At the Root

Cash incentives work. News at 11.

Yup, it was news to me too, but a study done by the Mayo Clinic proves it to be true.  Cash is king when it comes to motivational incentives.

That does explain why slavery never worked.

“Would you rather have: a, a whip, or b, one hundred dollars, for some grueling housework?”

Sure, on a scale of made up statistics, 1 in 40 would rather have the whip, but there’s always one of those in every crowd.

“Yes, mistress.”

“Do you have a hall pass?”

Yup, same guy. But that’s just what motivates him. The rest of us? We like cash. The Mayo Clinic tried out this theory on weight loss programs and discovered it worked there too.

“I’ll starve for cash.”

They offered $20 a month in a yearlong study and found that, in a group of 100 obese people, the group lost an average of 9 pounds.  The same study without cash turned out only a two-pound loss, and three jelly donuts. Ok, nobody found any donuts, but that’s just because one of the test subjects ate them.

So what does this prove? Nothing that we don’t already know. We watch TV. We know that people will do the stupidest things for money. I mentioned the network looking for new reality stars, right? They are. You don’t get much stupider than reality TV unless you’re a college kid with a bottle of Jack and a shopping cart out after midnight.

“You know what would be really cool…?”

Not that I’d know anything about that. It’s only what I’ve heard.

And now I’ve heard there’s a study for money. Maybe there’s hope for my blog yet. Sure, if people will give up food for $20 a month, imagine what blog-fodder they’d read for pennies on the dollar. Then imagine if I could prove that my blog makes you lose weight! Whoa! I’d have a gold mine.

RobBlog: Better than Botox!

A dream has to start somewhere. Nobody’s offering me cash to write; maybe I should turn that around.

I’ll let you know, just as soon as I get some cash. First I have to find somebody willing to motivate me with cash.

“Yes mistress.”

No, not you.

Workout

So I worked out. Despite my lungs' protest.

I came.

I saw.

I coughed.

Lots.

Unceasing fits.

But, I made it. I look at it like an anaerobic workout without the physical commitment. Where can you get that?

I got it, at no additional charge. I also got my 3 miles today, barely. So lets celibate. Slowly and Softly. My muscles hurt. I also did some cardio at night, so I'm pretty much worked out out.

My food intake was ok. Cereal for breakfast, tuna for lunch, and tilapia with asparagus for dinner.

Over all it was a good day.

And I'm down to 231.5

Way to go, Rob

Back in the Gym

Two weeks and I'm back to working out. It's tough. The first week I was sick, the next week I was unloading all the ook from my body. Now it's time to get back in.

This morning I got back to the gym. I didn't get the 3 miles in under 45 minutes I only got to 2.75. I couldn't get my lungs to comply. I'm still coughing up stuff. My apartment complex has a strict, "no passing out" gym policy, so I eased up.

I did do my night weight lifting. The Pirate Queen joined me, and we swam afterward. My swim looked more like "floating" but at least I got in the pool.

And my weight? I'm at 234. Not bad, considering. It's not my lightest, but it's not up, so hooray! I get back in there from here.

Now I get to bed. Hopefully I won't cough like this again:

Teach a Man to Fish...and He'll Want Hamburger

Hey! Short one tonight. I'm up a half pound and kinda discouraged. That doesn't mean I'm gonna stop, it just means I need to to rethink things. You know, get more bang for my buck. SOME bang for my buck.

Part of my problem might be that I've been wearing down during my workout. Today was my run and walk day, I slowed it down a bit so I could concentrate on keeping a steady speed. It worked, but I didn't burn as many calories. I'll need to build back up.

Food wise, today was more of the same. I did eat sloppy joes, but I tried to watch my portions.

We'll see what tomorrow brings.

As the Treadmill Spins

Well I was right, the pizza was not a good weight loss decision. Today I weigh 236. That's 2 days after pizza day. One day after pizza day? Yah, never mind.

We're just pushing forward. I've continued my workouts. It's tough when my weight is on the treadmill too, not going anywhere. It appears something's gotta change, and I think it's the pizza.

Don't tell it yet though, let me break it to it slowly, over cheese, pepperoni, and sausage.

So today I completed both workouts. I had a swim, and I ate pretty good. What's pretty good? Oatmeal for breakfast, a peanutbutter sandwich for lunch, and chicken with lemon pepper for dinner.

That was my day.

And here is my Animal, from the Muppets, impression. I hate working-out early

Dog Days

Gloomy Monday. Not only was it grey and stormy, I packed on the pounds.

237

I gotta say, I'm more than a bit disappointed. Yes, I ate poorly over the Super Bowl. I admit to beer and nachos, but 237? 2.5 pounds? Really?

