As usual, been forever since I posted. I'm OK with it.
This spring/summer I let my love for beer, pizza and snack type food (aka junk food) get the best of me and my weight went from 166lbs in May up to 180lbs in September. Sure I still worked out and still pushed hard to get stronger, but that wasn't helping my weight.
Additional contributors to my weight gain. 1) Inconsistent workout schedule 2) Bad knees
The workout schedule, I was accustomed to working out 5 to 6 days per week in the comfort of my own home, starting it at 5AM. For the past few months I've been struggling to find a consistent schedule with my buddy Kev at the gym. At a minimum I want to get 3 days per week at the gym with him. Again, its been a real struggle between his schedule, my schedule and everything else. In addition, the workouts are starting at 8PM at night, not y best time to workout, but it'll have to do. He pushes me hard and makes me move weights that I wouldn't otherwise feel comfortable with in my own home, so, its a positive thing.
The knees. I went to an orthopedic Dr and got them checked out. I was diagnosed with patellofemoral pain syndrome. The pain had reached the point where I couldn't walk up stairs or hills. It was far too uncomfortable to try and push off my feet. Make no mistake, the issue isn't my feet. I found myself holding onto railings and pulling myself up stairs to get up stairs and leaning on the railings to try and walk down them. Absurd for sure. I can run a mile in under 9 minutes but can't walk a flight of steps. Dr gave me physical therapy script as my solution and that has been working out quite well.
September came and reality was I needed to get things back under control. I couldn't keep drinking a beer or two every night or other night for that matter. Insert 21 Day Fix. We already own the program and honestly I've never, ever followed the nutrition portion of any Beachbody program. Why not give it a shot. We've just wrapped up week 2 of that and I'm down 6lbs, which I'm good with. It took me over 4 months to put on almost 14lbs, I'm not going to lose that in 2 weeks. Forward progress is forward progress.
I just completed my first OCR (Obstacle Course Race) last weekend. It was the Mudderella. It was definitely a fun event. The course was 5 miles long and it only had 13 to 14 obstacles. I was hoping for less running and more obstacles as I had not done any running since early April and was really worried about my knees. As it turned out my legs were stronger than I thought and my body as a whole held up really well. The obstacles I didn't find all too challenging, the biggest challenge was mental and the running I guess. It was awesome to have my family there to help support me. It was also awesome to be able to do this with a couple rock stars from my fit group. It proved to me that I could do this and that I also needed to push myself harder.
Next challenges are 1) to stay on track with nutrition 2) keep pushing for 3 nights at the gym and a couple mornings at home (cardio/stretching) 3) the F.I.T. Epic Challenge. Until next time.
Sunday, October 11, 2015
Monday, April 20, 2015
Goals.... how do you measure success?
Here is something that I have wondered about. Especially since right now my workouts are primarily driven by "home workouts". How do set goals with these programs? How do you measure success?
Certainly I've completed my fair share of home workout programs. Power90, T25, P90x3 and Piyo (to some degree), Body Beast, etc... I guess I've always had the same goal. It all goes back to Power90. When I bought that, I saw Tony Horton on the cover. The dude was ripped. Ripped abs, pretty jacked. It was clear he was FIT. THAT is the body that I've always wanted. That, as the program/brand stated, was the "Beach Body". It is something I've never had.
When I first started doing these types of programs, the number 1 goal was to get to a healthy weight. Bottom line is that I was extremely out of shape and you need to start with a goal. For some people I guess a goal could be just to show up every day and do it. The results at the end of the program are whatever they are. That is certainly one approach. Every program offers similar visual results. Some offer more specific things, like Body Beast offers you the chance to gain mass muscle size. Some programs use weights, some don't. Some are purely cardio based (Insanity), some have little/no cardio (insert Piyo here).
When I started working out (again) back in July of 2013 I was 197lbs and I knew to get to a healthy BMI I needed to get to 176lbs. I had accomplished that by December of 2013. I was down to about 175lbs. Yet - I still had a pretty pudgy belly and I wasn't very muscular at all. Tony Horton and P90x3 came out and I jumped on it immediately. Fantastic program. I grabbed hold of that and ran with it to try and target those problem areas. I wanted bigger arms. A CHEST. A back with some width. Strong legs. Most importantly... I wanted the ripped core. I wanted a 6 pack. I'll spoil the surprise... I didn't get everything I wanted. LOL
As I've pushed ahead doing these assorted programs I've never had any clearly defined goals. NEVER. Just a vision of what I want my body to look like. I haven't gotten there yet. I've managed to continue to improve upon my nutrition and I feel pretty good about that. I need to work on those random binges that come up when it's date night. My weight right now is fluctuating between 167 - 170lbs, which isn't too bad. It is considered a healthy weight for someone of my height (5' 11"). I feel like I am continuing to shape my body more in line with how I envision it is supposed to look, albeit SLOWLY. Or, more accurately - more like I would prefer it to look. How I WANT it to look. Continuing to shed some fat and gain muscle. Yet despite this presumed forward progress, I can't help but feel like I'm a hamster on a wheel. Just getting up, getting on my wheel to do my exercise because "that's what I'm supposed to do". It's what healthy people do. That's great and all... but where am I going with this? What am I working towards exactly here? Abs? (Yes - definitely abs and hopefully so much more)
I spoke to this a little in my last post, but let me touch on it here a little more. I have a couple friends that do CrossFit and they are always speaking very highly of it. How goal driven things are. I couldn't help to wonder what this was like. Goals? What goals? Like, you want to be able to bench press more? Squat more? What? Inquiring minds want to know!! Like NOW!! I seriously don't know what it's like to have goals other than "to finish a program" in "hopes" to be in better shape than when I started. Those have always been my goals. Other than of course, getting that Tony Horton body that I saw on the cover of Power90 over 12 yrs ago. lol
For REFERENCE:
Certainly I've completed my fair share of home workout programs. Power90, T25, P90x3 and Piyo (to some degree), Body Beast, etc... I guess I've always had the same goal. It all goes back to Power90. When I bought that, I saw Tony Horton on the cover. The dude was ripped. Ripped abs, pretty jacked. It was clear he was FIT. THAT is the body that I've always wanted. That, as the program/brand stated, was the "Beach Body". It is something I've never had.
When I first started doing these types of programs, the number 1 goal was to get to a healthy weight. Bottom line is that I was extremely out of shape and you need to start with a goal. For some people I guess a goal could be just to show up every day and do it. The results at the end of the program are whatever they are. That is certainly one approach. Every program offers similar visual results. Some offer more specific things, like Body Beast offers you the chance to gain mass muscle size. Some programs use weights, some don't. Some are purely cardio based (Insanity), some have little/no cardio (insert Piyo here).
