Week Two - Day Two

Okay - well I don't have yellow fever, but I can't shake these darn allergies and head cold. I hate waking up feeling like my head will explode.

Regardless, things are going well here on all fronts.

I do like everyone's suggestions regarding mileage sponsorships, and so I'll start keeping track of mileage on a monthly basis starting April 1. That'll give me April, May, June, July, and August to raise funds before the DL half marathon. Five months should be enough time to raise some money. I'll be sending letters at the end of April asking sponsors for donations, starting at $0.25 per mile. If they want to donate more, that's fine too. :)

Plus - don't forget that if you choose to donate a flat $20 - my DVDs are still available.

So - let's talk about you guys today. How are you? How's life treating you?

It's so rare lately that I have a few free moments to check my blogroll, but that will change as things quiet down at work a bit and I can breath a bit more. I promise to keep being active on the blogs and posting comments.

You guys are my teammates! How many of you will be in Disneyland?

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Week Two - Day One

I love this sign. And hey - did you watch "Extreme Home Makeover" last night? Talk about kitty cats!!!

Okay - so week one has ended with a 2.1 pound weight loss. I'm VERY cool with that. :)

Week two has started with a bit of a shared head cold. Amber and I are both sniffling. Ick. BUT - I won't let that stop me. I slept a bit longer this morning than I'd have liked to, so I'll do some exercise tonight, and tomorrow get to the gym to do weights.

Foodwise the day is set and ready to go.

And to answer the question from yesterday - I'm not registered for DL yet. That's likely going to be in the next week or so. Just waiting on funds. :)

Speaking of which - I need suggestions. I want to keep fundraising. So - how should I approach my sponsors? Mileage? Training? Racing? Weight? What do you guys think?

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Week One - Day Seven

Okay - so how cool has this week been??

First - I want to thank you ALL for your wishes and support - the e-mails, disfriends posts, and comments here have been WONDERFUL - and I've shared them all with Amber. Keep em coming!!

This morning I did my 2.0 mile wog as per the Penguin's plan, and now I can tell you about the rest of the plan - what I call "Jonathan's Healthy Daddy" Plan.

The exercise component follows the Penguin's plan - so for week two it's: 30 wog, 30 cross, rest, 30 wog, 30 cross, 3 miles, rest.

Meals, on the other hand, are well planned out - each and every meal - a week in advance, with all calories accounted for. We're shooting for about 2200-2500 calories a day for me. At my weight and height, that's what's suggested for "accelerated weight loss".

And with all meals accounted for I'm taking in about 1700 calories, leaving me a bit for "snacks" - 100 cal packs; 100 cal ice cream; fruits; veggies, etc.

Not bad overall, if I do say so myself.

And here's a fun fact - according to "The Pregnancy Journal" - we're in day 44 of pregnancy. And today is the day that our baby's first recordable brain waves will be happening.

COOL!

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Week One - Day Five - The Big Reveal

Yes folks - you guessed it. We are expecting a little mayhem at our household.

First of all - thank you to everyone who ALREADY (at 7am my time) has sent me an e-mail or left a comment of congratulations. As I said on the show, I'll share each and every one with Amber. So keep 'em coming!

Secondly - now you see the "new motivation" I was talking about? It's not just about me anymore, it's about being a good and healthy role model, and making sure I'm here for years to come.

So how does this affect travel? Well it means that I'll be going to Anaheim alone (barring any complications that would keep me home) and NOT going to WDW in January or December. Likely not until the Full Marathon in 2011, which will be baby's first trip!

You know - during the WDW 1/2, and my last mile, through EPCOT, I ran with a girl who was telling me that she was doing this for her mother, who'd run in 3 races, and passed away just recently at a very young age.

I told her I was doing it for my child. She asked how old it was, and I told her I didn't have one yet, but I was hoping by the next time, I would. She smiled and wished me luck.

And though it's true that I've stumbled and essentially have to start over, like I said yesterday, this is some REAL motivation I can bank on. You see - when I got started back in January 2007, I always asked myself "would the Make-a-Wish kids want me to eat that?" or something to that effect. Now I have a much more personal question to ask myself.

