Day 859 Today is brought to you by the number thirty

Does anyone remember that "old sesame street show" where they had numbers be sponsors of the telecasts? I do and today is being sponsored by the # 30. Today is the thirtieth consecutive day I have done two things 1) worked at least 8 hours 2) done a 60 minute cardiovascular workout where I have burned over 1300 calories in an hour. In fact, in the last 41 days I have worked and worked out in that fashion in 40 of the days.

So how do I feel? I feel awesome . Today,I beat yesterday's total by burning 4 more calories with in the hour. Yep, I stepped it up by burning 1406 calories in 60 minutes.Now, is this a success story? I think yes, because after all the only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.

My goal is to reach 33 consecutive days. I would really like to keep going but, my Sunday job is closed for July 4Th.

Day 858 - It is great when "the flow" comes back!

I know I have talked about the flow before. The flow is a special feeling I get when the work out comes easy and leaves me with a feeling of flowing. Things just seem to mesh.To offer more insight of this feeling pretend you are running then of a sudden you are flying. Wouldn't that be something? Nothing really changes just the resistance and your strength is renewed. You are no longer an object pushing you are just an object moving. I hope you understand my thoughts because if you do I believe it can have a tremendous impact on your motivation to want to get on a good work out program. Perhaps you to can get into the flow I am referring to.

Burned a good 1402 today in area 1 and after it was over today I breathed a sigh and said "that was an easy work out today." Regardless of the fact that I burned 127 calories in the last 5 minutes!

Day 857- In an effort to accomplish some goals we must be willing to tear everything down

I was reminded by that thought when I thought about a simple phrase. That simple phrase was boot camp. What is boot camp? I am sure anyone can give you their own meaning of boot camp. My version I am sure will be different than others. When i think of boot camp I do not think of a physical place. My view is strictly from a mental aspect of it.The intention of boot camp is to allow someone to learn and begin practices of another way of life. The way of life I am referring to is a life of accomplishing a goal that allows one to review and determine just what they want to become. A boot camp mentality is usually a huge challenge for most people. I like anyone else will resist change. A boot camp mentality in order for it to be successful has to have massive change. So much so that a revolution in your life has got to take place. Whenever a revolution occurs we can expect a lot activities to take place. There will be some if not a lot of revolt. Your mind is going to be asked to look at things differently. There will be a paradigm shift. There will be a huge revolt there. Your body if your boot camp is set for it will fight very hard to keep everything the same.

I Will continue this discussion later.----

Waking up at 5am allowed me to be on the machine at 530 am. I burned 1381 in the hour.

Day 856 A sleep in Sunday

My energy was high and my spirits were up as I slept until 630 am. It felt so awesome to just take the liberty of resting in bed for about a half hour while got ready to go to the gym. I was on the machine at 755.Man, how good is that? That is 3 hours later than I usually get on the machine.

My choice of area today was the hot box where in the hour I burned 1380. I used a different machine but I felt awesome while burning the calories.

Here is a question.Witihin the last 30 days, how times have you fully exerted yourself for an entire hour or longer?
Now, if it has been longer than 30 days since, when was the last time you fully exerted yourself for an entire hour?
That is a loaded question because it reveals what kind of physical condition you are in. Asking that question also sheds light on what kind of if any workout program you are on. When you decide on your answer you more than likely have got to look back at your last 30 days of activity.

It is funny there are several large muscles in the human body the heart being one of the largest. Now, it what stand to reason that using it like any muscle is very important to your overall health.

Day 855- I have usually burned about 200 calories by now.

Today is ? Duh, Saturday. Okay what happens on Saturday. Well, based on the last 855/7= 122 or so Saturdays I workout and then go to work. I believe there may be 2 exceptions. The two exceptions were where I just worked out and did not go to work. The routine is set where I start working out around 7 am. I am now on a break. But then again a break is all relative to a period of time from one activity to the next. I still woke up today at 525 am.

Folks during this journey of the last 855 days I have discovered that, the power of a routine, the power of muscle memory and the power of mind conditioning is truly amazing. The bond that has been built is so powerful that it still astonishes me everyday. I know this may sound very obvious but we are all as human beings creates of habit. We all take comfort at some level of repeating the same action over and over. Why? I am not sure but I do feel our minds feel very comfortable when we do something we are good at.

