JDPFu.com 2025

In May 2010, I decided to lose a little weight for an Aug 1 occasion. Ok, perhaps not really a little. Anyway, I’ve made some progress since then.

Monthly   Total Lost
05/20/10  0
06/20/10  7.5
07/20/10  11
08/20/10  27
09/20/10  32.5

A few thoughts on health care reform.

Background

1. I pay for private insurance as an individual
2. I have a high deductible plan. Anything under $5K a year is my problem with ZERO insurance involvement.
3. In the last 18 months, I’ve had ZERO health claims or non-routine doctor visits.
4. My rate for coverage has gone up over 30% in the last 18 months.
5. I’m healthier now than when I first signed up since I’ve lost some weight and lead a much more active lifestyle.

I came across a new diet tip that seemed to speak the truth.
See? Perfect solution.

I’ve been stuck the last few months at the same weight. Since November, I’ve lost about 60 lbs, so losing weight is something I thought I’d figured out. Guess not. In fact, I’d planned to increase my physical activity after losing another 20 lbs – total of 80 – to begin the get ripped process.

Ok, so by chance I’ve seen a few web sites that will help me get back on track (Hershey, PA didn’t help any either).

1. http://HundredPushups.com/ – I’m doing this.

Wk 1 (Col3) Day 1	10	10	8	6	7+	60 sec rest
	        Day 2	12	12	10	10	10+	90 sec rest
	        Day 3	15	13	10	10	15+	120 sec rest
Wk 2 (Col3) Day 1	12	12	9	7	10+	60 sec rest
	        Day 2	16	13	11	11	15+	90 sec rest
	        Day 3	15	15	12	12	15+	120 sec rest
Test		???					
Wk 3 (Col3) Day 1	25	17	17	15	25+	60 sec rest
	        Day 2	27	19	19	15	25+	90 sec rest
	        Day 3	30	22	22	20	27+	120 sec rest
Wk 4 (Col3) Day 1	27	20	20	17	27+	60 sec rest
	        Day 2	27	21	21	18	25+	90 sec rest
	        Day 3	30	22	22	20	29+	120 sec rest
Test		???					
Wk 5 (Col3) Day 1	40	32	30	25	40+	60 sec rest
                Day 2	20	18	15	14	40+	90 sec rest
                Day 3	18	16	14	12	40+	120 sec rest
Wk 6 (Col3) Day 1	56	45	42	40	56+	60 sec rest
                Day 2	30	25	25	22	56+	90 sec rest
                Day 3	27	23	23	20	56+	120 sec rest
Final Test		???					

1. Lifehacker Article
2. From Couch to 5K in 6 weeks

    Week 1:
        * Mon. 5 min run with 5 min cool down (start small, more on this later)
        * Wed. 5 min run with 5 min cool down (Your cool down can always be a 5 min walk)
        * Fri. 10 min run, cool down
    Week 2:
        * Mon. 7 min run, cool down
        * Wed. 7 min run, cool down
        * Fri. 15 min run, cool down
    Week 3
        * M: 12 min run, cool down
        * W: 15 min run, cool down
        * F: 20 min run, cool down
    Week 4
        * M: 15 min run, cool down
        * W: 18 min run, cool down
        * F: 25 min run, cool down
    Week 5
        * M: 20 min run, cool down
        * W: 25 minute run, cool down
        * F: 30 min. run, cool down
    Week 6
        * M: 15 min run, cool down
        * W:20 min run, cool down
        * F: 10 min run, cool down
        * Sat/Sun. Go race!
3rd) Execute your plan.