Daddy's not going anywhere little one. You rest your head easy.

Tomorrow - 2.8 miles around Lake Serene, and the beginning of a whole new way of life!

And yes, for the few of you who asked, we are going to register, and if you REALLY want to know, I'll tell you when and where, but it's not necessary. It's very sweet - but not necessary.

I love you guys!

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Week One - Day Four - Rust

Wow - so far nobody's guessed it right. Only have to wait ONE MORE DAY for some BIG announcements!

Here's a few clues:

1. The Mayhem is NOT leaving the USA anytime in the next 2 years (that he knows of).

2. The "announcements" are about travel, but are not ONLY about travel. These announcements also affect AATM, meet and greets, the gathering formerly known as MouseFest, and MORE!

3. One more BAD news piece - I'll share it up front. In fact, not only am I NOT going to WDW in January 2010, the next time I'll likely be in Florida at all is in January 2011 for the FULL MARATHON (don't worry - that's not affected) - but that trip will now be extra special.

Okay - that's it - last chance to figure out the puzzle - tomorrow morning I'll announce here, and on AATM what the heck is going on! :)

As for training - it finally stopped raining enough for me to NOT go to the gym and to get my feet on pavement again. Man - I felt RUSTY out there. I did 1.5 miles in 23:30 (which was my Safeway loop, with a longer side street thrown in). My shin ached a bit, and I just felt out of sync. It feels, in a lot of ways, like I'm starting over while getting ready for the RnR. Which, I kinda am. BUT - since I've already been to where I need to go, getting back should be easier! Especially since I didn't go all the way back to where I came from.

And if you understood that, wow! Please explain the last two sentences to me! LOL

The RnR is approaching faster every day. BUT (here's ONE more clue for you) - in regards to training and races, it's really only a training stop to the REST of my 2009 race goals.

Okay guys - comment away! And get ready for the reveal tomorrow!!!

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Week One - Day Three - Traction

I'm telling you - it's NOT Hong Kong. And it's multi-faceted news! I'll even break PART of it today - I'll end the suspense and give you a piece of the BAD news.

If you look to the right, you'll see my list of races I want to run.

I've REMOVED the January 2010 WDW Half Marathon from the list. I will not be in Orlando in January. This does make me sad. But there are very good reasons behind it.

What are they? You'll have to wait until Friday to see. :)

I feel like I'm getting some traction here this week. Yesterday was an OKAY day, but it could have been a REALLY bad day. Let me elaborate:

1. You know I didn't go to the gym yesterday, which I beat myself up about all day.

2. I had a long drive for work, and DID stop for a snack. But did NOT buy candy and doughnuts. My snack choice was more healthy. Not perfect, but BETTER.

3. We went out to dinner last night, and instead of steak or pasta or something loaded with fat and calories, I had the roasted chicken. Which was QUITE yummy. :)

So - better. And like I said - feel like I'm getting traction.

Now - I switched yesterday to today - and so today I cross trained. But not at the gym. Decided to switch it up a bit. Instead of weights, I did 50 side leg lifts (per leg), 75 nice slow abdominal crunches, and 25 good solid man push-ups. And let me tell you something - I'm EXHAUSTED. I think that was a HARDER workout than some of my weight workouts. And through the 14 weeks, I plan to cycle my "cross training days" between weights, calesthenics, and other activities, like swimming (which is a GREAT workout - and frankly, if I just step outside today - I'll BE swimming - MAN is it raining! LOL)

In any event - so far I feel like I'm on the right track - on my way to losing the 40, and running a GREAT RnR Half.

How's YOUR week going?

Oh yeah - and I'm NOT going to Hong Kong! :)

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Week One - Day Two

No - it's NOT Hong Kong, nor is it DVC. But great guesses!

Today was supposed to be weights, however, I had an alarm clock mishap that caused problems. But nevertheless, since tomorrow is a rest day, I'll just push today to tomorrow workout wise, and be fine.