As the time grows near to my usual 7 am work out I will take a break from this post and go to workout. It will be interesting to note if one, I workout in a different area hot,warm or cool and two, if my calorie burn goes up within the hour.

Day 855 and Day 26 are in plain sight here they are and with the good Lord willing here I go!

The answer to question one was yes. The answer to question two was yes. I burned 1414 today in area 1 the cooler section of the gym the one area where there is definitely more circulation than area 2 and little circulation than area 3. I nailed it! I enjoyed the good pace and the fact that it was not as humid today as in the past few days. I also felt better with a little more of a break between workouts. Having started the workout an hour later I felt much stronger.

Let me see, this is day 26 of the 33RD day of the march to the fourth of jew lie!( excuse the southern dwang).
We are 26/33 =79 % of the way there!

Remember, people usually repeat an action they are good at. People are usually good at actions they like to do.
Simple question so what are you good at and what do you like to do? And, the most important question, what is it doing for you? And, the utmost important question are you totally happy with that?

To quote the untouchables- "And thereth endth the lesson" -

Day 854 Fatigue makes .... out of us all

Cowards! Fatigue makes cowards out us all. Do you see the correlation folks? Have you ever asked, why do I feel tired? There is usually a simple answer. But not always the correct one. I suppose we can say that about anything. Coward comes from the word courage and courage has to do with heart.Now heart in this case has to do with will. Of course will have all to do with determination. So it makes sense to me that if you are tired you will probably have less determination than if you were not tired. I feel if I am going to tired I have to be really tired because I know I am in shape.

People need to get in shape! Get moving and get used to moving if not they will just become cowards!

Speaking of cowards, I burned 15 more calories in the hour than yesterday. Using the hot box (best known as area 2) - I beat yesterday by burning 1385.

Day 853- With a little faith and belief we can achieve

The challenge was definitely there.What with the humidity and all and with playing in the area 2 zone ie hot!
Big positive to that is it is very easy to get loose.We choose our mindset we focus on what we choose. I made a mistake on my settings on the machine. However, I did burn at a better pace than my first five minutes.

I burned 1370 in the hour. I also burned 1290 in the last 55 minutes after I adjusted the settings.

Day 852 - What else do we have to do?

I read in the book "Think and grow rich" by Napoleon Hill that our life is similar to a chessboard where we have only a certain amount of moves and spaces in which to move. And there are only a certain amount of moves to make.Every time we use a move or lose a piece time is removed from of life's clock. Sounds pretty deep.

Today I burned 1412 in area 1. You know the warm spot. I beat day 851 by 6 calories and I practiced CANI!

Day 851- When you push yourself very hard you have no idea what can happen

The body and mind have far more potential than we can even imagine. That thought was reinforced to me by my experience while working out this morning. As I have said before there are three areas in the gym I have been going to use the machine I use. To simplify lets just say cool,warm and hot. The temperature is based on the amount of circulation the area gets. In the hot section which is area 2, is where I was today. The machines in that area tend to have more resistance which makes the workout a little more of a challenge. After arriving on the machine at 547 am which is an awesome time I did a1406 calorie burn in the hour which is very good for the hot area.

I must admit today was both a mental and physical challenge I did 704 calories in the first 30 minutes then 702 in the second 30 minutes. Around the 40 minute mark I was thinking about slowing down the pace. Then I got a second wind and stayed strong the rest of the way by just sheer effort and desire. What a great almost indescribable feeling washed over me when I was done!

Day 850- We are now 150 days from the big 1K

This is day 21 of the fun run to July 4Th. I feel great. A lady I was working out next to kept saying she was tired. Okay, she convinced me she thought she was tired. I guess she was trying to convince herself she was tired. I wondered how true that statement really was. After all is it no true that fatigue makes cowards of us all. In mind she was not really tired. For one she was working out the blood was flowing and also, if she gave more effort to waking up and less towards thoughts of saying she was tired she would have gotten much more out of the workout.


Today, I burned 1396 in the hour with a very strong finish. At times the machine does not get in line and it does get a good motion going. Such was the case today as I burned only 100 in the first 5 minutes. However in the next 55 minutes I burned 1296. Which is 23.56 number of calories burned per minute. per minute. If you do 23,56 calories a minute for 60 minutes that is a 1414 burn. Which is what I expect to do every day.

Day 849- Day 365 of consecutive days of posting!

