MONTH 5

 
How crazy is it that I am about to start month 5 of my workouts? The love, pain, sweat and work have all been so overwhelming, but I feel that they will compare nothing to the time period between Thanksgiving and New Years. It's is the time of year that most people say goodbye to their good habits and over-indulge in the turkey, pies, casseroles and cranberry sauce that we all love so much. This time of the year I think of the white chocolate-covered Oreos that my grandma would always have at her house, and would always somehow disappear when we came over. Then I think of my love of gingerbread houses, and how one year my friend Amey made me this great gingerbread house which I ate in its entirety. It was so good, but unfortunately (fortunately?) I won’t be doing either of those this year. I am so close to getting under 300 for the first time in a long, long time that I shall not transgress. (I was trying to figure out when I was last sub-300 with my friend Tyler a couple of days ago, and we came to the conclusion it had to be around Sophomore year in high school). 

 

Realistically, I am not expecting to keep the same weight loss (about 4 pounds a week), but I am going to still push myself at workouts and try to eat even better when I can prepare food, because I know I will be eating out a lot.

 

I got a really great tip from my friend Holly the other week that I will put into motion after I go under 300.   The trick is to not get on the scale, but to judge my weight loss from the fit of my clothes. This will allow me not to fret over the scoop of banana pudding I had at the Christmas Sweater Party, or the couple of drinks I had with my old friends that came in town. Adjusting some rules and giving myself the occasional break should help release the tension/guilt I feel when I “cheat” on my diet.

 

The next month will be interesting but with a little help from friends, family and my trainers I think I will get through with great results! 

NEXT PHASE OF MY JOURNEY

I cannot even begin to tell you how much my life has changed since July, but I am not satisfied yet! The weight is coming off, Dudley and Bob is going great and my social life is thriving but there is a new movement I want to start and that is conquering fears. With this in mind I have come out with two scenarios that I think will test some of my deepest fears:

1 – I will be boxing “Chuy Manana” within 3 months.

I have always avoided getting in fights. For one, I have never known how to control my size or strength, and I also feel a certain moral aversion to physical violence.

I never got in a fight growing up for two reasons: I was always bigger than all the other kids, and I can usually talk myself out of any kind of trouble I am in. I am inspired by my friend Karl who got into boxing shape 3 years ago and fought at Texas State in a boxing match. He didn’t win, but he still did a great job and showed no fear even when he was in a ring with a guy trying to knock his head off. That’s something I would have been scared to do. My quest for new experience makes me feel like this is the right situation with Chuy. I know him and he is a great guy. I am really looking forward to kick my inner Rocky into overdrive and compete with a friend that I have made along this journey. In some subtle way I will be stepping into the ring against myself, pitting my fear against itself in a physical confrontation and test of will. Hopefully, I'll kick the shit out of it.

2 – Once I hit the weight requirement for skydiving I am going! I am not that afraid of heights, but jumping out of a plane is something I never thought I would want to do. When I was about 8 years old one of my friend's mom offered to pay for a ride at Fiesta Texas for us. The ride tethers you to a cable, then pulls you up into the air to about 150 feet and drops you. I couldn’t get myself to do it because I couldn’t handle the height. That was when I felt I was too big to do it, though, and now that I am working my way towards a suitable weight to skydive I am all about it. All my friends that have done it say it’s the best time in the world, and why would I want to miss out on that? Hopefully I can do it sometime in the April/May time frame.

By completing these two goals I will show myself that it's not just the weight I am changing but rather my entire outlook on life.

MONTH 4 RESULTS

Today is the 4 month mark and that means more results for you to feast your eyes upon. The first two months with Workshop saw incredible numbers in the inches department, and then October came around with results that were pretty good-- but not as spectacular as the first two months.

 

The success was still there for me, though.  It’s hard to get upset when you lose 9.5 inches off your body in a month (amount lost in October). November has been a different story with inches and weight loss. I think I have some explaining to do.

 

Neck: No Change

Chest : Down .25 inches

Arms: Down 1 inch

Waist: Down 1.75 inches

Belly Button: Down 2 inches

Hip: Down 1.5 inches

Thigh: Down .25 inches

Calf: No change

Weight Loss: 13 pounds

 

Total Inches Lost: 48.5 inches

Total Pounds Lost: 67

 

OK.

 

Breathe, Ricky, just breathe a little…I understand I still lost weight and inches, but for the numbers to keep shrinking is really hard to see. I can’t blame the trainers; I can only blame myself.

