JWL's log

Counting carbs/calories is a drag. Obsessive scale stepping is a recipe for despair. If you want to count something, "days on habit" is a much better metric. Checking off days on a calendar would do just fine, but if you do it here you get accountability and support. Here's how. Start a new topic in this forum called (say) "Your Name Daily Check In." Then every N day post a "reply" to that topic as to whether you stayed on habit. A simple "<font color="green">SUCCESS</font>" or "<font color="red">FAILURE</font>" (or your preferred euphemism if that's too harsh) is sufficient, but obviously you're welcome to write more if you want. On S-days just register that you're taking an S-day. You don't have to do this forever, just until you're confident you've built the habit. Feel free to check in weekly or monthly or sporadically instead of daily. Feel free also to track other habits besides No-s (I'm keeping this forum under No-s because that's what the vast majority are using it for). See also my <a href="/habitcal/">HabitCal</a> tool for another more formal (and perhaps complementary) way to track habits.

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Post by gratefuldeb67 » Fri Apr 28, 2006 1:06 am

Oh man James you are psyching me up!!!
Woo woo you!

I have to admit that this entire past month I have done $hi# in the exercise department and I feel really lame as a result!
Oh well...
I'm happy that you are getting back to it though and I will too!
I was thinking about what you said before... Though initially, I felt like it was a semi wise ass comment, the one about "eat like a 150 lb woman, whatever that means" or whatever you said, tonight, I thought about it again, and really that's actually a great suggestion!
Manifest your ultimate you, or something right?
I like it, so belated thanks on that idea!
Congrats on your loss of weight by the way!!!
Rock on with your freaky self!
I have a big follow up interview for a job in a doctors office, helping with positioning x-ray equipment and aiding him in his procedures...
I hope I get it!
Then I will definitely get back to my SG and Yoga!!!

::Hugs::
Peace and Love,
8) Deb
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Post by JWL » Fri Apr 28, 2006 6:37 pm

You're welcome, Deb. There's a lot to that manifestation thing. If you build it, they will come. :wink:

My next task for myself is to try to remember that when I'm busy, and somewhat stressed with lots of things in my reality, I am better equipped to handle them when I am No-Sing and exercising well. Exercise is often the first thing to go by the wayside when I get busy.

Yesterday ended up being an S day. Thurs definitely seems to fall into the rhythm of an S day for me, based on my weekly routine. Gonna roll with that for a while and see what happens. The question is, do I then make Friday or Saturday my "other" S day. Or even, what if I just restrict myself to one S day per week? Hmmm......

One big question is how I would respond to treating work days (Sat and Sun for me) as No-S days.

Time will tell.
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Post by JWL » Thu May 11, 2006 4:54 am

Once again, life gets in the way.... heh.

Things are moving well in my reality, still eating a bit more than I'd like, but doing well overall, and still not exercising as much as I'd like, but doing some. Of course I have very high expectations for myself. I'm actually doing quite well overall.

I actually did a great workout tonight.... I'm feeling strong again. This is wonderful.

Happy Spring!
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Post by JWL » Wed May 24, 2006 7:14 am

And just when I thought I was back in the groove of posting here, I let a few weeks go by.

But today something happened I had to share: it wasn't raining today (bonus!) so once again I did my workout (shovelglove and some yoga) out on the lawn of my daughter's gymnastics studio today while she was in her gymnastics class. And once again, I had gawkers. This time, 2 old girls/young women, I couldn't quite tell, actually stared at me, and came closer to get a better look, peering around the corner of the building. I smiled at them, and their heads disappeared around the building. Too funny.

Either they thought I was some freak who was gonna break something, or they were voyeurs. Heh, wait til I start my nude shovelgloving! LOL

Things are going reasonably well on the diet and exercise front. Other areas of my life are going INCREDIBLY well. Album production continues, and I've been feeling an abundance of love in my reality lately. Wicked cool, as we say here in Maine.... ;-)
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Post by gratefuldeb67 » Wed May 24, 2006 12:40 pm

You sound like Aqualung James! LOL...

You are a bad bad shovelglover... :wink:

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Post by reinhard » Fri May 26, 2006 3:08 am

You are awesome, James.

I'm going to need to start a "shoveglove in public places" photo gallery.

Glad things are going so well on all fronts.

Reinhard

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Post by JWL » Thu Jun 01, 2006 1:17 am

Hi all, no voyeurism to report this time, although apparently my daughter tells me that one of her gymnastics teachers was asking her, "what's your daddy doing outside?" when I shovelgloved there yesterday. :)

Today was good too, a shugg session with the 16 pounder, as well as a bunch of yoga, and 40, count 'em, FORTY hindu squats. I've done more in the past, but that's the most I've done in a long, long time.

So exercise continues, still not walking as much as I'd like to, but I'm doing fairly well at moving at least a little every day. No-S is going reasonably well also. I feel like I'm in a pretty good spot....

Summer is coming! W00t!
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Post by gratefuldeb67 » Thu Jun 01, 2006 2:18 pm

I'm sure you are earning full "Freak" status over there!
:mrgreen:
Keep up the great work James!!!
Peace and Love....
Your friend in freakdom,


8) Deb
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Post by JWL » Thu Jun 08, 2006 9:20 pm

I just completed a KICKASS workout that I want to document.

* warm up with core twists of varying types. Including where you let your arms hang limp, twist your body around using the oblique muscles in the sides, which forces the arms around, such that your palms slap your sides. Also, palms together, over head, fingers pointing up, waist bends.

* Did several of the Matt Furey combat abs exercises

SHOVELGLOVE STUFF:
* 21 reps, 10#, drive the stakes
* 21 reps, 10#, one-handed churn butter
* 21 reps, 16#, shovel
* 14 reps, 16#, flip lever
* 21 reps, 10#, chop wood
* 21 reps, 10#, hoist sack
* 50 reps, 10#, stoke oven

* 35 hindu squats
* more core twists until I caught my breath from the squats

In retrospect, I should have done breath of joy to catch my breath at the end. Also, I'd like to find a place for hindu pushups in this workout, as well as bridging. Both of these exercises are progressing nicely, I can do 5 Hindu pushups now and hold the bridge for 3 breaths.

No-S hasn't been going as well the past few days. Ah well.

It's raining lots again still, which makes me disinclined to walk.
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Post by gratefuldeb67 » Mon Jun 12, 2006 5:22 am

I'm coming up there to have a shovelglove competition with you!
Heh heh!
Watchout!
LOL!
Have a good week this week James!!!!!!!!!
Peace and Love,
8) Debstar...
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Post by JWL » Tue Jun 13, 2006 2:18 am

Things are still rolling along well. Haven't been updating as much.

Tonight, though, I loaded up my daughter's poodle, my Neuros Audio Computer, fired up the 2-disc version of Marillion's Marbles album and took a 5.2 mile, 1 hour, 45 minute walk around Portland's Back Bay.

Very cool walk. According to gmaps pedometer, I burned 1300 calories. But who's counting? Heh heh.... 8)
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Post by gratefuldeb67 » Tue Jun 13, 2006 2:26 pm

That's very cool James :)
I wonder if I could clock the miles I walked with Richie on Sunday at the Walking Dunes????
How do you use that site?

Have a great week friend!
Peace and Love,
8) Deb
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Post by JWL » Wed Jun 14, 2006 10:01 pm

I just got back from taking another nice walk with my daughter around Portland's Eastern Prom. It was about half the length of the mondo walk I took the other night, but my legs/feet are still recovering from that. I figured another walk was just what they needed.

Didn't do much yesterday, all I could manage was some very rudimentary yoga to stretch out my sore walking muscles.

Oh! I did begin a shovelglove routine at my daughter's gymnastics studio, but this time the gawkers were mosquitos. I was just starting to warm up and looked down, and there literally were more than 2 dozen mosquitos sucking like little oil derricks on my leg. So I got weirded out with the creepy crawlies, brushed them off, and went inside. :-) Ah well. I needed rest.
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Post by JWL » Thu Jun 15, 2006 10:46 pm

Today was a good day. Leftover pizza for lunch, and some homemade "wham bam bhuna" (vegetarian "lamb" bhuna) with some homemade bread for dinner.

Did 25 squats, and my yoga/shovelglove routine. Still having sore-legs from the walking, but it's a good sore. The squats helped a lot.

Ever onward!
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Post by gratefuldeb67 » Fri Jun 16, 2006 3:18 pm

Yay James!!!
Still no comp at home so I'll catch you when it's up and running again!!!
I wan't some whamalamabhuna! :lol:
LOL..
Great to hear you are on track and exercising too!!! :wink:
Good for you!

Peace,
8) Deb
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Post by heathengirl » Thu Jun 22, 2006 4:50 pm

Hi there! I finally decided to get formal about the ES stuff and just started a log here. So I figured I should let you know so you can harass me. :D

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Post by JWL » Mon Jul 10, 2006 6:09 am

OK, confession time.

I've been slacking. Big time. For a long time.