Yes we have blogged daily for one year. Today we mashed through the work out and burned 1424 calories IN THE HOUR! Happy Father's Day from your friends at hallmark. Traits some people say I sweat a lot, I wish I sweated more. Some people say I do not eat enough heck, I wish I ate less. Some people say I workout a lot heck I wish I .....

You get the idea.

Day 848- Habits and questions and an anniversary

The gym opens at 7 ish am. It is now 604 am. I am interested in a few things 1)habits 2) questions and the anniversary that is about to happen. First, habits. According to Steven Covey, who wrote the book, "seven habits of highly effective people". A habit requires three basic things knowledge, skill and desire. These three fall in line with any habit. Good or bad, a habit does not know the difference. I have heard it takes 21 days to get a habit. Going on that thought once you do something for 21 days it means there is a connection that is fortified by 21 consecutive days of a continual action. Since this blog is about my journey lets take a look at it.

This entire blog of the last 364 consecutive days is all about HABITS! Since Day 484 I have posted something about my Habit of working out for sixty minutes a day doing a cardiovascular exercise my habit has reached 847 with today being day 848. I have begun another habit. The other habit I have in process and now am on is the habit of not only doing the sixty minute work out it is also working everyday. I am currently at eighteen days of that streak. Today is my nineteenth day of that habit. I so look forward to reaching day 21 of that habit to mentally establish that action as a bonafide habits.

Lastly we get to questions life is all about questions. Today's big question is can I burn more calories today, within the hour, than I did yesterday? Yesterday I burned 1424 I am get an extra hour of rest because yesterday I started my workout at 552. Question, will the extra rest be beneficial?

Put it down as beneficial! Today with in the hour of 658 and 758 am I burned 1426! YES! I beat yesterday's total of 1426-How sweet is that? See more questions, they just keep coming.

That was fun I felt good and I was focused and determined. I was in a zone. I like to call it the Saturday morning zone!

Next question, can I beat 1426?
This week the burn was starting with Monday; 1410, 1413, 1401, 1408, 1424, 1426.

Day 847- A long time ago I had this thought...

It was while I was at the gym some 13 years ago and I had decided to start working out again. Some ten years prior I was in awesome shape. Then I decided not get in a work regiment. Big mistake.

It was while I was saying hello to a lady that like me was trying to get back into shape and was feeling the challenge of it. I remember very clearly what it was that I said to her. I said look right now we are going to feel lousy we mind as well try to improve on our lousy feeling. That was it. Since then I have not fallen out of the routine of exercising. I went on and lost weight and have improved my eating habits and increased my intensity of my workouts and the frequency of my workouts.

I guess when I told that person who was about in the same shape as I was I made a proclamation and have stood by it ever since.

Today was great I burned 16 more calories within the hour - 1424 which is second highest of the month and best of the week!

Day 846- A goal is a dream- with a deadline

That sounds about right. Most people have a dream. Something they want someday. I believe that is a dream. But a goal takes that cloudy vision and makes it a distinct possibility. The possibility increases because the date is set for the dream to become a reality.

Today I completed my 850TH workout in the last 846 days. I challenged myself today and I reached my challenge. I challenged myself to burn more calories today than I did yesterday. Today, we practiced CANI! BURNING 1,408 IN THE HOUR.

Day 845 A special shout out to all the followers of this blog!

Read t his and you will begin to be healthy. Of course that is not to say that you are not already healthy. In conversation yesterday I was reminded of the way I eat, sleep and workout. A I explained myself I thought, " who is this guy?" He does what? He thinks like that? Why?

Here is my routine in a nutshell. Up @ 5:30 am, workout,work, eat and sleep. Up @ 5:30 am, workout,work, eat and sleep. Up @ 530 am....... Get the picture? My world is devote to one word - BEING HEALTHY-
I have workout ( 60 minutes of strenuous cardiovascular exercise everyday for the last 845 days. I eat only food that I believe is healthy. I eat oatmeal everyday with cinnamon. I drink OJ with calcium and seltzer everyday. I take vitamins- 1) for antioxidants 2) vitamin C. I love being in motion. I do not really enjoy sitting. I work very hard at keeping a positive attitude. I blog everyday. I love to compete and learn.

Today I burned more calories in the last 5 minute interval; than any other five minute interval within the hour I worked out. By burning that amount of calories I was able to beat the 1400 mark I was determined to beat. Today I burned 1401 calories in the hour.

AWESOME!

