I’m happy to report that I have seen a small amount of progress on the scale so far in November.  Saturday morning, the scale read 189.6–the first time I’ve seen it under 190 in a long time.  It was nice to see, needless to say.  But I ran a bunch on the treadmill the night [...]

Continue reading → November Update

Back in January when I joined the gym I paid for 6 private training sessions and loved them all.  You can search the archives for the workouts that we did together, but basically they were the type of workouts that belong to a class called “functional training.”  In a nutshell, “functional training” is a type [...]

Continue reading → Ask The Readers: How Do You Like Lifting Weights?

I apologize.  I’m sorry for the negative posts that I write.  For the woe is Mac, life’s so hard and stressful, and that’s why I’m fat stories.  I know, I sometimes write positive stories too;  I don’t apologize for those.  And I’m not saying that I won’t write any more negative stories because they’re helpful [...]

Continue reading → Lucky Man

Here’s a little tidbit that you probably don’t know about us.  Until yesterday, JD and Mac have never actually worked out together!  Isn’t that crazy?  Two guys who co-write a fitness blog have never worked out together.
From time to time, JD and I get together for a “business meeting.”  Originally, it was supposed to be [...]

Continue reading → Mr. Roth Comes To Salem

Something’s not right with my program.  I know just what it is, but I’m having a really difficult time solving the problem.  I’m an exercise fiend lately–I rarely miss an early morning gym session and I’ve been running almost every day.  My running goal for November is going very well.  I’ve taken one day off [...]

Continue reading → The Curse Of The Scale

One of the things that our garden did well this year was produce carrots.  We had massively thick and stubby carrots by the bunches and had to think of some ways to use them all up.  Pam found this awesome soup recipe that is low in fat, calories, sodium (if you lose reduced sodium broth) [...]

Continue reading → Indian Spiced Carrot Soup With Ginger

Food At Home
It’s safe to say that I still haven’t sorted through all of my issues with food.  When you throw in the wife who has eating healthily figured out perfectly and all the food issues surrounding raising healthy children, my problem gets compounded greatly.  Needless to say, I spend a lot of time thinking [...]

Continue reading → Random Food Thoughts

My scale said 190 yesterday.  It was a good day.  In fact, it was a good weekend.  Saturday morning, Pam got up and went for a run and headed to work for a bit.  Then, when she returned, I hit the gym since I chose not to wake up Friday morning.  I ran six miles [...]

Continue reading → Things Are Looking Up–Sort Of

JD’s already written about stretching previously here.  But I just found a really interesting article over at the NYT.  According to the article, if you’re still stretching like you stretched when you were a little kid at soccer practice, you’re seriously risking injury.  The kinds of stretches we used to do–touching your toes and holding, [...]

Continue reading → The Truth About Stretching

I can’t believe we’ve been doing this for a year already.  My wife would say I don’t stick with things for very long and that I have lots of (expensive) hobbies that I give up on.  But it seems that my fitness “hobby” has stuck–a fact that makes me really happy.
I know that my weight [...]

Continue reading → One Year Down; A Lifetime To Go

The average Western diet is too high in fat–but it’s not that simple.  Dietary fat plays an essential rolein our health, development and well-being.  The real issue is that people are eating too much of the wrong kinds of fat, and not enough of the right kinds.
Poly, mono, trans, un…the list of types of fats [...]

Continue reading → How Fat Smart Are You?

On Monday afternoon, Pam was having one of her work colleagues over so that she could see our what our new windows looked like as she’s currently in the market.  I made our famous onion-poppy seed focacia, and Pam made an amazing Indian Spiced Curry Carrot Soup.  What Pam didn’t tell me was that on [...]

Continue reading → No Bon-Bons For Me

This past weekend was a great one.  I was productive around the house, I had some quality family time, and I was very active.  In fact, when I woke up this morning for the gym I was already sore from my weekend work.  I kind of felt like Sylvestor Stallone.  Not the running around shooting [...]

Continue reading → It’s Easy To Workout At Home

And that means getting fat season is getting close.  Last year, I wrote about Holiday weight gain at the end of November.  This year, I’m starting to think about it a whole month earlier.  Why?  Because this year I’m 32 pounds lighter than I was last year and I don’t want to return a single [...]

Continue reading → Halloween Means Hallodays…

Monday and Tuesday I experienced almost no back pain–woohoo!  And this comes after a weekend of moving heavy furniture down stairs and onto a moving truck for some friends’ parents.  I was a little leary of the work, but when a friend asks for help, you have to give it to them.
Sometimes it takes a [...]

Continue reading → Feelin’ Good: Another Bump Cleared (I Hope)

Today marks the three week anniversary of my back injury.  Back on Monday, I decided to schedule a visit to the doctor to get it checked out.  I need to get back on a lifting routine–I really feel better about my body when I’m doing it.  This week, I managed to go to the gym [...]

Continue reading → I Knew I Didn’t Want To Go To The Doctor

I’ve almost beat this topic to death. But there are a few more tidbits in the SuperFoods Rx book that I wanted to mention.
Way back in the introduction, the book gives a bunch of stats and research about various topics relating to the American diet and micronutrients that I wanted to share with you. [...]

