Getting Back Up When You're Knocked Down.....Again.

     So it appears to me that some time has passed since my last post. Well sometimes life happens. Last year was a little bit of a rough one. I lost my job, some dear friends and relatives passed away, we had to replace our furnace, it broke on a night when temps reached down below -5°F, my wife's car needed to be replaced, our roof started leaking & the whole thing needed to be replaced. Oh I almost forgot the big one. I spent the entire week of Christmas in a very small Hospital room. Guess what? I made it!

     Sure we pinched our pennies but we had an epic support system! Im not going to say exactly who, but its moments like these that highlight the importance of having a strong support system in place. Without the active support of friends and family I am certain that I would still be in a bad spot. Where does that leave me on my weight loss journey? At 273 pounds.

     To be honest, I think around the time of my last post I was at 224 pounds. Like I said before sometimes life happens, and you priorities shift around, but are not forgotten. This is why I have been holding steady at 273 and not pushing 330! I am still on a journey, and its time I dust myself and get back up on that horse.

     My renewed goal is 190 pounds and I plan on rocking that mess like an angry sea tossing around the USS Minnow! Tried and tested support system? Check! Banging weight loss plan? Check! Physical activity I enjoy? Double Check! Lets ride on out and rock this hot mess! Yeah buddy!

-Mike

Reaching those goals!

     When I first started out on this road to weight loss I was not too sure I would be able to do it. Sure I had some lofty goals, but in the beginning they seemed so distant and out of reach. Right now I am at 112lbs lost in under a year and have gone down 10 pants sizes! Oh did I mention that I just ran in a 5k event here in Maryland? Did I also mention that I ran the entire thing in under 38 minutes?!? My official time was 00:37:50.3 that is right, my fastest time ever! Last year on this date it was still sinking in that I was 360lbs and only 40lbs away from being 400lbs again. I knew I had to do something, and I could NOT afford not to!

     This past weekend was the River Valley Ranch 5k & 10k Trail Run. My friend Greg and I had set a goal last year of running the 5k race. I am looking forward to being able to do the 10k trail race next year. As we were finding our place at the starting line, with the 10min per mile group. We noticed a big guy come walking up getting in line behind our group. As he was walking past us we could not help but hear him complain about how far he had to walk from his car to the starting line. He went on about how his walk was basically 5k already. I really hope he was kidding because it was only a few hundred feet at best. I looked at Greg, shrugged and thought to my self, "I bet you $20 we do not see him cross the finnish line." Both Greg and I were watching for him but he never showed up again. Then it hit me. Last year that was us. Both Greg and myself could not walk up the stairs from my basement without getting winded. Now we are running or walking 5k several times a week, and Greg is training for a half marathon!

Greg and I before the race. Me on the left. Greg on the right.

We had just left the starting line!

     I know what you are thinking. Right now you are saying to yourself, "I have got to get out and start running!" Well sure you could do that, but what you should really do first is take a good hard look at what you are eating and drinking. This is why I went with Take Shape For Life fueled by Medifast. Yes just like any other health program there is a cost, but this is the only one where I saw awesome results personally. All of my meals are provided and measured for me by Medifast, and the only meals I have to make are my Lean and Green meals. I am not buying groceries for myself, I am not spending money to go out to eat. In fact we are saving money with this meal plan! I needed a program that forced me to start thinking about what I was eating and how much. I used to just love eating fried chicken, and now just the sight of it makes me sick. The old me would go to a KFC and order a 6 piece meal and 2 extra biscuits with a large rootbeer and potato wedges. The new me would slap that out of my hands and pull me along by the ears!

     I strongly recommend finding someone who has been where you have been. This is why the free Health Coach from TSFL was worth it to me, a person that went through the program before me who could properly guide me along the way. Which is why I became a Health Coach myself! I want to help others, and I firmly believe in the TSFL program! No it is not the only one out there but it is the one that worked for me. I just have 58lbs till I get to my goal weight. So what is stopping you from starting down your own road to weight loss? For me I had to face the facts and stop looking for excuses. It is as easy as saying, "I want to do this, and I AM going to do this!" I am here and I can help you find the way to the path that I found last year, with some much needed help.

These are size 50 pants that fit me perfectly last year! I am now down to a size 40.

http://www.myroadtoweightloss.tsfl.com/explore

*Results vary. Typical weight loss on the Medifast 5 & 1 Plan® is 2-5 lbs per week for the first two weeks and 1-2 lbs per week thereafter.

