I have a new list of events I will be participating in this year. Ready? Here we go!

Hollywood Half Marathon 5k, April 7, 2012: The beginning of the year is always busy for me so I decided I’d let the first few months slide and start my events with this, the inaugural running of the Hollywood Half Marathon. This event will guide runners down two of Hollywood’s most famous streets – Hollywood Blvd. and Sunset – and finishes up at the Kodak Theater. It looks like a fairly simple run and as of now, it looks like one of the most organized and events I’ve done. Check out their Facebook page for constant updates. It’s gonna be a rockin’ event and I’ll be glad to be part of its history. And come on, who wouldn’t want one of these sweet finisher’s awards?

WetNWild5k, June 16, 1012: I participated in this event last year because it seemed like it would be a lot of fun. It sure was but unfortunately, the venue – Wild Rivers in Irvine, CA – was closed temporarily to make way for a new housing complex. I thought that this would be the end of the line for this crazy 5k.

Not to worry. The organizers managed to schedule the event another venue which is closer to home: Knott’s Soak City. The idea is still the same and yes, I’m sure it will be just as fun as last year. One of the many advantages about this event being close to home is that I know the area really well and will know exactly where to eat after the run. The choices are many…!

Long Beach Marathon Bike Tour, October 7, 2012: For the 3rd year in a row, I will mount my bike and be riding in this event. I bested my time last year and an hoping to do the same again this year.

So what else is there? Provided I can cough up the money for more events, I will definitely do so. The Del Mar Mud Run was insanely fun but just a bit too far to go, even if I did win an entry to the event. Still, I’d love to another event similar to that one.

Moving on. My weight continues to creep ever so higher but guess what? It’s a good thing and here’s why:

As my Lean Weight app clearly indicates, my muscle mass continues to go higher. This is fine with me because it means that the fat is dropping off and the muscle is packing on. I’m real happy with these results.

What have I been doing differently? In addition to my usual Sunday bike ride of at least 15 miles, I recently purchased Kinect and the Your Shape: Fitness Evolved game for a change of pace. It consists of stuff like cardio kickboxing which is good because I haven’t been to my classes in a bit due to the holidays and fighting off a bad cold. While others will argue that these “fitness games” are no real substitute for the real thing, I have to admit that after an hour of doing it, I’m sweating pretty good. And since the chart you see above indicates the addition of body mass after purchasing the game, then I’d say it was making a bit of a difference. Either way, it’s a good change of pace. Hey, Wii Fit practically got me to start jogging because I got tired of standing on once place.

Well, that’s all for now. I may have another post later or tomorrow because it centers around a product I should have written about a long time ago: Clean Bottle. You’ll see why when you read it.

Thanks for reading. If you made a resolution to lose weight this year, forget it. They never work. Instead, make a commitment to lose weight and follow through with it by changing the way you live. You will succeed – believe me, I know!

First, to thanks Fat2Fit Radio for once again mentioning my blog on their podcast! You can give it a listen here.

Second, where I am with my maintenance. Believe it or not, I’m still hovering around the 205 range and, not surprising to me or probably any other readers, still nowhere near the illusive goal of 190. I think I need to make peace with the fact that I may not ever reach that goal or if I do get close, it won’t be for very long if I want to build up some more muscle and kill the fat.

Third, the domain has finally been mapped to the blog! I know, it took me some time to do but at least I got around to it. Working all that overtime definitely paid off

Okay, now to the meat of this post. I took my first kickboxing class last night and let me tell you, it was definitely something. How intense was it? I can’t lift my arms above my head very well at the moment and class was over 24 hours ago. I worked muscles I didn’t even know I had, I sweat like mad, and also learned some handy martial arts moves that will come in handy the next time someone decides to get all up in my grill.

The first half consisted of some simple stretching and exercises which then led into the more intense stuff: medicine ball, running on all fours, and learning the aforementioned defensive moves. Probably the most surprising part was how doing something as simple as outstretching your arms to your sides and raising them slightly for 5 minutes can really work your arm muscles — and make them as sore as anything the following day. Well, that and holding an 8 lb. medicine ball above your head for a few minutes. Either way, my arms are grimacing and can barely be raised above my head at the moment, but it feels so right.

Another exercise involved working with a step: hopping on and off and keeping one foot on it all times. Not too bad until the trainer asks you to speed up.