So, let me just say I took it poorly, and tomorrow won't look much better. I ate my frustration on a pizza, and it tasted kinda like pepperoni and mushroom. Really good.

But enough about that, we all have bad days. I had a weekend and a bad day. Tomorrow, I'll cinch my pull-ups around my waist, and get back on the potty, so to speak.

Still, today wasn't a complete failure. I got my morning run in as well as my evening weightlifting. So I did do that. It was tough. Especially, looking out the window while running the treadmill made me think I was a sled dog.

Mush!

Here's pullin' for a better tomorrow.

Sleepy...

Hey, really exhausted tonight. I'm down: 233.5. I did my exercise today. I got my three miles in. I can't wait to relax this weekend. Food wise I did okay. I had oatmeal a banana, and then Mac and cheese for dinner. Ok I'm not the Jenny Craig poster boy, but I am losing weight, and I'm getting fit. I can live with that.

Hunter Green Roller Coaster

I was right: Ben & Jerry tied Kekua down and took her Happy Meal. Pigs! Sorry LA, I know you had so much hope in my fat butt feeding your fat kids. Please don't go teaching Hunter cannibalism so I can still feed him. That's not even funny.

"Happy Meal is people!"

Well I'm not up that much. 235. Hopefully today's workout will eat that up. Or at least the chili dog I had for lunch. Shhh. Don't tell Hunter. I don't want him clawing at the door. I did have a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast. That's good, right? That and a chicken breast with green beans I ate for dinner. Oh and I had some coffee, and lots and lots of water. No, really, if Hunter comes after me, I can hide as an unusually old fountain cherub.

I'll give you a few seconds to clear the image from your head.

Think happy thoughts.

Okay, now we continue.

In my workout, I was about 15 seconds faster on my 3 miles, and I ran a 1 mile warm up to my weight training. I actually got going much easier this Wednesday versus last. I think it's because I'm in a routine. My body moves before it even knows I don't want to go. We'll see come next Monday, since I take the weekend to rest up. Monday will be a hard start.

The hardest part of today's workout was the noise pollution in the gym. I use a playlist on my iPhone to workout. Tonight, the other gym members had three TVs on three different station with the volume full blast. I could make out what they were saying over my headphones. So, I waited until the people who were there before me left, then I walked the floor, turning everything down. Nobody else does. They don't wipe their sweat off the treadmill rails when they're done, why would the turn down the TV?

"Bunch of savages in this town. "

I took my passive aggressive rage out on the weights.

And now, I'm relaxed and off to bed. That is one of the benefits from my workouts. I relax really easily.

This is the Great White Caboose, signing out.

The Agony Without the Irony

Eat it, Hunter! No really, eat it. I'm down to 234.5. Here's your Happy Meal. Eat it before I gain it back Ben & Jerry stopped by, and one pint later, they're looking for their happy.

Other than that, today was okay. I had a decent workout. Still not quite the distance of last week, but I blame the weightlifting. My body is resisting the extra effort. Can you blame it?

This morning the walk to the gym came early. It was dark. I was tired. It wasn't until I got home that I woke up enough to whine about how much I didn't want to work out, by then it was too late. Yay me!

So, today I'm sore. Really sore, but in a good way. I'm not just saying the cuz I don't want you to see me weeping in the corner. I don't, but that doesn't stop my sore from still feeling good.

Today, my muscles were like "ow! I feel good and a little less flabby."

I was like, "shut up muscles! I'm drinking coffee, the other patrons think I'm weird."

The other patrons were like, "hello, police?"

I think the coffee is starting to affect me more. That and the lack of sleep. I'm going to bed until tomorrow. You can put a comma in that last sentence if you want. I wouldn't bother; it's not necessary.

Yah, sleep..

Week Two Strikes Back

Today I'm back on track. I did my three miles this morning, and I started my weightlifting regimen tonight. The running was hard. I felt like I didn't do as well as last week, and I didn't. Still, the difference is negligible. There's no sense sweating minutia, so long as I keep sweating towards the big goal.

For the weightlifting, I use James Orvis' Weight Training Workouts That Work. It's a great all over body workout that concentrates on the major muscle groups. I do three days a week weight training. The first week concentrates on just getting going. Today I did bench press, lat pull downs, curls, leg press, shoulder press, dumbell pullovers and crunches.

The weights weren't as heavy as they were the last time I did this, but that's to be expected. The important thing is building a routine.

I'm starting that.

For food, I had oatmeal, a scone at lunch, and tilapia with green beans for dinner. Also I had a caramel macchiato for a treat. Not the "best" food day, but not over the edge.

Today I feel tired, but good. Tomorrow I try to give Kekua her Happy Meal back.