Sunday, November 28, 2010

Day 2

Today, I went to a cycling class at the gym for 45 min. Eating was a 5 out of 10. We went out to dinner and i ate kinda shitty

I ate:

- bread/butter
- 1 cheesy rice ball
- fried calamari
- 2 servings of pizza
- 1/2 serving of tirimasu
- 1/2 of a cannoli

Tomorrow, I know I can have a good breakfast and solid dinner. My challanges will be packing a good lunch and going out for Monday night football.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Ok, It's been a long time

Well, it's been some time since my last post.

I'm gettting back on the wagon. Today was a good day for workingout, I hit the gym. This will make two days this week. Next weeking I'm going to go to one class with my wife, lift twice, and swim twice.

Eating kind of sucked. I eat thanksgiving leftovers for lunch and then snacked on an entire bag of crackers.

Today, I played some basketball, and then I hit the punching bag for a while. Like 20 min or so. Overall, I worked out for 45 min.

Tomorrow starts the first day of a new week.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Took The Bike For a Walk



It's a great day for a bike ride. My bike didn't haven't any air in the tires so I walked it to the corner to the gas station. Unfortunately, about 2 mins after blowing up the front tire, it was flat again. No big deal. I was looking forward to biking, but it turned out to be a nice 2 mile walk with the bike.

It shows how important it is to know what can go wrong during a race. I've read 100 different places that you need to know how to handle your everyday bike related malfunctions. I don't even know how to replace a bike tire on the fly. I'm going to look it up on youtube. If this happened during the race, I would be screwed.

Over all, it was a very nice morning.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Being Prepared


Being prepared is the biggest piece to the puzzle. I'm very excited about this new Tupperware set I got from Wegman's. They are the perfect size. They fit great the cooler I bought. I can even fit my protein shake and my water bottle. I have the day off tomorrow, but I know I'll be running around all day, and I want to get some good food in.



I packed a nice sandwich on wheat bread with turkey, sprouts, lettuce, Swiss cheese, and mustard. I packed pretzels, grapes, an orange, and a few pickles. For a 10 am snack, I brought a yogurt.

My goal is to drink one 32 oz Nalgene before noon, a second 32 oz Nalgene before 6pm, and a third Nalgene before 10 pm.

For the breakfast, I'll have 2 eggs, oatmeal, and some apples sauce.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

4 Miles Here I Come

Heading out the Door for 4 miles. Walking the first one and running the last 3.

Maybe it will do me some good and get some of this fluid moving and out of my lungs.

Check back in afterwards.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Past Burdends Lead to Future Stumbles

"It's hard to achieve your own greatness when you're burdened by your failings. It's hard to fulfill your dreams when you carry your mistakes around in your pockets like old lint- in your wallet, in your mind... Many of you are still carrying around your shortcomings from last week, last month. From decades ago. You can't look forward if you're still looking back, especially if you're staring back at what went wrong, how you stumbled. Nothing good comes of that.....There's too much good for you left to conquer, too much greatness yet to achieve. Don't walk right by it because you're looking back"

~ Roy S. Johnson
Men's Fitness May 2010

"Recovery is a process, like learning to ride a bike, ice skate, or ski. You may have to try several times to break an addiction before you finally succeed. Even then, you may have a slip, especially in the beginning. But if you don't give up, you'll eventually see progress and even start to enjoy the recovery process. So practice just a letting yourself "be". If you fall down in the first stage of abstinence, simply get back up, brush yourself off, and try again- but this time make sure you get more help and support"

~ Arnold Washton Ph.D.
Willpower's Not Enough.

I have 2 min to put my thoughts down on this posting because I've got be disciplined and stick to my schedule.

I have a vision of who I am. I am constantly looking back at my past failings or feeble attempts of accomplishing my goals. In the back of my mind, I see myself as the guy that trys hard for a little while and ends of giving up. Well, the more I think about it, it's the "back of my mind" and I can see anything I want to see. I see myself as the type of person that I know I am. Strong willed, determined and in control of my life.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

2 Mile Walk

I've been trying to get over this cold for over a week now. It's really taking me down a peg. I've adjusted my workouts.

