Saturday, March 29, 2008
Monday, March 24, 2008
Easter Pictures
A big thanks to many people on this venture of taking Easter Pictures. Thanks mom, my girls favorite grandma for the beautiful dresses. Thanks Kelly for taking the pictures and doing a great editing job since they were pretty squirmy and only wanting jelly beans during the process. Lastly to my beautiful girls who make holidays so much more fun. Enjoy!
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Eric's Rules for Weight Loss
I've debated a long time whether or not to post this, but I figure it's an important part of my life so I might as well. I've lost about 25-30 pounds in the past three months or so (most of that in the first month to month and a half). I wasn't sure whether to post this or not because: 1) who likes to hear other people brag about their weight loss? and 2) who likes to admit they were overweight.
I played lots of sports in high school and college and since I was so tall and growing I could generally eat whatever I wanted. But after sitting at a desk all day and having a wife cook wonderful meals every day I slowly started gaining weight. I hid it well with my height, but I was overweight. Finally I decided to do something about it early last December. Here was the "diet" I followed (most of the time :)
1. Only single servings at each meal. No seconds.
2. Only one dessert after lunch and one after dinner (I know that's a lot to most people, you should see how I used to eat).
3. Eat vegetables and other healthy sides first at meals.
4. Limit snacks between meals. If I must snack, eat something healthy.
5. Get plenty of exercise (not really a rule, just something I enjoy and do naturally anyway)
Pretty simple, huh? The goals was to make it something sustainable, for life. I didn't want to do a fad diet that I couldn't stick with, I just wanted to change my eating habits. It helps that I'm 6'5" and to maintain a healthy weight I need something like 2800 calories a day. The most I weighed myself was somewhere around 230 lbs in late November. I'm now right around 200 or below. I went from 23% body fat to about 16%. I'd like to lose more, but I'm in a healthy range right now. I've gone down somewhere between 2-3 belt buckle loops. I was about to have my suit that I bought shortly after getting married taken out, but now it fits great. Actually most of my pants are huge, I had to drill an extra hole in one of my belts. The last time I weighed 200 pounds was in high school!
My dad had lots of problems with his weight and I decided that I wanted to be healthy for my kids as they get older. I also enjoy sports and I want to be able to continue participating in them as I get older. I seem to be maintaining now, it's really true that the last 5-10 pounds is the hardest, but I'm mostly pleased with where I'm at.
I've been meaning to do this for a long time, and I've even tried before. So what made the difference this time? One thing - I finally got a scale. Getting on that thing every day is a constant reminder and motivator. It also helps that it does body fat measurements.
Sorry, no before and after photos.
I played lots of sports in high school and college and since I was so tall and growing I could generally eat whatever I wanted. But after sitting at a desk all day and having a wife cook wonderful meals every day I slowly started gaining weight. I hid it well with my height, but I was overweight. Finally I decided to do something about it early last December. Here was the "diet" I followed (most of the time :)
1. Only single servings at each meal. No seconds.
2. Only one dessert after lunch and one after dinner (I know that's a lot to most people, you should see how I used to eat).
3. Eat vegetables and other healthy sides first at meals.
4. Limit snacks between meals. If I must snack, eat something healthy.
5. Get plenty of exercise (not really a rule, just something I enjoy and do naturally anyway)
Pretty simple, huh? The goals was to make it something sustainable, for life. I didn't want to do a fad diet that I couldn't stick with, I just wanted to change my eating habits. It helps that I'm 6'5" and to maintain a healthy weight I need something like 2800 calories a day. The most I weighed myself was somewhere around 230 lbs in late November. I'm now right around 200 or below. I went from 23% body fat to about 16%. I'd like to lose more, but I'm in a healthy range right now. I've gone down somewhere between 2-3 belt buckle loops. I was about to have my suit that I bought shortly after getting married taken out, but now it fits great. Actually most of my pants are huge, I had to drill an extra hole in one of my belts. The last time I weighed 200 pounds was in high school!
My dad had lots of problems with his weight and I decided that I wanted to be healthy for my kids as they get older. I also enjoy sports and I want to be able to continue participating in them as I get older. I seem to be maintaining now, it's really true that the last 5-10 pounds is the hardest, but I'm mostly pleased with where I'm at.
I've been meaning to do this for a long time, and I've even tried before. So what made the difference this time? One thing - I finally got a scale. Getting on that thing every day is a constant reminder and motivator. It also helps that it does body fat measurements.
Sorry, no before and after photos.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Easter Party Fun
This past Saturday our ward had an Easter party for the kids so here are some pictures.
Rachel & Elizabeth with the Easter bunny
Feisty with the Easter basket
After 20 minutes at the cake walk and not winning anything with two children, we finally gave up.
Cat face
Even though we didn't win at the cake walk, we (I mean the girls) scored in the Easter egg hunt with two special prizes and candy of course!
Feisty with the Easter basket
After 20 minutes at the cake walk and not winning anything with two children, we finally gave up.
Cat face
Even though we didn't win at the cake walk, we (I mean the girls) scored in the Easter egg hunt with two special prizes and candy of course!
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Garden of the Gods
Even though Alicia has a nasty cold we decided we couldn't let a day like yesterday pass us by without getting outside: it was 73 degrees! We took a trip down to Colorado Springs and went to Garden of the Gods. It was crazy busy, but a pretty neat place right there in the foothills. It has some red rock formations and some pretty scenery. We went for a little 1/2 mile hike with the girls and Elizabeth loved picking up dirt and moving it off the trail: Don't ask, she's four. She complained about the hike but I think she liked it. Then we went and had lunch at a picnic spot and scrambled up a little hill/rock mound nearby. We topped it off with a Route 44 Strawberry Limeade (Cherry is better) from Sonic. It was a nice way to enjoy the weather.
In other news I decided to bike to work the other day. After being out of cycling shape and not eating enough calories I "bonked" on the way home, I just ran out of energy and it felt like I was spinning my wheels but not getting anywhere. I didn't realize how much I'd be climbing to get home. I'm not in Ohio anymore! I took a longer route than the one showed below but it's this elevation profile in reverse:
In other news I decided to bike to work the other day. After being out of cycling shape and not eating enough calories I "bonked" on the way home, I just ran out of energy and it felt like I was spinning my wheels but not getting anywhere. I didn't realize how much I'd be climbing to get home. I'm not in Ohio anymore! I took a longer route than the one showed below but it's this elevation profile in reverse:
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