The state of things

So, I've got my two preparatory weeks out of the way, and things seem to be on track. It's been a little difficult to eat right and keep my motivation up at the same time, but I think they're going the way I want them to go.

Tomorrow really starts off the big cycle. My main goal of being at 175 by the end of July is still there. With it comes my other goal of being at 185 by the the end of June. Progress is being made on both of these.

I have been considering adding in another goal to go with these, but I think I have enough goals right now. Maybe once I'm closer to these ones.

That said, I do think I'd like to bump up the intensity of my workouts. That's a simple enough process. Take shorter rests (I've been taking pretty long rests), and put in things that are a little more challenging. I can do both of those things. But, just a bit more intensity. I need to ramp up slowly.

As a part of this, I'm going to try to add in a few exercises through the day. I'm thinking mostly about push ups (as they can be done anywhere). I'm thinking a minimum of 15 or so a day? Broken into tiny sets of 5. That should be a good start for now.

Apr 30

Warm up:

2 minutes run in place
5 burpees
2 minutes run in place
5 burpees
2 minutes run in place

Skill work:

3x60 sec plank

Workout:

5x5 push up
5x5 horizontal rows
5x10 30# bent over row

Stretching

Weight: 196.0#

Two Weeks

A bit late on this, as the 2 week mark was actually the 28th.

So, at the start I was 198.8#

Last week I was 200.6.# (up 1.8#)

This week I was 198.6# (down 2# from last, down 0.2# total).

So, the downward trend has finally started.

I know that my body has a couple of natural resting points with weight. Where I can eat a generally poor diet and as long as my activity level is higher than nothing, the weight will stay constant. somewhere around 198# is one of those points. So is somewhere around 210#, but I don't want to get to there.

The next stable point that I know of is about 185#. Between 198 and 185 is a tricky place for my weight. While I'm closer to 198, the weight will want to drift back up to that point. But as I get close to 185, it will want to stay near that weight instead, and should drop pretty quick to get close to it, and then slow down and stick for a couple days.

Consistency is the key here. If I eat better (like I have been trying to do), and keep up with the workouts like I have been doing, then I should be able to make progress.

There's just 8 weeks ahead of me here, which is both a long time and a short time. There's a lot between here and there. Consistency, and vigil. Those will see me to my goal.

Apr 29

Warm up:

3 rounds of:
30 jumping jacks
5 burpees

Skill Work:

3x40 sec Yoga headstands

Workout:

3x20 squat
3x15 25# kettlebell swings
3x10 lunges
3x5 squat jump

Stretching

Weight: 197.2#

Apr 28

Rest day.

Weight: 198.6#

Apr 27

Warm up:

15 squat
5 burpees
30 jumping jacks

Skill work:

3x30 sec frog stand (though not in a continuous burst... I'm working on this one)

Workout:

5x5 push up
3x5 chair dip
5x5 25# shoulder press
3x3 25# kettlebell snatch (this is new for me, so I'm only doing a few of them to learn the movement)

Stretching

Weight: 198.4#

Apr 26

Warm up:

2 minutes running in place
5..1 burpees
2 minutes running in place

Skill work:

3x30 handstand against a wall

Workout:

3x15 crunchs
3x10 supermans
3x25 10# mason twists

Stretching

Weight: 198.0#

Diet Planning

I promised a post on my diet planning, but didn't get to it that day. So, you get it today.

I've been debating what kind of diet plan I want to follow for a couple of weeks now. Going over all the different options. I'm very against the idea of using any sort of pill to suppress hunger. I feel that's a bad way to go, since it doesn't teach you to eat any less.

I also don't like any diet that vilifies any particular nutrient or food group, with the possible exception of sugar.

I've tried counting calories before, and it's a good method for me. But it does take a lot of focus and thought. Meals need to be pre-planned, or else you end up with times where you're simply unable to eat. Still, a simple framework is usually good enough to block out the general amounts of food you can/should eat.

My friend Lindorm is involved in a diet challenge with his co-workers. Most percentage lost wins the pot ($20 per person involved). His lady J is joining him for the home version. They aren't counting calories. Rather, they're watching portion sizes, and trying to make healthier choices. With that, Lindorm is also banning all fast food, and limiting himself on sugars.

I've thought before about limiting my sugar intake, but it's really difficult to do. There's sugar in most things that I like to eat. Which, I suppose, makes sense.

I've also thought about eliminating fast food from my diet as well. That should be possible to do, it just means a little more effort ensuring that I have lunches planned out in advance.