I'm still going to the gym, but I'm not running. Last time I ran, my cold symptoms got much worse. So, I'll walk my workouts instead of running. This way I'm still getting outside and building the routine that I need to develop.

Eating has been a B-. Still pretty good, but not perfect (getting much better).

Monday, March 29, 2010

Monday





Hit the gym with Phil and did chest and triceps

Dumbbell press/ Incline Hammer Strength/ Pec-Deck/ Dips/ Triceps Extensions/ Press Downs.

I was going to have Phil take a few before pictures of me in the locker room, (for my personal records). The locker room isn't all that big at the gym, and there was some guy taking a shower in the back. That situation could be dangerously miss interpreted.

There are few things most people would not want to hear or see when showering in a public place. Topping the list for most people would be hearing the shutter sound of a camera and seeing lights of a flash over the shower curtain.

Seeing that I didn't want to have my camera broken, my ass kicked, and both Phil and I excommunicated from the gym, I figured that I would wait to have some before pics taken at a later time.

Over all, I felt really good today in the gym. I hit some good reps with the right amount of weight. I can see that I'm tapping into that muscle memory that I was praying was still there. I can see some muscle shape under that layer of padding that I'm carrying around. Makes me a little excited. As soon as I get some of those extra pounds off, I'll have a nice base to work with.

I weighed myself today and I'm at 248 LBS.

Chest/ Triceps

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Pumped and Ready To Go



I'm feeling really good about my run today. I went to Dick's Sporting Goods and bought some Under Armor cause it's still pretty cold here.

I got black bottoms, a white top, and a black hat . . . other than the fact that I look like a double stuffed oreo cookie, I'm pretty excited.

I covered up with some looser fitting close and I ran 2 miles, which is a good start. Right around the 1 mile mark, I started to feel really good. Like I was in the swing of things. Check out the link

http://www.buddyrunner.com/joe.zanghi50

Workout:
2 mile Run
27 min and 30 Sec
14 min miles (weak!!!)

Here's the thing. Everyone who enjoys running has to enjoy that moment when they are completely out of steam and they are just running on will power alone. I imagine that's why people run for distance. For a well trained triathlete, that moment of exhaustion comes after running a much greater distance than I run. For me, that point comes around mile 2 or 3. It takes a great triathlete 20 miles to get to that point, and it take me 2 miles to get there, but when we get there we are the same. We are facing the same challenges and we must muster up the same amount of willpower to continue to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Even if we fast forward 3 years and I'm running 10-20 miles at a time, I'm still going to get to that moment of fight or flight and the battle is still going to be the same. So, I can never really be discouraged with only running 2-3 miles at a time, but I'm slowly learning to live in that moment and enjoy that I can win these small battles and push my body to that limit.

The reward is the same....total satisfaction

Triathlon Song - Motivation to get in shape

Wow, this is a really good video. The video is much more motivating than the song.

This guy started out at 227 lbs. and totally turned his life around by training for triathlons. I'm currently heavier than him when he started out, but still . . . . if he can do it, so can I.

High Fructose Corn Syrup Was The Bump in My Road




It's almost like a switch gets flipped in my mind and all of the sudden I'm off the wagon with eating. I'm doing great but then a thought comes up in my mind about eating bad food and I give in without a fight. It's funny. Sometimes just talking about a type of food will set off some burning need to have it.

I'm coming to realize that high fructose corn syrup is the devil. I've heard it from many different people and I've seen plenty of specials on TV, but I'm really starting to see the connection between high fructose corn syrup and the times when I really fall off the wagon. It's like giving a recovering coke addict a pinch of cocaine, and watching their whole world spin out of control.

The last TV special I saw about high fructose corn syrup was that it contains a chemical that targets a specific part of your brain that controls hunger. Our brain keeps saying that we want food even when we're not hungry. Does this sound familiar to anyone?

