http://johnhurlbut.com/blog/ en-us Nucleus CMS v3.24 © Weblog http://backend.userland.com/rss http://johnhurlbut.com/blog//nucleus/nucleus2.gif http://johnhurlbut.com/blog/ http://johnhurlbut.com/blog/index.php?itemid=504
Lately, I've been stuck on my weight loss goals. Last August, I went in for Lap Band surgery and for the most part have been successful with it. The funny thing is that it still boils down to diet and exercise. The Lap Band is really just a forced diet. And like any diet, you can cheat. And I do. The idea is that with the band, you have it progressively tightened so that you eat slightly less. At some point it gets tight enough that you can still eat enough to sustain yourself (along with protein drinks and supplements) but not so much that you can gain any weight effectively. But you learn what goes down easy and what doesn't. So you start eating more of what goes down easy. For me it's well cooked pasta. Now will someone tell me where the pasta diet book is? Right, there isn't one.

So for the past three or four months since I last had my band adjusted (I actually had it loosened because I wasn't able to get much down) I've been enjoying eating. A Lot. But I've also been exercising. A fair amount. Fortunately over that time, according to my doctor's scale, I actually LOST 0.7 pounds. So pretty much for the past 4 months, I've maintained my weight. If I gained 2-3 pounds, I worked out harder, when I lost the 2-3 pounds, I slacked off. I found a balance. For once. But the weight I was at, was not the weight I wanted to be. Yesterday I visited the doctor again and had my band adjusted. Tightened. I have at least another 60 pounds to lose and I'm hoping 30 of those are by my birthday (08/24 - Start making preparations!).

Also, while I did actually lose some weight, other changes were taking place as well. I bought my first item of clothing without a number in it in God only knows how long. I bought a Sounders jacket that is a size XL. Not 2XL or 3XL, but XL. I consistently wear jeans that are a size 38 and are loose. I've gotten size 36 shorts and pants on, but they're not comfortable . . . yet. (I used to wear size 44). My dress shirts that I bought last year with a size 20 neck are ready to go to Good Will being replaced by my size 18.5 neck shirts. As of this morning, I'm only 7 pounds away from where I was when Teri and I started dating 13+ years ago.

Now I'm trying to celebrate the little things. That I actually LOST 0.7 pounds while pretty much eating whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted is a victory. My four months of debauchery really wasn't debauchery at all. I knew I could be doing more in terms of watching what I ate and exercising more, but what I thought was debauchery was really "enough". That's a victory. I think I'm FINALLY starting to understand my body. And I'm starting to believe that it's capable of a great many things. A few weeks ago, I went out and did a 50 mile bike ride, while I was spent the rest of the day, it felt good and I felt fine the next day. I'm actually making PLANS to work out and do some races. These are victories. I'm not going to be 220 by tomorrow. But I will be 220.

I know this is a somewhat disjointed post, but it's where I'm at . . . and you know what? I'm OK with that.]]> General http://johnhurlbut.com/blog/index.php?itemid=504 Tue, 11 May 2010 07:53:46 -0700 http://johnhurlbut.com/blog/index.php?itemid=503
I set my base pace at 4.0 MPH and the first set was unbelievably easy. So for the remainder of the workout, I was at 4.5 MPH for my BP. And on the sets where it started increasing incline, but NOT BP, I increased my BP anyway. And finishing the sets at 7.5MPH at 3% incline were hard, but certainly not so hard they were not doable. So at this point, I'm feeling pretty darn good about my running. And I think it's helping my cycling too. At least I feel good with all the compliments I'm getting from the boyz after a 30 mile ride. Don't know how complimentary they'd be after a 50 - 70 mile ride, but hopefully this summer we find out.

Hoping to get a few more Lbs off before Teri and I head to Vegas in the first week of May . . . ]]> General http://johnhurlbut.com/blog/index.php?itemid=503 Sat, 17 Apr 2010 09:01:07 -0700 http://johnhurlbut.com/blog/index.php?itemid=502
This year I set a goal that reads:

By July 12th, 2010, I will have registered for, competed in and finished the Ocean Shores half-iron triathlon.

After doing the Seattle Rainman Indoor Triathlon yesterday, I don't know how I can possibly achieve that goal. I think honestly by July I COULD get myself in decent enough shape to run/walk a half marathon. I just don't know if I could do said half marathon AFTER swimming 1.2 Miles AND biking 56 miles. So the funny thing about goals is that they can be revised. So as of now, I'm revising my goal to read:

By July 12th, 2010, I will have registered for, competed in and finished the Ocean Shores Olympic distance triathlon.