I suppose that the main debate is whether or not it is going to be worthwhile for me to track calories. To really track them properly, I would need to find a kitchen scale and weigh out the food that I am going to eat so that I can know the correct number of calories. Without that, the best I can do is guess, which seems like a pretty poor way to go about trying to track calories.

Portion control is another possibility. Rather than tracking the exact calories, I can simply try (like my friend Lindorm) to limit the amount I eat, and to try to make sure that I eat balanced and complete meals.

For now, I think this may be the better plan for me. It keeps me from having to calculate every bit of food that I eat. I'll try it for a couple of weeks, and if there's no results from it (or not the ones I want) then I'll try calorie counting again.

With that set, here's my general diet plan:

1. Control the amount of food I eat. Have smaller portions, and only a single helping of anything.

2. Include more vegetables. Keeping in mind that a proper meal contains protein, starch and fat in balanced proportions.

3. Fry things less. Try to boil, bake or broil food more.

4. Limit refined sugars.

5. Eliminate all sodas, including diet sodas.

6. A ban on "burger and fry" fast food places.

These are the main tenants of the plan.

Apr 25

Warm up:

30 jumping jacks
5 burpees
30 jumping jacks
5 burpees
30 jumping jacks
5 burpees

Skill work:

3x5 Divebomber push up

Workout:

3x10 squats
3x10 25# kettlebell swings
3x10 lunges
3x30 toe press

Stretching

Weight: 198.4#

Apr 24

Warm up:

2 minutes jog in place
5..1 burpees
2 minutes job in place

Skill work:

3x15 seconds handstand against wall

Workout:

3x10 25# kettlebell shoulder press
3x10 30# overhead triceps press
3x10 10# dumbbell flies

Stretching

Weight: 199.6#

Apr 23

In keeping with the post from earlier today, I'm going to follow my workout format.

Warmup:

30 jumping jacks
5 burpees
30 jumping jacks
5 burpees
30 jumping jacks
5 burpees

Skill work:

3x30 second yoga headstand

Workout:

3x10 25# bent-over row
3x5 pushups
3x5 chair dips
3x5 25# dumbell pullover

Stretching

Weight: 200.8#

Workout Program

I could debate on things forever, and never get anything done. I'm trying pretty hard not to do too much planning, and just do a lot more doing. Still, I know I need some kind of structure, or I just spin my wheels and go nowhere.

For now, I'd like to stay away from the idea of workout goals. I usually take them on, but I find I'm a bit to aggressive in striving for them, and that usually ends up with me being injured. I'm going to make an effort to go a little more slowly.

As far as a program goes, I've been trying to frame up something loose enough to be flexible to the time I have available, while also being structured enough to keep me on track. Here's what I've got so far:

1. Warm up (2 to 3 exercises with high repetitions that get the body moving)

2. Skill work (a single specific exercise that needs the body to have energy to spare. Handstands, balance, or another specific area that needs work)

3. Workout (3 to 5 exercises, with low to medium reps to stress the body and build muscle)

4. Stretching

I'll put diet stuff in its own post later today, as I expect that to be a longer item.

April 22

Rest day. Hung out with friends tonight, and did geeky things.

Weight: 201

Apr 21

Upper body:

warm up:
30 jumping jacks
3 burpees
20 jumping jacks
2 burpees
10 jumping jacks
1 burpee

3x10 25# shoulder press
2x10 10# tricep kickback
3x5 30# overhead tricep press
3x30 second 30# goblet hold
3x2 30# curl

Weight: 200.6#

One Week

So... a week in and so far, I haven't done much.

I started last week with a weight of 198.8#

This morning I am 200.6# A net gain over the week. That's a bad trend. In fact, it's almost exactly the opposite amount I was hoping to lose per week. So, it's as if I set myself back by 2 weeks.

Disappointing, but not unexpected.

I didn't do much for workouts, and I didn't do much for keeping away from the snacks. Thus, I have gained weight. I don't like it, but I can't change the past. All I can do it make the future better. So, it's time to reaffirm my goals.

I would like to lose about 2 pounds a week between May 1 and July 31. 13 weeks = 26 pounds.

Assuming I use my starting weight of 198.8#, that means I am aiming at a weight of 172.8# by the end of July. 172.8# seems aggressive - and it is. So, I'll adjust it. I'm gonna go with 175# even. That gives me a rate of loss that's a little under 2 pounds a week. Even with my current weight, it's still totally possible.

So, whatever I've said my goal was before, it is officially 175# by July 31 now. And I'm sticking to that.

To get there, I know that I need a couple of things.

