back in january when we started working on i set some should short, medium, and long term goals. you can see them over in my fitness timeline (scroll to the bottom). setting goals is something i’ve been doing for years and really think it helps me to stay focused and accountable. the funny thing is i had never actually met any of my goals by the dates i had set.
i don’t know if the goals were just to unrealistic or i just never internalized them enough. i had come close a few times but never actually nailed the numbers i had set. this time however i not only reached my first goal but actually did it a week early. i set the goal of being down 60 pounds by june 1. i hit that goal this past friday after 5 months of solid workouts and healthy means.
not only did i reach the goal but i’m now the lowest weight i’ve ever been since i started working out in 2000. as you can see from that timeline i’ve started and restarted trying to get healthy 13 times now. lucky 13 i guess …. there’s no triskaidekaphobia here, i pown it!
looking back i realized that i’m down to the weight i was back in 1995. while i was in texas (for a coop) i gained quite a bit of weight, must have been all that home cooking. it’s weird looking back to where i was then and now. so much has changed, i really am a different person with a different outlook on life.
anyhow, i wanted to share my happiness at hitting my goal with people. i have another short term goal for my birthday in 3 months of being below 300 pounds. that’ll be 90+ pounds gone from my body forever when i hit it. wish me luck … now get out there and make a change too.
sean body for life, health & fitness, personal fitness, personal
over the last few months i’ve been hard at work on something. it’s not only something that will change my life but the life of those around me. it’s something that effects my happiness, attitude, and general approach to life.
i’ve been hard at work building my new healthy body. i know i’ve written in the past about trying to become healthy. there are however a number of things that make this time around different.
i’m now almost 6 months into my changes. in the past this was where things started falling apart or i completely fell apart. not only is that not happening but i’m actually gaining more focus and things are becoming easier and more natural.
it’s been hard in previous attempts to stay motivated and focused on my goals. whether progress slowed, food became harder to control, or workouts started to become boring there was always something that stopped us. this time around however i’ve already tackled a month long plateau, healthy food choices finally feel really natural, and we’re constantly making efforts to change our workouts often.
my past goals always seemed stronger than they were while setting them. under pressure however they were lost or just faded into the background, never strong enough to keep me going when presented with hard obstacles. this time however my goal is front and center every single day. it’s something that makes me smile and really strive for constant improvement. it’s my little girl, abby. seeing her constantly reminds me why i’m doing this and how much it will help us all in the long run. yes i’m also doing this for me but it’s also really important that i’m her for her to see here grow up and really experience and participate in her childhood.
here are a few of the things that are really helping this time around:
- workout variety — we’re doing tons of different workouts like spin, step aerobics, cardio boot camp, yoga, weight lifting (upper & lower), elliptical, and more.
- simple & fun food — constantly trying new recipes from the eating for life and biggest loser cookbook has made eating less boring and repetitive. creating great baked ziti, taco pasta salad, or a bacon burger make it interesting and yummy. the hardest part is still making sure to get those 5-6 meals per day in.
- understand calories — in the past when i followed body for life i completely ignored calories and focused on portions. i still really agree with the portions approach but think it lacks something important, helping people understand calories. what’s really helped me this time around is a simple free iphone application called lose it!. i made it convenient and simple to track and really understand where my calories were adding up. after using it for a little over 4 months i stopped. i feel comfortable enough knowing what is and isn’t the right food to refocus on portions and not stress over calories.
- tracking weight — i know it’s another anti body for life axiom but i’ve been doing daily and sometimes intraday weight-ins. it’s really helped me understand the cycle of my body and how i lose (or don’t) weight. i can instantly see how cardio effects my weight over short time periods and weight training throughout the day. what really scared and amazed me was how dramatically my body fluctuates in weight following a free day. i can easily shoot up 8 pounds following a free day. it’s really important to not get freaked out about this. instead, stay on target and use it to help you understand your body and aid in getting healthy.
- workout partner — having a dedicated focused person who helps me to get up and really pushes me has really helped me be honest and stay on track.
those are just a few of the things that have helped me thus far. i’m planning on posting more to share more thoughts and changes. if your interested you can check out my fitness timeline to see my progress and upcoming goals.
sean body for life, health & fitness fitness, personal
it’s been quite a while since i last updated my blog. a number of things have happened to me since my last update. it’d probably be easier to just write them all down and start fresh from posting from here:
- amy and i visited alaska for a 2~ week cruise it was a truly eye opening and amazing vacation. seeing the animals and landscapes was inspiring and spectacular. i really recommend not only cruise west as a provider but alaska as s destination cruise.