When I started working out (again) back in July of 2013 I was 197lbs and I knew to get to a healthy BMI I needed to get to 176lbs. I had accomplished that by December of 2013. I was down to about 175lbs. Yet - I still had a pretty pudgy belly and I wasn't very muscular at all. Tony Horton and P90x3 came out and I jumped on it immediately. Fantastic program. I grabbed hold of that and ran with it to try and target those problem areas. I wanted bigger arms. A CHEST. A back with some width. Strong legs. Most importantly... I wanted the ripped core. I wanted a 6 pack. I'll spoil the surprise... I didn't get everything I wanted. LOL
As I've pushed ahead doing these assorted programs I've never had any clearly defined goals. NEVER. Just a vision of what I want my body to look like. I haven't gotten there yet. I've managed to continue to improve upon my nutrition and I feel pretty good about that. I need to work on those random binges that come up when it's date night. My weight right now is fluctuating between 167 - 170lbs, which isn't too bad. It is considered a healthy weight for someone of my height (5' 11"). I feel like I am continuing to shape my body more in line with how I envision it is supposed to look, albeit SLOWLY. Or, more accurately - more like I would prefer it to look. How I WANT it to look. Continuing to shed some fat and gain muscle. Yet despite this presumed forward progress, I can't help but feel like I'm a hamster on a wheel. Just getting up, getting on my wheel to do my exercise because "that's what I'm supposed to do". It's what healthy people do. That's great and all... but where am I going with this? What am I working towards exactly here? Abs? (Yes - definitely abs and hopefully so much more)
I spoke to this a little in my last post, but let me touch on it here a little more. I have a couple friends that do CrossFit and they are always speaking very highly of it. How goal driven things are. I couldn't help to wonder what this was like. Goals? What goals? Like, you want to be able to bench press more? Squat more? What? Inquiring minds want to know!! Like NOW!! I seriously don't know what it's like to have goals other than "to finish a program" in "hopes" to be in better shape than when I started. Those have always been my goals. Other than of course, getting that Tony Horton body that I saw on the cover of Power90 over 12 yrs ago. lol
For REFERENCE:
Thursday, April 16, 2015
Fitness program updates, etc...
First - been forever since I last updated. I completed Body Beast which was awesome. If it weren't for the brutal leg day I'd probably still be doing it. I had a lot of fun with that one and saw some great results.
Once I completed that I set a new goal to take up running and try to run a 5K. I last ran one 12 yrs ago and I was in pretty good shape back then (at the time I thought it was the best shape of my life). My plan was to alternate the Couch to 5K app (3 days week) with Power90 Strength (3 days week). I did that for a month and it wasn't great. The Power90 stuff simply wasn't a challenging enough strength workout. I just came from Body Beast for fucks sake! There is one sequence in the program where they do a lunge/squat combo sequence and it is all without weights. I was using 20lb dumbbells with it just so I could push myself more. A lot of the exercises in Power90 are body weight exercises and they only do them for a certain length of time. So, if you do push ups as an example and they are only doing them for 1min and you've done that but not gotten the push you wanted... then what? It was time to find something else.
A friend from one of my fitness groups had been recommending a kettlebell program called "Kettleworx" as a solution for sometime (initially she thought it would be a great workout for my wife). I kept pushing it off as in all honesty I didn't want to buy more shit. I already had enough fitness crap to be fit, why do I need more? How much shit can you have? lol A LOT! The short of it is, I bought the program and have bought a bunch of kettlebells and the program is fantastic. Works really well. REALLY well.
Where am I on my running? My goal with the running was to complete the C25K program. Be able to run a 5K and have my pace be 10min miles. As my last run for the C25K program I ran my first 5K. I finished in 27min 56sec. I guess 9min miles. Pretty excited about it, but I want to improve upon that. More on that probably in a separate blog entry.... however, my thoughts on that brought up the thoughts about goals. I really need a separate post for that, because honestly every time I think about it my brain goes in 12 different directions and I want to just do a brain dump... at the same time though I want to make sure it makes sense to someone other than me and my random logic mind.
Back to workouts.... so right now, I'm running scarcely. lol Once or twice a week is probably the max my body can handle at this time. My knees just hurt from it and I HATE that a workout can make me feel so weak. That can, instead of empower me, it breaks me down. I try to think about the positives it also brings, like the cardio.... the decent amount of calories burned in less than 30min. It is just the pain the knees AFTER the run that kills me (mainly the right knee). The whole run not a single bit of leg/knee/shin/feet pain at all. NOTHING. Not until after my cool down. Then the right leg just kind of gets weak. It hurts to push off of anything (like when you are walking up steps) and the pain stems straight from the knee.
Other workouts, for strength it has been Kettleworx - Evolution. I can't say enough good things about the program. Cardio without doing HIIT? Good stuff. Strength/core training without dumbbells? Cool. Everything is all compound moves. Meaning, you work more than 1 body part at a time. One of the favorite moves is probably the squat-upright rows. Squat down with the kettlebell and when you come up from the squat do an upright row. Just always seems, no matter what the exercise, you are working more than 1 body part. The downside I guess would be cost. I spent $90 on the program and probably another $200 on kettlebells. Good thing my wife and I have good paying jobs. lol
Kind of a workout side note.... I have a couple of friends that do Crossfit and both speak so highly of it. Highly of how much the workouts push you. How varied the workouts are. How goal driven everything is. How tight knit the community is, how encouraging everyone is about you getting to your goals. Both of them have told me repeatedly that it is a place where they think I would thrive. Anywho, I investigated it a little. There is a new place not far from the house called Great Woods Crossfit. They offer 3 free sessions. My first one is May 4th. :) We shall see how it goes. I'm nervous about it. I don't think I'm in horrible shape, but I really think I could be better. I like the thought of the challenge. I like the thought of getting my body closer to the way I envision it. I feel I'm close and every time I think I'm right there, I seem to push myself away. Is that a workout issue thing? No. Accountability thing? Maybe... More of a discipline thing most likely. Either way I don't know what the hell I'm doing. I'm looking for answers and I'm hoping to find some there. We shall see.
Next post will be about goals. Until next time.
Once I completed that I set a new goal to take up running and try to run a 5K. I last ran one 12 yrs ago and I was in pretty good shape back then (at the time I thought it was the best shape of my life). My plan was to alternate the Couch to 5K app (3 days week) with Power90 Strength (3 days week). I did that for a month and it wasn't great. The Power90 stuff simply wasn't a challenging enough strength workout. I just came from Body Beast for fucks sake! There is one sequence in the program where they do a lunge/squat combo sequence and it is all without weights. I was using 20lb dumbbells with it just so I could push myself more. A lot of the exercises in Power90 are body weight exercises and they only do them for a certain length of time. So, if you do push ups as an example and they are only doing them for 1min and you've done that but not gotten the push you wanted... then what? It was time to find something else.
A friend from one of my fitness groups had been recommending a kettlebell program called "Kettleworx" as a solution for sometime (initially she thought it would be a great workout for my wife). I kept pushing it off as in all honesty I didn't want to buy more shit. I already had enough fitness crap to be fit, why do I need more? How much shit can you have? lol A LOT! The short of it is, I bought the program and have bought a bunch of kettlebells and the program is fantastic. Works really well. REALLY well.
