Basketball

Oof...it's been 40 minutes since I left the gym, and my chest is still burning.

Let's back up: after I got off work, I went directly to the gym in order to burn a few calories. I ended up shooting around by myself for about 15 minutes. There was another guy shooting at the other end, and after I got my heart rate up slightly, I asked if he'd be interested in playing one on one. He said sure, so we ran one game to 10...which I won. As we were playing, a few other guys came in, and we ended up playing three on three.

One thing you must understand...I'm not really what you might call athletic. I love playing sports, though, and there are times when I can play basketball well above my skill level. Today was one of the days that I got in the zone. I mean...I'm no Ice Cube. I didn't mess around and get a triple-double or anything, but I played well. I probably had 8 points (including two three pointers), three steals and three blocks (THREE BLOCKS? I'm 5'7"...granted some of the guys I was playing weren't that much taller than me). I had a good time, and according to Sparkpeople's estimations, I burned about 800 calories over that hour.

It felt really, really good. I feel really, really good.

I certainly plan to continue playing basketball on a regular basis.

Snacking

Throughout my life, I've had a profound enjoyment of sweet snacks. I love Oreos, Chips Ahoy, Jolly Ranchers, soda, SweetTarts, Nerds, soft serve ice cream, banana splits. I also like salty snacks: Pringles, peanuts (although, I seem to always be drawn to honey roasted), sunflower seeds, etc.

My biggest problem since I started gaining weight has been finding snacks that taste decent, but won't cause me to pack on the pounds. However...recently, I found something. Tastefully Simple (I know...I mention them a lot) has a product called Oh So Berry granola mix. It's really good, and I love that it won't kill me on calories, as a 1/3 cup has 120 calories.

It's helpful to someone trying to control his caloric intake.

The Worst 10 Minutes Ever

Whew...when someone tells you that if you work out for 10 minutes a day, you'll see results, it's kinda hard to believe. However...if they tell you that it's ten minutes with Tony Horton...brother, believe it.

I didn't get to the gym today, and since I've gained weight over the last 6 months or so, I knew that I'd never get through any of the P90X routines. So I pulled out Tony Horton's Ten Minute Workout DVDs. I decided that I'd do cardio today, so I put in that DVD.

I'd forgotten how hard it was, and how long ten minutes seems...when it's Tony Horton's ten minutes. However, I did get through it...although, it actually took me about 15, since I had to pause to let my heart rate go down.

I'm also using Wii Fit to track my weight goals, and for some workouts. My short term Wii Fit goal is 12 pounds in 2 months. We'll see how that goes.

A good start

Okay...day one (again) is just about over.

We made a delicious home made chicken stir fry for dinner, using Sesame Teriyaki Stir Fry Sauce (no fat) from Tastefully Simple. It was great, and I was able to fill up on that, and use approximately 800 calories (at least, that's my best guess based on Sparkpeople's data base.)

So...for the first day, I was in the middle on all my dietary tracking:

1688 calories, 231 grams of carbs, 42 grams of fat, and 103 grams of protein.

A pretty good day all in all, and I didn't even drink any soda.

Yikes

Well...it's been a little while since I wrote in this blog, and in that time, I've gained way too much weight. It's time to get back at it, and renew my commitment to getting a bit slimmer.

I went to the gym this morning, and did some time on the treadmill and the stationary bike.

For breakfast, a few minutes ago, I had a vanilla soy meal replacement shake.

So...this is the beginning of the rest of my life, and from here on, it seems like the only place I can go is down.

:-)