Doug's Health's Blog

half full…or half empty

Doug Rotman — Wed, 26 May 2010 22:14:17 +0000

I weighed in at the gym last night, and on one hand, I lost one pound. On the other hand, I was shooting for two pounds. So should my glass be half-full or half-empty? I’ll go with half-full, because I did still lose weight, so while I didn’t hit my full goal this week, I’m still going in the right direction!

Quick Summary

Doug Rotman — Wed, 19 May 2010 15:21:05 +0000

For those who may be new to my blog, here’s a quick summary:

I started this near the end of January of 2009, fed up with the gradual weight-creep I’d allowed to happen.

January 25, 2009: 216 pounds

Time to eat better and work out more! That I did, and over the next year I was able to dramatically change my life

January 25, 2010: 180 pounds

(you can also click on Visual Progress to see some pictures. Don’t worry…I kept my shirt on!)

Over the last few months I’ve still been working out some, but not as frequently, and my eating habits have gotten a bit more lax. Thus, I weighed in last week at 181, and I want to get down to 170 by July 4. I should be right around 10% bodyfat at that point, which is still plenty for a guy. (See here for a bodyfat percentage chart)

And until I hit my goal of 170, I’m giving up Blizzards, milkshakes, and any other ice cream/milk/candy combo…so no knock-off’s will slip through, either. I’m also going to stay away from fries…french, steak, waffle, or otherwise.

Encouragement is of course welcome, and if you’re in the process of making a healthier lifestyle, let me know. It’s always great to do things with friends and see each other succeed!

Working out makes me…hungry!

Doug Rotman — Wed, 19 May 2010 02:42:27 +0000

I went to the gym tonight and got a great workout in. I also weighed in, and I was not surprised to find that I did not reach my goal for the week: 179. Instead I was at 180, so I still dropped one pound. I worked out quite a few times last week, so that wasn’t the problem. The problem was that I was not disciplined enough in my eating habits, especially over the weekend. Some of the time I could feel my body just craving food, partly because it needed replenishment. And while I want to feed my body…I’m not looking to lose weigh in an unhealthy manner…unfortunately there were times when I overfed myself.

Alas, I have both a positive and a negative for the week…I did manage to lose weight…just not as much as I’d hoped.

I definitely think I can lose 2 pounds this week by being a little more vigilant with what I eat, and perhaps I’ll make it down 3 and catch up to the path I set out last week. I’ll be happy with 2 pounds…but we’ll see what I can do!

What I’ve decided to do on my quest to 170…I will reward myself with a Blizzard when I hit 170. Maybe I’ll have a big Blizzard party and invite everyone who encourages me from here till then. Maybe…we’ll see.

Until then…I’m giving up Blizzards, milkshakes, and any other ice cream/milk/candy combo…so no knock-off’s will slip through, either. I’m also going to stay away from fries…french, steak, waffle, or otherwise. I’ve done much better facing these temptations, but by giving these things up completely I will be constantly reminded of what I’ve given up and why…hopefully helping my other eating habits, too.

On my way to 170!

Gunning for 170

Doug Rotman — Tue, 11 May 2010 19:11:18 +0000

Ok, so I made it to the gym last night and weighed in at 181. So I’m still down 35 pounds from my start weight on January 24, 2009!

My new goal is to hit 170, and here’s my map to get there.

May 17: 179

May 24: 177

May 31: 176

June 7: 174

June 14: 172

June 21: 171

June 28: 170

So, feel free to start back up with your messages, texts, emails, phone calls, etc…encouraging me as I drop some more bodyfat!

For those concerned that I am already or will get “too” skinny. Rest assured that is not the case. I’m still above 13% bodyfat at the moment, and this drop should take me close to 10%, which is still in a very healthy range.

And I’m thinking some kind of contest similar to the Colts tickets may be in order. Any ideas out there?

Any of you I can encourage as you endeavor to become more healthy?

I’m coming back!

Doug Rotman — Mon, 10 May 2010 20:06:19 +0000

Ok, folks…I’ve taken too long of a respite from this blog. I needed a little break, and there were some challenges in life that came up in March that I may blog about here soon, but for now, just know that I’m back and gunning for 170 pounds. I feel much better as I’ve hovered around 180 the last 3 months, but I can do better. Eight weeks of hard discipline and good workouts should get me where I want to be before the July 4 holiday.

I will weigh in either tonight or tomorrow at the gym and then put a plan in place.

Who knows…maybe I’ll even start another contest?? Any suggestions?

Transformation

Doug Rotman — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 20:15:12 +0000

Yes, my life truly has been transformed over the last year. I look very little like I did one year ago, in so many ways, but I am grateful for where I am now and looking forward to where I will be after another year of discipline, hard work, and seeing where God takes me!

Unfortunately, I got sick last week, which really threw off my routine from my eating to my exercise. However, I’m back in the land of the living now, and am back on track! I weighed in Tuesday night at the gym, and I was at 180 pounds. This gives me 7 weeks to lose those 10 pounds I want to drop by 3/31. I think that’s pretty reasonable! I think the 180 mark was a nice mental goal, but I want to push through down to 170!

