For the last couple of weeks I have had walking pneumonia. I didn’t know it until a week ago.  Coughing up lung butter makes exercising a little difficult.  I went to my TEAM fitness classes a couple of times and since my trainer Liz was going through a similar sickness, she took a little pity on my and let me take it easy (she is pretty awesome).  After going to urgent care last Friday and getting properly diagnosed and a prescription for a Z-Pack, I decided to skip a couple of classes and to focus on getting better.

I do feel better, but not 100% yet.  I am heading to my TEAM fitness class this morning, so we will see how that goes.  I need to also get my eating back in order.

So, that is what I mean by a reset.  I need to start over today and refocus.

For those that don’t want to read this long blog entry, here is a summary…

I turn 40 on July 18.  I want to lose 65 pounds.  No…I don’t want to lose 65 pounds, I want to change my body and mind.  Hopefully while doing that, I can drop 65 pounds.  I am going to do it a revolutionary way…hard goddamn work. Pushing myself not only in the gym, but at the dinner table (and most importantly, at the bar).

History

I'm close to needing one of these.

I have been a yo-yo dieter since just after high school.  Going from just under 200 pounds to being 275 at my peak.  My last big fight against the scale started when we decided to adopt Halle from Korea.  I had to drop 50 pounds to be eligible for adoption from Korea and I was able to get to 210 pounds, losing a total of 55 pounds.  So how did I do it then?  I had to.  Nothing was going to keep me away from adopting our daughter.  Unfortunately, after I “made weight” I started to pack it back on, and here we are, 45 pounds heavier than I was almost 2 1/2 years ago.  To say the least, I am extremely disappointed in myself.

Moving Forward

I am currently 255 pounds and I want to be 190.  I have no desire to be body and nutrition obsessed.  It just isn’t me.  I love to eat and I love to drink, and that isn’t going to change.   The things I feel I can change is where the majority of my food comes from as well as how much I eat, drink and exercise.  I have done this before, so why is this time any different?  Because just like when I did it for the adoption, I have to do it.  I want to be healthier (physically and mentally) for myself and my family.  I was a much better father and husband when I was thinner and not throwing crap down my gullet at every possible opportunity.  I was happier.  It seems like a small thing, but it is everything.

What Am I Doing?

To kick off this new adventure I wanted to get my exercise started right away.  I love the way that working out makes me feel.  It has always been about motivation and knowing what to do that gets in my way.  I looked at several gyms and decided that Lifetime Fitness was the best fit for me.  I really like the people there and the facilities are great.  I immediately met with one of their personal trainers to find out what programs would work best for me.  I am now in a small group fitness class called TEAM Fitness, 3 times a week.  I love it!  I am also meeting regularly with their nutritionist to get my eating back in order. I will go into more detail about this stuff in another blog article.

I will also be blogging and documenting this process.  I will be publishing data (weight, measurements, etc) as well as what I am learning and experiencing.  This documenting also includes some “Biggest Loser-esque” photos of me (I’m not publishing those until this is over).

The blogging and documenting is not really because I think anyone is especially interested, but because it helps me…and if it helps at least one other person along the way, that would be incredible.

Wish Me Luck

My family and friends are my biggest motivators.  I need encouragement.  I feed off of it in a BIG way.  Wish me luck!

When I was a kid we had talent shows at school!  There were winners and losers.   And we liked it!  Today, we have variety shows at our schools.  There are tryouts, but I think that is so they can make sure no one does a 2 Live Crew song.  Everyone gets in and each kid can do up to 2 performances which makes for a very long show.  My son Jake did two numbers at this year’s variety show.  The first one is with his friend Sam. I broke his high hat off of his electric drum kit right before the show…nice work Clay!

The first number is original and the second is Jake singing and playing “Wonderwall” by Oasis.

We recently prepared a letter, photo album and video for the incredible foster family that took care of Halle for 9 months of her life.  We can never come close to repaying them for their love and generosity, but I’m sure this video will put a big smile on their face and maybe some happy tears in their eyes.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Prism Snapshot 1.4

I know what you’re saying…Clay, what hobby don’t you have. I don’t knit…I don’t…ummm…ok, well, I have a lot of hobbies. One of the hobbies I keep from my friends is kiting. No, not the plastic Baby Bat kites you used to pick up from Walgreens.  I’m talking the expensive stunt kite made from ripstop nylon, graphite spars and spectra line.  I’ve had a couple of stunt kits for about 15 years, but recently started reading about speed foil kites.  These are rectangular, contain no spars and look a lot like rectangular parachutes.

On a recent trip to San Francisco I visited a kite store and got the bug again, but this time, I wanted a speedfoil kite.  I tried buying one right there, but Jen convinced me it would be better to order it from Amazon.  She was right.  I saved $50.  I bought a Prism Snapshot 1.4.  Like the same suggests, it is 1.4 meters wide and it is a dual line kite.  Holy crap this thing is a blast.  It doesn’t break and it recovers from the ground.  It simply wants to be in the air.  It is also really quick.  The problem is, I want it to pull harder (please don’t say…That’s what she said).  I taught

Jake and the Prism Snapshot 1.4

Jake how to use it and he LOVES this kite.  Not only that, he is a pro at it!  He caught on right away.  You can guess what happened next….I gave him the kite so I could upgrade to something bigger and badder.

Prism Snapshot 2.5

I checked out the other sizes than Prism had to offer in their Snapshot line and settled on their biggest, the Prism Snapshot 2.5.  I picked it up this morning at a local kite shop called Air Traffic.  We have had a fairly windy weekend so I took it to the park this afternoon and was amazed by this behemoth.  First of all…it is bigger…much bigger, so it pulls harder, but it a little slower to turn.  I must have looked ridiculous to all of the people at the park because this kite was pulling me around like a kid pulling his mom around a Toys R Us.  I finally got the hang of it and was leaning back so much at times, I was practically laying on my back.

My next step is to convert the Snapshot 2.5 to a quad line kit  so that I will have breaks and I can put a kite killer on it (basically an emergency release in case you accidentally let go of the kite).

Now I am kind of anxious for the lakes to freeze over because I’m taking this sucker to Lake Calhoun and flying it while sliding across.  FUN!

Yummy Yummy For My Tummy

I’m not sure why I take more photos in the summer…oh, I know…because taking photos when it is -15 with a -40 degree windchill sucks.

I put some new photos in the Grab Bag album and created a new album of Halle making a mess with a fudgesicle.

Check out the galleries by clicking here!

So let’s get Jen some traffic and head over to her blog…

HalleTown