This is bigger than just diet and exercise, though these are key factors; I seem to be dealing with some old demons, beelzelowselfesteem and anhedonicslightlydepressedabub. And whenever these emotions rear their heads, diet and exercise are almost always closely related.

Last year they reared their head, and through sheer force of will I decided that I was going to take care of myself physically, the idea being that I wouldn't let any sadness in my reality slowly destroy my body. It worked. I did very well with exercise and no s, and lost some weight, and felt great in my body, and before too long I was happy again.

I'm trying to rearrange things in my head so that I can be back on track. I don't see this as a huge catastrophe, it's more on the level of a bump in the road. And there's nothing wrong with my life, it's largely a life that I've chosen, and I generally have some really cool shit going down in my life. It's just... that whole ugly low-self-esteem thing rearing up.

So I get back to basics.

What is it that I need to be happy?

I need to make music. I need to feel loved. I need to feel that the love I have to give is eagerly welcomed. I need to take care of my body by eating well and exercising. I need to exercise my mind, mostly through reading and writing. I need to sleep 7 hours per night, regularly.

I think that it is time to reassert what I know to be healthy. In general, this means: No-S, No eating after 9pm (this has seriously gotten out of control again), exercise daily, regulate my sleep, spend quality time with my family, spend as much time with music as my reality will allow. It's time to cultivate better life habits again.

So, yeah. I'm not quite sure what the point of this post is. Back to basics. I will certainly be thinking about how to best reassert control over the little things in my reality because when I do, the fog of depression cannot linger in its brightness.

Ever onward!
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Post by JWL » Mon Jul 10, 2006 6:15 am

Having said that, today was a very good day. I walked both to and from work for the first time in... man. A long time. On my break, I did 25 squats and some downward/upward dog quasi-Hindu-pushups. So exercise was good. I haven't shovelgloved in a few weeks, and I hope to get back to that this week.

Diet wise, my biggest concern now is curbing the eating after 9pm, which I'm pleased to say I did today. I also had a (mostly) successful No-S day, in that I ate only food I brought with me to work. Wasn't a great nutrition day, but nutrition is the least of my concerns right now. My prime directive is to get quantity and timing (no eating after 9pm) back under control. A bit of funny stuff was a soda with my dinner, but happily I did not succumb to the vending machines at work for a snack.

I think tomorrow there needs to be a smoothie and/or a salad in my reality....
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Post by JWL » Mon Jul 10, 2006 6:53 am

Just over a year ago, I wrote in this forum:
My mantra these days is: stay the course, stick to what you know is healthy, stick to what you know works.
Hear Hear!
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Post by gratefuldeb67 » Mon Jul 10, 2006 12:55 pm

I love you James!!!
You are appreciated!

Now KICK ASS!!!!!!!! :twisted:
And enjoy your new reality salad! :wink:
Peace and Love,
8) Deb
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Post by gratefuldeb67 » Mon Jul 10, 2006 12:57 pm

ps.. The St. Johns might be useful at the mo.. why not give it a try for a few weeks.. :)
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Post by david » Mon Jul 10, 2006 3:29 pm

There are a lot of times I'm right there with you, FW. Lately, rather than just trying to banish all those demons (awesome demon names, BTW) I only let them have a bit of leash with which to run. It's sort of like No-S for me. If my mood is good and I'm happy and "effective" 5/7 of the time I can't really complain. 100% happy is simply unrealistic just like 100% diet control won't last for long.

I'm rooting for you!

--david

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Post by JWL » Tue Jul 11, 2006 3:59 am

Well, I just typed an entry, but it was eaten by bad javascript code on a friend's site that crashed my browser.... grrr.....

Anyhoo... :wink:

Today was an unqualified, unmitigated, without reservation, SUCCESS!

No-S
I had a smoothie (soymilk, peanut butter, frozen banana, frozen blueberries) for brunch. Dinner was a wonderful one, made all the more wonderful by the fact that I didn't have to cook it! :-)

My beautiful wife made some pizza with pesto, wonderful olives that were stuffed with pickled garlic marinaded in olive oil, and carmelized onions. I had 4 small slices of that, with a salad she made with raw soybeans, corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and sesame seeds. An odd combination but quite good, the bizarre texture of the raw soybeans notwithstanding.

I am trying to reduce the food quantity again. After I finished, it occurred to me that this is much less food than I normally eat, that I was still hungry, and that I wanted to eat more pizza. I decided to wait and had a coffee, to see if I was still hungry. At 8:50, I realized I had 10 minutes remaining before I'd violate my no-eating-after-9pm rule, so it was decision time. I had my wife put the pizza away. :-)

No funny stuff at all today!

Exercise
I did a yoga warmup routine, and a full shovelglove routine for the first time in weeks using my 16# hammer, and 25 squats.

I rule! :P

Tomorrow I get to go record more guitar tracks for our album. I'm about 2/3 done with them at the moment... hopefully I'll finish in the next week or two. We're behind schedule a bit, and I want to put the acoustic guitars to bed this week so we can move on to vocals and lead guitar overdubs....
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Post by This path is my life » Tue Jul 11, 2006 9:48 pm

Freakwitch,

I just wanted to say welcome back and I'm glad that you're on the straight and narrow with us again. It's hard at times but man does it keep you sane. I'm glad you're back, you know I had been wondering where you had gone to because back when I still lurking on No-S your posts were some of the ones that I always read that really gave me inspiration. So glad to have you back!! Good to hear from you again and that you're doing well and that your day was a success. Keep with it.
"There is no such thing as a bad choice, there is only the next choice"

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Post by reinhard » Wed Jul 12, 2006 2:48 am

James,

I'm sorry to hear about your demon induced slacking, but wow, you seem to have psyched yourself out of it. Looking forward to a virtuous circle of determined resolve leading to success and vice versa. You've certainly done it before.

I had a couple of minor but unambiguous glass ceiling violations over the past month. I'm going to see if I can catch on to the coat tails of your enthusiasm and make sure it doesn't happen again.

Best wishes,

Reinhard

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Post by JWL » Wed Jul 12, 2006 7:43 am

Thanks for the love and wellwishes, everyone. It's greatly appreciated. I'm trying to snap myself out of this funk through sheer force of will, on every channel of my psyche. And I'm pleased to say it seems to be working! My body is an incredible machine.... even though I'd been slacking for weeks on end, 3 days in to renewed focus on what I know to be healthy, and I'm starting to feel good again already. :D

Today was a .... SUCCESS!

No-S
I had 2 slices of leftover pizza for breakfast; I thought there would be more pizza, as my wife doesn't usually take pizza in for lunch (too many carbs and she starts dragging at work), but today she took some of it in. There wasn't really enough to fill my plate, so I made a small amount of pasta with pesto and mozzarella cheese. That was brunch.

Dinner was 2 veggie burgers on buns (with some of my homemade maple-jack mustard), and some oven-roasted potatoes seasoned with salt, pepper, and spanish paprika. I had planned on having salad, but after I ate the above I was full and didn't want to eat any more.

Not a great day nutritionally, but that's OK. I'll have a smoothie and a salad for my first meal tomorrow.

Exercise
I did a full shovelglove routine with the 16# hammer, my normal yoga warmup routine, and 25 squats.

After having 3 success days in a row, I'm definitely feeling better, I have more energy and I'm starting to feel strong again. This increased energy is due to a variety of factors; like I said I'm using the brute-force method and psyching myself up on every channel, mind, body, and spirit. Seems to be working....

Got some more guitar tracks recorded (and edited) tonight.... progress here is good. We're still a bit behind schedule on the album recording, but hey. Progress is progress, you can't rush genius. 8)
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Post by gratefuldeb67 » Wed Jul 12, 2006 12:54 pm

Got some more guitar tracks recorded (and edited) tonight.... progress here is good. We're still a bit behind schedule on the album recording, but hey. Progress is progress, you can't rush genius.
:lol: Let's not get all carried away now Einstein!
LOL..

So glad you are fired up and feeling better James!
And thanks for writing on my thread too!
Seeyalater!
Peace and Love,
8) Deb
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Post by JWL » Thu Jul 13, 2006 4:15 am

Today was... Dripping Wet!!!! but a success!

No-S
Well, I said yesterday that I'd have a smoothie and a salad for breakfast. So I made a soy milk, peanut butter, frozen banana, frozen peach smoothie, and when I finished it I wasn't hungry so I skipped the salad.

Dinner was a burrito: cheese, rice, beans with onions, peppers, corn, mango, and then tomatoes and spinach.

Tonight I went out with a friend of mine and had 2 22oz glasses of stout. Mmmmm....

Exercise
My daughter's gymnastics class started back up again today, so I took my sledgehammer to do my workout on the lawn. But of course, it was raining.

Did I mention it's been raining A FUCKLOAD this year in Maine? Anyway....

I didn't get my shovelglove in then.

So my dear friend Starcat and I were going to take a nice walk around Portland's back bay tonight, about 4 or 5 miles. But of course it was STILL FUCKING RAINING. So we had our dinner (the aforementioned burritos), and adjourned to a coffeeshop to talk. After a coffee, we went and had a couple of drinks. After the drinks (I was actually feeling slightly tipsy... eating less will do that to you) we said, screw it and took a nice walk in the rain. It wasn't terribly long, but it was wonderfully refreshing, as only a walk in the summer rain will do. We had some gawkers, as by the end of the walk I was shirtless and all the tourists in the Old Port were staring at us, as if taking an oversaturated half-nekkid walk in the rain is odd....

