180 and holding

I've been running a lot as of late, and my weight has been steady. I usually go back and forth between 180lbs, like today I was 178.5, and with me starting to get back into the gym, I'm shooting for a steady 175 lbs.

187.5

Just a quick update - the running plus gym attendance plus cutting out carbs has really helped me shed some fat. Right now I'm 187.5 lbs and still maintaining my strength, although I'm not progressing a lot with the amount of weight that I'm pushing. No worries as I'd rather trim my gut than have a gut and be able to lift more. My goal is 185 by July 11th, but I think I can reach that in another week and then push for 180 by July 11th.

Yes, it's still alive

A lot has happened since the last blog update, and I have a spreadsheet to make up for it! Around February 2009, I became much more consistent with the gym because I wasn't making a whole lot of progress going to the gym once or twice a week. While I was working out three times a week early in the morning, my weight as well as my strength seemed to be hitting a wall. I wasn't losing anything, and I wasn't able to increase how much weight I was lifting, so I started looking into possible changes I could make and I decided to give supplements a try.

Now before you think I hooked a steroidal IV into my veins, I crunched some nutritional numbers and found I wasn't eating nearly enough protein to keep up with the muscle growth I was trying to achieve. In order to correct this, I ordered some protein powder in the form of All The Whey Protein. I started drinking two shakes a day, which was giving me an extra 44g of protein. On top of that, I ordered a good multivitamin so I covered my basics, as well as 5g of creatine monohydrate.

Now before you freak out about creatine, this is something your body produces naturally, and 5g a day is about a small spoonfull, so its basic use is more recovery rather than a banned substance a la MLB. In fact, this question came up during the big steroid scandal a few years ago and here's what they said, "'Creatine is a simple amino complex, not a hormone, prehormone, prohormone, ‘wanna-be’ hormone or whatever people call such products to skirt around the edge of what they really are,' Conrad said. 'It has never been demonstrated to have performance-enhancing effects,' said Rob Manfred Jr., executive vice president of Labor relations and human resource for MLB. 'It is not regulated by the federal government as a steroid or pro hormone; and therefore, is not covered by our agreement. It is a nutritional supplement more akin to a food.'"

I started taking these three things on April 10th, 2009 and within a week, a light went off in my body and I finally got past that wall I seemed to have been blocked by. My weight continues to hover around 195 lbs., but I am losing inches around my belly again, and am increasing my strength.

I keep track of my workouts via my palm pilot and a spread sheet. Here's the results from February 2009 to May 2009:



Not bad! It's nice to see how far I've progressed over the last three months and it's inspiration to keep going. I'll have to post up my measurements later on as those have improved as well. I'm still ~195 lbs., but this is still progress in my book.

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!