Pre-P90X

Before starting the P90X fitness program they want you to take pictures.  Here are mine.  I see a little chub around the tummy.  I hope the P90X can tighten that up.  Oh yeah, and maybe the P90X can help out these pitiful arms.  I'll put up some pictures of the same two poses after 90 days on this regiment.

Man! What a Ride!

Brutal!  I know for you bike riders this will sound wimpy, but for me it was a challenge.  I rode 7.5 miles in 39 minutes, burned 363 calories, and averaged 11 miles an hour.  Just getting out of my subdivision is a bear.  I am at the very bottom of a hill and it is very steep.  So by the time I ride about a half a mile up hill to get out of the subdivision, I'm pooped.  Of course it's all downhill from there.

Today went on my longest ride on my new bike.  I've riden 8 miles on my exercise bike with various levels of resistance, but there is nothing like the real thing.  I've found that the more coasting I get to do is only an indication of how much I have to ride up the hill.  I'd love it if I could ride on some nice level ground, but living along the Yellow River here in Rockdale there are no nice flat roads.

I am still working up to riding the old Olympic mountain bike trails.  In fact, I was very close to them today on my ride, but I was so tired that I didn't even think about riding the trails and then try to get home.  Later today my wife and I plan to hike up and down Stone Mountain.  I am still at 209 lbs and am looking forward to getting down to 205 by the end of next month.

Verse of the Day: Mark 11:22-23
22 So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God. 23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain , 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.  NKJV

New Low

It's difficult to take a good picture of one's self.  My pictures are blurry because I'm still moving while the auto-burst is clicking off shots.  Anyhow, I hit a new low this week by getting under 210 on Friday morning.  I weighed 209 lbs.   I feel good and enjoy being able to do what I want and need to do without getting winded all the time. 

I know that it may seem that all these pictures of myself appear to be vain, but I am keeping a photo journal of my weightloss journey.  I won't take any with my shirt off or anything, but a muscle shirt or two should still reveal the difference. 

My next goal for April is to get down to 205 by the end of the month.  I'd like to be holding at 209 or below by the end of March.  I am going to try to do a little more weights, but again nothing heavy.  Also as the weather gets better I'll be riding my bicycle more.  I'm looking forward to riding on the old 1996 Olympic mountain bike trail that only about 2 miles from my home.

Verse of the Day: Rom 8:31, KJV

What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us , who can be against us?

Adding New Stuff

I'm doing new stuff now.  Still losing weight--I'm at 210 lbs and wearing 34 inch waist pants, but I recently bought a crosstraining bicycle (I can ride on the road and light trails), and I've started doing a little light weight lifting.  I'm hesitant to lift weights because I tend to grow muscle mass very quickly and to be honest, I don't want to bulk up.  I want to be fit and trim.  So I'm trying to use light weights with high reps, but as you can see from this picture, my arms and chest are still large.   I know that for someone who was once a bodybuilder it sounds strange to say that that's not the look I'm going for, but I'm more interested in a Lance Armstrong look than a Sylvester Stallone look.  In the end, it is about being healthy.

At my last doctor's appointment he was amazed at my weight loss (38 pounds at that time, now 42 pounds) and my bloodwork showed that I no longer needed one of my cholesterol medicines and my BP is great.  It is amazing how much losing weight can do to improve your health.

Anyhow, I know I haven't been keeping up with my blog like a true blogger should, but I am feverishly trying to complete my dissertation by the end of April and I'm having a hard time staying motivated.  Pray for me.

Bible Verse of the Day:  Prov 23:6-7, NKJV

6 Do not eat the bread of a miser,
Nor desire his delicacies;
7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.
"Eat and drink!" he says to you,
But his heart is not with you.