Then there was the punching. The trainer stood in front of me with a punching mitt on each and and told me to start off slow then go hard. As my punches continued to get faster and harder, I really began to feel my upper arms turn to mush and the punches started to slow and had less intensity. I was almost to the point of throwing in the towel but my trainer insisted I keep going, pushing me and encouraging me along the way.

It worked. I made it, despite there being little to no kicking involved. But our legs did get a workout with some of the other exercises er did. I have to give a shout-out to the facility, The Fitness Mecca in Signal Hill, CA, and to Dana and Rich who are both good people and were glad to have me there. I enjoyed it and will definitely be returning very soon.

I’d also like to mention this. I was able to get these classes through a deal with Amazon Local/Living Social, which is kind of like Groupon in that it offers ridiculous discounts on local restaurants and services. In my case, $20 got me 20 classes and 5 smoothies at The Fitness Mecca. By comparison, individual classes run $10 each and smoothies are somewhere between $3 and $5. I was also able to score a 45 minute session with a personal trainer as well as 4 classes of my choice at another local facility for the same price. The offers seem to be much better than anything Active Schwaggle offers, even if you are a Active Advantage member (which I am). Sign up for the Living Social 1-Day Deal and you won’t regret it. Saving money and getting in shape — does it get any better?

Despite my soreness, I am definitely going to kickboxing again next Tuesday and also interested in taking something else like spinning or even yoga. I’ve got 19 classes and 5 smoothies left so I think I’m in pretty good shape

It’s been a month since I did my bike tour and 5k and while I wrote about them on my personal blog, I simply didn’t do it here. Shame on me. At any rate, here’s a copy of that post for your enjoyment. I’ll have a little bit more later on tonight.

Enjoy!

—

Well, this last week sure was a busy one.

As I had mentioned in this post, I rode my bike in the Long Beach Marathon Bike Tour for the second year in a row. That means that it was another day of waking up at the crack of dawn (or 4am to be precise), preparing my stuff, eating breakfast and then making my way downtown to find my assigned parking lot, ride my bike to the starting line, then wait for the 6:30 start time. A lot of preparation but a lot of fun.

In the end, I trimmed my time down to 1:42:43 which is about 5 minutes less than my time last year. It was a beautiful day and it’s always humbling to be riding the bike trail along the beach to see the sun rise with the sound of the waves crashing in the background. I love this event and look forward to it in 2012.

Do I look exhausted?

Nah, I was fine. I could have gone a bit longer but hey, 26.2 miles was cool. And in case you didn’t track me, here’s how it looked:

Believe me, it’s not all that bad.

With that done, it was time for the rest of the week in which I worked overtime on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, the latter two days going in at 6:30 am. And oh, did I mention that I also worked my night job on Thursday and Friday from 5:15 to 8:30 or so? Told you I was busy.

But wait, there’s more! On Saturday, I participated in my first 5k mud run down at the Del Mar Fairground/Racetrack which is just within the San Diego city limits. While not as early as the morning of the bike tour, I woke up and pretty much did the same thing in terms of preparation, breakfast, etc. Then, of course, hit the highway for the 90-minute drive to beautiful San Diego.

I’ll admit that the mud run was about the toughest and most unsanitary thing I’d ever done in my life but I’d be lying if I didn’t say it was also one of the most memorable and fun. It’s a party atmosphere at the event and all participants get a free beer at the end (although I ended up giving my ticket to someone since I don’t drink). My finish time was 46:47.5 and keep in mind that’s with trudging through mud and over obstacles.

As far as the course goes, it’s crazy. There are obstacles such as tires, walls, hills and of course, mud pits. Most of those are not too bad to deal with but crawling through the mud pits proved to be tough for a few reasons.

First, there is netting above the pit so you have no choice but to crawl on your belly to get through. As the run continues, the netting gets lower so by the last one you are up to your chin in mud.

Second, the mud is more like infield clay from a baseball diamond so it will really do a number on your knees if you aren’t careful. I survived without much damage.

Also, it’s hard to wipe mud from your eyes when your hands and shirt are covered in the stuff. Next time: goggles. Another thing to remember is that regardless of how light an outfit you wear, it will still absorb liquid and that weighs you down like mad.

So how did I fare? Here’s how I went into it…

…and here’s how I came out of it:

Great event, great volunteers, great crowd. There’s just not much more you can ask for.

