Day 11. My first day with a screw up. I just went to open mic night, with my friend Whitney. I had a piece of pizza, 2 donut holes, 2 Stellas and a martini.  That's okay. It's part of the journey. I'm not going to let it get me down, and I'll continue on my efforts to be good, be strong, and make it. I'm only about one-third of the way through. I've already lost 10 pounds. I'm working really hard. I can see muscle definition returning. So tomorrow is a new day, I will eat well I will exercise and I will be better than I was today. That's the goal really, be better than you are today. East little step will take you in the right direction. Each tiny decision will either make or break you. Pizza? No pizza? I chose pizza. I will live with my decision and make it right tomorrow. Cheers to you! Get it done! Do it! You got this.

So it has officially been 1 full week since I started my reboot and I am feeling awesome. At least physically. It is Monday so that is always lame. How did I do in week one? I did great. I ate super well exercised a bunch and am happy to report I lost a total of 8 pounds this week. Saturday was a wedding and a concert and many beers. At least 7. But I managed to stay away from cake and sweets all together.

I also did little to no physical activity on the weekend. I used this time for some rest and relaxation, BUT I still drank lots of water and ate very well. Hard boiled eggs, cashews, whole fruits and veggies and lots of them. My energy is up, my skin is looking great and I feel great. I am looking forward to yoga today. In fact, when I wake up each morning, one of my first thoughts is "Can I do yoga today and if so, when?" I am in love. It makes me feel amazing. Find what you love and do more of it. I don't care for running or workouts at the gym. But maybe you do. Whatever it is that you love to do and it gives you a workout, do it! More of it everyday. This weeks schedule: Tuesday and Thursday bike rides. Mon-Thursday, Hot yoga. Good eats. Lots of sleep and water.

As I prepare for my trip to Phoenix, I am thinking of where I would like to be before I go and what I will have to do to get there. I am down 8 pounds to 229. This week I plan to continue my whole foods diets with a few exceptions. Tonight, my dear friend is coming over and making dinner. She is an amazing cook and I am so lucky she likes to come over and cook. She cooks wonderfully delicious meals and I am being flexible. I am making an exception, but that is the only exception I will make this week. Flexibility is important if you want to make long term habit changes. It does not happen overnight and without effort.

My goals for the week? Lose another 4-6 pounds and continue building some muscle. In one week from now I WILL weight 223-225. I then have 2 more weeks to lose an additional 8-10 lbs taking me down to my goal for the reboot. If I succeed  When I succeed I will be down 20 -22 lbs in 31 days and on my way to my final goal. What is my final goal? I don't know yet, but have a feeling as it approaches I will know. My initial thought s are to just keep letting my body dictate what it wants. I plan to have a window of weight to allow myself to fluctuate as life happens. Lets say I set my overall goal at 205 pounds. I am then going to allow my self a 5-7 pound window going forward. If I get to 211, then I am back at it til lI get back down to 205. Maintenance is so much easier when you keep it up rather than waiting to you feel overwhelmed.  

Day 5 has been great. I'm still following the Whole Foods diet this week and it's been going very well. I couldn't help it, I weighed myself today. I can already see the results and feel them in many areas.. So after 5 days I've lost 8 pounds. My skin feels nice, the puffiness and bags under my eyes has gone away and I feel a lot more alert and alive. I've noticed that my nails have seemed to grow faster, obviously because of all the vitamins and nutrients in the fruit and vegetables. Day 4 of the program that I talked about in the other, the lose 10 pounds in 7 Days diet plan. First I thought it was unhealthy to lose 10 pounds in 7 days. But now I see it's totally possible and it's actually very good for you. Rather than losing 10 pounds by starving yourself or eating only one type of food, you just flood your body with tons of fruits and vegetables it's basically like a cleanse. You have a good energy, and you drink tons of water. So, I've been combining physical work with this diet and in five days have seen amazing results. Keep at it! You got this. One day at a time. We will suceed.

It's amazing how good I feel. I would have thought lowering my calorie intake and exercising as much as I have would make me feel weak, but in fact I feel great. I am guessing its all the vitamins and minerals in all the fruits and veggies that are giving me energy. During yoga each day I felt strong and energetic. More so than when I was eating "regular". Today is day 4 and I know I lost at least 4 or 5 pounds. I can see it and feel it in my body. Stay motivated people. You can do this! I can do this. I will succeed.