Conditioning for Outdoor Sports

     Well it has been a few weeks since my last post. I have been super busy with work and being healthy! Any one who does not really know about my childhood and teenage years also does not know of my love for outdoor sports. Well sure bike riding and tennis I like well enough, but I am mostly talking about hiking, hunting, and fishing. Since moving to the Baltimore / Washington DC area I have not been able to do a whole lot of that. Mainly because there are so few forests left in Maryland.

     As kids my dad taught us to not just be good hunters or fishermen, but he taught us the importance of wildlife conservation and that it is ok to just go out in the woods some times and enjoy nature. I have to tell you, that at 360lbs+ it was tough trying to walk in the woods. Heck it was a chore walking up the stairs to the fridge! So far I have shed 84lbs and moving is a breeze these days! I have been doing a few different exercises to strengthen my legs and core. I have been giving the treadmill a break for a little bit but am planning to get back on that horse this week. I have been doing a modification to a workout Bob Harper had me doing where I go into a squat and then with 60lbs or more on a barbell do some reps. The squatting not only gives my legs a good workout but it also gives my core a run for its money!

     I know hunting is not for every one. I strongly encourage you to find something you like doing outside. Even if you are just starting out on your own weight loss journey you may find that your state is more beautiful than you realize! If weight is something you have struggled with and you need some one to talk to, I strongly urge you to give my health coaches Claire and Arnold a call or an email. Be sure to let them know Mike Case sent you!  They are very friendly and have been through the weight loss journey them selves.

All the best,

Mike

Sad to see you go 290's!

     Is it just me or does it seem like I just got to the 290's? I was exspecting to be there for another week but holy cow! I have been losing about 2lbs a week and really was not even dreaming of more, so to see -5lbs in one week is huge! One thing I am learning with Medifast is that they are trying to teach your body who to burn fat instead of store it. Which means exersise but not going all Rocky Balboa on the workout's!

     I have a gym membership and I go once a day and I take Saturday and Sunday off from that routine.  Last week I did things a little differently. Instead of walking and running on the treadmill for 45mins and then doing my upper body on the machines, I switched to doing the bike for 25mins, and then free weights for as long as I could bear! I backed my workout down a bit though because I found myself running out of gas. One of the other things I am learning about Medifast is that you are not really supposed to go full bore on the workout's! So a few weeks back I was working really hard but it seemed like I had stalled at the 300's. What I forgot was that I was building muscle and muscle weighs more than fat!

     For the next few months I am going to try maximizing my ability to get those bigger loss numbers, but if I manage a steady pace of just -2lbs a week I will still be ok with that. Because it sure beats a plus any day of the week!

-Mike

290's Baby!

     Well we have finally made it back to the 290's! This is the first time since high school that I have weighed under 300lbs! Friday night I had hit another milestone, I ran a mile just a few seconds over 14 minutes. You read that right. As a teenager I had always had a hard time running for distance. My real problem was a lack of wanting to push myself to be honest. So when I looked at my Nike Plus data at the end of my 5k I did not realize I did my fastest mile until Tiger Woods congratulated me on my fastest mile 14:03! I still had my headphones on and just laughed, and the lady next to me was puzzled and trying to figure out what I was laughing at.

     High school I remember no matter how hard I tried to do a 15 minute mile the best I could squeak out was 16:36 so for me 14:03 is a big deal. How man 34 year old men can say that they are out performing their teen-aged self in their 30's? Just think my goal weight is 168lbs so I still have a ways to go. Below is a graph of my weight loss since starting Medifast.

My weight loss progress so far.

     I am looking forward to competing in a 5k this summer. I am trying to push myself and be ready for a 10k but if all I can handle is 5k then that will be fine with me. I am also looking forward to doing more outdoors / men type things. Not being in NH I have to admit I really miss just being able to go hunting and fishing. I love the woods and the outdoors, my wife not so much. For me the further away from city life the better. Steph loves being near 6 different grocery stores so she can use her coupons and get the best deals. In the boondocks you are lucky if there is a Super Walmart 45 minutes away. Just really looking forward to getting up and doing more!

-Mike

The Big Stall...

     For the last 2 weeks I have been a little discouraged. I hopped on the scale and it still read 306lbs. I was not liking that because I had really ramped up my workout's. So I just kept going, doing about 2 miles on the treadmill every day and doing my arm's and upper body every other day. So last Monday comes along and what does the scale say? Yup a big fat ole' 306lbs. So I took a step back and tried to figure out if I was doing anything different.