Well, except for maybe eating one of these afterward:

This here is a 1/2 pound Steerburger which from Boll Weevil, a restaurant with locations only in the San Diego area. All my life, I’d been going to the original one on Midway but it was closed down years ago. Whether I was in town to visit relatives or go to a ballgame, I never made a trip to San Diego without going home with one of these babies in my belly, and Saturday was no exception.

I’ll work off the calories later. I was enjoying the day too much at this point

If you really want to do this, check my weight loss Twitter feed at @200by40 for a post that says something like, “200by40 Just began a cycling workout using #Endomondo. Follow me live: http://bit.ly/otuxqp”. That link goes to last week’s ride but when you see the one for tomorrow at about 6 am PST, that will be the bike tour.

So go ahead and cheer me on in the manner people seem to do everything from having sex to engaging in political activism these days – online!

See you at the finish line

Not only that, since I find myself posting here with less frequency, a Twitter account seemed to make even more sense. It’s a quick way to get the word out about my thoughts on a story I saw online, foods I might be trying at the moment, a workout I just started (courtesy Endomondo), a quick photo, etc. In short, a more immediate way to communicate.

The account also gives you, the reader, a chance to send a quick message to me if you wish since I now have a smartphone and use the TweetCaster app to check for messages. Even more interactivity! I’ve even gone ahead and added a Twitter widget to the sidebar so you can see my most recent tweets. Neat-o.

But before we get started, I have a few rules in place which are listed below. Please read and understand them before proceeding any further.

On Following: I welcome anybody to follow me provided you are a genuine, real-life human being with interesting and topical things to say about weight loss. Whether you’ve met your goal or are just starting, I’d love to hear what you have to say so I can follow you in return. This also means that if you are not and are just using Twitter to spam the whole Twitterverse with links to bogus weight loss products or other half-baked snake oil weight loss schemes, you will be blocked and reported for spam. I will not argue with you; I’ll just block you. Remember that this blog is about how I lost weight the right way and not investing in fishy weight loss products because they simply do not work.

On Direct Messaging: You can also DM me if you wish and I’ll try my best to answer you or just say hello. But the same rule goes for DMs: spam me and I block you. Simple, huh?

With all that said, go ahead and follow @200by40 on Twitter and let the fun begin!

This was taken before the run and will post a few more taken with an actual camera (not phone) later.

Summary: finished in about 42:00 or so but I’ll post my official time when I get home. Right now I’m relaxing with the family at Wild Rivers where we had to run through a wading pool of sorts.

Had a great time and looking forward to doing it again!

UPDATE 8/28/11: Alright, since I’ve got some time to do it, here are some highlights/memorable events from the run.

The day started at 5am since I had planned on leaving by 6am to get there in plenty of time for the start at 8am. Irvine isn’t exactly a long drive but when you go to events like this, you just never know what the traffic will be like so it’s always best to plan for any unexpected delays.

We did get there in plenty of time so we checked out the few exhibitor booths that were there. I tried a sample of a drink called Body Armour and it wasn’t too bad so I need to look for that the next time I’m shopping. We sat around for about 30 minutes before I had to get in line according to my anticipated finishing time, do some pre-race stretching, listen to some of the rules, etc.

This is a shot of the field from where I was standing, in the “29:00 – ???” group:

After the National Anthem and a prayer (more people seemed attentive to the former than the latter), the horn sounded and we were off. We trudged along through the parking lot of Wild Rivers and out onto the sidewalk the made a u-turn, where the first water station was. It was poorly manned and most of us had to wait for our water to be poured which is not good.

Despite that, I have to admit that I felt pretty good as I started on my way and at about the first mile, I was in my zone as I usually am. The run came back into the parking lot and started to wind through Wild Rivers itself for the first of two laps. During the second lap, we had to run/walk/wade through this (photo was taken after the run):

This was a most welcomed break from the rest of the course which at times was rather narrow and definitely blocked with walkers and people with strollers, who should have been kept at the rear of the field. Not only that, the wait to get into this Lazy River was just ridiculous as some people removed their shoes before entering.

Up until this point, according to my Endomondo app, I was averaging 11:30 per mile but my lap time for the last mile dropped dramatically as I “ran” through the river: 16:40. If not for that, I could have finished in about 34 minutes or so but considering the wait time and the conditions (but especially the wait time), this was not unexpected.

