Well it has been a slow few weeks for weight loss. I lost a little, but I am going to incorporate new items to my usual workouts in order to add some muscle and burn fat faster.
My numbers for the last 2 weeks have totaled:
2.8 lbs lost
0 inches lost
I am over 50 lbs lost now!
I am up to 33.38% of my goal weight loss reached.
While 2.8 lbs in 2 weeks is nothing negative, it just wasn't anything amazing. I want to lose more than that so I will need to make some additions to my routine.
The additions are kettlebell swings 3 times a week, and 2 different types of crunches. I can already feel the difference from the kettlebell swings, it really worked my legs, back, shoulders, and arms. I will slowly build up the number of reps/set and the number of total reps per workout. It honestly does not take that much time to do, and it feels good to be slightly sore from those exercises. It makes it seem like I am making progress.
I will hopefully show an increase in weight loss for next week
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Moneyball
I really can't write about Moneyball without looking at it from two angles. I will look at it as just a movie, then compare the movie to the book.
The movie, on its own, was quite good. I was not sure how they would make a compelling movie about a book like that. The dialog was definitely improved for more laughs and just generally better conversation overall in the movie. The characters were very likable, and there was quite a bit of emotion in the movie, which was definitely not that true for the book. The baseball action was quite enjoyable even though it was a little bit prolonged. I was not really sure how they would make the book into a movie, but they did a pretty decent job. I would recommend the movie to anyone, baseball fan or not. I was weirded out by Phillip Seymour-Hoffman playing Art Howe, but I actually thought that Art Howe was older than he actually is. He it only 64 now, I wouldn't have been surprised if he was 65 back then. He just looked that old I guess.
The movie really didn't go into the advanced statistics in the book, pretty much focused on walks. Much of the more in depth things the book goes into like the history of Sabermetrics, the development of the stats, Chad Bradford's life growing up, The draft that year, among other things. I thought the draft was a big point in the book, but it was literally not even mentioned in the movie. I would have loved to hear Brad Pitt say "Span fucked us!" referring to Denard Span who is currently on the Minnesota Twins, just for the simple fact that I like Denard Span and I think it would be a cool name drop. Billy Beane was not as likable a character in the book and I suppose real life as he is in the movie. I think they really needed to make him likable to drive the movie though.
I guess I just wanted this movie to do more preaching of advanced statistics, which would expose them to a new audience. I am not saying everyone would take them as gospel, but more people would have an idea where that half of the fans is coming from. I still think it was an interesting book, that was turned into an interesting movie that is worth seeing.
The movie, on its own, was quite good. I was not sure how they would make a compelling movie about a book like that. The dialog was definitely improved for more laughs and just generally better conversation overall in the movie. The characters were very likable, and there was quite a bit of emotion in the movie, which was definitely not that true for the book. The baseball action was quite enjoyable even though it was a little bit prolonged. I was not really sure how they would make the book into a movie, but they did a pretty decent job. I would recommend the movie to anyone, baseball fan or not. I was weirded out by Phillip Seymour-Hoffman playing Art Howe, but I actually thought that Art Howe was older than he actually is. He it only 64 now, I wouldn't have been surprised if he was 65 back then. He just looked that old I guess.
The movie really didn't go into the advanced statistics in the book, pretty much focused on walks. Much of the more in depth things the book goes into like the history of Sabermetrics, the development of the stats, Chad Bradford's life growing up, The draft that year, among other things. I thought the draft was a big point in the book, but it was literally not even mentioned in the movie. I would have loved to hear Brad Pitt say "Span fucked us!" referring to Denard Span who is currently on the Minnesota Twins, just for the simple fact that I like Denard Span and I think it would be a cool name drop. Billy Beane was not as likable a character in the book and I suppose real life as he is in the movie. I think they really needed to make him likable to drive the movie though.
I guess I just wanted this movie to do more preaching of advanced statistics, which would expose them to a new audience. I am not saying everyone would take them as gospel, but more people would have an idea where that half of the fans is coming from. I still think it was an interesting book, that was turned into an interesting movie that is worth seeing.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Diet Log Week #12
Even though I said I was going to exercise more last week, I didn't. It was still a good week numbers-wise but it should have been better. This week I have already worked out as much as last week with a walk on saturday night, and a jog on Sunday ngiht, and I will be going out pretty soon here tonight. I can run much longer distances than I used to be able to, but I would like to be even better. I am still terrible at running, but less terrible than before.
