Half of Phil

This has been a tough season for me.  The 5k was a good success.  I finished under 41 minutes my mile time was right at the 13 min mark by their clock. I've kept up my step goals and going to 9Round as often as I can this year.  Overall weight loss for 2018 is 20 lbs.   It's a far cry from the 62 lost ins 2017 or the 71 lost in 2016 but given all I've been through the last year I'll take it as a win. Today last year I got the call mom died.  I do my best not to think about it, but it's not far from my mind. I'm hopeful that 2019 will be a good year, I'm looking forward to vesting at work in March, the boy has expressed interest in doing more 5ks so I'll try to find one to sign up for in the next month or so.  I'm sure soccer will kick back up in a few weeks and swim never let up so we'll stay busy.  My goals for 2019:   Continue 9Round Complete a 5k in under 35 minutes Keep logging food and steps Set up my garage workshop

Not too much to update this week.  The 5k is Saturday, I've done a couple practice run/walks my latest one was 12/4.  Since then it's either been brutal cold or ice on the ground.  I feel confident I can finish in my goal of 45 minutes.  Depending on the course perhaps maybe a bit better. The next month will be a tough one.  Lots of holidays and memories as well as the year anniversary of losing Mom.  I'm hopeful it'll all go ok, but it will definitely be a tough month. Next committed update 12/27

It's been awhile since I've walked a 5k, so my son and I have signed up for a 5k 12/15.  I've been trying to run the last couple weeks at least twice a week. I have a loop that is just over 5k long, so my goal is to be able to complete that in under 45 minutes before the 5k.  Then hopefully I can definitely come in under 45 min on race day.  This morning I was under 45 min at the 3 mile marker so I'm fairly confident I can make the goal. I don't like the running but I always see the results on the scales when I am faithful to do it more often.  I've noticed with my new tracker that I don't see the drop in steps I was seeing with the Zip in my pocket so that helps keep me motivated. I did a 5 mile walk on Turkey day so that I could be done with steps an do whatever I wanted the rest of the day.  Next committed update: 12/11

So I fell at 9Round on Friday Morning.  Not a stumbled and caught myself on the wall or equipment fell, but a got tripped up trying to a box jump sprawled my fat ass all over the ground fell.  Trainer runs over as sure that I'm near dead from the fall as I thought I was in the back of my mind. But guess what, I was A-Ok and resumed box jumps and finished the work out.  I took some ibuprofen when I got home sure that I'd be sore and hurting by days end. But guess what I wasn't sore at all from the fall.  It's a huge milestone for me, I've lived in fear falling for several years since the last time I fell and could barely walk for a week.  I'm not saying that I could take any fall any time and be A Ok, but it is nice to know I went through one and came out alright.  All the training and exercise I'm sure had a lot to do with it. I've been on a weight loss stall, but with my birthday and halloween in the last few weeks that's no surprise I haven

Well the kiddos are out of school again today due to a hurricane.  This one came up from the gulf and sprung up over just a couple days.  Unlike the last one that took a week to get here from africa this one will be done by the afternoon. So far we all we've seen is rain and some wind, hoping that holds out. I did my morning walk on the treadmill and probably will do some later unless the rain quits. I don't have much of an update, other than that I'm staying on track.  I've met with my nutrionist and she says I'm doing all the right things.  I keep working to keep up with the plan of walking and 9round. I know the next few weeks will be tough.  I've missed my Mom more lately and I know with the holidays looming it's likely not going to get better.  Nothing to do about it but to keep moving forward though. Next committed update is 10/30.

I dunno but maybe my weight loss stall is over.  I'm now down 152 lbs overall!!!  I've started going to Nomad Aquatics with my son and lifting weights a couple days a week.  She is not he competitive swim team there and they now offer a free family general membership if your child is on the team.  So we've been doing that for a couple weeks, he's hitting it really hard.  I'm generally beat by the 6 pm when we are there, but I've been doing enough I guess to jump start the weight loss again.  Or it could just be a natural cycle and the weight loss is coming down again. I ran today before we left for my son's soccer game and was excited to be back down around the 12 minute mark over 3 miles.  It's the fastest I've ever run in my life.  Its a turtle pace compared to competitive runners but considering I could barely walk 2 miles in under an hour when I first started this journey I'd say it's a huge accomplishment. One thing that irks me a