Where am I on my running? My goal with the running was to complete the C25K program. Be able to run a 5K and have my pace be 10min miles. As my last run for the C25K program I ran my first 5K. I finished in 27min 56sec. I guess 9min miles. Pretty excited about it, but I want to improve upon that. More on that probably in a separate blog entry.... however, my thoughts on that brought up the thoughts about goals. I really need a separate post for that, because honestly every time I think about it my brain goes in 12 different directions and I want to just do a brain dump... at the same time though I want to make sure it makes sense to someone other than me and my random logic mind.
Back to workouts.... so right now, I'm running scarcely. lol Once or twice a week is probably the max my body can handle at this time. My knees just hurt from it and I HATE that a workout can make me feel so weak. That can, instead of empower me, it breaks me down. I try to think about the positives it also brings, like the cardio.... the decent amount of calories burned in less than 30min. It is just the pain the knees AFTER the run that kills me (mainly the right knee). The whole run not a single bit of leg/knee/shin/feet pain at all. NOTHING. Not until after my cool down. Then the right leg just kind of gets weak. It hurts to push off of anything (like when you are walking up steps) and the pain stems straight from the knee.
Other workouts, for strength it has been Kettleworx - Evolution. I can't say enough good things about the program. Cardio without doing HIIT? Good stuff. Strength/core training without dumbbells? Cool. Everything is all compound moves. Meaning, you work more than 1 body part at a time. One of the favorite moves is probably the squat-upright rows. Squat down with the kettlebell and when you come up from the squat do an upright row. Just always seems, no matter what the exercise, you are working more than 1 body part. The downside I guess would be cost. I spent $90 on the program and probably another $200 on kettlebells. Good thing my wife and I have good paying jobs. lol
Kind of a workout side note.... I have a couple of friends that do Crossfit and both speak so highly of it. Highly of how much the workouts push you. How varied the workouts are. How goal driven everything is. How tight knit the community is, how encouraging everyone is about you getting to your goals. Both of them have told me repeatedly that it is a place where they think I would thrive. Anywho, I investigated it a little. There is a new place not far from the house called Great Woods Crossfit. They offer 3 free sessions. My first one is May 4th. :) We shall see how it goes. I'm nervous about it. I don't think I'm in horrible shape, but I really think I could be better. I like the thought of the challenge. I like the thought of getting my body closer to the way I envision it. I feel I'm close and every time I think I'm right there, I seem to push myself away. Is that a workout issue thing? No. Accountability thing? Maybe... More of a discipline thing most likely. Either way I don't know what the hell I'm doing. I'm looking for answers and I'm hoping to find some there. We shall see.
Next post will be about goals. Until next time.
Sunday, February 1, 2015
Body Beast, Yearly Physical, Next fitness goals
So I seriously suck at blogging regularly. Its a problem, I recognize it. Like anything else I do, I work on it. lol
Today I completely Body Beast. Hell of a workout program. Really challenging and if you like lots of weights and little cardio, this is the program for you. My goals going into this program were simple.
1) Gain more muscle/size/definition
2) Shed more fat
I started this program at just under 174lbs. At 5' 11" I'm far from being considered overweight. I'd still like to see what I look like being fit at say 165, or even 160. A lot of people may argue with me that its just too low, but I don't agree. Personally I think its how much fat vs muscle you carry. I'm kind of tall I guess, but I have a small frame - if that makes sense.
I am now 169lbs after completing the program. Again it was a serious challenge. The workouts are MUCH longer than I'm used to. The first 5 weeks your workouts are between 50min and 1 hr. That's pretty tough when you are used to 30min workouts. They are intense. You need to move fast, switching weights quickly as you don't get much rest between sets. Some sets (progressive) you move from set, to set to set with only 10 seconds change over between sets. No screwing around. I definitely got more muscle out of the program. I had some challenges though.
2 months into the program I came down with a bacterial infection that started as a common cold. It built up to a sinus infection. Before I knew it I was onto a double ear infection. This put me down and out for a month, seriously. I couldn't do shit. Actually I'm still trying to get my hearing back to 100% and we are talking all the way back to the first week of December. RIDICULOUS. None the less I forged on and completed the program and I'm proud that I did.
Next up - health update. I had been on pills for high blood pressure and high cholesterol for years. At one point my cholesterol was at almost 400. Clearly not healthy and that was all a result of my choices. My decisions. My laziness. My Dr for the past few years has been monitoring me closely and I've essentially been doing 2 physicals a year. Fasting blood work done every time. Back in July I told him, hey, I'm done taking pills. I've lost almost 30lbs. All my habits are healthier than they've ever been and I challenge you to find other 40+ yr old men to be as healthy as I am. He didn't like me coming off the pills. I didn't care. I told him, I'll see you again in January and at that time you'll see. You'll see my cholesterol is regulated. My blood sugar is. My blood pressure is. Well, I proved it to him. My blood pressure was 124/88. My cholesterol was 182. My blood sugar (hemoglobins) level was 5.4 (I guess when you get to 6.0 they want to start talking to you about diabetes and treatment, but 5.1 - 5.6 is the normal range.)
Needless to say the Dr was very pleased with everything I have accomplished. He suggested I start exercising regularly AFTER he asked me if I was still doing crosstraining. LOL Uhm, yes, I exercise 6 days a week. We talked about my current health condition. Some concerns I had/have. My goals and my plan for my next 8 weeks of fitness. He saw no reason why I shouldn't just continue doing what I'm doing if I'm happy with it. He seemed generally pleased at the lifestyle changes I've made. We talked about how there are no such things as diets. There are healthy foods and less than healthy foods and its all about choices. I'm just making more healthy choices than less. I'm pretty good with my portion control and as a result my blood work results and my overall body are reflective of that.
What's next? Well I want to shed more fat!! I want to lose more of my belly. I know abs are made in the kitchen (mostly). I know you can't out exercise poor nutrition. Can you have less than perfect nutrition and still get abs? I don't know... but I certainly keep trying!! lol
My next 8 weeks will be fairly simple. 6 days a week working out and 1 day off. That's the goal. My routine will be days 1, 3 & 5 cardio. Days 2, 4 & 6 strength. The cardio days will be Couch25K. The strength days at first will be alternating between Power90 Level 3-4 Strength and Body Beast - Total Body Circuit. Both of these routines incorporate a lot of weights and are obviously all strength workouts. I'm looking to maintain the muscle I've gained and shed more fat. I'm not looking to lose anything.
