A personal training & food journal. Read about our weight loss progress at Train With Ron in Chicago, our nutritional habits and the life changes we're making to get in shape and stay healthy!
October 28th
Get Stronger... Lose Weight... Both?
After benching 270 pounds this summer, I set a goal for myself to get to 300 lbs by next June. Right around the same time, I set a goal for myself to lose that last stubborn 40 lbs that I have been wanting to lose since I got started. Guess what… these two goals don’t lend themselves very well to each other. What I have found is that I’m not making much progress on either side.
In June I started taking Wing Chun martial arts classes, thinking that would replace some of my cardio workouts at Train with Ron. I’m finding that, at least at this early stage, I’m not burning as many calories doing it as I thought I would. That, plus my less than disciplined eating habits over the last two months, has resulted in my not feeling very good about how I look. Now, I haven’t gained any weight since I started the weight loss goal – in fact, I’ve lost about 5 lbs since I started it – but after seeing myself in pictures lately, I have noticed that I’ve lost ground in the battle for control of my waistline.
I also finished my most recent round of Pure Steel by failing to bench 275 lbs… I was very disappointed there too.
I have also found myself strapped for time in terms of working out, so I need to rearrange some things in my busy life to accommodate for all the exercise, rest, Wing Chun, and music that I want to squeeze in and still make time for Monika and I to have some fun together.
So, all that said, it is time to press the ‘reset’ button. I will not give up on my goals, but I must recommit to them and I think I need to revise the weight loss goal to make it more manageable.
I am going to start with a weight loss goal of an AVERAGE of losing 2 lbs per week for the next 12 weeks (so, 24 lbs off by end of January), and over that same period I am looking to AT LEAST maintain my current strength level by benching 270 at the end of my current Pure Steel round. If I can get stronger while losing the weight, that’d be fantastic but I’ll have to be satisfied with maintaining for now. At the end of January, I’ll still have 5 months to build up the strength to bench those last 30 lbs and I am pretty sure that Matt will be able to help get me there, as long as I stay committed to it!
July 25th
I hope it's not this cold when I finally get there...
On October 5th, 2009, I began to act on one of the best decisions I ever made in my life: regaining control of my diet, exercise, and health. Through
Ron, Matt, and DB at
Train with Ron, as well as my soul mate, friend, wife, co-writer of this blog, and disciplined workout partner Monika, I lost over 50 lbs and kept it off, lost over 8″ from my waistline, lowered my body fat percentage by double digits, went from XXL to L t-shirts, can climb a flight of stairs without losing my breath, and actually, for a 42 year old guy, I am in some really great shape.
That said, I am not finished.
I think I began to plateau a bit when we did the trip to Hawaii last year. Up to that point I was still eating very well and was disciplined about it. I was tracking my meals up to that point as well. I didn’t care what I ate on that trip, and upon our return, I loosened up a bit. Now, when I look at pictures of myself on that trip with no shirt on, I am very displeased at how I still looked at that point – but at the time, I had made so much progress, I thought I looked great! I ended up losing another 15-20 pounds after that trip, over this past winter, and as this summer approached, I was feeling pretty great about my looks and my size. (more…)
May 23rdYes, Monika got us back into writing the blog. We’ve both encountered some minor “setbacks”… not even sure if you’d call them that… I need to accept that I’m not going to be on a straight line from where I was and achieve what I set out to without some peaks and valleys. For me, I’ve gained back about 8 pounds – but no inches – and need to get that under control quickly before it gets any more.
Dan goin' HAM on a truck tire!
I’ve cut my workouts down to three per week (from 4-5) for the last 2 months, but starting tomorrow I’ll be taking Wing Chun classes three times a week to supplement my workouts and learn a new skill. I’ve always been interested in Martial Arts, but never actually trained in any. I chose Wing Chun because its a very grounded, spiritual style. You won’t see most Wing Chun practitioners doing a lot of flying and spinning kicks… it teaches a solid base (good for a shorter, stockier guy like me) as well as the redirection of the energy of an assailant away from the body while counter striking. It is an aggressive style.
In any case, last week Matt ran one of his famous Tire Flip workouts this past Saturday. As soon as I got the email message I dove in on this one… it looked fun from the pictures from last year, plus Matt is an enthusiastic coach and I knew he’d have some challenges cooked up. (more…)
January 31stHi All!
I’ve been very busy with work lately, so less writing, but found a few minutes tonight and am happy to report that the Biggest Loser Challenge just completed Week 3 and since the PM team won the week, I get to write the blog this week! (Nyaa, nyaa, Monika!) Ron, Matt, and DB have come up with some pretty cool challenges and events for this contest and so far, everyone really seems to be into it! I know I am!
So first – I did very well in the previous week’s challenge even though we (the PM team) lost. In 5 minutes:
Ski Machine: 1259m (pretty good but I thought I was going to die)
Airdyne Bike: 3186m (1.98 miles – I SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN TWO!)
Rowing Machine: 1417m (#1 overall – I seem to do better on this machine than any of the others as a rule)
Grand Total: 5862m – wow!
This was better than I could have hoped for but it did not come without a cost – I was wiped out after this week. REALLY wiped out. After I did the bike (Thursday) I couldn’t work out – partially because I was experiencing what I have come to know as an “ocular migraine” but more on that later – I was just completely spent and could not go on. (more…)
January 12thI love competition. When I was younger I participated in several organized team sports – a lot of hockey (both roller and ice), lacrosse, soccer, basketball, flag football, baseball, and softball. I sought out good leagues with good teams and players and I loved competing. In hockey I played a decent quality game for an amateur, I was better at hockey than any of the other sports I played. There’s something special about hockey as a player – the game requires so much concentration and draws you in so much, that you simply cannot think about anything but the moment you are in. I loved competing so much, especially in hockey, that I forgot about the amazing workout I was getting while practicing and playing.
Me, turning it up-ice, circa 2001
Then I stopped with all the team sports. I got hit right in the mouth with a slap shot, which is by far the most painful thing I’ve ever experienced – then I moved to Chicago and, not knowing anyone here, lapsed into inactivity. Now, I’ve been working out very hard at Train With Ron for a year and a quarter, and lately I’ve been getting the itch to play a team sport again. I think I’m just about ready. I am going to try hockey, and see how my hips, knees, and especially ankles hold up. Hockey is a sport that really beats on you physically and I don’t want to do anything that will jeopardize my ability to continue with my workout routine at TWR, but I’m going to give it a go and see what happens. I signed up for a local roller league (coincidentally roller hockey is more physically difficult to play than ice). (more…)
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