I crossed the finish line at 42:29 with an average pace of 13:14 according to my chip results. And in case you’re wondering what 5k looks like, here’s the course as recorded by Endomondo:

That seems like a good distance but once you’re up and running, it’s really not. Here’s the portion of the course known as the Lazy River, as noted by the dark blue line:

And although I didn’t finish anywhere near the Top 3 in my age group, that didn’t stop me from pretending I did:

So despite the event’s flaws, I had a good time participating as well as hanging out at Wild Rivers afterward. Next event: the Long Beach Marathon Bike Tour on October 9, 2011. I started my preparation by buying new tires today so I’m ready for that one.

Oh, and those Asics running shoes I’m wearing? I bought them at Savers a few months back for a mere $3.50. They were practically new and half price on the day we were shopping, so that saved me some money for sure

By the way, part of the run is a challenge to “Beat the Cow” or someone running in a cow costume since the Chick-Fil-A is a huge sponsor. And if you do beat the cow, you get a free meal.

Did I beat the cow?

No, I didn’t. I got beat by a dude in a cow costume. But at least I wasn’t a sore loser about it:

I told the bovine I was disappointed for not beating them but there’s no shame in that. The cow consoled me with a friendly pat on the back. We’re cool.

I’m done for the night. My legs are starting to feel the effects of the run and I need to relax!

As far as my weight goes, I’m still hovering around 205 with the chances of reaching my goal weight of 190 by September not looking very promising. I’ll try but honestly, I’m getting comfortable with where I’m at, even if it’s a little over the 200 lb. mark. Again, I’ll try but won’t be terribly disappointed if I don’t make it since I’m still happy to have reached the point I’m at now.

But regardless of what I weigh, whether I’m running or cycling or whatever, I’m staying busy and loving it. And just last Sunday, I did something different to shake up the routine instead of the regular ride to the beach and back (about 20 miles): I rode to the local park and ran 5k on the track and let me tell you, it felt great. I once rode there and walked 5k but never ran so this was definitely a challenge but in the end, it was fantastic and something I need to do again.

Speaking of staying busy, I’ve added a new column on the right side entitled Upcoming Events. It’s just a simple schedule of events that I have registered for and will be partaking in and includes links to the event’s site and registration page via Active.com.

So far, here’s what I’ll be doing:

• August 27, 2011: Wet-N-Wild 5k, Irvine, CA. Register via Active.com
• October 9, 2011: Long Beach Marathon 26.2-Mile Bike Tour, Long Beach, CA. Register via Active.com
• October 15, 2011: Del Mar Mud Run 5k, San Diego, CA. Register via Active.com
• November 2011: Run Like It’s Recess 5k, a local fundraising event for my son’s school.

Awaiting Registration/Considering:

• January 27, 2012: Never Land Family Fun Run, Disneyland Resort, Anaheim, CA. Register via Active.com

I will keep adding to these and once the events are done, I will post comments and pictures if I have any. It should be a lot of fun and a way to remind readers that even though I’m active now, it doesn’t mean I always was.

Need some proof? How about this picture?

Some scouring turned up this photo from 2001. Yeah, uh, that’s me in my Big Mac/3-item combo Chinese food days. Strangely I didn’t think there was anything wrong with my personal appearance or health and could very well still be this big – had I chosen to be.

But I didn’t. Here’s a more recent picture with my boy, enjoying the day at Disneyland:

I’d say there was a slight difference, no?

Remember, folks, it’s possible. You just have to want it bad enough and work hard to get it.

I may have a post for tomorrow as well so hang in there. Thanks again for reading and I hope you get motivated into doing some active events of your own

A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog post about my Road ID, my Christmas present from last year. I even included some $1 off coupon codes in case anybody was compelled to order one.

Today on Facebook, however, I came across something that is similar to the Road ID product but is sans the stylish band.

They are called FinishSafe Finish Tags and are designed to conveniently attach to your person so that, much like Road ID, you no longer have to worry about carrying your wallet or legal ID while you are out running, cycling, or participating in any kind of activity.

What makes this product different is that all of the information your provide is stored online and should you ever need medical attention, it is easily accessed by emergency personnel. By either calling an 800 number, texting, or entering your LifePin on the FinishSafe Web site, they will see everything they need to get you immediate and proper medical attention.

