Hello, is this thing on? (tap,tap)

So hell might have frozen over and I am finally updating this blog!! SO much has happened since my last post, I hardly know where to start!

I suppose biggest news first - I got married! Groundhog Day, Feb 2d this year. Amazing woman, wonderful family and a wedding we will never forget...here is my lovely bride and I on the big day:

Rebecca (Huntley!) is the best thing that has happened to me since La Princessa was born. We met on Match.com and wrote each other more than I've ever written anyone in my life. She was in Longview and getting ready to move to Austin. We met at one of my very favorite coffee shops and it was love at first sight, actually we both fell for each other long before we met. We are so alike in so many ways, yet we have our differences too. Love, love, love this woman!

Today we signed a contract on our new home in Avery Ranch, and I could not be any more excited! It's our first brand new home, neither of us ever bought new before. Incredible home, room for a music room, and 3 more bedrooms, great loft upstairs with a balcony! Gorgeous home with a lot of upgrades, granite countertops throughout, wood floors downstairs and stainless steel GE appliances, all blinds are in.....front and back yards have oak trees and a complete sprinkler system. We are so, so blessed! Here it is:

We should be closing this month! I will be so glad to get out of that 3rd floor apartment, to have a garage again, and to start my new life with my new bride in this new home.....:O)

So true!!!

I am on day 5 of no Ambien!!! I'm excited, this is longer than I have ever gone in the 7 years+ I've been taking it! Wow, when I write that it is so strange to think, 7 years! It was supposed to be a SHORT TERM fix to my being such a light sleeper and for a while, that worked. NO one can tell me it's not more than psychologically addictive. Stop taking it cold turkey after taking it for years, and watch the PHYSICAL effects. The vivid dreams, the mood shifts, the longing for easy sleep. 

Surprisingly enough, it is not too tough...yet. I think this week will be the real "acid" test. Working nights and having to unwind and sleep during the day. Luckily my apartment is in a very nice, quiet small complex. I love it here, my neighbors are young professionals that work days mostly, and are very quiet on weekends. I actually was shocked at some of the stretches of uninterrupted sleep I had this weekend...a couple were 4 to 5 hours each. I was prepared to wake up, and thought I would have more trouble getting back to sleep than I did. So I'm coming into the work week well rested. A great workout at the gym this morning, and I feel so much better. No craving food before bedtime, no uncontrollable hunger pangs that Ambien always seemed to induce. 

I'm excited about this process, and committed to making it work. The next phase will be to transition back to day shift work, but I'm not rushing that right now. Baby steps.....

I'm grateful to Dr Paul Cauvin of ARC, my family practitioner for years and years. The support was very critical to me. I think I almost wanted him to tell me to taper off it slowly, but he agreed it might be best with my history to just pull the plug and take the usual sleep precautions, no caffeine before bedtime, dark room, etc. He also encouraged me not to fight "sleeplessness" but rather to embrace it, read and let myself feel tired again. That really has worked!

Austin Fit, 3m Half Marathon here I come!

So the running obsession continues...I'm running the Fall season with AustinFit, which of course is affiliated with USAFit....or something like that. It culminates in Feb 2013 with the Austin Half Marathon (the even-crazier people train for the Full Marathon). I'm never going to stop hating the name "Half Marathon". It ain't half of anything, it's a complete ass kicking of a race. Too short? Run faster then!

But I digress, which is the whole point of blogging, no? I'm so grateful to the program, and so glad I sucked it up last year and joined. It took so much for me to get in the car that first day, I was scared shitless. What? Run with people I don't even know? Last time I did that I was wearing combat boots and birth control glasses! It turned out fabulously, after training the entire season with my 11 min/mile group, I went out with a couple of our faster gals (shout out to Amy and Eliza!) and averaged 10:45 over the 13.1 miles. Not bad for such a tough course!

A group of us ran throughout the summer (read previous bitches and moans) and I'm so grateful to them all. Mark mostly, who loosely "organized" it by inviting us to keep our running fitness up. And Amy, who makes running look as easy as breathing to us mere mortals.  We slogged through some hot, hot runs and I know we are all better runners for it. It will make those cool winter runs a piece of cake!

Not being injured is something I never take for granted any more, not since THE CALF....which for any new voyeurs, er readers, was the injury I suffered last Fall. I learned a LOT from that injury, I can assure you! I learned to build a proper base mileage before any race, and to not ramp things up too quickly. I hope to never make that mistake again!

So this fall, I'm moving up with our coach to the 10:45 min/mile group. My basic plan is to do faster tempo runs during the week, and build the mileage at a slower pace on the long Saturday runs with the group. I know given a good base, my race pace is always going to be a bit faster. This year I hope to run 10-10:30 at 3m (Jan 13th) and about 10:30-10:45 miles at the Austin Half, unless I just get super fast. Not going to happen at this age, I don't think! But speed is no longer my prime objective. Just staying in shape, and ENJOYING the runs is fine with me. Losing sight of the fun is the kiss of death for me!

My workouts are in a great rhythm right now, although quite a few people have commented on the lunacy they appear to be on the outside. There is a plan people. I have a bike I'm slowly paying off, and when I get on it this Fall to start riding again, I want to be in shape and hauling LESS ass up those hills. I'm fortunate in that I can devote a LOT of time to working out that most men my age can't. Idle and Perry do not get along well.

I guess that's it for now. Now go run. :O)

Latest Fat Analysis

So I was really stunned today when I stepped on the fat analysis scale - and it read down only 1.4 pounds!! I know my weight really does fluctuate - and sometimes as much as 4 lbs....but still. Fuck that was not cool.