Anyway, the walk was wonderfully cleansing and refreshing. Lots of symbolism there.... but I felt great afterwards. We had a wonderful time, talking and working through our stuff in a way that I have come to treasure over the years. Bless you Starcat!

INTERLUDE: she doesn't have much of a presence here, but Starcat is yet another example of No-S in action.... she's been an adherent to it for a while now, and has lost a few dozen pounds.... she's now smaller and, with her mastery of yoga, healthier than she's ever been since I've known her, probably since she's been an adult, and certainly since she had her kids! Yay Starcat!

After I got home, I got out of my saturated clothes, hung them up to dry, and got my shovelglove routine in with the 10# hammer (I forgot my 16# in the trunk... and I wasn't gonna go back out in the rain). So I did the routine with 50 reps of the shoveling motion and called it a night.

Tomorrow will be great! Enter The Haggis are playing a free outdoor concert in Monument Square, so we're gonna see that. Afterwards, it's off to the studio for more editing acoustic guitar tracks, and maybe even more recording....
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Post by JWL » Sat Jul 15, 2006 8:31 pm

Belated check-in.

Thursday and Friday were my S-days this week, Friday doubly so because it was my birthday. :-)

Thursday was pretty good as S days go, it was pretty much like an N day except I had 3 meals instead of 2.

Yesterday was very high calorie, as birthdays are at times. :-) It included 2 meals (burritos for one, pizza and salad for the other), ice cream, some yummy chocolate chip cheesecake, and 2 pints of ale later in the evening.

Not too bad. I still feel on track as these were S- days, and were hardly out of control.

Exercise, not perfect but not horrid. Even though Thursday and Friday are my S days, I still try to exercise M-F as I work on Sat and Sun. I don't recall exactly, but I believe I skipped shovelglove on Thursday, though I did get a routine in on Friday with the 16# hammer. I haven't done much in the way of yoga; I did to a quick set of upward/downard dog on Thursday, and I had a nice frisbification in the field experience yesterday as well.

Gonna try to get some movement in this weekend, I'll skip shovelglove but try to get some walking and/or yoga in this weekend. And so far today has been fine with No-S. I'll post more soon.

Ever onward!
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Post by JWL » Sun Jul 16, 2006 4:46 am

today was a kinda borderline, but in the interest of good juju I'll call it a success!

No-S
My first meal was 2 burritos with cheese, beans, rice and veggies. These filled my plate nicely. Mmmmm.... My 2nd meal was homemade cottage pie with lots of veggies and TVP chunks in a pie crust that my wife made, and an apple. Funny stuff: I did have one slice of pizza at work (they buy us pizza when it gets busy).... so despite the funny stuff I'm calling it a success because in the past I'd have mowed through many slices while at my desk.

Exercise
Didn't really get any exercise in today... but then I exercise M-F (TH and F are my S days because of my work schedule). So although I'd have liked to do something, ie, walk, I'm gonna call it good.

No bingeing. No eating after 9pm. Cool!
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Post by JWL » Mon Jul 17, 2006 7:00 am

Today was mostly successful, with one bit of funny stuff.

I was awakened early today, with only about 5 hours of sleep, if that. I was really hungry, so I had my first meal today at around 9am (leftover tofu/veggie stirfry with rice). At work, I was then hungry again at around 3 or 4pm, so I indulged in some cheese and crackers out of the vending machine.

Dinner was a homemade pasta bake that my beautiful wife made.

I'm gonna go ahead and call today a success anyway, because I didn't eat anything more after dinner, and I didn't eat at all when I got home despite the fact that I'm hungry.

No exercise today, back to it tomorrow!

Ever onward....
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Post by JWL » Wed Jul 19, 2006 3:44 am

OK, the past couple of days have been a bit odd. Definitely some funny stuff, but I don't feel too far out of whack....

Yesterday I worked an extra shift. It was slamming busy so they bought dinner for everyone. I had some of the pasta they had there (they basically set up an Italian buffet). I also had leftover pasta for my first meal during the day. So not a great day nutritionally.

After work, several of us went out to a local club, I had a few beers and a shot of Jaegermeister while shooting pool and listening to bad heavy metal bands.... haven't been that buzzed in a long time (no I wasn't driving). I got home at about 2am, my wife and daughter were spending the night at a friend's house. I was starting to feel a bit odd in the stomach so I wanted to eat something to help settle it. I had a bagel with cheese.

When I woke up this morning, i wasn't hungry at all. I ran a bunch of errands and got LOTS of work done today, so it was super productive. I finally had dinner at around 7pm, a salad, 2 veggie burgers, tater tots (!), and an orange smoothie. I had planned on just eating that today but I was wicked hungry a bit ago, so for my 2nd meal today I had a pear and a peanut butter/tortilla wrap.

When I was out running errands this afternoon with my daughter, we were both super hot (it was nearly 100 degrees in Maine today... go figure) so I treated us to a coolatta from Dunkin Donuts, she got a strawberry, I got a coffee. Wonderfully refreshing fro both of us.

So yes, definitely some funny stuff the past couple of days. But nothing I'm gonna slit my wrists over (heh), just a bump in the road. Back to it tomorrow.

Exercise-wise, I did a normal routine yesterday (16# shovelgloveage), and today I didn't exercise, though I could possibly claim the real-useful-work-overrides-simulated-work argument. That's kinda sketchy, though; what I did today wasn't really all that strenuous now that I think about it. A freaking hot day today to be sure.

The past several days, as I read back, have been somewhat sketchy. Time to reassert a no-funny-stuff mentality. Back to it tomorrow.... and.....

EVER ONWARD!
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Post by reinhard » Wed Jul 19, 2006 2:09 pm

James,

Your funny stuff days seem to mostly amount to 3 meals instead of 2. I know you hold yourself to a higher standard, but that's really not too bad as funny stuff goes...

Still, if it results in an extra burst of enthusiasm, I'm not going to quibble.

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Post by JWL » Thu Jul 20, 2006 3:36 am

Hi Reinhard, your point about 3 meals rather than 2 is well taken. I'm more concerned about the eating after 9pm thing, not to mention the "liquid candy" of the DD coolatta I got yesterday... I wasn't sweating the extra bagel the other night too much.

Anyway, I'm happy to say that today was a SUCCESS!

No-S: Meal #1 was 2 bagel - egg sandwiches, with mayo and my homemade mustard (and some nutritional yeast sprinkled on the eggs as they cooked, along with chives, salt, and pepper).

Meal #2 was a plate of homemade roasted seitan (a friend of mine has asked for the recipe, so I think I will post it here), along with some mashed potatoes and some steamed cabbage.

No dietary funny stuff today. Having said that, one reason I have 2 meals rather than 3 is that my meals tend to be fairly high calorie. For example is the first meal. I make this for my daughter and I, she has one bagel, I have two, and I use 5 eggs and cook them over medium-low heat without stirring them so they create a flat piece of egg the size of the pan, then fold them over and slice them into roughly square thirds that will fit on the bagel sandwich. So my meal is 2 bagels, with somewhere between 3 and 4 eggs on my portion. It doesn't violate no-s because it fits on one plate with room left over, but still.... chock full o'calories.

Exercise was good. I got a yoga/shovelglove routine (with the 16#) in @ my daughters gymnastics studio. No flocks of airborne oil derricks to report.... but I did have one gawker, another dad with a kid in the class was staring at me, and when I came into the studio at the end of their class he smiled at me. I didn't get a chance to talk to him, but he clearly grokked that I was doing some sort of exercise....

In other news, I'm working on some before/during photos to post.....
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JWL's roasted seitan recipe

Post by JWL » Thu Jul 20, 2006 4:02 am

I wanted to post my recipe for Homemade Roasted Seitan. It is a variation from the one listed in The Nutritional Yeast Cookbook, very similar but I've adapted it in enough subtle ways to make it my own.

Dry Ingredients
6 cups of vital wheat gluten
1 cup of nutritional yeast flakes
2 Tablespoons of veggie bouillon of your choice
1 Tablespoon of onion granules
1 Tablespoon of garlic granules

Wet Ingredients
4 1/2 cups of water
1/2 cup of Bragg's Liquid Aminos (you can substitute soy sauce or tamari)

Marinade
Here you have a TON of flexibility. But here's what I use, most days, depending on what I have in the kitchen at the time (approximately, I don't really measure it these days):

1/2 cup of sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
1 Tablespoon maple syrup
1 Tablespoon chili powder
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 Tablespoon tamari
2 Tablespoons cooking wine
1 tsp dill seed

Process

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. Mix the drys in one large bowl, the wets in a smaller bowl, and the marinade in a coffeecup.

