Blubber To Runner

People ask me if I watch The Biggest Loser.  Does it motivate me?  Did I ever try to get on it?  Do I think the trainers are too hard?

Well… I don’t watch.  I’m not gonna get into every reason why I don’t (maybe in another post :)… ), but I am going to tell you one of them:

I get very frustrated when people get on the show only to quit.  I understand how difficult it can be to lose weight… TRUST ME, I do… but I don’t understand how people can get such an amazing chance – an opportunity of a lifetime – and just walk away because it’s too difficult. I mean, the show is one of the most popular on television.  You have SEASONS of episodes that you can watch, so you KNOW what you’re getting into; grueling workouts, ‘tough love’ trainers, public weigh-ins… this isn’t a surprise!

Well, the Universe works in very mysterious ways.  My beliefs on that topic are about to be put to the test… because I have been given one of those ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunities.

Ryan Hughes is a professional body builder, fitness model, high-end personal trainer , creator of the Blast Training System and, starting today, he’s going to help li’l ol’ ME lose the rest of this weight and get in the best shape of my life!  I have the honor of being selected to be one of the first 6 clients as part of his Project Transformation… in other words, over the next 16 weeks I’m gonna be pushed in ways I’ve never been pushed as part of an opportunity that many wanted but only six of us were chosen for.

There’s gonna be A LOT more information in the coming days and weeks for sure, and I can’t wait to share this journey with you all!

However, for now – go ahead and ‘Like’ his Facebook page and follow my journey with Ryan to take that next step in my journey to total wellness.

You’re all such a huge support to me – THANK YOU ALL for reading – and fasten your seatbelt, because IT’S TIME TO STEP MY GAME UP!!!

8 Baby Steps to the Marathon for Beginners | Active.com.

This is a really great article, and isn’t just for marathons either… it’s really for any type of distance run that you personally would consider a ‘long distance’

I will say this though – I don’t do #3: ‘Think Time, Not Distance’… I do the exact opposite.  And I find it interesting they say to do time because every training plan I find talks about doing miles on training days, not time.  For me, as an example, I would do 3 miles no matter how long it took because you need to know what 3 miles feels like.  First time I did 12 miles it took over 4 hours… I ran 18 miles in that time just 6 months later.  But, when training, it was all about knowing what it feels like to do that many miles.  To each their own, I say… Lord knows I’m not gonna say it’s WRONG lol!

#6: ‘Recover Whenever You Feel Less Than 100 Percent’ is so ridiculously important… so many people hear all of this ‘push harder!’ type of motivation all over the place, but they don’t understand one CRUCIAL point of all of that:  There’s a difference between pushing and stupidity.  If you’re not healthy, then your body is telling you “I NEED SOME REST”… and you need to listen to it.  It was one of the hardest lessons for me to learn, but one of the best.

The last one that I love is #8: ‘Pre-Race Recon’.  It’s SO beneficial.  Most races will give you a course map on their website a few days/ weeks before the race.  Take a look at it – it’s an extremely useful tool – then take a ride out to where it is and run it.  Trust me… it helps!***

Anyway, just wanted to share this with you guys… I think it’s extremely valuable information for challenging races of ANY length.  I am all about preparing yourself to the best of your ability… hope this helps you do that same!

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(*** – It helps if you read the map right that is!  When running my 1st 10K, a few weeks before it my friends and I printed out the map and ran the course (Duke Island Park in Bridgewater for my NJ peeps)… and we ran the wrong course, but didn’t know that until the race.  Our navigator that day made an honest error but, a few miles into the race, when you think you’re turning left (to head back) and you turn right (to head even FARTHER away), its a little unnerving!)

As promised… I wanna lay out my fitness goals for 2013.  By doing so, y’all have the right to call me out pretty much whenever you want about what I’m doing/ not doing… agreed?

Good.  🙂

AND – I wanna do the same for you!  Listen – you need someone to keep you motivated, get on you a little bit, keep you focused on some of your goals – hit me up.  Seriously.  I had people help me stay focused, and I KNOW how hard it is to find the right people to motivate.  That being said – message me at blubbertorunner@gmail.com, hit me up on my FB page, comment here… whatever’s easiest.  I’m here to help!

OK, so here they are, my 2013 Fitness Goals:

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50 pounds more – I’m down about 85 pounds right now, and I think 50 more is reasonable.  I’m still highly focused on doing this healthy and in a way that will assist me in KEEPING it off, but 50 is not a crazy amount.  I know some people say ‘wow, 135 is a lot of weight!’ but I don’t view myself as a 350 pound guy losing 135 pounds anymore… I’m now a 265 pound guy losing 50.  Different mindset – different goals.

5 obstacle races – Here is something I learned in 2012:

Obstacle races >>>>>>>>>>> Regular races.

Like, >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>… >>>>>>>>>>>>>>

So, I’m gonna try and do more of them instead of just signing up for any 5K anywhere they have one.  They have so many different ones now, such as the Hero Rush (firefighter themed), Urban Warrior Dash (city themed), as well as various lengths (5K, 8K, 10K and longer) and I believe I will find more challenges this way.  So, with that being said:

MUSCLES – Let’s just lay it out there… I’m physically weak.  I’m a big guy, but I’m not very strong (outside of my legs, which are pretty strong after running over 750 miles in 2012).  I have tried – multiple times – to get into a gym, workout room, basement, ANYWHERE to get into a rhythm when it comes to strength training, however I run way from it.  It’s a mental roadblock I gotta break through, and when I say I GOTTA, I mean it.  I HAVE TO.  It’s the only way I’m gonna lose the rest of this weight properly, and the ONLY way I’m gonna be able to compete in obstacle races.  I know Jen’s heard this before – multiple times – as well (she LOVES strength training), so hopefully she doesn’t see me as the ‘Boy Who Cried Wolf’ just yet. 🙂

Again – THIS HAS TO HAPPEN.  And I need a tangible way to track this; any suggestions would be VERY helpful.  I’m gonna research some on my own as well.