 

In the past couple of weeks I have been enjoying a little too much.  For both my trip to Fort Worth and my Westwood reunion weekend in Austin, I drank way more than the allotment given to me by Thomas and my other trainers. I have also had 1 to 2 more cheat meals more than I normally do (I usually have about one a week). With the workouts getting more intense, I decided to slow down the cardio I do outside of the gym, which could have also slowed my progress down. A lot of factors went into results that I personally feel are lackluster.

 

Even though I feel like the numbers are not what I want to see right now, I know what I need to do to see them get better. I need to shore up on the diet, not drink as much when I go out and pick up the workouts from home.  This is a great month to test out how bad I really want this change with all the temptation around me…Can I fight the urge to find the easy way out? I know it won’t be easy but nothing so far has been easy.

 

When I talk to people about my weight loss, a topic that comes up a lot is hitting a “plateau”.  This comes with the usual words of encouragement of "fight through it," and "it'll be OK." 

 

My usual response is that I will be able to handle it. Now that the hour draws near, I am feeling more and more desire to escape the clutches of this so called “plateau,” but it just seems inevitable. I will have to come to grips with the idea that, at some point, I won’t lose as much weight or inches off my body.  Thanks, guys, for checking out the update, and be sure to listen to Dudley and Bob tomorrow as we discuss the results on the show.

SHARING MY SUCCESS WITH YOU

Four months with Workshop Fitness has changed my life forever, and it’s also affected a lot of people around me. Whenever I see someone that I haven’t talked to in awhile they always have a bunch of questions. How much do you work out? What are you eating? Who are your trainers?

Of course, I love answering these questions, but I want to give people that I don’t get to see as often the same chance in case they are looking to begin their own weight loss, or would like some of the information I have been given. So for the next week please feel free to e-mail me your questions, concerns and opinions of my first four months. I promise to read each and every one, and to answer the best ones next week on the blog. I won’t use your name if you don’t want me to, and I will send the response before posting if you are worried about your name being on the blog. Thank you guys in advance, and once again I appreciate all the support!

LETTER TO MYSELF

I was recently asked if I had any words of wisdom for a gentleman who is 17 years old and is struggling with his weight.  I asked about him and was told things that really reminded me of myself at that age which made me think what would I say to myself if I could go back in time. This is the letter I wrote down:

Dear Ricky Lawson (Soon to be Sir Pat),

I write to you knowing that these words will be hard to swallow, and that you probably won’t react very well to what I have to say. It is hard to accept that people know what they are talking about, especially when it comes to something as personal as your health. No one ever wants to admit that they have a problem.  It shows a lack of discipline and a loss of self respect.

You are a very proud person who is very aware of what he can accomplish if pushed correctly. You worked hard to get better at basketball, be a more social/funny person and to be a better writer. These were great talents you had but you are wasting them. You have become weak with your laziness and your acceptance of mediocrity. I never thought anything was wrong in my life until I realized how happy other people were around me, and all I wanted to do was see them unhappy. You can’t live your life like that.  All it will lead to is being consumed by hate and jealousy. Realize how much the people around you love you and how much support you will receive if you push yourself to places you never thought you could. Take everything in stride and never forget to be nice to EVERYONE! If we were to take care of this problem now, your future life in college would be re-written, and our life as we know it would not be the same.

Some of the things you have to look forward to in the next 8 years: Failing to come back to both sports you love (Basketball and Football), getting bigger than you ever imagined, self-destructing in almost every relationship you begin, having more embarrassing stories than one person should ever have, losing yourself in your indecisiveness with faith, and creating un-needed space with a lot of people you love.

 There are some things that happened in those 8 years that I love (New friends, Texas State, Fuplex), but that's not to say I would not make changes if I could. To be healthy is to be thriving in life and that’s not what is going on right now. Please listen to what I have said and consider this all before you crumble this up and throw it away as you drive towards Conan’s for your meeting with Parliament.

You have too much to give to let it all sit for 8 years.

Love,
Ricky

P.S.  Its okay to be scared, it means you are alive.