I felt pretty good about my results in the indoor tri yesterday:
Swim: 15 minute pool swim, I set a goal to do 750 yards, I did 900.
Bike: 30 minute bike on a trainer, I set a goal to do 8.5 miles, I did 8.2. Although I didn't know our transition time would be part of the 30 minutes, so I really only rode for about 25 minutes . . . I think I could have easily done the additional 0.3 miles in 5 minutes.
Run: One 2.8 mile lap around Greenlake. My goal was to do this in 31 minutes. I think it was close to 33 or 34 minutes, but we were delayed by a minute plus by police action. So I'll call it 33 minutes.

Last week I ordered a book by Jeff Galloway on Running. I know I suck at Running . . . at least I do now . . . I used to be a fairly decent runner. I know two things about my running now if I want to improve. Getting the pounds off my frame will go a long ways. I need to increase my endurance. I know trying to push a 280 pound frame is going to wear down my legs a lot faster than a 220 pound frame or even a 250 pound frame. So I've got to start getting in the gym more frequently and REALLY starting to pay attention to what I eat and using the tools I have to get the pounds off.]]> General http://johnhurlbut.com/blog/index.php?itemid=502 Mon, 22 Mar 2010 09:25:53 -0700 http://johnhurlbut.com/blog/index.php?itemid=501
I came home yesterday and checked on Mr. Kitty, hoping that he had improved even slightly. He hadn't. I fed the dogs and the other two cats knowing Teri would want to feed Kitty one last time. I did some busy work in the back yard and after Teri got home, I mowed the front and rear lawn. Neither of us spoke much about what was coming. But I made Teri a couple of lemon drops just the same. At about 7:30, we shut off the TV. I went upstairs and got the red blanket that Kitty has been sleeping on for the past few nights right by my side. I scooped him up and went back to my chair and just sat there with my cat. I got to say all the things I wanted to and he just purred the whole time. It was hard just sitting there with him knowing what was coming. But it was good and it was right too.

I realized last night that in the whole 10 - 11 years that I've "owned" my cat, that's all he ever really wanted. Just someone to sit there with him and pet him. Never really asking for anything else, just some occasional attention. And that's the great thing about pets. They give so much and ask for so little. And they don't even really realize they're giving YOU anything. And I guess for the most part, we don't realize it either. It's just a perfect symbiotic relationship. Two beings existing together, each getting and giving just what they need, but so much more all at the same time.

When I met Mr. Kitty in the pet shop off 38th Street in Tacoma, he was on loan from the humane society. He was in his little cage and Teri and I were in there for something else. What it was I couldn't quite remember. But my roommate, Brandon, had suggested to me a couple weeks before "Maybe we should get a kitten?". I don't think Mr. Kitty is quite what he had in mind. Kitty passed the wheelie test. (One of my requirements for cats is that when you put your hand above them, they sit up on their haunches and reach for you. It's a mark of intelligence really.) That was enough for me, I made the arrangements and he came home with me. (Oddly enough, Turkish, one of our other cats was found at the Chevy's on 38th as well, weird that two cats came from the same street) When I went down to the humane society to register him, they asked what his name was. I wasn't really fond of the name "Mr. Kitty" so I changed it to Bowser. Brandon and I tried everything to get him to recognize "Bowser" as his name, but in the end, "Mr. Kitty" it was. Fortunately Teri and I were dating by then, so I never had to explain to any potential dates "This is my cat, Mr. Kitty".

Mr. Kitty was for all intents and purposes an indoor cat. But, occasionally he'd sneak out and earn himself a trip to the vet. The odd thing about him was that when he was fighting, he NEVER used his claws. I could screw with that cat all day long and NEVER worry about losing an ounce of blood. (Don't even ask me about Nicholas, our OTHER cat) He ended up getting in a tussle or two with "Devo", Mike's Whippit Mix (Get it? Whippit? Devo? Never mind) and off to the vet we'd go to repair some puncture or another. (The thing with Whippits is they're lightning fast and in some cases can leap a 7 foot tall fence in a single bound) Eventually though, Devo and Mr. Kitty would become the best of friends. Mr. Kitty would lay by the back sliding glass door in the sun and Devo would saunter over, open the door for Mr. Kitty, let him out so he could go INSIDE and lay down. See? Symbiotic relationships abound. One tussle with a neighbor's cat landed him with FIV, the feline equivalent of HIV. For the most part he lived with that disease for many years without complications. Occasionally, his eye would weep and that was his "Kitty AIDS" acting up, we'd get him a shot and he'd be back to normal.