Keep the encouragement coming…and some of the best encouragement have been the compliments I’ve received…especially those who have known me well over the last few years and are seeing the transformation that has resulted from discipline…a transformation back to the man I was before…and past that to the man I am becoming! And the great part is that discipline in this area has helped in other areas, too, so it truly has been a transformation!

I did take some pictures at the beginning of the month, and they are posted now under the “Visual Progress” link at the top!

Happy Anniversary!

Doug Rotman — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 03:42:28 +0000

One year ago today I posted for the first time here on “dougshealth.” It’s been an interesting journey over the last 12 months. I started this journey having become fed up with the guy I saw in the mirror. I wrote down some goals, tried to mark out some realistic intermediate waypoints, and asked for accountability along the way. The path has been filled both with hard times when I’ve wanted to give up and great times when I reached some milestones. I am very happy to announce that one year after throwing caution to the wind and putting my weight out there for all to see, I have now dropped 36 pounds!

Tonight at the gym I weighed in at 180 pounds, down from 216 a year ago! I am somewhat shocked at the change in my shape, my energy, and my state of mind. And at 180 pounds, I weigh exactly what I did at this time 10 years ago, which was the beginning of the winter quarter of my senior year in college! Not bad, especially given that I’ve been able to increase my muscle mass since then.

My original hope when I started this blog was to lose 40 pounds in 40 weeks, and while I have not accomplished that, 36 pounds in one year makes me feel quite fulfilled and accomplished. While I still won’t be mistaken as a model, the image in my mirror certainly looks much more like the image I’d have in my head of how I want to look. I’m still hoping to lose another 10 pounds or so, but will sit back tonight and celebrate a year of hard work, better eating habits, and the changing of my life!

Thanks for all the encouragement along the way…please keep it up…and let me know if I can help you in any life changes you want to make!

-Doug

ps. I’ll try to update pics this weekend!

update for the week…

Doug Rotman — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 19:37:45 +0000

I was able to weigh in on Tuesday night, and I hit…actually…I surpassed my goal for the week! I weighed in at 182 pounds, and my goal had been 183! I’m on my way down to 170!

My bodyfat, as recorded by a very non-technical measurement at the gym, has dropped down to 14%. This puts me still in the “Fitness” arena, but I’m just 1% away from the “Athlete” level!

Doing the math, and adjusting for the fact I always weigh in while wearing my workout clothes/shoes, my lean body mass is approximately 155 pounds, so I am still carrying about 25 pounds of fat on my body.

And when I get to my goal of 170 pounds, I’ll be right under 10% bodyfat…not bad!

Goal for next week is now 180!

New Goals…

Doug Rotman — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 15:58:41 +0000

While this should not surprise anyone, it seems to me to be much easier to lose weight when you have goals along the way. I set a goal to be under 190 by Jan 1, and I hit that! Now I’ll set up some new intermediate goals, but my new goal, which I view as both ambitious and realistic, is to be at 170 by March 31! I’m already at 185, so that’s just 15 pounds to go!

My intermediate goals are to lose 2 pounds per week for the next 3…then 1 1/2 pounds per week for 2 weeks…then 1 pound per week for 6 weeks.

Broken down for visual effect

Jan 11 weight = 185

goals per week…


1/19/2010	183
1/26/2010	181
2/2/2010	179
2/9/2010	177.5
2/16/2010	176
2/23/2010	175
3/2/2010	174
3/9/2010	173
3/16/2010	172
3/23/2010	171
3/30/2010	170

And the winner is…

Doug Rotman — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 22:44:21 +0000

Thanks again for all the support as I’ve been working to lose weight. Just a reminder…just because I reached ONE goal for the end of the year doesn’t mean I’m at the end of this journey! I have outlined some new goals for myself and still have more pounds to lose, but I’ll save those for another post later this week. So, feel free to keep encouraging me even if there are no Colts tickets as the proverbial carrot to entice you.

Without further ado…I will be taking with me to a Colts playoff game…Sir Andrew H. Well, he doesn’t hold the title of Sir, but you get the idea…and I know people don’t always want their full names up on the internet for all to see, so I’ll leave it as Mr. H. It also turns out Andrew is a gambling man. I offered him the option of attending the first playoff game (guaranteed) or foregoing the ticket with the option of attending the AFC championship game should the Colts advance. He chose the latter…so here’s hoping we get to go to a game!

Many others gave great encouragement, from Ode’s to poems to emails to texts, but the one who took the cake…well…figuratively speaking…was Cari R. I’m pretty sure she hired a PI, because we were in different places when she texted me to “Put down the cookie!” at the exact moment I had just picked one up. Kudos to you, Cari, and you get to ride along to the first game!

Thanks again, everyone, and if I can encourage you in your goals, feel free to let me know!