I started the Slimfast plan today to lose some weight. It’s 5 p.m. and I’m hungry as shit! I could probably eat a Big Mac in about 3 bites right now. Of course that’s accounting for the time it’d take to sip a Diet Coke in between bites.

Ugghhh… I guess dealing with hunger is the biggest issue I’ve got to overcome at this point. I was able to quit an 18 year tobacco  habit a few years ago, this shouldn’t be too much worse. The biggest difference is that back then I had “The Patch” to get me through moments of weakness. I’d like to think that my resolve has been steeled over the years, but I think this is going to take every once of self discipline I can muster.

More tomorrow.

If I survive.

Do The Right Thing. (Wikipedia) For those who have never seen Do the Right Thing, it’s about racial tensions in a diverse Brooklyn neighborhood. Spike Lee directed and starred in the movie which was released in the late 1980’s.

There were a lot of things about the movie that I related to even though I grew up in mostly white middle class neighborhoods. It was funny to see the fashions on display in the movie; the clothes felt VERY dated more than those from Yankee Doodle Dandy. I think this is because I remember when people dressed like the characters from Do The Right Thing, whereas movie’s like Yankee Doodle Dandy are just lumped into an ephemeral “old” category. The music was another throwback to the 80’s. The soundtrack wasn’t used as a tool for nostalgia as it was in Adam Sandler’s Wedding Singer; instead it was integral to the experience that Spike Lee was trying to project through the movie. Some of the acts mentioned and songs played were surprisingly vivid in my memory.

The movie reminded me about a lot of my experiences when I initially enlisted in the Army. I didn’t have many interactions with African Americans growing up. They were represented in my High School, but were a minority group that I didn’t interact with very much. The Army changed that. There weren’t any dramatic confrontations, or cinematic like epiphany moments between the various racial groups in my basic training unit. Instead the cultural gap was bridged as we got to know each other individually. I specifically remember one guy who was originally from Jamaica but had moved to NYC as a child. The stories he told painted a picture of life that was vastly different than what I had known growing up in various suburban neighborhoods. He and I weren’t best friends, but we were friends.

More than twenty years after it’s release, Do The Right Thing still has an interesting message. My hope is that the story of racial tensions grow to a distant memory. I know this will never be the situation universally across our country (or planet) as I think it’s human nature to view people who are different with suspicion. I’m hopeful for my childrens’ future every time I visit the elementary school my oldest daughter attends, and see the wide variety of skin tones represented by her classmates and friends.

What did you think about Do The Right Thing?

Blade Runner. (Wikipedia) It’s been hailed as the greatest science fiction movie of the last 30 years, possibly the best ever. Admittedly it’s a great piece of filmmaking on a number of levels. Ridley Scott has called it his most complete movie. Instead of debating the greatness or expounding upon the influence it’s had within the genre, I thought I’d point out some of what I found most interesting about the movie.

If you haven’t seen it, I’ll give you a quick synopsis without spilling the beans: in the (not so distant) future, mankind has begun settling other planets to escape the crushing existence on earth; during this period of colonization genetic engineers have created artificial humans, known as replicants, that aren’t allowed on earth; the story is based around the hunt for four fugitive replicants. There’s a TON more to the story but that’s the quick version.

One of the first things to I noticed about the movie is how dark and gritty the future is portrayed. The movie was made in 1982 and set in 2019, what did they think was going to happen in that relatively short time span that would fundamentally shift our reality? I know it’s not a meant to be a realistic picture of the future but it’s not even close.  Although flying cars would be pretty damn cool!

The use of video payphones also stuck out to me. I’m sure at one point in the future I’ll have to explain to my children that there was a period where we didn’t have cell phones, but had to carry around change to make a phone call. Remember collect calls?

Everything considered though, Blade Runner is a great movie. I enjoyed watching it with my wife who had never seen the entire movie. It definitely deserves a spot on the Top 100 movies of all time, I dare say it could even stand to be placed higher on the list. If you’ve never seen it, add it to your Netflix queue today! Here’s the original trailer courtesy of YouTube:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Yankee Doodle Dandy. (Wikipedia)I have to admit I wasn’t looking forward to this movie as I’m not a big fan of musicals. I don’t mind the occasional song and dance number mind you, but traditional musicals in the vein of Oklahoma aren’t exactly my preferred cinematic experience. I was a little surprised at how engaging this movie is since it held my attention.

If you haven’t seen it, I’ll give you the nickle tour… it’s the story of George M. Cohan, the son of Irish immigrants who was one of the premier singer/actors/writers/composers/producers/theater owners on Broadway in the early 1900’s. There are a lot of songs and dances from his various productions over the years, but it’s not a traditional musical. Many of the songs were so popular that even my fading memory recalls some of them. Beyond the title song, Cohan also wrote “Over There” for the troops heading to WWI.