When Teri and I merged our families, Nicholas and Princess (the dog) came to live with us. Nicholas wasted no time in establishing the pecking order. Nick, Princess and Mr. Kitty. They all settled in quite nicely with each other. Then Teri and I were out to dinner at Chevy's one night and I made the mistake of saying "There's a cat by the car". I knew as soon as I said it, we would now be a three cat family. Turkish came home with us and now the three cats and one dog fought for the order again. Nick won out, followed by Princess and Mr. Kitty held his own to put Turkish on the bottom even without using claws to fight (much). One of Kitty's quirks is that in the middle of the night he'd start to howl. It'd be 2AM and you'd awaken to this awful howling cat. The first few tims it would happen, I'd jump up and see who was attacking my cat. But it was just Kitty being Kitty. He just wanted to know someone was there. So then it bacame yelling out "KITTY!" and he'd shut up.

After we moved into the new home, Teri started letting the cats out in the back yard and they became indoor/outodoor cats. I'll tell you one thing, there aren't too many "other" cats that venture into our yard anymore. With the band of brothers on patrol, the place was pretty locked down. After Princess passed on (Thank you again Dr. West-Wilke), the pecking order remained . . . for awhile. Then Taylor came along and somewhat usurped Kitty's spot. I'll say they at least SHARED the role of keeping Turkish on the bottom. You'd be surprised though how dogs and cats can get along. They all would chase each other around the house and have a grand ol' time. It's better than TV for entertainment, I'll say that! Recently our menagerie grew to include Dixie, the 6 year old Yellow Lab. So lately we've been a 3 cat and 2 dog family. The humans are definitely out numbered! But it's a good family.

Shortly after the first of the year, Kitty had an ingrown claw. I took him to the vet to have it taken care of. The vet pulled the claw out and I'm not sure who ended up more bloody in that battle, Kitty or the vet, but the vet DEFINITELY had some self-repairing to do after that. "Hmmm, I guess he DOES know how to use his claws after all" I thought on the way home that day. After a couple weeks, the paw wasn't getting a whole lot better and started to get worse. With his FIV, he just couldn't fight off the infection. Teri put him through two rounds of anti-biotics (she's nominated for saint-hood too. If anyone has ever tried to give a cat a pill, you know what I mean) and he'd get better for awhile and then not. The last couple of weeks have been tough. Watching my little buddy waste away, not eating, not drinking, but always there for the pets and purring. I was selfish, I know that now. I should have helped him along a lot sooner. But I'm thankful for the time we had and I know that wherever he is now, he's in a much better place and in no pain. Probably doing lots of wheelies for my grandparents. :-) Mr. Kitty was one of a kind. Certainly a good friend and companion to me for better than a decade. I just hope I gave him as good as I got. Stay warm Mr. Kitty, we miss you buddy. See you again someday eh?]]> General http://johnhurlbut.com/blog/index.php?itemid=501 Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:19:39 -0700 http://johnhurlbut.com/blog/index.php?itemid=500
If you look to the right (if you're in an RSS reader, you probably won't see this) you'll see my archives go all the way back to August of 2005. 4 and a half years posting to some website. In that time, there have only been 4 months that I haven't posted anything. But at least one post every other month. I've always said I have a problem with consistency, but I guess this blog shoots that theory out the window. I can be consistent when I feel like it's worth it. And for some odd reason, I feel like this blog is worth it.

The original intent of my blog was simply a place to collect my thoughts, maybe record a workout or two and keep track of my weight. It was also meant to be somewhat private. A few close friends would know it was there, but for the most part, it would be something I kept to myself. I found that was quickly not going to happen. When I started receiving comments and web traffic from all over the world (not consistently, but frequently) I realized it was no longer a private situation. I'd like to think that I didn't change my posting habits as a result, but that would be lying to myself and you. I no longer put my deepest, most intimate thoughts here, I keep those locked away for only a chosen few, but I do express myself pretty freely here and let you see the good and the bad.

For example, you've gotten to see my weight in all it's undulating and fluctuating glory. From my high of 356 pounds last year to my low of 275 pounds fairly recently. I've blogged about having weight loss surgery and the mental and physical implications of that. I've talked about triumphs and defeats in my business. About my joys and sometimes my dis-satisfaction in my personal life. My workouts have been detailed in excruciating detail at times, giving you charts, maps, distances and reps. I've shared my immediate and some of my long term goals. And through it all, people from all over the place have been nothing but encouraging. OK, there have been a few detractors, I won't lie. For the most part, I've kept every comment ever posted, good or bad. With one exception, comment spam (I'm tired of WoW power leveling what ever that is and UGG BOOTS!). The comment spam has unfortunately lead me to disable comments on my blog. So I'll miss your kind words of encouragement. But now with my blog getting pushed out to Facebook, my friends will have the opportunity to comment there.

