We are probably not going to unpack every single box; thankfully we have a pretty big basement that is going to be our storage unit. When moving, never go from a bigger place to a smaller place, man do we have lots of extra stuff. The townhouse has 3 levels, the basement, the main floor and the upstairs where the bedrooms are at. The main floor is looking excellent after the weekend. We have the TV and computers all set up, and have gotten rid of a lot of the boxes that needed to be unpacked. Besides the kitchen I think we are almost done unpacking the main floor. Upstairs is not looking too bad, but there are still tons of things that I have to “put together.” I really need to find my drill charger or my arms are going to fall off from using the screwdriver to put things back together.

We also had some pool time this weekend. It is great to have a pool just a couple of steps away. It is going to be hard to move from here without having a pool for sure. I say in about 3 weeks we should be all unpacked, or at least done with everything we plan on unpacking. Hopefully we will not lose anything in the process.

I have am also starting a new workout routine. I woke up today and did about 30 minutes of cardio and about 10 minutes on the weight machine. I am hoping that it really helps me out. Today is weighed in day, so if you are participating on the challenge, don’t forget to e-mail me or leave a message on the weight loss page so I can update your progress.

***What Makes Me Happy Today (8/5)***
Blockbuster having both of the movies we were looking for in their return box.

***What Makes Me Happy Today (8/6)***
Having KC Masterpiece BBQ at a KC Masterpiece restaurant.

***What Makes Me Happy Today (8/7)***
Half-asleep good bye kisses.

Candy was our biggest loser the first go around. I got a new job and that just made the whole process a lot more difficult. I am still commited to losing weight and now that I am stablishing new routines it is the best time for me. There has also been some interest from new participants, so the weight loss challenge starts again today! August 1st. If you want to participate e-mail me your weight today. The weigh in’s are going to be on Mondays for the next 8 week’s. Lets see who can lose the most this time!

I am moving from a FATTER state to a just FAT state! (Click Here) Horay. ( <- SARCASM)

Weight is a hard subject to discuss. A lot like racism it is hard to hear people’s opinion if one belongs to one group of the other. I have been overweight most of my life. I’ve had some periods of time when I was a little lighter, but as I joke about my metabolism checking out with the Y2K, there is a lot of truth to my battle to staying fit.

I have always strived to be in shape and have a nice looking body, not just to be skinny or follow societies standard for beauty. I do not find overweight people repulsive like so many others do. The sad part is that a lot of people that feel that way might be right next to you and you would never know.

Does being fat make me invisible? that is something that I have wondered at times. I have encountered a lot of people that are overweight and are almost shocked when I say hello or smile if we pass by at a mall or sidewalk. I get a look of surprise mixed with disbelief. I then started to understand that sometimes being overweight makes you invisible to others… or in some cases the cause of ridicule or gawking.

While there is a certain level of personal responsibility that goes along with being overweight, there are many factors that contribute to the problem. Some emotional, some hormonal, some cultural, and sometimes all of them at once. I don’t blame Mc Donald’s for making America fat, but I do to some level blame our lifestyle. Food becomes everything but what it is supposed to be… believe me, in other countries they don’t use the term “comfort food” like we do here.

So for whatever reason you are fat… does that make you less of a person? does that make you undesirable to society? Should you then just be sent to a camp with all the other overweight people so that the “pretty, skinny people” can just look at each other?

Our society is very superficial and almost incapable of accepting anything other than the norm. The scary part is that the norm in our society is dictated by pop culture, and more recently celebrity culture. I get to talk to a lot of young people via the motorcycle message board, and I constantly hear put down towards overweight people. It is sad to know that unless you are someone that looks like Barbie or Ken, most young people today will not even look at you.

I strive to lose weight for myself, to feel better physically and mentally. I don’t deny it, I would love to have a six pack instead of a keg for a belly… but it is more vanity than wanting to comply with societies standards which are unrealistic and idiotic. Other cultures look at being overweight as a sign of health, and while that is not what I promote I believe that we need to start looking at people in other ways instead of the groups that their appearance puts them on.

fat, overweight, invisible, race, weight, society, celebrity, culture, pop, young.

I have to admit that I was never a fan of workout tapes; in fact I was kind of cynical about the idea of following a bunch of people working out in a different physical location than where I am. I have been trying to lose weight since the beginning of the year. I started by doing DDR, even thought I have not been doing it lately, and a couple of months ago I joined a Kung Fu school. I also TiVoed a workout show from FitTV.

