Day 4

Today, I did ab exercises. Normally, you want to do abs in addition to your strength training. However, since we are just starting out, I am trying to take it easy and reintroduce my body to strength and conditioning. That being said, here's the list of exercises for the day:

• Torso Rotation - 50 Ibs, 20-25-30 reps/set
• Decline Sit ups - 15-12-8 reps/set
• Bicycle Crunches (10) - Plank (10 seconds) x 3 circuit
• Seated Oblique Twists - 10 Ib dumbbell, 30 reps/set x3
• Kathy Lee's - 10/8/5 reps/set

Diet:

Meal 1 - 6" oven roasted chicken breast sandwich
Snack 1 - 3 peanut butter crackers
Meal 2 (post workout) - mashed potatoes, 2 x chopped steak, sweat potatoes, green beans, dinner roll, 3 x catfish filets, rice, 2 small grilled chicken breasts, stir fried zucchini, green and red bell peppers and onions, 1/2 cup chocolate yogurt
Snack 2 - 8 Whole Wheat Wheat Thin crackers
Snack 3 - piece of hawaiin bread with 1 tbs of peanut butter

I'm sure you are thinking how I justify eating so much during my post workout meal (Meal 2). Two things: 1) This is the only time of day that you are supposed to eat fast-absorbing carbs because they go straight into muscle rebuild instead of turning into fat. 2) When I work abs exclusively, I tend to eat a little more so as to hasten the rebuild process. Abs naturally recover more quickly than any other muscle group which is why you can work your abs every 24 hours while it is safer (providing you are not taking steroids) to wait 72 hours before working other muscle groups again (arms, legs, chest, shoulders, etc).

Tomorrow is swim day so I will most likely post again in two days' time.

Until then..

Day 3

Today was a little rough...I ate too close to workout time because my workout partner pushed up the time by about 40 min. In any event, I shouldn't have eaten green bean fries (don't ever ever ever eat fried foot before you work out...if you have to eat it at all).

Workout:

• Leg Press - 150 Ibs, 10-12-15 reps/set
• Leg Extensions - 50 Ibs, 10-12-15 reps/set
• Prone Leg Curls - 50 Ibs, 10-12-15 reps/set
• Calf Raises - 200 Ibs, 15-20-25 reps/set
• Wall Sits - typically 30 seconds but we did these while the other one was doing the other exercises. In other words, we did Leg Press first - when either of us wasn't doing the exercise, we were wall sitting, and so on (leg press set 1-wall sit-leg press set 2-wall sit-leg press set 3-wall sit-leg extensions set 1-wall sit, and so on).

Diet inc at the end of the day.

Day 2

I had forgotten how sore you can be after working out. My shoulders and lower triceps hurt sooooo bad. I was planning to do back today but there is no way that will happen with my arms being so sore. Instead, I went into the pool. It is pretty nice complete with a water basketball goal, lazy river and a water slide :) Today, I wanted to move around underwater with some resistance to help the soreness in my arms and chest. Tomorrow is my least favorite group: legs! I see tons of wall sits in my immediate future.

Oh, I forgot to mention. I weighed in yesterday (Day 1): 209 Ibs. Not nearly as bad as I thought. For some reason, I thought I would have been 225 easily. Guess curbing my diet has helped more than I thought!

Until tomorrow..

Grrr, ok I guess I should also say what I am eating on a day-to-day basis. I'll start with today:

Meal 1: green beans, rice, lemon grilled catfish, toast
Snack 1: 100 calorie snack pack
Meal 2: Pre/Post workout shake (2 cups of spinach, 1.5 scoops of MyoZene, 1 tbs of glutamine)
Snack 2: Peanut-butter crackers
...and a medium Coke (don't drink coke when trying to diet!)--I rarely ever drink it...but still...it's really hard for me not to when I go to the movies...also rare.
Meal 3: 6" oven-roasted chicken breast (white bread/swiss cheese/lettuce/onions/tomatoes/bell peppers/dry)
Snack 3: Small portion of Hawaiian bread, 1 tbs peanut butter, couple of Wheat Thin crackers

For real this time, until tomorrow..

Day 1

Unfortunately, I let time get away from me again, which is why I'm double posting in the same day.

