July 31st, 2007 Workout – Weights
I did my first circuit workout today and I am completely spent. I don’t have a heart rate monitor yet, but I could definitely feel that it was staying up when moving from machine to machine with only enough time in-between sets to wipe down the machine and setup the next one. I wrote down all my machine settings and weights used and marked which ones felt like I could go higher and which ones were too hard for 8 reps so I can adjust my workout for next time. I thought that I would have a hard time doing circuits with the number of people at the gym at night, but the gym actually has a circuit area with 3 of each machine in the circuit so there was almost always a free machine, and if there wasn’t, I just skipped ahead to the next one and went back after.
It’s a giant pain in the ass to wipe down each machine after though :P
July 31st, 2007 – Numbers Update
Weighed myself this morning and here are the results:
As of Tuesday July 31st, 2007
Weight: 267.6 pounds (-10.8)
Bodyfat %: 35.1 (-0.8%)
Hydration %: 44.6% (+0.6%)
So I’ve lost just over 10 pounds in about 2 weeks – a lot of that is going to be from retained water since I’ve cut down the sodium in my diet, but nonetheless I am happy with it. I don’t want to lose weight too fast, so if it doesn’t slow down by next Tuesday, I’m going to up my portion sizes a little. I don’t want my body in starvation mode and I don’t want to rebound. I want to lose the weight slowly and steadily. It took me years to gain this weight so I’m not expecting it to come off very quickly.
I passed my first weight goal of 270 that I had set for September 1st. So I am ahead of schedule in that part. When I hit 260, I’m getting guitar hero 2 :D
August 1st Goal Checkup
It’s almost August 1st, so it’s time for me to take a look at my goals and see what I’ve accomplished.
1. Build a meal plan that is properly portioned, effective and simple enough to stick to
- Done! I still have a couple of things to tweak, but my plan is outlined on the My Nutrition Plan page
2. Build a workout plan that balances cardio and weight workouts
- Done! Again, will be tweaked and will need to change in 8 weeks – you can see the plan on the My Workout Plan page
3. Go to the gym four times a week
- Done! I’ve done this for a week now. After 21 days my body will be completely adapted to my new patterns and it will feel strange to not workout
As a reward, I’m going to get the blu-ray copy of 300. I’ve got to think of something as a reward for when I get down to 260 – it’s always nice to have something to look forward to. Tomorrow I’m going to weigh myself and take measurements again. I’m excited to see what the results will be!
July 30th, 2007 Workout – Cardio
Did another 20 minute HIIT workout on the elliptical. I love HIIT because it’s such an intense workout and I always put on some fast metal, rockabilly or industrial to motivate me and keep my energy levels high. I’d be lost in the gym without my iPod. I picked up an alarm clock/speaker dock for it that was on clearance for 30 bucks and it works awesome. Now when I wake up I throw on some Slayer and I’m ready to go on with my day. Morning-metal!
Experiment – No TV for a weekend – continued
Thought I’d post a follow up to this. I avoided the TV pretty much all weekend, minus a few minutes here or there while in the living room with my roommates – I wasn’t completely anal about not watching.
Result? I got an absolute shit-load of things accomplished. I got a bunch of stuff done around the house, finished some work for some side-projects, hung out with friends and family and still had time to read and relax. When I got home Friday I made a to-do list of things I wanted to get done and tried to work from that over the weekend and it really helped me to stay focused and on track.
I saw a friend today for some help and advice about diet & exercise as she really turned her life around and is now a personal trainer. I was completely blown away by the changes she made in her life and came away feeling really inspired. One thing she said that really stuck out in my mind was if something isn’t working for you, why do you keep doing it? Sitting on my ass watching TV all the time is part of what got me into this mess so I need to get off the path that lead me where I am today and start making some lasting changes.
July 28th, 2007 Workout – Weights
Went to the gym and did a leg workout. Still using just the machines for now until I feel back into it.
When I had a half-cafe in my garage a few years ago I used to do squats. Squats are awesome because while they are mainly a leg workout, they work almost every other muscle in your body as well. The feeling you get after a workout using the leg press machine doesn’t even compare to the feeling you get after doing a heavy set of squats. You really have to watch your form though and I wouldn’t even try it without a cage. I’m looking forward to feeling strong enough to start doing squats and deadlifts again.
Tomorrow is a rest day and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to it.
July 27th, 2007 Workout – Cardio
Did 20 minutes on the elliptical doing High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). If you don’t know what HIIT cardio is, check out this link.
Basically instead of doing 30-40 minutes at a low intensity level, you do a shorter length of alternating low and high level intensity. This has been shown to work better at burning fat than traditional cardio workouts and raises your metabolism for the next 24 hours.
Experiment – No TV for a weekend
I don’t generally watch that much television any more. There’s a couple of shows I’ll watch regularly and I’ll leave it on in the background while I’m doing something else. I’ve noticed that when I have it on in the background, it will distract me from whatever I’m actually trying to do and I’ll end up wasting time and have my attention drifting.
I have a ton of things I need to get done this weekend, so I’m going to make it a point not to watch any TV. I’ve made a list of things I want to get accomplished, so hopefully this will help keep me focused and allow me to get a lot done.
Note: I have no intention of becoming a tv-hating hippie ;) I love Lost, Hockey and Survivor far too much for that. I just want to cut distraction-watching out.
Food Shopping
I went food shopping today – mostly to stock up on protein. This is where I think Costco shines because you can get high-quality meats for good prices. Today I got:
- A giant bag of frozen chicken breasts – each one is big enough for 2 or 3 portions
- A bag of skewered salmon
- A whole, untrimmed beef eye-of-round – for 12 bucks, I trimmed this myself and got 14 portion size steaks and enough for 4 portions of stir-fry – this cut is tough if cooked straight, but an overnight marinade will make it super tender
This all gets added to the freezer which has:
- Pork tenderloins
- Trout fillets
- Smoked turkey sausage – these are great – low fat, high protein and taste great grilled or sauteed with peppers and onions
- Shrimp
I know it probably seems like a lot – but I believe variety is key to keeping on track. Who wants to eat the same thing all the time?
July 26th, 2007 Workout – Weights
I did a weight workout today and it felt great. I did a 5-minute cardio warm-up on the elliptical, then did a warm-up set and 3 sets of 6-8 reps for chest, back, shoulders, biceps and triceps. Using the machines for now until I get back into it then I’m going to try to do as much as possible with free weights to work my stabilizer muscles. Back to cardio for tomorrow’s workout. I’m starting to look forward to my workouts now and I want to do everything I can to keep that attitude.