1. I need to be dedicated to this goal. I have to put in time and effort to reach it.

2. I need to be focused. What I eat is important. I need to balance out what I take in for food. I need to move towards healthier alternatives, and I need to balance out portion sizes and keep them reasonable.

3. I need a routine. Both a physical activity routine, and a mental routine to keep my on track and working towards my goal.

4. I need competition. I find I work a bit better if I have an external incentive. The best incentive for me is competition. If challenged, I usually try to rise above that challenge.

There's a couple of mental tricks that I'd like to employ too - but I figure I'll leave those for another post.

April 20

Got in a quick workout tonight:

3x10 25# kettlebell swings
3x5 25# kettlebell snatch
3x5 25# kettlebell curls

I know the curls don't do much overall, but they're something, right?

Better workout tomorrow. Hopefully.

Weight: 202.2#

April 19

Athalos and M were over last night to hang out, practice some guitar and generally just do stuff. Quite enjoyable. We worked on getting the guitars tuned up, and working on the basics of playing again.

We did some work on "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" which is a fun song, and easy enough to get by just following the chords. I think we'll probably stick with stuff we've a chance of learning for now.

Also got in a bit of painting. I feel very behind on this front, and will need to work really hard to get all the models I need up to the proper level.

There was no time available for workouts though.

Weight: 199.6#

'Cause you gotta have goals

My April 18 post covered my main goal for right now. Losing weight.

I feel that my overall weight is too high. I am too fat, or rather, I have too much fat on me. So, I want to get it off.

I know that it's better to trade out fat for muscle, and that's very much a long term goal for me, but in the short term, I'd like to simply be lighter.

Specifically, I'd like to get down to somewhere around 175#. That represents a loss of 25# from my starting weight of 200 (well, slightly higher).

I know that I can expect a reasonable rate of loss to be no more than about 2# per week. There's 15 weeks from now until July 31. Thus, I should be able to lose as much as 30# in total.

Tracking weight loss alone can be a depressing affair. Especially if, like me, you track it by day, rather than weekly. But, there is a method to my madness. By tracking daily, I reinforce the habit of being conscious of what I am eating, and how much I am eating per day. I can see that eating a bit more on the day before really does show up on the next day's scale.

However, to keep from going crazy with daily tracking and the normal fluctuations in weight, I stick to a couple of simple principals. First, I weight at about the same time in the morning. This makes the comparisons for measurements a lot more consistent. Second, I try not to pay attention to a single day's weight. Rather, I compare it to several previous days, and to the history of weights as a whole. As long as there is a downward trend in the data, then it doesn't matter if today's weight happens to be higher than yesterday's.

By trending the data, I can see whether or not I am making any progress, and I can gauge how well I am progressing.

For now, I am keeping my goals simple. Just the weight loss. As time progresses, I may choose to add in an additional goal or two, but I really do want to try to just focus on one thing at a time.

Guitar

As this is not only fitness but my other diversions as well, I figure it's about time to put something in about me and the guitar. While I'm at it, something about the other instruments I play/want to play too.

Lets start with guitar.

Way back in high school, while I was learning most of the other instruments in the woodwind section, I started to get interested in playing the guitar. My parents had an old acoustic, so I would noodle around with that at bit. Took a few lessons from the school, but nothing serious. Thus started my on again - off again love of the guitar.

About 2 years ago, I managed to pick up a cheap guitar at a sale. I didn't pay much for it, and it's not a fantastic guitar, but it sounds good enough for me, and it works well enough for what I do with it. I named it "Chocolate" and it's been used off and on as the whim strikes me.

At one point, I owned 3 guitars, and had a fourth loaned to me. But, I'm back to just having the one again.

Lately, I've been motivated to learn to really play it this time. To that end, I'm trying to put a little bit of time each day towards noodling around on the guitar. So far it's been unfocused practice. Just hitting chords and trying to remember where the fingers go. A bit of light improv sometimes too, but I haven't been making a serious effort so far. I know that I won't make much gain without structure, but for now, that's fine. Just playing is good enough for me at the moment.

Athalos has been kind enough to follow me along on my madness with the guitar, and he's been getting back to speed on playing as well. I'm hoping we'll both keep at it this time around.

April 18

Running on Lazy again. Didn't get any workout in at all. Whatever illness I've caught, it's affecting me in the upper back and neck. It sucks.

Today marks the start of my push for fitness. I intend to take the time from now until the end of the month (13 days) to get my body ready for the harsh treatment I will inflict on it in the coming months. The plan is to push myself pretty hard in May, June and July, looking to go from my starting weight of 200.8 down to 178.8 or lower. Yeah, 30 pounds in 3 months. Aggressive goal, I know. But I want it.

