Yeesh I haven't written a post in a while. I've been going to the gym pretty consistently in December. I took an almost two month hiatus from the gym and while I didn't gain a lot of weight, I did lose a LOT of my strength I gained from working out previously. I'm still not back to the level I was, but I am making progress and the pants are starting to fit better (my true indication of progress).

I've incorporated some cardio into my routine and what I do is hop on the treadmill, increase the elevation to nearly the highest point, and set the speed to 3.0-3.2mph. Once there, I try to get my heart rate to ~175bpm and keep it there for 20 minutes. It's a low impact/high intensity exercise that is supposed to help burn off fat. I've forced myself to go three times a week in the morning since working out after 9 hours at the office just doesn't cut it anymore. While my weight is no indication of my progress, I vary between 195-197lbs during the week.

Back at it

Well I woke up at 6am yesterday and stepped on the scale. 198.0 :( I then put my gym clothes on, ate a piece of dry toast (my stomach doesn't agree with morning workouts) and went to the gym for the first time in probably two months. I've now committed myself to doing at least three morning workouts a week and will shoot for four times a week as a goal. Going to the gym after work doesn't cut it for me anymore as the gym is way too crowded and by the time I go there, come home, shower, eat dinner, it's 8pm.

Staying the same

These past few weeks have been pretty hectic. I haven't been going to the gym very much, and my eating habits haven't been that great, but I've been consistent enough to stay exactly where I've been - 195.0. With the baby coming in less than two months, I can only hope I stay at 195 for the remainder of that time. I know the wife is already preparing to go on the South Beach Diet a.s.a.p.

No repeat weight gain

The last time I went on vacation, I gained a pound a day... it was not a good day on the scale when I came home. While in Oceanside, I was basically off the diet and eating whatever I wanted (within reason). I got on the scale this morning and I've pretty much broken even, weighing in at 195.0. I worked out twice while over there, and did a lot of boogie boarding in the ocean, so I like to think because of that, the weight didn't pile on at the tune of a pound a day. Back to the gym for me!

194.5

I'm up a pound this week and am not surprised. Last week was crazy and I went to the gym twice and didn't really watch what I ate (ok, I watched myself eat a lot of crap). I'm back on schedule this week as I went to the gym yesterday and plan to go today.

193.5

I stepped on the scale this morning and saw that I weighed 193.5 - 9lbs less than when I started. Not bad! I'm currently doing a modified version of the South Beach Diet which basically means I try to avoid any and all white flour (bread, rice, pasta), sugars, and starches like potatoes. I do tend to cheat a little here and there, but as long as I continue to slowly lose weight, I think I'm ok.

Gym-wise, I've stepped up my normal workout routine and am pushing much heavier weight. I use an excel spreadsheet to keep track of my workout and at the top of the form, you enter in your max bench press and squat. The first time I went through the 10 week program, I used 135lbs as my max bench and 155 as my max squat. After completing the 10th week, I actually tested my real max's and it turned out I can bench 175 and squat 210. So inputing those at the top changes a bunch of numbers around and now I'm much more sore after workouts :)

Weekly update

Just checking in with all my e-friends and fans. Stepped on the scale this morning and came in at 195.5. Not too bad, not too good, but hey, it's better than where I started!

Down roughly 7... inches

Well my weight loss isn't exactly dropping like it used to. Monday I was 197.0, Tuesday I was 199.0, and today I'm 196.0, but I am losing inches around the belly. Tuesday morning, I took measurements of my neck, arms, torso, and legs, and from the time I started South Beach, to yesterday, I've lost a total of 7 inches throughout my body - most of it in the belly region. My arms and legs were about the same, but there's been some definite improvements in the mid area. As long as I keep that trend, I don't care what my weight is.

Setbacks

It appears that the number of days that you're on vacation, is equivalent to the number of pounds you'll gain. While vacationing in Baja California, I felt I was eating pretty good. I was never gouging myself with ding dongs and cookies, rather I was eating cereal for breakfast, salads and sandwiches for lunch, and dinner was typically some meat, fruit and salad. Sure I was eating a cookie here and there, and not eating healthy snacks between the main meals, but I gained 5.5 lbs in 5 days. Perhaps the extreme humidity and heat were to blame. Maybe my body was retaining as much water as possible in order to keep itself hydrated, but when I came home and stepped on the scale Thursday morning, I wasn't expecting to see 200.5 lbs.

