Journey toward fitness, continued

Today's hike was very nice, cool and overcast. Our group was 19 strong, and we hiked for better than 90 min. The trail today was Christianitos north, which is a very pretty hike along the edge of the Donna O'Neil Land Conservancy. The route then turns up past the water tower and behind north Telega.

 On the Diet front, Saturday night and Sunday night were cheat days. Saturday being the worst, I took Elaine out to a movie and had a small popcorn and some candy. I think I even had a cookie, but because I had been detoxing I felt horrible Sunday mourning. Like a hangover, yes, I was tempted to have some hair of the dog...

No, I did not have cookies and milk for breakfast.

Anyway, I am down 5 lbs.(224) total weight. I think the exercise has built some muscle as well, so I will be interested in my body composition numbers. Will keep you posted on my progress.

OFAC nutrition consultant, Steve Netherby

For 20 years, Steve Netherby traveled the world writing and photographing articles on outdoor living and wilderness travel as Camping Editor for Field & Stream.  He’s been a ranch hand, timber cutter, and jackhammer operator as well as a Navy combat pilot, award-winning newspaper editor-in-chief, and magazine editorial director.  He’s a graduate of numerous military mountain and jungle survival courses and is a graduate of National Outdoor Leadership School, Rainier Mountaineering Incorporated, American Avalanche Institute, and Fenwick Flyfishing School.  He was editor of The Expert’s Book of Freshwater Fishing, published by Simon & Schuster, and contributed to National Wildlife Federation’s Wildlife Country—How to Enjoy It and How to Survive on Land and Sea, by Naval Institute Press.  He’s an avid mountain biker, backpacker, sea kayaker, canoeist, cross-country skier, and mountaineer.  He recently dayhiked 14,501-foot Mt. Whitney.  For the last 14 years, Steve has been an independent distributor for USANA Health Sciences’ top-rated products and is OFAC’s consultant on using nutritional supplements for optimal health and physical performance.  

You are probably wondering what I'm doing about this weight loss issue. Well I should be very exact in my eating habits, I'm not. But, I am doing better than the past year. You see, I come by my sugar addiction quite honestly. I have always craved sweets, as a kid my favorite dinner was breakfast. I thought there was nothing better than pancakes with maple syrup. Yum.  Anyway,  last week I ate mostly detox soup, chicken, brown rice pasta, and veggies cooked in water. I will try to transition into a place where I do follow my wife's exact recommendations. I am pleased that I have at the least eliminated most of the true junk.

As for exercise, I am feeling pretty good about this week. Monday I did about 1/2 hour bones class followed by a 90 min. hike at a fair pace. Wednesday was another 90 min. hike with beautiful views and great company. The best by far was fridays hike to Sitton Peak, behind the candy store on Ortega highway. Only 9 1/2 miles and 2150 feet elevation gain, but one of the most beautiful views in O.C. We covered this in about 4 1/2 hours, not bad.

The best part about these adventures would be my companions.On Monday and Wednesday we had near twenty hardy souls joining us each day. Friday I was blessed to be in the company of Diana Fleskes and world famous Steve Netherby. Diana is a tireless adventurer who has traveled the globe to trek and summit high peaks. Steve bio will follow, he is just that interesting.

Journey towards fitness.

Welcome to my first attempt at blogging, this is like journaling for the cyber world. Anyway, my point in this endeavor is to improve my health and fitness level, and share the journey with others. I'm sure I'll digress, but I'll try to come back quickly.

The back story goes like this, I am currently a 46 year old male married to a beautiful personal trainer. So I will have professional help, which I need in oh so many ways. (first digression) Just because I live with the best trainer in town, does not mean by default I am really fit. Sadly, I am only average. My stats are listed in my first post, lifted from previous face book posts.

 In Jan. of 2000 I had found myself at 280 lbs., horribly out of shape, and needing to make many lifestyle changes. Some of these will be fodder for other posts, but suffice it to say I had done tremendous damage to this fearfully made gift I inhabit. I started walking, then short hikes, advancing to medium length backpacking trips. Finally able to summit nice sized mountains, such as I had accomplished in my much celebrated youth.

On or about September 2004, while backpacking up mount San Jacinto, we came across several  ladies day hiking to the summit. While enjoying a cup of freshly brewed expresso, I noticed one quite striking lady checking out my equipment. They passed us and we went on toward our camp for the night.  Well, I believe an angel made her get altitude sickness, but she was just propped up against a rock no more than 20 or 30 feet from our turn off to camp. She had tried to go further but went back down to said rock several times. Coming to her rescue has been the best decision of my life...

We were married May of 2005 and lived happily ever after. We made the decision to go into business together, in April 2008 opened our retail store to compliment the thriving fitness business Elaine had built. Retail is tough on a persons body, at my best I had dropped below 215 lbs. My long term goal is not so much about weight as it is about recapturing an athletic fitness level. I will use weight and body composition as benchmarks towards my goals.

Richard Gjonovich 

For those following my fitness adventure, here is more of the story. My goal is to build lean tissue mass while losing body fat. I am currently 22.2%, with a short term goal of 16%, long term would be to have an athletic build at 12%. Friday and today I have only eaten the soup and drank the water. I am off to a slow start, as I have only hiked Monday and Wednesday, and a 30 min. bones class. Here is a link to a short video of what an assessment looks like.

YouTube - OFACvideos's Channel

Source: www.youtube.com

Share your videos with friends, family, and the world      Posted on facebook Sept 19th 2009

Richard Gjonovich Todays update, made detox soup last night. Tasty mix of kale, turnip, carrot, beets, cabbage, garlic, and other yummy stuff. Just glad I know this stuff really works... Also drinking Alkaline Ionized water, taking Usana supplements, and working out with the club. Sept 18th 2009

Follow my Fitness Challenge

Richard Gjonovich 

OK, here is the sad truth, I let my wife assess me on 9/14/09. And the facts are rude, one and a half years of retail have added better than twenty pounds of fat. On the 14th my total body weight 231lbs. Lean tissue mass 179.72 lbs, Body fat 51.28 lbs. Body fat 22.2% This is considered average for a 45 year old male... Now if I can only learn to listen to my wife...