I have been getting into a groove when it comes to making food. I have made chili for the 2nd time this summer/fall already, its just so good, and it works so well with my diet. I have also been having marinated chicken breasts on top of salads pretty regularly. I mad a turkey meatloaf with some steamed veggies to enjoy as well. I might need to make some adjustments if these things get old. I can always switch to tuna salads as well, but might want to do that at home and not at work, for fear of stinky tuna breath.
The numbers for this past week:
Net weight lost this week: 3.4 lbs
Total weight lost to date: 48.2 lbs
Inches lost this week: 0
Total inches lost: 29.5 inches
Percent of target weight loss: 31.5%
Percent of bodyweight lost: 11.4%
I am over 30% of the way to my goal number for weight loss, which is just a percentage, I would like to be over a third of the way there by the end of this week. I have lost over 10% of my total bodyweight, and I am just getting started with this. These amazing numbers just continue to encourage me to keep going and push harder.
I have been getting into a groove when it comes to making food. I have made chili for the 2nd time this summer/fall already, its just so good, and it works so well with my diet. I have also been having marinated chicken breasts on top of salads pretty regularly. I mad a turkey meatloaf with some steamed veggies to enjoy as well. I might need to make some adjustments if these things get old. I can always switch to tuna salads as well, but might want to do that at home and not at work, for fear of stinky tuna breath.
The numbers for this past week:
Net weight lost this week: 3.4 lbs
Total weight lost to date: 48.2 lbs
Inches lost this week: 0
Total inches lost: 29.5 inches
Percent of target weight loss: 31.5%
Percent of bodyweight lost: 11.4%
I am over 30% of the way to my goal number for weight loss, which is just a percentage, I would like to be over a third of the way there by the end of this week. I have lost over 10% of my total bodyweight, and I am just getting started with this. These amazing numbers just continue to encourage me to keep going and push harder.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Diet Log Week #11
Another week in the books with another good number on my weight loss. I had been exhausted all week, because of getting up early for work every day, so I didn't exercise as much as I should have. I will do more this week, I might join the gym at work, we will see about that.
Something I had learned in The 4 Hour Body that I had not yet really had a chance to use, making yourself be cold can help burn fat because your body is forced to produce more heat than it otherwise could. This can be done by taking cold showers regularly, which I really don't like, or you could take walks outside in the cold in nothing but a tshirt and shorts, which I can and will be doing.
Lets get down to the numbers for this week:
Net weight lost this week: 4.6lbs
Net Inches lost this week: 1 inch
Total weight lost to date: 44.8lbs
Total inches lost to date: 28.5 inches
I am now up to 29.3% of my goal weight loss.
I have lost 10.6% of my total weight.
Something I had learned in The 4 Hour Body that I had not yet really had a chance to use, making yourself be cold can help burn fat because your body is forced to produce more heat than it otherwise could. This can be done by taking cold showers regularly, which I really don't like, or you could take walks outside in the cold in nothing but a tshirt and shorts, which I can and will be doing.
Lets get down to the numbers for this week:
Net weight lost this week: 4.6lbs
Net Inches lost this week: 1 inch
Total weight lost to date: 44.8lbs
Total inches lost to date: 28.5 inches
I am now up to 29.3% of my goal weight loss.
I have lost 10.6% of my total weight.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Update on my Life
Well I probably should have written about this a little bit sooner, but I have been settling in here for about a week. Here of course is now Green Bay, Wisconsin. I applied for, interviewed for, and accepted a position at Humana. For those who don't know Humana is a health insurance company that is based in Louisville, Kentucky. From what I have learned in my week of working this is one of the few companies in the health insurance industry that really puts an emphasis on quality customer service. I have really enjoyed my first week and a day in Green Bay. I have seen some of my friends, and I have already started working on making some new friends.
I really had needed a change of scenery from Eau Claire, I had been there for too long, and really didn't have a bright future there. I have friends that I will miss there, but just about every one of my friends from college was long gone from the area. I had become more and more accustomed to just being mostly a loner. I definitely let my social anxiety get the best of me for quite a while. I don't even know how many of you know that I had some pretty bad social anxiety, but I do, and it is something I really hid behind at times in the past.
