my 8 week challenge

It’s been almost three months since I started my eight week challenge, and almost seven weeks have past since my last update. That’s almost long enough to do the challenge twice. I have to admit that the journey has been long and challenging, while at the same time very fun, liberating and exciting.

At the beginning of the challenge, my goal was to shed some pounds for a trip to the Dominican Republic. While we didn’t go to Punta Cana, we did still head to a beach destination. We found ourselves washed up on the shores of Oahu again, taking in Waikiki in all its glory. The goal was to have the confidence to take my shirt off and feel good about myself and while I didn’t end up where I ultimately wanted to be physically, I was still comfortable.

I learned a lot during the process, both about myself as well as my lifestyle. I learned that I love beer – it’s true. It’s also not the best thing to love, so I’ve cut back significantly. Then there’s the rest of the diet. While I had intended to work with a nutritionist, I just didn’t keep up my end of the deal. I was hoping for meal plans, items laid out each day with full instruction. I like easy and that’s not something we had agreed upon so I lost out big time (though I still did get some helpful information that I’ll share at some point).

Additionally I learned that, much like in setting goals, I need to set realistic expectations of myself and of others. The intent of updating the site every day was great and at first it was manageable. Then my priorities shifted and while my health is a priority, writing about it necessarily isn’t.

On the plus side of things, I’m back working the same program that my Calgary based mobile personal trainer worked on for me and have recently returned to the gym – thankfully. I enjoy working out and maintaining a level of physical activity. It just charges me up for some reason.

And with this post I’ll close the first 8 week challenge. I’m not sure what I’ll go for next, but am open to suggestions. I’m contemplating something around preparing for a full marathon in eight weeks…something that sounds pretty stupid but likely quite doable. I’d love to hear your thoughts and thanks so much for having faith and checking in every now and then. It’s been a blast.

Photo © Marshall Stevenson.

It’s been about two weeks since I actively started, well, being active again. Not only that but also detailing and sharing what I’ve been going through and experiencing each day. I’ve even been subtly sharing with you what I’ve been eating every day. Now I’m going to share something I hadn’t even thought about when I first embarked on this journey, but that I’m so happy to see happening.

Last week I sent out a harmless tweet about my boss essentially blaming me for making him buy a bike. He went on to tell me that he was seeing all my tweets about biking to the Calgary Zoo and being active. He felt he needed to get out and do something, in addition to playing on our street hockey team. Honestly, if it takes him blaming me for getting active, then I’m great with that.

I also had a friend on Facebook send me a quick note asking for the contact information of my mobile personal trainer in Calgary. Clarabelle, you’re smart — just click one of the links where I talk about her.

When I started doing my 8 week challenge, I was doing it just for me. I know that sounds selfish but it’s true. The only person that can get me in shape is me. The same is true about you or anyone else. Only you can change you. That’s some valuable information I was fortunate enough to learn and it’s done me well in recent years. The startling thing is that I’ve had conversations with people on Twitter regarding my stories. I’ve had conversations in person. Every person I bring it up to seems to have a certain level of interest in what I’m doing.

Now here’s the interesting part. If just one person does something that gets them more active and living a healthier life, then I’d say this has been a success and a win. This would be one of my triumphs for sure. Yes I have my goals about writing and sweating daily. I think though I’ve started to add another goal to that list. Start mobilizing those around me both physically and virtually.

So now tell me, are you busy moving? More accurately, what are you doing to sweat?

OK, it’s time to get honest. Down and dirty and right to the heart of the matter. I really want to know and want you to know. What you ask? Well, that’s a great question.

I’ve been 100% open and honest with you about everything so far. Sometimes I think almost too honest, but I want that connection with you and I want this to seem real because for me it’s real. I’m living, breathing, eating this every day and I intend to keep doing it.

What I do want though, is for you to be honest with me. I want to know if you read this thing? What you want me to talk about? What you want me to get other people to talk about? I’ve got Terri Champagne on board, my Calgary based mobile personal trainer, to write some articles and I’m sure that Nancy Loranger my nutrition consultant will as well. BUT I want to give you what you want. Information that you want to read and find useful. Whether it’s related to diet, activity, exercise, Calgary Radio Stations, life or whatever, let me know.

Please, take 3 minutes — 180 seconds at most and leave a comment below with a few things you’d like to see. I want this to benefit you as much as it does me. Does that make sense?

Day 6 was an experience I won’t be repeating. Let me give you a brief history. A few weeks ago while I was fairly sedentary due to sickness I noticed my body doing some weird things. I had a constant feeling of anxiety; I felt jittery, constant headaches and even at times it seemed like my heart was racing. It was then that I decided to give up caffeine whether it be in soda or coffee or in any other form. It’s been a challenge.

Over that time I had a single iced coffee while visiting my family over August long weekend. I enjoyed it, but it was also probably 50% milk and ice so there wasn’t a lot of caffeine. Today was a different story. It was a late night last night and I felt I needed something to give me a boost. After getting into the office I stumbled, though not due to alcohol, down to the Starbucks conveniently located in the heart of our building and ordered a Venti Pike Place — a wonderful brew. I added a couple of Splenda and some non-fat milk and went to work.

While the coffee did what I’d hoped it would in waking me up, it also did what I had hoped it wouldn’t. It started out with giving me the shakes. I was buzzing more than a bumble bee drunk on nectar. It also did other things to me that I won’t bother to mention for trying to keep this a tasteful site. The real kicker though was when I went for my run at lunch.

