Cowboy's Diary

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Alta818 said:
Great Job, Cowboy on training for a 1/2 marathon! That's fantastic! I often try and ask myself the same question with regard to hunger and food. Sometimes, I can avoid the hunger, other times, I can't and can't find the reason as to why I am eating or desiring it at that time. Eating to hide from what I ask myself sometimes? To avoid what emotion? Why?
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Thanks, Alta. I know what you mean. I think most of us on this forum are emotional eaters of some kind. Why do we eat when we are happy, sad, angry, hurt? I think if someone had an definite answer and marketed it- they could make a fortune-lol. It is amazing how with all the different people living in different parts of the world with different cultures just in this forum alone we are all dealing with the same thing!! It flabbergasts me sometimes. It just shows that we as human beings despite everything - where we live, how much money we have, how we live, etc. we are all the same.

Okay, I will get off my soapbox now-lol. If you read my earlier posts, I think for me I may have figured out on how to deal with hunger and emotional eating. I just look at it as another feeling. Like feeling sad, mad, happy- our feelings can change in an instant so why can't the hunger feelling as well. One moment you are hungry the next you are not. The problem is we give in to the feeling the moment we feel it. If we just ignored it- it would go away on its own.

Thanks for stopping by!! I have been making my way through your diary. You have come a long way and you are probably one of the most motivated people on this forum. Your diary is a hoot to read-lol.
 
Good Friday Morning Everyone-- TGIF

I took yesterday off from the gym and exercise. I needed the rest I think. I have been in a kind of funk lately and I don't know why? Not really sad or angry - just don't seem to care about much lately. Going through some things at work - it always seems to put a damper on me. Doesn't affect my desire to exercise or eat right- THANK GOD-lol!! I would hate to be feeling this and gaining weight- that is a cycle I don't want to get back into. Things are home are good - my wife called me a "Grumpy Old Man" this morning-lol. She is right- I have been kind of down and miserable. I got to shake this and get out of this downward spiral.

Okay enough, woe is me!! My eating yesterday was the same. I have written in previous posts that I can eat the same thing day after day and for breakfast and lunch I pretty much do. Supper is the only thing that changes and the snacks I eat as well. I can almost tell you how many calories I will eat 2 weeks from tomorrow-lol. I am eating about 1400 calories a day. I have to up that especially once I start the 1/2 marathon training next week. How I work my diet is I eat at about 1400 calories a day- if I run that day or weight train I try to up the calories in my snacks or eat a little bit more at supper. It seems to work for me so far.

Mondays are my weigh in day and I am hoping to drop another pound or so. The last 10 pounds come off so slow but they are still coming off - I haven't had a plateau yet - touch wood. Mind you I have been losing 1-2 pounds a week for months now. It will be so nice to hit my weight goal. I haven't weighed 175 since I was about 12 years old ( and I was really fat then-lol). If the future mirrors the past I will hit my goal on May 9. Can't wait!!

Okay this long post is over-lol. I hope everyone has a Great Friday and a Fantastic Weekend!!
 
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Hey Cowboy! Just catching up on your dairy since I haven't been on for a while.

I LOVED the story about the boy shorts! What a hoot! Glad you found something to fit so you can show off the nice ass you've worked so hard to shape up!

I know what it's like to try to find decent clothes to fit. I've been having some problems with that myself lately. As a professional I need to wear business attire every day, but it's hard to find stuff to fit. For more leisure wear I have been buying a few things in the teen girl's section, but I kind of worry about wearing that stuff as a middle aged woman rapidly nearing 40. When I was younger I used to snicker at women who were my age now that wore clothes that younger people were wearing. I always thought women my age should not be wearing mini skirts, bikinis and such, but my hubby keeps saying that it's women past a certain WEIGHT that shouldn't wear that stuff, not women past a certain AGE.

I'm not sure I'm conviced though. But I may have no choice if I want to find stuff to fit.

Hope your marathon training goes well! I can't believe you are only 5 lbs away from goal weight - such an amazing job!
 
Hi Cowboy! Happy Friday!

I'm sorry about the funk you're going through. I hate those for no-good-reason funks. You'll get out of it and you're right it's great that it's not going hand in hand with cravings and food because those can be terrible. Maybe after a nice weekend, some rest and some good workouts you'll feel better and refreshed!

My fingers are crossed for you're weigh in! You are sooo close to your goal, I'm so excited for you! I can't wait to see how excited you'll be when you get there!

