Caroline left a comment in yesterday’s post reminding me not to be so hard on myself. You’re absolutely right, Caroline. Negative thinking just exacerbates the problem and makes it easier to say, “Oh, what’s another day/donut at this point…”

I’m coming down with cold now, thanks to a coworker that prefers to use her personal time to leave work early a couple days a week instead of staying home when she’s sick and not infecting the rest of us. Who wants to waste sick time being sick, right?

Grrrrrr…

But, even though I felt like I was run over by a truck, I dragged myself out in the yard with the dog and did core exercises. Lots of air squats, 2-legged, 1-legged, slow-motion kicks to the side, front, and back for balance and strength, just worked on variety and hitting the muscles from a lot of different angles. I always need to work the core for a day or two before walking to help my back, and yesterday’s exercises helped me re-energize a bit so I could do some side work into the evening.

So, the benefits already begin.

Today, Dad’s taxi service is back on the job, with dance pickups and drop-offs right after work. I don’t know when I’ll have time to exercise, but I wore the walking shoes to work today so I’ll be able to squeeze it in at some point. Hopefully, I get to the dance studio in time to get in 20 minutes of walking before the oldest daughter finishes class. If not, as soon as I get home.

Real life is killing me right now, but that’s no excuse. I’m doing ok with regard to food, still bringing lunches to work. Mostly, it’s been lean cuisine supplemented with a side salad that I make myself. But exercise?

It hasn’t been happening. I admit it. I’m going to get back out today and try to rebuild a new habit. I hate walking in the dark because of my tendency to sprain ankles. Since the time change, I haven’t wanted to go out at all. I’m going to start going to parts of town that are better lit, but it’s tough to keep that commitment when I get home from work and there’s kids waiting to show me their schoolwork, dishes to clean after dinner, activities that kids need to be shuttled to, and side work that needs to be done. I don’t know how you all do it, but I could use some encouragement!

Ok, we’ll be coming up on the 30-day mark for the Hundred Day Head Start in a couple days, and it’s time to check progress. I’m going to be surfing around Monday or so and checking for weigh-ins, so let’s have a good weekend. Get your exercise, stay away from the bad stuff, and let’s try to be at least one pound under what we were a month ago!

I’m not above public ridicule and humiliation!

I’ve been a good boy the past few days - 1.5 miles on Monday, 1.1 miles on Tuesday 1.5 glorious miles on Wednesday.

I know I’m being good when I make my wife angry about my exercise :-). She wanted to go out to eat after my daughter’s soccer game Tuesday night, and I refused so I could walk.

Good Tim.

For me, exercise has to be a habit, part of my daily routine done at roughly the same time of day, every day. A couple times a week doesn’t work because I soon find myself negotiating ‘which’ days to exercise, and procrastinaing - “oh, I’ll do it tomorrow instead”. When I’ve lost my focus in the past, it’s always been because I was going through a busy period where I was forced to prioritize other activities. It’s the old law of physics: A body in motion tends to stay in motion; a body at rest tends to stay at rest.

I set the minimum threshold for my daily exercise of 20 minutes works. I usually do more, but making that commitment helps me focus on getting out the door. Good for week’s like this, where I’m actually doing 40 hrs of work like the rest of the world. It is one of only 2 weeks each year that I have to work like this, which is why the blogs have gotten short shrift the past few days. It’s also why I’m doing this.

But, I’m being a good boy as far as exercise goes. How about you?

I am an absolute link whore.

I love when people link to my sites, but you know what’s even better? When someone says “Hey, that’s a good idea, I think I’m going to try that.”

Marianne at Practice Living has started the Hundred Day Head Start. She had a great start - almost 2 hours of trail walking! She has the right mindset for this, committing to doing 30 minutes of something every day for the next 100 days. She mentioned WiiSports, and before you scoff at it, try the boxing. Really get into it, throw a bunch of punches and dance around, and then tell me that isn’t aerobic exercise - just try it. I haven’t gone more than 10 minutes at any time. My kids love the Wii also, and get exercise without even realizing it. I don’t use it often, but when I get hooked up with WiiFit I could see it becoming something I use as part of an exercise rotation.

As for Marianne, now that you’ve announced to the world that you’re going to do this and I pointed at you and said “HEY! She’s doing this!”, you’ve gotta do it.

I promised someplace that I would actually post a “Before” picture. I can’t believe I did that, and can’t find the written evidence, but never let it be said that I didn’t keep my word:

Oh god, I posted that.

Weigh-in this morning was (gulp!) a robust, post-BM 326 lbs!

Sitting on your ass with an ankle injury, eating fudge all summer does that to a man.

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Lady Rose alerted me to a problem with registrations on the forum. Please send an email to me at tim AT hundreddayheadstart DOT com if you have problems also. I’ll be heading over there to troubleshoot, and anything you can tell me would be a huge help.

UPDATE: The forum appears to be working properly now. PLEASE head over and let me know if you run into any problems.

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Lady Rose wrote this site up over at the Diet Pulpit. THANK YOU! She has a ton of great stuff over there, so pop over and take a look.