Here's my most recent experience with this. For the last two days, I've been doing great with preparing meals. Both days, I brought a very balanced lunch. I packed plenty of fruits, veggies, protein, and good quality carbs. Each day, I also packed a "dessert" which was a 100 calorie. The first day, I brought mini-chocolate chip cookies, which did not contain corn syrup. At the end of my meal, I ate the cookies and felt great. They met my craving for something crunchy and sweet and left me feeling great. On the second day, I brought the rice crispy treat, which the 2nd or 3rd ingredient is high fructose corn syrup. That's when the switch went off in my mind. I could almost instantly feel a rush going through my body and I wanted MORE!! I went into a tail spin with eating... I had to get more junk food, and I did.

Now, I'm fully aware that there most likely were more variables in my day than just a rice krispy treat. The tail spin that unfolded was nothing I'm proud of. I gave in to each temptation that my mind could think of. I went to Tom Whals and got a large milkshake. After work, I went to taco bell. When I rented a movie, I bought 2 candy bars, and after I ate all of that I ate 3 of the mini rice krispy treats.

I'll have to review the day as it unfolded. It might help to have what was going through my mind at each "cave in of willpower" written down on paper. I'll have to get on that.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Hit the Gym but Missed My Tri Workout

It really comes down to being prepared. I have to have the propper clothing to workout outside in poor weather. I went to Dick's but I forgot my wallet.

I have tomorrow off, and it should be a nicer day. It was scheduled as an off day, but I'll be on the road getting my run/bike done.

Eating Plan



9am:

- 2 eggs
- 2 Whole Wheat Waffles
- Strawberries and Banana
- Syrup


12pm:

- Chicken Salad Sandwich
(on wheat w/ cut up apple bits, lettuce, and mixed with mayo)
- Remaining Apple
- Koshi Crackers
- 2 oz of Cheese

3pm

- Yogurt

4:30pm:

- Healthy Choice Chicken Marsala/ Pasta/ veggies Dinner
- Side Salad
- Rice Kripies 100 Cal Snack

8pm:

- Orange

10pm:

- Protein Shake

Good Breakfasts



These are the types of breakfasts that taste good but are still pretty healthy.

I got wheat waffles from the natures market, banana, strawberries, fat free cool whip, and eggs on the side.

I've got my lunch packed for the day, and I'm leaving for the gym now.

But Its Raining



I ate perfect today, with the exception of some cheese and crackers at around 9pm (pretty late for a snack).

I think the main problem was that I missed my protien shake. I get so hungry at night. I have to get that shake in.

I drank a good amount of water. 3 nalgenes.

Finally, it was RAINING and I missed my run... It was party because I was lazy. I had a lot of excuses. I didn't want to run because it was raining and I have a cold. I couldn't go to the gym because my key tag for door doesn't work yet so I couldn't go after 7pm or so. People were playing basketball at the webster field house and I couldn't run.

EXCUSES, EXCUSES, EXCUSES!!!

Good day for eating, but a bad day for motivating myself to get to the gym.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

DAY #1



Day number 1 is on for tomorrow.

Workout: 15 min run (pm)

Water: Drink 1 Nalgene between 7am and 12pm / a 2nd between 12p&6pm/ 3rd between 6pm&Midnight.

Eating:

7 am:
- 1/2 cup of Oatmeal
- Banana
- Strips of Bacon
- Cup of Coffee

10am:
-Yogurt

2pm:
- Tuna Sandwich on Wheat Toast
(tuna mixed w/ carrots, onion, celery, relish, mayo)
- side salad (yorgut blue-cheese dressing)
- small bowl of Split Pea Soup

4pm:
- Pear

6pm:
- Grilled Chicken Breast
- Sweet Potato
- Serving of Mixed Veggies

9pm:
- Protein Shake

10pm:
- Cup of Green Tea

Eating for Week 1

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

I usually get bored with eating plans. I get sick of eating the same thing over and over again. This time, I thought of, and wrote down, 7 breakfast ideas/ lunch ideas/ and dinner ideas. This way i get some variety.

Instead of typing out the entire week all at once, I think I'll have more success by writing out what i plan on eating for the next day.