Have a wonderful healthy weekend, I'll be kicking butt with you next week!
 
Tigpuppy said:
Hey Cowboy! Just catching up on your dairy since I haven't been on for a while.

I LOVED the story about the boy shorts! What a hoot! Glad you found something to fit so you can show off the nice ass you've worked so hard to shape up!

I know what it's like to try to find decent clothes to fit. I've been having some problems with that myself lately. As a professional I need to wear business attire every day, but it's hard to find stuff to fit. For more leisure wear I have been buying a few things in the teen girl's section, but I kind of worry about wearing that stuff as a middle aged woman rapidly nearing 40. When I was younger I used to snicker at women who were my age now that wore clothes that younger people were wearing. I always thought women my age should not be wearing mini skirts, bikinis and such, but my hubby keeps saying that it's women past a certain WEIGHT that shouldn't wear that stuff, not women past a certain AGE.

I'm not sure I'm conviced though. But I may have no choice if I want to find stuff to fit.

Hope your marathon training goes well! I can't believe you are only 5 lbs away from goal weight - such an amazing job!
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Hi Tig,

I don't know how 'nice' a 50 year old ass can be but at least it is smaller-lol. I am with your husband - if a woman or man are past a certain weight that shouldn't wear that stuff not a certain age. I remember bicycle shorts in the 80's or 90's they were all the rage- everyone was wearing them but there were some people that shouldn't of. Now remember I was about 275 back then - did I wear them- absolutely not but some people my size did and shouldn't have-lol. Just not a flattering look.

Men are lucky- I can wear Khakis and a golf shirt to work - those are pretty easy to find. I can understand trying to find something that is age appropriate, style appropriate and size appropriate and that women want to wear. Guys have it much easier that way. I guess if all we really have to worry about is finding clothes that are SMALL enough instead of LARGE enough there would be a lot of people on this forum that would change places with us.

If you feel comfortable in mini skirts and bikinis ( well maybe not to work-LOL) go for it. You have worked really hard for your body- why not show it off!!

Thanks for stopping by.
 
Janvier said:
Hi Cowboy! Happy Friday!

I'm sorry about the funk you're going through. I hate those for no-good-reason funks. You'll get out of it and you're right it's great that it's not going hand in hand with cravings and food because those can be terrible. Maybe after a nice weekend, some rest and some good workouts you'll feel better and refreshed!

My fingers are crossed for you're weigh in! You are sooo close to your goal, I'm so excited for you! I can't wait to see how excited you'll be when you get there!

Have a wonderful healthy weekend, I'll be kicking butt with you next week!
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Hi Janvier,

I think I am through the funk- which makes my wife an kids happy-lol. I don't know if it if the long Winter or what- just wasn't feeling myself. I am normally a pretty even keel kind of guy and this dip in my mood just wasn't like me. It is nice to be back. Thanks for stopping by.
 
Good Monday Morning,

I hope everyone had a great weekend. My weekend was uneventful. My youngest had a badminton tournament on Saturday all day. I don't know why they make bleachers so damned uncomfortable-lol. Sunday was spent catching up on some things outside.

Last week, Thursday was my day off. Friday was meant to be my weight training day but that didn't happen. Saturday was my 3K run and that didn't happen either. So there was two days of missed workouts. I HATE missing workouts. I am usually pretty anal about making sure I get some kind of exercise but with 3 kids and a wife sometimes that isn't possible. Anyway, Sunday was my long, slow run day. I did get that in- finally. I ran my 10K with no problem. This time though, I am trying slow my pace down. I have to learn to find a pace that I can sustain through all 21.1K or 13.1 miles. I think I found it but I will have to experiment more until I can fine tune it. I did the 10K in 56:32 which is a lot slower than I normally run a 10K in at least on dry pavement. We will see if that is sustainable for the 1/2 marathon.

It was beautiful here on Sunday- about 50F- well beautiful for us-lol. It was sunny and warm. I felt like I could have run a lot further but am sticking to the training program for now.

Weigh in for week 34 (since I started this) was 179. Yay! I am finally in the 170's and 4 pounds from goal. I wish one of these weeks I would drop 2 pounds but am satisfied with losing 1 for sure.

Today is cross training day so that means 1/2 hour on the elliptical at level 15or higher. Takes a lot out of me but I feel good afterwards

That is it for today. I hope everyone has a Great Monday!!
 