So for my 500th blog post, I'd like to thank the Internet and the wonderful community of friends it's helped to create and the friendships it's helped to further. I can still remember wayyyyyy back in 1994 or so sending my very first e-mail to Scott at WSU. It was the first e-mail I had ever sent outside of Boeing and our little network. On a VT20 terminal emulator with phosphorous orange type that I'm sure gave me radiation poisoning. Coming from that world of sending purely text based e-mail to today and the amazing amount of ways we have to stay in touch with friends old and new, just staggers my mind. And to think, it's really only a 15 year old journey now. Imagine what we'll see in 2020 or 2030! Maybe by then you'll be reading my 5,000th post?

Thanks everyone, so far it's been an amazing ride! I can't wait to see what's next!]]> General http://johnhurlbut.com/blog/index.php?itemid=500 Tue, 9 Mar 2010 12:57:48 -0800 http://johnhurlbut.com/blog/index.php?itemid=499
I hit the pool at 5:20 this morning, didn't sleep a wink the night before so I was early. Started out with a 400 yard warm up, followed by 150 yards of drills and another 150 yards of kicking. At that point someone said "Today are time trials right?" Wha!? (The t was left off the previous word for dramatic effect) Oh right, every first Tuesday of the month are time trials. A 1,000 yard swim followed by a 5 mile bike and finishing with a 2 mile run. Lovely. No sleep, wearing cargo shorts in the pool and we're doing time trials.

At least our 1,000 yards was really a 10 X 100 set with :10 between each 100. Unfortunately the guys in my lane dubbed me the "fast" guy and so I got to start first. Nothing keeps you motivated like 3 skinny guys pressing you, but I held my own. The 1st 100 was a 1:26 . . . Only 30 seconds off my fastest ever. HA! That seemed a lot funnier in my head. Sorry for the early morning swimming humor. I finished the set in 16:36. No where near WR time, but extrapolating that to my tri, I think I should easily be under my goal of an hour for 1.2 miles.

Next up was the bike. We're on the LeMond Revmasters in the spin room with the Pilot computer, so I'm not sure how accurate they are, but I completed my 5.0 miles in about 16:46 . . . Or avg 17.89 MPH, so could be pretty close?

Now, my FAAAAAAAVORITE sport. Running. Not. I do enjoy it, but would much rather be in the pool or on the bike. But here's where I surprised myself. In my previous post I estimated that I'd do about a 12:00 mile pace over a 5K distance. Putting my time for a 1/2 marathon at 2:52 and I figured if I could come CLOSE to 3:00 on the run, I'd consider that a victory. However this morning, we did a 2 mile time trial on the track (No treadmill SS!!) and I knocked it out in 19:29!!! I just started at a pace I figured I could do for the whole 12 laps (1/6 of a mile track) and kept plodding along. When Bob called out my time at the finish, I was like "Wha!?" (See how dramatic that is?) and some quick calculations in my head put that at a 9:45 pace! SUB 10 minute miles! Wowsers! There may be hope for me after all! Now plugging THAT into the running calculator at Runners World and they have my 1/2 Marathon time at 2:22, a full 30 minutes faster. Sweet!

GOTTA get some more lbs off though. I'm not going to get much faster at this weight. But I'm psyched for now!]]> General http://johnhurlbut.com/blog/index.php?itemid=499 Tue, 2 Mar 2010 07:56:37 -0800 http://johnhurlbut.com/blog/index.php?itemid=498
Don't get me wrong, I'm actually weird in the fact that I ENJOY running. Yup, I said it. I actually ENJOY running. The one caveat being that I ENJOY running when I'm in RUNNING shape. I am not however, currently in RUNNING shape. (Don't ask, I just enjoy CAPS tonight) I can run and I do run, but that is not to mistake me for a RUNNER. Yet. This is going to sound like the guy that caught the winning touchdown in his High School homecoming game and that's all he has to hold on to 20 years later. BUT, in my Sophomore year of High School I was actually able to propel this body of mine to a Sub 6 minute mile. 5:55 to be exact. At that point in my life, I was in running shape.