Bill went on to do the "7 sites" pinch tests and there was where I see the best - and biggest - results. So my eyes are not lying, I really AM getting more fit, and less flabby.

Here is a guide to the pinch test sites...


So here are the before and after numbers:


Body test site                 Before measurement          After measurement (latest)

Chest                                            15mm                              10mm

Abdomen                                      40mm                              26mm

Subscapular (back)                        23mm                              20mm

Midaxillary                                     21mm                              19mm

Suprailiac                                       14mm                              14mm

Triceps                                           11mm                              7mm

Thigh                                               13mm                             11mm


So overall I'm happy with the progress, the weight routine I'm doing is really adding strength and obvious, view-able differences. Right now I'm doing 3 sets of 15 on the ab machine; tricep; bicep; back, and chest machines. It takes less time and is more focused than I was doing before. I barely rest between sets, and I use enough weight that I am at muscle exhaustion on the 3rd set. Arms have gone from 50 lbs post surgery to now at 100 lbs (triceps and biceps). Not where I once was, but getting better after just two months!

I like that the Moobs are almost gone now. Lol!

I do need to get more serious about the nutrition and stop sabotaging my own work there. Easier said than done for a true Foodie!


Bottom line - room for improvement, but the New Leaf assessment says I've gone from a 52 yr, 10 month old body composition to a 36 yr, 7 months body. I'll take it!

Oh, and overall my body fat % went from 22% to 18%. More to come!

Cramming for a body fat test?

I look better now!

I have until Monday to "cram" for my next monthly body fat test. I did not post about the last test, but it was OK. I had lost 4 pounds and almost 6 pounds of body fat. [At this last weigh-in the machine from Hell says I now have only 19 lbs of body fat to lose. Yikes!] Yep, gaining some muscle! My trainer/nutritionist has me pumping the weights again. It really has ramped up my weight loss, I peeked at the scale the other day and was down almost 7. However, the "cramming" I have been doing lately is more cramming food into my pie hole. Hey, I'm cool with it. I may sound extreme to my Facebook friends who see that I am at the gym nearly every day, but I balance it pretty well. I spend time with my lovely daughter, and I eat. I have cut out a few things, but I am not one for deprivation. That sets me up to fail every time. I once lost 40 pounds on WW over a 6 month period, but I will never, ever do that again. I'd rather die fat and happy.

My clothes are fitting better, I don't have to force my ass into my bathing suit anymore, and I'm getting much stronger. In just 2 months, I've gone up 30-40 pounds on most of the machines I do. I'm still running on Saturdays, and will begin my half marathon training tomorrow, I cannot wait! I'll be running three this year, Decker, IBM and the Austin Half in January. And my bike is halfway paid off so I'll be riding again soon! 

Life is pretty damn good right now!

I flunked my body fat test....

Ok, so the latest in my world is that I am FINALLY ready to get truly serious about getting in complete shape. I can run a half marathon, I could probably ride over 70 miles on a bike. But am I REALLY and truly fit? Not even a chance. And I've done my homework, I know it's so much more than a number on a scale. I was watching a guy at my gym (LifeTime Fitness North in Austin) having a body fat analysis done yesterday and after recently reading a great article about body fat, I knew I needed the same for a baseline. It's the best way there is to gauge real progress, that takes into account muscle. Weight alone is misleading, I'm pretty muscular.

So I met William ("BILL") Priesser at the gym today for a scheduled body fat analysis. The great thing is that it is FREE for members, and I can have it done monthly to track my progress. Bill is a truly nice guy, very positive and motivating. He has done several metabolic assessments (MAP testing) on me over the years and is always really friendly but in a genuine way. Never a hard sell, but really knowledgeable. Here is the hard, fat (no pun intended) truths:

Body fat analysis by their new, state of the art body fat scale:

Weight - 214 (gulp) pounds, 5'9", 53 yrs old. Body fat %....25.1%. BMI over 31. Yikes.

Body fat analysis by standard "pinch tests" with calipers:

21.9 % body fat. Wish this was the better, more accurate number of the two. It's not. Although Bill told me I am pretty muscular all around, with great numbers on thighs, arms...and not BAD numbers on belly, back and waist.....obviously there is room for improvement. The electronic machine is a better test of "visceral fat" which often hides around internal organs, and shows as excess weight. It can be hidden somewhat by a more muscular build, which is a nice way of him telling me I don't LOOK fat....the bottom line is I have about 25 lbs of BODY FAT ALONE to lose.

Bill is a metabolic specialist, and I was really impressed that he went to great trouble to map out the dietary (ick) changes I really have to make. I knew it was coming, it is obvious that I may be gaining muscle mass, but I'm not losing body fat. Carbs have got to go WAY down, and I have to up my veggies intake to make up for the loss in fiber intake. Avoid whole grains, pizza (waaaah!), cereal (easy, don't eat it), rice. Damn. But you know what? I'm ready, and it's not a sacrifice at all. It's time to learn once again how to treat food as a fuel, not an addiction.

The final bit of good news is that I'm already on track, just need to lower the intensity of my workouts to stay in a "fat burning" heart rate range. Hard as hell for me to do, and it does seem counter-intuitive. But Bill made perfect sense, I have to train my body to burn fat by not giving it the choice to burn carbs (and spike my insulin levels while I am at it).

I know that I need true balance of diet and exercise to get the body I want....trim, and strong, and able to endure long cardio workouts (aka cycle rides and long runs).

Yes, there is a vanity aspect to it. But that is the lesser motivation, I really want to feel like I did the last time I weighed 180 - 190. And to have that kind of energy.

Stay tuned and monthly I will track before/current stats. I'm excited to be on this new journey!