I've been staying with the program and some weight has started to slowly creep off again.  I am claiming the 150 mark as of the 8th.   We are preparing for a 'hurricane' here it hit the coast this morning around 8 am, should meander through SC and hit us Sat night late or Sunday.  They are forecasting for us to get 10" or so of rain here.  Hopefully the rain won't be to bad and the coast won't get hit too much. I'm taking a couple days off of work next week to hopefully get some work done in the garage and prep for a yard sale next weekend.  I'd like to get to turning again soon and share some time in the shop with the kids this winter. Next committed update is 9/27

I want to update this blog twice a month but have not been very consistent with that. Today I met with my health coach at work. I also updated my weight tracker spread sheet today for the first time since May with Jawbone went off line. I can't download FitBit data on my work network so I had to get it off last night at home. Weight loss has definitely plateaued some this year, but I'm still down 15 lbs for the year. So given all the shit I've had to deal with this year I'll count that as a WIN!!! I am staying on track with walking and going to 9Round. Soccer season is back in full swing so I'm going in the mornings before work again. I've been running on Tue & Thur mornings when I don't go to 9Round. I can do my 2 mile loop in 30ish minutes. My goal is to get to where I run the whole 2 miles, so far I'd say I definitely run more than 1/2 the distance but my periods of walk are getting less each week. Slow and stead progress is my mantra

The story at work for our health page resulted in another story at work for our 'difference makers' cafe.  They asked me for some better photos so I thought I'd share those here.  I've also added the story below, they did a short interview and I thought the story turned out pretty well.  They did leave out that a big part of my illness in Feb 2016 was that my asthma meds weren't covered anymore and would have been $ 800 per month!!!  The pictures below do show a huge change and some days that gets lost to me in my daily grind to make my steps, hit the gym and still not see much weight loss lately. April 2016 July 2018

I'm not really sure why I can't manage to get this blog updated when I plan to.  I'm glad to report that my weight after going up a few pounds this spring has started to come back down.  I'm now down 147 lbs overall!!  My success has been featured on our Intranet site at work this week and so I've had some encouraging comments from coworkers.  Our company does offer a great set of incentives and benefits to help get healthier.  It may not have started my journey but it's definitely helped me along the way. I've been pushing harder at 9Round and also started running some mornings rather than just walking.  That is helping me get the weight loss moving again I think.  Running has been a challenge I'd started at the end of the year but struggled to get going again after getting off track.  I've been averaging just under 15 min/mile for most of my runs that are around 3.4 miles each morning.  Sunday though I only had a short window so I ran

we head out in a couple hours to the coast for the 4th!  We spent last week in the mountains for the kids to do folks school.  It was a good trip but I’m real glad to be walking my daily miles here in the flat land rather than those hills!!! For Father’s Day I got a heart monitor for 9round. It’s part of their program that I’ve never done because they are like $100!!!   But luckily my family ain’t as cheap as I am so they got me one.  I’ve been using it for the last week and I can see it adds value to the program.  You definitely push yourself harder knowing and seeing your effort tracked on the big monitor.  Today I burned nearly 100 more calories than last Saturday the first day I wore it.  One trick is to warm up before you start to get your heart rate up from the get go. I have some screen shots I wanted to post but I need to download another app to do that on my phone so I’ll have to try to add them later on a pc. I’m looking forward to the next couple weeks.  We are going t

I've gotten off track blogging.  It's been a hectic few weeks.  Lots of activities and school winding down for the kids. I'd gotten started back to 9Round with my son since he's in the off season for 9Round, but last thru 5/31 I somehow hurt my back.  I've not done 9round this week, I'm getting my back calmed down and hoping to start back Monday.  I figure it's better to wait the rest of the week than risk a set back. We had a swim meet last weekend and my daughter did really well, it's the long course season which means she was swimming 100 meters in several events.  That is a long way to swim!!! Summer break starts tomorrow on our 17 year wedding anniversary!  Doesn't really seem like it's been that long, but the calendar don't lie!!! Jawbone the company that powered the UP Moves went completely off line toward the end of May.  I found a couple Fitbit Zips used for the wife and I.  I gotta say I really liked the UP product better es

So I'm 2 years in and a few weeks in at this point.  Weight loss is pretty stalled.  I've not lost any weight for the last couple months.  It's kinda frustrating, but I do think it's a function of replacing muscle mass with fat. I've got clothes that are fitting looser and some that I wasn't able to wear for years but can wear now.  I ordered a shirt on clearance over a year ago when I first started loosing weight, it came in more like a 1x than 3x, I was devastated and meant to send it back, but now I can wear it so that's a win. Next committed update 5/24