Food yesterday was great! No problems or issues. I'm hoping to post a good loss this week. Jump start my way to that 40! :)

So - there are SEVERAL parts to this announcement coming on Friday. They involve Team Voice, AATM, the Mayhem. LOTS of exciting things! One of them includes a POSSIBLE PACIFIC NORTHWEST MEET. Some involve travel, and some involve LACK of travel. Some pieces are BAD, and some are AWESOME.

And I'm just going to keep teasing you here with more clues until Friday morning. You'll be able to find out the news either by listening to AATM RIGHT AWAY, or by checking here Friday morning.

And trust me - you will NOT be disappointed.

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Week One - Day One

The fourteen week countdown to RnR has begun!!!

So far today - I did a nice 30 minute wog for just shy of 2 miles. Not a bad start. Tomorrow is weights, and I have my meals for today planned out and ready to go. No stumbling! :)

The picture above is a clue towards my mysterious "travel plans" (alright NOT so mysterious) - which I'll be announcing throughout the week and on this Friday's AATM. There are LOTS of exciting developments to find out about this week, guys, so STAY TUNED. Trust me - you do NOT want to miss this!

Have an early court date, so time to go hop in the shower! Have a great Monday friends!

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Checklist

Alrighty here, let's check and make sure we have everything we need.

14 week workout plan from "Marathoning for Mortals" - check.

Refined meal plan with house stocked full of groceries - check.

Desire to keep changing - check.

Ability to plan out in advance to avoid problems - check.

Big news coming on the 3/28 episode of AATM - check.

Yup - we're all set!!! So far so good - and daily updates coming Monday. I'll also have some travel plans being set soon...watch the RIGHT side of the blog.

LOTS of exciting stuff happening.

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Striving for Consistency

*ruff ruff*

Quiet rover. I'm busy talking to the team.

So - today's theme is consistency. Or rather - lack thereof. As we work through this new plan of ours, we have to tweak a little as we go. We have to make room for things like:

a) eating something new for dinner because the meat we bought went brown and smelly prematurely - ick!

b) rainy evenings preventing our "after dinner" walks.

c) late worknights

d) early work mornings (or oversleeping)

e) occasional food slip ups

The good news is that we keep working with the plan - and keep making forward progress - and keep our motivation in the forefront of our minds.

Monday starts the 14 week countdown to the RnR Half Marathon - and the beginning of re-using the Penguin's full plan. I've been working towards consistency to get to Monday so I can really push this plan forward. And the really good news is that a few stumbling blocks of mine will be removed in the next week or two. The biggest one being that we're hiring a new lawyer at my firm (who I'm REALLY excited to have come on board) - and having her around will take a large burden off me. I'll be able to focus more on each case, and also do less overall driving. This will be GREAT.

And until then - I work hard to do what I'm supposed to do - and when I don't - I'm kind to myself and work hard to figure out where I went wrong, and fix it tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow - I have another early work morning (like today) - and will be doing home exercise instead of weights. But it's something. It's NOT nothing. And that's the important thing - to keep doing SOMETHING positive.

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So far...

So good.

Two days into the plan, and things are going well. Going to have to make a few tweaks here and there with the food plan (yesterdays breakfast left me ravenously hungry by 10am), but on the whole, I think we're off to a good start.

Now.

I don't know how many people saw the comments from my last post, but Rae mentioned something about giving up on Team Voice. And I think we need to address this.

We all worked SO hard to get to WDW. And now - our goals are scattered - and our timelines are different. It's hard to keep a continuous team feeling going.

But keep it going we must! We are all here for each other! And we're going to continue to be!

Rae - you're not giving up any more than I am. Disney people DO NOT GIVE UP, right?

Besides - I am planning on doing everything I can to get to Anaheim for the half! And so then Team Voice needs to represent on the West Coast!

Okay - EVERYONE - tell us - here - today - in the comments - WHAT Team Voice means to you! Let's show Rae that she's still inspiring us and that this Team NEEDS to succeed!

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The New Plan - and a Reckoning

Okay - it's time to make this the truth again.

Let's get it all out on the table. Many of the CORE Team Voicers (you know who you are) have been on a steady rollercoaster of backsliding and stepping forward since our triumph in January. Some have coped with sickness, some with injury, some with mild melancholy, and some with all of them.