My 6 year old daughter is fond of musicals (think High School Musical.. if you’ve never been exposed to it then count yourself among the lucky) so we let her watch it with us until it was time to go to bed. I was proud of her when she caught the reference to 48 states and not 50. I fear I will only be able to pull the wool over her eyes for a little longer, she’s a smart one. Since it was from 1942, I wasn’t too concerned about inappropriate material and wasn’t disappointed. I think she enjoyed the movie more than I did and was a little disappointed when bedtime came before the end of the movie.

Prior to watching Yankee Doodle Dandy, I don’t think I’d ever seen an entire James Cagney movie. He definitely had a few quirks in his performance, especially the singing and dancing. He has an interesting way of performing a song that is part singing and part recital, but it works for him. When it comes to dancing, he seems very good at specific moves many of which were repeatedly used throughout most of the movies dance numbers. A friend described his style succinctly as “stiff legged”.

Ultimately it wasn’t a bad movie to watch, and is likely a good example of the best of James Cagney singing and dancing. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend adding it to your Netflix queue unless there’s something about it that particularly interests you.

Here’s the trailer from YouTube.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Long term goals can make you feel like there's an endless path ahead.

So I’m back to blogging about my efforts to lose weight after a month of silence. November turned into a busy month and left little time for blogging. I gave myself a few days off of the scale around Thanksgiving but found that I still lost a pound without trying which was nice since I expected a slight weight gain. That was a very satisfying pound.

I’ve decided to explore an idea I had a while ago, to focus on losing in small increments instead of the big number. At the end of this I will have lost about 85 pounds, but it’s hard to feel successful on a weekly basis with only a few pounds lighter. My interim goals are three pounds a week, which is still a lot per the weight loss literature out there but I think it’s sustainable.

Another way I’ve started approaching my weight loss in an incremental manner is by planning periods of focused effort follow by a week of relaxation. This doesn’t mean I intend to gorge myself during the week off, instead I’ll not track EVERYTHING I eat and stay off the scale.

There’s a long road ahead of me, I don’t want to lose sight of my destination halfway there. The image used in this post is Creative Commons licensed by Ryan Wick on Flickr.com

Toy Story (IMDB), #99 on AFI’s Top 100 movies, is a great example of what animated movies should consistently strive for. It hit’s home runs in animation, story and talent performance.

Toy Story’s animation did a great job bringing toys to life, especially the small details that really make it hit home. While watching the movie for this post I noticed that the army men had small plastic circles on their backs, a result of the molding process evident on the real life version. This level of attention to detail lends itself to the stylized realism that Pixar employed in this and other releases.

Like many of the classic animated movies, and much of AFI’s Top 100 in general, a great story keeps the movie fresh without feeling dated. I watched the movie with my children who enjoyed it (see the video below) even though it was made 7 – 10 years before their birth. The same can’t be said about some of my favorite childhood animated shows. I’m sure they’d look at Thundarr the Barbarian much they same way I look at Howdy Doody from my parent’s childhood (thinly veiled amusement .. “you used to watch that?!”).

Toy Story avoids this issue by having a great childhood premise that everyone can relate to, regardless of age: what if toys were alive. Everyone has used this as the premise of countless hours of childhood playtime, Pixar brought it to life. Beyond a great premise, the script has the right mix of child & adult humor to appeal to the whole family. As much as I like the Shrek movies, there’s some jokes that I’m glad my girls didn’t get when they were toddlers.

Finally, the talent performances were world class. Tom Hanks is totally believable as Woody, the well intentioned cowboy. Tim Allen as the ego centric Buzz Lightyear was genius, he was able to perfect a similar character in Galaxy Quest a few years later. The rest of the cast was equally superb and delivered great performances that brought familiar toys to life.

Toy Story is a great movie that absolutely deserves it’s place on the all time greatest movies list, if not positioned a little higher than #99. It’s timeless animation, story, and performances still capture the imaginations of children and adults. I have no doubt that I’ll some day watch it with my grandchildren (hopefully that day is a LONG way off).

Here’s what my kids thought of the movie.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Here’s the opening 10 minutes on YouTube.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I started my plan to watch all of AFI’s Top 100 movies tonight with #100: Ben Hur. While I’ve seen the movie before, it’s been a long time and I don’t remember too much about the plot. My first thought at the midway point was: Holy cow this thing is long!