Continue reading → Final Thoughts on Superfoods–I Promise

Well, today marks the two-week anniversary of my back tweak. It’s a lot better, but still not perfect. I can live my life (except for running with the kids) pretty much pain free. I’m not wincing every time I sit, stand, or roll over in bed any more. But I’m still [...]

Continue reading → Weekend Roundup: Back Still Aching Edition

I have a lot that I want to say about SuperFoods–I feel like I could write a book about the book. My first post was meant to provide a brief introduction and based on some of the comments, it was probably a bit too brief. One reader commented the following:
Blueberries are a wonderful [...]

Continue reading → The Four Principles Of SuperFoods Rx

If you’re a long time reader of this site, you know that I’m not a very good dieter. That is to say, when I’m on a diet, I’m not an advocate of following a specialized diet such as Atkins, The Zone, or the grapefruit diet. I am good at logging my calories and [...]

Continue reading → SuperFoods: Good For Me Foods That I Actually Like!

This is a guest post from my wife, Pam. This Sunday, she and several other people we know will be embarking on that masochistic journey that we call the Portland Marathon. Here are some tips on how to get to finish line on race day:
If you have done proper training for a race [...]

Continue reading → Getting to the Finish - Tips for race day success

Most of you know that for the past three weeks, I’ve been loving the Stronglifts 5X5 beginning weight lifting program.  I’m noticeably stronger, thinner, and firmer in just three short weeks.  My legs are harder, my stomach is flatter, my clothes around the waist fit looser, and best of all, my chest is firmer too.  [...]

Continue reading → Maybe I Need A Remedial Weightlifting Program

Whenever I see a headline with “PETA” in it, I read the article.  I don’t read them because I like or support the organization–in fact, I think their methods are usually a little bit kooky and extreme.  Even though I do love animals and I relate to PETA’s mission I also see the value in [...]

Continue reading → Ben and Jerry’s Says “NO” To Breastmilk–And A Little Update

Since we’ve been documenting our journey towards a healthier lifestyle, one of the things I’ve noticed is how people are changing their views about the “D” word–”Dieting.”   Recently, there’s been a lot of comments about food attitudes.  We’ve heard our readers’ perceptions about our relationships with food and we’ve heard about how they view [...]

Continue reading → Eat To Live Or Live To Eat?

Here’s something a little less provocative for you guys.  One of my friends passes on her copies of Health Magazine to me after she’s finished with them.  The magazine is mainly geared towards women, but there’s often good stuff in there that I can write about.  And there are ALWAYS recipes that I try.  This [...]

Continue reading → What’s For Dinner?–Tuna Salad Made Tastier

Our meal at Morton’s on Saturday night was full of interesting conversation.  We hadn’t been out with JD and Kris for a very long time so we caught up on our respective families, our homes and gardens, our careers, and on parenting.  I really enjoy talking with people who don’t have kids about parenting.  I [...]

Continue reading → Dinner Conversation

Like every parent in the world, I want to raise my kids to be physically and emotionally healthy.  I want them to be confident, happy, friendly, outgoing, helpful, loving, kind, tenacious, protective, proud,  and fit–among other things I’m sure.  Sometimes I look at my kids and see the good things about Pam and me in [...]

Continue reading → How To Raise Healthy Kids: My Parenting Dilemma

There were quite a few comments about whether or not I should be waking up at 4:30 in the morning to get my exercise in.  Those comments ranged from whether or not rising that early is a “sustainable habit” to “you used to do it, so get your butt out of bed you lazy bones!”
Pam [...]

Continue reading → More On Early Morning Exercise

My, we’ve been a little bit glum around here lately huh?  Yep, it’s true, both JD and I are struggling with  staying on target.  Our weights are up a bit, our spirits are down a bit.  In the past, both of us would have given up by now.  But we’re still here and we have [...]

Continue reading → Small Steps

In a nutshell, I’m fat because it’s easier to be fat than it is to be a healthy weight.
It’s easier to be sedentary than to make time to exercise every day..  It’s easier to eat at Sonic, Outback, Denny’s, and Taco Bell than it is to shop for and cook healthy food for your family [...]

Continue reading → Why Am I Fat?

This is a guest post from my wife, Pam, the fittest person I know.  I wish some of that would rub off on me.  Pam is trying to balance a full time family, a full time job, and a full time ultra-marathon training schedule–a tough task for anyone–and she handles it remarkably well.
Today after work [...]

Continue reading → Peaks And Valleys

On our vacation last week, Pam and I were responsible for planning, purchasing, and cooking the food.  OK, Pam planned and did a lot of the cooking, but I did make the mega shopping trip and cook my fair share.  My mother in law was responsible for bringing all of the beverages for the trip–including [...]

Continue reading → The Skinny On “Fat Free” Half And Half

We returned home on Friday from a 5-night vacation to Diamond Lake, OR. While the vacation wasn’t as relaxing as I would have liked it to be, we still had a nice time. Yeah, there was rain, cold, wind, mosquitoes and kids trapped in small cabins. But there was also short hikes, [...]