Goals? My first goal is to complete the Couch25K and be able to run a 10min mile pace for 3 miles. I want to complete a few 5K races this spring/summer. In addition I'd like to join some of my fit friends and complete some OCRs (Obstacle Course Races). I think that would be a lot of fun. I guess some people consider it work to train for these things, but honestly - I don't think I'm really "training for it" so much as I'm just trying to find other ways to stay fit. Keeping it varied and adjusting to new things to keep my body working for me. Its working so far. July of 2013 I weight 197lbs. I was NOT carrying it well. LOL That is an understatement. I was not strong, not fit and not healthy. At 169lbs I am certainly much closer to where I want to be. I sound like a broken record when I say "I'm not there yet, but I'm still pushing", but its true. I'm not there yet. I have some ideas of what my body will look like when I get there, but its not there. I am my own worst critic and I'm OK with that. No one can judge me more than I judge myself.
Well onward and upward as they say. New program with slightly modified goals starts tomorrow morning. :)
Today I completely Body Beast. Hell of a workout program. Really challenging and if you like lots of weights and little cardio, this is the program for you. My goals going into this program were simple.
1) Gain more muscle/size/definition
2) Shed more fat
I started this program at just under 174lbs. At 5' 11" I'm far from being considered overweight. I'd still like to see what I look like being fit at say 165, or even 160. A lot of people may argue with me that its just too low, but I don't agree. Personally I think its how much fat vs muscle you carry. I'm kind of tall I guess, but I have a small frame - if that makes sense.
I am now 169lbs after completing the program. Again it was a serious challenge. The workouts are MUCH longer than I'm used to. The first 5 weeks your workouts are between 50min and 1 hr. That's pretty tough when you are used to 30min workouts. They are intense. You need to move fast, switching weights quickly as you don't get much rest between sets. Some sets (progressive) you move from set, to set to set with only 10 seconds change over between sets. No screwing around. I definitely got more muscle out of the program. I had some challenges though.
2 months into the program I came down with a bacterial infection that started as a common cold. It built up to a sinus infection. Before I knew it I was onto a double ear infection. This put me down and out for a month, seriously. I couldn't do shit. Actually I'm still trying to get my hearing back to 100% and we are talking all the way back to the first week of December. RIDICULOUS. None the less I forged on and completed the program and I'm proud that I did.
Next up - health update. I had been on pills for high blood pressure and high cholesterol for years. At one point my cholesterol was at almost 400. Clearly not healthy and that was all a result of my choices. My decisions. My laziness. My Dr for the past few years has been monitoring me closely and I've essentially been doing 2 physicals a year. Fasting blood work done every time. Back in July I told him, hey, I'm done taking pills. I've lost almost 30lbs. All my habits are healthier than they've ever been and I challenge you to find other 40+ yr old men to be as healthy as I am. He didn't like me coming off the pills. I didn't care. I told him, I'll see you again in January and at that time you'll see. You'll see my cholesterol is regulated. My blood sugar is. My blood pressure is. Well, I proved it to him. My blood pressure was 124/88. My cholesterol was 182. My blood sugar (hemoglobins) level was 5.4 (I guess when you get to 6.0 they want to start talking to you about diabetes and treatment, but 5.1 - 5.6 is the normal range.)
Needless to say the Dr was very pleased with everything I have accomplished. He suggested I start exercising regularly AFTER he asked me if I was still doing crosstraining. LOL Uhm, yes, I exercise 6 days a week. We talked about my current health condition. Some concerns I had/have. My goals and my plan for my next 8 weeks of fitness. He saw no reason why I shouldn't just continue doing what I'm doing if I'm happy with it. He seemed generally pleased at the lifestyle changes I've made. We talked about how there are no such things as diets. There are healthy foods and less than healthy foods and its all about choices. I'm just making more healthy choices than less. I'm pretty good with my portion control and as a result my blood work results and my overall body are reflective of that.
What's next? Well I want to shed more fat!! I want to lose more of my belly. I know abs are made in the kitchen (mostly). I know you can't out exercise poor nutrition. Can you have less than perfect nutrition and still get abs? I don't know... but I certainly keep trying!! lol
My next 8 weeks will be fairly simple. 6 days a week working out and 1 day off. That's the goal. My routine will be days 1, 3 & 5 cardio. Days 2, 4 & 6 strength. The cardio days will be Couch25K. The strength days at first will be alternating between Power90 Level 3-4 Strength and Body Beast - Total Body Circuit. Both of these routines incorporate a lot of weights and are obviously all strength workouts. I'm looking to maintain the muscle I've gained and shed more fat. I'm not looking to lose anything.
Goals? My first goal is to complete the Couch25K and be able to run a 10min mile pace for 3 miles. I want to complete a few 5K races this spring/summer. In addition I'd like to join some of my fit friends and complete some OCRs (Obstacle Course Races). I think that would be a lot of fun. I guess some people consider it work to train for these things, but honestly - I don't think I'm really "training for it" so much as I'm just trying to find other ways to stay fit. Keeping it varied and adjusting to new things to keep my body working for me. Its working so far. July of 2013 I weight 197lbs. I was NOT carrying it well. LOL That is an understatement. I was not strong, not fit and not healthy. At 169lbs I am certainly much closer to where I want to be. I sound like a broken record when I say "I'm not there yet, but I'm still pushing", but its true. I'm not there yet. I have some ideas of what my body will look like when I get there, but its not there. I am my own worst critic and I'm OK with that. No one can judge me more than I judge myself.
Well onward and upward as they say. New program with slightly modified goals starts tomorrow morning. :)
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Body Beast & Nutrition
Well I honestly don't even know what my last post was about. I haven't been very consistent posting. Life is busy enough and quite honestly I haven't made the time.
SO... I did PiYo for about 8 to 10 weeks with my wife. It pushed both of us. I really missed true cardio and strength training that required weights. Although PiYo really pushed both of us, it wasn't for us. Christie struggled with strength and flexibility, partly because of her hip replacement, partly because of her weight. Again - I struggled with it because mentally I couldn't get past the fact I wasn't being pushing my cardiovascular or moving any weights.
Moving forward - we both decided we really didn't care for the program and wanted something different. I chose Body Beast. A true strength program that was all about weights. Workouts range between 30 - 50 min each. Truly a challenge when you are accustomed to 30 min workouts. Either way.... onward and upward.
I'm currently about 7 or 8 weeks into the program. It challenges me every time I push play. No question about that. My first month I ate the see-food diet. I ate everything in front of me, good or bad. Lots of beer consumption, etc... I could see my muscles were growing, but unfortunately my mid-section was growing a little bit as well.
What happened? What are my goals? When I started Body Beast I told my wife my goal with this program is to just get a bit more muscular and shed fat. I didn't care what my weight was, but I did want to keep it under 175lbs. That was my primary focus. Once I got past 175lbs I risk going over the healthy BMI range and that is something I absolutely did not want. I've worked too hard to finally get in what the "health" world considers a "healthy" range. I've been down over 20lbs for over a year now. I started this journey back in July of 2013 at 197lbs of flubber.