It turns out that the movie is based on one of the best selling American novels of all time. Per the Wikipedia entry, it was the best selling American novel until Gone With The Wind came along. From a story standpoint, the book and subsequent movie fall into the historical fiction genre which has always been a favorite of mine. Not a big surprise as I’ve always loved History and have a degree in it from the University of Texas. The storyline of redemption through hard work and sacrifice are not uncommon to American literature. A lot of the mythology of our country is built on this very idea, so it’s no surprise that it was a huge seller.

Ben Hur, the movie, definitely falls into the “They Don’t Make ‘Em Like This Anymore” category. The sets are pretty impressive even if they’re mostly plywood when you realize they didn’t have digital effects back then. When watching the victory parade in Rome, I couldn’t help but wonder if the producers told the set designers “I don’t care what it looks like, just make it look ROMAN”.

The chariot scene is absolutely amazing, and get’s my vote at this point as the best action sequence ever filmed. Something that really stood out to me was the horsemanship involved, especially in the opening parade sequence. I’ve marched in a few large formations years ago when enlisted in the Army and know from experience that keeping a wide formation tight & straight in a turn is hard work. To do it with horses is even more amazing! Per the wikipedia entry (again!), the chariot scene used 15,000 extras and was the largest film set ever built at 18 acres. If you haven’t seen it in a while, take a few minutes and watch the YouTube clip below.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Yesterday I wrote about the diet changes in my plan to lose weight. Today’s post is about the exercise segment of the plan. As I mentioned previously a couple of sedentary (cube farm) jobs have contributed a lot to my weight gain over the last 10 years. When I was in the Army, not only was there mandatory daily exercise but I moved around a lot during the course of a day. Fast forward a few years to life within the gilded walls of a cube and Alex’s ass started ballooning. Because of this exercise has become a big part of my weight loss plan.

I don’t think exercise is the last weight loss strategy I’ll need, in fact I don’t think exercise alone is my solution to lose very much weight. I’m finding that I have to change the way I look at exercise and weight though, because like food it’s not just how much but also what I do.

After being diagnosed with Asthma, I completed a Couch-To-5k training plan that gradually increases the participant’s running to reach a goal of 5k continuous miles. The plan was a fantastic way for someone who’s always hated running to break into it. I’d run a lot during my time in the Army but that was 10 years ago so I considered myself a beginner. I can’t recommend this plan enough; I used an application for my iPhone (C25K) to manage my participation. I never would have finished without it.

So my plan.. much like the dietary changes I’ve made there’s not extensive science behind it at this point but more personal experience. The plan consists of a LOT of cardio with weight training and alternative exercises in the mix. Currently the alternative exercise is Yoga, which has been great. I’d never tried it until 3 weeks ago, but I find it a great counter to weight lifting and am surprised at the workout. At some point I’d like to join a boxing gym, to mix in boxing focused exercise but that’s down the road.

So here’s my current schedule:

Monday, Wednesday, Friday AM: Weight training Circuit

Monday, Wednesday, Friday PM: Elliptical Machine, 1hr

Tuesday, Thursday AM: 30 min Run w/ 25 minutes on an elliptical machine

Tuesday, Thursday PM: Yoga Class, 1hr

Saturday AM: 30 min Run

Sunday: Rest (maybe an hour on the cardio… we’ll see)

I’m currently spending 2 hours in the gym daily, which is more than I thought I would 6 months ago. I worry that it’s not a sustainable level for the length of time it’s going to take to reach my goals. Although it doesn’t feel like as much as it sounds. Obviously I’ve adjusted my schedule. My alarm goes off at 4:50 every morning, and I try to wrap up my daily work before 5 for the afternoon cardio. I’ve also started scheduling around the Tuesday & Thursday Yoga classes as my preferred time is at lunch.

Ultimately the question is what benefit am I receiving from all this exercise? I’ll actually cover that more in my next post which is on tracking and measuring. With this schedule I burn between 3800 – 4200 calories per day. Additionally I feel great in the mornings after I work out; personally it’s a great way to start my day.

That’s the exercise segment of my plan. I’d love to hear about any exercise tips you may want to share, feel free to put them in the comments below.

Note: the Fat Ass the title references is myself.

This is the first of a few posts in which I’ll discuss my plan for losing weight. I started off with the intention that I’d cover everything in a single post, but just getting through the dietary changes has taken more than I expected. My next post will cover the exercise changes I’ve made in order to lose weight.

At 39 I’m a fairly self aware person, if you don’t know yourself by this point in life then you have some issues. I know why I gained weight, sheer laziness and overindulgence. Looking at my Mom’s brothers, I think I’m also fighting against genes as they’re all large framed.

When I left the service 10 years ago I weighed in between 225 and 230 as best I can remember. That was overweight for the Army and I’ve been fighting a losing battle ever since. Over the next 5 years I gained another 20 pounds primarily due to a lack of exercise and sedentary work in a cubicle. A poor diet which included a lot of fast food didn’t help.