UT Basketball Game

This past weekend I got the pleasure of going to the first game of the season for the University of Texas Longhorns. Even though I went to Texas State, the team I follow the closest is Texas. It’s been my team since I was born and I can’t fight a good thing. I am sorry-- it's just not in my blood, which bleeds burnt orange, by the way 

              The Longhorns play in the Frank Erwin Center, or as it's called in the streets, “The Drum”. It's been a staple in my life since my youth. Growing up my favorite sport was basketball, and my father would take me to games all the time whether it be UT, March Madness or the Texas high school state playoffs. At the time- around the age of 16- I began noticing something: whenever we went to the games, I did not fit very well in the seats! I always had to sort of lean to one side and always felt uncomfortable. I didn’t really make a big deal of it but it was something that was always in the back of my mind whenever we made plans to go see a game or concert.  As I got older and bigger the problem only increased, eventually getting to the point where it physically hurt getting into the seat because I was too wide.  This would be the main reason I would skip out on the events people would invite me to at the Frank Erwin Center; it just was too painful to sit in the stands for that long of a period.

              So on Sunday as Sean and I were walking up to the game, I was thinking to myself whether or not I had lost enough weight and inches to fit comfortably in the seats again. Thankfully, I had! I sat right down and had some room on both sides. I was so happy with myself. It’s these little things that really show me how far I have come. In the future I am looking forward to more stories like this to report. Thanks guys!

Christine's Unique Workouts

This opportunity at Workshop Fitness has been one of the benchmarks in my life. For all the trainers to be a such a part of it amazes me; their heart and dedication to my health makes this experience all the more worthwhile. I think it's time for me to write a little bit about each of them so that you can have a better picture of what they do for me.
In previous posts I have talked about Christine being the trainer that is most like a doctor. What I mean by this is she asks a lot of questions about how my body is feeling and then designs a workout for me that will help relieve stress on those areas. My biggest problem area is my lower back and Christine always has great ways to fix it. She likes for me to do stretches that focus on the back and then she gets a foam roller so that we can “push out the bad” in my back. The workout with the foam roller feels like someone is running you over with a tiny truck, but it’s so effective! Christine is also very good at working out my abs. (She is so good she put out a DVD workout for abs that you can check out here. Christine will get those fun bouncy balls that you see at the gym, make me sit on it, and then I will bounce on it for about five minutes while sucking in my abs and moving left to right, left to right, left to right... you get the picture.)
The most refreshing aspect of her workouts are that they are very low impact. For me this is so crucial because a lot of my workouts involve lifting giant tires, or dragging a 100 pound water hose, so bouncing on a ball is a nice change that doesn’t wear my body down and at the same time gives me an effective workout. The thought of a low-impact workout to me always seemed like a waste of time until I met Christine. She utilizes long stretches, body positioning, bouncy ball workouts and low-resistance cardio to make the most out of the hour we share every week. If you guys have any more questions on Christine Tusa,please check her web site here.

LEEDA'S AWESOME STORY

Writing on this blog and talking on the radio have been made my life feel almost complete for the past couple of months, but I wasn’t sure how effective my progress was to other people. Of course, I love hearing how people think I am doing a great job, and how I look better now-- but I wanted to hear more from people who were changing their life because of what I was doing. Well it finally came in the form of my friend Leeda, whom I grew up one street away from her back in our elementary days.

Her brother and I were in the same grade and I would go over to their house to watch scary movies and enjoy their hilarious parents (I love Michael and Leeda’s parents, they are the best!). As soon as I started my blog, Leeda was giving me words of encouragement and was always asking me questions about Workshop Fitness. When I posted my results from three months in she finally said enough was enough and that she wanted to go checkout Workshop Fitness out, too! I got her to contact Mariesa, and now Leeda will be working out at the gym with Mariesa and Diana. The real kicker of this story is that Leeda is receiving this as a gift for graduating from the University of Texas. She originally was thinking of going to Europe, but she decided she would rather train with my friends at Workshop. To me that shows a lot of heart and dedication to her body and her health. I am so pumped for Leeda because I think she is going to really have some crazy results from the trainers. Updates will be coming soon so stay tuned!

GOOD ARTICLE!

As I surfed the Internet this week I came across an article that really caught my eye on nutrition called “7 Steps to Boost Your Metabolism”. The article goes into detail on doing such things as eating a sensible breakfast, enjoying healthy snacks during the day, exercising properly and eating in relation to your workouts. These are all things that we were taught but it's always nice to be reminded. I think the article gives a little more insight than our old health class teachers did back in the day. Here is an excerpt that really caught my eye:

End of the Day/Dinner
If you live close enough to walk or ride a bicycle home from work before dinner, do so. After sitting around all day after your morning exercise, a short walk or jog before dinner is a nice reminder to your body that the day has not yet ended. Of course, dinner should be smaller than lunch, because your body will have less time to process this meal before sleep. In fact, it is necessary to never eat after nine or ten at night, because by then your body’s digestive system is painfully slow and preparing for sleep. Eating desert is entirely okay, especially if you’ve exercised, so long as it does not contain corn syrup. Corn syrup, thick carbohydrates and creams are terribly difficult for the digestive track and clutter your insides with crap. Instead, go for frozen yogurt (which contains probiotics), dark chocolate or fruits. Drink a last glass of water before bed and begin again in the morning. Consistency is truthfully the only thing that counts here.