Update: Went to yoga and it was hard today. Feeling a bit weak. Mary was tough today. But I loved that she recognized that I like extra pushups, so she added some good chest work. But I was pooped! Drinking more water than normal has totally cleansed me and I swest like a champ already. The added water even makes ot easier to sweat so I was wet from head to toe with rapid fire persperation.  I love hot yoga so much. It has changed me it many ways. Looking forward to this journey. Progress. Grow. Change.  Love.

Food Log.

Had 3 banana and two glasses of milk to eat today. One plain banana. Other 2 mixed with 1 cup ice, 1 Tsp dark choclate cocoa powder.  Blend for choc bsnana smoothie.  I also had  a grilled chicken salad with blackbeans and corn. No dressings. I like to use lime juice. 3 glasses blach tea. 120 oz water

So I am a slacker in some areas. Keeping up on this blog is one area I am working on. So I started my reboot on Monday August 1, 2016. I didn't write a blog entry because I did not know I started the reboot. How could I not know? Well I did not consciously think about starting it. I began by working out on my new Ultimate Body works. I went to yoga and ate really well that day. Then I did the same thing again yesterday and a trend emerged. I thought to myself, why not start now. I think now is the time to start this "physical" portion of my reboot. I weighed myself for the first time in a while. It was not pretty, especially after a heavy weekend of drinking. I came in at 237. At least I know where I am starting. I plan to weigh my self once a week on Mondays to see where I am at and to snap a new pic of my progress. Thankfully a rigorous yoga schedule has kept me from being a total porker!

I am including pictures of me from April, 2016 (left 2 images) and from today, Day 3, basically just starting out. I need the visual motivation. Although I am still approx the same weight I was back in April, you can see that doing yoga for the last few months has helped me tone up a little. No much, but progress is progress. Now its time to take it to the next level with a proper diet too!

As I have been thinking and pondering what it will be like to be fit and lose weight, I realized a few things that might help you in your journey. 

1. It won't happen overnight.
2. Be kind to yourself. You will screw up along the way.
3. Be realistic. In the course of 31 days, you will need days off and beer. Well at least me :)
4. Drink more water than you are comfortable with. It plays a HUGE part in weight loss.

I have not blogged about my reboot in a week or more. It is one of those things, ya know. I forgot to blog one day and then just let it go. Then I felt bad and just kept putting it off. But I have been thinking about it nearly everyday and sharing it with friends and family. In fact, I already inspired a few friends to start their own reboot. One friend is going vegan for 31 days. It makes me very happy. So spring is here and that also makes me very happy. Living in the north my entire life has given me a perspective on happiness and motivation. These sunny spring days make me realize how much we, in the north, just accept. This past weekend was sunny and beautiful and I felt like a new man. I was excited, motivated and inspired to get out and be active. I worked in my yard all day and loved every minute of it. Then I sat back, enjoying the fruits of my labor and realized I put up with a lot of gloomy weather. In the fall and winter I say to my self, "This isn't so bad. I can deal with it" and I do because I have to. Then when a sunny, warm day hits, I feel totally energized and realize how blah I felt previously.

Today's been a pretty low day. I laid around all day and ate way too much food. Missing Jonathan a lot today. I thought about him several times. Little things just reminded me of him. I saw Point Blank in my movie queue. He didn't get to watch it. :-(

Not to mention it's snowing. I know we had a great winter. I'm very thankful for that. Between buying a new house and having a mild winter, I barely noticed this year. I do suffer from Winter Blues and this year I skipped it. :-) but it's April 2nd and I needed some sun for motivation today. Didn't get it.

Why haven't I started my reboot? Because it takes a lot of effort. And I'm not ready yet. I really want to succeed on my 31 day reboot and I don't want to fail because I'm not ready. So I keep searching for inspiration, finding things that inspire me to be better.

It's ironic. Actually in some ways I've already started my reboot. Just not my physical one. I'm becoming active in writing again. Searching for daily inspiration has left me feeling really good. So as you can see, your reboot can be anything. Anything you want to improve. Just take 31 days, set your mind to it, and do it.

Randomness

• I did yoga everyday this week
• I rented my apartment today
• I found my fitbit today
• Bob's your uncle
• Ollie has a lot to say