Week 12 Day 1

Posted on April 25, 2011 by admin

And there is always one more thing to do.  No matter how hard you try to get it all done, sometimes you just can’t.     You have to learn to not let side steps become back steps when you try getting moving foward again.  There will always be the next thing that gets in the way.  You just to learn to keep moving forward, even if they are half steps.

I am still at family’s house helping out with some things.  I was successful with getting up early and doing some weights and cardio in the AM.  I did 21 minutes of push-ups, no weight squats,  overhead presses with 35 lb dumbbells, dead lifts with dumbbells, curls, triceps over head, and sit-ups.  I then went out for the 1.8 mile jog.   It felt good.  This might be similar to what will be doing the next 6 to 8 weeks since  will be starting at another site once I return to work. 

My meals were off again today,  I totalled 1,832 calories.    I was feinding for some dinner and realized I did not have my stash of special K bars in the truck.  That really hurt.  My stomach was growling and I was ready to eat!  I was also still 45 minutes from the house.  Once we got to the house I made a bee line to the snacks and settled the disturbance in the force.   I was also more of a pig at dinner time eating way more lettuce than I would have  normally.  not the worst thing in the world but I could

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Week 11 Day 7

Posted on April 24, 2011 by admin

Sunday.  Today was an interesting day.  We had a family member pass away and we pulled togehter to clean, move furniture and take stuff out to the trash.  It was a workout in itself.

The morning started well.  I jogged sprints up my family’s driveway, going telephone pole to telephone pole.  I did 5 sets.  after that I jogged in the road and did 1.8 miles.  Not a bad one at all.

My eating was off some today and I came in light on calories.  Here is how the nutrition broke down.

Breakfast:  371 calories

3 hard boiled egg whites

3 turkey sausage links

1/2 a baked potato

5 mini pancakes

Morning snack: 90 calories

1 medium banana

Lunch:  did not eat at lunch, we were working!

Afternoon snack:  240 calories

1/2 of an 6 inch italian sub sandwich

1 wedge Laughing cow light swiss cheese

Dinner: 505 calories

ground beef

chick peas

eggplant

fire roasted tomatoes

red pepper

All above cooked in a frying pan seansoned like a middle eastern dish.

evening snack:  200 calories

2 navel oranges ( I shared 1 some)

1 wedge laughing cow light swiss

18 asparaug spears

Total calories for the day…..1,406 calories.  Wow that is low.  You know what,  last time I came up (and did not exercise) I gained 5 pounds and took all week to lose it again.  This time I am doing better to not let that happen.   Let’s

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Week 11 Day 6

Posted on April 23, 2011 by admin

Another day out of the norm.  I did hit the gym this morning and tried some different stuff on the treadmill.  I did do a mile  first to warm up then walk until 15 minutes total had passed.  I then decided to run a minute then walk a minute up until 30 minutes total had passed.  My first two run minutes were at 5.5 mph, next one at 5.7,  then 5.9, then back to 5.7 for the remaining run minutes.  It was tough.  That was good.  I moved to the elliptical machine for 30 minutes to get a full hour in before my journey.

I needed to go to a family’s house today to help out with some stuff so I was not active much for the rest of the day.  Food was spot on today.  My 3 meals were all between 405-465 calories and my two snacks were 170 and 205 calories.  I will have one more snack tonight before bed because my total calories for the day so far are only 1,697 calories.

Tomorrow I will be trying a different workout routine.  Work starts on a different job site when I go back so I will need to try and dial this in tomorrow and see how this can go for me.

Have a great night!

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Week 11 Day 5

Posted on April 22, 2011 by admin

The work week is over!   I feel good to have made it through another week.  I am tired!  I will be sleeping in tomorrow then getting to the gym, no setting the alarm this time.

This morning I switched things up and did not park new the main gym.  I instead parked by the smaller fitness center and worked out there.  It was cold and raining and I did not feel like hiking across campus today.  I needed to be parked close to my office since I was going to be moving things back home today.  I had a blender and some other small items that needed to be brought home.

The place was pretty empty.  I decided it was treadmill time so I jogged 2 miles and then walked 5 minutes for 30 minutes total on the treadmill.  I was feeling beat from a long week and took the easy way out,  I did the exercise bike for 20 minutes then called it quits.   I could have and should have done more but laziness got the best of me.  I guess you can call doing 50 minutes of cardio in the morning lazy.    The afternoon workout was a lighter one too.   I went back to the fitness center and jogged another 20 minutes as a warm-up.  from there I decided to use the universal weight machines for a quicker easier workout,  and for a change of pace.