3. Pour the wets into the dry bowl, mix with a fork until it is reasonably well mixed. You are making a dough, but you don't really want to knead it as the seitan will get too tough and rubbery. Work the dough, using gentle but firm pressure, into a round loaf about an inch thick and 12-14" round. Place the dough into a well-oiled (I use peanut oil), large 14" round cast iron skillet.

4. You will most likely have some powder left in the bottom of the bowl. Gently sprinkle this powder onto the top of the loaf, and spread it out with your hands, rubbing it into the outer top edge of the loaf. Then, pour your coffeecup with the well-mixed marinade onto the loaf, and rub the oily marinade mixture into the loaf so that the entire top half of the loaf is covered. The marinade and the layer of extra powder give a nice finish to the seitan "skin". I usually lift up the loaf so that I can wipe excess oil from my hands onto the bottom of the loaf.

5. Take the coffeecup that the marinade was in, and fill it with water. Pour this water (along with the last vestiges of marinade left in the cup) around the edge of the loaf. This is enough water to almost, but not quite, submerge the loaf.

6. Wash your hands well. WARNING! You will have lots of little vital wheat gluten granules clinging desperatly to your hand and fingers. This stuff is a HUGE pain to clean off, you will most likely need to scrub your hands with a brush of some sort. Do NOT wipe this stuff onto a towel as it will NOT come out in the laundry. You'll ruin the towel if you do.

7. Once your hands are clean again, cover the cast iron skillet with aluminum foil, and place it into the 375 oven. Let it cook for 30 minutes.

8. After it has cooked for 30 minutes, remove the aluminum foil, and let it continue cooking.

9. Every 5 minutes thereafter, use a broad spoon (or a baster if you have one), and make sure the top of the loaf stays moist and doesn't burn. Repeat every 5 minutes. For me this usually takes about 55 minutes of total cooking time, give or take 5 minutes.

10. Once you are about out of liquid, such that it's hard to fill a large table spoon with liquid in the bottom of the pan, remove the cast iron skillet from the oven. As the seitan cools, it will absorb the rest of the liquid.

11. Let the seitan cool for about a half an hour. Then, slice it thinly, I usually slice it about 1/8 to 1/4" thick, thin pieces about an inch square.

The resulting seitan goes very well with mashed potatoes, veggies, and gravy. You can also wrap it in the fridge (this is a LOT of food, there will be leftovers). I like to take paper-thin slices of seitan for sandwiches, portable yummy work-lunch goodness.

Enjoy!
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Post by JWL » Fri Jul 21, 2006 5:06 am

Today was a ... SUCCESS!

Which is easy because my S days are Thursday and Friday.... heh.

Meal #1 was leftovers from last night, and a pear.

Meal #2 was a burrito with cheese, rice, seitan/onions/garlic/peppers/lime juice/cilantro/chili powder/cumin, more cilantro, fresh tomatoes, and guacamole. Actually I had 1 and a half... split a 2nd one with my wife. Still easily fit on a plate, though....

I actually forgot today was an S day until about halfway through the day... so I'm gonna go enjoy some ice cream now. :-)

Exercise: no shovelglove, but I took a nice long walk with my daughter to the park, where we threw a baseball back and forth, and while she was playing at the playground I did some bridging and hindu pushups in the grass.

Later in the day, I got in some wicked good frisbification in the field, ran enough to make my legs somewhat sore (good sore).

Tomorrow is more recording... wish me luck!
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Post by gratefuldeb67 » Fri Jul 21, 2006 1:32 pm

Yay James!!!! :mrgreen:

Rock on with your great upbeat self!
Your album will be finished in no time!!!

Peace and Love,
8) Debs
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Post by JWL » Wed Aug 09, 2006 3:52 am

Once again time gets away from me.

Usually when I'm not updating here, it's probably not a good sign in terms of my adherence to no-s and exercise. These past few weeks are no exception. It was vacation time (in the sense that I used one weeks vacation from work), and got lots of stuff done, including our Lammas Bash. The acoustic guitar tracks are finished for the album, too....

The week before the bash, I stopped shovelgloving. I discovered, once again, that the grip strength necessary for shovelgloving conflicts with my guitar playing. If I go into a gig or a session after having shugged for several days straight, I have no endurance on the guitar because my grip muscle -- the big ball of muscle between the thumb and the first finger -- is just done.

So I've been trying to do more bodyweight exercises to compensate. Pushups, Squats, Bridging, yoga, etc. But it's just not the same. I miss shugging.

I've also been eating more. I've gotten used to eating a higher quantity of food than I know to be conducive to weight loss.

My scale is in storage, and I think it's time I get that back out. It's a good motivator for me.

Anyway, now that the guitar tracks are done and we have no gigs lined up, it's time to get back to shovelgloving. Hopefully I can do this consistently enough -- and keep the qi channel that goes from that pressure point under the muscle, through my wrist, and up to my elbow -- to heal and strengthen it so that I can do both. I may have to start shugging only on days when I'm not playing music.

Of course, I also need to practice more on guitar....

I wrote on my blog that I feel unbalanced. Pretty apt description, in that my center seems to be moving under me. Cue Carole King song.

Of course, the good news is that today was a success, if a bit odd nutritionally. I had 2 bagels for breakfast with cream cheese. I had an early dinner of a yummy pasta salad (tomatoes, cukes, cheese, and homemade pesto), along with fresh corn on the cob. Yum.

I walked home from work, and on the way home stopped in the park by the Back Bay to do some yoga. It was fun. These bodyweight exercises also need to be a core part of my routine. I want to do these (squats, pushups, bridging) along with shovelgloving. I have a new geekery toy brewing that might help me have some fun with this, in terms of a new execise routine....

Also, I've starting researching and writing again. This is usually both good and bad for my psyche.... heh.
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Post by JWL » Thu Aug 10, 2006 2:20 am

Today was a success.

Meal #1 was half of a leftover burrito, and a peanut butter, banana, peach and soymilk smoothie.

Meal #2 was at a restaurant with a friend of mine. I had a plate with chicken/cheese quesadilla, black beans, rice, and a salad.

Exercise was good. I did a good yoga routine, and my first shovelglove routine in weeks. I used the 10# sledge, and 50 reps of most moves.
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Post by gratefuldeb67 » Thu Aug 10, 2006 11:44 am

Hi James!
Hope you have a nice one today!!!!
Can't wait to hear your new traxxx!!!!
PS.. In keeping with the Carole King theme..

http://youtube.com/watch?v=aVZNXtJs7c8

Be well dood!
Love,
Deb
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Post by reinhard » Fri Aug 11, 2006 5:12 am

Good to see you here again and good for you for catching yourself relatively quickly.

If no sign is a bad sign, maybe you should make sure to sign. Explicit bad signs are preferable to absence-implied bad signs because they're an extra little nudge: because they're more painful they're also more motivating, and the net effect is less pain. But no pressure from me, all pain must be self inflicted on these boards :-).

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Post by JWL » Sat Aug 12, 2006 3:11 pm

OK, time for a quick check-in before I head off to work....

The past couple of days have been successful, for the most part. No gluttonous overeating, though I did enjoy yesterday as an S-day, my wife was baking like mad for a fundraising bake sale and I sampled a couple chocolate chip cookies and brownies.

Exercise has been good, I did my first shovelglove routine in weeks the other day at my daughter's gymnastics studio... no gawkers this time. And as expected, my arms are slaughtered. I used the 10# hammer, with 50-rep sets.

The sinew that is affected by this is the one that goes from the pressure point between the thumb and first finger, the big ball of muscle there, through the wrist and up the arm to the top, outside part of the elbow.

Ouch!

This is the one that continuously bugs me. Nothing debilitating, but it's hard to play guitar with this constantly bugging me. I think the thing that makes the most sense is to get more disciplined about shovelgloving so I can strengthen this up. Now is a good time for this, because since the guitar tracks are done and we have no gigs scheduled, I don't need to be playing guitar.

I work this weekend but I think next week I'll try to build the strength of this part of my arm up with shovelglove....

Still doing yoga (a bit) and I've been walking more as well which is good.... though at the moment I'm having an allergy flareup or possibly a cold... bleah.

Ever onward!
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Post by JWL » Mon Aug 14, 2006 3:04 pm

Today's weigh-in: 333.4

My last weigh-in, back in February, was 328.2. So I'm up 5 pounds, which is less than 2% of my total body weight and, based on experience, within the error-tolerance of my digital scale. This is a good benchmark for me, because despite all the funny stuff over the past several months, I seem to have sustained something close to the same weight.

Note that I regard this as a huge positive.

In the past, funny stuff would have meant that I gained a lot of weight. Now, it seems that funny stuff means I just don't lose weight and stay more or less in the same ballpark. I'll take it.

Anyway, I'm still feeling called to keep things cranked up. I have to remember that I know this plan works. Last year, when I stuck to it, I went through bursts of losing a half-pound per day when I stuck to it. I'd like nothing more than to get below 300 for the first time in many, many years....

The weekend was pretty good. No major funny stuff. Got 2 good walks in, including the walk home from work last night, where I walked up the 2 steep hills, my sort of personal endurance benchmark, and was able to make it full stride! Sure, I was huffing by the time I got to the top, but I wasn't like dying at the top of the hill. I kept walking once I got to the top where the ground flattened out, maintaining a good pace until I caught my breath again. And all that while I still have this cold! Cool!

