Adjusting my Weight & Balance - Month 7

Two years ago today, I married my wonderful bride. Gina still puts up with - and participates in, without too much chagrin - my love of flying. She's quite the keeper. Love you babe!

Two years ago today, I was married to another, much less positive data point - my weight. It was nearly 40 lbs more than my scale reported this morning. I'm happy to have left that behind.

I'm now down over 30 lbs since April and weigh <5 lbs more than my all-time low, which was back in the summer of 2005 when I interned in Texas. That summer, I basically did nothing but work out (and also was not yet a consumer of good beer and wine...) and came home in tip-top shape. The next seven years consisted of a gradual but steady increase until I got my ass back in gear this spring.

So it's been a success. I've even started running over the past month. And I hate running. Come to discover, however, that losing 40 lbs puts a bit less strain on your legs! Biking is mostly out of the equation for the next few months since it's dark by the time I get home from work. So that leaves running - which is surprisingly not a bad cardio option - for the time being.

I've achieved the goal of "an hour of fuel" in weight loss in multiple aircraft. I can honestly say I have now gained an hour's worth via increased payload in the Champ, Cub, and 150. Don't think I can - or should - lose another 10 lbs to add the 172 to the list, though!

There aren't too many other numbers to update since last month. I know my waist and body fat are slightly smaller/less but I honestly haven't measured them in a while. It's an extremely hectic month between work, homework, and travel/holidays so that will have to wait a little longer.

As for flying, the aforementioned full plate hasn't left much time for airplanes. Plus we've reached the annual few months of long nights and short days; unless I leave work early or take a vacation day, weekends are really the only time I can fly. So it might be a little while before I make it down to Stewart again. Still, I'm hoping to hit 300 hours by December 31st...

P.S. For those of you who like to pick nits, yes, I realize my all-time low was many, many years ago. But I'm just counting my adult life, not my hefty <6 lbs at birth. ;-)

Adjusting my Weight & Balance - Month 6

I've gained an hour of flight time! What the heck am I talking about? Well, I'm down nearly 30 lbs since April - and just over 35 lbs from last summer, my all-time high - and most planes I fly burn around 6 gallons (36 lbs) of 100LL per hour. That also means I'm quite close to my original target weight, which was 150 lbs.

Since my last update in August, I've maintained a decent workout schedule. I've also spent a ton of time in the backyard landscaping and moving stone; that burns plenty of calories, too! Since I've been making steady progress I have allowed myself a few unhealthy meals here and there. Overall, I'm still monitoring my calories daily and sticking to an intake that should result in losing about one pound per week.

Biking is still my exercise of choice. I've ridden 422 miles in 2013 - most recently, 82 in August, 77 in September, and 32 so far in October. Gina and I sometimes ride down to a little ice cream shop in Springboro (about 10 miles roundtrip) and I do plenty of high-intensity riding on my own for pure calorie-burning.

The results certainly speak for themselves - since April, I've:

• Lost 11.4% body fat
• Gained 6.5% muscle mass
• Lost 4.75" around my waist
• Lost 3" around my hips
• Lost 1.25" around my neck

Now, I'm certainly not complaining about any of that. In fact, I'm quite happy with it as you can probably imagine. But it does bear noting the one major drag of all this - essentially none of my clothes fit. I already had to buy a few new pairs of pants a few months ago and now those are definitely too big! Since I still hope to lose another 5-10 lbs (though I expect to gain some back as I build more muscle) I'm hoping I can hold off on any major purchases until everything stabilizes.

So that's where things stand today. Lots of great progress that I'm definitely proud of. Hitch is installed on the car but I still haven't purchased the bike rack - might wait until spring at this point. Feeling much healthier and less lethargic. And in serious need of going clothes shopping!

Adjusting My Weight & Balance - Month 4*

Since I last checked in, I've managed to lose another 6-8 lbs. We've taken a couple trips (camping, Napa) where I've allowed myself the luxury of not following a strict diet. Not that I've fallen off the horse or anything - but I think I've earned a few days' pause here and there.

I've been flirting with crossing the 160 lb threshold for about a week now. The aforementioned trip to Napa certainly didn't help. Hopefully I'll cross it - for good - in the next week or so. All the travel has also kept me from exercising as much as I'd like - sometimes there are simply things you have to do around the house when you're home!

I'm less than 10 lbs from my target weight, though I'm not unhappy where I'm at. At this point I need to start more strength exercises (though I will certainly continue the cardio on my bike!) to help gain more muscle mass. I think that'll be the final step towards reaching the ultimate goal.

I've been making relatively steady progress all year long!