Day 844 - Closing in on 850!

Technically the workout total for the last 844 days is 848.As I am reminded of the 4 days I have done 2 one hour workouts back to back. However for the sake of keeping a chronological order of things lets say we are six days from Day 850.

Enjoyed a splendid workout today as I burned more today than yesterday. By burning 1413 in the hour I practiced CANI- constant and never ending improvement.

Day 843- Down late up early

Got on the machine at 542am and finished with a kick which was a delicious feeling! Charging down the stretch to burn 1,400 plus calories in the hour. Fourteen hundred and ten to be exact. Buzzing along here on day 14 of the 33 day quest to work and workout. The body the mind and the spirit are holding up. I have noticed that I must make a few adjustments to maintain an even keel.

I am determined to see this through and anxious to discover what is on the other side.
Once heard a quote and I think this is how it goes.
We do not make our goals our goals make us.

Day 842- Woke up differently today

Allowed myself to lie in bed for extra minutes. Just to soak it in. Took a shower before heading to the gym. Decided to sit here and browse the net and leisurely blog. Whoa, that feels different. I usually bounce out of bed and before I awake I am on the machine. Well, not today, I was granted a short pass and am enjoying it now. I am getting myself psyched to do an awesome workout. I worked Sunday to Saturday 60 hours. On my feet running around hours. It was good, it helped build some character. So, today is a later start. I say later start and not late start because it is my preferred choice.

Today's philosophical thoughts ---I am thinking... OK here is one. What if when you get ready for a given task you ask yourself a few empowering questions first.
1- What do I really want to accomplish here?
2- How can I do this to the best of my ability?
3- How can I have fun while doing this?
4- After I complete this task how do I want to feel about myself?

There now we have a good mindset to run on for the workout.
Oh my gosh, it is 822 in the am, in my recent time the morning is almost over- HA!

I started slow today but oh, what a finish!
Check this course of events. I started using the arc trainer but I could not seem to burn the usual amount of calories. So around the 20 minute mark I made some adjustments.My total amount of calories was only 400 for 20 minutes which 80 less than normal. Once i made the adjustments On got on a great pace and maintained it for another 50 minutes. In that time I burned 1205 calories. So I discarded the first 10 minutes of my workout and replaced it with the 1205 and added on the other 200 calories I burned within 10 and 20 minutes of my workout.
All total I burned 1405 calories in 60 good minutes. I felt awesome and I felt redeemed. I answered my questions
1- feel like I worked out real hard
2- by establishing a good pace and maintaining it
3-By challenging myself
4- like I left it all out there

Done deal!

Day 841- Today is my 12Th consecutive day of .....

Working at least one eight hour shift and doing a 60 minute cardiovascular workout. The goal is July 4Th. On that day I will have the streak at 33 days. Also, on July 4TH I will get a scheduled break. I must admit Father's Day sounds appealing as a day for a hiatus. That would make it a twenty day run. I will ponder these thoughts.

Right now I am waiting for the gym to open so I can complete the first part of maintaining my 12 day long streak. I feel good! Although I have an unrelated barking shoulder I feel good.

With a good push was able to burn 1415 in the hour! Here is one thing I do not mention every time when I discuss total calories burned. That is the five minute cool down I always give myself. During that time I usually burn an extra 100 calories. I suppose my cool down is about as as intense as most people's workout -HA!

Actually, had some extra time today so, I did some 200 crunches and stretched longer!

Day 840- Yeah thats right, 840 consecutive days and 844 workouts in 840 days

What is the mailman motto? And neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night, nor the winds of change, nor a nation challenged, will stay us from the swift completion of our appointed rounds. Ever.

Sounds pretty intense! Heck, for the last 840 days I have stayed the course. If this streak were a child it would be in a lot of circumstances be walking and talking. This child would be 840 days old. Which equals 2 years and 110 days.OK, its still a toddler but 27 1/2 months old?

Today with a tremendous kick I burned 127 calories in the final 5 minutes. For a total burn within the hour of 1,407.

Day 839 - "If" by Kipling said it best!

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

At times when working out and there is a point when you wonder what do I have left? I remind myself of this verse.

The challenge was definitely there today. Burning 1,409 in the hour took a good amount of heart nerve and sinew to rise to that occasion!

Day 838- I beat yesterday's number!

