Project Dean--Day 1

Okay, as I mentioned in my first post of the year, I'm ready to lose weight in order to take a picture with Dean Patterson, Phantom Regiment Drum Major, at dress rehearsal and at the end of the summer. Here are pictures of me as I look today. I'll probably only post these pictures once a month so that I can truly see progress in my goals.

I'm a little embarrassed by this pictures...I mean, I've always been a big girl, and don't think I'll ever get down to a size that would make me "thin" but I'm going to get down to a weight that makes me feel good about myself and makes me more healthy.

My goals are to get rid of the belly fat as much as I can, and to tone my arms and my thighs so they don't flap around. I'm also going to make it a goal to run in the Race To Wrigley 5K in May. A couple of years ago, Eric and I were heading out to breakfast and we ran into the throngs of people involved in the race, streets blocked everywhere so it took us about 45 minutes to get through it all. But it looks like fun and I'm a diehard Cubs fan, so figured that would be my first 5K.  I originally was going to run a couple of 5K's last November and December, but I trained stupidly and managed to mess up my ankle the first weekend of training and never really went back. I also gave myself too short a time to train. I figure with the Race To Wrigley being 5 months away, that's plenty of time to train properly and be able to handle a 3 mile run.

I have a membership at Planet Fitness and the gym is only a mile from my house and is open 24 hours a day. This past October, when the dog would get me up at 4:30am or so to go outside, I would do that, put on my workout clothes and head to the gym. It was quiet and I could catch up on the sports games of the night.

Now the goal is to be consistent in actually going to the gym. My work schedule has been off since the holidays (I'm a contractor, don't get paid holidays or vacation time) so I've been working long hours and after 10 hours of looking at spreadsheets, I really didn't feel like working out. So, I'm starting on January 5th, will work out both weekend days and will try to get to the gym at least 2 other days during the week. I figure 4 days a week is a good way to start. I'm also going to take the stairs at Union Station instead of the escalators which will help a little as well. I might go to the gym on the nights the Biggest Loser is on so I can be inspired by others.

I named this "Project Dean" so I could have motivation. I have a little iPod Nano that Eric gave me for my birthday and I have pictures of Dean on there so I can look at his face while I'm struggling to make it that extra 5 minutes on the treadmill. I'm also wearing a Phantom Regiment t-shirt while I work out for more inspiration. I'm hoping that by August, the 3X Turandot tour shirt I bought last year, can be replaced by an XL or even L tour shirt.

So here we go. I'll let you know tomorrow how the first workout went. I figure my fingers won't be sore, but the rest of me might be.

P.S. I know I didn't post anything for the past 2 days, which breaks my rule of writing or posting something every day, but I've been READING...a lot...with the gift of my Kindle, I'm reading all the time, which I consider a good thing.

Back on Track!

So yesterday, after what seemed like weeks and weeks, I finished the first of the fiction books in my list of 100, "Amateur Barbarians." I hated it. It was one of those books that doesn't go anywhere, the book jacket and the little excerpt from the New York Times both lied to me. I was expecting a seriously funny, witty, or sarcastic book like the back of the book promised me, or at least one that was serious about its subject matter. As I told you, I had a hard time relating to the main characters and I felt even less connected to them when they had their "big epiphanies" or whatever they had. These two middle-aged men, who's lives were terrible and just got more so. There were no answers and as far I as could tell, they had try to make changes and ended up going to exactly where they were before they started their journeys. I didn't see them as "barbarians." The one man went to Africa to save his pregnant daughter and ended up staying, going on a pilgrimage of sorts, and then going back to his hum-drum suburban life to his kids who didn't respect or need him, and his wife who had a very unsuccessful affair with the other sad sack man in the story. The story jumped around and jumped around badly. Plus, the big things in this book, the trip to Africa and the affair happened basically 50 pages from the end of the book. There was a lot of masturbating which seemed unnecessary to me, and a lot of feeling sorry for yourself. We all have pity parties from time to time, but these men lived them constantly. Yuck.

So, now, basically I only have 1 day of leeway left for the rest of the 98 books I have to read by the end of the year. I got the next two books today. "American Rust" by Philipp Meyer is the work of fiction. I'm already concerned because they say he writes like Hemingway and Cormac McCarthy, two very "male" authors. I don't like Hemingway. If this is another "man" read, I'm going to struggle to get through it. I hope not. But I'll let you know. I'm going to take on the fiction book first this time.

My non-fiction choice is "The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science." This is another long book, but I believe will hold my interest more than the quantum physics book did. I will also let you know on this one.

So, no more procrastinating, no more delays. 2 books a week, 50 weeks left in the year. I will do this. I will not end up like the pathetic characters in "Amateur Barbarians." I do not want to go on this journey and not get anything out of it.