This is it. I’m really pleased with how the site move is coming along. I love the new theme, nice and clean, just making a couple mods over the next few hoours than we should be good to go.

But, even more important, IT’S COMING! The Hundred Day Head Start is coming!

September 23 is 100 days before New Years. Go ahead, I’ll wait while you count it out…

Finished?

When I first decided to start blogging, I didn’t feel comfortable about taking sides in the debates over low-carb vs. low-fat and countless other debates that rage amongst dieters, nutrition experts, and those that profit from either side. First, I just don’t know enough. Second, I am suspicious of nearly every “study” that comes out, because they’re all funded by someone, somewhere, that has an agenda.

My attitude has been, and will be, do what works for you. But, do it.

Oddly enough, I found a similar mindset in an unlikely place: Star Jones. Star has written a frank essay for Glamour about her weight loss, going public for the first time with the words “gastric-bypass” rather than “medical intervention”. While I’m always suspicious about the sincerity of celebrity mea culpas, I found some great advice:

Gastric bypass is a very serious procedure with its own set of risks. I’ve been afforded the luxury of consulting numerous doctors, specialists and colleagues who concluded that this surgery was the only way I could regain control of my life. It worked for me, but if you face a similar struggle, you’ll have to find what works for you. It isn’t an easy fix, and the recovery doesn’t end when you come out of anesthesia—that’s when the real work begins.

So weird to find myself in agreement with Star Jones, but there you go.

As for the idea that she wanted to “own up” to having gastric-bypass surgery… Why? First, she’s entitled to her privacy with regard to her medical decisions. But, she makes the point that it’s been therapeutic to share with people on an individual basis. Ok, it’s your business whether to share or not share. But there is an element of being embarassed about it:

But the complete truth is, I was scared of what people might think of me. I was afraid to be vulnerable, and ashamed at not being able to get myself under control without this procedure.

Hey, I’m not in the public eye so I can’t pretend to understand the fishbowl she lives in, much of which she takes responsibility for creating. But, making decisions to take the steps necessary to live a long, healthy life is never something of which to be embarrassed.

Here’s the takeaway: Find what works for you. Do it. You don’t owe anyone apologies or excuses.

I’m still out of commission, but I came across a solid article from Dr. Sheri about exercise for kids. It mirrors my own thoughts on getting my kids moving throughout the week. Here’s an excerpt of her suggestions:

Additional suggestions to get your kids moving more:
# Whenever your kids have ten free minutes, encourage them to walk around instead of sitting down.
# Get your kids more involved in helping doing physical chores around the house, like cleaning, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, and washing dishes.
# Make a game out of raking the leaves in the yard.
# Take your kids with you when shopping for groceries (as an added bonus, use the time to teach them about which foods are healthier to eat).
# Put on some music and have an impromptu family dance.
# Send your kids outside to kick or hit a ball around or throw a Frisbee.
# Get a basketball hoop to set up in your driveway and send your kids outside to play regularly, or walk to the nearest neighborhood school and use theirs.
# On nice days, take your kids to the nearest park to walk or play.
# Encourage your kids to take the dog out for a daily walk (it needs exercise, too!).
# Always have your kids walk around the house while talking on the telephone.
# Have your kids walk in place, dance, or simply move while watching TV – at least during the commercial breaks.

To these I’ll add a couple of the things I’ve been doing:

1. Races. My daughters LOVE to race in the yard and around the house. I time them with the stopwatch function on my cell phone and they enjoy hearing that they are getting faster. Timing helps by letting me know when they’ve done enough - if the times start getting longer, they’re tired or hot. Time to stop. In effect, this serves as an interval workout.
2. My oldest daughter likes jump-rope, and can jump for 15-20 minutes at a stretch.
3. Playgrounds! I’m a believer that there is no better workout for a kid. It’s a full-body workout done for an extended period of time at a variety of speeds and levels of effort.
4. We live in Florida, so swimming is big. We don’t have a pool, unfortunately, but we take advantage of every offer to have the girls swim with friends or family. We also have the beach.

It’s summer. Can you challenge your kids to do something physical every day until school (and PE and fall sports!) starts? Can you challenge yourself to make it fun for them? What are your ideas?

Man, did I feel bad last night! I was sick, nauseous, really, and changed the routine I was planning. Instead, I did two core exercises: Air Squats, and Forward Lunges. Then walked a slooooow mile, although i did pick it up towards the end when I started feeling a little better.

So, Day 9/100 is in the books. Days 10 and 11 are going to be a challenge. The girls have dance recitals tonight and tomorrow night, which means late nights for everyone. I’ll be going out in the dark, something I really don’t like doing since we’re back in the woods a bit, and even when I get out to the road there’s no streetlights. Not that I’m afraid of the boys from deliverance or anything; it’s just that I have neighbors that let their kids (children, really) ride dirtbikes and ATVs anytime and all the time. I’m not real keen on being run down. I usually take a flashlight, but still…

So, these two days will test my commitment to the hundred day head start!