Speaking of colds, liberal doses of Vitamin C, Claritin, and Sudafed have it more or less under control. It's still there, and I'm resting today (I'll still exercise though).

Peace to all!
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Post by gratefuldeb67 » Mon Aug 14, 2006 3:22 pm

James!
Hope you feel better soon babe!
Well I totally agree with you and applaud you for not really gaining anything substantial even with the messups... That's awesome!!!!!
We all know how it would be easy to gain ten pounds at a drop of a hat if we were back with the old shite habits of yesteryear!
You are changing for the best!!
The 300 goal is in your eye! Just keep on rolling on!!!!!
Sounds like you have a case of tendonitis that's being aggravated by the exercise under "load"...
If you want instructions on some self care, in particular, ice massage, drop me an IM later!
Feel good!
Peace,
8) Debs
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Post by JWL » Wed Aug 16, 2006 3:49 am

The past two days have been mixed. I'm still getting over a cold, and I get winded very easily and hack up a lung. Not doing too badly, running at about 70% oxygen capacity and holding steady. Forcing myself to get stuff done and trying to take care of myself.

Yesterday was good diet-wise, but I didn't exercise. Took a day of rest after working all weekend, fighting off the cold. So, a mixed bag. Sick days count as S-days though, so I'm not gonna sweat it too much. But, I had every intention of exercising and did not just due to general laziness. Sloth 1, JWL 0.

Today was very good overall, with one notable exception that pretty much ruined it. Meal #1 was a bowl of pasta with pesto, tomato sauce, and cheddar cheese, with a soy milk, peanut butter, banana, and blueberry smoothie. Meal #2 was a really tasty stirfry with rice, onions, garlic, tofu, yellow/red pepper, cabbage, and portabello mushrooms chopped and marinaded in sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, garlic, Braggs, and a bit of maple syrup. Yum. The ruining beyond-funny stuff was the pint of Ben and Jerry's Frozen Yogurt. It was one of those days for my wife, and we all decided (me, wife, daughter) to enjoy the treat. Ah well. Gluttony 1, JWL 0.

Exercise-wise, today was good. I did a normal, albeit low-key yoga and shovelglove session with my daughter. More than 14 minutes, so it counts.

In addition, I took an hour-long, 3 mile walk tonight, to return a DVD I had rented from Videoport, the coolest movie rental store I have yet encountered anywhere. According to Gmaps Pedometer, I burned about 3/4 of the calories I consumed in the Ben and Jerry's.

So all in all, I probably consumed more calories than I burned today, so it cannot be called a success.
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Post by JWL » Thu Aug 17, 2006 10:01 pm

Yesterday's weigh-in: 332.7

The past 2 days (including today) have been good diet-wise, but I've not really exercised much. still recovering from the cold....

Just a quick update.
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Post by gettnbusy » Tue Aug 22, 2006 8:22 pm

Hope your cold is doing better and you are back on your feet full time.
Best wishes!
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~Sophie~

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Post by JWL » Thu Aug 24, 2006 4:21 am

thanks....
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Post by JWL » Thu Aug 24, 2006 4:43 am

alright, where was I....

Been busy, my sister and my niece are in town for their first ever Maine vacation. So I haven't had much time to write.

Been doing OK on No-S. Not great, but not bad. A few Funnystuffisms since the last update, including a midweek trip to Red's for a Peanut Butter Cup NorEaster, but each instance has been isolated, and I haven't seen any patterns come up. So that's good.

I still haven't been exercising though, until the past couple of days.

I've been swimming, both in a pool and at the beach. I've been doing more yoga, just a few reps of downward/upward dog at a time. Even running a bit with the kids. Sort of waking the body back up.

Tonight I did my first full routine in a while:

Drive the stake: 21 reps, 10#
Butter churn: 21 reps, 10# in one hand, 8# in the other, switched hands
Shoveling: 21 reps, 16#
Flip Lever: 14 reps, 10#

Then I did several minutes of Breath of Joy, which (as always) rocked my world.

Waist Twisters, 50 reps

Back to shovelglove:
Chopping Wood: 21 reps, 10#
Hoist Sack: 14 reps, 10# in one hand 8# in the other, switch hands
Stoke Oven: 21 reps, 10#

I then did 20 squats, and called it a night.

I want to do more tomorrow, possibly with my sister. We were talking today about exercise and she expressed frustration at not being able to get to the gym with her schedule. Coincidentally enough, we passed on the side of the road an old exercise machine someone was giving away. It was the same model as one I had purchased years ago in my first attempts to get fitter. She was half-jokingly suggesting we stop and get it so she'd have something at home. I sort of scoffed at the idea, and she asked me if I had room for it, would I take it home? She seemed surprised when I said no way, it would just get in my way. The only exercise machines I need are my own body, and my 3 sledgehammers.

I also was given some incentive tonight. I was given a wonderful gift, something I've wanted for a very long time. It's a baja, hippie-clothing that should serve me very well in Maine. It's a 3x, the largest one she could find. It fits, but only barely. It's snug. A 4x, if it existed, would be much more comfortable. Especially given that this is an outer layer, I really need one that has more room. So if I stay focused on my plan, I think by the time the weather turns where I need this, I could maybe give it some more room. I know this much: when I stick to my plan with rigor and discipline, when my habits are at their strongest, I get smaller and stronger. 'Nuff said.
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Post by JWL » Wed Aug 30, 2006 3:26 am

I've been busy, mostly working and being a tour guide and hanging out with my sister and my niece this past week. Been doing pretty well No-S wise, not bad but not great exercise-wise.

Today was definitely a success. Meal #1 was a soymilk, peanut butter, frozen banana, blueberry smoothie. Meal #2 was a cheese, rice, beans, guacamole, tomato, and spinach burrito, a slice of mushroom pizza, a handful of peanuts, and an apple. No funny stuff, though I did get an orange juice out of the vending machine at work.

Exercise-wise, I did a full but somewhat abbreviated routine with shovelglove and yoga, a set of 30 squats, and tonight I got a 30minute walk home from work, up the hill. My sandals were wet so I wore my hiking boots, and I think my legs might be a bit sore tomorrow. The extra weight on my feet was noticeable; my leg muscles were tired. Good stuff though.

The past 2 days have been great, No-S wise actually. And sure enough, I feel so much better!

Weigh-in coming soon, maybe tomorrow....

ever onward
Last edited by JWL on Wed Aug 30, 2006 4:36 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Post by gratefuldeb67 » Wed Aug 30, 2006 3:30 am

Yay James!!!!!!
:wink: Debs
xo!
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Post by JWL » Wed Aug 30, 2006 2:39 pm

Today's weigh-in: 331.8. So my last 3 weigh-ins have been moving in the right direction.... cool. I still say more strictness is in order. My schedule is a bit more relaxed now, so it should be doable.

I'm feeling more inspired again.... I've been eating well and feeling good again, so that's more inspiration. I've also been enjoying (!) the feeling of being hungry again, using my old Jedi Mind Trick of FeelingHungry=BurningFat.

More later....
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Goal Setting

Post by JWL » Wed Aug 30, 2006 10:56 pm

Just a thought. I've decided to set a specific, numerical goal for myself, which is something I know that is kinda frowned upon on this forum and in the ES ethos. I don't really agree with this, provided that the goals are reasonable and attainable. Goals are useful to me; as a pagan, I believe that we create our reality (some pagans call this magic), and the first step of reality-crafting is to state one's intent.

My goal/intent is this: I want to be under 300 lbs by the end of 2006.

I have 4 months to do it, so it works out to about 9 lbs per month, or 2 lbs per week, given my current weight.

I've thought a lot about this, I know setting goals like this are somewhat counter to the no-s philosophy. But my main motivation is to use this as a motivational tool to simply stick to the No-S plan and exercise routine with more precision and regularity than I have been in 2006.

As I've been writing, I've been slacking for much of 2006 so far. In looking back on my log, I am now virtually the same weight that I was last November 23rd (same scale and everything), when I was 331.3. It's time for me to step things up again, like I did at the end of last year during my detox (which is itself right around the corner for me; the detox will comprise the last half of the time between now and the end of the year).

I don't think any harm will come from this process. As 2006 so far has proven, when I slack, I tend to maintain my weight. When I am focused, I lose weight. So if I push the envelope until the end of the year, my "rebound" will not be anything other than the normal No-S habits that are solid for me now, well over a year in practice.

This goal is not unlike a mnemonic or another memory trick: when making decisions about what to do, I can simply think about one number, 300, and it will keep me focused and motivated. Because in order to reach this goal, I will have to do a good job of sticking to the following:

* No-S Diet
* shovelglove
* urban ranger (walk an hour a day)
* other yoga/bodyweight exercises

In the past, when I've stuck to this plan rigorously I've dropped about a 3 pounds per week. So my 2 pounds/week rate allows for some slipups.