Hi Cowboy! I had to read the last couple pages to get caught up with what has been going on lately. No worries about missing a couple workouts last week. It sounds like, with the grumps and stuff, your diet/exercise combo was getting pretty hard on your body and starting to have an effect on your brain. I am very familiar with that. I deal with it on two fronts, my bipolar disorder and also the rigorous 1,000 calories/day diet I've been on for most of the last 12 weeks. Perhaps a little break was good for you.

Congrats on 179! Man, that is incredible. Only 4 pounds away! Please promise me that you do not do what I did back in 2009. I got down to 193, my goal was 189. I never got any lower and eventually gained half my weight back. In hind sight, I could have done so many things differently. Number one, ignore my damn weight at that point. Heck, I could have gained 4 pounds of muscle while lose 4 pounds of fat and looked even better at 193 than I would have at 189 but instead I kept focusing on losing 4 pounds. I'm not saying you should do that at all. You are on a roll and you are probably going to pull this off soon. However, if you get stuck, don't let it bother you. You have built yourself a body that can now perform better than ever! Congrats! :)
 
Derrick said:
Hi Cowboy! I had to read the last couple pages to get caught up with what has been going on lately. No worries about missing a couple workouts last week. It sounds like, with the grumps and stuff, your diet/exercise combo was getting pretty hard on your body and starting to have an effect on your brain. I am very familiar with that. I deal with it on two fronts, my bipolar disorder and also the rigorous 1,000 calories/day diet I've been on for most of the last 12 weeks. Perhaps a little break was good for you.

Congrats on 179! Man, that is incredible. Only 4 pounds away! Please promise me that you do not do what I did back in 2009. I got down to 193, my goal was 189. I never got any lower and eventually gained half my weight back. In hind sight, I could have done so many things differently. Number one, ignore my damn weight at that point. Heck, I could have gained 4 pounds of muscle while lose 4 pounds of fat and looked even better at 193 than I would have at 189 but instead I kept focusing on losing 4 pounds. I'm not saying you should do that at all. You are on a roll and you are probably going to pull this off soon. However, if you get stuck, don't let it bother you. You have built yourself a body that can now perform better than ever! Congrats! :)
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Thanks. I promise I won't. I am still very focused on hitting the goal. The desire is still there for sure. Even if it takes me longer I WILL hit the goal. Even if it takes me a couple of months or longer. I have done the same thing you did but this time it isn't going to happen. Thanks for stopping by.
 
Good Tuesday Morning Everyone,

Yesterday was a pretty good day. It was my cross training day do it was 1/2 hour on the elliptical at level 16 and speed higher than 6.3. I was sweating pretty good and the workout felt good when I was done.

Well weather is supposed to take another nose dive here in the next couple of days- down to 32F or 0C and more freaking snow!! When will this end?? Not soon enough I am sure.

There was a plus to yesterday though. I decided to go ahead with the 1/2 marathon. I am pretty excited about it. I signed up for the clinic and will sign up for the race later today. The race is being run on my 50th birthday so I guess I will spend part of my birthday all sweaty and huffing and puffing-lol. Like I said in earlier posts I started this weight loss journey the day after my 49th birthday and gave myself a year to get into shape. I think this run was a sign so that I could finish off my year proving to myself that ' I DID IT'. So now it is full steam ahead with the training. The clinic starts on April 26. I decided since the 1/2 marathon is a big step up from the 10K - at least they tell me it is, that I would seek some outside help to give me a hand training. I am more concerned with nutrition and injury prevention while training as I know I am going to need more food, stretching, and general knowledge from people that have done this before.

I like to run alone but this clinic allows you to do that. You meet on Tuesdays for 1/2 hour seminar - they bring in guest speakers and the instructor goes over all the stuff you may not know about- hydration, diet, hill training, etc. Then you go for a run. It is usually the shortest run of the week so about 5 K I think. You can also meet on Wednesday night and Sundays ( long run day) and run with the group but I think I may run on my own those days. I will see how it goes.

I am kind of intimidated to be running with real runners-lol. I guess I am a real runner too but don't feel like it. It will be exciting to meet with some people that love running as much as I do though.

Sorry for the longer post. I guess I finally have a goal and I am maybe too excited about it-lol.

Have a great Tuesday!!
 
Hey Cowboy,

I am so excited for you! Signing up for the 1/2 marathon was a big step and it's so exciting that you have a new goal! What an amazing birthday that is going to be, you are going to be overwhelmed with accomplishment. Maybe you should do every other week running with the group and running alone to mix it up a bit, you'll probably get a chance to meet new people that way who can share advice and stories with you abour their experiences. You are completely a real runner! I admire you and your running so much. I am stoked about your new goals and I really look forward to seeing your journey towards it.

