January Goals and December Review

I know that most people set goals for the year in early January, but I feel like I need to set more frequent, realistic goals to feel like I'm succeeding. So here is a review of the goals I set for December, and new goals I'm setting for January:

December, 2007 Goals Review:

On December 3rd, I posted the following (Progress toward goal follows each goal):

• staying out of the Drive Thru for December. I went through the drive thru twice in December and ate fast food a total of 6 times. As normally I would have eaten fast food 6 times in as little as two days, I'm saying this is a success.
• I'm eliminating Soda from my diet for December. I drank coke on 3 occasions in December, again, the amount of soda I drank was far less than I would have normally had in two days, so again I claim victory
• I will be in the gym attending a Spin class a minimum of 10 times in December (Yes, if I need to, I will spin twice a day). OK, this goal was eventually revised to 5 times, but still I only attended two spin classes. But I did play racquetball once and did a nearly 5 mile walk and a few 2 mile walks with Taylor and Teri, so I'll say not quite, but close
• I will weigh (hopefully significantly) less on January 1st than I did on December 3rd. My stretch goal is to lose 20 pounds in December putting me UNDER 310. I weighed in at 317.5 pounds this morning making 11.5 tubs of butter gone for the month. OK, I didn't weigh in on the 1st, but I KNOW I was less than I was on Dec. 3rd. Again, Victory is mine!
• I will resume taking my daily vitamins AND I'm adding Fish Oil supplements to the plethora of pills I'll be popping in the morning. I added the fish oil supplements and took my vitamins nearly every day of the month. I did run out last week and have to buy more vitamins today. SUCCESS!

So four out of five is damned good in my opinion and the fifth was REALLY close IMHO. The big one for me was weighing less on Jan 1st than on Dec 3rd. Having to go through X-mas and New Years in that stretch was tough, but I persevered.

January 2008 Goals:

OK, so this month is basically going to be a repeat of last months goals as they worked out so well. So here they are:

• Eat less fast food in January than I did in December. This will mean less than 6 trips to a fast food restaurant.
• Drink less soda in January than I did in December. This will mean drinking soda on less than three occasions in January.
• Perform at least 10 workouts in January. This is to include a minimum of 5 Triathlon specific workouts.
• I will weigh less on February 1st than I did on January 2nd. My stretch goal is to lose 18.0 pounds in January putting me UNDER 300.
• I will continue taking my daily vitamins AND Fish Oil supplements to the plethora of pills I'll be popping in the morning.

That's it . . . Here's to a GREAT new years everyone!

Triathlon Training - Day 1 - Pool Day

OK, in High School, I was a competitive swimmer. I was on the swim team and the water polo team and was in the pool for up to 5 hours a day. I'll just say . . . I am no longer that man. OUCH! So since concocting the idea of doing a group triathlon with "daboyz" last week, I've known I need to do some serious training over the next 2 - 3 months before we actually compete. Because of my past, I think I've got the best shot to win the swim leg of the event, assuming I make it there. Although Steve and Brandon have been working out like crazy for a couple years and I'm not sure how good they are in the pool. Anyway, I hopped in the pool today to do 1,000 yards. Here's the workout I did:

• 3 X 50 Swim (150 yds)


• 2 X 50 Kick (100 yds)


• 3 X 50 Pull (150 yds)


• 2 X 50 Kick (100 yds)


• 3 X 50 Swim (150 yds)


• 2 X 50 Kick (100 yds)


• 3 X 50 Pull (150 yds)


• 1 X 100 Swim (100 yds duh!)


• TOTAL = 1,000 yds

I did all of the 50 swim and pulls on the :60 averaging about :45 seconds for each 50 with about :15 rest in between. The kicks (always been the weakest part of my swim) were on about the 1:30 averaging about 1:10. Now contrast this to High School when I could swim 100 yards freestyle in about 56.5 seconds. I am no longer that man. But my last 100 I swam in about 1:45 . . which for weighing 100 pounds more than I did in High School and having not really swam since then, I'll call it pretty good. :-) Next up, Bike . . .

Way of the Peaceful Warrior

The other night Teri and I were flipping through channels trying to find something to watch on the boob tube. I noticed that "Peaceful Warrior" was on Showtime, so I turned it on. I knew what the story was about, but Teri was wondering aloud "Why are we watching this?". I explained to her that the movie was based on a book that I had enjoyed a few years ago, "Way of the Peaceful Warrior" by Dan Millman. The movie was not nearly as good as the book (are they ever?) and afterwards, I was left with wanting more. So on my way to the bathtub for some reading that evening, I stopped by the bookcase in the bonus room and dusted off Mr. Millman's book. When I read it before, I was in a very happy and secure place in my life and I honestly didn't get a lot out of it. I'm starting to believe that things are put in our paths for a reason, and as such, that movie was on at that particular time for a reason. It was a gentle nudge for me to revisit this book.

Well the past few evenings, I've been reading it and it is a wonderful tale about a man (Dan Millman) searching for answers and purpose in his life. One evening when he cannot sleep, he heads to an all night gas station for some food and meets a curious old man whom he later names "Socretes". As he's leaving he turns around to see Soc standing on top of the gas station, where no more than 30 seconds earlier, he was seated just outside the station. He asks how Soc was able to get up there so fast and Soc gives him a cryptic answer. Thinking the old man must be crazy, Dan heads home. But he continues to return to the gas station and becomes a student of the strange man and learns more about life and what it means to really live life than he ever thought possible. Higly recommend picking up this book if you've never read it.

Here's a passage I came across a couple days ago that really stuck with me: (Thanks for not suing me Dan)

"Listen to me," he interrupted. "Stay in the present. You can do nothing to change the past, and the future will never come exactly as you plan or hope for. There have never been past warriors, nor will there be future ones either. The warrior is here, now. Your sorrow, your fear and anger, regret and guilt, your envy and plans and cravings live only in the past, or in the future."

"Hold on Socretes. I distinctly remember being angry in the present."

"Not so," he said. "What you mean is that you acted angry in a present moment. This is natural; action is always in the present, because it is an expression of the body, which can only exist in the present. But the mind, you see, is like a phantom, and, in fact, never exists in the present. Its only power over you is to draw your attention out of the present."

- Dan Millman, Way of the Peaceful Warrior