It’s the second day of the year and I decided to get my baseline measurements (see below). After ballooning to my biggest size and heaviest weight, I’ve decided that I need to go back to square one. I need to re-learn everything… The discipline, the perseverance, and the determination to stay fit and healthy.

Knowing how to cook and loving all sorts of food made gaining weight so quick. Add that to having your butt stuck to the chair reading and reviewing thousands of pages in preparation for the Philippine Bar Exam, I’m not surprised I ballooned to size 38-39 and am not at a whopping 240lbs.

The most difficult thing about trying to re-lose weight is that I have to concede to the fact that I have to start from square one. I can’t just go out and do a 10K. Nor can I do interval training and do 400s, 800s or 1200s. My muscles need to re-aquatinted with the movement, the motion and the speed.

Aside from that I also need to re-learn how to eat properly. I’m not talking about utensils or chewing with my mouth closed but rather eating the right kind of  food. We all know what types of food we should avoid yet we still continue to eat them… Fatty, oily, sweet… UNHEALTHY.

In the coming days, weeks, and months, I will be writing about my journey back onto the road to healthy living. Hopefully, it will be a one-way trip. I don’t want to ever come back to this state.

Measurement Date & Time : January 02, 2012 – 05:30 PM

NOTES:

1. Measurements were made using a tape measure and around the areas at their widest.
2. The waist measurement is the circumference taken from the navel all-around.
3. The hip measurement is the circumference around the hip joints.

I’ve decided to join the “LOSE BIG” program of Fitness First. The weigh in will start tomorrow at 6:00pm. It is a rigorous 13-week program. I will be joining other people who have the same goal of “losing big”. We will then be grouped into two teams, the BLUE and RED teams. It will probably be in the same format as the popular TVshow, “The Biggest Loser“.

There will be winners for each Fitness First branch. The winners from each branch will then battle it out with the other winners from the other branches nationwide. The over-all winner *might* win a trip to Boracay this summer and receive a cash prize, though nothing has been announced yet. I’m looking forward to find out what the mechanics will be.

In preparation for the event, I’ve decided to take my measurements. This was something that I used to do…

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Related links:

“My Trainers Are Gone”
“I’m where I left off…”
“The Biggest Loser”
“40 Days and 40 Nights”

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Measurement Date & Time : January 16, 2011 – 01:30 AM

NOTES:

1. Measurements were made using a tape measure and around the areas at their widest.
2. The waist measurement is the circumference taken from the navel all-around.
3. The hip measurement is the circumference around the hip joints.

I’m not so sure how they took my measurements at the Palms Country Club because my waist is smaller than my hips in those measurements. Either way, those are my measurements above.

For the past two weeks, I’ve been keeping track of my workout at the gym and also of ALL the food that I eat. It helps me get an idea if I need to step things up or not.

We are now in 2011 and I’m sure a good number of us have started making New Year’s Resolutions. On the top of almost everyone’s list is that they will hit the gym more, lose weight, start on a new diet. More often than not, a lot of people like myself will make these commitments, stick to them for a few weeks or even a month or two and then eventually… go back to their old habits.

I figure that the best way to avoid this situation is to not make resolutions, commitments or promises we all know we can’t keep. We have to be reasonable to ourselves, and set goals that are SMART. (I’m sure we’ve heard of SMART goals before). Our goals should be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely.

I’m no expert on these things but I figure that it would make sense to target what it is exactly I want to achieve. Instead of saying “I want to lose weight” I should say something like, “I want to lose 50 lbs.”

It’s not enough that I have a definite goal, it also makes sense to cut it up in segments. Saying something like, “I’ll start with 5lbs this week.” It will allow me to measure to measure my progress. It could easily say, “I’ll lose 10lbs or 15 lbs” but based on experience, it doesn’t seem that realistic. I should set my goals within reach, they should be both attainable and realistic.

Most important of all, I figure that I should put a time limit on my goal. If it’s too far, I might just lose interest. If it’s near enough, it’s easier to push myself to keep my eye on the target.

GOAL: Lose 50 lbs
PERIOD: March 31, 2011
PRIZE: Trip to Palawan

On December 19, I will be holding the Run For Change Culminating Run. It’s a way of thanking runners for supporting us in our events for the past year. Just to recap, we had the following:

1. Takbo Juan: One Run. One Vote. One Nation – February 24
2. Takbo Para sa PGH – April 25
3. Takbo PAA! – St. Luke’s Pediatric Alumni Assoc. Fun Run – May 23
4. Run, Run For Children’s Fun II – June 20
5. UP Law Dean’s Cup: The Second Annual Invitational Triathlon & Fun Run – August 1
6. Run To Read – August 15
7. Chinabank 90th Anniversary Fun Fest – August 15 (exlcusive to Chinabankers)
8. Athletes’ Feat – September 26
9. Rhythm ‘N Run – November 14

This run will be our 10th event for the year, making it all the more special. As we celebrate our 10th race for the year, I can’t help but look back at why I began run for change in the first place.

While running…

I remember it was sometime in April of 2008 that the idea of Run For Change first came to be. I had been running for 4 months already and had participated in around 6 races. I thought to myself that I can’t just be running. I should be running in some direction, or running with a purpose. It can’t just be running for running sake.

to be continued…

It’s 3:30 in the morning and I couldn’t sleep. I’ve been craving for something to eat but I couldn’t put my finger on it… Until I got the urge to have some pancakes. Out of nowhere, I got a craving for bacon, sausages and pancakes! [Maybe because it was what Jack Nicholson was having for breakfast in the movie "As Good As It Gets" which was showing on HBO].

I got out of bed, went to the kitchen and opened the pantry. I couldn’t find any “one step” pancake mix… What to do? OH! I spotted some flour, baking soda… Why not make pancakes from scratch?! Though I’ve never tried it before,  I decided to give it a try.

I went back to my room, got on the net and keyed in the keywords: “pancake recipe from scratch” and lo and behold, a link to AllRecipes.com showed it. It was a link to “Good Old Fashioned Pancakes“. The picture was mouthwatering:

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