When talking to people about my diet this is one of the biggest inquiries. I think that Made Men really nailed it with their instructions on end of the day meals. At first when starting my diet this was the hardest part because I was used to stuffing myself at night with tons of carbohydrates and high fructose corn syrup. When I first started weaning myself off all the sugar I was having terrible shakes and felt so sick. But it passed and I now feel 100 times better because of that adjustment. So check out the article and try some of their techniques in your own life and you will see some great results people!

THE WORKOUTS ARE INTENSIFYING

Ladies and gentlemen, I have made it through 15 weeks of intense workouts with Workshop Fitness. For the first 10 weeks I was feeling the pain, but there was a feeling that maybe I could do a little more than what was required of me. The trainers must have had the same feeling, because over the past month the workouts have gotten much harder. Thomas has been pushing me with higher weights on my bench and shoulder presses, Paul has been pulling out the sled more and putting on three 45 pound plates on it for me to push, Diana now is doing interval jogging workouts with me, Mariesa is still the same (HAHA J) and Jason really enjoys making me run and pick up telephone polls. This is a huge leap from the “Walk-n-talk” sessions I used to do, where I could literally do little more than walk and talk at the same time. I think with time they have built trust with me and now, have a better idea of where my limit is and they know how hard to push me. In turn, I have also have gained more trust in them, so when they ask me to do something that on the first day of training I would have never been able to do, I feel confident in myself. First instance, just this past week Paul set up a workout where I would flip this giant tire ten times and then hit the tire with the sledgehammer twenty times. I did five sets of this workout and after it was over I was just beat but I felt so accomplished in doing so much work! That was one of the workouts I will remember being a benchmark for my progress. Another benchmark for me was about two weeks ago when Jason made me run 8 miles per hour on the treadmill for 30 seconds…the previous high for me was 7 miles per hour so I was really scared to do it, but Jason trusted I could do it and I did! I was huffing and puffing but it really made me proud that I had gone from being exhausting from a light jog to now full-on running for 30 seconds. Now to think what will happen 15 weeks from now is a little scary but its going to be fun living it out!

BLOG IS SUFFERING WITH MY SUCCESS

In the past couple of weeks I have been getting asked about the inactivity with the blog. My response to this is that since my results have become more apparent, and the weight continues to go down, I feel the need to be more social. This leaves me with less time on the computer and more time with friends. The goal of this whole life style change was to figure out what life is to me and then do everything in my power to make myself happy. That is the biggest reason why I started working out, eating healthy, rekindled old friendships and began new ones. Three months ago I felt lost, lonely, and confused on what I wanted to do in life. In just this short time I have felt so overwhelmed with emotions of love, courage, failure,and faith that if my life was a recording, you could mark the tape at July 23, 2009, and label that moment “End of Side 1…Please switch sides.” This new side to my life is going on right now with extreme expectations and goals, and I LOVE EVERY MOMENT OF IT. If you ever want to know what it feels like for just one week of your life, say 'yes' to everything that is offered to you. Even if they are things that you normally wouldn’t do. (I realize this is the premise of “Yes Man," but it's completely true.) My example is that a couple of weeks ago I went to a dance club with a bunch of old friends from college. I normally would not have gone to this bar but I said to myself “why not?” I was so happy I did it too, because it might have been one of the best nights I have had in a long time, and it was fun to just let myself go on the dance floor. Yes I like to dance like an idiot, but it doesn’t matter if you are having a good time. I would not have had the same fun that night if I didn’t go and now that I did I have a great memory for the rest of my life. It's just one of the many times that I initially wanted to say 'no' to something, but figured out that’s what I used to do and that isn't living to me anymore. It took me a long time to look at myself in the mirror and find everything I didn't like about myself. Now is the time to fix what I can to make sure that life stops passing me by.

DUDLEY AND BOB SPOT

This morning Diana and Thomas of Workshop Fitness came on the show to talk about my results over the past month. Here is a clip from it.