It was 32 degrees and light frost Tuesday Morning, but now it seems like maybe Spring is finally here.  Been in the 80s since then. We had a good spring break to the Grand Canyon and Arizona.  Was a busy trip but we had loads of fun.  I took the kids a mile down into the canyon.  It was pretty easy going in, but coming out was tough. For the month of March I topped my total step record, I was surprised because I hadn't been tracking or shooting for it.  Weight wise I'm kinda stagnant but clothes are still fitting better even the new ones I got at Christmas, so I know I'm making progress.   Still making it to 9Round 4 times a week when I've been in town.  I haven't done any running since we got back from Spring Break, but hope to start back next week.  I picked up a cold and I've been fighting it the last week or so. Met with the nutritionist today and she was pretty adamant I need to do better on sleep, so I'm gonna focus on getting back o

We had Spring in late winter and we've had winter in early spring!!  Go figure, the weather has been absolutely crazy the last few weeks. I've stuck with my exercise program well except for this week.  9round 4 times a week with at least 15k in steps and then the other 3 days running 2 miles and at least 17k steps.  Weight loss is definitely plateaued, but I'm feeling better and clothes are fitting better.  I bought a pair of size 44 jeans a few weeks ago! The running is getting better and I've stretched my distance to keep running, ok jogging, longer and now it's definitely 3/4 running and 1/4 walking time wise.  I've got it routinely down to right at 30 minutes. My initial up tracker finally died, so I've had to go to a backup I ordered a few months ago.  I was able to get it to calibrate so my times and distances are more accurate now, I admit I liked the old one told me I was going faster and further than reality!  Ha. I took my son down to the U

We head to my son's spring Soccer Tourney today.  So it kinda feels like the 2 year anniversary of this new journey, even though it's about 6 weeks away.  They are going to a different tourney this year in Charleston. I'm back on track with 9Round and have been running some the last 2 weeks.  I'm averaging about 13 min per mile when I run my 2 mile loop.  I'd estimate I'm running at least 2/3rds of the distance now. My son made the soccer team last week so that is very exciting.  He's worked hard to get into better shape and be in the position to make it.  It'll be an exciting but hectic couple months. I need to do some more pics, but I think  I'll save that for my 2 year anniversary post. I'm excited to be headed to Arizona in a few weeks.  It's been a interesting first few months of 2018.  About forgot that we are reviving our CAD-Que bbq comp team, to compete in the first annual Harrisburg BBQ contest.  It should be a fun event.

I've not really kept up with my blogging well, but I've stayed on track with my workouts for the most part. Taking a week for my back to heal was definitely the right call with 9Round.  I went back the next week and the first few times were tough after missing the time I did. Just as I was getting back on track I had to miss another chunk when I went to Murphy to clean out Mom's house.  It was several long days of hard work.  I am confident that I'd never have been able to do what I did a couple years ago before beginning this journey.  I may be in better shape than I was in my teens and early 20s but I'm definitely not nearly as strong as I was back then!!! I had hit a plateau with weight loss at the end of the year and in January, but it started to come off the last few weeks.  I'm really not doing anything different, it's just started to come off.  I'm down 146 lbs overall.  I now weigh less than I did in the 8th grade.  For Christmas I'

I don't know how we stay so busy but we do.  Our calendar stays full, but at least then no one has time to get bored. I hurt my back somehow last week and I've had to miss 9round for awhile to allow it time to heal.  I'm planning to start back next week since the pain is much better now. I've kept up my steps though even w/o going to 9round.  I crossed over 8 million steps this week on 1/31.  Since 8/29/16 I've averaged 15,269 steps I think that's amazing. Weight wise I'm about the same tettered up some but I was right at 137 down this morning. Next committed update 2/23

I missed a couple posts in December and had planned to get a good year end summary post done on the 31st, but life had other plans. My mom passed away on the 31st and I missed my step goal for the first time since late August 2016, and then again on Jan 6th the day we buried her.  It was a rough first week to the year to say the least and I'm not sure I've dealt with the best way, but I'm making it the best I can. On some more positive notes I did finish Dec 2018 with my highest month step total ever: 523,752 steps.  When I returned home from Mom's I weighed in 137 lbs down over all. The last week or so I've not gotten back to good steps, between working from home due to grief and now the snow, I've only been to the office once in 2018. Hopefully next week I'll get back in the swing of things. I missed a week of 9round up at Mom's but have been back as much as I could since returning home.  It's tough to get back into the swing of things.