My Prayers Were Answered Today

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

I have lived through what has been the worst 2 weeks of my life. Last fall I posted a blog that I lost a dog. It was a joke in that I had lost the weight of my 50lb dog. I got a lot of great reactions from that blog and I have thought of reblogging the same joke when I lost the weight of both of my dogs a while back. Unfortunately, I have lived the threat of literally losing my dog for the last 2 weeks. My dog Zoey has been in a shelter for 2 weeks because she escaped through a gate with a broken latch and attacked a dog a week ago Monday. I have been devastated and heart broken over the incident and its results since then. Monday I they had a hearing on her status. One of the toughest hours I have had to sit through. It unfortunately was not the first incident with Zoey, just the worst. The attacked dogs owner argued repeatedly that Zoey should be put down. Boy was that hard to hear. When I had a chance to speak, I was almost incoherent and I am normally a good speaker.

At the end of the hearing I was given the option of staying around for an hour and hearing their decision or leaving and having them e-mail the results. The other dogs owner was staying and I was so wrecked I could not say around. This afternoon I had still not heard the results of the hearing. I could not bring myself to call until this afternoon when I could not stand it anymore. I called animal control and was told that I would be getting Zoey back. My relief is beyond the pale. I called my son to tell him the good news and cried for about the 5th or 6th time in the last 2 weeks. I will find out tomorrow what the stipulations are for getting her back. There will be some steps I will happily implement.

Zoey sleeps with me most nights. I miss her so much.

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An Old Guy Returns To The Ice Thinner, Fitter and More Flexible

Friday, April 12, 2013

Last night I learned the difference between just weighing less and being fit. After a 6 year layoff from strapping on the pads to play goalie I made brief forays to the ice this winter figuring my weight loss would allow me to more easily return to the ice. I was not real happy with the results and at 57 years old I contemplated hanging it up for good. I stayed off the ice for the last couple of months to focus on conditioning and mobility/flexibility.

Through a combination of an at home kettlebell snatch program, mobility drills at my kettlebell class and recent yoga I have greatly improved both my fitness and mobility. So, with much trepidation I stepped on the ice to play back to back 3 on 3 games. For 2 hours I did something I used to live for and thought I had lost. While I was very tired last night, this morning I have literally no muscle soreness and very little residual tiredness. (I was able to take my dog for a fast 1 mile walk when I got home.) While I have a long way to go before a get back the somewhat limited ability I had before I "retired", my physical ability to play the game is no longer in question. Now I just have to find the money to replace most of my equipment. My 100lb weight loss has made my equipment ridiculously big on me.

This is just one more thing to thank SparkPeople for!

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My Biggest Day - Proof That Being Fit Pays Off

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Last Saturday I was blessed with the assignment to officiate the Illinois State Girls U14A state championship game in Bensenville Illinois. In 10 year of officiating I was never assigned to such a prestigious game. It was truly an honor. Without the weight loss and conditioning I would never have been considered for this assignment. Getting in shape for officiating was always part of my motivation for this journey, I never expected such positive results.

The experience was everything I hoped it would be. I skated my but off for the entire game and I was very satisfied with how I did. To top it off the game did not end until 5:46 into the first overtime period. We officials are just as excited about being part of such exciting games as the players. I actually bought a state tournament t-shirt even though it has the Blackhawks logo on it. (The state tournament is called the Blackhawk Cup). I am a life long Red Wings fan.

Before the game I asked the photographer who was handling the still photography for the game to get some pictures of the officials. I am going to order some, but here are some links to the shots from their web site. The jersey I am wearing is a size 56 which I barely fit last season. I am now wearing a 46 regularly, but it was the wrong style for the game so I had to swim in that jersey. The pants are also HUGE on my. They are held up by suspenders. I cannot even tighten the belt anymore.

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2 Months in Seclusion - 97lbs Down and Feeling Like a Failure

Thursday, March 07, 2013

I am basically a very up person. In fact sometimes to serious. My success on this journey in losing weight and getting in shape has been unprecedented in my life. Unfortunately, other parts of my life have not been so successful and I have been sabotaging those parts for the last 6 months. Around Christmas I started on a funk which I have been trying to end.