The cost to store and update your information online is free. By comparison, Road ID is free for the first year and then charges $9.99 every year thereafter for their Interactive service.

Perhaps the best thing of all is that, until April 30, 2011, you can get your very own set of FinishSafe Finish Tags for absolutely free (a $9 value). The offer is limited to the first million people who sign up before April 30th so if you want to get in on this deal, I’d suggest you do it now.

More pictures and information is on their Facebook page and should you order one after reading about it here, Like them and mention you saw it on 200by40.com so we can both benefit from the exposure we both so truly deserve

Free is always good so what are you waiting for? Those things won’t order themselves. Get busy!

Good idea? Any thoughts?

I’m feeling pretty good today knowing I’ve been on track and eating right. All of my meals have been planned so I should be okay for the entire day.

Tonight is an exercise night so it’s either outside for a 3-mile walk/jog or indoors for crunches and weights. I’m thinking since I made my tuna salad for lunch, I might go out for a walk but who knows what I’ll decide.

And honesty, either would be fine with me

What’s more, the study went further than just a bunch of questions over the phone. I was also asked if I would like to put my name in a pool of potential participants for a more in-depth study that included taking my weight, height, etc. I gladly submitted my name and just last week, I was called for the tests. In return, I would be rewarded even more money: a $50 Visa gift card. Sign me up!

The results were as follows (according to my memory of the event):

• Height: 5’ 10” but that hasn’t changed in years.
• Weight: 209. Yeah that’s right, it looks like I gained a little back but keep in mind that I was also wearing shorts and a shirt so chances are that this threw it off a bit. As a matter of fact, my weight this morning was 206 so all things considered, I’m staying at a reasonable weight – but still not entirely happy about the gain. Read on.
• Waist Measurement: 40”
• Hip Measurement: 42.5”
• Blood pressure: they took three different measurements at five minute intervals. The average between all three was about 100/65. Not too bad.

So after all of that, I was given two $25 gift cards and both of them went into our gas tanks. Pretty sad if you think about it…

At any rate, my weight. It’s been creeping up here and there and I’ve been having difficulty in maintaining myself at around the 200 lbs. level which is where I’ve been averaging since meeting my goal.

It seems my exercise habits sort of fell apart over the past few months and I simply got a little lazy. Hey, you have to admit that after years of following a strict routine of nutrition and exercise, it would get a bit tiring. And that’s pretty much where I landed.

But thankfully, lately I’ve been kicking myself into doing what needs to be done by doing either of the following on alternating days (and taking one day off somewhere in the week):

• Walk or run a 5k or at least 3 miles
• Weightlifting, ab crunches, and punching bag

And what exactly do I do on my nights off from all of that? Blog about it, of course

For a change of pace, I started to head out for early morning bike rides as well. As a matter of fact, I rode some 20 miles on Sunday:

As you can see, the beach is a only about 8 miles from home and it’s the one place I love to ride to, take a break, enjoy some “me” time, and re-energize with a CLIF Shot Energy Gel (Mocha, please).

So now that I’m trying to get back on track, what’s next? Here’s what’s next.

As you know, I’ve been trying like heck to hit that elusive 190 lb. goal and I just never seem to make it for whatever reason. That’s why I am now making this proclamation:

I will reach 190 by September 27, 2011, the 3 year anniversary of meeting my goal of 200 lbs. or less.

That gives me 169 days to lose 16 pounds or about .5 lb. per week. With the way things have been lately, it will be tough but I’m committed to make it happen.

I guess that means I will have to buy some new batteries for my scale which was something I was trying to avoid because I wanted to conduct an experiment of sorts.

Keeping in mind my weight the day that the batteries died, I wanted to see how far I could go without weighing myself and seeing if I would lose anything.

In only one day, I noticed a significant change in a few things. First, I wasn’t so obsessed with jumping on that scale and preparing myself for some kind of disappointment as things have been lately.

Second, I was making smarter food choices with every meal and snack knowing that I wasn’t going to let the scale dictate my meals for me; I had to do it for myself.

Finally, I felt better about myself overall and a little lighter the following morning. Not relying on the scale made me even more accountable for my actions which is something that is necessary when you are trying to lose weight.

So with that, it seems on back on track. 169 days until I reach my goal.

Will I make it? Stay tuned and find out!