Jul 31

Jul 31 The Real World...Weekly Weight Update

After a few weeks of on and off vacation it is no surprise that it is challenging to get back into the real world. What do you mean I should watch what I eat and not have a beer with every meal? You mean I have to go to work for 5 consecutive days? In a row? You must be crazy! I just spent over a week in New England followed by a long weekend at the beach. Ugh, it was tough.

The week started off with a few days out at the client and then another lunch meeting which meant I wasn’t making lunch at home but going out for dining. Before going on vacation I was pretty good at selecting reasonable dining out options when I was lunching for work. After going on vacation it seemed much harder because I had become accustomed to picking whatever my heart desired without looking too hard at what was actually in my meal.

That isn’t to say I went totally off the rails. Monday I went out to Cosi and had a sandwich and a bag of carrots even though I really wanted that bag of chips. On Tuesday I had a sub sandwich and a bag of chips. One for two ain’t bad, I guess. Wednesday I had another sandwich and a side of fruit. On Thursday and Friday I was finally able to bring my lunch from home with some ham and Brussel sprouts (which looking back at it is a meal that makes every child 13 and under cringe). Not a bad work week but I’m sure that dining out wasn’t helping things at all.

On Tuesday I went out for my regular run but found it to be harder than I remember it being before going on vacation. I had been keeping up on my workouts during time away but it is never the same when you work out on vacation. Of course, it could have also been hard considering it was 178 degrees outside with approximately 723 percent humidity. I ran nearly four miles but my sweat glands and my lungs thought I had run 500 miles. It was dreadful.

On Thursday I went to my regularly scheduled OrangeTheory class. I’ve really developed a love/hate relationship with OrangeTheory. It is no doubt a great workout and lots of calories are burned. I’ve only been going about a month and I already feel stronger than I did a month ago. However, I hate being in the middle of the workout. There are times I legitimately think I’m going to throw up all over the treadmill. OrangeTheory and I have a complicated relationship.

When I walked in the door on Thursday the manager turned to someone just leaving the gym and said, “Hey, don’t tell Wes how hard the workout is today.” Two things: (1) I don’t know if they really remember my name from coming in to work out every Tuesday and Sunday or if they just see the name pop up on their computer screen when my heartrate monitor syncs to the system. It doesn’t matter because I enjoy being known when I walk in the door. (2) Why wouldn’t you tell me? Do I have some sort of reputation of being a slacker or running away if it is too hard? I know they were just giving me a hard time so I’m not seriously wondering about that second part but the workout was certainly a pain in the ass (literally and figuratively). You think I’m exaggerating but the 993 calories I burned begs to differ (and so does my sore glutes).

Friday was our triumphant return to Friday Night Live in downtown Herndon, VA. We love joining the town for a free concert while grabbing a beer and some food. Rizzo and I went with some cheeseburgers while Cece had a hot dog. It was hot and my choice of seating locations wasn’t ideal. It was slightly overcast when we arrived so I didn’t anticipate that once the clouds cleared we would be sitting in directly sunlight for our entire time at the show. All three of us were sweating like Forest Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland. After the show Rizzo and Cece hopped in the van to drive home and they were kind enough to let me walk the 1.6 miles back to the house to get in a few extra steps.

On Saturday we spent the morning with our friends Steve and Jenny and their son Carson at Reston Town Center. There was a free performance by what I think is best described as a vaudevillian street performer that would have killed in 1917. He didn’t talk much mostly using facial expressions and guttural sounds to relay his comedy. There were lots of physical gags playing with hats, tables, juggling, and spinning plates. All the kids seemed to enjoy the show and the performer did a great job pulling kids from the crowd to participate in the show.

After our morning entertainment we made our way over to The Counter for a lunch consisting of burgers, fries, and beer. I’m a big fan of the burgers at The Counter. You can order one of the pre-arranged types of burger or create your own. They also have a pretty decent beer list that is regularly changing. So regularly that while we were sitting at the restaurant I had to change my beer order twice because it changes so much. Once because the beer on the menu was no longer on tap and once because the beer I did order was just kicked.

My custom burger is something that probably isn’t very common. I created a 1/3 pound ground beef burger topped with jalapeno-jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, chipotle aioli, and a slice of pineapple. It was delicious and matched up with the Port City Optimal Wit made for a perfect lunch. That is, of course, until the skies opened up unexpectedly and started dumping copious amounts of rain on our outdoor dining experience. We rushed inside with the kids in tow and made it through without too much water damage. It was quite a shock when the rain started coming but it didn’t ruin our experience.

When we returned home I figured I better hit the road for some running to work off the last two hamburgers I had consumed. Man was it hot. I know that it wasn’t as hot as it has been earlier in the week but the sun and the heat just murder me. I hope it is all the heat because I used to be able to run a mile to a mile and a half further in the same amount of time in March and April than I did on Saturday. I still got in about 4.8 miles but it was just the worst. My eyes were burning with sweat and my legs were shaking from the strain. By the time I got home my shirt was completely soaked through with sweat. There is about an inch of fabric on my left arm that hadn’t completely changed color and that was only because I couldn’t wipe my face with that sleeve because it was covering my running band that held my phone. It was a tough run.

There was no dinner on Saturday night because of the massive burger that was consumed for lunch which I hoped would bode well for the morning weigh-in. Because of travel this was the first time I was officially climbing on the scale since July 3. I knew it wouldn’t be a good number considering the vacation travel but I made sure to keep that in mind when I was getting on the scale. The result wasn’t as bad as it could have been. This week I was up 4.2 lbs from the last time I weighed in making my current weight 207.6. That makes the current total weight loss 60.2 lbs. I was pretty happy with that result considering I did an interim weight check earlier in the week and I was up nearly 10 lbs from all the vacation and travel. I think this teaches a good lesson that if you keep up an exercise routine while traveling you may gain a few pounds but they will come off pretty easily once you get back into the real world. I hope that sentiment is true as I get ready to board a plane tomorrow for a week in California for work.

I’m beginning to hate the Bring It On! challenge because I don’t ever stand a chance. As Rizzo gets closer and closer to her big 20K race I’m convinced that (1) I will never get to see another movie as victor of the monthly challenge again and (2) Rizzo is going to start training to run a marathon after this race for no other reason than to keep beating me at the challenge. I’ve also realized that Orange Theory, as hard of a workout that it is, gets me virtually no miles towards the challenge. I’ve traded two days of guaranteed mileage from running for two days of Orange Theory workouts that provide cross training. I guess that is the price I have to pay for getting healthier. Well Rizzo once again kicked my ass this week with 31.9 miles to my miniscule, pathetic little 31.4 miles. That makes her total 157.3 miles for July which is only 11.1 miles more than my tiny 146.2 miles. With one day left all I need is for Rizzo to sit on the couch all day on Sunday while I go running for 7-8 hours. Oh good, she has already gone out for a 6 mile run. Enjoy the movie Bad Moms, Rizzo