a new year, a new me

Hello friends.

With a new year starting, I’ve decided to get back on my diet and lose another 40 pounds! Last year I started my diet in February and lost a grand total of 40 pounds. I’ve maintained the weight loss and eased away from my strict dieting over the holidays. My ultimate goal has been a 90 pound loss, but I’m going to make a 2012 goal of losing 40 more pounds for the year.

Starting tomorrow, Monday Jan 9, 2012, will be the beginning of the new me.

My plan will consist of the following:

• Maintain a high protein diet with slow carb foods (beans and veggies).
• No fruit! Fruit has a lot of sugar. There is no such thing as good or bad sugar. Sugar is sugar.
• Cutting out diet soda and drinking more tea/coffee.
• I’ve had a strict seafood and chicken diet for several years now, but I’ve decided I need to include some lean meats to increase my dietary options. So I’m planning to throw in lean bison meat, maybe some (I mean very little) beef.
• I will continue to have a cheat day once a week on Saturdays.
• Running more often. I like to trail run compared to regular track running. Burns more calories and keeps me concentrating with every step.
• Training for my 4th MS 150. Riding every Saturday morning.
• Mountain biking whenever possible.

That’s it! That will consist of my diet and training. Those of you who are planning to lose weight for the new year, keep on pushing through. Everyone fails at one point, but it’s about coming back from those failures. I’ve failed miserably at losing weight most of my life. Only this passed year I somehow over came the hurdles and lost 40 pounds. If I can do it, anyone can.

i heart carbs

After my wedding in May 2010, I started to slack off on my diet. I ate whatever I want, drank beer all the time, and working out became a once a month deal. MS150 was over, so I had no need to train.

Well with the hiatus I was taking from health, I gained back around 12 lbs. I know you’re like WTF, but I can easily put on some weight. I crap and I lose a pound of two. That’s how quickly my weight can shift.

So a little over a month ago I started reading a book called the 4 hour body by Tim Ferris. And I found my self being motivated once again to start a healthy diet and to train again once more for MS150. I started a “slow-carb” diet. Which is a lot like the low carb diets out there. What makes it different is the low fat high protein approach which is similar to south beach diet. BUT! there is a cheat day. You designate a cheat day once a week where you eat whatever you want. When you include the cheat day, you purposely spike your glucose level and keeps your glucose in check for the rest of the week. You gain a pound or two the day after, but within 2-3 days, you shed that off minus additional weight.

*Tip – When you cheat, consume lemons, limes or grapefruit juice with your meals to lower the impact of weight gain. This works wonders.

How’s my diet going? I’ve lost around 15lbs in a month 22 pounds in 3 month. I’ve been training “almost” every Saturday for MS150, I’ve been eating healthy, and I feel great. Clothes that used to fit years ago are finally starting to fit once more. And people are finally noticing that I’ve lost weight.

*Tip – When someones dieting, and you tell them that you can tell they lost weight, it makes them feel like freaking rainbows.

For anyone interested, here is rough outline of my diet plan:

Breakfast
within 30 minutes of waking up, chug a EAS low-carb protein shake. (17grams of protein)
3 boiled eggs sometimes with turkey bacon (lean)

Snack
Celery sticks with some peanut butter

Lunch
Salad with tons of black beans, salsa, jalapenos, lean ground turkey, sour cream and guacamole. I have a rotation of black bean and lentil soup, or wild salmon with lemon and salad.

Snack
Roasted nuts.

Dinner
Salad or wild salmon fillets with steamed veggies.

I eat tons and tons of salads every week. I try to stay with only organic foods, especially organic meats and eggs. I’ll throw in another EAS protein shake once in awhile as a snack when I feel hungry. Great alternatives to snacking are cheese sticks, sugar free jello, grape tomatoes, scoop of peanut butter and raw nuts. (My meals vary, I try to change it up here and there.)

MS150 is this weekend and I feel excited to be apart of an amazing event once more. I dreaded the ride this whole year during training but now that it’s finally here I’m looking forward to the challenge once more. If you find yourself wanting to donate to the MS Society, please make your donation through my link: http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/jsuh . I’m $400 short of my goal of raising $1,000.

