YOLO

You Only Live Once.

Commence the eye rolling. So for anyone that isn't aware, a recent phrase - YOLO - has become quite popular. It's typically used by people who are about to do something stupid and defend their next action by saying that you only live once; so you should enjoy yourself while it lasts. However, I view it differently. You only live once, which means you better damn well take care of your body, or else your one life is going to last a hell of a lot shorter than it could. You only live once, so you should take the best care possible of yourself. And you know what? I've been doing that. And for a matter of fact, I've drastically changed my life during this school year. The day that started it all? October 15, 2011. This was the day of my very first blog post, and let me tell you, being able to put all my thoughts down in this blog, plus being able to communicate to many of my friends and family has been a great way to get motivation. I constantly get questsions and comments about how my weight loss is going, and how I look so great now. Just yesterday, my dad said to me, "Hey Skinny" as he was going to ask me a question. Skinny? Not yet, but it I am significantly thinner than October.

I can't thank those who have supported me this whole time enough. Do you know what it feels like to hear the words, "Wow you look so great! How much weight have you lost?!" I just feel so much better, not just physically, but emotionally and socially as well. And to top it off, it's now my summer break, which is my favorite time of the year. AND my birthday is on Friday. This week is awesome.

But there's more to it than just that. As of Tuesday afternoon, I weighed in at 199.5 pounds!

I reached my goal by my birthday, in less than 4 months!

October 15, 2011 Starting weight: 255
February 19, 2012 Weight: 250
June 12, 2012 Weight: 199.5

Want to know the last time I weighed under 200 pounds? Well, 5 years ago, I was 5'9" and weighed ~228 (medical record). The previous year I was probably around 200, but was a bit shorter, and I also played a fair amount of Soccer so I stayed active. So basically, the last time I weighed this much, I was probably about 5 or 6 inches shorter. I'd say that's a big difference.

As I mentioned, I'm back at the Zoo as of today for Zoo Camp training, and camp begins on Monday. I finished my finals on Monday and Tuesday and my summer break has begun. I'll be working with 1st graders (Tiger Camp) and I'm stoked, as usual. Our camp crew will be amazing as well, to top it off. But something truly amazing happened today. On top of the numerous people mentioned that I looked great from my weight loss, I decided to try on a Large camp shirt (rather than XL) to see how it would fit. And let me tell you, it fit. That was honestly one of the best feelings of my life, right there. I have XXL shirts in my dresser (that I barely wear). I wore XL for quite a while, but some shirts that were of lesser quality, I would prefer XXL to make it a bit baggier (on purpose) as well as in case it shrunk. But now? Large. This weekend I need to go clothes shopping, because basically everything I own is too big for me now. I'd say that one day, maybe I could wear a medium, but I doubt it would have the length due to my height. Nonetheless - Large. So amazing. Maybe I can start to wear shirts that have always been too small for me now!

I think that's all I will say for now. It will be a busy weekend with my birthday on Friday, and celebrating it with different people throughout the weekend. Plus with camp starting up on Monday. Stay fancy everyone. I expect it on my birthday.

It's Been a Little While - One Week to Go!

I had totally meant to post an update before now, but I never felt like I had much to say. Oh well, now I have a lot to talk about!

So, unfortunately, my running hit a roadblock. I just couldn't seem to get the energy and stamina to last any longer than 2 miles. Who knows why, but that's just the way it was. So I decided to cross train for a while, and basically, I've only run a few times since my last post. I can say I won't be hitting 5 miles by my birthday, but that's okay. My main goal is my weight right now. I'd rather hit my weight goal, than my running goal if I had to choose one. I will be focusing more on running this Summer, as I won't have a gym to go to, and I won't have my bike with me either. So no worries in that department. However, since I've had a problem with my running progress, I decided I won't be running the July 4th 5k. I'll get to a 5k when I'm ready for it.

Well, last I mentioned, I weighed in at 210. And with 7 days before my birthday, I am now 202 pounds. Whew, so close! And being only 2 pounds off my goal, I can easily achieve this in a week. However, a problem that has arisen: I leave Corvallis on Tuesday to go back home, which means my last chance to weigh myself is Tuesday, and that only leaves me 4 days until my last official weigh in. But, I'm going to see if I can acquire an accurate scale on the 15th, so I can do a last weigh in, in case I don't hit 200 by Tuesday. Even if I don't quite hit 200, that will still be 53 pounds that I've lost since the beginning of this blog; 48 of which in the last 4 months. I'm pretty damn proud of myself. And I still have more weight to lose!

Now because I haven't been running, I've been spending a lot of time at the gym. And typically, I've spent my time on stationary bikes, a bit of time on elipticals and treadmills, as well as shooting hoops. But I generally do at least 45 minutes of fairly intense cardio, unless I'm lacking energy that day. I've also done a few short runs, 2 miles or less, and walking a bit on days when I have very little energy, or on rest days. Also, one day last week, I ran sprints. Wow, that was tough. It was basically 15 seconds of a maximum sprint, followed by 45 seconds of walking. After 15 minutes of that, I was DONE. I can see the benefit of sprints though, and will definitely incorporate them into my running this summer. I've also tried to do a bit more work on my core, but I can't say I've done that much. Just more than usual.

I've also been very strict with my diet. Usually I've been keeping to less than 1500 calories a day, and my BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) for a day is about 2,100 calories I believe. So that's a deficit of about 600 calories just from diet. Add in an extra 500 calories burned just from working out (on average), then that's about a 1,00 calorie deficit each day - 7,700 each week.That's at least a rough estimate. It might be a bit more, especially considering that often I'm losing 3 pounds in a week and that only accounts for about 2.2 pounds. Nonetheless, I cracked down on my diet a bit more in the last couple of weeks, in order to be able to reach 200 by my birthday. It'll be a close call, but well deserved if I reach it.

And not much else has been happening lately. I got sick on Saturday, the same day I went to the Prefontaine Classic (track and field meet in Eugene) with my brother Adam and Hannah. So I didn't do much in terms of exercise from Saturday to Tuesday, which is a big reason why I included walking as part of my exercise, since that's about all I could do for a few days.

I have finals on Monday and Tuesday, and then I'll be doing my final weigh in at the gym, and then head home basically. Wednesday-Friday I have training for Zoo Camp (I'll be working in Giraffe B Camp! Which is 2nd grade for those who don't know). Technically it's Monday-Friday, but I can't get out of taking finals those first two days. And of course, on Friday, I'll be 21. What a great week this will be!

I plan up writing up a post either Friday or Saturday (preferably Friday) about how the week went, my birthday, and of course, what my final weight is. I look forward to our next meeting, and until then, stay fancy.