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It Begins....Again

After many failed attempts at launching this blog I have discovered that writing is just not my thing. As such I have decided this will not be a vlog.....podcast.....thing. I am recording my thoughts as audio to YouTube and will add it here as the blog post. This installment covers the purpose of the vlog, my new plan of attach, and my reward system for staying on target. Without any further ado, here is the 1st entry in the new format. Please be kind, I am just figuring this stuff out.

The "March" of War

The “March” of War

February was a wash. My knees have caused my plans to fall completely apart. This setback has led me to a few realizations. The 1st is that I can’t run. As much as I want to I just can’t. My knees are not strong enough. Realization the 2nd is that my Trifecta goal for this year will have to wait. I cannot risk injury again just to prove something to myself. Even if I thought I could be physically ready the risk is just too high. I need to focus on other things to ready myself for the challenge of a Spartan Race Trifecta. For now my fitness plans with focus on weight loss and strengthening my knees. Once that has happened I can focus on trying to run and train for the 2017 Trifecta.

Based on this new intel the previous Mission has been scrubbed. We have analysed our forces’ weaknesses and have devised a new plan of attack. The new Mission Briefing begins now. NOTE: previous Mission Objectives in place to reflect the changes.

2016 Missions

• Get down to 250 lbs
• Complete Spartan Trifecta Get down to at least an XL and below 40 inch waist
• Create something - this sounds vague but I know what it means and it is hard to put in words

Phase I Operations

Fitness

• Complete DDP Yoga
• Complete C25K
• Walk at least 30 min, 3 times a week
• Work out at least 3 time a week
• Get below 300

Diet (no changes needed)

• Track as much food as possible
• I will be using LoseIt, MapMyFitness, and Fitbit apps for this
• Minimal sugar intake (including carbs)
• Self-explanatory. Just cutting as much sugar out as possible
• No bored/stress/travel snacking
• This is my biggest problem. I bored eat. I stress eat. I drive a lot and tend to eat for something to do.

Life

• Less frivolous spending
• No stopping for snacks/drinks/drive-thru on daily commute
• Basically only buy things I absolutely need
• Improve time management/make better use of time/stay on task
• I tend to get distracted easily, especially at work
• Spend less leisure time on social media - big time waster
• Multitask when possible
• Do something creative just for me for at least 1 hour a week (overridden by high priority)
• Study for CS Teaching Certificate Test
• Learn Javascript

The launch date for the new Mission is February 29th. Keep watch for future Mission Updates. Until then may the Force be with you and may the Power protect you.

\m/ THERE IS NO TRY \m/

Mission Update 002

Mission Update 002

I am dropping the theme for this post because I need to clear the air. February was crazy. January was intended to be a building month. Changing old habits, building new ones, getting into a rhythm. That rhythm never really solidified unfortunately and the old habits proved they would not go away without a fight. There were a number of things the universe decided to throw in my way over the last month and as a result I have gotten WAY off track and need to get back to it.

Grown-up Insurance

If you recall in the Rebirth series my wife and I got a life insurance policy. This is what I call our “grown-up insurance.” To remind you there could possibly be an issue with my weight. Well we finally got the results back from our blood work and everything was good for both of us. We even got a call from our agent (remember he was the one who asked how quickly I could get below 300 lbs) and he said everything was fine. He even specified that everything was fine with me. Turns out that was premature. The premium we were quoted was approved for my wife, but not for me. My premium was going to be about $20/month higher. In order to maintain the quoted premium, my coverage had to be lowered. When all the paperwork came in I had to sign an acknowledgment that my premium was higher. It even said the premium was higher because of my weight. I have never had to actually sign something acknowledging that I am overweight. I signed their paper and sent it back so now I have grown-up insurance and a lot of self loathing.

Knee Problems

I went to Austin for week for a work conference at the beginning of February. I had a challenge of having to eat out for every meal for 5 days. I am proud to say that I made a number of very good choices for food. I also walked A LOT. Our hotel was about .75 miles from the convention center and the convention center is stupid huge so I walked constantly all week. I almost hit a record 20k steps in a single day. At the end of the week I had walked over 30 miles. This is all well and good but my knees paid for it. Between walking everywhere and the all-over-the-place weather Texas has had my knees were done for when I got home. I made sure to take it easy that weekend to recover. I was very motivated to take the momentum of having logged so much walking to get my running program going. Monday morning came and I got on the treadmill to do C25K Day 1 for the umpteenth time. This was not a good idea. I pushed myself a bit too hard and my knees (especially the right knee) have been killing me ever since. I have not done anything in 2 weeks.

