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!

DAY 46: 11/21/09

It’s been a while since I wrote, so I’m going to start this entry with the Facebook status that I entered this morning, followed by comments from some of my friends:

Me: “Changed my diet and started working out on October 5th – 45 days ago. I have lost 17 lbs and reduced my body fat % by about 12%, I’ve lost 2 inches off my waistline and best of all I FEEL GREAT!!!”

Paula, Philip, Martha, and 3 others like this.

Lincoln: way to go, Dan!

Dan Arturi: We’re going to be adding a 3rd day to the personal training after Thanksgiving. That should really kick things into high gear. I might be ready to play hockey by end of January… if I can get down to my playing weight by then…

Renee: You’re a rockstar Dan!!!!!!! That’s awesome!!!!

Martha: Great job!!!

Chuck: Trudge Danno! Trudge! Congrats!!

Philip: Good Job Man!!!

Dave: Excellent Dan!

Mike: Holy fitness Batman!!! Dude, that is awesome )

Eric: Damn dude! That is awesome. Now if only I could do that.

Paula: Totally Awesome!

You know, it just makes me feel so amazing to have my friends supporting me in this. It’s not easy, it requires some discipline because I was so used to eating a lot of sweets and a ton of processed foods. I didn’t eat a lot of fast food, maybe 2X a month, but I crave it at times. I was telling Monika this morning that I couldn’t do this without her… there are times when I’m working and really hungry and the fruits and nuts just aren’t getting me feeling full, and I want to go to Wendy’s and just say “screw it” for a day… but then I think of her and how hard she’s working too, and I just can’t let her down or cheat.

So, since my last entry, I’ve been working very hard and also I caught the flu, which took me down for about a week. I only missed one workout, but that combined with the weakness of being sick took a heavy toll on my ability to really go at it for the full hour in my workouts at Train With Ron. Today was the first day since getting well, where I got through the full hour without taking a 10 or 15 minute break.

Ron, Matt, and DB have been splitting Monika and I up lately, presumably because Moni is able to do more than I can. She’s doing some more advanced moves now, agility walks with weights, things like that. Today we were together, though, and we had some stair work. This is kind of tough, especially when interlaced with weight training and some jogging.

As far as food is concerned, we have remained very consistent – whole foods only. Moni and I haven’t been eating oatmeal in the morning, my breakfast has been a fruit (apple or banana) this week. Lunches I have done extremely well, even when involved in work functions, at staying with vegetables and salads, with very little dressing, if any. Monika has been cooking very healthfully, as usual, and once per week we go off-roading, but even then we have small portions and keep it to a minimum. No desserts, either. The only liquids I drink anymore are water and my daily cup of coffee.

So when I started, my weight was exactly 275 lbs. and my body fat was a whopping 44% if I remember correctly. Today was day 46… I weighed in at 258 lbs (in sweaty clothes) and body fat of 32.7%. I’ve lost about 2 inches off my waistline and when I put my clothes on in the morning I can see and feel a big difference.  I’m not the only one though…

One of my co-workers plays a lot of hockey and anyone who knows me knows I used to play a lot too… I want to get back to it! If I can get down to about 230 or so, I think I could start to skate effectively. The ultimate goal for me is to get down to 200 lbs with 10% body fat. I think that is reasonable and very achievable.

I’d also like to get back into a band and get on stage! That would be awesome, but there is no way I’ll try that until I am comfortable with the way I look. So, my two workout goals will be a) to get back to playing hockey EFFECTIVELY (not dragging my butt around the rink) and b) get comfortable enough with the way I look that I could go on stage and not think twice about how I look up there.

I’ll keep on working on it… thanks for reading!