Today on the Lighten Up Facebook page, I mentioned that there is no "D" in Lighten Up.  If I hit all of my goals, I can only hope everyone else hits theirs.  Fitness is not a zero-sum game.

To be perfectly honest, I have already reached just about all of my goals.  If the contest ended today, this experience has already been incredible enough to rank up there with the birth of my two sons, completion of two marathons in 1978 and 1982, and a 300 game in bowling.  I now only need a hole-in-one to complete my "Bucket List".

Forget winning a chicken wing eating contest.  I erased that from my "Bucket List" when I entered this contest.

And, although way more fun, these last few weeks have still required a lot of hard work.

While out of town on business, I was able to not only survive, but also thrive through it all.

A good breakfast was a priority every day and I took healthy snacks to keep my metabolism on fire.  I ate enough bananas to make a gorilla proud.

My improved physical condition allowed me to hit the hotel fitness center just about every evening, even though I put in a full eight hours or more on the job.  Four months ago, I would have said "The heck with this.  Where's the nearest Hooters?  Isn't it 20 cent wing night?". 

Instead, dinner was typically a salad, grilled fish and whatever veggies the restaurant offered.

I'm a changed man.  And another item "Reached Fitness Target" is almost ready to be crossed off the "Bucket List", thanks to "Lighten Up".

The weight loss graph I set up in Vitabot at the start of the contest is looking a little flat lately,  Not like the first three months which resembled the stock market in 2008 - dropping like a rock.  In a weight loss contest, that is a good thing, but not for my 401k.

If that current graph were an EKG, I would be dead.

Although I never stop watching my diet, even for a day, how I handle what I eat is a lot less strict now.  I need lots of calories to fuel my workouts.  So I consume chicken wings, french fries, and beer.  No, no, and definitely no.  But a person can wish.

What I mean is that I still eat healthy, but just more of the good things.  Especially after a long workout, I treat myself to a lot more protein (READ: skinless, boneless chicken, steaks, eggs, and dairy).  A little less attention is paid to portion control.  (Emphasis on the words "little less").

I try to follow the 40-30-30 rule for everything including snacks.  That is 40% protein, 30% carbohydrates, and 30% fat.  Healthy fats, if at all possible.  Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO in Rachael Ray terminology), avocados, Omega 3's, and all-natural peanut butter, to name a few.

This probably explains why my weight loss has been flat over the past two weeks, but I am not complaining.  I run an hour every day, with enough energy left to do all my mundane daily chores, like changing the TV channel and writing these blogs.  And I really do look forward to my daily runs.  It must be the old runner in me, rusty wheels and all.

I like what I see in the mirror and often punch new notches in my belts.  And the holes are punched moving in the right direction now.  I am also wearing clothes from the very back of the closet, just this side of the Cleveland Indians 1948 World Series Champs T-shirts and the leisure suits.

With that thought, maybe I don't want to lose any more weight after all.  My Dockers fit fine, thank you.

See you all at the Y!

No, this blog is not about multi-vitamins... It's all about exercise.

Thanks to the wonderful opportunity to work out at the Y with our free membership, plus the nicer spring weather and longer days, I have made a change to my workout schedule effective today.  This decision was based on a chat I had with Ron Graham after my last health assessment.

The topic of discussion was the best time to exercise - morning versus evening.  Ron made the point that HGH levels are higher in  the morning, so taking advantage of that has some benefits.

All my life, I have hated one thing about evening workouts - getting pumped up so much that sleeping is troublesome.  Lately, I can't fall asleep quickly, even if I watch American Idol or Dancing with the Stars.  Not even Piers Morgan's show on CNN causes drowsiness, as one would expect.

Now, I have decided to heed Ron's advice and then some.  Do a little of both.

Since she is already a member there, while my dear girlfriend puts in her crazy Diana Nyad-like number of laps in the Y pool, I put in my laps at the Y track and mix in a few weights.  All this starts before 6 am.  During this time, I used to just sit around drinking coffee at home while she swam.  Now, off I go with her.

With an official workout completed by 7:30 am, I can now do whatever I want after work.  This can be yard work or another workout, short of course.  This is where the "2 a Day" comes in.

I can even take an afternoon off, if I want, since my morning workout got the exercise out of the way early.

We will see how this goes.  I expect to sleep like a baby, unless I die of exhaustion first.  All this without the use of a sedative, like watching Piers Morgan on CNN.

What a great perk the YMCA membership is!

This morning, I went to the Painesville branch with my girlfriend, since she is already a member there.  She swam her crazy amount of laps while I used the track and explored the facilities.  I am not a swimmer like she is.  I can swim enough to save myself if I fell off of a boat, at least until the Coast Guard got there.

Now that the weather is nice, I see myself going to the Y most mornings - early, before work.  This will allow me to get some strength training and some cardio out of the way, freeing up the rest of my day.  If the lawn isn't screaming "Cut me!", I will make time for an evening run of an hour or so.  The Y will also be my "go to" place when the weather does not cooperate.

With all the nice spring weather comes a lot of interesting road races.  I am considering doing several.  The nice thing is that last week proved I can run an hour straight, so any race of 10K (6.2 miles) or less is do-able right now.  My sadistic track coach keeps putting a bug in my ear about a half-marathon, but that will take some training first.