1. Run a marathon in 18 weeks
2. How to hack a marathon
3. ShovelGlove Workout throwing a sledge hammer around
   1. Shoveling
   2. Churning Butter
   3. Chopping wood
   4. All the movements
   5. Someone else is doing it too
4. No S Diet
5. How to get 6-pak abs

Red Top Mountain
Overview

1. Homestead Trail Mileage: 4.4 miles total (which doesn’t match the 5.4 mils from the last time I did this exact trail)
2. Total Time: 1:30 with stops for photos. I’m getting into significantly better shape.
3. This was my first hike since returning from both Costa Rica and Argentina, I expected knee problems and didn’t have any – not even a pop. Two months ago, I was 13 lbs heavier. That doesn’t sound like much and I certainly haven’t been losing weight like I did the non-travel months. Since returning from Buenos Aires, I’ve struggled to follow my calorie restrictions, exercise and stop eating after 7pm. The BsAs lifestyle didn’t allow for any of that.
4. Back to Red Top Mtn – spring has fully sprung. The trail was full of green and about 10 butterflies. The butterflies were nothing like Iguazu Falls or Costa Rice in either density or coloration, but they were still nice to see in the mid-afternoon.
5. No insect bites at all – no DEET on either.
6. My boots, purchased at Blackcomb Mountain in British Columbia, are starting to show some wear. With my weight loss, the boots fit much better and I’ve changed from liner hiking socks to medium-cush hiking socks. Another 20 lbs down and I’ll need the heavy-cush socks.

Noticeable Sights
The main thing to see is that Lake Allatoona isn’t low anymore. According to the Corps of Engineers site, 840’ is the normal lake level in summer and considered full at that level. Wikipedia Article Paths that run near the lake have … perhaps 10’ of clearance which is probably the ideal lake level.

• Car lanes are optional – especially for motorcycles which ignore every traffic guideline
• Weather stripping, double paned glass and sound deadening is wonderful
• Disco is a chain of grocery stores
• Eating a bunch of really good food doesn’t necessarily add any weight – I don’t know why.
• ‘’Portenos make fantastic pizza’’ – I don’t know how to say this any more clearly.
• Coffee con letche isn’t the same everywhere.
• Agua sin gas is normal bottled water; agua con gas is just nasty.
• Iguazu falls needs 3 days to do everything. 1.5 days if the weather is nice and you really move.
• Buenos Aires has many, many night clubs, bars and pubs. You can find whatever you are looking for and more.
• Coffee will never be the same after a visit to Buenos Aires. The city is littered with Cafes.
• If you aren’t into the night life, 3-4 days for Buenos Aires is all that you need.
• For other parts of Argentine culture, you need to leave BA.
• Taxi drivers pretend not to understand you even when they can. Call them on it if they appear to be traveling in the wrong direction.
• Get a city tour early in the trip to get the most out of it from a local that covers:
  • Port
  • Tango
  • Barrios
  • Overall Government
  • Important Buildings (train & bus terminal, post office, the pink house, etc.)
• Don’t expect the same quality of fruit as you get in the USA. It got to the point where I couldn’t select any bananas since none were even close to normal USA quality.
• Gummy candy is lacking, at least I didn’t find any worth mentioning.
• I still don’t enjoy crescent or pastries.
• clothes dryers are good.
• Travel with friends that have similar interests in their travels. For example, if you like culture, travel with others that do as well. If you like dancing, travel with friends that like to dance too.
• Extra wrapping of your luggage is available at multiple places inside the departure terminal. Don’t wait in line. The price was the same at all of them. I didn’t use it and my bag wasn’t any worse off without it. Jim’s with the wrapper wasn’t too bad off either.
• Duty free stuff is probably more trouble than it is worth and not a good deal.
• Always check into a hotel with some bottled water when potable water is a question.
• Review public transportation on the web before heading to a new city.