I have read a number of blogs and articles have said that losing weight and getting fit will not resolve all of your problems. I am living proof of that. My weight loss and fitness progress has been very satisfying. I had a nice reveal with my parents at Christmas time at 207lbs (down 78). My son and I cooked Christmas dinner and that turned out well. I ate way to much but I worked out some each day I was there. I hit my phase 2 spark goal of 195lbs at the end of January. I decided to let my body decide where I would go next and I have been in an aggressive maintenance mode since then and I am now down to 188.6. This is huge for me because I am now at a normal BMI. This could be the first time ever this always chubby kid can be called thin. I have muscle definition I have never seen in my body. I am now wearing 34" waist jeans, down from 46".

The icing on my fitness success came this week when I was picked by my ice hockey referee association to officiate a girls under 14 Illinois state championship game this Saturday. For this former fat official (who desperately needs new ref pants) this is a first and beyond what I expected. To quote the assigners e-mail, "We had many qualified candidates, but you were selected due to your dedication and commitment to our game. " Last year I had trouble getting anything but lower level your games and adult hockey.

Despite all of this there is my funk. The biggest factor in my funk is my lack of a job for the last 10 months since IBM outsourced my job. I have been living off savings, significant referee money and a small side job. But, the money is running out and I have some major repair expenses that I do not have the money to cover. My problem is that I am not doing a very good job looking for a good job. I think that I am afraid that my age will keep me from getting a good job so I do not try enough. I am having trouble getting past that.

The second biggest factor is that I have no personal life. While I am legally married, I have not had a relationship with my wife for about 8 years. Initially it was for my son's sake that I allowed us to share the same roof. Now, her dependence on me financially makes it impossible for me to just walk away. She has not had a decent full time job in more than 16 years. At least now she spends half of her time at her mom's house taking care of her and is only here part of the time when she works at a small part time job.

I think when I was fat I wrote off a personal life as not very likely. Who would want a 57 year old obese guy. Now that I am fit and active I need more. My son lives with me and we share a lot of interests, but that is not enough. I keep on telling myself to do something,, but my employment and marital status keep my on the sidelines.

To make things even worse, since Christmas I stopped blogging and communicating with many of my Spark friends. I did enjoy writing upbeat and hopefully witty blogs. Detailing my successes and discoveries was fun. It took me a while to get past the fear of blogging, but I was enjoying it. Once my funk started I could not talk lightly or proudly of my adventures because I just felt the failure. I have started several blogs to get back on track, but never followed through. Partly now because I felt that I had abandoned my friends.

I have decided to use my recent successes to try to leverage myself out of this state. I need to get back on the horse and work harder to get a job. I want to stay somewhat active on this site. I want to get to 185 which would be 100lbs loss. But, I need to make it more of a background activity and not my focus. Writing this down has been cathartic. I apologize for its length. I usually try for short blogs, but I needed to get this out. I plan on returning to the community part of SP for its help and to help encourage others.

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Tabata Kettlebells

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Reading SP blogs pays off again. I was reading the recently posted most popular blogs blog. In the list was an article about Tabata. In short Tabata is an exercise technique introduced in the 90s by a Japanese speed skating coach. It is a form of HIIT where you do 20 seconds of absolutely all out exercise and then rest for 10 seconds until you are trashed. The normal repetitions is 8 for a total exercise of 8 minutes. You need to warm up before the Tabata and cool down after it so the total exercise should take 20 to 25 minutes. A number of studies have shown tremendous benefits from this program in both weight loss and improved conditioning. It also has the advantage of being easier on the body.

I had to miss my KB class today because of my ref commitments so I did my first Tabata with Kettlebells. I did 8 minutes of swings with a 45lb KB doing 13 swings per 20 second interval. With my warm up and cool down I worked out for about 25 minutes and burned 300 calories according to my HR monitor. I am going to do this at leas 3 times a week.

I am about 13lbs from my goal and my body is now fighting me more than ever. I am hoping that this new level of intensity will help me break through and also ramp up my fitness level. If successful this may become a key part of my maintenance plan fitness routine.

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