Not only will this help me keep track of what I'm eating, but it will also help me plan for the day.

Friday, March 19, 2010

Goals for Week 1

The Swim/Bike/Run workouts are from a training program that I found online. It's a great program and breaks everything down. Checkout the link.

http://www.trinewbies.com/tno_trainingprograms/10wtp.pdf

It seem kind of easy (running 15 min). Usually, I run for 30 min and feel good, but I'll follow the program.

Workout

Mon: Run 15 min

Tues: Gym (Chest)
Bike 5 miles

Wed: Swim 200 yards
Gym (Tricep & Shoulders)

Thur: Gym (Back)
15 min run

Fri: Gym (legs)

Sat: Run 15 min

Sun: Bike 5 miles
Gym Biceps/ forearms

Back from Florida

Well, I didn't run as much as I said I was going to, but I did work out 3 of the 5 days I was down there. That's an improvement.

Eating in Florida was awful. When visiting Gram, it's almost impossible to eat healthy.

First day back was a little bumpy. I haven't hit the gym or worked out yet, and my eating has been ok. On a scale of 1-10 my eating has been like a 5. Not really eating planned meals, but at the same time I'm eating pretty healthy.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Going to the GYM.3gp



(Note: I'm fully aware that I'm punching my fist like a crazy person)

I always tell myself that I'm going to do something, but most of time it's just talk.

I'm very happy that I worked out twice in one day. A little cardio this morning followed by some weights at night.

It may seem like a small accomplishment, but I need these small victories if I want to reach my goal.

The only one stopping me has been me. Time to take charge!!!

Rocky - Music Video

Here's a great video that my Aunt sent me.



PS. I want a dog to run with

Going to Florida


Going to Florida is going to be a huge challenge. Each time I go, I tell myself that I'm going to run every morning, hit the workout room, and do push ups and sit ups. What actually happens is that I do it for the first day, and then say screw it. I eat like crap and not lift a finger.... I even refuse to go on walks.

The worst part is that I really cut loose with the eating. I go nuts. I tell myself that I'm on VAC and so I'm allowed to go to town on the junk food because I'll workout twice as hard when I get back....guess what...I never workout when i get back.

Here's the program for Florida.

2 mile run each day.... is that too much to ask? I think I can do it... we'll see

Day 1

Well, today is day number 1. As of 3pm, there's no too many successes to talked about for day.

I did go for a walk today. I have a cool app on my phone that tracks my GPS location and shows me how far, how fast, and where I ran/ walked on google maps. Check the link out bellow.

Workout:

2.19 mile walk
43 minutes
19 min miles (yes, i was loafing it but wasn't planning on starting a blog)



http://www.buddyrunner.com/zangs50


Eating Plan:

12pm: 2 home made egg sandwiches.
3pm: Orange
5pm: Polenta with ground beef, peppers, onions, and beans
6pm: Coffee
9pm: Protein Shake (2 Scoops)

I really want to go to the gym, but I'm lazy. I should hit up some chest real quick. It will only take 30 min or so.

This is where I take some accountability, I AM GOING!!!!

Bench: 4X8-10
Incline: 3x8-10
Pull Overs: 3x 8-10
Cables: 3x15

Shoulders
Military Press: 3x8-10
Front Raises: 3x12
Shrugs: 4x8

Let's Go Fat Boy


Alright, here it is. Another last ditch effort to get myself motivated and in shape.

I WANT TO GET IN SHAPE AND RUN A SPRINT TRIATHLON!!!

You might be asking yourself, how will sitting behind a computer get you any closer to your goal. The answer is: IT WONT. I've been doing that for the past couple of years and much to surprise, I've only gained weight.

Here's how it's going to work. This blog will be my own personal workout journal. I will document workouts, eating plans, updates, and goals.

I'm also thinking about posting before pictures, but something about posting scantily clad pictures of myself on the internet will only come back to haunt me.

So to all of you loyal followers (AKA Aunt Anna), get ready for the ride of your life. It's going to be a geek to sheek transformation of epic proportions.