More Knee Problems

Given the state of my knees I wear knee braces regularly. I have worn out all but 1 of them. The 1 I have is really good but it is wearing out, and I have 2 knees. This is where things get ridiculous. I ordered 2 knee braces that should have fit according to the product page. I got excited when they showed up until they did not fit. They would not go around my fat ass thighs. I sent them back. I ordered 2 more that also should have fit, this time they were name brand and heavy duty. I was all excited when they came in until once again they would not go around my stupid fat thighs. I have sent that pair back as well. I began searching the Internet for a knee brace that would fit. The only search parameter I could come up with that seemed fitting was “plus size knee brace.” That actually found me exactly what I needed. Unfortunately the size I need is only available through medical supply. That being the case, the “plus-sized knee brace” is to treat knee pain caused by obesity. It’s even call that: Bariatric Knee Brace and/or Obesity Pain Knee Brace. So I have an order ready to go as soon as Amazon processes my return of the 2nd pair that does not fit. The icing on this soul-crushing cake...the interweb’s algorithm that makes custom ads based on your browsing got 1 last good shot in. The text ads on the Amazon page for the Bariatric Knee Brace offered me an orthopedic specialist and 2 weight loss surgery centers. Frak you very much.

Emotional Baskin Robbins

Remember how I said old habits were not going down without a fight? Well my habit of eating my feelings is a combination of Clubber Lang and Ivan Drago. I have not been doing well at all on my goal of not bored/stress/emotional eating. I am doing ok with taking a healthy lunch to work and not overeating at meals but between meals, late night, and my morning drive not so much. I have gotten 2nd breakfast on my way to work a couple of times a week lately, a habit I have really been working on breaking. I won’t lie, it has not been pretty at times. I am working on it but sometimes depression voice wins out.

A New Work Stress

Sometimes the downside of doing your job well is more work. I have had a good year thus far and everyone is happy with me. Of course this means we get to add to my plate. Next year I will be adding Foundations of Computer Science to my list of classes I am teaching. That is great. As of right now it is just replacing a class I am currently teaching so it is not more work in that sense. There is a small problem with this plan. We are offering this course for high school credit. In order to do so I have to get a new teaching certificate. This means I get a new project: learn the overall basics of every aspect of computer science….and some basic coding. Luckily I have some basic coding background from working on my Google Scripts project. The rest, however, will be a challenge. Now I get to spend my free time prepping for a test and learning the content I have to teach next year. The plus side is I have all summer to learn the actual class stuff I will be teaching but I have to be ready for the test in May. I wasn’t busy enough, right?

A New Plan

Clearly the original mission needs to be reworked. I am currently working on that and will have and update hopefully March 1st. Until then may the Force be with you and may the Power protect you.

\m/ THERE IS NO TRY \m/

PS -- I went a bit GIF happy. Sorry not sorry.

I'm not dead yet....

I am still here and I have a few posts in the works but I have been super busy with work lately. I was out of town at a conference for an entire week and my wife was gone for the next week for a conference so I have not fully caught back up on things. I will get back to regular posting very very soon. Until then may the Force be with you and may the Power protect you.

\m/ THERE IS NO TRY \m/

January Mission Review

January Mission Summary

The Mission has suffered a major setback. January was not as productive as one would have liked. There were a number of missteps and a lot of bad intel. The original plan was to do Yoga in the mornings and cardio in the evenings. That was a complete failure. However, after regrouping and coming up with a new plan things seem to be progressing.

Mission adjustment 1: morning workout of Yoga was not….working out. After much research it was decided that the problem was a morning workout should be more energetic like cardio. Many people, including The Rock, hit the road (or treadmill) early morning and start the day with a good cardio session. This adjustment has been implemented and seems to be working.