I decided that it was time for a change in my life, so I had been applying for jobs in the cities mostly. I was chatting with my friend Matt one day, and he said he might have something I would be interested in, so he forwarded me to a job opening at Humana in Green Bay(he works at Humana as well, at a different center), I applied for the job, and had a phone interview the following week, and an in person interview the week after. the longest part of the process was actually waiting to hear back about the job, which took 2 whole weeks. I only had about a week to get all of my arrangements in order. I was luckily able to find an apartment that I liked at first, but I actually like it more and more each day, it already feels very comfortable.
On top of needing to change jobs, and scenery, I really wanted to get myself out of a rut. I think I was a little bit reserved in the first few days of training, but the last few days I have been my more open positive self. I have really spent time getting to know some of my training partners, and I am actually going to attend a grill out at one of their houses on Sunday. I went out to happy hour to hang out with a few of the guys, and met one of their wives, and they invited me over on Sunday. I really liked hanging out with them, and getting to talk to them outside of work. I need to be more open about meeting new people, and limit myself at all. I personally think that I should be welcoming of all people who would like to be my friend. I am in a new place, and making more friends right now would definitely not hurt.
Part of me really wants to find a girl that I can hang out with, but the other side of me really wants to just make friends in general. I guess I am a bit lonely, I have not been on a date since I think March. I have been on a self imposed hiatus since then. I really don't know if this is something I should really jump right into right away anyway. I would really like to make sure I do well during this training and learn as much as I can before I am officially out on the floor.
I have been told that the call center I will be working in has a much larger number of girls than guys, and I kind of noticed that myself today when I was there. There are some that really fit right into my type, it I do indeed have one, although I don't know if I would like to date someone at work again, who knows.
I should really wrap this up, because it is past 2am and I am just dead tired. I think I am going to really like my job, I really like helping people solve problems. I have already made big strides in stepping out of my comfort zone. I think moving to Minnesota would have been my safety net, but I think I really prefer the decision that I made, at least so far. I am actually doing amazingly psychologically right now as well. I really hope this gives you a good glimpse of my past week or so. Let me know if you have any questions.
I really had needed a change of scenery from Eau Claire, I had been there for too long, and really didn't have a bright future there. I have friends that I will miss there, but just about every one of my friends from college was long gone from the area. I had become more and more accustomed to just being mostly a loner. I definitely let my social anxiety get the best of me for quite a while. I don't even know how many of you know that I had some pretty bad social anxiety, but I do, and it is something I really hid behind at times in the past.
I decided that it was time for a change in my life, so I had been applying for jobs in the cities mostly. I was chatting with my friend Matt one day, and he said he might have something I would be interested in, so he forwarded me to a job opening at Humana in Green Bay(he works at Humana as well, at a different center), I applied for the job, and had a phone interview the following week, and an in person interview the week after. the longest part of the process was actually waiting to hear back about the job, which took 2 whole weeks. I only had about a week to get all of my arrangements in order. I was luckily able to find an apartment that I liked at first, but I actually like it more and more each day, it already feels very comfortable.
On top of needing to change jobs, and scenery, I really wanted to get myself out of a rut. I think I was a little bit reserved in the first few days of training, but the last few days I have been my more open positive self. I have really spent time getting to know some of my training partners, and I am actually going to attend a grill out at one of their houses on Sunday. I went out to happy hour to hang out with a few of the guys, and met one of their wives, and they invited me over on Sunday. I really liked hanging out with them, and getting to talk to them outside of work. I need to be more open about meeting new people, and limit myself at all. I personally think that I should be welcoming of all people who would like to be my friend. I am in a new place, and making more friends right now would definitely not hurt.
Part of me really wants to find a girl that I can hang out with, but the other side of me really wants to just make friends in general. I guess I am a bit lonely, I have not been on a date since I think March. I have been on a self imposed hiatus since then. I really don't know if this is something I should really jump right into right away anyway. I would really like to make sure I do well during this training and learn as much as I can before I am officially out on the floor.
I have been told that the call center I will be working in has a much larger number of girls than guys, and I kind of noticed that myself today when I was there. There are some that really fit right into my type, it I do indeed have one, although I don't know if I would like to date someone at work again, who knows.
I should really wrap this up, because it is past 2am and I am just dead tired. I think I am going to really like my job, I really like helping people solve problems. I have already made big strides in stepping out of my comfort zone. I think moving to Minnesota would have been my safety net, but I think I really prefer the decision that I made, at least so far. I am actually doing amazingly psychologically right now as well. I really hope this gives you a good glimpse of my past week or so. Let me know if you have any questions.
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