And lastly, I want to say that if I fail to meet this goal I won't beat myself up or feel one ounce of guilt.

So It Goes!
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Post by JWL » Thu Aug 31, 2006 4:22 am

Today was a SUCCESS.

No-S
Meal #1 was leftovers. I had half of a burrito, and some BBQ tempeh/roasted potatoes/roasted carrots on my plate.

Meal #2 was a plate filled with 2 vegan "chik" patties, mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli, and some homemade gravy over it all.

No funny stuff.

Exercise
Today I took a 2-mile, 500-calorie-burning walk with my daughter and her dog to a playground, where we hung out for a while until my wife picked us up on her way home from work.

I also did a shovelglove routine, using the 8# and 10# hammer. For the one handed movements (for me these are churn butter, flip lever, and hoist sack) I did the movements with the 8# in one hand and the 10# in the other, then I switched hands and did the 2nd set. That's fun, and tough!

No yoga to speak of, other than some miscellaneous stretching at various points in the day. No squats either; I've been walking a lot and squatting lately so I wanted to rest my legs.

Ever onward!
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Post by JWL » Thu Aug 31, 2006 2:39 pm

This morning's weigh-in: 329.4

:D
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Post by david » Thu Aug 31, 2006 3:27 pm

James,

On the SG front, I've been doing some one-handed stuff as well. One thing that I have found is very effective is to hold one hammer steady, say directly in front of you with arm fully extended while you do churn butter or whatever with the other hammer. The combination of stillness and movement is quite tough.

Good luck on your journey to sub-300#!

--david

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Post by JWL » Fri Sep 01, 2006 7:45 am

Today was a SUCCESS.

No-S
Meal#1 was half a bagel with hummus, and a wrap with hummus, spinach, and tomatoes.

Meal#2 was a bowl of pasta with a ton of different veggies and chick peas. No cheese, and there were more veggies than pasta.

No funny stuff.

Exercise
I did a full shovelglove routine, much of which was with the 16# hammer. Mixing it up a bit. Still did the 2-handed churn butter and hoist sack, but I did one-handed flip levers with the 16#. Soon I want to try those with the 10# in one hand and the 16# in the other... ouch.

I also took a 1.6 mile, 400 calorie walk with my daughter and dog today. Down the hill, then cutting up Mountfort St is a steeper uphill than I realized. Good workout, got the blood pumping.

After that, I had a massage. Worked a lot on the pressure point in my forearm near the elbow. Hours later, it's quite sore as she did some really deep tissue work there. Good ouch, but ouch.... I can feel the arm is already more flexible... been treating it with alternating heat (Reiki) and ice.

Overall, a very good day. Once again I'm getting used to eating less, been thinking (and writing a bit) about hunger. Once I finish a small piece on hunger, I'll probably post it somewhere on this forum.
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Post by JWL » Fri Sep 01, 2006 2:34 pm

This morning's weigh-in: 328.7.
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Post by JWL » Sat Sep 02, 2006 4:20 am

Today was a success.

No-S
Meal#1: leftover pasta from last night.

Meal#2: homemade Pad Thai with tofu, greenbeans, zucchini, mushrooms, onions, garlic. Missed the cilantro, crushed peanuts, and lemon slices. Next time....

I had 2 Sam Adams halloween ales tonight. No funny stuff.

Exercise
Today was a useful-work-overrides-exercise-commitment day. I helped a friend of mine move, from one third floor apartment to another third floor space. My legs are slaughtered from the stair-running and heavy lifting.

Also got some frisbee in the field.

I've been stretching lots, with yoga, at various times of the day.

Things are going quite well at the moment! I'm feeling good from paying focused attention to my body this week!
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Post by JWL » Sat Sep 02, 2006 1:53 pm

Today's weigh-in: 327.8.

This means I'm down 4 pounds in 3 days since I've started being strict again. I'm also down 5.6 pounds since my first re-entry into weigh-in-dom a little over 2 weeks ago.

This serves as further confirmation. When I stick to my plan, I lose weight. I'm sure this rapid rate of weight loss will level out again over time, most likely settling in to a half-pound per day average that I've seen before.
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Post by JWL » Sun Sep 03, 2006 5:05 am

Today was a SUCCESS.

No-S
Meal#1 was 2 bagels with cilantro hummus.

Meal#2 was 4 slices of pizza and a salad. Lots of water drank.

No funny stuff, which is especially cool since I worked! The meals today were very large though. I just got home from work a bit ago, and I'm still way full from dinner eaten 6 hours ago. This is good, because now is the time of night when the bingies usually start throwing a party in my stomach and in my monkey-mind....

Exercise
Today is an S-day, so I rested from shovelgloving. I did however walk to work and back, which according to Gmaps means I burned about 700 calories walking today, 1.4 miles each way. Coming home was of course problably more since it was uphill, and going in probably less since it's downhill. I'm happy to report that, despite my legs/knees still being slaughtered from the stairs yesterday, the uphill walk was less tiring than it has been.

Feeling quite chipper these days! Funny how much better I feel when I stick to my plan. But then you already knew that....
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Post by gratefuldeb67 » Sun Sep 03, 2006 5:40 am

Go chipper James!!!
You are so cute with all your pedometer shtuff and chummus stuff! LOL....
We loves ya!

Happy to hear that you are feeling good and eating good too!
And yay!!! The weight loss is heading in the correct direction!!! Great news!!!
Woot woot!!! :mrgreen:

Seeyalater!
Love,
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Post by JWL » Mon Sep 04, 2006 7:49 pm

OK, been working a lot....

Sunday was definitely an S day. I didn't walk because I wanted to let my legs rest, but I did manage a set of 25 squats on one of my breaks at work.

I had 2 meals, both were pasta (!). I also had a snack out of the vending machine, a small chicken sandwich and a soda. Maybe a small meal...

Today I'm pickign up extra hours at work (2 words: HOLIDAY PAY!). I didn't walk in, but I did a set of 32 squats a bit ago. I had leftover Pad Thai and an apple for meal#1. I'll update later with meal #2. Most likely I'll get a shovelglove set in later tongiht, and maybe even a walk.

Ever onward!
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Post by JWL » Wed Sep 06, 2006 4:01 pm

Yesterday was .... not too bad.

No-S: I was awake at 6am and ravenously hungry. I had a small amount of leftover pasta then. Then around noon I was hungry again, so I made a smoothie. Then dinner was 2 veggie burgers, an ear of corn on the cob, and a salad. Well within No-S rules, but more than my normal 2 meals. I'll call it a success... it's in the rules and I could have virtual plated the first 2 meals anyway.

Exercise: I haven't shovelgloved this week yet (busy week), but my exercise yesterday was climbing Bradbury Mountain. It's a short walk, 0.2 miles (a very familiar distance to me), but it's straight up. So it was another good test for my legs. They seem to be close to back to normal, and getting stronger from all the uphill climbing I've been doing on both mountains and stairs.

The next few days I will be camping with my daughter, so I won't be logging in here. I will stick to No-S, though there might be a special treat in the next few days.
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Post by JWL » Wed Sep 13, 2006 3:39 am

Today's weigh-in: 329.1. This is a good thing given my weekend, full of bad eating on S days. Yesterday my weigh in was actually 334.9, because I was retaining so much water. Bleah.

Having said that, today was a success, even if it was another S-day. Apart from the 2 small slices of birthday cake (2 different kinds of cake, a small piece of each) for my friend Nikki's b-day, it was a good No-S day. Meal #1 was a bagel with chive cream cheese. Meal#2 was a burrito and chips/salsa from Herb's Gully. And the cake. Not too bad, esp for an S day.

Exercise: I did a full shovelglove routine outside my daughter's gymnastics studio, and got to do some frisbee in the field. Yay!

The camping trip was good. Last week was good from a No-S perspective, kinda borderline from an exercise perspective. One good thing is that I got to chop up some deadwood with my axe and my 10# sledge. I got to be all macho with the axe in one hand and the 10# sledge in the other; my axe has the same length handle as my sledge. I'd slam it into a log with one hand, then hit the back of the head of the axe with the 10# sledge in the other hand to split the logs. RAWWRRRRRRGH!

There was a log about 15' long that I got to chop up into about 18-20 short, split logs for the campfire. Great exercise! I love chopping wood for real....
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Post by david » Wed Sep 13, 2006 4:08 pm

That wood chopping sounds awesome!

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Post by JWL » Wed Sep 13, 2006 4:08 pm

This morning's weigh-in: 328.9. Wanted to post that before I forgot the number.....
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Post by gratefuldeb67 » Wed Sep 13, 2006 4:14 pm

Go James!!!
I've been really out of touch here! Sorry!
As for the "Bleah" water weight.. Yeah it is amazing how that makes you feel!
I had a mini binge on a bottle of green olives last week.. I put about 20 mini green olives in my salad..
Well next day I felt like SHI/TE!!!!!!
Heh..
Also, I measured my waist and it was up a whole inch in size!

Glad that's passed for you..

Have a nice rest of the week!
Peace and Love,
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Post by heathengirl » Wed Sep 13, 2006 5:27 pm

Congrats! You're making progress and are in range to make your goal. Yay for you!