I was skeptical of the capability of a TV show to be able to get me to truly work out, but I was either super lucky or this Gilad guy is the best because the workout not only felt good, it really made me sweat in 30 minutes and not by jumping like a bunny from the first second. This made me think that TaeBo would be a good idea. The premise that a workout tape can mix martial arts and dancing intrigued me.

I have been hearing about how cool TaeBo is for quite some time. Mostly from their advertising machine. I felt that since I did practice TaeKwonDo for a couple of years before it would be something that I can jump right into. So I went and rented the new Boot Camp video and man was I disappointed. I tried it for the first time this morning and after 20 minutes I was disgusted. I cannot believe that a professional fitness trainer can truly sleep at night putting a product that I deem dangerous.
I gave it the benefit of the doubt and went to check out the website. I thought, hey maybe they have warning, or an introductory tape. I was surprised to see that the first thing they advertise is their new Boot Camp series and besides the warning to contact your doctor before you start a workout program there is nothing telling you, warning we are about to punish your back in such a was that a disk might just come flying out.

The tape starts at a rate that is unsafe without warming up… but I said ok, I can keep up. I did a couple of the initial exercise when Billy all of a sudden spread his legs and ask the viewer to bend down to touch the ground. I said OUCH and stopped to watch what he would do next. No warm-up, no stretching and this guy break into exercises that can seriously hurt someone, not just their muscles but also joints. I was just amazed that there is not a more of a warning before you start this program.

Stretching and warm-up is very important to every exercise routine. When starting to exercise, please consult a professional or a friend that does it in a regular basis. I see now why people get discouraged about exercising so easily. If TaeBo was my only resource or the first one I chose to look it, I would just give up working out and hit McDonalds on the way to work.

Gilad, TaeBo, Exercise, Weight, Stretching, Martial.

Well, I am starting a little game at work… we are going to see who can lose the must weight in a 2 month period. And I wondered, why not keep track online too… so if you want to play send me your weight and height and I will include you on the game (weigh in will be on Mondays at 2:00 P.M.) Starting today!

Lets shed some pounds!

*** Update

Erin, from GiggleChick already had a weight loss challenge that I was late to sign up for… even though this one is started more because of work than because of the blogsphere she deserves some kudos for the great idea.

*** Update 2

Ok so now I have created a page to keep track of the weight and a flickr group to upload pictures of the scale if you chose to. If you do not want to use your name for the challenge, you are welcome to e-mail me the info (logtar has hotmail) and I will give you a non descriptive nick name instead of the link to your blog that I am planning… it is up to you. This is for fun and whoever wants to participate should… they say the best way to lose weight is by staying motivated.

We will have a grace period for the initial weighing this whole week.  As many people can join… so go ahead and send me your weights!

Also Mark told me about a cool website that is free and keeps track of what you eat… I am checking it out. Here is my “progress“.

Weight, Loss, Challege, Logtar, Diet, Exercise, Motivation, Fat, America

Yesterday I read an article about a school in West Virginia using DDR to help obesity amongst students. It is still to early for me to know if DDR has made an impact on my weight or not since I have only been doing it for about a month but I sure hope so. I have been doing it almost every weekday; I say I do it about 4 days a week consistently.

DDR for those of you not in the know stand for (Dance Dance Revolution). It is a game made by Konami that is played on mats that have directional arrows for top, bottom, left and right. You can find various versions of the game for the home console and at the arcades. I have to admit that it is a little easier to do it at home than publicly humiliate yourself while trying to learn how to do it. There is a learning curve that while not too steep it is there.
I have started to move up to the light mode (there are 5 modes, beginner, light, standard, heavy and challenge.) on some songs, but the higher modes still seem almost humanly impossible to me.

Reading the article and having a conversation with a coworker we tried to think if kids now a days play as much as we did outside. Right now the excuse is winter time in our area and the temperatures are kind of hard to predict. I did not grow up around cold weather like this, but he said he used to spend tons of time outside even during the winter. I used to spend as much time as I was allowed outside playing soccer and just hanging out with friends. Video game playing was there, but not as much as it is now. It seems like videogames are not just another toy but the main toy for a lot of kids.

DDR is not the solution to the problem, but it is a step in the right direction. I think that physical activity is necessary for our kids, and while going outside and playing should be the goal having the chance to exercise at home is not bad. I will keep doing DDR and let you know how good it works; so far it has been very motivating.

DDR

DDR, Dance, Kids, Weight, Diet, Playstation, Konami, PS2