I'm ashamed to admit that when I lose the 40 pounds I want to lose before RnR that I'll be about 15 pounds LIGHTER than my lightest through my journey, which means from that low point, I've slowly packed on 25 pounds. Clothes that I bought to fit nicely when I was getting skinny have started to tighten. And it has to stop. Now. Today.

And so I'm going to do my darndest to inspire ALL of us. Push us all to further goals. Higher limits!

And this time, Amber's doing it with me!!! We have some great reasons to really push ourselves to get healthier and stronger. And they've inspired us to a new plan.

First of all - I'm done sorta counting points. I'm going to a very simple system. I'm counting EVERY MORSEL I put into my mouth, and shooting for a roughly 2200-2500 calorie daily intake. Every bit of research out there shows that the way to lose weight is a simple caloric deficit.

I've planned out every breakfast and lunch for a week, and will use the same schedule every week. It'll simplify grocery shopping too. We'll plan out our dinners together, and weather permitting, are going to do at least a short walk together around our condo complex every night after dinner. (I say weather permitting since it's snowing here). It's all up on the fridge too! :)

In addition - here's my exercise plan. M: 25-45 minute wog; T: 30 minutes weights; W: rest; Th: 25-45 minute wog; F: 30 minutes weights; Sa: long wog (starting with 3 miles around lake serene); Su: short walk to the grocery store with Amber.

She has her own daily exercise scheme. But many of ours overlap. By wog, for me what I mean is 2 songs walking, and one song jogging. We'll start with 25 minutes, and build up according to the Penguin plan to the RnR Half.

I think working together with Amber towards goals will really help us both achieve some success we can be proud of. And I'm going to inspire you guys again. I promise. That DVD will not be my last, and you guys will not be the only people I inspire!

Did I mention that I'm working on seriously getting set to come to Anaheim in September for the Half?

Now I know what you're saying - what's different now? Why won't you keep eating corn dogs and girl scout cookies? Trust me. Just trust me and believe in magic for me. Okay? That's all I ask, for now. More info later...

And look - if you're struggling with something - and you haven't be able to post it because you're afraid of how we'll all think about it - POST IT. Let's get this team back together on positive notes! Let's ALL band together to take the ups, downs, sides, and everything! WE CAN DO THIS.

Are you with me team?

I'm not going to post tomorrow morning, as I know many of you don't read the blogs on weekends - and I want comments from EVERYONE.

TEAM VOICE ROLL CALL!!!! SOUND OFF!!!!

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Mending

Alright - so I am officially sick - so says the doctor. But I'm on the mend. And am feeling better this morning.

This week has been highly inconsistent in a variety of ways, due to many things, not the least of which is the illness.

BUT - this weekend I'll be unveiling a new plan. One that Amber and I have created together for BOTH of us to make some serious changes. It'll allow me to lose the 40 I wanted to before the RnR Half - and take more off before the end of 2009 (which is a challenge Deb and I have).

I'm really excited about it, frankly. I know that in many ways I've taken a step or two backwards, and I'm tremendously disappointed in myself for that. BUT - with your support - especially everyone telling me how much they've loved the DVDs - and with our new plan, and Amber's newfound desire - I think we're going to amaze people at how far one can go after relaxing into complacence.

Here's the promise I make to you, my followers, and readers, friends, supporters, and teammates.

I will continue to be 100% honest about my ups, downs, lefts and rights. I won't minimize failures, or overstate successes. This is a journey folks - and every journey has darker periods. I'm coming OUT of one right now.

What I ask in return, is that you continue to show me the same level of love, support, and pride as you always have.

I promise you all - we will CONTINUE to be proud of each other and what we've accomplished. Even if we're injured, sick, slip, fall, or put on weight.

We will keep moving forward together as a team.

Okay - that's it for today - I'll be back on Sunday with that plan!

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Ugh

This is how I feel this morning. I honestly don't think I'm "sick" per se, but rather, still recovering from the desert travel. I had a similar feeling for about four days after going to Oklahoma each time. All the air conditioning and lack of moisture tended to really mess me up.