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Post by JWL » Wed Sep 13, 2006 8:15 pm

Today's been good so far, wanted to document a few things while they were fresh in my mind.

First, I took a 2.7 mile, 672 calorie walk with my daughter and her dog. This was to drop them off at my wife's office for the 90 minute overlap between our work shifts today, then I came in to work. I'll also get another walk home tonight, the standard one up the hills. Walking rules, I love how it energizes me... w00t! My daughter was getting tired on the walk and I was trying to explain to her how deep breathing energizes you while you are walking....

I also did a full shugg routine today with all 3 hammers, mostly the 16# but I used the 10# and 8# at the same time for churning butter (one in each hand, then reverse and repeat).

Meal #1 was a bagel with cheddar cheese, some cherry tomatoes, and a soymilk/peanut butter/banana/blueberry smoothie.
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Post by JWL » Thu Sep 14, 2006 1:31 am

I can go ahead and call today a SUCCESS.

I documented much earlier, add to that a 12" subway sub for dinner. I'll also get another 30min of walking in for the trip home.

W00t!
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Post by JWL » Thu Sep 14, 2006 5:25 am

The walk was my standard uphill, home from work walk, 1.42 miles and 354 calories burned.
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Post by JWL » Thu Sep 14, 2006 3:28 pm

This morning's weigh-in: 325.6. I weighed myself 3 times to double-check the accuracy, and got the same reading each time. Wow! Long walks must release lots of water weight; I certainly did sweat quite a bit yesterday....

Though with a loss as big as that one in one day (more than three pounds), I have to brace myself for a rebound in the next few days; just gonna stay the course, stick to the plan and let the numbers take care of themselves.
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Post by JWL » Fri Sep 15, 2006 6:01 am

Today was .... a learning experience.

The good: I had 2 meals. I reduced the size of the first meal; lately I'd been having a smoothie plus something with it. Today I just had the smoothie. I also did a nice shovelglove routine with the 16# hammer, except for chopping wood where I used the 10#.

The bad: I didn't get a walk in. Even worse, the size of my 2nd meal was HUGE. I made pizza tonight and virtual plated (though that is seriously pushing it) 5 pieces of it (plus another small piece of the vegan pizza I tried). Way too much food. It's 8 hours later, and I'm still feeling bloated from it. Bleah.

My mistake: overcompensating for my increased hunger levels at the start of meal #2 after having the smaller first meal.

Lesson learned: keep the size of meal #2 under control, even when I just have a smoothie for meal #1.

Ever onward!
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Post by Benjumanji » Fri Sep 15, 2006 1:00 pm

Great job, JWL!

I just wanted to say thanks for posting your Jedi mind trick--I use it. The sensation of hunger is a signal that my body is using up fat stores. Makes those hunger pangs almost feel good.
Carol

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Post by JWL » Fri Sep 15, 2006 2:50 pm

This morning's weigh-in: 326.7. I had anticipated a bit of a rebound.... well there ya go. No worries.
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Post by JWL » Fri Sep 15, 2006 2:52 pm

Hi Carol/Benjumanji....

Glad the Jedi Mind Trick works for you. Powerful little piece of cognitive metaprogramming.

Where in Maine are you? I'm in Portland....
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Post by JWL » Fri Sep 15, 2006 8:10 pm

I wanted to record that my daughter and I took a 2.65 mile, 655 calorie walk, meandering up and down hills. The biggest uphill legs of our walk was up Mountfort St, and then up Fox St and Walnut St (the same 2 hills I walk up coming home from work).

Meal #1 today was leftover pizza from last night... but I only had 2 1/2 slices.

Back in the studio tonight.... more later.
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Post by gratefuldeb67 » Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:44 pm

JWL wrote: Though with a loss as big as that one in one day (more than three pounds), I have to brace myself for a rebound in the next few days; just gonna stay the course, stick to the plan and let the numbers take care of themselves.
You Rock James!!!!
Big hugs and keep up the jamming, both on walking and in the schtudio! :wink:

ps... Evil Pizza!!! :twisted:

Damn now I want pizza! LOL..
Have a nice weekend your dudeness!

Peace and Love,
8) Deb
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Post by Benjumanji » Fri Sep 15, 2006 10:25 pm

JWL wrote:

Where in Maine are you? I'm in Portland....
I live in Manchester (Augusta). I love walking around Portland. Up here there aren't any sidewalks but I live on a snowmobiling trail which works.

Have a great weekend!
Carol

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Post by JWL » Sat Sep 16, 2006 6:35 am

Today was a mixed bag, but I'll call it a success.

It was an S-Day, I usually take Fridays as such. My 2nd meal consisted of 2 small plates of food at my favorite Chinese buffet. A lot of food, and it will be interesting to see what the salt content does to my system at the weigh-in tomorrow. I also had 2 ales this evening.

Exercise was the earlier mentioned walk, and a shovelglove routine. I used the 10# hammer and went through a short set of reps, 13 reps each side, each move. I made it through twice. I think I want to try a set of 7, a set of 13, then another set of 7 and see if I can make it through that.
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Post by JWL » Sat Sep 16, 2006 5:28 pm

Today's weigh in: 328.4. Still retaining water from the chinese food from last night.... bleah.
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Post by JWL » Sun Sep 17, 2006 4:39 am

Today was another S-Day. Meal #1 was a bagel, 2 slices of toast, cheddar cheese, and cherry tomatoes. Good plateful of food.

Meal#2 was some of my wife's version of cottage pie (we call it "apartment pie") with an apple. Yummy stuff. Lots of water and coffee, as it was a work day on little sleep.

No exercise at all today. Need to get back to walking tomorrow.

All in all, a mixed bag. Good No-S day, but I didn't even get a chance to walk. I did to lots of stretching while at work though. Keep the body somewhat awake.
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Post by JWL » Mon Sep 18, 2006 1:16 am

Two really cool things happened today....

First, my wife surprised me with a new pair of GoreTex LL Bean walking boots, which were badly needed.... my old boots were 3 or 4 years old and well worn.

Second, I noticed that, for the first time in many moons, my trusty belt seems a bit loose.... time for another notch! W00t!
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Post by JWL » Tue Sep 19, 2006 7:31 am

Today was a well-earned success.

No-S
Meal 1 was leftover pasta with sauce and cheese. Meal#2 was a large plate -- but only one plate -- of my homemade pad thai with tofu, carrots, greenbeans, green onions, cilantro, crushed peanuts, and bean sprouts. Yum.

Exercise
I did an abbreviated shovelglove routine, including a set of smite the orc, which I hadn't done in a long time. Felt good.

I also took a 1.25 mile, 300 calorie walk to the sportsbar to watch the 2nd half of Monday night football. Managed to avoid the food temptation but had 2 Magic Hat #9s.

I didn't walk back home because I had my new boots on. They're too big. I'm going to need to return them. The only size they had left were 13EE, and there is just a bit too much room in them. I already have a pair of very similar boots that are very comfortable, a bit worn, but still quite serviceable. So I think I'm going to save those for those few occasions when I really need boots (ie, snow that hasn't yet been plowed, hiking on muddy trails, etc), and get a pair of really good Urban Rangering shoes.

Here are the contenders:

LL Bean Mountain Tread Low-cuts. These are the updated, low-cut version of my boots, and are the safe option.

Merrell Chameleons also look interesting, though they aren't available in wide. These also have Gore-Tex, which is nice to have in Maine for the winter. There is also a version of those sans GoreTex.

What I think I will do is go to the LLBean store, try on the merrells, see if I like them and if they fit well, and compare them to the mountain treads.

Anyone have any suggestions for good urban rangering shoes? I think I'll post a copy of this on the UR board....
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Post by Benjumanji » Tue Sep 19, 2006 10:28 am

I have Merrill chameleons with GoreTex. They are nice but a little stiff-I've only had them a few months and they aren't broken in. The sole is so firm and stiff--I don't think they will ever feel like my last pair.

My last pair of low-top hiking shoes were also Merrills, similar style without GoreTex. I loved them. They fell apart after several years of trail walking. My high-top hiking boots are also Merrills and also very comfortable and durable.

I would try on several brands, and use that little incline most stores have to see how your toes feel when you're on a hill. I think different peoples' feet work better with different brands. The local EMS store in Augusta has a shoe specialist on staff who can pound out little discomforts if you ask him.
Carol

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Post by david » Tue Sep 19, 2006 3:37 pm

I swear by Keen shoes. I have a pair of Bronx and a pair of Portala by Keen. They don't come in wide because the toe box is already very roomy.

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Post by hlidskjalf » Tue Sep 19, 2006 9:19 pm

I like Doc Martens for uR personally. Comfortable (once broken in) and adds a bit of oomph to the stroll.
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Post by JWL » Wed Sep 20, 2006 2:40 am

Today was a success.

No-S
Meal#1 was leftover pad thai from last night. I've only made this dish 3 or 4 times, but it's already one of my best and my favorites. Yum.