1 Competitive Trail Race – I am enamored by this… I wanna do a legit trail race of some length.  I need to really research this – training, locations, etc. – but I am truly fascinated by it, and want to do one competitively in 2013.

1 Duathlon or Triathlon – I wanna race a bike in a competition… I enjoyed riding it for the MS Ride last year, but Hurricane Sandy wiped out my 1st Duathlon.  The bike is the focus right now but, if I can find the right triathlon to compete in, I wouldn’t be against getting in the water to train a little 🙂

1 Destination Race – I’m going to travel somewhere to do a cool race; be it a half-marathon, obstacle race, dual/ triathlon, etc… I’m gonna go somewhere, enjoy being a tourist, then compete in something while I’m there (PLEASE NOTE – this does not include the DMV, where I’d like to do a race with my peeps there at some point in 2013 as well!)

1,000 Followers on the FB page – I wanna really spread the love.  🙂  I know I need to do things to help grow the B2R community, but that’s a plan for me.  More to come on this!

$2,500 for American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life – This is a cause VERY near and dear to my heart.  I was fortunate to be Co-Captain on an amazing team (The Pineapple Avengers) for 2 years, and we raised over $25,000.  Although I can’t Captain anymore (it is a Northern VA based team and I’m in NJ), I am honored to still be a part of it and want to use this as a vehicle to raise money for our awesome cause.

PINEAPPLE!

So there you have it – full accountability.  And, for those that have asked, I have a few more goals as well… in areas such as relationships, family, spirituality, professional and personal… and hopefully, as those come to fruition I’ll be privileged to share them with you.

This is gonna be a BIG year for Blubber To Runner… y’all just WAIT.

wait, maybe its better to say it will be a ‘SMALLER’ year. 🙂

We’ve all heard the term.  You’re so happy that you just don’t care about anything else because, dammit, YOU’RE HAPPY.  It’s a figure of speech.

Wait… It IS a figure of speech, right???

I mean think about it – figures of speech actually COME from something tangible, at least at one point in time, right?  Nobody says ‘I’m as happy as an Orange!’ because no one knows if oranges are, in fact, happy.  (They do, however, know they can be annoying.)  The phrase ‘Fat and Happy’ actually comes from the science world, and is described in better detail HERE.

When you put yourself in a public forum the way I have chosen to, what you do and how you do get put under the proverbial microscope.  That’s not a bad thing… it’s why I started this blog – so I could have people help me stay accountable.  Well, when it gets to this time of year, and things start to slow down tremendously.

And, in my case, they damn near stopped.  Why?  I think, in many ways, it’s because I got ‘Fat and Happy’

I was losing weight at a great clip… met an amazing woman… completing new challenges left and right… than I just decided to stop.  Why?  I don’t know – but I was happy.  Races were done because it started getting colder out.  Holidays came around which means more time spent on eating, shopping, shopping & eating.  Plus, the bed’s A LOT more comfortable when it’s pitch black at 7am.  Add that to me being pretty damn happy, and I said to myself ‘hey, that’s cool… I’ll get back at it tomorrow.’

Well, I’ve said ‘tomorrow’ A LOT the last month or so.

And that’s where, for me, the problem starts.  I got back into that mindset that I can start and stop this process at will… and that’s simply not the case.  Why is that?  Because for this to work, it has to be a complete lifestyle change.  Seriously – how many times have I said that here before!  I’m not on a diet. This isn’t my off-season.  I need to watch what I eat and be physically active every single day for the rest of my life because THAT is what is necessary for me to stay healthy.

For some people that’s not the case.  Unfortunately I’m not some people.

And you know what?  That’s OK… I’ve done ‘Fat and Happy’, and it’s not a good look for me.  I’m gonna try and create a new figure of speech to live by… gonna be real close to ‘Fat and Happy’ too.

‘Fit and Happy’ has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?  ‘Fit and Happy’ is where it’s at in 2013.  Better workouts, cooler events… because FIT beats FAT every single time… even when it comes to being happy.

Seriously, how many times have you thought/ heard/ said something like that?  Well,  now that exact concept has been brought to life, via my favorite invention ever…

No, not Candy Cane Tootsie Pops… THE INTERNET.

It’s called DietBet and it’s a pretty simple concept – you put a pre-established amount of money into a pot and, in 1 month are required to lose 4% of your body weight.  Whoever does it splits the pot.

Yeah, that’s it.  Really.

Think about it – in order to not lose your money, lose weight!  Plus, if you stick to it, you’re more than likely gonna make more than your money back!

So I’m putting this up today for y’all – it’s group I was invited to join – and joined :).  Several of my friends have already joined also, and the pot is over $4,400 at this point.

DietBet | Roni’s New Year’s DietBet (#4764) | $20 Bet | Jan 2 – Jan 29.

Lose weight & win money… besides playing a slot machine on a treadmill or winning The Biggest Loser, how else can you do both?

(PS – No, I will not take a picture of myself running on a treadmill playing the Hamburger Girl slot at The Borgata…)