Beyond counting the pounds, there has been some other measurable progress. My waist is about 3" less than April - which is quite obvious. I already had to buy new pants and now the new pants are getting too loose. Not complaining but, as you can imagine, I've been holding off on buying too many clothes until things stabilize! I'm also down 8-10% body fat in the same time period.

The hitch for the car should be delivered soon as well. With that in hand - and the bike rack I still need to buy - it'll be much easier to ride the other trails in the region. I'm looking forward to it!

*If we're counting from when I restarted this whole process, it's been about 4 months, so that's going to be the datum point from here on out.

Adjusting My Weight & Balance - Month 27

So, about that whole weight-loss plan I first wrote about back in 2011. Uhh, whoops? Needless to say, I win zero awards for blog posting follow-through.

Since then we've gotten married, traveled a bit, and I've certainly done plenty of flying. What I haven't done - at least until recently - is stick to much of a workout schedule. Hopefully this post is the (second) first of many. I certainly don't want to go 27 months between updates again! Oof.

On a much more positive note, I have made real progress this year. I'm down over 15 lbs since I wrote that post two years ago; I've actually lost over 10 lbs since mid-April! That means I have another 15 lbs to go to reach my ultimate goal - but it's not too far off.

I'm not using the gym much now that the weather's nice. Instead, I've been riding my bike a ton more. Since I started tracking my rides last summer with Endomondo (it's an awesome, free service - totally recommend it!) I've logged over 300 miles. I rode 58 miles in April and managed 74 miles in May despite an insanely hectic schedule.

I've always hated running (plus I'm flat-footed, so it's not very comfy) but I love a good bike ride. Our house is relatively close to the area's absolutely awesome trail system. It's just over 10 miles round-trip to/from the closest point on the trail. From there, I can ride almost anywhere, though I usually go 5-10 miles further towards the nearest towns. My next step is to get a hitch/bike rack for my car so I can hop on the trails at other points.

Beyond the exercise, the biggest thing that's helped me is tracking my food intake. It's so obvious, yet always seemed like it would be a pain in the ass. Turns out it's really not that bad. I've been using MyFitnessPal, which has both an app for my phone and a web interface. Just like with personal finance and budgeting, awareness truly is key. Recording what I eat and keeping it in front of me on a daily basis has absolutely made a difference. MFP is another free service I can't recommend highly enough.

So that's where things currently stand. I presume nobody cares too much, since I didn't get any crap for the lack of updates after that initial post, but maybe I underestimate my readers... ;-)

Adjusting My Weight & Balance - Month 1

In stark contrast to my recent infrequency at updating this blog, I've actually been working my tail off on the ground. Somewhat literally! That is, I've worked some of me off... though I've always been tail-less.

Going back about 5 1/2 years, I was interning and living in Texas for the summer. That's pretty much the only time in my life I worked out regularly and I was in great shape by the end of those 3 months. I weighed around 145 lbs when I moved back to Michigan to start my Junior year at Western Michigan University.

Fast-forward to a month ago and, after close to 4 years of employment and semi-frequent business travel, I was up to about 190 lbs. I've said for years that I should start working out again but always pushed it off - until I finally decided enough was enough. I can't deny that having a wedding in November to look good at was extra motivation but I truly want to get back into shape for the health reasons.

So about a month ago I started a schedule of working out regularly and attempted to better monitor and moderate my diet. I'm fortunate that we have a gym at the office, so it's helpful that I can tell myself I'm not going home until I've worked out. The first couple weeks took some extra mental motivation to get into the groove but I'm now operating in a routine.

What do I do? It's pretty simple, actually. Every day I warm up with 5 minutes on the elliptical and then I stretch for 5-10 minutes. Then I hop back on the elliptical for 45 minutes of cardio on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I only do 30 minutes of cardio on Tuesday and Thursday, but I follow that with about 45 minutes of weights. At some point every day I get in a bunch of reps focusing on my abs - incline situps, Captain's Chair lifts, etc. I've also tried to pack a healthy lunch every day with a turkey or ham sandwich, carrots, apple or oranges, yogurt and a granola bar.

The results have been pretty good to date. I weigh myself daily and measure my waist weekly to track my progress. In the past four weeks, I've already lost about 6-7 lbs and 1 inch. My goal is to end up around 150 lbs but I'll be happy if the weight is slightly higher from increased muscle mass. However, I absolutely want to get down below 160 lbs in the next 6 months.

You may be wondering why I'm posting this on the blog. I suppose there are three main reasons. One is that sharing progress in public with these kinds of things helps keep you on track - and I fully want and expect to hear crap from people if I start slacking off! There's also the fact that I occasionally share random thoughts on here even if they're not aviation-related. Finally, as any pilot who regularly flies a 150 can attest, shedding a few pounds can significant help aircraft performance!