I got up at 4:49 washed up, woke up and was on the machine at 533 am. Blasted out a nice fat 1,428 calorie burn "IN THE HOUR". Felt awesome after a good 10 minutes of stretching. I believe the cooler weather invigorated me. I woke up refreshed after my second straight night of about six hours of sleep. I was determined to burn more today than yesterday. And with the strength of the Lord it was done.

Day 837- In the hour-We remain on track ... FULL SPEED AHEAD!

A few bumps and bruises but we stay on track. Today, after catching up on some rest I burned 1413 calories in the hour. Yesterday, in the hour I burned only 1223. You see, I have been in the hour for the last 837 days. So I know what in the hour is all about! It is all about heart and determination and going until you think you cannot go anymore . Then resting and going back at it AGAIN & AGAIN & AGAIN!


It comes down to making a few decisions about what you what your body to look like. Then not stopping or letting up until...... It does.Then maintaining that look.


Welcome to in the hour!

Day 836- The weather is beautiful today

Low humidity and a nice breeze. My burn was a low one only 1223 in 60 minutes. Despite the sensational atmosphere I could not get loose. Hence, the lack of production on the numbers. So, today ends a streak of days where I burned at least 1,400 calories in an hour.



The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Day 835- We are sitting when we are usually standing

It is now 730 am. For the past 13 days I have been in the gym at this time of the day. Today, I will start a little later. My body will welcome the extra rest. Energy and focus is the key. With the activities changing it is interesting to see how the body reacts. I have got the same sparkle my work schedule will be a little different than the previous 13 days. I am not scheduled to be in until 12:30 pm. I feel awesome and I am dressed, fed and ready to go!

In with a 1412 in 60 in area 1! Max effort no joke today. Although I read about about the circus fire. Yeah, they said was in tents--Ha Ha

Day 834- The journey began on 818

It is simple to identify where we are. The toil was added on May 20 TH 2010. When my body was in a certain shape and was being asked to engage in different activity. On day 830 the challenge became a little more intense. As for the sake of defining the exercise we will call it light to medium lifting of product.


Its okay, I welcome the challenge. I look forward the coming days . This will be a good Saturday and Sunday of steady work. The workout will be maneuvered around the work. Today, the game plan is workout from 7am to 8am get home shower and dress by 845 am then go to work. I will be bringing my breakfast with me. As I will not have time to dine at home.

To quote INVINCIBLE- "I am doing good, a few bumps and bruises but, I am okay." As he answers with a smile.
Put me down for 1420 in 60 on this glorious day. Oh yeah, area one.

Day 833 The toil leads to some soreness

I welcome the pain. It is just muscles that want to tell me that they have been recently worked. They are just barking. I burned 1404 in area 1 today in the usual* 60 minutes(* try 833 straight days 837 in 833 to be exact). I had my heart rate up to 156 which is borderline max out for the machine I was on.

Life is sweet when your body reminds you that it is vibrant!

Day 832- The routine is beginning to take shape

My toil is becoming a good physical challenge. I love it. I heard a person say today that I always say "I am lousy" that way I can only go up in my attitude. Let me tell you what is wrong with that theory. Come on do I have to?

Anyway burned 1421 in area 1 today. It felt awesome - I am getting into the routine!

Day 831 In an attempt to have more energy.....

I have been trying to get more rest. Today I got on the machine at 551 am, not bad. My appetite has increased. The reason maybe the physicality of my daily toil. I worked out in area two today IE the hotbox with the high resistance machines. By the strength of God I was able to set a personal best on the machine in that area. Today's calorie burn of 1,427 in 60 minutes surpasses any previous total of a machine in that area.

In this instance the rest did me good.

Day 830 The "run" has be "gun"

And we are off! This is the second day of the planned schedule of 33 work days and 33 workouts. The plan is to workout everyday as usual and in addition to that work everyday. I believe I have put myself in position to succeed in this challenge. I feel great and I am psyched for the journey. I also feel fortunate to be in this position.

On July 4TH 2010 we will have completed the journey. After that we will start another run that will get us to Labor Day. I feel confident that I will be successful because prior to May 30TH I had completed a 10 day "run". The run to Labor Day from July 5Th will be a 61 day journey.

Today, I woke up after a good 6 1/2 hour rest. Was on the machine at 550 am the machine was not working properly and I burned only 492 calories in 30 minutes before I got off it and got on another and burned 716 calories in a half hour. I felt normal after that!