     The first thing I did was contact my Medifast coach Arnold. This is exactly why they are there. I have to be honest I was not sure at first that his suggestion would work, yet sure enough it did! It was so very simple. I am on the Medifast 5+1 plan where I eat 5 Medifast meals in a day and then eat a lean protein along with only vegetables. Up until now I had been eating my "Lean and Green" meal at dinner. Arnold suggested starting with a simple change and have my Lean meal at breakfast or lunch time. Skeptically I chose lunch time and stuck with that change. Wouldn't you know he was right on the money! This week I lost 6lbs! Normally I only lose about 2lbs a week! So I am hoping this trend keeps up! It would be nice to have another 6lbs loss next week but would honestly be surprised if it happens for a second week in a row! Would be nice though!

     If you are reading this and doing the diet thing on your own I totally recommend working with some one that has been through this battle before. Claire and Arnold have been a huge help to me, and have both been through what I am going through. If you are like me and have tried Weight Watchers, Slimfast, The Fat Smash Diet, and many others with no success I highly recommend trying Medifast and signing up on Claire and Arnold's website. Now its off to the gym for me! I feel so strange looking forward to working out! :)

-Mike 

Things That Make You Move!

     Finding a diet plan that is right for you is just one of the important steps towards losing weight. Find a plan and stick to the plan. The next step is finding things you enjoy doing that get you up off of that couch and moving. This is where motivation is key. I am from the video game generation and even though I am well into my 30's I still very much enjoy playing video games. For a long time I was really into World of Warcraft. I still play time to time but not like I used to. I just don't have the time for it any more and that is a good thing! Something I have found that I find very cool is Nike+. Now I do realize there is a lot out there but typing in endless amounts of data day in and day out is not fun to me. I have tried a few other free online programs for walking / running and Nike+ is the tool that fits me and is fun for me. I use it with my iPod Nano, and it has several different options.

     To use the Nike+ app for iPod or the iPhone you do not have to use the special Nike+ Sneakers. Those are just an added bonus for measuring your pace & distance. I have the sensor plugged into my iPod and the shoe pod in my Nike+ sneakers. Since buying these sneakers I have already logged over 110 miles! All I do is select the type of run or walk I am doing and press start. Once I am done I just sync with iTunes and my workout data is sent to the Nike+ website. I am able to do this from either work or home and that alone is extremely handy! As you can see I have found my motivation tool. But walking is not the only thing I am doing.

     Some people have gone out and found them self a personal trainer and a gym. I think at some point I too will go out and look into a gym membership, but for me I am having a good time with working out with a Bob Harper Biggest Loser Boot Camp video I have mentioned in a previous blog post. I think once I find that video easy I will have to make the choice between 2 local gym's. Brick Bodies and Planet Fitness. My only reservation about Planet Fitness is the "Lunk Alarm" if you grunt or grown while working out they sound the alarm which can be rather embarrassing. Where Brick Bodies is a locally owned and well respected establishment but I believe their prices are much higher than Planet Fitness. Both are close to my house and one of the problems I am having with my workouts are not the tasks but my 2 little girls who want to do what daddy is doing. Now I don't mind that they want to do what daddy is doing but I also don't want to squish them! Our oldest turned 4 in October and she likes to stand close to me which is a problem when I need to start jumping side to side. Our youngest who just turned 1 in November does not understand what daddy is doing but it looks like fun so she stands under foot and just wants up! This becomes a problem when I need to switch to push-ups.

Find what motivates you to get moving, and stick to the plan!

-Mike

New Biggest Loser Season

     So the new season of The Biggest Loser started tonight. I was a fan of the show until the season Rulon Gardner left near the end. Heck I think the season before that, I kind of soured on the show when Arthur Wornum was booted off. He was a person that really needed to be there but got booted. He was working hard and losing a lot of weight, I kind of forget why he was even booted. I was just sad because he really needed help and got the ole heave-ho. Alas this season is the change I think a lot of people wanted to see in the show. Not only are they helping adults but also kids. The kids can not be voted off the show! Which rocks! Needless to say I will be watching this current season as I too continue my road to weight loss.

     I have been doing rather well with my Medifast diet. Since starting in September I have lost 52lbs! Tomorrow morning I will do my weigh-in and am hoping for a good number. This week I have ramped up my workout's a little bit. Since the 1st I have walked every day, trying to do at least 1.5 miles at work and 3.2 miles at home. Yesterday I decided to try walking / running 10k. I found running up hill was easier than running down hill. I know it sounds odd but I grew up in the mountain's of New Hampshire so maybe that played a part? If you have an iPhone or Android device I suggest installing the free Nike+ app. You do not need the special Nike+ shoes to use it on your smart phone. I use Nike+ on my iPod Nano and for that I use the sensor & shoe pod that fit into my Nike+ sneakers. It is an awesome motivational tool! Once I get into the 200's I will post some progress pictures.

Best of luck in this new year!

-Mike