- we had out first child, abigail willson on march 13, 2008. she arrived 4.5 weeks early but her health was great. after spending a little over a week in the nicu she came home. she’s now over 10 months old, babbles, stands, crawls like lightning, laughs all the time, and is so much fun. i never thought i’d feel so responsible, helpless, happy, etc. for someone. she lights up a room whenever she smiles. did i mention she has my eye color and the cutest cheeks?
- i stopped doing full time computer consulting and started working at drw trading as a senior software engineer. i’m still writing software on the side however through wideasleep.
- i released my first iphone application fairway into the itunes appstore. it’s a small virtual caddie application that helps you easily apply the pelz school of swing thought to your game. sales have been pretty good so far. i know this feature set is a niche market right now but look for future updates to expand it into new interesting areas.
- i’ve started working on another iphone / ipod touch application and hope to release it in a few months. looks for more updates on that soon.
- we’ve started working out hardcore again and are starting our 4th week into a new workout and nutritional lifestyle change. i really think it’s going to stick this time as we’re through the difficult first few weeks. it’s pretty much habit now which is great. we’ve been using this great little iphone application called lose it! which is free and thanks to it’s simple tracking tools and our new nutrition program i’m down over 18 pounds. i know my fitness up’s and down’s have been a large topic on this site over the years. it’s an ongoing battle to be healthy and i don’t want to stop trying to be healthy, especially now that i have to be a role model for abby.
i think that’s about it … i’m sure i missed a ton of other things but those are the highlights. i’m going to try to get into a routine posting here again. until then …
sean miscellaneous, personal baby, fitness, iphone, personal, wideasleep
amy and i have ever so slowly made progress this year toward our health & fitness goals. while we’re not quite at our low of 2006 we’ve been able to stay stable and for the most part consistent. i’ve updated my fitness timeline … it’s starting to look like a warzone. with all of the ups and downs youe’d think i was modeling my bank account.
our new puppies, which i just realized i haven’t posted pictures or information on yet (but will soon), have helped us a lot. they’re our evening fitness barometer. if we’ve walked the puppies they’re quiet, cuddly, and generally great companions. if we’ve been bad pet owners and haven’t walked them then they’re fighting, running around like crazy, and generally somewhat painful. well … as painful as two cute boston terriers can be. anyhow … we took them both for 2 very long walks this weekend which was great for them and us.
next weekend i’m looking to get our bikes on the road and we’re planning on doing some golfing as well. yes, i did say “we” … i was finally able to brainwash amy into picking up her first set of clubs. we even visited the driving range this afternoon to enjoy this amazing illinois weather. it was my first time hitting the range this year … though i was able to get out and golf once. i hit the ball pretty well today with my wedge game clearly outshining the other shots in my bag. amy really hit the ball well … once she gets consistent with her addressing the ball, alignment, and some small swaying she’s going to be giving me a run for my money. she hits the ball straight on just about every shot and she’s driving the ball 170 - 180 consistently.
anyhow … we’re hoping on getting outdoors more this summer … i think doing that combined with our 4-5 days per week at the gym and eating healthy and this will be the year we attain our goals. wish us luck!!!
sean body for life, golf, health & fitness fitness
well i’ve finally found the time to get my blog up and running. during my registrar move i decided to move my blog from movable type to wordpress. it wasn’t because of anything mt did or didn’t do … it was mostly due to the convenience of someone else maintaining my blog software. i was able to click a few buttons to get it installed, import all of my old posts, and i was up amd running. so where did i waste the rest of my weeks/months then if it was that easy? well mostly in being lazy … but also in finding a decent theme and then hacking the wordpress php code to get it to render the way i wanted. one thing i really don’t like about wordpress is that it always seems to think it knows how to format my html better than i do. if i tell it to get out of the way then damn it, get out to the way. i shouldn’t have to open php files an comment out formatting lines to get it to behave the way i’d expect when i insert breaks, lists, or paragraph tags. i hope my wordpress experience is much smoother going forward, i’ll keep you posted.
sean blogging, site news wordpress
james has a c4 flickr stream available for people that are interested in still views of a conference. not exactly exciting but at least you get to see rentzsch and his crisp clean ties. yes, i think he was the only person in a tie.
sean programming, technology c4, conference, pictures
the c4 presentations are very lessig and takahashi like. minimal, mostly text, simple, and directly to the point.
here’s a good example of a lessig style presentation. no, it’s not a c4 presentation but it shows the style.
sean programming, technology c4, programming, technology