In 2006 I went to work at Dell with 2 of my best friends from college. This newfound work social life brought an increase in lunches at restaurants, which increases daily caloric intake if you’re not vigilant (which I wasn’t). Combine this with a lack of consistent exercise and a slowing metabolism; the results were another 20 pounds.

So what has this taught me? That I got fat because I ate too much and sat on my ass too much. It’s that simple.

Unfortunately I’m not one of those people who can lose weight at will. I’ve made various attempts at weight loss over the last decade, some more half hearted than others. I had a good experience with Weight Watchers, but am not interested in the group dynamic now. I tried Body For Life years ago, and was seeing success before it was derailed by a lot of business travel. At this point it seems a little over complicated, but I might revisit it when I hit the inevitable weight loss plateau.

I’ve decided to start my weight loss journey the old fashion way: eat less, exercise more, and measure, track & record everything along the way. My “plan” isn’t for everyone, which is ok since it’s about me and not them.

After increasing my exercise level exponentially this summer, I noticed that I had shed a pound or two but not a lot compared to the increase in my activity. I had previously been attempting to maintain a specific caloric deficit every day, the formula was eat 500 calories less than you burn per day to lose a pound per week and 1000 less per day to lose 2 pounds a week. I kept close watch on my numbers and didn’t really experience the results I was looking for,  in fact I didn’t really see any results except for maintaining my weight.

In late September I decided to ignore deficit target method since it wasn’t working. Instead I started using the daily calorie goal on livestrong.com (previously thedailyplate.com) as my goal, but without inputting my daily exercise for more of a simple calorie reduction. The first few weeks had daily calorie goals of 1800 (+/- a few).  I immediately started seeing results. The weight loss chart didn’t look like a cliff, but the decline I was looking for was starting to become apparent. In 2 weeks I went from 283 to 279.8 (10/7). The next 2 weeks didn’t see the same results; I was at 277.6 on 10/21. That was frustrating, but not necessarily unexpected.

After a weekend of not paying close attention to my diet (more on that in a minute) my weight was back up to 279 on 10/26. That doesn’t sound like a lot if you’re not trying to lose weight, but for me that was like a week of effort was washed down the drain. I decided to tweak my daily diet again, this time I addressed the WHAT and not the HOW MUCH. I’ve left my daily target at the Livestrong computed target amount, currently 2,125 calories per day but have decided to cut back on carbohydrates. It seems my body is VERY efficient at storing the energy in carbs, lucky me. My personal goal is 100g of carbs per day. I didn’t read any scientific studies to come up with this number; it just seemed like a good place to start. I’ve already seen a difference as I’ve lost nearly 6 pounds in four days. Holy cow! I don’t expect my weight loss to continue at this pace, but it’s hard to argue with the short term results.

Summarizing my diet “plan” is pretty straightforward: eat for a target consumption of calories that is less than I was previously eating daily, and limit my intake of carbohydrates or simply “Eat Less Fat Ass”.

So I’m back on the blog after 6 or 7 months. Yeah… well… uh… who’s counting?

In a previous post I discussed my desire to lose weight this year. Until recently, that effort was best described as short circuited. I never really put my heart into it in the spring. I’m not sure why, but that’s changed. There wasn’t a single moment or incident that I can point to as some sort of epiphany which preceded my renewed dedication to losing weight. I’m now on the opposite end of the spectrum, having become obsessed with tracking my daily caloric intake and expenditure.

I was diagnosed with Asthma in late spring.  I’m not sure how long I’ve had the condition, but I suspect it started in Desert Storm. After hostilities had concluded, my unit was left in the Kuwaiti/Iraqi desert like so many others with oil well fires burning all around us. I can only imagine what contaminants were in the air we were breathing. I distinctly remember the oily residue that was constantly being cleaned from our vehicles and coughing phlegm that was an unnatural brown tint.

Desert Storm Oil Well Fires

The diagnosis hasn’t really made a change in my day-to-day activities, but it has had a profound effect on my exercise efforts. The medications have eased my breathing to the point that breathing while running now is significantly easier than what I’ve experienced since I was in my early 20’s. It’s almost as if I had previously been running with a surgical mask. With my new found lung capacity, I recently finished a Couch-To 5k program. Completing the program has definitely contributed to my newfound rededication to losing weight.

So far I’m down 10 pounds, but my ultimate goal is to get to 200 lbs. I honestly don’t remember the last time I weighed 200 lbs, it was likely around 1992. Ten pounds isn’t a bad start but I’ve got 75 more to reach my goal.

What’s my plan? I’ll post on that tomorrow; right now I’ve got to change clothes to go to the gym.