Overhead press

75lbs-10,10,10,10

chest press

100-10,10,10,10

triceps curls

62.5lbs-10,10

75-10

leg press

200-10

240-10,10

curls

75-12,12,12

This lifting session was about a 4 on a scale of 10 ,ten being the hardest effort.   This was ment to get the blood pumping but not over work my muscles.  I had pushed it a few times this week and felt like I should skip the weights today but I did not want to only have a 20 minute cardio workout as my time spend going to the gym

My eating today was pretty good.  I did feel hungry at times and forgot to pack carrots, but I did have a special K bar and yogurt to take the edge off when needed.  When I was home and making dinner  I went a little wild.  I felt like some bacon so I chopped up 2 pieces and got it going in the pan.  I added collared greens and red pepper and ate that as a snack while cooking the real dinner.

The main dinner started with eggplant, skinned, and cut into cubes.  I cooked it in some olive oil and added red pepper and collared greens.

I then added a can of fire roasted tomatoes and seasoned the heck out of it.  I used garlic powder, red and black  pepper, cilantro, cumin,  and basil.  similar stuff I would put in a chili.   I also cooked some asparagus and chicken as the protein.  Here is what the finished product looked like.

This meal was an overdose of veggies!  I am sure this will be good for my digestive system.  My nutritional breakdown for the day was off, but not by much.  I consumed 49% of my calories as carbs, 23.3% as protein and 27.6 % as fat.  I should have had more protein and less carbs.  I will do better tomorrow.  I am curious how tomorrow morning’s gym session will be with more carbs.  I might have another breakthrough day, or a flop.    Time for bed so I can dream about it.

 

 

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Week 11 Day 4

Posted on April 21, 2011 by admin

Hello scale, nice to see you.   What good news do you bring me?

Good to see some more weight lost.   I’ll take every little bit downward I get.

I was curious to see how much effort I was putting into my workouts.  I have a heart rate monitor so I wore it.  The results were shocking to me.  It has changed the way I will be looking at the equipment in the mornings.   I have been jogging for a little while now and feel like the effort level has been steady and that my heart was pumping hard and I was sweating a bunch.  My heart rate was 125 to 133 for the first 6 or 7 minutes.  I was jogging at 4.7 mph and thought my heart rate would have been higher.  I cranked the speed up every 30 seconds after that until I hit 5.2 mph.  My heart rate went up to 144 which again surprized me.  I expected it to be higher.     I walked 2 minutes after my mile then jogged 5 more minutes to see what would happen.  I was going along 4.8/4.9 mph and had my rate float around 136.  Once done I went to the stair stepper machine to see what would happen there.  More shock!  I was keeping my heart rate between 109 and 126.  That was mentally dissapointing.  I again expected more.  My final 20 minutes were spent on the lower body elliptical machine which does not have heart rate readers on them.  No need really.  I was expecting higher readings from the more intense jogging so there was no chance this one that I consider easy effort would have me above 115 bpm.  I know not every thing needs to be a maximum effort to exhaustion, but cardio work needs to be more challenging than what I have been doing.

This afternoon I was feeling like I ate my wheeties so I pushed myself with my warm-up jog.  I started at 5.5 mph and almost made it half a mile before needing to slow down to 5.1 mph.  I would bump it back up in speed for a while and decrease it when I needed to.  I did feel like I was pushing it now.  I rewarded myself with my fasted mile to date,  11:16.   That is a solid improvement over 11:33 from my last best.   From here it was weights time!

Alternating sets of Lat pull downs and chin-up pull downs

120-10,10

140-10,10

140-10,10

super sets of machine butterflies (BF) and dip press machine (DP)

DP            180-10,10 165-10  150-10

BF               120-10,10,10,10

squats

105-7

145-6

195-4

145-7

deep squats with 45 lb plate

10,10

Smith machine lateral raises

95-10,10,10

DONE!

The gym was funny in the afternoon.  It seemed like there were less folks there, but the ones that were there were all using equipment that I would want to use.  That is why today’s workout  looks different from what I have been doing the last 10 weeks.

Food was spot on again.

Breakfast was 4 hard boiled egg whites, 3 turkey sausage links (butterball brand this time) and 2 packages of instant oatmeal for 473 calories.  The butterball sausage links tasted soo good that once I got home I checked the box to make sure I did not buy the regular pork ones by mistake.

I brought baby carrots in today to give me a filling snack for when I might need it and I also had some honey roasted peanuts.  I can’t eat a full serving of them anymore.  I love them, don’t get me wrong but my body reacted like I at something spoiled and I was poluting the air really badly.  I cleared the office today.  That is saying something.  Out of respect I will not do that again … any time soon.     Dinner was the big excitement for the food day.  I cooked the ground turkey, added onions, black beans, peach salsa, light sour cream, and avacado and topped a large bowl of salad with it.  A great meal that has the potential to make me toxic again tomorrow.  I hope not, but darn it was good.   Total calories for the day were 2,151 calories.