• Dumbbell Flyes - 20 Ibs, 10-8-5 reps/set
• Incline Press - 75 Ibs, 10-6-5 reps/set
• Pec Deck Flyes - 50 Ibs, 10-15-20 reps/set
• Chest Press - 50 Ibs, 8-12-15 reps/set
• Iso-Lateral Bench Press - 50 Ibs, 10/12 reps/set, 90 Ibs, 30 sec recoil 1 set
• Seated Military Press - 50 Ibs, 8-10-12 reps/set
  

• Elliptical cardio machine - 20 minutes, 2 miles

I really need to learn the stupid names of all the different exercises...I spent half an hour tonight looking them up on the internet.

Day 2 coming up..

Before Pics...

Well, I don't like them anymore than you do, but it's a necessary evil.../sigh







PS: First workout tomorrow!

Credentials

Apologies for the late post. Sometimes I become caught up in different things, and there are only so many hours in a day. In any event, as promised, here is a table of my past measurements from July through November, 2008.

	Baseline	1 Month	2 Months	3 Months	4 Months
Body Fat %	23.5	22	20.8	21	20.5
Weight*	242	226	223	222	221
Neck**	17	16	15.5	15.5	16
Chest	44.75	40.5	40.5	43	44
Shoulders	50.75	48	49	50.5	50
Waist	45	41	41	40	39
Hips	46.5	41	39	43	43.5
Bicep (R)	15.25	15.5	15	15.75	15.5
Bicep (L)	15	15	14.5	15.25	15.5
Thigh (R)	23.5	26	25	26.5	26.5
Thigh (L)	23.5	26	24.5	26.25	26
Calf (R)	17.75	18	17	17.25	17
Calf (L)	17.5	18	17	17.25	17

* Weight is in pounds (Ibs)

** All circumference measurements are in inches

As you can see, there is much to discuss here. Two main issues I wish to discuss:

1. I have marked certain measurements as plateau periods. This often happens to people trying to lose weight (and even body builders and professional athletes).
   
   
2. The reason why I did not mark these measurements as plateau is because you often have a loss in body fat which is often evenly distributed throughout your entire body. Moreover, at the same time you are losing fat, you are (usually) gaining muscle. Thus, while these measurements may appear to be skewed (some of them probably are since different people took these measurements over the four months), this phenomenon is reflected in the sharp downturn in most of the measurements followed by their gradual rise.

Unfortuantely, I am still working out the gym membership issue. Once it is secured (hopefully in the next couple of days), I will take my new benchmark measurements and begin my new regimen. I'll also post a new article once it has been written.

Until tomorrow..

Back to Basics

Unfortunately, anytime you take a break from working out or dieting, you have to return to the fundamentals when jumping back into it. This is most discouraging (which is why you should never stray from the path!) My targeted start date is next Monday (August 14, 2009). I recently fell down a flight of stairs and scraped my leg pretty badly so I am just waiting for it to heal before I make the leap. Yesterday, I visited the gym at a nearby university, checked the fees and the times when it is crowded. Waiting a few days also gives me time to research the different exercises to ensure I do not repeat the same workout for better results.

Additionally, I wrote a new article today that features the importance of exercise when trying to lose weight. Dieting is a great way to shave some pounds, but it is even better when accompanied by a good workout program. In this article, I emphasize the importance of listening to your body--an aspect that is all too often overlooked. There is much to be said about mind-body harmony. I will discuss the importance of meditation in a later blog--right now I just want to relay the crucial role exercise plays in your overall weight loss scheme.

True, there are many people who eat precisely the foods they should be eating while rarely deviating from their diets and with little-to-no exercise. Most of these people, I would argue, lead fairly healthy lifestyles that exclude self-destructive habits like smoking, drinking alcohol or tanning. Additionally, they move around a lot either by adapting their occupational responsibilities to complement their weight loss efforts or making up for their otherwise sedentary lifestyles by adopting hobbies that are high-impact.

In short, exercise is an invaluable component to losing weight. While there are those that provide exception to the rule, more than most people include both dieting and exercise in their regimen. Tomorrow, I will post my 'credentials' in the form of past month-by-month measurements I took last year when I had a personal trainer. Hopefully, if you still do not think I know what I am talking about, this will allow me to 'prove' myself ;)

Until tomorrow..

Recap

Hopefully you have skimmed my three articles located at the end of my previous post. Here, I will briefly summarize them and talk more about why those particular aspects of weight loss are important.