Fast forward some 24 years and I am NOT in running shape. I'm 70 pounds heavier than I was then and oddly, 24 years older. (It really feels good to say I'm 70 pounds heavier because last year I would have had to tell you I was 150 pounds heavier. The 70 doesn't seem so daunting now.) In road races, back then, I would average an 8:00 minute mile. Now? 12:00 would be pushing it. But I am running. And for the most part, I can run/walk my way on the treadmill for an hour and knock out over 5 miles. But 5 miles is not 13.1 (the .1 is the important part) miles. And the task of completing 13.1 miles seems REALLY scary at the moment. Not even counting the fact that I intend to do it after the swim and bike.

But I'm convinced I have what it takes to be a half ironman. I'm in the best shape I have been in recent memory. (READ: Last 12 or so years) My cycling strength has steadily improved over the past couple of years, enough so that now I don't feel as though I'm slowing Steve and Brandon down . . . and even get to push them a little from time to time.

So I'm trying to figure out what a good goal time would be for said half iron. I want something that will challenge me, but not something that's completely not obtainable either. So how does one go about figuring such things out? I do intend to lose about 30 pounds in the next 20 weeks too, so that'll help improve my times all around. So going off some guesstimates at the moment, I came up with this:

Swim:
In my Sprint tri, I swam the .25 miles in 10:20, so extrapolating that data, I should expect the swim to take about an hour.

Bike:
The ocean shores course is really flat and hopefully there won't be a ton of wind. For the sprint tri, I averaged 18.62 MPH, so since the course is just over 4 times as long, I'll plan on maybe averaging 17MPH? (I AM in much better cycling shape now than I was then) So quickly, 56 miles divided by 17 gives a time of 3:18. So I'll shoot for under 3:30 on the Bike.
Run: Here's the killer. Based on my average of 12:00 miles over a 5K, the Runners World Training calculator estimates that it would take me 2:52 to run a half marathon. Wowsers. And that's not even taking into consideration having already biked 56 miles and swum 1.2 miles. So if I can knock out the run in 3:00 and that's a BIG if, that would give me a GRAND TOTAL time of:

SEVEN HOURS THIRTY MINUTES

Now obviously as things progress throughout the coming months, as I get stronger and faster and run a couple of 10 and 12K's, I'll have a better idea of where I stand with everything.

I wonder if the Ocean Shores Tri will allow me to be on the course that long? OK, just checked, the 1/2 Iron starts at 7:30AM and the awards presentation is at 3:00PM . . . 7.5 hours. YIKES!!

I'd better figure out how to shave some time!!]]> General http://johnhurlbut.com/blog/index.php?itemid=498 Tue, 16 Feb 2010 23:19:54 -0800 http://johnhurlbut.com/blog/index.php?itemid=497

4 X 75 free with :10 in between each 75

8 X 50 Kicking With Fins alternating flutter and dolphin

300 free

10 X 25 drills, first four one armed, last 6 10 kicks between each stroke.

2 X 150 on the 3:00 with 1 X 100 easy

2 X 150 on the 3:00 with 1 X 100 easy

I'm probably missing something but that's about 1,850 yards ... the leader, Lisa, said we did 2,000 . . . so I'm missing something.

After the Pool, we headed up to the spin room for 30 or so minutes . . . my Pilot read 6 miles even when I left.

Finally the group headed out for a run . . . yes . . . out as in OUTSIDE! We realized as we started that A) it was cold, B) it was dark and C) most of us were wearing black (it is slimming after all). So probably not the brightest group at 7:00 in the morning, but we WERE motivated. I forgot to strap on the Garmin for my run, BUT I was able to map it out online and came up with about 1.5 miles. Actually the run felt really good. I only walked for about 5 seconds at the top of the only hill. I used Map My Run to map it out, so if anyone wants to see it, you can find it here:

http://www.mapmyrun.com/route/us/wa/puyallup/208126452334968048

Here's what I'm shooting for in terms of workouts, probably through March:

• Monday - Arms & Chest in the weight room followed by 30 +/- minutes of cardio
• Tuesday - Triathlon Class at the YMCA
• Wednesday - Legs in the weight room
• Thursday - Evening Spin class at the YMCA
• Friday - Shoulders and Back in the weight room followed by 30 +/- minutes of cardio
• Saturday - OFF
• Sunday - Long Run or Ride with DaBoyz