If you’d like to follow my progress of my ride during MS150, you can follow me on my twitter or facebook. My cyclemeter app will be auto updating every 15 minutes or every 10 miles of my status. If you reply on twitter or facebook, I’ll be able to hear your encouraging words to motivate me across the finish line.

twitter: j5uh
facebook: you should know this already.

getting back on the bike

I’ve been itching to get back on the bike and start cycling again but none of the fools I trained with for MS 150 want to bike. So I went searching for people to bike with and I found a meetup.com group called, “Come Ride With Us“. They get together every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sundays and cycle together all over the greater Houston and some other places around Texas. I first rode with them last Thursday and I had a great time. Everyone was pretty laid back, and welcoming. Thursdays are usually a moderate pace ride at around 15 mph and it was a nice 22 mile ride around Houston inner loop area. If you want to ride, come on out, it’s a lot of fun when you cycle with other people.

I rode with the group again yesterday and I decided to use my new iphone 4, with the map my ride app, and map the course out. So here it is:

bp ms150 – 2010 complete!

2010 BP MS-150 is finally over.

I’ve been training since January and it paid off big time. Almost every Saturday, I woke up at around 5am, drove out an hour and trained for the big ride and it was tough to do it every weekend. But every week that passed by, it got easier and easier, and hills were becoming less of a nuisance. Also going to the gym 3 times a week helped in heaps. My legs are stronger, my arms, my back, even my ass was stronger. MS 150 was 100 times easier this year than last.

But one thing was still a road block. My uncontrollable runs. My first day of the ms 150 was going great. I was ridding through it pretty easily and I had about 7 miles left of the 100. I would almost say it was a breeze but I don’t want to come off arrogant. But I spoke to soon, cause my stomach started to hurt, hurt REALLY REALLY bad. I only had 7 miles left and I needed a toilet asap. I skipped the last stop and there were no other rest stops left and I started getting desperate. I got so desperate I was looking around to take a deuce even in the woods. I was looking left to right for someone to be outside on there porch so I could beg and plead to use there toilet. I had no choice but to push through and get to the finish line as quickly as possible.

I thought maybe if I biked hard enough, the pain in my legs would overcome the pain in my stomach, but that didn’t work. I could only hope it doesn’t explode in my bike shorts. After what seemed like the longest 7 miles I’ve done, I finally get to the finish line, and run to the first port-a-potty I saw. I’ll just sum up it up and say that I barely got it all out.

I could barely hold down food the first night, and same thing for the morning on the second day. I was worried I would have to call it quits and head to Austin in shame. But as soon as I hopped on the bike, I felt much better. So I pushed on.

So first day was good besides the toilet fiasco, and 2nd day was much better. I took the challenge route this year, and I’ll admit, it was the toughest route I’ve ridden so far. It had some really steep hills that I barely made over. I didn’t have to walk my bike at all this year. I pushed through and made it pretty easily. Well not that easy, but much easier than last year.

I had no injuries besides my knee acting up. My IT band is super tight and causing my knee to hurt. Feeling better but going to take it easy for the next week or two.

I ended up finishing both days at around 2:30pm. Beat my last years record by 4 hours! lol. Can’t wait for the next MS 150. I hope to beat this years record by atleast another 2 hours. Photos and videos to come.

been awhile

This week has been jam packed with wedding stuff and I’ve had no time to hit up the gym. I finally had sometime yesterday so I got a nice workout. Feeling a little sore today, but ready for my 51 mile ride tomorrow in the hill country. Last weekend I biked a total of 84 miles! Most I’ve biked in a week.

Thursday 04.09.10
Since I didn’t get to workout this week, I did an all around workout for all upper body. No legs. Got to keep my legs fresh for the weekend. Also my weight has been fluctuating a bit. Gained a few lbs but I’m back down again for a total loss of 21 lbs. 15lbs to go before the wedding.

Also next weekend is MS 150. I’m pretty pumped and excited this year. I’ve been training hard, losing weight, and my stamina is the highest it’s ever been in my life. If you can, come out to Austin and meet us at the finish line!

i need some gloves

Today I worked out alone since my workout buddy bowls on Wednesdays and I couldn’t workout yesterday since I had pre-marital counseling. Man, my hands are jacked up from lifting and rowing. Blisters everywhere. I need to buy some workout gloves.

Wednesday 03.31.10
Back and biceps tonight.
5000 meter row machine.

only 3 weeks left before ms 150

I don’t know what it is, but I’ve been really tired lately, and I want to sleep earlier and earlier.

Only 3 weeks left before the big MS 150, and I’m pretty excited. It’s going to be a great challenge and a great experience. I remember riding last years MS 150 and while I was pedaling through the hills, this lady stood on the side of the road with a sign that read, “thanks for saving my life”. That moved me to just push myself just a little harder. That same day further down, I remember seeing a kid holding a sign in front of his house that read, “thanks for saving my brother”. I’m not going to lie, I teared up. At that moment I knew that this ride was much more than just a ride to Austin. It was ride to save lives and help find the cure of MS. If you haven’t donated, donate now. I know you know someone who’s doing the MS 150. Every dollar counts!