The first phase of Body Beast is the "Build" phase (at about 174lbs) and that was the phase I was on the see-food diet. Diet. LOL I remember finishing that first phase and weighing myself and seeing I was pretty much the exact same weight as when I started. Was this for the better? Was it for the worse? Did I feel better? (No) Did I look better? (also a resounding NO). What were my obstacles? What was preventing me from getting to my goals? You have to look inside yourself to answer those questions. The answer though was really pretty simple. The issue was ME. I was preventing myself. I was stopping myself from getting to where I want to be. The next question was, what can I do to fix it? The simple answer is educate and act on it.
To simplify the issue I've had has been with food. Is it how much I consume or which foods I eat? Or both? Really its all of the above. I started watching Food documentaries on Netflix (Fat Sick and Nearly Dead, Farmageddon, Forks Over Knives, Food, Inc., Hungry For a Change, Killer At Large and shows like Ted Talks - Chew On This) Things about nutrition. I also started reading the book Eat To Live by Dr Joel Fuhrman. I stopped drinking alcohol. I seriously cut back/almost eliminated processed foods. The goal was to fuel my body better. Eat more cleanly. Consume less meat and more vegetables. I needed to eat at least twice as many vegetables as I did meat. I knew I did not want to count calories. I did not want to track my food at all. Under no circumstances do I think anyone should ever need to track their food when trying to get healthy. Eat healthy things 95% of the time and the rest will take care of itself. My snacks would no longer be whatever I brought (KIND bars, not as frequently). I am not really a snacker but I have been known to sit down and consume a family size bag of potato chips on date night with a few beers AFTER having a couple of frozen appetizer things (tacquitos anyone?). Healthy? Probably not.
What have I been doing and has it worked? Again - no alcohol now for over a month. Practically eliminating processed foods. Focusing more on clean nutrition with lots and lots of vegetables. Less meat. Even if the meat we consume is lean and grass fed. Just trying to be more cognizant of it. I keep my meat portions to 5oz or less. If I finish my dinner and am still hungry I go back for more vegetables, not more meat.
Has it worked? Well I weighed myself this morning and I'm down to 169lbs. That is a 5 or 6lb weight loss in the past month. My love handles? Pretty much gone at this point. My belly? FAR less bloated and shrinking more and more every day. Do I have 6pack abs yet? Nope - but I'm on my way. In addition to that I am continuing to see the muscle growth from the Body Beast workouts. Arms, back, chest, legs - nutrition has really brought those positive changes more to the forefront.
How has this change affected me? Am I happy? Actually I am. I gave up alcohol on my own terms. I have zero regrets about it. ZERO. Do I miss it? Surprisingly no. Same with potato chips and all the other stuff. Don't miss it. I have had a couple of chips here and there. If the kids are having some chips with sandwiches on the weekend, will I grab 2 or 3 chips? Yeah. That's the end of it though. My lunch is something else. I've become very fond of tuna mixed with mashed avocado on toasted whole wheat bread on the weekends. That works well for me. More vegetables than meat has been the real focus though. Snacks being baby carrots with homemade hummus or sliced peppers with homemade hummus. Fruit - mandarin oranges or an apple. Just good healthy choices. My wife does an awesome job of planning good, healthy meals for our dinner every day - which I am EXTREMELY thankful for. Typically during the week there are leftovers and if I think there aren't enough veggies for my lunch I do 1 of 2 things. 1) bring a bag of steam veggies with me that I can make in the microwave or 2) go to the cafe and get a nice, fresh salad with no animal protein, no dairy and no dressing. Is it bland or lack of flavor? No. The complete opposite. It is bursting with flavors. I'll typically add some grilled vegetables from the salad bar (brussel sprouts, peppers, onions) and I like to add chickpeas and seeds as well. YUMM!!!!!!!!!!
How have these changes impacted me elsewhere, besides the scale and my physical body image? Mentally I feel sharper. I typically always sleep good, except for my on call week. I've noticed what I can only term as resentment from Christie during this. She is not happy that I'm choosing not to drink beer with her when she decides she wants a beer. I'm choosing not to eat a less nutritional snacks/fatty snacks on our date night. She has let me know in no uncertain terms she feels kind of singled out by my choices and although I feel bad about it, I am not changing my decisions because of that. I'm just not. I've done enough damage to my body over the years and I'm doing my best to heal it and get healthy. Get stronger and be there long term for my family. Dying or becoming ill to the point where I become a burden on my family legitimately scares the shit out of me. It brings me to tears thinking of it. If I can do simple things like making the healthiest choice on the menu for a meal and getting up and dedicating less than 1 hr for exercise per day to try and avoid that, then I'm good with that. That I can do. For me and my loved ones. I only hope the others that I love in my life jump on board and try and do the best for THEM. I can't imagine my life without any of them.
That's about all I have for today folks. I'll hopefully get back to updating more frequently. I have about 5 weeks left on Body Beast. I'm looking forward to sharing my before and after pictures of my Body Beast adventure as well as my before I started working out, until now pictures. That should be quite the trip.
SO... I did PiYo for about 8 to 10 weeks with my wife. It pushed both of us. I really missed true cardio and strength training that required weights. Although PiYo really pushed both of us, it wasn't for us. Christie struggled with strength and flexibility, partly because of her hip replacement, partly because of her weight. Again - I struggled with it because mentally I couldn't get past the fact I wasn't being pushing my cardiovascular or moving any weights.
Moving forward - we both decided we really didn't care for the program and wanted something different. I chose Body Beast. A true strength program that was all about weights. Workouts range between 30 - 50 min each. Truly a challenge when you are accustomed to 30 min workouts. Either way.... onward and upward.
I'm currently about 7 or 8 weeks into the program. It challenges me every time I push play. No question about that. My first month I ate the see-food diet. I ate everything in front of me, good or bad. Lots of beer consumption, etc... I could see my muscles were growing, but unfortunately my mid-section was growing a little bit as well.
What happened? What are my goals? When I started Body Beast I told my wife my goal with this program is to just get a bit more muscular and shed fat. I didn't care what my weight was, but I did want to keep it under 175lbs. That was my primary focus. Once I got past 175lbs I risk going over the healthy BMI range and that is something I absolutely did not want. I've worked too hard to finally get in what the "health" world considers a "healthy" range. I've been down over 20lbs for over a year now. I started this journey back in July of 2013 at 197lbs of flubber.
The first phase of Body Beast is the "Build" phase (at about 174lbs) and that was the phase I was on the see-food diet. Diet. LOL I remember finishing that first phase and weighing myself and seeing I was pretty much the exact same weight as when I started. Was this for the better? Was it for the worse? Did I feel better? (No) Did I look better? (also a resounding NO). What were my obstacles? What was preventing me from getting to my goals? You have to look inside yourself to answer those questions. The answer though was really pretty simple. The issue was ME. I was preventing myself. I was stopping myself from getting to where I want to be. The next question was, what can I do to fix it? The simple answer is educate and act on it.