Mission adjustment 2: any evening workouts were being impeded by an unstable schedule between myself and my commanding officer. Her schedule is constantly in flux. Here is an example of my weekly maneuvers:

• Monday - pick up the Recruit at daycare, home by 6pm if no complications. I am home with him until well after 7pm. Dinner is usually not before 6:30pm. By the time the Commander gets home it is time to get the toddler ready for bed. By the time all this is over I am too exhausted to work out. 
• Tuesday and Thursday - after school program keeps me at work until 5:30pm, sometimes 6pm. This puts me home around 7pm most of the time. Eating dinner that late makes a workout difficult. 
• Wednesday - I can go straight home and get dinner at a reasonable hour. This is the only day in the week this happens 
• Friday - Similar to Monday. Commander has work obligations that require me to pick up the Recruit, however this is somewhat sporadic so it is hard to plan around. I also have the Junior Agents to pick up from their barracks. 

Since consistency is key to any program like this I have adjusted the maneuvers schedule to hopefully work around these issues. Any evening workouts will now take place as soon as I get home.

Mission adjustment 3: the implementation of Mission adjustment 2 required that diet be adjusted as well. Before my meals increased in size and substance throughout the day with dinner being the heaviest meal. Based on the advice of a certified personal trainer friend and several articles on the subject I am inverting this plan. I will be adjusting my diet as such: breakfast will be much more substantial to help with morning cravings and sustain until lunch. Lunch was already fairly decent but will be slightly improved. Dinner is where the major change will come. I will be working out BEFORE dinner now and will have a light, protein-based meal. This will accommodate eating later in the evening and will help with recovery from the workout.

The 1st major challenge of the overall Mission will be the 1st week of February. I will be at a work conference all week. I will still be able to get my scheduled workouts in but I will have to be extra diligent with my diet. I will update the Mission log after the trip with its success or failure. Below is a full update on Phase I through January.

Phase I Operations - Quarter 1
Fitness 

• Complete DDP Yoga 
• Various starts and stops. Averaging 2 sessions per week out 5. 
• Complete C25K 
• Just completed week 1, doing well
• Get below 300
• See February Accountability Update for current progress on this goal

Diet 

• Track as much food as possible
• I am exploring myfitnesspal as well. I am about 75-80% compliant with this objective.
• Minimal sugar intake (including carbs)
• This is still going well save for the occasional snack size candy bar. I have had only one full Coke this year.
• No bored/stress/travel snacking
• Other than coffee stops this has gone well. There have been many days I have actively NOT stopped despite being very hungry

Life

• Less frivolous spending
• There has been a few slips on this front but nothing over $5-$10
• Improve time management/make better use of time/stay on task
• I am still struggling with this.
• Do something creative just for me for at least 1 hour a week
• I am not sure if it balanced out to 1 hour per week but I did do some creative things. I wired an f/x Disney Infinity 3.0 Yoda figure to light up off the game base. Continuing with Infinity I spent a few hours playing around in the Toy Box, which it very under rated. It is a fully functional game engine. I am interested in exploring this a bit more.

Stay tuned for more updates. Until then may the Force be with you and may the Power protect you

\m/ THERE IS NO TRY \m/

Mission Update 001

Mission Update 001

The Mission got off to a rocky start. The early part of the Mission seemed like things were going well. I worked out Monday and Tuesday. On 2 separate occasions I was treated to Italian, my favorite food in the world, and chose a large grilled chicken salad over a carb-heavy pasta dish. I turned down a birthday cake. Things were looking great until mid week. That’s when my depression started creeping and I started feeling like crap emotionally. I was upset and bogged down with the feels and did what I always do in said situations: I sat around, dwelling on everything, and eating my feelings. Every good food decision I had made earlier in the week was undone by angry eating. It was horrible and I felt horrible doing it. It did not make me feel any better it just changed what was messing with my head.

By the weekend I had stopped working out and was eating all the crap. Honestly, other than the occasional snack size candy bar out of the leftover Halloween candy, what I ate was not all THAT bad I just ate for the wrong reasons and way too much. I began to think about why I was doing this I had an apostrophe. People who battle with depression tend to find a coping mechanism. Not everyone chooses a healthy mechanism. This is where cutting, drugs, alcohol, and other destructive vices come into play. Clearly my emotional eating is a coping mechanism but I am beginning to question the motive behind it. I am not eating to feel happy, because it doesn’t make me feel happy. Perhaps I am eating to have some kind of control in the absence of such.