I feel great, I feel tired,

 

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Week 11 Day 3

Posted on April 20, 2011 by admin

Now I am really back,  like back to the future back.

It was good to see the scale today.  I hope tomorrow may be so kind.  I was up early and to the gym early and got an extra 15 minutes of exercise in.  Yes!    I jogged a mile then walked 2 minutes to make my total time  15 minutes there.  I went to the Stair master next for 25 minutes,  the upper and lower body bike for 15 minutes and then did some bonus time on the lower body elliptical machine.  1 hour and 15 minutes total time in the AM!

My afternoon workout was decent too.  I walked on the treadmill at 15% incline starting at 2.5 mph and bumping it up ever few minutes.  My sweat and breathing was close to when I jog, I would say 70% of the effort, and it felt good to walk today.  I have lifted the last 2 days and planned on just cardio but that changed once I was there.  My buddy left the gym early yesterday so he wanted to do some more lifting today.

Leg extensions (there were tough today)

110-10

130-10

150-10,10

Bench press

135-10

185-8

225-2,2

185-8

Leg presses

270-20,20,20

Triceps cable curls

150-15,12,10,8,8

100-25

EZ-Bar curls (my left elbow was bothering me above the elbow near the triceps since yesterday and the curls were uncomfortable to do today)

50-10,8,10,10

That was a complete weight workout for a day I planned to just do cardio.  My muscles feel pumped up!

Eating today was all standard stuff.  Dinner was a new creation though.  I chopped up some chicken breast, green olives, red peppers, and portobello mushrooms, cooked them together, added some ricotta cheese and some grated Parmesan cheese and served over a bed of lettuce.  It was a hit!  The meal started with a Mexican flare but was changed to a more Italian seasoned meal since I will be cooking ground turkey tomorrow and will be adding peach salsa and black beans.  Yum!  I almost forgot,  today’s calories for the day were 2,253 calories.

I also got some sad news.  My grandma passed away today.  She will always be with me in my heart and mind.  I was lucky enough to see her last weekend.  Gaining and re-losing the 5 pounds really seems like a petty thing to have been thinking about now.  She did not look too good when I saw her last, but there was talk of her going home before her health took a turn for the worst.   Grandma we love you!

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Week 11 Day 2

Posted on April 19, 2011 by admin

I’m back in the saddle again….I’m Back!

OK things are back on track.  Good lifting in the afternoon is key, and so is jogging for a warm-up.

This morning I was ambitious and jogged 2 miles straight in 25:26.  I walked the 4:34 to make it an even 30 minutes on the treadmill.   From there I did 30 minutes on the lower body elliptical machine.  I was happy with this effort today.   I was also happy with my afternoon effort.  I did a mile jog to warm-up and hit the weights.  Again today I did squats and like yesterday I added a 5 pound plate on each side to up my entire workout efforts from what I have been doing.  I also did this for the overhead presses.

Squats

105-8

145-6

195-5

145-7

Overhead presses starting from ground

105-5,5,5

overhead presses from chest

105-6,6

Dead lifts

135-8

185-5

225-3

135-10

 

I was wiped out after this.  I was sweating and breathing hard.  Booyah!

My eating today was good.   I did not stray from my normal meals and kept my total  calories to 2,091 calories.   With today’s effort I expect to see the scale lower again, hopefully to where it was at before my weekend trip.

The meal today that really sticks out as the best was hands down,  dinner.  I cooked salmon and served it over a bed of lettuce and drizzled with balsamic vinegar.   I feel energized from it.  Excellent.

Tonight is a short update as there are some things I need to take care of before bedtime.  Good night!

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Week 11 Day 1

Posted on April 18, 2011 by admin

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…

I got on the scale today and it was not kind at all.

I gained almost 5 pounds.  Bummer.  It had some to do with my eating and a lot to do with not hitting the gym Saturday or Sunday.  Hey what can you do.  Back to back travel days of 5+ hours in the car to get someplace where you get back in the car for another 1.5 hours of driving, then once done drive another 1.5 hours.  Get up the next morning at 5am and drive 5+ hours back home.  There were terrible rain storms that knocked out the power all night.  No way to hike for calorie burning, and it was too late and dark by the time we got home anyway.

So I am heavier.  I pushed it some in the gym.  I did 30 minutes on the stair stepper and got a good sweat going.  I then continued on the lower body elliptical machine.  I worked my day and was back in the gym before I knew it.  I got on the treadmill and jogged my mile to warm-up.  It was tough but felt good to get moving.  My buddy had stuff to do today so I was alone to go my pace and do whatever exercises I felt like doing.  Not like he does not roll with my plan anyway,  but sometimes going it alone helps fortify your resolve to accomplish what you set out to do.  Here is the weight lifting I did today.