To simplify the issue I've had has been with food. Is it how much I consume or which foods I eat? Or both? Really its all of the above. I started watching Food documentaries on Netflix (Fat Sick and Nearly Dead, Farmageddon, Forks Over Knives, Food, Inc., Hungry For a Change, Killer At Large and shows like Ted Talks - Chew On This) Things about nutrition. I also started reading the book Eat To Live by Dr Joel Fuhrman. I stopped drinking alcohol. I seriously cut back/almost eliminated processed foods. The goal was to fuel my body better. Eat more cleanly. Consume less meat and more vegetables. I needed to eat at least twice as many vegetables as I did meat. I knew I did not want to count calories. I did not want to track my food at all. Under no circumstances do I think anyone should ever need to track their food when trying to get healthy. Eat healthy things 95% of the time and the rest will take care of itself. My snacks would no longer be whatever I brought (KIND bars, not as frequently). I am not really a snacker but I have been known to sit down and consume a family size bag of potato chips on date night with a few beers AFTER having a couple of frozen appetizer things (tacquitos anyone?). Healthy? Probably not.
What have I been doing and has it worked? Again - no alcohol now for over a month. Practically eliminating processed foods. Focusing more on clean nutrition with lots and lots of vegetables. Less meat. Even if the meat we consume is lean and grass fed. Just trying to be more cognizant of it. I keep my meat portions to 5oz or less. If I finish my dinner and am still hungry I go back for more vegetables, not more meat.
Has it worked? Well I weighed myself this morning and I'm down to 169lbs. That is a 5 or 6lb weight loss in the past month. My love handles? Pretty much gone at this point. My belly? FAR less bloated and shrinking more and more every day. Do I have 6pack abs yet? Nope - but I'm on my way. In addition to that I am continuing to see the muscle growth from the Body Beast workouts. Arms, back, chest, legs - nutrition has really brought those positive changes more to the forefront.
How has this change affected me? Am I happy? Actually I am. I gave up alcohol on my own terms. I have zero regrets about it. ZERO. Do I miss it? Surprisingly no. Same with potato chips and all the other stuff. Don't miss it. I have had a couple of chips here and there. If the kids are having some chips with sandwiches on the weekend, will I grab 2 or 3 chips? Yeah. That's the end of it though. My lunch is something else. I've become very fond of tuna mixed with mashed avocado on toasted whole wheat bread on the weekends. That works well for me. More vegetables than meat has been the real focus though. Snacks being baby carrots with homemade hummus or sliced peppers with homemade hummus. Fruit - mandarin oranges or an apple. Just good healthy choices. My wife does an awesome job of planning good, healthy meals for our dinner every day - which I am EXTREMELY thankful for. Typically during the week there are leftovers and if I think there aren't enough veggies for my lunch I do 1 of 2 things. 1) bring a bag of steam veggies with me that I can make in the microwave or 2) go to the cafe and get a nice, fresh salad with no animal protein, no dairy and no dressing. Is it bland or lack of flavor? No. The complete opposite. It is bursting with flavors. I'll typically add some grilled vegetables from the salad bar (brussel sprouts, peppers, onions) and I like to add chickpeas and seeds as well. YUMM!!!!!!!!!!
How have these changes impacted me elsewhere, besides the scale and my physical body image? Mentally I feel sharper. I typically always sleep good, except for my on call week. I've noticed what I can only term as resentment from Christie during this. She is not happy that I'm choosing not to drink beer with her when she decides she wants a beer. I'm choosing not to eat a less nutritional snacks/fatty snacks on our date night. She has let me know in no uncertain terms she feels kind of singled out by my choices and although I feel bad about it, I am not changing my decisions because of that. I'm just not. I've done enough damage to my body over the years and I'm doing my best to heal it and get healthy. Get stronger and be there long term for my family. Dying or becoming ill to the point where I become a burden on my family legitimately scares the shit out of me. It brings me to tears thinking of it. If I can do simple things like making the healthiest choice on the menu for a meal and getting up and dedicating less than 1 hr for exercise per day to try and avoid that, then I'm good with that. That I can do. For me and my loved ones. I only hope the others that I love in my life jump on board and try and do the best for THEM. I can't imagine my life without any of them.
That's about all I have for today folks. I'll hopefully get back to updating more frequently. I have about 5 weeks left on Body Beast. I'm looking forward to sharing my before and after pictures of my Body Beast adventure as well as my before I started working out, until now pictures. That should be quite the trip.
Monday, August 4, 2014
Dr follow up, cholesterol, Piyo, nutrition, next steps/program
I follow up with my Dr every 6 mos. I do fasting blood work, etc... I had been on Lisinopril (10mg) for high blood pressure, which I am very much convinced is a result of whitecoat syndrome. I was also on Pravistatin (80mg) for high cholesterol. Back in January I saw my Dr for the first time since I had started T25 and I was down over 20lbs (last summer I was 197lbs), my BP was good and my cholesterol was finally within normal limits. He did not want me to come off cholesterol meds. Instead he recommended I cut my dosage in half (just break the pills in half) and we'd revisit it at this last appt. Well my cholesterol numbers were fantastic. My good cholesterol went up to 56 (last time it was 53 in January and last year it was 41). My bad cholesterol was down to 66 (129 I think in January and closer to 200 last summer). Doc was still hesitant to allow me to come off the cholesterol meds because in his opinion they do "other things to HELP" my body. I'm off them. I'll help my body through nutrition and exercise. Still on the BP meds until I can prove I don't need them.
I'm still at it. My weight is hanging between 169 & 170lbs. My nutrition isn't perfect. I know if I buckle down I will reach my next goal of 165lbs. Either way my body continues to change for the better. The scale number is just that - a number. I can show you a flabby person weighing 170lbs and I can show you a more muscular person at 170lbs. Right now I'm the latter. I want to continue to push myself and get down to 165lbs and lose the rest of this belly before my next program/routine. The best way to accomplish that is to continue to trust the workout programs and buckle down on my nutrition.
Current program is Piyo. I've completed my T25/P90X3 hybrid and it was fantastic. I'd highly recommend it to anyone who owns those 2 great programs. Piyo is supposed to be a fast paced combination of Pilates and Yoga. I've been working through this program with my wife. There isn't any impact on the joints, but it still works your body pretty good using all body weight exercises. Since she is just coming off hip replacement surgery back in April, this seemed like a great option. So far so good. Some of the workouts we've done so far have been extremely short (18 min, 21 min respectively) but I'm finding ways to dig deeper on my focus of what its trying to work and push my body. I'm not really sure what to expect from it, but I'm trusting the program and hoping for the best. Things that I am concerned about though are 1) losing some cardiovascular stamina and 2) losing some muscle size. After all there isn't any traditional cardio in this program and no weights per say lifted in the program. Just body weight. We just completed week 2, so 25% done. I'm looking forward to seeing how we are in the end.