Today was a wash, tomorrow will be better.

Weight: 198.6#

April 17

I'm not feeling 100%, but I'm well enough that I can do something. I've lost so much that the only thing I can do is start back at the beginning again.

I kept this first workout simple enough. 5 execises, done in 3 sets each. Focusing on arms and shoulders.

3x5 push ups
3x5 25# kettlebell shoulder press
3x5 chair dips
3x10 25# bent-over row
3x5 25# overhead tricep press

Overall, this felt very light. And it is. But, I've got a couple things I have to overcome - so I'm starting slow.

Weight: 200.6#

Apr 16

Due to the bloodwork, and just being lazy, I didn't do anything fitness related today.

Weight: 199.8#

I think today's going to be a loss as far as any real fitness activity is concerned. Got some bloodwork done today, and they suggest you not work the arm too much after that. Might ignore that and just do some anyway. I'm not really worried about bruising or whatever.

Also had my nerve conduction tested. Came out ok, though some possible concerns with my elbows - which isn't that surprising to me.

I need to work up a plan of stuff I can do for fitness. I'll put some effort that way today.

Apr 15

I've got a medical thing tomorrow - which requires 12 hours of fasting. No food in the morning might be a reasonable change up.

But, since I don't want to really throw off my sugars, etc. No workout tonight. I'll be on it all tomorrow.

Weight: 200.8#

April 14

Posted the first blog post today. Tried to keep an eye on food today, but someone in the office dropped off a lot of chocolate - a serious weakness of mine.

Athalos came over by bike, and we went to the park with his new competition weight Frisbee/flying disc. Took a bit to get used to the heavier weight, but after a little bit, we had it worked out.

No real workout today, just some play.

Today's weight: 198.4#

So here it begins.

My friend Athalos has been talking about putting together a fitness blog for a while now. I've thought the idea over, and finally decided to just do it.

The best place to start is with a bit of history about me.

Way back in high school was a skinny kid. About 160 pounds, no hint of muscle. Through university I gained about 20 pounds, but still no muscle.

I got married, got a job, and then went for 6 months on contract by myself in the USA. There's where my troubles began. Though I've got a pretty high metabolism, it was no match for 3 fast food meals a day, and nothing but cola to drink. I gained about 60 pounds or so, going up to somewhere over 240. I didn't even notice it until it was pointed out to me.

I decided to make some changes in my life. I swapped out cola for diet cola, I started eating regular food again, and I added in some fitness. Within a year or two, just from those changes, I got down to about 220. I was happy enough with that.

For a while.

My weight wobbled about between 210 and 230, and I was ok with it. But eventually I grew dissatisfied with being that heavy. I wanted to be more fit. I wanted to look better, and be more physically capable.

So, I started to do a bit more exercise. I cut down on cola, and changed my eating habits. I made an effort.

And it worked. I lost weight again. Down to 200. More changes, down to 180. This took another few years to do. At my lowest, I got down to about 175. A weight I like.

But, it didn't last. I didn't keep up with the exercise. I didn't keep up with eating right and watching just what it is I am eating. So, I've gained. And gained.

As of today, I stand at 198.4 pounds. I'm 5'10", so that means that the weight doesn't look BAD on me, but it also doesn't look GOOD.

Over the years, I've done a lot of reading about how to get fit, and how to lose weight. Everything out there distills to the same general message, and it's as simple as you can get.

1. Eat a variety of things in reasonable amounts.

2. Do something physically active.

I've applied both of these principals before - even going so far as to call them my "stop eating so damn much" diet plan and my "get off your ass" workout plan. They're effective if applied consistently. I'm a firm believer that it doesn't matter what you do for physical activity, as long as it gets you moving.

Through everything, my biggest issues with getting and staying fit have been with motivation, and also with consistency. I feel those are both keys for me to finding fitness.

This blog is one way to help with my motivation. A public space where people I know can take a look at what I'm doing - or not doing. With luck, daily posts will also keep me consistent.

Right now, I've got a single goal for my fitness. Weight loss. My desired weight is about 175 pounds. That's a 23.4 pound loss from where I am currently. I've lost it before, I can lose it again.

I know that a reasonable rate of loss is around 2 pounds per week. Rounding up, 23.4 pounds is 12 weeks of consistent loss. That puts me into July sometime if I start today (and I am starting today). I feel that's a good amount of time as a starter.

So, that's the long and short of it. 24 pounds, by the end of July. Post every day that I can.

The journey starts now.