The lousy part is my body is all off the wall. I'm just going to work on taking care of myself - making the best choices - and drinking lots of hot tea. LOL If I hold onto an extra pound this week, or lose 13 pounds this week - either way - I'll not get too enthused or upset. When I get "sick"-ish - my body does weird things. It'll go back to normal soon.

This weekend I'm unveiling a slightly altered plan of attack to work on losing the 40 I want to lose before the RnR half. It includes the Penguin's 14 week training plan (which starts 91 days out - which is not this Monday, but the next one, I believe) - and other tweaks and stuff there.

But of course, since I'm waking up coughing and wheezing and aching while I swallow, I'm just sleeping as much as I can and trying to get healthy FAST so I can get back on task here.

Everyone send me mental images of chicken soup. :)

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FAST post

Hey guys!

I'm back.

I'm a little sick (mostly just recovering from jetlag and how DRY it was in Vegas - sore throat, etc).

I'm down a little more than half a pound after Vegas (yeah!).

I'm SO proud of our Princesses! GOOD JOB GUYS!

And I am most definitely 23.

Are YOU 23?

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We're Off

We're off to Vegas to celebrate our anniversary in style!

Everyone think sevens and elevens for us! :) We'll win big and come back strong!

We've already talked about some new things to do both while we're there and when we get back to stay on track, and really kick things up a notch. Lots of exciting things are going to happen this year! I'm SO pumped for this! Getting back on the right path and moving forward!!! Keeping the swimming going full speed ahead to Main Street!!

Who's with us!??! WHO BELIEVES?!?!?!

Plus - watch your mailboxes some of you - DVDs are on their way! When you get them, come back and tell us what you thought!!!

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A letter to the Princesses of Team Voice

So you've decided to run in this weekends Princess Half Marathon, have you?

First of all - know that we're all (all of us on Team Voice) proud of you. Proud for your courage, your commitment, and your coming success.

Secondly - know that we all support you no matter how fast, far, or frenzied your race becomes. Starting is the hard part. Finishing - that's just bonus.

Lastly - know that we're all SUPER jealous of you! :P You guys get to run another Disney race this weekend! MAN! I wish I were there too - racing - cheering - SOMETHING!

But mostly - we're just really proud to have you with us on the team.

Now - as for me - yesterday was one of those "have to get up early and go" days so I couldn't post - but my number is up to 1.4 which means I've lost 1.4 pounds! Only 38.6 to go! :)

Meals have been good - as has exercise.

This Thursday we leave for Vegas to celebrate our anniversary (which is really tomorrow) - but I'll be running the strip while I'm there, as well as eating as healthy as I can! I'd like to see my number go closer to 40 while I'm gone. If not, well, then I'll just work harder NEXT week to undo it. :)

And trust me - there's a LOT of hard work in my future. I have LOTS to accomplish, and I've just gotten started.

As for DVDs - I've gotten a few requests, but I want to send these ALL out. C'mon - who wants one?

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Vern Week and DVDs

Well - I've finished my Vern Week goal of 5.0 miles - in a time of 1:15. So keeping a nice 15 minute pace. I did notice though a LOT of tightness and pain in my left outer shin area. Had to stop and stretch several times. Wondering if that's just rust, or if it's time for new shoes again. We'll evaluate after Vegas.

Oh guess what?

The DVDs are DONE. It's a 35 minute movie-slideshow. Still images only. Set to LOTS of great music, and chronicling the race itself, as well as our trip. Lots of great pictures and narration...sort of. :)

If you want one, I'll be asking you to e-mail me at jonathan@allaboutthemouse.com - remember I'll be asking for a $20 minimum dream team donation (feel free to donate more). So shoot me an e-mail request!

TODAY IS OUR LIVE SHOW.

And for our blogreaders - here's a treat for you.

The first person to call in at 407-278-5939 tonight between 6pm EST and 8pm EST and tell me that they want to get one of my DVDs, will not only get one, but when I send it to you, I'll include an additional PRIZE! :)

How's that for ya? :)

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