I went back on Phase 1 and hit the gym after work, and thankfully this morning I'm 197.0 lbs. I have a feeling I'll drop the extra weight pretty quick as soon as I purge all that evil food I was eating, but my body sure is sensitive to any kind of changes in carb and sugar intake. Perhaps this is why Phase 2 has you slowly implementing good carbs and fruit back into your system. All is not lost of course. I'm not so discouraged that I'm giving up, and this will definitely go down as a learning experience.

Next time I'll be sure and stay away from breads and pastas and force myself to do some kind of light exercise (even if I'm on vacation). Maybe it's all water weight and I shouldn't worry about it. *shrug*

Down 7 lbs

Just a quick update for me. Hopped on the scale this morning and weighed 195.5 which is 7 lbs less than when I started. I'll be going off of Phase 1 while I'm out of town (obviously) and will do my best to eat sensible. I hope to come back no more than 1-2lbs heavier than I am. Depending on where I'm at, I may switch to Phase 2 till I reach my goal or go back to Phase 1 and quickly drop a few more pounds.

I should note that going to the gym seems to help me lose an extra 1/2 lb or more each time I go. The last two nights I haven't been able to go because I've been too busy, so I've only lost about a pound, maybe 1.5. That's still good, but I might be a little less if I had made time to go exercise.

One Week In

Well it's been a week since I started Phase 1 of the South Beach diet and I've lost 5.5 lbs bringing my current weight to 1970.0. Sunday was Father's Day and I cheated a little bit and had a small piece of this peanut butter pie, but other than that I stuck to steak, grilled green beans, and salad (even though there were made-from-scratch biscuits, punch, jam, butter and baked potatoes all around me). Monday I was up a pound (I wonder from what....hmmmm) but thankfully the one week mark has me very optimistic about my goals.

Happy Father's Day

I hope all the fathers and future fathers are having a great day today. My wife surprised me with some shifter bushing for my car, a very sweet card, basketball shorts, polo shirt, a humorous coupon book, and something else that hasn't arrived in the mail yet. She's the best!

As an aside father's day present, I weighed 197.0 lbs this morning! That means I've lost 5.5 lbs in six days! Saturday was kinda hard for me because I was working my butt off outside in the 109 degree heat, and in the process, got sunburned and very sore, so when my wife came back from the store, she had tons of yummy food for me to eat (but things I shouldn't eat). Luckily I still have some will power and I resisted all the temptations. For dinner I threw some frozen chicken tenders into the pressure cooker and sliced two garden grown tomatoes in half (horizontally and sliced side facing up), sprinkled some salt and pepper on them, and broiled those in the oven for 7 minutes, after which I sprinkled some low fat mozzarella cheese and put them back in for another two minutes. The chicken cooked in 7 minutes on the Level 2 ring of the pressure cooker, and as a topping for that, I used some delicious fresh salsa called El Sol - Medium flavor, which is prepared locally, and that was found in the deli section at Wal-Mart. Man oh man was that a wonderful dinner and it was ready to eat in 15 min max. I was very tempted to run to Filibertos and order an AZ burrito, but this meal satisfied my cravings and I adverted disaster. I'm glad I did because it paid off this morning.

I have a vacation coming up and will be switching to a modified Phase 2 during that time. When I leave I won't have a full two weeks on Phase 1, but it's just not possible to stay super strict while out of the house. So far I'm happy with the results and my clothes are already fitting better. All this was done without starving myself or having to buy some super special shake or expensive pre-made meals. It was just some sensible eating - lots of veggies, eggs, low fat cheeses and meat, and no carbs, sugar, or starches.

Finally!

Well there's definitely one item that isn't covered in the book (at least not yet). I'm usually a very "regular" person... and you know what I'm talking about. Since the start of this diet, I haven't had the need to have a long discussion with the porcelain king, until today. It's been 4 days since my last deposit, and I can't remember the last time I went that long without having the need.