Back to the Mission. Monday the 10th was better. I worked out, though I was not really into it. I did really well on the food but that was about it. My on-going depression was the biggest roadblock this week. I have done pretty well with my food, save for the belated birthday cake someone gave me. The deliciousness of that cake equaled the hate I felt for myself for having eaten it, but I did not want to be rude. It did not take me long to realize that I have lost the self-discipline needed to work out at home right now. I need some way to jump start a routine to help make it a habit. I have looked into a few options. I really like the DDP Yoga program but with my schedule, making the time is difficult. I need to do something soon since I am already behind schedule.

Looking at the specific Mission Objectives for Phase I, things are not going well to start:

Fitness

• Complete DDP Yoga
• I’ve only done about half of the workouts for the last 2 weeks
• Complete C25K
• have not even started
• Get below 300
• no idea, only weigh in once a month

Diet

• Track as much food as possible
• about 80% of everything tracked
• Minimal sugar intake (including carbs)
• not terrible other than a few emotional snacks and the birthday cake
• No bored/stress/travel snacking
• had a few setbacks as mentioned above and slipped a few times on breakfast

Life

• Less frivolous spending
• this has been really good, save for a few QuikTrip stops for breakfast/coffee
• Improve time management/make better use of time/stay on task
• not great, I am easily distra HEY LOOK A DUCK!
• Do something creative just for me for at least 1 hour a week
• not even a little bit, though I have a project to work on I just need to get the materials

The entire reason for the slow start is my depression. As I have explained before I have very bad seasonal depression and it is taking longer than usual to come out of it. I am not sleeping well so I am more tired than usual, and emotionally I just do not feel like doing anything. I just kind of am. Hopefully things will pick up soon, because Phase I Ops are vital to completing the overall Mission. Until next time may the Force be with you and may the Power protect you.

\m/ THERE IS NO TRY \m/

January Accountability Post

Each month I will post accountability pictures, weight, and measurement. These posts will come at the beginning of each month. Below are the starting photos and stats...

January Progress Photos

January Measurements

Neck: 17.5"
Chest: 56.25"
Waist: 56"
Hips: 54.5"
R Bicep: 15.25", 16.25" flexed
L Bicep: 14.75", 16.75" flexed
R Thigh: 30"
L Thigh: 29.5"
R Calf: 21"
L Calf: 20"

May the Force be with you and may the Power protect you

\m/ THERE IS NO TRY \m/

All New, All Different Captain

Welcome to the official 1st post of the newly relaunched This Is Your Captain Speaking. This blog will serve as an accountability system for my efforts to get healthier as well as an outlet to share my thoughts and creative endeavors. We will begin with my goals or Missions for 2016. These are not New Year's Resolutions. These are Missions. The structure of my Missions and how I will be reporting my progress is modeled after the Nerd Fitness 6 Week Challenge. I'll go into more detail on the awesomeness that is Nerd Fitness in a future post. For now let's get to the Mission Briefing.

I have over-all Missions for the year that will be managed quarterly with smaller Operations (Ops) leading to the overall Objective. Ops are broken into three categories: Fitness, Diet, and Life.

2016 Missions

• Get down to 250 lbs - this is ~6 lbs per month
• Complete Spartan Trifecta
• Create something - this sounds vague but I know what it means and it is hard to put in words

Phase I Operations - Quarter 1

Fitness

• Complete DDP Yoga
• This is a 13-week program
• Complete C25K
• This is only a 9-week program but I am sure there will be weeks I need to repeat
• Get below 300
• This is completely doable and right in line with my over target for the year

Diet

• Track as much food as possible
• I will be using LoseIt, MapMyFitness, and Fitbit apps for this
• Minimal sugar intake (including carbs)
• Self-explanatory. Just cutting as much sugar out as possible
• No bored/stress/travel snacking
• This is my biggest problem. I bored eat. I stress eat. I drive a lot and tend to eat for something to do.

Life

• Less frivolous spending
• No stopping for snacks/drinks/drive-thru on daily commute
• Basically only buy things I absolutely need
• Improve time management/make better use of time/stay on task
• I tend to get distracted easily, especially at work
• Spend less leisure time on social media - big time waster
• Multitask when possible
• Do something creative just for me for at least 1 hour a week
• Flex my creative muscle. This blog does not count.

I will post Mission updates regularly with the status of each Op. These Missions are flexible and can be updated and modified as needed. The Mission begins today (January 4th) my plan right now is to post Mission updates every other Monday so look for the 1st update in 2 weeks. Until then may the Force be with you and may the Power protect you.

\m/ THERE IS NO TRY \m/