When you lower your bmi, you are essentially reducing your body fat. Indeed, there are better ways to calculate your body fat (calipers and water displacement). However, for the average person's purposes, using a quick BMI calculator is sufficient. This is because you are using the same source of measurement over a period of time. As with any measurement, you want to be sure to take a benchmark (or initial) measurement and then perform the exact same measurement at the end of each week, month or whatever time period you choose--just be consistent!

Reducing your bmi is simply one aspect or factor of weight loss. I have categorized these various factors into three main groups: predisposition; lifestyle and diet. Again, recalling the second article, predispositions are the factors that you cannot really control. The best you can do is avoid certain behaviors that would exacerbate them. For instance, if you possess food allergies, then your diet must exclude those foods in order for you to lose weight (and live happily). Lifestyle is simply everything that you can control outside of dieting. It deals with all non-nutritional aspects of weight loss including exercise, what you do for work, what you do for fun, how you maintain your body and so on.

I cover dieting in my third article. Not just dieting but successful dieting. This means giving your body what it needs to perform daily tasks and endure your weight loss regimen as well as avoiding anything that would undermine this process. Some dieting tips will seem like common sense to you while others are counter-intuitive. Many people know that junk food is not a good choice for a snack when losing weight, but a lot of people still do not understand the fact that every time you eat, your metabolic rate rises which is why it is important to eat regularly (every 2-3 hours) while controlling the type and amount of food you intake.

I hope you find this information helpful. Soon, I will begin integrating my own workout programs into this blog and provide more updates on a daily basis. Tomorrow, I should have a new article for your viewing pleasure. If you like this blog so far, tell your friends who are also struggling to lose weight.

Until tomorrow..

Head Start to Fit-ness

Ever since I graduated from high school, I have struggled with my weight. I remember my first semester in college; we had a physical fitness course where we measured our body fat and weight. At the time, I was about 150 Ibs and had about 10% body fat (I had played basketball and then fencing my entire life, not to mention the fact that I had the metabolism of a beast). This was extremely lean for 6'2". By the time I graduated from college, I weighed over 240 Ibs and ?? body fat. The "freshman 15" was, for me, the freshman 40. I became so caught up in my studies and extracurriculars that I neglected my body in the process. Since then, I've sought to maintain a lean physique and live a healthier life. Looking back on my college experience, I now know that the moment I left high school, the days of "I can eat and do whatever I want" were gone.

One summer in graduate school, I decided to change my life. I bought a jump rope and some elastic bands and went to work. I shed about 20 pounds or so over the course of a couple of months--not bad considering I knew virtually nothing about losing weight--I had lifted weights in high school, but strength training when you are 18 years old and lean compared to losing weight at age 24 and overweight are two completely different things. Nevertheless, I saw some results and I felt better about myself.

Eighteen months later, with a new wife and my acceptance letter to seminary, we decided to try a gym. If you are unfamiliar with biometrics, you're missing out on a horrendous (yet effective) experience. If you ever see professional athletes running up and down stairs with various things strapped to their bodies or people holding a pair of dumbbells over their heads with one foot off the ground and squatting, then you know what I am talking about. We decided to hire a personal trainer three times a week. It was a costly investment but we experienced results in the first month. By the end of the year, I had what my wife calls a "leopard face"--when I shed a lot of pounds, my face becomes very lean (this is fairly common).

Unfortunately, despite these results, I have wained in keeping the weight off. Without the proper motivation, maintaining a lean physique is extremely difficult. Last year, we began working out at a new gym. At first, we enlisted a personal trainer and then tapered off. I began again at 240 Ibs with 26% body fat. Five months later, with the help of the trainer, I had nearly reached my goal of 205 Ibs with 15% body fat. I have the tools and the knowledge to lose the weight--it's just a matter of juggling this with everything else.

Losing weight entails accountability. If you have nobody to keep you accountable, then it is very easy to slack off. This is where you come in. Since you will be checking in on me from time to time to see my results, this means that I will be accountable to you (after a fashion). In return, I hope to provide you with useful information on how to lose weight and stay fit. Fit-ness is not just about how much you weigh but your overall well being. I have already begun the journey by writing three articles on Hubpages. The first one discusses how to lower your BMI (body mass index). The second article covers the various factors involved in weight loss. The third article talks about successful dieting. Hopefully, I will write many more articles in the future (I am aiming for 1-2 each day). Below are links to each of the three articles. I will continue to write the articles for Hubpages and then talk about them here. I will be sure to post links to the articles so you can read them.

Until tomorrow..

ARTICLES
Lower your bmi
Weight loss factors
Successful dieting