She said with a snap “I don’t mind being the carrot.” I could do nothing but laugh. I yelled back to William, “Come on man she does not mind being the carrot so get her!”  Well we had to slow down this was to fast for him, he is not ready to run/walk and talk. We walked over the pedestrian bridge and ran it in to the finish.

William sprinted to the finish just over 55 minutes. At the finish line was Shannon his wife (yeah I singed her up to), my wife, the “carrot”, her daughter, and the other group of ladies along the way. They were all there to congratulate William on his accomplishment! It is awesome how perfect strangers are willing to rally for someone they barely know, but see as an inspiration to themselves.  I hope that William knows that is what he is becoming, an inspiration to everyone who will meet him and here his story! And I hope William got a little inspiration from them as well.

William has accomplished his first official goal of running in a 5k.  He has now set a goal of running a 5K a month. Just maybe all support from strangers has motivated him best of all.