For now, let's see how fast we can get these rusty 55 year-old wheels to move.

As far as diet, last week was the closest to normal I have been since the contest started.  Since my energy level needs to be high, I am eating many more carbs.  But, I still think "healthy" all the time.  For example, in my travels last week to Virginia, I went to the most convenient restaurant which happened to be a steakhouse.  I started with a side salad - no croutons or cheese, oil and vinegar on the side.   Then I ordered the smallest filet, 6 ounce, with a double order of steamed broccoli instead of potato, and asked that they not serve me any rolls.  If that is a tough lifestyle change, bring on more.

This contest started when I was of the ripe-old age of 20,138 days.  Although the metabolism slowed and bad habits peaked at the age of 9,131 days, I think I took a turn for the worst at 10,957 days of age.  Coincidentally, Miller Brewing stock was at an all-time high on that day.  And the turn for the worst may have included bratwurst.

Why all of these silly references to "days" when we usually use years as a unit of time?  Easy.

My entry into this contest was based on the premise of spending just 190 days, the length of time that this contest lasts, to turn myself around - big time.  Erase all those years of sins in a relatively few days, no matter what it takes.  I was finally sick and tired of being sick and tired.  Whatever I gotta do, count me in.

At 100 days into this contest, I reached a point that is unfathomable.  I lost almost 43 pounds - over 20% of my total body weight.  My blood pressure is 105/65.  My rest pulse is under 50.

How did I do all this?

I made a deal with the devil, or a bet for that matter.  Sticking to a strict diet and logging over 600 miles on the treadmill, sidewalks of Mentor, and the concourses of the Great Lakes Mall, I was off to a good start.

Those two simple, but strict things, diet and exercise, resulted in reaching a milestone Tuesday that I haven't done for at least 9,131 days.  I ran for an hour straight.  A 6.5 mile run, more than a 10K race, without stopping or changing pace.  No area of my T-shirt, not even as large as a postage stamp was dry.  Could have been faster, but I'll take it.  The speed will come with time, training and a few more pounds shed.  I have three months left to get faster (or as Leah calls it in her blog, "tone up").

Who wouldn't make a bet like this, even with the devil, when the results are potentially so remarkable?  By my calculations, dividing up the days I invested in myself compared to the days I got in the bad shape I was in made this a bet of 100 to 1 odds in the favor of bettering myself.

With hard work on my side, the devil didn't stand a chance.

Credit needs to go to Laura for organizing everything, Jaime's book and Boot Camps, Cabanas' push toward healthy food choices, Cori's nutritional help, Ron Graham's health tips and answers to my never-ending questions, and a good pair of running shoes, professionally fitted from Second Sole, of course.

On a closing note, thank you to all who called me"skinny" at the weigh-in on Saturday.  Your kind words are truly appreciated.

Congratulations to all who advanced to the second half of the contest, especially to those on the bubble who literally busted their butts this past week.  To those who did not advance, please do not get discouraged.  Continue a healthy diet and fitness regimen and reach your goals anyway, even if it takes some time.  If you still don't make the progress you expect and require more motivation, consider entering the contest next year and be sure to take advantage of the great resources that are made available.

This experience has been wonderful.  Personally, I have worked as hard as humanly possible to achieve more than I ever could have imagined.  And we're only half-way home.

Success is my continuing motivation.  The more goals accomplished, the harder I want to work.  My next goal is to get done.  By "done", I mean to reach my wildest, lowest weight target.  What's that?  Marathon weight of about 148.

Can this possibly be reached before the end of the contest?  Who knows.  At 55 years of age, I am already treading in uncharted territory, doing things I haven't been able to do for decades.  This is ridiculous to even think about, but I'm actually there right now.

I will keep running hard and let's see how far this crazy ride will take me.  And i wish that everyone else's ride takes them as far as their wildest dreams can possibly take them.

In my own personal tribute to the Boston Marathon victims, I logged two marathons worth of miles last week, over 52 miles altogether.  But this was only brisk walking, about two hours a night Monday through Friday.  As mentioned in an earlier blog, I decided to snuggle into a comfortable fat-burning mode by walking on the treadmill in lieu of my running, because I felt too heavy to run well, at least as well as I expect.

This week, after losing a few pounds, I felt better.  What a bittersweet situation, because today, I ran into my sadistic track coach.  I saw him in the mirror again.

Needless to say, he looked me over.  He saw some possibilities.  He made me work.  He made me work hard.  Really hard.  Over 11 miles - 6 of which was running.  Intervals of 3 miles plus other runs of two miles and one mile.  I haven't done a 3 mile run since Reagan was president!

After two hours, I was exhausted.  My T-shirt was soaked with sweat.  But my sadistic track coach made me believe tonight that I can run a 10K right now.  Perhaps a half marathon eventually.  Maybe more.

I have a love-hate relationship with my sadistic track coach.  I silently told him when that I saw him in the mirror of the car driving home from the gym.  But I am a lot better off tonight than I was before I ran into him earlier today.

Looks like he may be here to stay.