Ok, so my first week in Costa Rica is almost over. In this week, I’ve:

• Been sunburn
• Hiked at least 4 miles a day, over 12 last Sunday
• Learned a full semester of college Spanish
• Been propositioned
• Met a wonderful family
• Learned about middle class Tico lifestyles
• Ate Tico food
• Didn’t lose any weight
• Saw Heredia – a nearby city
• traveled on a bus-quite an experience
• learned about slow internet connections – sorry about the lack of photos in my gallery. My upload connections keep getting reset.
• Met some really nice people from CR and around the world.
• Was heckled by elementary students on a bus – heard this is very common.
• I’ll miss the CPI family in Heredia. They were very kind and helped me to learn faster than I could have imagined. Thanks to Karla, my teacher, for putting up with my garbage, but there is a difference between ol and d <rbg>.
• Was taken on a quick ride to church that turned into an E-ticket ride through neighborhoods, down dirt roads, picking up family members, stopping at a mom-pop quick-e-mart, driving on the wrong side of the road (on multiple occasions), being passed by cars and motorcycles, stopping to let a 2 yr old pee, and finally dropping off the daughter at church for an overnight retreat. To be fair, it was a 20 yr old Costa Rican driving. He was much safer than I would have been on the same roads/conditions. It didn’t seem to me like he broke any Costa Rican traffic laws based on what I’ve seen here already, but that didn’t take away from the thrill experienced.

Dinner was rice, black beans, a cabbage and tomato salad with a fried chicken cutlet. I washed it all down with fresh squeezed cass juice. YUMMY. Either white or Spanish rice has been provided with almost every meal at home. This is not the way to lose weight for me since I love rice.

If I mixed any Spanish in, I’m sorry. Also, if my sentences sound simplistic, I blame it on the simple Spanish that I know for this week. Coming up with sentences when you only know a few hundred words isn’t easy. I only know present tense verbs, so complex sentences aren’t conducive. Next week in Monteverde, they will cover past tense, I hear.

Tomorrow (Saturday), we’re going to Volcano Irazu for a day trip. The trip starts at 6am and goes into the evening. I think I’ll be spending 4+ hours on buses. There are hiking trails so I hope to get a few hours in after I get the major site – the volcano. I’ve been warned that clouds often block all views at volcanoes, so this trip could be just to look where the volcano is covered in clouds.

On Sunday I’m traveling by bus to Monteverde in the mountains to study there for a week. I’ll be living with a country family of Costa Ricans. The family information that I have now is the couple are both about my age with 2 girls – 12 and 7 yrs old. A taxi driver and an artist. Their address is relative to Johnny’s Pizzeria, so that’s a good sign.

Breakfast was fruit, an inverse grilled cheese sandwich and decaf coffee.

Then I was off to school – ready for a test. Note the guard dog along the way in the gallery. He was fierce (not really) and about the size of Gayle’s Billy.

After class, I took a CR cooking class. See the photos. It was tasty and not bland, but the handmade tortillas were less than tasty. No salt (salt is bad luck in CR), and I didn’t see any oil used in making them.

Dinner was chicken-rice, salad, black beans and chips. I was good and only ate a few chips. Then I spotted a scale under the TV and stepped on it. No change. I’ll need to alter my eating to keep losing weight.

This is part of the How to Lose Weight and Keep it Off article.

Ok, so you’ve decided to get healthy, lose some weight, and be more active? Good. How do I stay motivated?

1. Decide and Do { as Yoda says, "do or do not, there is no try" ; as Nike says, "Just do it." }
2. Watch your tabular data and graphs. I get motivated to continue when I see my history of weight loss captured over months. This is my greatest motivation.
3. Hang out with healthier people
4. Join an activity or team; you aren’t thinking about food when you’re doing something else
5. Watch TV shows like the BBC You are What you Eat show. This show has changed the way I look at food. It just clicked for me. Maybe it will click for you. Find what does and use it.
6. Watch Exercise TV
7. Watch Food Preparation shows – quick recipes that taste good. I’m working on crockpot recipes myself.

Continuation from Typical Food Day.

When I cheat, say, lunch with the guys what does that mean for the total food that day?

Total Est Calories: 1755

This is part of the How to Lose Weight and Keep it Off article.