Continue reading → Stress, Weight Up…Worry Still Low

While we’ve been off enjoying the splendors of mosquitoes, quaint cabins, and a beautiful lake in Southern Oregon, I managed to find a few really interesting articles that you might be interested in:
From the NYT–body size may be an unreliable indicator of health.
From CNN.com–coming soon to a drugstore near you…Exercise in a pill?
From Time.com–Where you [...]

Continue reading → Daily Links: Vacation Edition

I’m in a bit of a tight situation. Actually, tight isn’t the right word. You see, my clothes do not look good on me. They’re just too big. In November, I was wearing mostly size 36 waist pants, but even the one size 38 pair of pants that I reluctantly convinced [...]

Continue reading → Wardrobe Limbo

SWEATS TOGETHER!
All week, the family had been talking about running the Bush Pasture Park Cross Country Series. We were all excited: Megan (3 1/2) for her 500 meter run, Pam for her 3K, and me for my 5K. The plan was to meet another family with two small children for dinner and [...]

Continue reading → The Family That Runs Together…

Lots of us who exercise regularly stretch for some reason or another. For example, a recent poll showed that Americans stretch to help prevent injury. Both the Norwegians (who stretch before exercise) and Australians (who stretch after exercise) stretch to prevent soreness, enhance well being and increase their performance. Even with [...]

Continue reading → To Stretch, Or Not To Stretch–Who Knows?

Last Wednesday, I rose early and headed out to the gym before the kids woke up. I arrived just in time for the 5AM spinning class at the gym. Before we moved down here from Portland, I used to attend spinning classes twice a week at the local YMCA and loved them. [...]

Continue reading → The Injury Bug Bites Again

The average child in America eats in a restaurant 167 times per year! That’s more than three times per week. With piano lessons, tee ball practice, private tutoring, ballet class, and homework, it’s often easier for parents to hit the drive thru at the local fast food joint than it is for them [...]

Continue reading → Kids Meals–Not So Small After All

Well, I’ve completed both workout A and workout B one time. Tomorrow morning I’ll finish week 1 up with another workout A. I haven’t really concentrated very much on the amount of weight I’m lifting so far. I’m just trying to work out the kinks in my form so that I know [...]

Continue reading → Strong Lifts 5X5 Update

30 minutes a day, right? Well, according to researcher John Jakicic at the University of Pittsburgh, it’s more like 55 minutes a day if you want to lose weight. In his paper from the July 28th issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, Dr. Jakicic “suggests that obese people would have to exercise at [...]

Continue reading → The Myth of Moderate Exercise

Ever since Megan’s school got out for the summer, I’ve struggled with making gym time a priority. It’s easy to go when you have to watch one kid, but two makes it really tough. However, last week I realized that I need to get my butt back in gear, so I got [...]

Continue reading → New Workout For Mac

There’s been a couple of good posts this week by the guys in the fitness health network. All of us seem to be coming to grips with our weight loss plans. Here are a few of the entries that I found myself relating to this week.
I’ve found myself back in the gym lately, [...]

Continue reading → Fitness Health Network Roundup

Yesterday was my daughter’s “half birthday.” I don’t really know where the idea came from, but somehow she got it in her head that half birthdays are almost as important as whole birthdays. Being the manipulative 3 and 1/2 year old, she finagled her mother into bringing home a box of brownie mix–and [...]

Continue reading → Chocolate Cake–Not JUST JD’s Vice

Here are two more pictures of JD and me. The first one was back in December of 2007 and the second was taken on Tuesday night.

The picture from December looks painful to me. We both look sheepish and pale. I remember thinking that this picture was going up on the blog as [...]

Continue reading → Together Again

Whenever I’m really successful with losing weight—I mean consistently dropping 1-2 pounds per week for several months—I use a food diary. Usually, my food diary is one of the many choices online such as fitday or sparkpeople. If I’m not around a computer, I jot what I eat into my phone and then [...]

Continue reading → Want to Lose Weight? Use a Food Diary

On Friday, I wrote about some of my struggles with vegetables. But there ARE times when I find recipes that are truly packed with vegetables that I can’t get enough of. From time to time, I’m going to share a recipe that I make for my family. They have to be healthy, [...]

Continue reading → What’s For Dinner?–Shrimp Tacos

As a parental team, Pam and I try to provide our kids with a well rounded diet including a variety of fruits and vegetables. Fortunately, our kids tend to like vegetables more than most kids I have met. My current working theory on why this is so stems from the fact that Pam [...]

Continue reading → Fruits and Vegetables: Fresh, Frozen, or Canned?

Way back in May, JD was warning about the consequences of trying too much at once. In both of our cases, trying too much at once is equivalent to maintaining the calorie deficit that we need to drop 1 pound per week AND exercising enough to increase our PHYSICAL fitness levels to where we [...]

Continue reading → Can Dieters and Non-dieters Coexist?

Everyone who reads this blog knows that the majority of the struggles I face when trying to lose weight stem from my internal (and now external I guess) battles with food. I have a tendency to eat when I’m not hungry and to eat foods that aren’t good for me when I’m stressed out. [...]

Continue reading → Letter From a Friend