Nutrition. Overall we eat pretty healthy. Weekends are more of a struggle. Vacations are definitely a struggle. We have done a great job of continuing our fitness and activity during these times, but nutrition wise we seem to just kind of throw most of it out the window. It is a challenge for both of us to find that happy medium. Christie has started reading the book "It Starts With Food", which kind of prepares you for the "Whole30". If anyone doesn't know what the Whole30 is, there is quite a bit of information available out there. Here is a link to their site: http://whole30.com/ The short of it? Eliminate all processed food, dairy (milk, cheese, ice cream, etc...) grains (breads, crackers, etc...) and just eat whole foods for 30 days. Oh yeah and no alcohol either. OUCH. Yeah, that one hurts. I'm not a drunk, but I do like to relax with a beer or two. Apparently we are targeting starting this Sept 1st. This will be a HUGE challenge for both of us. Can we do it? I believe we can, but the commitment will be kind of "next level" beyond where we have gone. We've done things before like the Paleo 28 day challenge, etc... so we know we can do this - but it will be tough. Damn I'll miss pizza. :(
Right or wrong I've picked my next program. It will be Body Beast (yes, why would I not pick a Beachbody program?). The 3 primary reasons why I chose this program 1) I need a break from Shaun T 2) I need a break from Tony Horton 3) I want to add a little muscular size to my frame and the 4th bonus, its on sale right now. lol I'm very anxious to start it - but at the same time it won't kill me to wait it out. Again - we have another 6 weeks of Piyo on the schedule.
One last thing.... I just celebrated 1 year of fitness. Yup, that is one year of making a commitment to being healthier. I committed to making sure I get 30 min a day of exercise in and I've stuck with that. During that time in the Beachbody community I've met some incredible people. Some truly inspiring people that have helped me on my journey to making me a better me. We have become some what of a family in our own right and I couldn't be happier about that. It brings me great pleasure to try and help them succeed and support them during their journey as they are doing for me. Just a truly awesome experience. Yet another reason why I love Beachbody. I'm very proud of how far I've come during that time, but I know not to get content - there is still work to be done. :)
I'll update again soon.... hopefully before September (I've become such a slackass on blogging)
I'm still at it. My weight is hanging between 169 & 170lbs. My nutrition isn't perfect. I know if I buckle down I will reach my next goal of 165lbs. Either way my body continues to change for the better. The scale number is just that - a number. I can show you a flabby person weighing 170lbs and I can show you a more muscular person at 170lbs. Right now I'm the latter. I want to continue to push myself and get down to 165lbs and lose the rest of this belly before my next program/routine. The best way to accomplish that is to continue to trust the workout programs and buckle down on my nutrition.
Current program is Piyo. I've completed my T25/P90X3 hybrid and it was fantastic. I'd highly recommend it to anyone who owns those 2 great programs. Piyo is supposed to be a fast paced combination of Pilates and Yoga. I've been working through this program with my wife. There isn't any impact on the joints, but it still works your body pretty good using all body weight exercises. Since she is just coming off hip replacement surgery back in April, this seemed like a great option. So far so good. Some of the workouts we've done so far have been extremely short (18 min, 21 min respectively) but I'm finding ways to dig deeper on my focus of what its trying to work and push my body. I'm not really sure what to expect from it, but I'm trusting the program and hoping for the best. Things that I am concerned about though are 1) losing some cardiovascular stamina and 2) losing some muscle size. After all there isn't any traditional cardio in this program and no weights per say lifted in the program. Just body weight. We just completed week 2, so 25% done. I'm looking forward to seeing how we are in the end.
Nutrition. Overall we eat pretty healthy. Weekends are more of a struggle. Vacations are definitely a struggle. We have done a great job of continuing our fitness and activity during these times, but nutrition wise we seem to just kind of throw most of it out the window. It is a challenge for both of us to find that happy medium. Christie has started reading the book "It Starts With Food", which kind of prepares you for the "Whole30". If anyone doesn't know what the Whole30 is, there is quite a bit of information available out there. Here is a link to their site: http://whole30.com/ The short of it? Eliminate all processed food, dairy (milk, cheese, ice cream, etc...) grains (breads, crackers, etc...) and just eat whole foods for 30 days. Oh yeah and no alcohol either. OUCH. Yeah, that one hurts. I'm not a drunk, but I do like to relax with a beer or two. Apparently we are targeting starting this Sept 1st. This will be a HUGE challenge for both of us. Can we do it? I believe we can, but the commitment will be kind of "next level" beyond where we have gone. We've done things before like the Paleo 28 day challenge, etc... so we know we can do this - but it will be tough. Damn I'll miss pizza. :(
Right or wrong I've picked my next program. It will be Body Beast (yes, why would I not pick a Beachbody program?). The 3 primary reasons why I chose this program 1) I need a break from Shaun T 2) I need a break from Tony Horton 3) I want to add a little muscular size to my frame and the 4th bonus, its on sale right now. lol I'm very anxious to start it - but at the same time it won't kill me to wait it out. Again - we have another 6 weeks of Piyo on the schedule.
One last thing.... I just celebrated 1 year of fitness. Yup, that is one year of making a commitment to being healthier. I committed to making sure I get 30 min a day of exercise in and I've stuck with that. During that time in the Beachbody community I've met some incredible people. Some truly inspiring people that have helped me on my journey to making me a better me. We have become some what of a family in our own right and I couldn't be happier about that. It brings me great pleasure to try and help them succeed and support them during their journey as they are doing for me. Just a truly awesome experience. Yet another reason why I love Beachbody. I'm very proud of how far I've come during that time, but I know not to get content - there is still work to be done. :)
I'll update again soon.... hopefully before September (I've become such a slackass on blogging)
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Still making forward progress.... wrapping up my hybrid
Look at that... long time no update (AGAIN). I'd just like to point out that Google makes updating a pain in my ass. It just seems to be a problem when you have more than 1 gmail account and your blog isn't associated with your primary email address. Whatever... enough with the technical crap.
OK - well I'm still going strong with my workouts. I have just over a week left of the T25/P90X3 hybrid I've been doing. Then I'm moving on to PiYo. I'm very hopeful that it is a workout that Christie and I can do together. If not, then so be it.
First and foremost... for about 2 weeks now on my weight check in days (Wednesday & Saturday mornings) I have weighed in under 170lbs. That is a big deal for me. Its something I've been striving to get to and been SO close for months. MONTHS. I don't think that I really had plateaued. My workouts really haven't changed. I'm still doing cardio & I'm still doing strength. My nutrition, still pretty much the same. Creature of habit? Yes I am. So yes, maybe I do only weigh 169.6lbs, but when you've been hovering between 171 - 174lbs for months, its a nice change. My next goal weight is 165lbs. I can get there. It may take a few more months to get there, but I will get there.