Meal#2 was 2 veggie burgers and frozen french fries. This is about as close as I get to processed food. Quick and simple. At least I had lots of veggies (tomato slices, lettuce, and carmelized onions) on the burgers....

Exercise
Did a kickass shovelglove routine today. Warmed up with 50 reps each side of driving spikes with the 10 pounder. I then did 7 reps each side of all the moves, then 13 reps each side of all the moves with the 16#er. Then I cooled down with another 7 rep set with the 10#er.

Didn't get a walk in today. Maybe I'll crank out a set of squats before I sleep. EDIT: Did a set of 24 squats, very slowly and with great precision....

Time for another weigh-in tomorrow....
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Post by JWL » Thu Sep 21, 2006 5:24 pm

Today's weigh-in: 326.0. This is good as I was up over 330 yesterday from water retention (gotta love processed foods).

Yesterday was a mixed bag. I took it as an S-day because my wife and I went on one of our monthly(ish) dates. So dinner was some yummy meatloaf made from freerange beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, a salad, half of an appetizer, and a piece of chocolate brownie cheesecake. The first meal yesterday was 2 bagels with tofutti, a tofu-based vegan cream cheese alternative.

I got the midnight munchies last night and managed to resist them.... I even had the mindfuck going on, "well, it's an S-day, so you're allowed to eat ANYTHING YOU WANT" resonating. This alone was worth a success!

Exercise... I didn't shovelglove yesterday. Had a bit of lingering soreness so I took the day off. I probably should have pushed myself because the soreness really was nothing... ah well.

I did however manage to take 2 walks. The first was a 0.85 mile, 215 calorie walk up the hill from where a friend of mine works to home. We had to take our car in for repairs (ouch.... $700....) and the ride situation worked out this way.

The second walk was a longer, more leisurely 2.5 mile, 600 calorie stroll through town on our date....

I'm looking forward to the shovelglove routine today... the routine I did the other day left me feeling very good and strong. I want to replicate that.
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Post by JWL » Tue Sep 26, 2006 5:15 am

After a crappy weekend where I ate too much food and didn't exercise enough overall, today was a SUCCESS.

Meal #1: burrito with cheese, wild rice, tofu and veggies, tomatoes, and lettuce, along with 3 leftover breadsticks and hummus.

Meal #2: another burrito like before, with some hash browns.

Took a decent walk today, maybe 1.5 miles total (too tired to gmap it now). I also did a slow shugg routine (50 reps of drive the stake with the 10#, followed by 7 reps of everything with the 16#). I was going slow so 14min was up when I was done with this. I also did 20 squats.
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Post by JWL » Wed Sep 27, 2006 8:27 pm

Yesterday was ... yesterday.

No-S wise, I had 2 small meals during the day, and was really hungry in the evening so I had another meal.

Exercise: yesterday was the real-work-overrides-exercise thing. I cut up a bunch of lumber at a friends. Not really much work but I was surprisingly sore afterwards.

I'm feeling achy and low-energy this week.... in an unnatural way. Perhaps I'm fighting something off?

Anyway, just a heads up, I'm on vacation next week, so posting here will be slim to none. Don't worry, I'm taking my sledgehammers.... 8)
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Post by Benjumanji » Mon Oct 09, 2006 3:44 pm

Hey, JWL. Hope you had a good va-ca.
Carol

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Post by JWL » Thu Oct 19, 2006 6:57 am

Hi all,

I did have a good vacation, apart from the fact that I shattered the handle on my 10# sledgehammer splitting wood. Finally got it replaced a couple days ago, used the 10#er and realized I need to sand down the new handle. Too rough.

Overall things have been good, though I ate way too much on vacation. I've slowly begun to reassimilate into No-S.

One thing I've been doing is to use the 16# hammer (since I broke the 10#), using supremely good form, very slow movements, and low reps. That's fun, and hard to maintain. One day I noticed that my form wasn't nearly as good with the 16#, I rely on cheats like leverage more. No more. :-)

I'm still very very busy, in the studio and in many other areas.... I have 3 songs ready to mix now, which is a good thing.... 8)
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Post by reinhard » Sat Oct 21, 2006 2:28 am

Welcome back, James. Sorry about the sledge... but I guess it's kind of a badge of honor. Purple heart shugging (sort of).

Reinhard

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Post by JWL » Thu Oct 26, 2006 5:00 am

Hi all,

Still stupid busy in my reality, with music and other things. We're working feverishly in the studio to get this doggone demo finished... but it's looking like next week we really have a shot at finishing the first 3 songs for the CD.... so that our new demo will be complete. A couple snafus have come up that have delayed us... we should have been done by now. but.... it's ready when it's ready. We're working our tails off.

Plus, we have a gig Friday night.... 8)

Anyway

I recently added a sine qua non to my exercise routine. After all this time, i finally bought a kitchen timer to time my workouts. I'm pretty sure that by not using the timer I've robbed myself of countless minutes of exercise over the past couple years since I've been doing shovelglove.

My new routine is 27 minutes long: 7min warmup, 13min shovelglove, 7min yoga (squats, hindu pushups, and breath of joy).

I've been borderling slackign still, both in exercise and eating. I certainly haven't done my routien each day, PLUS walk each day, PLUS stick to No-S each day.

Today's exercise routine was fun; for about 2/3 of the routine, I kept switching arms, doing 7 rep sets of "flip lever" over and over... my biceps are definitely feeling it, but that's OK.

I sanded the new sledge handle, but it's still feeling kinda rough. More sandpaper, and maybe even some olive oil, as the handle feels quite dry to me.

My detox is coming up in a few days.... and don't worry I haven't forgotten about three-oh-oh.

Ever onward!
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Post by JWL » Wed Nov 01, 2006 9:04 pm

Today's weigh-in: 331.4. More tangible evidence of my recent slackage.

No matter, because my annual detox has begun!

This year, my focus is on packing as much weight loss as possible into a 2 month period, between now and Yule. This means:

-- no alcohol or meat, at all, ever between now and Yule
-- 2 plates of food per day, every day. On S days I will allow myself up to one extra food item.
-- some form of exercise each day, preferably my full 27-minute routine (7min warmup, 13min shugg, 7 min squat/pushup/breath of joy) as well as a walk

That's it. At this point I'll really be pushing myself to get under 300. Not sure how realistic a goal it is from now, but that's OK. Still gonna keep it as a goal and move forward without guilt or neurosis. ;-)

Anyway, from yesterday: 2 large meals, no snacks. Exercise was a walk (trick or treating) and I took my sledgehammer along with me, throwing in shovelglove moves while we walked, and just carrying the extra weight of the sledge while we went. It was fun.... Sledge-Rangering? A new concept..... heh

I just finished a full 27 minute routine for today, including 40 squats. But I'll update that tomorrow.

Ever Onward!

Blessings Light and Dark
J
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Post by JWL » Thu Nov 09, 2006 2:03 am

Hi all.

Doing well on the No-S front. I did a weigh-in at 328.6 the other day, so that's good. Not much in the way of funny stuff since the 31st.... :)

Exercise-wise, I've been taking it easy, I had some dental surgery today and I'm recovering nicely from it, and over the weekend I had a cold. So I've not been doing much in the way of exercise this week.

No worries, my detox is going well. I'm going to try to update here more, but I'm still stupid busy....

Love to all
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Back again!

Post by JWL » Tue Nov 06, 2007 4:26 pm

Yes, I'm still alive! LOL

It's been an interesting year. No-S wise, I sort of dropped the ball last year during the detox and then spent most of the year coasting. I didn't really do No-s, at least consciously. I started eating at night again, though the bingeing was at least somewhat less out-of-control than it once was. I exercised sporadically, and just generally concerned myself with other things.

Last May, my family and I bought a house. We no longer live in Portland, we are now happily settled in to our 2 acres of forest about a half hour north of Portland. Much of my exercise over the summer was doing yardwork, carpentry (we didn't have much storage space so I had to build lots of shelves, etc) and just general taking care of the forest. I've brought down a bunch of dead trees, made some paths through the forest, cleared up lots o brush, dug a firepit, built some benches out of a fallen hemlock tree, etc etc etc.

Anyway, a week ago I began my annual detox program again. Back on No-S, shovelgloving, and just generally trying to take care of myself in a more conscious, attentive way.

So this morning I got on the scale for the first time in a long time.

321.9.

This is great, after a year of relative slackage, I didn't gain, and in fact am now back at the lowest weight I've been. This is a testament to the power of No-S and Everyday Systems in terms of habit-building; I've developed good enough habits through my history with No-S that even when I stop consciously doing the plan, I don't gain weight. Thank you, Reinhard!

Since I'm back on No-S again, I will possibly post here more often. No guarantees or promises, but I wanted to check in.

I still say No-S/Shovelglove/Urban Ranger is the best diet/exercise plan around.... try to turn people on to it whenever I get a chance.

peace to all!
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Post by JWL » Tue Nov 06, 2007 4:53 pm

BTW, I'm sort of interested in the new HabitCal. Not quite sure how it works, I've doing a similar thing on paper here since I started my detox. Perhaps I'll move that to the virtual world...

15000th post on this forum.... heh.
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