Anyways, I should go weigh myself right now :)

Under 200lbs

Well I broke the rule again and weighed myself - 199.5lbs! w00t! For whatever reason, I had a mental thing about being over 200lbs, so getting past that really eases my mind. Dinner last night was a big salad (romaine lettuce, cucumbers, bell peppers, sprouts, tomato (came from my parent's garden so they're safe), sliced almonds, a little bit of cheese, and some raspberry sprits spray on dressing). Breakfast this morning was three eggs and three slices of Canadian bacon, all washed down with 8oz of V8 Picante, and my snack just now was a stick of mozzarella cheese. I kind of wished I only used two eggs and two slices of bacon because I'm really full at 10:30am and that's when I usually start getting a little hungry. Oh well, I'll be better about that and stick to the plan.

Oh I also ordered some multivitamins called Adam Superior Men's Multi

I first tried these out, and while I did sleep better at night, buying those each month would be an expensive proposition for me at this time. Plus it's one of those things where you're not really sure if you're more awake or if it's some placebo effect. I did generally feel good and wasn't as tired in the afternoon as I usually am, but in any case, price is a factor. The next best thing were these Adam pills so I'll probably stick with them for a long time, especially while on this diet.

The Beginning

I've decided to create this blog in order to track my personal progress into the wonderful world of dieting as well as be a source for others looking to do the same. For those that don't understand where my blog title came from, my friend Cory thought up the BiG 10 minus 20 because my target weight is 180lbs, roughly 20lbs less than where I'm at now... pretty catchy, huh?

Since this is the first blog I've ever created, I thought it'd be appropriate to have a little history about my past. In October of 2007, I joined L.A. Fitness with the hopes of shedding some pounds while gaining some muscle. Prior to this I was running about three times a week but was not obtaining the results I was looking for - which was mainly a smaller gut. At the peak of my weight loss, I was about 170lbs. Once I started going to the gym, the weight started packing on and I figured it was muscle weight. By the end of November, I was around 185 lbs. and doing pretty good, or so I thought. After the holidays, the pants weren't fitting as well and I was nearing the dreaded 200lbs mark. The warning lights started going off in my mind and soon I felt something more needed to be done.

I felt working out at the gym was not enough to reach the goals I was going for (smaller gut again) and my diet HAD to change. Several people in the past have had good success with the South Beach Diet so on Saturday night, I bought the book. On Monday morning, I weighed a portly 202.5 lbs. and to end my old eating habits, I ate a few pieces of homemade strawberry pie after dinner. What a way to go out!

Tuesday morning I officially started the South Beach Diet. For the first two weeks, which is considered Phase 1, I'll be eating lots of veggies, eggs, low fat cheese, and lean meat. I'm forbidden to munch on fruit, sugar, carbs, or starches. Phase 2 of the plan will slowly start to incorporate fruits and carbs back into my diet. Phase 3 is maintenance.

My breakfast on Tuesday was an omelet with low fat mozzarella cheese, fresh mushrooms, and slightly cooked asparagus. For snacks at 10:30am and 3:30pm, I ate some low fat mozzarella cheese sticks. Lunch was at El Pollo Loco and I did really good there because I ordered the 2 piece chicken, breast and wing, pinto beans, and steamed veggies. I took the yummy skin off the chicken, and passed on the flour tortillas. Dinner was pork chops from the grill, and an asortment of cooked veggies baked in the oven. These were sliced eggplant, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, and an onion all drizzled with some olive oil. Dessert was a delicious cup of sugar-free Jello. I also went to the gym on Monday and Tuesday and did an arm workout on Monday, and a chest workout on Tuesday. I felt really good both days.

Today, Wednesday, was pretty much the same routine. You're not supposed to check your weight on a daily basis, but I've already lost 2 lbs from Monday morning. Once I get under the 200 lbs. mark, I'll be really motivated!

I'm going on vacation soon, so hopefully I'll lose enough weight and be able to maintain what I've lost while away. I have no expectations of losing weight and will likely go another week on the Phase 1 of the SBD.