When I run, I’m still a geek. I run with a Garmin Forerunner 305 complete with heart rate monitor and foot pod to track basically everything I could want to know — and I still don’t really know what to do with half of it. The graphs at the end of a workout always make things look that much more impressive though. I put my heart rate monitor on and let it sync. “115 beats per minute” it read. “Holy crap! That’s insanely high,” I thought. I know it’s not a resting heart rate by any means, but for me it’s definitely high. I usually start my runs out somewhere around the 90 bpm range (when I’ve been training for a while). I attribute it directly to the caffeine, as it was a fairly stressless day.

I did manage to get out for a quick 3.25 mile run today over lunch hour however. Thankfully we have showers at the office because man did I sweat. It was a forecast high of 26 today and the sun was blazing down at noon over the open field paths I run on. It was a faster pace than normal. To be honest, it was my third fastest average pace over any distance since I started tracking my training in June of 2008. I’m impressed. It wasn’t the greatest run, but it still felt great to move.

Back to my Starbucks break up. I’m not actually going to break up with Starbucks but am going back on my no caffeine kick for a while. While I was a flight attendant with WestJet I successfully went without coffee for two years; even during Tim Horton’s Roll up the Rim contest. I will still give Starbucks some of my hard earned pennies through tea’s (without caffeine), iced teas and other items. Just so Starbucks doesn’t get singled out, I’ll also be avoiding other caffeinated beverages too. Most notable of course being Coke and Pepsi. These also contain a lot of sugar and I’m sure that once I meet with a dietician, they’ll be happy I don’t drink pop either.

Again Starbucks, I’m sorry that I’m picking on you. I love you (especially Venti Passion Iced Tea Lemonade with three pumps of raspberry — light ice). I really do, but we just can’t do this anymore. Though I am open to other caffeine free options. Have you got any suggestions?

NB: In our office we’re encouraged to recycle our Starbucks cups, lids and sleeves. Photo credit: Bay Action Now.

Today was a great day. Not only did I bike to work this morning, I finally got to meet with Terri Champagne — a mobile personal trainer. It was a relatively quick first meeting to discuss my preliminary goals, health history and just get to know each other. Being comfortable and able to be 100% honest with my personal trainer I think will be a huge benefit to my ultimate success. This is why I was happy to take some time from my busy day to discuss things.

She had the usual waiver forms, which apparently I’ve waived the right for her to kill me. Not really, but there was reference to death in the form that I signed. All the more reason to read whatever you sign.

I was also chatting with Terri about my previous evening at the Amsterdam Rhino and the thought that I might want to consult with a dietician or nutrionist. Thankfully she works with one. This is yet another reason to work with a certified personal trainer. Not only do they have the education, knowledge and experience, they also have the contacts in their industry and related fields. I’ll be getting in touch soon with a local Calgary nutrionist. I’ve never worked with one before, but know that it will definitely have a positive impact on my goals.

Most days I find certain things hard to focus on and stay motivated, even when it relates directly to my health. In the past I’ve tried the South Beach Diet with some limited success. I managed to get under 200 lbs back in 2004 — the first time since 1997. And the only time since then. Back towards the end of 2006 I started going to the gym and signed up immediately with a personal trainer. It’s weird, but being accountable to someone else seems to motivate me a little more. Within roughly six-weeks, going to the gym three times a week, I had dropped down to almost 200 lbs. More importantly, I was in a smaller sized shirt than I’d been in for years. I felt great and looked great even though I still had a bit of a belly.

Looking at my previous success with a personal trainer, I knew that it was one simple way to help me meet my goals. Last night I sent out a tweet seeking a personal trainer in Calgary. I was fortunate enough to get a reply from Terri Champagne of Champagne Fitness. We have communicated off and on over the last year on Twitter and slowly gotten to know what each other is all about. I sent her an email about my idea and my reasons for wanting to change and the need for a personal trainer.

To my excitement not only did we exchange emails back and forth but she actually called me today as well. We chatted for a little bit and arranged to meet to discuss my needs later this week. Terri’s company is unique as Champagne Fitness actually specializes in mobile personal training — and that has nothing to do with mobile/cellular phones.

I’m excited to tentatively have a personal trainer to work with. I think that there’s a huge benefit to working with a personal trainer, something that I’ll write about in the upcoming weeks. Of course, it will be my personal experience with a personal trainer, however I’d love to hear about yours in the comments.

Research shows that North Americans are becoming increasingly overweight and even obese. Myself, I’m 32 years old and wouldn’t necessarily consider myself overweight, but definitely I would consider myself out of shape.

When I moved away from home at the age of 18 I weighed in roughly at 180 lbs and was physically fit. I had played volleyball in high school and ran regularly. I had the same amazing metabolism that I’d been fortunate to have my entire life. Again, that was until I moved away from home. By the time I was 22 I tipped the scales at 244 lbs — the most I’ve ever weighed. More importantly wasn’t the actual number that was tied to me, but more so where that weight was distributed. I had an amazing six-pack; just with an extra large-sized cooler to encompass it. In other words, I was fat.

Today, I’m still what I would consider fat. I’ve got “moobs” — you know, man boobs. I’ve also still got a big gut, though somehow surprisingly fit into a size 36 pair of jeans on a regular basis without a struggle.

This upcoming October, Monica, my fiancée and I are off on an “adults” vacation (we’re leaving our daughter at Grandma and Grandpas for a few days). It looks like Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic is the current front runner, but no matter where we’re off to, there will be a beach. And for once I won’t be embarrassed to remove my shirt on that beach. Why, you ask? Well the beach is just over eight weeks away, hence the creation of My 8 Week Challenge website.

I figure that eight weeks is adequate time to replace some bad habits with good ones, improve on my physique, shed some body fat and ultimately get healthier.

Follow my triumphs and challenges here on a daily basis and please, hold me accountable for not posting or not being active. In other words, publicly shame me for not keeping commitments. Thanks in advance for joining me on my journey. I look forward to getting to know you along the way.