Assisted pull-ups

+200-6

+180-4

neutral grip

+200-6,5

Squats

105-7

145-5,6

195-4

145-6

Deep squats with 45lb plate

10,10

Dumbbell bench press

50-10

60-8

70-7

80-5

70-7

That did it for me,  I was done.  Time to head home, grocery shop on the way and continue my evening.

Food today was all the usual stuff.  I totalled 2,226 calories for the day.  I did a great weights workout today so I am looking forward to seeing the scale.  I hope to be 2 lbs back down.

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Week 10 Day 7

Posted on April 17, 2011 by admin

Ten weeks have come and gone.   Hard to believe.  That is like when I went through basic training for the Army.  It has been challenging at times, but never overwhelming.  I have had to dial things in to get to the better results and progress and I will need to do it again before my 26 weeks are up.

Today was another travel day from visiting family.  We stayed the night and were treated to a power outage from the wind and rian storm.  Bummer.  No TV, no computer, no box fan to fall asleep to like I normally do.  Fortunately I did have my ipod and was able to fall asleep listoning to music.    I got about 7 hours of sleep.   That is not bad but for a week day, but I like to get closer to 9 hours on the weekend to help beat the sleep deficit I have all week.  Of course I did not get more than 6 hours of sleep Friday night into Saturday so I was behind my usual pattern.    Once we got home I crashed.   We had some lunch and I was off to bed for a nap.   I slept for an hour.   I got up to a beatufl afternoon with the hopes of going to the gym but felt like I had a hangover!  Lack of sleep with a few cups of coffee does that to me.   I laid down on the couch to watch some TV with my wife and fell asleep again!    I was more tired than I thought.  After the power nap to follow the starter nap we went out for a neighborhood bike ride.  There were a few small hills but for the most part it was a leisurely ride.  We rode for 35 minutes.  Not a great workout in distance or intensity, but it beat taking a third nap.

Today I finished the day eating 1,817 calories.  This again is under my goal of 2,200 but my activity did not warrent eating more.  I do not feel hungry so all is good.

We stopped at a Perkens dinner for breakfast.   I had 3 blue berry pancakes, 3 turkey sausages and 2 hard boiled eggs.  I ate one of the yolks.  I did have 2.5 cups of coffee.

Driving I ate an apple and some baby carrots plus cut red peppers as a snack.  We ate lunch when we got home and I ate chicken haleem with white rice and chick peas.  I really enjoyed this!  I have wanted the chicken haleem since last week!

Dinner was a treat my wife prepared.  She heated a Trader Joe’s  Misoyaki Turbot fish meal.  We put it over salad and had yogurt and grapes as a dessert.  The fish was only 210 calories so I also had an apple with a serving of peanut butter.

I feel like I ate fairly well, but lacked on my exercises 2 days in a row.   It could not be helped due to a family member in the hospital combined with the road trip.  We did make the effort today with a neighborhood bike ride, but it was a too little too late exercise event.  On the fun scale it was a 10 though.  We enjoy wandering the nearby neighborhoods and see the flowers, houses and yard projects as they change through out the season.

I am looking forward to being back in my routine tomorrow and making so

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Week 10 Day 6

Posted on April 16, 2011 by admin

A day outside the normal.   Visited a family member in the hospital and did not make it to the gym.  No time.  Today is the first time that happened in the last 10 weeks.   Life unscripted.

Nothing really to report.   On the way to hospital we ate at a Country Crock.  I had the 3 pancakes, 2 turkey sausages and the 2 eggs scrambled.  I did use some syrup on the pancakes.  This would not have been an overly bad meal for me but there was no gym this morning since we needed to head out early.  My daily plate has Breakfast estimated at 690 calories.

My morning snack was 4 hard boiled egg whites and a banana totalling 189 calories.  I am now back on track!

Lunch was a turkey cold cut sandwich with light mayo and a slice of provolone cheese. There was also some lettuce on it but not enough to register more than a calorie.  We packed these from home.  This meal was 405 calories.   Not bad here, I am on track for keeping my nutrition right.

My afternoon snack was a Special K bar, 90 calories.  Keeping in the game!

Dinner was interesting.  I cooked some chicken and asparagus to top my salad.  My family had made some oven roasted eggplant and red pepper with some olive oil too.  This meal total is looking to be 437 calories.

My current total calories for the night are 1,811 calories.  I might have a piece of fruit before the night is out.  No matter what I am under 2,000 calories.   I am looking forward to the gym tomorrow!

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