Friday, January 26, 2007

I have stumbled but not fallen

Over the past two weeks, sadly, more than my blog has been inactive. I have been deluged by visitors to our minesite – including the U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia – and the series of visitors not only involved a lot of stress (and stress eating) but a lot of missed workouts.

But, in an important way, the blog worked just as I hoped it would. The extended support network kicked in just when I needed it. I was feeling down about my lapse and disappointed in myself. Unfortunately, these types of feelings can have a negative perpetuation when it comes to dieting and weight-loss. However, when I received an unexpected email from my dear friend Maria today, it reinvigorated me. She sent a story from
CNN and gave me some wonderful words of encouragement. It really meant a lot. If you are a reader of my blog or someone else trying to drop a few pounds or someone looking to make a lifestyle change, please feel free to comment or drop me an email. The comments are especially useful as they can contribute both to dialogue and support (for me or others) because they are public. Thanks so much, Maria!

On Sunday, I will have my next weigh in. I will return to Jakarta on Tuesday, and I will measure myself and take photo two (after one month). I have noticed a change in the way my jeans feel – so I am confident there will be some good news, but I fear it may not be what I had hoped for with the latter portion of month being less successful than the first half.

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Two weeks down, just fifty weeks (and kilos) to go



(Top photo) The Freeport bike team was probably better suited for pass-blocking than pedaling. (Second photo) For those of you non-history buffs, that is not really the former President Sukarno. He was part of a group that wore historic-style Indonesian clothing and rockin' old-school bikes.

Two weeks in, the progress is generally good. I have lost nearly 3.5 kilos (over 7 lbs). My exercise programs has gone well; though I have missed a few days in the gym, I have been able to make it up on the weekends with around 4 hours working out on Saturday and Sunday. My personal ban on alcohol has been flawless, even making it through a dinner with friends on Friday night and a trip to the bar without a drop. My commitment on overall diet has been less than superb, and this is certainly the area where I have the most room to improve.

Today was an exceptionally good day for exercise with two hikes from Tembagapura to Hidden Valley, two communities in the highlands of Freeport’s mining area in Papua. With a starting altitude of around 2,000 meters (6,600 feet) in Tembagapura, the trek is roughly 2.4 kilometers long that climbs about 400 meters. These two walks and an hour on the elliptical cross-trainer allowed me to burn 5,000 calories before lunch, according to my Polar heart rate monitor (HRM).

On the point of my HRM, my friend Sam gave me a few pointers, and I feel confident that my improved understanding of the HRM will be useful in tracking my workouts and fitness progression.

The next few weeks will include a long string of business guests, so it will be important that I remain both diligent to my dietary guidelines, as well as make time for daily exercise.

Sunday, January 7, 2007

First week's progress report

Tomorrow will mark the first week. I would give myself mixed reviews. Perfect on booze – though, admittedly, I did not have any terribly tempting situations like going to the bars with friends or a business dinner party with free-flowing wine. While I have made a major improvement on my eating habits, I did have more than a handful of slip-ups. On exercise, I didn’t make it to the gym on two days, but I had a good weekend with 3 vigorous exercise classes and a 23 kilometer bike event (I hesitate to say race, as it was a leisurely pace). I took all my body measurements upon return to Jakarta, and I will compare them again when I return on Jan. 21st. I will check my weight again on the same scale in Papua on Jan. 16th. I will check my progress on both these parameters every two weeks.

I also took a “before” photo, but I will wait to post that until I have a more appealing progress and comparison photo.

Stay tuned for photos of a mountain hike next weekend in Papua, today’s bike race, and the news of the of the weigh-in next weekend.

Tuesday, January 2, 2007

Yesterday was the beginning of my journey. Last night, I stopped drinking at the stroke of midnight. I tried to weigh in yesterday, but I was unable to do so because I was over the 350 pound limit for the scale. This was startling not only because I hadn’t faced this problem since high school, but also because I weighed 325 pounds on the same scale just 2 months before. Further, it reiterated the importance of this ‘shock therapy’ approach to this issue, as the momentum of the lifestyle choices were going in the wrong direction and at a troubling speed – though I did take this holiday season as a final respite before this commitment.

Because the scale didn’t tip in the half-inch beyond the 350 mark, I am going to approximate my weight at 363 pounds or 165 kilos. To reach my target of 100 kilos, I will need to lose 1.25 kilos (2.75 lbs) a week to reach my goal by the end of the year. I will record my measurements upon return to Jakarta on Wednesday.

I did OK on diet and got a decent couple of hours of cardio in on the elliptical trainer.