102 Down, 98 to go!

Hello everyone ! It has been a few weeks since I have blogged. Things have been a little crazy, but a lot has happened. I have been really hitting the gym hard and I have changed up my routine a little the last few weeks because the more weight that comes off, the harder it is for me to burn the same amount of calories. Also, I want to trick my body by changing some things up.

I am currently doing a five day workout. Mon, Wed, & Fri I am lifting weights and doing cardio and Tue & Thu I am just doing cardio. Mondays I am doing all push weights (chest press, decline press, shoulder press, and triceps press). On Wednesday I am doing all pull weights (seated row, lat pull downs, back extensions, bicep curl, ab machine). Then on Fridays I am doing legs (angled leg press, leg curls, leg extensions, and wall squats). On my weight training days I am doing three miles of cardio and on my two off days I am doing six miles of cardio. My plan is to build up more lean muscle so it will burn more calories. Muscle burns calories while at rest. Fat just sits there and does nothing. Now when you have more fat on your body you do burn more calories because you have to carry that weight around, but I would rather work harder because I weigh less. Since I have now lost 101 pounds I am having to work harder to burn the same amount of calories I was burning at the beginning. That is a great sign because it means I am getting smaller. But if you add muscle mass it will burn calories 24 hours a day. Muscles need food to survive. So the more muscle you have the more food it will need and if you are still on your reduced meal plan, then the excess calories burned will mean more weight loss.

I ran/walked my first 5K this past weekend and it was awesome! My friend Mark Mendoza and my roommate Gil Butler came out to support me. I also ran it with my friend Miranda Massey. It was great, and I finished with an official time of 48:50. My goal was to finish within an hour so I beat my goal by 12 minutes. Mark actually met me half way and motivated me to push harder. I sprinted the last .20 miles and you could hear everyone cheering for me when I got close to the finish line. I was just glad that I finished.  It was a great moment and the environment was great. I had people coming up and giving my high fives and telling me good job. I wanted to say something back but I could not breathe. My body felt great.

I feel like I am looking better every day. That is what it is about, how you feel about yourself. Everyday when I look in the mirror I feel good about myself. If you can’t live with yourself how can anyone else? You need to do this for you not your friends and family. They can be part of your motivation but this has to be a choice that you make. I have tried to lose weight on numerous occasions and I was unsuccessful. I am not doing this to get a girl, or because someone asked me to. I am doing this because I want to be healthy, I want to be able to fit into a canoe and it not tip over every time I move, I want to be able to ride a bike for more then ten minutes, I want to be able to go rock climbing, I don’t want to be afraid to sit down because I might break the seat. You have to be motivated to change and save your life.

Last but not least, I received my study guide to become a personal trainer. I am starting a 40 hour class from Cooper Institute. It is one of the top personal trainers courses in the US. I want to be able to learn more to help me on my journey and I want to use the knowledge I am gaining to help as many people as I can. I am in the process of putting together another fundraiser. This one is going to be one that gives back to you. I am going to have a Saturday morning where we get together and I am going to bring in a couple of guest speakers on health and I am going to do a panel of trainers and do a Q&A with them. We will be able to ask them some questions that we have. Registration will be $10 and the money is going to help me get everything lined up for the weight loss home which we plan to launch after the first of the year. There is a lot of awesome stuff happening and I am glad that you are a part of it.

I am also still accepting donations. I have a lot of stuff that I am working on and your contributions are going to help a lot of people. I met two guys this past week who told met that because of what I am doing and through reading my updates they have decided to lose weight and have already each lost over 30 pounds. That is awesome and that is what it is all about. You can donate on the site through the donate button. If you need a tax deduction you can make the check out to Hope C3 Church and send it to 8137 Emerald Hills Way # 306 NRH, TX 76180 All the money goes to helping me with weight loss supplies and I need some new clothes. I have do not have anything that fits me right now.

Thank you for your prayers, encouragement, and support.