What really changed? One thing I did do was just add some dedicated ab work. I started with 3 days a week doing Power90's TH100 ab routine (10 exercises, 10 reps per exercise). After less than 2 weeks of that I jumped up to the TH200 ab routine (yes, same 10 exercises but 20 reps per). Also a few weeks ago I got some medicine balls courtesy of the Beachbody big summer blowout (and my family). lol Those things ROCK!! When the TH200 became less challenging I found a way to make it more challenging by incorporating a medicine ball wherever possible. This really started working my fat section. Especially those full body crunches. Do those but with the medicine ball held behind your head (not resting on the ground) and then crunching everything in? Feel it all the way through the core. AWESOME. I've also switched from doing any regular push ups to doing push ups using the medicine balls whenever push ups are called for in my workouts. Push ups off of medicine balls or side arm balances off of medicine balls, crazy core work. You fall and you fail if you don't engage that core. Its great stuff. Also - I added in trying to hold a plank at the end of my workout on the days that I'm not doing the modified TH2x0 ab routine. My goal has been to out-plank my previous plank. I think my first one was maybe 1 1/2 min. I'm now up to 3 min 15 sec. Time to push for more tomorrow.
Regardless of the "in my mind" plateau or the cursed number on the scale, I know my body has been changing. My abs want to come out and play. My waist is shrinking. I don't know what the size of my waist is, but it will be measured (for better or worse) AFTER we finish our NH vacation next weekend and before we start PiYo. I know it has shrank. Last year I had 1 pair of size 38 waist cargo shorts that I was pushing the limits on. This year, towards the end of spring, we bought 3 pairs of size 32 waist cargo shorts. Every one of those are too big now. All my work pants are 34's with stretchy waist, all too big. My shirts, I can't even wear XL anymore. Those are completely weeded out of my closet & dresser. Some larges fit good, but then again some size mediums fit good as well. Bottom line is, the scale doesn't tell the whole story. It is just a number. It does not tell the whole story, but it is still a measurement of progress.
On another note... its just a few more weeks until I have my 6 month follow up with my Dr. I went and got my blood taken for blood work this past weekend. I have been on Pravastatin for high cholesterol for years. I have also been taking a very low does of high blood pressure medication. My last check up (January) I had already lost about 23 lbs (now up to 27lbs) and all my blood work came back good. Vastly improved over what it was. In addition to that my blood pressure was normal. My goal was (as I told the Dr) to come back in July and prove to him that I no longer needed this medicine. I've changed my lifestyle (for the better) and with fitness & mostly good nutrition I am healthy. Do I have 6 pack abs? No (not yet). Either way, my waistline is no longer as wide (if not wider) than my chest & shoulders. I don't have the fat overhang, hanging over all my pants. My body is fairly muscular and getting better. I fully expect my blood work to come back and be substantially better than what it was in January. I expect that I will no longer be on any medications after that appointment. There will be no reason to. A year of excellent, healthy reports - tell me why I need the harmful medicines? I don't - and I won't.
It has been a crazy ride so far. My 1 year of dedication to fitness in my life comes up on July 27th. I'm looking forward to doing before & after pictures of that. I have the befores... I can't wait for the side by side comparison. :) Keep following so you can see that as well.
OK - well I'm still going strong with my workouts. I have just over a week left of the T25/P90X3 hybrid I've been doing. Then I'm moving on to PiYo. I'm very hopeful that it is a workout that Christie and I can do together. If not, then so be it.
First and foremost... for about 2 weeks now on my weight check in days (Wednesday & Saturday mornings) I have weighed in under 170lbs. That is a big deal for me. Its something I've been striving to get to and been SO close for months. MONTHS. I don't think that I really had plateaued. My workouts really haven't changed. I'm still doing cardio & I'm still doing strength. My nutrition, still pretty much the same. Creature of habit? Yes I am. So yes, maybe I do only weigh 169.6lbs, but when you've been hovering between 171 - 174lbs for months, its a nice change. My next goal weight is 165lbs. I can get there. It may take a few more months to get there, but I will get there.
What really changed? One thing I did do was just add some dedicated ab work. I started with 3 days a week doing Power90's TH100 ab routine (10 exercises, 10 reps per exercise). After less than 2 weeks of that I jumped up to the TH200 ab routine (yes, same 10 exercises but 20 reps per). Also a few weeks ago I got some medicine balls courtesy of the Beachbody big summer blowout (and my family). lol Those things ROCK!! When the TH200 became less challenging I found a way to make it more challenging by incorporating a medicine ball wherever possible. This really started working my fat section. Especially those full body crunches. Do those but with the medicine ball held behind your head (not resting on the ground) and then crunching everything in? Feel it all the way through the core. AWESOME. I've also switched from doing any regular push ups to doing push ups using the medicine balls whenever push ups are called for in my workouts. Push ups off of medicine balls or side arm balances off of medicine balls, crazy core work. You fall and you fail if you don't engage that core. Its great stuff. Also - I added in trying to hold a plank at the end of my workout on the days that I'm not doing the modified TH2x0 ab routine. My goal has been to out-plank my previous plank. I think my first one was maybe 1 1/2 min. I'm now up to 3 min 15 sec. Time to push for more tomorrow.
Regardless of the "in my mind" plateau or the cursed number on the scale, I know my body has been changing. My abs want to come out and play. My waist is shrinking. I don't know what the size of my waist is, but it will be measured (for better or worse) AFTER we finish our NH vacation next weekend and before we start PiYo. I know it has shrank. Last year I had 1 pair of size 38 waist cargo shorts that I was pushing the limits on. This year, towards the end of spring, we bought 3 pairs of size 32 waist cargo shorts. Every one of those are too big now. All my work pants are 34's with stretchy waist, all too big. My shirts, I can't even wear XL anymore. Those are completely weeded out of my closet & dresser. Some larges fit good, but then again some size mediums fit good as well. Bottom line is, the scale doesn't tell the whole story. It is just a number. It does not tell the whole story, but it is still a measurement of progress.
On another note... its just a few more weeks until I have my 6 month follow up with my Dr. I went and got my blood taken for blood work this past weekend. I have been on Pravastatin for high cholesterol for years. I have also been taking a very low does of high blood pressure medication. My last check up (January) I had already lost about 23 lbs (now up to 27lbs) and all my blood work came back good. Vastly improved over what it was. In addition to that my blood pressure was normal. My goal was (as I told the Dr) to come back in July and prove to him that I no longer needed this medicine. I've changed my lifestyle (for the better) and with fitness & mostly good nutrition I am healthy. Do I have 6 pack abs? No (not yet). Either way, my waistline is no longer as wide (if not wider) than my chest & shoulders. I don't have the fat overhang, hanging over all my pants. My body is fairly muscular and getting better. I fully expect my blood work to come back and be substantially better than what it was in January. I expect that I will no longer be on any medications after that appointment. There will be no reason to. A year of excellent, healthy reports - tell me why I need the harmful medicines? I don't - and I won't.
It has been a crazy ride so far. My 1 year of dedication to fitness in my life comes up on July 27th. I'm looking forward to doing before & after pictures of that. I have the befores... I can't wait for the side by side comparison. :) Keep following so you can see that as well.
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