I’ve been hesitant to write this post for quite a while as it feels rather self-serving.  But as I’m ending phase two of my training program and now entering what I’m calling phase three I figured it was time for a little reflection.

Phase 1
If you’ve known me for more than 3 years you know I used to be fat.  Hey, let’s not dance around it, I was fat.  Fortunately for me I’d finally had enough and decided to finally get healthy.  This is what I call phase one of my fitness program or really fitness progression.  I tend to be fairly obsessive with things I care about and fitness has been no difference.  My first goal was to lose weight – and a lot of weight.  I did two very simple things to accomplish this: I ate significantly less and exercised significantly more (that is to say I finally started exercising regularly).  I cut my daily caloric intake to around 1000 calories and added in cardio work, mostly cycling.  I continued on this program for roughly 10 months to reach my first goal. 

I guess it’s time for some numbers huh?  Wow, these are pretty scary: (I’m 5’11” by the way…)

Beginning: 235lbs | 40” Waist | 32% body fat | 32.8 BMI
Ending: 145lbs | 30” Waist | 8% body fat | 20.2 BMI

So in those first 10 months I lost roughly 90lbs total, 10” off my waist, 65lbs of fat (and 22lbs of muscle).  It was that last stat that made me begin phase 2 about 3 months ago.

Phase 2
Ok, so I finally got myself thin and healthy.  After a few years at my new weight and loving it I decided it was time I finally got strong.  I’ve never been anything even resembling athletic in my life so I wondered, how hard could it be?  Could I do it?  Could I actually become strong?  I started going to the gym regularly and doing some weight training.  As I’d never used weights before I really had no idea what to do – until I found P90X that is.  If you’ve never heard of P90X before (you’ve probably seen the infomercials for it) it’s essentially an extreme home fitness system.  You only need a few things: weights (or bands), a pull-up bar, chair, TV/DVD player.  And really that’s it.  It’s a 90 day program that changes it’s routines every 30 days.  You do a workout 6 days a week with rest of the 7th.  I’m now in the last week of the 90 days and it’s been amazing what it’s done for me.  While I’m not done yet (doing a modified P90X for phase 3) I’m really happy with my results so far.

So here’s some new numbers:

Beginning: 155lbs | 31” Waist | 14% body fat | 22lbs fat | 109lbs muscle
Ending: 170lbs | 31” Waist | 9% body fat | 15lbs fat | 126lbs muscle

So that means in 90 days I lost 7lbs of fat but more importantly gained 17lbs of muscle.  On the first day of the program the very first thing you do are standard push-ups.  On day one I did 7 for my first set.  Uh, yeah, 7.  The last time I did that workout I did 40 for my first set.  I now do push-ups in sets of 50.  I could do 2 pull-ups that first day, now do them in sets of 10.

Phase 3
So what’ next for phase 3?  Well in short to get hyper-fit.  My final goal is to be between 170-175lbs at around 5-6% body fat.  That means I have 5lbs of fat left to lose but also 8lbs of muscle to gain.  This week I began my new training program for phase 3 which will be: Weights on Mon/Wed/Fri.  Boot Camp on class Mon/Thurs (very intense).  Spin or Run/Swim on Tues/Thurs.  Bike/Hike/Run on Saturday/Sunday.

I’ll obviously miss some of those workouts each week due to life getting in the way but even if I miss a few I should be getting in plenty of time to hit my goal.  I hope to finish up in the next three months ending on August 24th, my 37th birthday.  Hopefully this will be a pretty good birthday gift to myself.

Final Thoughts
I plan on blogging more regularly about this subject now that I’ve finally published this post.  I hope to write about thoughts on eating, exercising, and my journey through all this.  If you’ve got questions or comments please let me know, they can be very motivating.  And if you’re considering doing something similar to this START NOW.  There is no better day than today to be healthy.

Oh, and now to leave you with a picture that I’m still scared by.  Left is old, Fat Ross.  Middle is thin Ross from about 3 years ago.  Finally on the right is me a few days ago.  Just wait until you see me in 90 more days.

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, or know me, or get within 100 feet of me you’ll know that I’ve become addicted to snow boarding.  I’ve been about 12 times in the last 7 weeks and have been getting pretty good at it.  Saturday I had my best day yet.  Got first tracks on 4 runs at Eldora and was in control and fast all day long.  Sunday unfortunately didn’t go so smoothly…

I got to Eldora late, about 11:15 (decided to go at the last minute).  On my thrid run down (on my way to Corona lift) I ate it.  Hard.  I was near the bottom of a black (Mule shoe) and was going the fastest I’ve ever gone.  I pushed too much and caught my toe edge.  I went flying forward at 25 mph at least and slammed my left should right into a big patch of ice.  I separated my left shoulder and am borderline for needing surgery (although tonight it’s feeling quite a bit better).  This finally leads me to my point…

During this terribly painful event something entirely unexpected happened.  I met some of the nicest, friendliest, genuinely kind people I’ve ever met.  From the guys that stopped to help me (Jamie, who I hope to buy a beer soon, spent at least 30 minutes helping me get on my feet), to all the snow patrol volunteers and pros.  They had to sled me down to the bottom of the run then tow me behind the snow mobile all the way back to base (oh it was fun being the spectacle at lunch time let me tell you!)  Then the medics at Eldora and the paramedics in the ambulance (oh yeah, left in the ambulance so I could get the “good” drugs) were more of the same; amazingly friendly, helpful and genuinely good people.

I hope to have beers with Jamie sometime soon to repay a little of the kindness he and his friend Adam showed me (I sat there for at least 5 minutes before they came by).  I’m also trying to think of an appropriate gift to take up to the guys at Eldora (thinking something like muffin, etc).  If you’ve got suggestions please post them, I’d love the input. 

Just had to share this story, it sure is making my shoulder feel a lot better…

Just in case you’re reading my blog tonight and need something else pretty to look at

Cat that is.  While she might be semi-insane most of the time (what cat isn’t) generally we get along ok and I don’t feel too odd being a mid-30′s guy with a cat.  At first when I saw the below headline I thought “holy shit that’s sorta mean to all those cats” – then when I realized the only alternatives for these lucky animals is death or the harsh Russian streets I realize how great this person really is.  Seriously I think it’s pretty amazing to share what little you have with so many…

So a few weeks ago I was bitten attacked by the snowboarding bug.  I’ve only been a few times but hope to get out somewhere every weekend for the rest of the season.  One of the first pieces of gear I got are the TuneUps helmet speaker system.  This lets me listen to music from the ear flaps on my helmet instead of having ear buds jammed down in my ears.  The great thing here is I can hear everything going on around me (I listen sorta low) and can easily mute them with the big button on the cord so I can easily have a conversation with anyone around me.

So since I have this new toy I’m in search of great music to board to.  I’ve been using my general workout mix (upbeat rock stuff mostly) but it’s a bit too heavy for me.  So I’m looking for your favorites, something in the trance or techno type of style (St. Germain comes to mind).  Any suggestions?

Well I figured it has been a while since I posted anyway and I’ve been wanting to embed a YouTube video on my blog for a while now. So since my wife sent me this and I thought it was hysterical I figured I’d share with everyone.

There was a little setup in the email that I got, saying something about the family having a huge water bill and wondering why. I’m guessing that’s just a goofy setup that someone did for something that is very funny all on it’s own. So, without further ado check out this crazy ass cat!