The first month of my new quest I easily lost 20 pounds. The next month and a half I have basically just maintained and haven’t lost a single pound. I think I have finally figured out why. The first month of the challenge I was very strict in my diet and exercise with a specific goal in mind. All I had to do was make it to my birthday and then I could have a cheat day. Eat a nice meal and have some beers. I was honest to myself and made the goal. Since then I haven’t had a goal to make it to, so the desire to cheat comes more frequently. I think to myself, well since I don’t have a goal in mind why don’t I just try and make it to the weekend.

I’ve decided that in order to start making progress again I am going to have to set a goal. Once I reach the goal I can reward myself with somthing I am a sucker for, like Cheese Cake or beer. Then set another and before long I will have achieved my ultimate goal of being in shape.

First goal. Make it to April 18th, 2008. That is when my vacation starts. Should be doable since its not even a full month away.

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The winter blahs have been taking their toll for a few weeks now.  February and these weeks of March have been tough on my motivation and dedication.  But if we’re going to be in shape for summer, time is running out.  We must re-dedicate ourselves and stick to the diet and workouts.

Men’s health has a great article on staying motivated. You can read it here.

These two are my favorites:
7. Do a daily gut check
Place your fingers on your belly and inhale deeply so that it expands. As you exhale, contract your abdominal muscles and push your fingertips against your hard abdominal wall. Now pinch. “You’re holding pure fat between your fingers,” says Tom Seabourne, Ph.D., author of Athletic Abs. Do this every day, 30 minutes before your workout, and you’ll find that you’ll rarely decide to skip it.

20. Blackmail yourself
Take a picture of yourself shirtless, holding a sign that shows your e-mail address. Then e-mail it to a trusted but sadistic friend, with the following instructions: “If I don’t send you a new picture that shows serious improvement in 12 weeks, post this photo at hotornot.com and send the link to the addresses listed below….” (Include as many e-mail addresses — especially of female acquaintances — as possible.) “It’s nasty, but extremely effective,” says Alwyn Cosgrove.

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Time for round 2!  We’ve each set a goal to lose 10 pounds by Feb 29th.

Each of us weighed in today Feb 11 with our starting weight. Here are the results.

• JC is currently at 262
• RC is currently at 228
• JB is currently at 226

This is a fairly aggressive goal of 3.3 pounds a week but with proper diet and exercise, its totally doable.

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My so called 2 week challenge didn’t quite make it one week. I gave in to the temptation of a new Mexican restaurant across the street and also skipped the gym over this past weekend. I’m not going to let that get to me though. Even though I went out for dinner I didn’t over do it. Sure I could of had a pitcher of margaritas and some fried ice cream like usual but then I would be missing the point. 3guys1goal Isn’t just about gimike diets. Its about life changes, and I would never agree to a life change that said I couldn’t eat at a Mexican restaurant every now and then. So while I was being bad this weekend I made some changes to my normal eating out routine. For once in my life I didn’t finish my meal, I was able to bring home leftovers for the next day. Normally I’m the kind of guy that would stuff himself silly and then lick his plate clean, that of course adds up fast.

So I’m back on my plan, I’ve made a small step towards changing my life to eat healthy amounts of food when I eat out, and on top of that I still managed to drop 2 pounds over the weekend.

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So far this month I’ve done a decent job not eating out for lunch. I’ve also tried cutback my intake at home and on weekends and as of last week I’ve started getting into my workout routine… But thats not enough. I need to get serious workout everyday and stick to a strict diet. So here it is. Starting today I’m putting myself on a two week challenge.

So for without further a due my first challenge is this. For the next 2 weeks starting today I will work out daily for a minimum of 30 minutes. I will also eat nothing but 2 eggs for breakfast, a chicken breast plus a light side for lunch, and a salad for dinner.

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