Will I make 6 days a week every week? Probably not, but it's what I'm shooting for right now. If anyone wants to join me, I'm happy to have as many accountability partners as I can get. :-)]]> General http://johnhurlbut.com/blog/index.php?itemid=497 Tue, 26 Jan 2010 08:34:19 -0800 http://johnhurlbut.com/blog/index.php?itemid=496
I strive for perfection. I think we all do to some degree, it's what we do when we don't hit it that matters. If we miss by a little or a lot and it keeps us from trying again, then we don't grow. But when we realize that we can't all be perfect all the time and that's OK, then we're able to move beyond what we did yesterday and do better tomorrow. I'm good about talking about how much I want to do, but I'm not so good at discussing the times I don't do it. That's where my blog has helped me. I can look back on my triumphs and to some degree, my failures and learn from past mistakes and do better next time.

Right now, I'm stuck. Since May of 2009, I've lost "prit-near" 75 pounds. It's by far my biggest triumph in the area of weight loss I've ever had. I've lost 50 pounds before and even 60, but 70 is new territory for me. For the past 3 - 5 weeks, I've hovered between 282.5 and 286 pounds. When you consider I started at 356, I'd say I'm doing pretty good. But getting below this 280 pound mark has been a real bugger for me.

On the 4th of January, I went in and had my band adjusted. Literally for the next 10 days, I couldn't get nearly anything down. I thought for SURE this would be the breakthrough I needed to get me below 280 pounds finally. About all I could get down were protein shakes and protein drinks. Since I'd been having trouble getting enough protein in my diet, this was (I thought) a good thing. But no, still hovering between 283 and 286 . . . . this morning, I weighed in at 285.

Now, I'd LOVE to think that with the working out I've been doing, I'm building muscle and losing fat. I do think to some degree that's true. I've (overall) lost 6 inches in my waist going from size 44 jeans to size 38. I've lost 4 inches in my chest, going from a size 56 to a snug 52 and I've lost over 3 inches in my neck. So I know my body is changing in radical ways, and all good I might add.

But the blasted scale is my nemisis. Ultimately when I see my doctor on the 1st of February, my measurements won't mean a THING to him, only the number on the scale. He won't care what my body fat percentage is, he'll only want to know how many tubs of butter are no longer on my frame. While I see the benefit in this initially, I was (am) morbidly obese afterall, at some point it SHOULD matter to him that while I only lost 2 pounds, I gained X pounds of lean muscle and lost Y % of body fat. But it won't. It's called "Weight Loss" Surgery for a reason. Not "Body Composition" Surgery.

So now, my life is all about tools. What are the tools I need to employ to ensure my success on the scale? The first tool and the biggest of course was the LapBand surgery itself. I knew going into it that it wasn't going to be a panacea for me. This was a tool and like ANY tool, not properly utilized, it won't help.

Next up is Gym/Exercise time. I have to dedicate time to exercise. The problem is that left to my own devices, and given the option, I'll skip the gym more often than not. So accountability partners are key too. My normal people to work out with, Brandon, Nita and Steve, have tons of things going on that lead us to NOT workout together more than we do. So I've tried to find accountability partners that have a similar schedule as me. So enter, Carl and Josh from my office. So far (two weeks in or so) it seems as though we're able to motivate each other to be there and give goodly amounts of crap when we're not. Another tool.

Today I got my Bodybugg (http://bodybugg.com/). It's the little device you see on NBC's The Biggest Loser. They wear them on their left arm and occasionally you'll hear one of them mention "I haven't hit my burn for the day". Really what it does is sit on your arm and measure how many calories you burn during the day. So if the "weight Loss Math" is correct, if you burn more than you consume, you WILL lose weight. BUT there are caveats and hopefully this device will help me find them. For example, if you're supposed to have 2,000 calories per day and you have FOUR, your body will start to shut down and hold on to every calorie as if it were the hope diamond. So you have to be within reason. A 500 calorie per day deficit will help you lose 1 pound per week. My goal is just over 1.5 pounds per week from now until July. So I picked this little guy up to help me figure this all out.

Will report back later and let you know how all the tools are working out.]]> General http://johnhurlbut.com/blog/index.php?itemid=496 Wed, 20 Jan 2010 16:28:25 -0800 http://johnhurlbut.com/blog/index.php?itemid=495
I've gained a few pounds over the past couple of weeks, so I need to get in and get them off before heading to the doctor on the 4th for my next band adjustment. But I gotta tell you, the prime rib I cooked on Christmas Eve was SOOOOO worth it! :-)]]> General http://johnhurlbut.com/blog/index.php?itemid=495 Sat, 26 Dec 2009 09:18:01 -0800