Green and Gold

I am attening my first tournament of the 2008 season. A long way back, I posted about my first tourney and how I got rocked. There were several factors contributing to my obliteration. The first and foremost was the gallery. It is weird to have so many people watching your game. The good shots do not seem as good. The lucky shots seem like you needed that break, even though you control tempo and opponent position on the court. Bad shots seem horrible as if you do not belong on the court nor worthy of my entry.

The bottom line is you feel like a fish in a fishbowl. Well, I am at it again!!

This tourney will be different! I have entered two different events. Men's singles and Men's doubles. I skipped my previous entry for Men's 30-35 mainly since the players in that event are all well well above me in skill. I did not want to put any energy into them making me run like a dog just so they can still cream me. I thought it wise to do so...

The Green and Gold Tournament is being held at The University of South Florida. I'll post details after this weekend. Results; some play by play if interesting; and pics if they have them available.

Wish me luck!

300

No this post is not about the movie. Refer to an earlier post on the subject.

No this post is about another 300. My current weight. <1.29.2008>

I'd like to say a few words for the tier: It has been nice. I got to know you well. Mostly, you crept up on me slowly but silently in the wide open with a spot light on you... There are always benefits and I enjoyed most of them. I have no regrets. I can recall the ability to eat an entire NY style pizza. In the past, I could consume 10k+ calories and think nothing of it. I may do that again, but things will be really different if that comes to pass. 300, what I am getting at is... I have changed.

Now, I am done with you.

30 down... 105 to go. One day at a time. One meal at a time. One stair or rep at a time.

This weekend I had a great conversation about Triathlons. I have made a decision to complete one in 2008/2009. I will make it official about my registration once I have a race picked out. I am still not ready to just jump into one, so once a minor weight hurdle is met (I have three 275 -240 - and 220) I will choose the race.

I was advised to pick a race.
Ccount back 12 weeks and ask for the training program from my source.
Provide as much advance notice as possible and communicate my registration confirmation number.

~ A future post will outline what I need to do to make this goal a reality.

Perfect Dark Zero

Gamespot rated this game an over all 9.0, which is saying something. As one of the first games to come out for live, I have been impressed with the game play. It is fun, not overly complicated, straight forward killing. Not to mention, one of the best capture the flag games in sometime. The spawns are pretty far apart, so if you get killed defending the flag the offense will undoubtedly score, which is more than you can hope for. I can only tell you how many times on offense I enter, kill the defenders, and leave the base only to get run down and killed like a dog from other players unfit to play on the same field. (It happens more than you would imagine.) The Halo series, I know - how can I criticize my favorite game, is totally guilty of this, which is hard to believe for such a good game type on such a good game.

Perfect Dark Zero is getting some good points as well since it is still aggressively played... I have had little trouble getting people into games both created as well as pick up. I will comment that due to the relatively low price tag, I think this game is heavily used by non English speaking people. This is turning out to be yet another strength since I rarely say anything during a game. I have plenty of "It's not your fault!" opportunities, but I feel it falls on deaf ears with the language barrier so now I am just never speaking. (What a relief... to play like the old days and say nothing!!)

Good game and well worth the 8.99 price tag I payed for it used.

Burnout Paradise is my next purchase!

Good Times - Montreal

I was checking out a good friends album with the latest baptism picks for his son. (Wish I could have gone...)
I flew to Montreal from Tampa. That afternoon on a day we thought would be miserable the sun came out and we gathered at an outdoor Greek cafe. This trip was a great deal of fun... not to mention a well supported bachelor party!!


from left to right and around the tablet: (Chris, Manny, me, Manny, Tony, & George)

Weight Change

This week kicks off week three of my weight training. I am not really sure what I am training for, but this is a widely accepted phrase.

I have been keeping steady records of what I have done for reference and to understand weaknesses, which need to be addressed. As I warm up for a lifetime of tearing, ripping, and rebuilding, surprisingly, I feel very good with increased energy levels. Endorphins are at work in my body and they feel good!

RMR

Resting Metabolic Rate

Or the number of calories your body needs to burn every day at rest. To clarify, at rest means sitting all day like a couch potato. Anything less than your daily calorie intake needed for maintenance of your RMR is considered unhealthy, as you body will think it is a starvation period and horde fat. However, if you take in less calories than your desired RMR level coupled with specific exercise requirements you can stay in a weight loss zone.

That is where I am at. Since 1/3 I have been chugging along at 2k per day. Prior to 1/3, my intake was in the neighborhood of 5k-6k daily with similar although not nearly as regular exercise program. Clearly, I'm adding a couple of things to assist in the life style change, but for all intents and purposes... if I was not as active as I am... with those lofty calorie inputs... I'd be even bigger. Possibly.... Walter Hudson bigger.

