Cities versus Suburbs Panel TONIGHT!

I'll be on a panel tonight discussing benefits of cities and suburbs and I'll be on the suburbs side (surprised? Me too).

Want to hear from talented architects, LEED-savvy designers, socialities and some loudmouth with a blog? See you at 1007 NW Grand Ave, Phoenix AZ 85007 at Edge Industries office.

We start at 6pm, and we'll go until we're all talked out.

Body Composition Challenge with Vin Vallejo of Pro Fitness AZ, Day 16

Day 16 of 60. Crap.

I'm currently on Day 3 of a four-day trip to Portland and I can't honestly say I have any real idea what my daily caloric count has been. While I have been using LoseIt every time I eat, the restaurants that I've eaten at don't have nutrition information, for I've done a lot of guessing. I also haven't been keeping track of my walking (estimated about 15-17 miles so far) because I've walked everywhere. Well, that is when I wasn't waiting at a bus stop shivering (that's exercise, right?).

But I'm not TOO worried. A long look in the mirror this morning made me feel a ton better, as when I stand up, I don't look nearly as overweight as I feel. My gut doesn't hang, my pecs don't sag (much) and my legs are muscly. All good things, yes?
Totally, until I remembered something about two kinds of fat, the kind that we see on potbellies that's outside our organs and the (sub-cutaneous?) stuff that's far more dangerous.

I have lots of that second kind, so while I may LOOK in shape when I stand up, a quick turn or bend over produces far more chub than I'd like. Right now I'm leaning back in my chair because I don't like my gut pressing against my belt buckle (though I don't have a cool LEGO belt buckle like Jason Newlin) and THAT'S what I want to lose.

God damn this apple pie is good. But I digress.

First weigh in is on Friday. I've ran two miles once and played tennis three times in the past two weeks, so I don't expect any muscle gain, but I bet I've lost a few pounds.

And I feel better. My pants fit better. My belt doesn't pinch as much. THAT'S the most important part.

Tebow as Madden '13 cover boy?

As much as video game, movie and TV producers would like to believe they are a driving force behind pop culture, they are nothing of the sort. Each of the most popular ones, the ones that evens fan outside the genre respect (i.e.,I don't have to read all the Harry Potter novels to appreciate the impact and quality of the series), stand for something more.

Friends was about Gen X growing up in the perspective of how we all think they did.

Iron Man was a movie about how private war contractors know better than the public government.

Sports are about the endless struggle between the rich and the poor, only on the field/court/arena, the poor have somewhat of a chance.

Video games are a reflection of our inner-most desires and a portal into which we control our lives, in every relevant detail contextual to the game being played.

The best ones are art. The Wire is art. Tron is (visual) art. Madden is art.

Madden is like clockwork. Every year they release a slightly improved game incorporating the latest trends in both football and videos games. Its covers serves as awards to deserving players, those who are recognized by more than their number or position: it rewards the personalities.

You can't tell me that watching Tim Tebow isn't fun. You can't tell me that even non-football fans love a close game. You can't tell me that as annoying as tebowing is, it's the one thing I'll remember about this season. Hell, it's the one thing I'll remember about the NFL for the past few years.

What better honor could we bestow than featuring a tebowing Tim Tebow on the Madden '13 cover?
I'd buy it. Maybe play the game, too.

#TebowForMadden13

Body Composition Challenge with Vin Vallejo at Pro Fitness AZ, Day 10

I think I'm on Day 10. Either way, it's the middle of the second week and I still haven't exercised yet, unless you count the two, 30-ish minutes walks I took with the dog this week (I don't count those as real exercise for me).

Regardless, calorie counting as per Chubster's recommendation is going pretty well. Cool to realize how much I really put away per day, as well as finally understand how bad tortilla chips are for you. The cool thing about calorie counting is that I can eat ANYTHING, as long as I'm willing to count and accept it. I even had two cookies last night!

Oh, and marinated chicken is FANTASTIC. Katie has declared me to be the chicken preparer forever after I nailed the last two meals.

I realized yesterday that my snacking is more of a habit than a hunger thing (obvious, I know), which makes it easier to stop when I want to. Lots of water, lots of veggies and no microwave popcorn, except for the Tender White handfuls I shared with Katie and the Lewises last night.