Have a wonderful day!
 
This may sound silly...but I am sooooo proud of you! Not just for setting your new goal and deciding to go forward with signing up for the 1/2 marathon...but because it shows you believe in yourself! Well done!

We'll be here to cheer you on through your training.
 
Janvier said:
Hey Cowboy,

I am so excited for you! Signing up for the 1/2 marathon was a big step and it's so exciting that you have a new goal! What an amazing birthday that is going to be, you are going to be overwhelmed with accomplishment. Maybe you should do every other week running with the group and running alone to mix it up a bit, you'll probably get a chance to meet new people that way who can share advice and stories with you abour their experiences. You are completely a real runner! I admire you and your running so much. I am stoked about your new goals and I really look forward to seeing your journey towards it.

Have a wonderful day!
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Thanks, Janvier. I will see how it goes. May not be able to push this old body 21.1 K we will see-lol. Good idea about running with the group one week and by myself the next. I will try that- meeting new people is always nice. Thanks again for your kind words- it means a lot.
 
Jennifer72 said:
This may sound silly...but I am sooooo proud of you! Not just for setting your new goal and deciding to go forward with signing up for the 1/2 marathon...but because it shows you believe in yourself! Well done!

We'll be here to cheer you on through your training.
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Hi Jennifer,

Doesn't sound silly at all- sounds good- Thanks!!
 
Good Wednesday Morning,

Yesterday went okay. I did my 6K and then headed off to boot camp. Have to say that I was feeling kind of depleted at boot camp. Didn't have the energy I normally have. It is funny, I always add food to my Tuesday's because I know I am exercising a lot. So I basically eat the same thing every Tuesday. Some Tuesdays I am like a bulldog and I can't be stopped. Other Tuesday's like yesterday I am like a Yorkie with a 20 pound weight tied to his collar-lol. Oh well- I did it- that is the main thing.

So I just checked my food log and it says I ate about 1700 calories but could have eaten 2500. Now this is pretty normal for me - I tend to undereat but man I was wiped yesterday. We are still doing the supersets which wipe out the bulldog in me anyway-lol but still yesterday was bad. Time to put it behind me.

Today is my rest day so I can take it easy today. Don't know I mentioned it but I am starting on April 26 for my 1/2 marathon clinic. It is on Tuesdays so I have to change my boot camp night to Thursday for the next 4 weeks after that. After the 4 week period boot camp night is changing to Monday's and we are doing it outside at one of our river valley parks. Always fun as they trainers can take a large group so there is more people, more space, and more exercises. They are also offering it on Thursday nights so my wife is going on that night as well and I am going to go with her not for boot camp but to run hills- fun eh? There is a perfect hill in this park for hill running and I am sure I will be wiped after that. There is one night a week in this clinic you have to run hills- I think you start at 4 and work up to 12. I can't imagine how my legs are going to burn after 12 hills.

That is it for today. I just wanted to take a moment and thank everyone that comes to read my ramblings. The support that you have given me means so much. THANK YOU!!

Have a Great Wednesday!!
 
I remember when I did my triathlon two years ago. I was too low on energy during training so I had to increase my food. I ended up gaining 5 pounds over the last few weeks of training. It was worth it though. Crossing the finish line was one of those special moments in life.

Derrick
 
cowboy48 said:
Thanks, Janvier. I will see how it goes. May not be able to push this old body 21.1 K we will see-lol. Good idea about running with the group one week and by myself the next. I will try that- meeting new people is always nice. Thanks again for your kind words- it means a lot.
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Hi Cowboy,

I have total faith in your ability to push yourself 21.1 K! It's okay if it's hard to believe it now because you will prove it to youself on your birthday and it will be amazing! lol I love you comparing yourself to different dogs, the good news is that you pushed yourself through the workout and finished! The clinic and boot camp sound tough, it's so cute that you and your wife will be working out together once a week. Enjoy your rest day!
 
Derrick said:
I remember when I did my triathlon two years ago. I was too low on energy during training so I had to increase my food. I ended up gaining 5 pounds over the last few weeks of training. It was worth it though. Crossing the finish line was one of those special moments in life.

Derrick
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Yeah, I think that is going to be the same wth me. Crossing the finish line after how hard I have worked to get where I am today will be a special feeling. I am going to try hard not to gain the 5 pounds though-lol.
 
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