Age: check
Gender: check
Height: 6' 3"
Weight: 314 (down from 330 on 1/3/2008)
Goal Weight: 195
BMI: 39.3

RMR: 2794 Cals

Maintenance Zone: 2794 - 3631
Weight Loss Zone: 2236 to 2794
Medically Supervised Zone: 0-2236

Like I said, I was chugging along at 2k and most days under that... still 16 pounds in a week in 2 days is a bit extreme, but several others things stopped and started in the same time frame. Here are some details:

1. Stairs vs Elevator - 4 story building and I work on the top floor. I take then up and down 4-5 times a day. Every day.
2. Bag the lunch - SAC is so wonderful as she has volunteered to put in the bag what I need... all I have to do is eat it. I do so outside via the stairs... working very well as I like the outdoor sun to bask in.
3. Racquetball: Status quo... but I have been gently pushing my output level on each play. (Push myself to cover the court on shots I know I normally do not move for... still for the extra effort and to see how far I am from getting to those elusive shots.)
4. Weight Training: Baby steps, my circuit includes triceps (universal), bench press (free weights), bicep curls (free weights), butterfly (universal), Lats (both front and back), and military press (free weights). This will be constantly mixed up in terms of machine or free weights also the way the muscle group is targeted. For all of these now, I am using an entry weight over four sets of ten reps with the final set covering as many reps as I can complete. In some cases, that is 20 reps especially on muscle groups I use for racquetball. Eventually, the weight will be increased in 10% - 12% intervals approximately 3 weeks apart. My target weight for bench press is 245 or 25% more than my target weight goal. I can pop 135 for a max press, but work with 85 pounds for set and rep goals. I have never worked with weights in my prior 34 years. I was pretty shocked with just how little I can sling under high rep/set intensity.
5. Cardio... taking a bit of a backseat since I am playing racquetball, I am going to start to incorporate a walk of 30 mins... broken up or all at once. Again.. baby steps.

See you soon.

The Daily Plate

This is a very cool site. Especially for someone that really is not in touch with what goes in versus what one would 'work out' on a daily/weekly/monthly basis.

So how would one try to calculate exactly how well or poorly they are doing with respect to food consumption and daily activities and exercise?

The Daily Plate website is the answer. www.thedailyplate.com

A friend showed me this site and I created my profile. Some of the cool attributes for someone like me who sticks to a pretty routine diet and exercise events are saved events and quick exchange of specific food items from a prior event group. Thus, you do not have to retype them daily. Just point and click and a previous event (you already spent a few mins updating with all the specifics needed) can be easily added to your daily event tracker.

Now, I must warn you that this list of events is pretty graphic. Even the events under "S" listing covers pretty much EVERYTHING you could imagine, it also shows the calorie amounts for certain events so you can be discreet and select something else... instead of the obvious choice. Another warning would need to include the suggested intake amounts depending on how much weight you want to lose. I needed to go to several other sites to assure myself the lofty calorie daily goal was correct. For sometime now, no not a resolution, I have been slowly dialing it back. Something about hitting the 330 weight mark (and my son's view - which I will get to later) did not sit well with me. So when I decided to change - that was it. Change completed! Sooner or later my beloved caught wind of it and she started helping, which is truly the source of any success I will have now or in the future. It is amazing how many choices there are in the food aisle, so if you choose wisely you can eat pretty normally and kill two birds with one stone. A life philosophy in my book, yes, but it works extraordinarily well in this weight loss thing.

Oh before I forget... this is not diet. I hate the word. I do not agree with its intent or its public image regarding what a diet really is saying. (You are too large and need to scale down.) It may be semantics and critics could argue to persuade me, but in the end I just do not agree with the label. I am changing so my kids will have every positive option in front of them. I do not want to hear (ever again) what my innocent you boy told me in early December... that was just a perfectly innocent outlook and word choice, yet it without question knocked me off my feet!

Back to the site, well this sucker puts in direct view exactly what I take in and burn off, so it leaves me with a strong sense of reality... something that could be easily cloaked without such a tool in my case.

Maybe more to come on this topic in the future... maybe not, but one thing is for sure. There will be a whole lot less of me whenever I hit my stride or equilibrium of physical fitness. Racquetball; weight training; never using an elevator; choosing my consumption wisely; and increased activity with my kids are my weapons of choice. I am strongly considering another mission.... but that will be decided later in 2008. I would need to consult with my west coast friends to successfully achieve that milestone if I elect that path.