Progress, yo.

Body Composition Challenge with Pro Fitness AZ, Day Whenever

Whatever I'm doing isn't working.
When people smoke too many cigarettes and want to stop, they can without long-term side effects.

When people find that alcohol is ruining their life, they can also stop without any long-term side effects.

I know, for me, that moderation for these kind of substances doesn't work. When I had one smoke, I wanted another. When I was kinda drunk, I wanted nothing more than to be drunker.

Now that I've given up both of those, my next task would seem easy. But try as I have thus far, losing weight if tough, but not for the reasons I thought.

You see, I eat pretty well. Turkey ham, spinach, egg whites and cottage cheese for breakfast, nuts for snacks, sugar-free jello for sweets, chicken breast with veggies for lunch, some air-popped popcorn for snacks. Limited soda (less than one per day) and zero bread, pasta or much of anything resembling heavy carbs.

My problem isn't WHAT I eat. It's how much. And I eat far, far too much.

Thanks to Martin Cizmar's Chubster: A Hipster's Guide to Losing Weight While Staying Cool, I've finally figured out how many calories I burn just being alive and doing normal things like walking around. (just over 2500).
And with the Harris Benedict Equation, I've ascertained that most days, thanks to my physical activity, I burn between 2907 (1-3 days of weight lifting and running per week) and 3277 calories (3-5 days of exercise) per day.

In fact, for most of the past five months, I've burned right around 3100 calories per day while I trained for the Tough Mudder.

In that time, I've not gone down a pant size, noticed no difference in the size of my gut, still notice how large shirts are accentuate both my shoulders and belly and pray every morning before I look in the mirror that my pecs won't be saggy.

While I'm reasonably certain I HAVE gained some muscle (remember, it weighs more than fat), there's just no way someone with my level of physical activity should not steadily lose weight unless they were eating at least 3000 calories per day.

As much as I loathe to admit this, and those who know me will know why, Martin Cizmar is right. Calorie counting is absolutely the way to go here. Regardless of what I eat, I simply can't lose any fat unless I burn more than I take in.

Time to use the Lose It app for more than a day, even if it takes forever to log meals. I have to find out (I know microwave popcorn late at night and third helpings of quinoa, veggies and chicken are involved) where in the hell all these calories come from.

Also, I have a 17" neck. WTF, man.

Body Composition Challenge, Day 4

Who knew food affected your mood?

No Diet Coke, no popcorn and no...extrasensory enhancements make life a whole lot less fuzzy.

Is that a good thing?

Body Composition Challenge, Day 3

Thanks to the magic of the internet, I wrote and published this yesterday.

The toughest part by far in losing weight isn't working out regularly, it's not eating the right food and it's not even giving up soda. It's eating LESS food.

I work from home, where something to munch on is always available. I'm used to snacking multiple times a day instead of eating three large meals, but my problem is still quantity. When I was training for tough mudder, I easily put away 3500ish calories per day. This amount, coupled with my exercise, was enough to keep my weight even.

But because I'm not recovering from ingrown toenail surgery on both big toes, working out isn't really an option. Yes, I realize my arms aren't broken and there is a ton of stuff that I can do that won't affect my toes, but what I'm most concerned about is my body's ability to heal quickly. I don't want to be sore AND hurt, so I'm trying to offset my lack of exercise in the gym with more dog walking, more movement during the day and less food.

The food thing has been tough so far. My regular breakfast of turkey ham, egg whites, spinach and a little hash browns is going fine, as is my morning snack (protein/banana shake) and my lunch of chicken, spinach and whatever else I can find is super.

But then late afternoon comes around and I find myself craving popcorn, something sweet and something to keep me not bored.

Only two diet cokes for the past two weeks, though. And no microwave popcorn this week. Progress!

Also, did you know that pineapple has a ton of calories? Lots. Look it up.

Pictured below is Liberty Market's Western Scramble. I ordered it with meat and eggs only, ate the fruit and covered everything in salsa. No biscuit for me. Not a calorie-lite meal, but it tasted fantastic and wasn't terrible for me.