Monday 03.29.10
Chest and Triceps workout.
Didn’t get to do any cardio.

i guess it's finally paying off

Since I’ve started my diet I’ve given up many unhealthy habits. Some permanent, and some temporarily. I’ve lost a total of 21 lbs and my stamina for cycling is way more than it ever was.

Here is a list of what I’ve changed in my life to be where I am now.

1. I stopped drinking diet drinks. Diet coke is my addiction. I’d drink around 2 cans a day or more. I’m now down to zero. I can’t lie, I had a can of diet coke during my bachelor party. But that’s one can since February. But I’ve also cut out substitute sugar in general. So no splenda, no aspartame, sweet n low, etc. Zero fake sugar.

2. I also cut down coffee dramatically. I used to have about 2 cups a day, but I’m down to one cup a week. I’ve never been addicted to caffeine, except for just the taste. If I need some caffeine, my first choice is unsweetened tea. I’m really starting to love tea. The reason for giving up coffee is that the caffeine impact on your body is drastic it slows down your metabolism. Tea on the other hand releases caffeine over a longer period of time so the impact is not as great.

3. Sweets. I love sweets in general. Ice cream would be my weakness. But I cut out the cookies, the cakes, ice cream and all. In the past month or two I may have had a few treats, but it’s nearly down to zilch.

4. Fast food. No more of that. Closest thing I get to fast food is a sandwich from subway.

5. Skipping meals. I never ever skip a meal. I eat 3 full meals a day, with snacks in between. So I’m usually snacking every 3 hours. But healthy snacking.

6. Excess eating. I’m pretty aware of portion control now thanks to my fit foods. I’m very aware of what I eat and how much of it. This helps a ton.

7. Alcohol. Since January 1st, I’ve drank about 3-4 times. When dieting alcohol is your enemy. It’s loaded with calories making you feel hungry. I definitely miss my ales, stouts, whiskey and scotch. Damn you diet.

These are just some of the things I’ve given up so far this year and it’s helping drastically. I workout 3 times a week in the gym and bike on the weekend, and it’s slowly paying off. Since I’ve started working out in February, I’ve lost 21 lbs and still counting. 14 lbs shy of my pre-wedding goal. On my way to better me!

Thursday 03.26.10
Back and bicep workouts.
30 Minutes on the bike station.

Tomorrows and 62 mile ride in the hill country. Supposed to be tougher than the ms 150 ride.

bachelor party in breckenridge was awesome

This past week I was in Breckenridge for my bachelor party. I’ve never seen snow in my life so it was definitely an eye opener. I loved the weather, the snow, the mountains, I loved every bit of Breckenridge.

Since it was my first time seeing snow, it was also my first time snow boarding. First day was a drag. I fell so much that my ass, arms, legs, head and every part of body was aching. My body was screaming with pain, telling me to quit. After my first day, I finally had it down. I was going heel side down the mountain pretty easily. But the leg pains were unbearable. Come the third day, I was screaming down the mountain with ease. That’s when I really started to enjoy snow boarding. Now that I’m back home, I miss the weather, the snow, the mountains and every bit of Breckenridge. (Pictures to come along with some videos of my ass falling all over the place.)

Back to the grind and my routine workout schedule.

Tuesday 03.24.10
Chest and triceps.
5000 meter row machine.
15 minutes of bike machine.
Some ab workouts.

By the way I gained weight during the bachelor party. SOB. But it’s ok. I’m heading back down to where i was before I left.

This coming weekend is a tough ass ride. 62 miles in the hill country. Not looking forward to it, but once I’m through, I’ll know I’m one step closer to completing the MS 150 with a bit of ease.

i feel fresh

MS150, ms150, ms150, is all I hear. Which is good. Keeps reminding me that I need to get ready for the ride. I’ve been training a lot this year. Almost every week I ride over 30-50 miles, and 3 days a week I’m in the gym, lifting weights, and riding again on the bike machine.

So this past Saturday, I rode the Hershey trail from beltway 8 to fry rd, and I must say, it was a peace of cake. I felt so fresh afterward that it didn’t even feel like I rode. I must be improving my stamina, and my leg strength. Need to start doing some more hill training now.

I weighed myself this morning and I’m at a total lost of 16.5 lbs! wOOt!

Monday 03.15.08
Worked out alone today. My workout partner sold me out for a pair of tickets to a Rockets game. But I still hit the gym up and pushed through. Focused on shoulders and legs than 30 minute cardio on the bike machine.