4/25/13

Well, I wasn't able to post yesterday. I worked a 13hr day at work and had pretty much zero time for anything other than the gym and work. I would like to describe my gym sesh with you, but I don't have a lot of time today, either.
But today, I will share a few things!
First things first, I stepped on the scale this morning and found I am down ~6lbs from my last weigh in, which was approx one week ago. I am currently in the middle of a switched up diet/workout plan in order to avoid plateau and it is obviously working. I am focusing on fat burning and establishing a faster metabolism. I am eating 6-8x a day right now and my workouts are consisting of less high intensity cardio, and more fat burning zone focused exercises. Also, I have been lifting ALOT heavier on the weights. Up until this point, I have been doing 4 sets of 10-12 on the weights and have been seeing good results in terms of muscle definition and fat loss, HOWEVER, in the past week-9 days, I have been doing 3 sets of 4-6 on very heavy weights with slightly longer breaks inbetween sets. It has been working exponentially better than the aforementioned style. I have seriously seen more definition/muscle development in the last 6-8 days, than I did in all of the month of January. This style of lifting is not for everyone, but it obviously works for me. I am currently combining heavy lifting weight training, with high resistance, slow speed cardio and it seems to be working perfectly for fat loss. Instead of sprinting on the treadmill or running at 6.6-8.6mph, I am lowering the speed to 5.3-5.6 and raising the incline from 6.0-15.0. This is causing my pulse to be lower and staying out of that "cardio" zone and more into that "fat-burning" zone. I don't let my pulse get above 165bpm during cardio excerises and this seems to be working very well. My method of confirmation?
The mirror. My shoulders, biceps, triceps, quads, and mostly my upper chest has shown the most positive results.
Onto the next topic:
Breakfast

For breakfast today, I had (4) large egg whites, no additives, no salt, no nothing except the eggs in a pan with the yolk filtered out. This is a great meal for early in the morning that is packed with protein, very low in calories and will fill you up.

I also made a homemade smoothie today!
I bought some strawberries a few days ago and couldnt really figure out how to use them before they got moldy, so I tossed them in the blender with some other ingredients and the result was awesome.
Tasted great and I got a TON of fruit for the day:

(12) medium-large strawberries.
(2) medium sized apples
(2TBS) Yoplait yogurt
(1) Activia Yogurt
(1) Cup Milk

So, that was my morning so far. Got in a great breakfast and an even better weigh-in.
I really feel great about this particular junction in my diet. I hit a rough patch about 3 weeks ago with being sick and getting stressed and hitting drive-thrus. I do that. I fall off the wagon for like a full week and I gain weight very easily. I binge eat sometimes when I am depressed or upset and it gets the best of me. Makes it hard to stay on track. But I am confident that I have found a great program that is working for me right now and I am really excited to keep this going and hopefully enter the 220# category within the next 4 weeks!!!!!

Workout

Well, today is a very successful day so far. I woke up early and hit the gym in the morning before work. Which is not something I normally do. Usually I work 9am-6pm or so and I hit the gym around 615. Last night before bed, I prepared my gym clothes, set up everything for breakfast and got my work clothes ready before bed.
Got up around 730am, had a banana right away. They say your metabolism is at its peak within the first hour you wake up in the morning and eating a banana within that hour will assist with energy for the day. I took one of my new thermogenic supplements called "recreate" and I hit the gym before 8am.

Today was a total body workout

I started with bi's and tri's. I can curl about 150lbs now so I did 4 sets of 6 curls at that weight. I don't extend too high up to my shoulders because once you pass a certain point the muscle is relaxed and you aren't getting as good of a pump. So I stop at about a 65-70 degree angle. After this I went immediately to seated dips. This works upper chest and triceps. I do a heavy weight, about 120lbs. The handles can swivel 2 ways to work different muscle groups, so I did 4 sets on one position, and 4 sets on another. I moved right into upper chest, lower chest on a machine. Then I worked shoulders, but not as hard because I am sore from this past weekend still from doing squat presses. I moved right into free weights, biceps. Concentration curls, preacher curls...etc. After this, I moved into a bit of cardio. I did the stride machine for 1,000 strides; this took me 8 minutes at a fast rate. I did this to up my heart rate and get some good sweat going. This machine is also a crossfit machine and as you up the resistance, shows you on an illuminated diagram what muscles youre working out. The max is 20 and I did a max of 20, working out all possible muscles. After this, I went into seated rows, more chest, and then legs. I did quads (heavy), then calves. After I had a good sweat going, I waited until my pulse reached about 140bpm which required a short break. I had some water, checked my phone, and then hopped on the treadmill. Today was a power day on the treadmill. No laziness here. I began right away with the highest incline the machine will allow and I began running at 4.6mph. I did this untl the machine read 50 calories. Which was 2-3 minutes. This was enough to get the sweat POURING down my face. Lowered the ramp to 2.0 incline and walked at 5.2mph until the calories reached 100. I was at 1/2 mile at this time. Then I stepped it up big time. I sprinted at 10.2 mph until 0.75 miles. Short cooldown until .080 walking at 4.6mph. Then I finished it out from 0.80-1.0 miles at a 8.6 sprint. Calories reached about 146 and my heart rate was a steady 167.

Breakfast: (1015am)
Got home and showered, then made breakfast.

(4) egg whites.
(1) Granola bar.
(1) Banana w/ 1TBS of natural peanut butter
(1) Activia yogurt cup.
(1) Cup of skim milk.

Thats it so far for the day!

I am hoping to drop about 10lbs this month and overcome this small platueau I think I am on.

Food

Ok, instead of ranting and posting what I have been eating/doing since October of '12, I will simply begin documenting what I eat and how I workout from today forward.

Yesterday, I went grocery shopping.
I spent about $75 at Walmart on food for the week(s) and the result ended up in about 10 sandwiches, 10 baked chicken/lettuce wraps, a lot of yogurt, eggs, fish, and a few different "snacks" for inbetween meals. I won't list everything I bought, but I will note that no "butterfingers", "alcohol", "ice cream", "soda", or "chips" were bought. In order to lose weight on a consistent basis, you need to be calorie conscious. None of the aforementioned foods will get you to your goal weight any time soon. And since I have intentions of gaining muscle, the chicken and fish will aid that process with all of the protein.

My Breakfast Today: (730am)
(Excuse my ugly plate. Poor choice for the picture.)

-(3) Large eggs. No yolk. Whites only.
-(1/2) Banana. Medium sized.
-(2) TBS Natural Peanut Butter.
(1) Granola Bar.
(1) Activia Yogurt.
(1) Cup of Skim Milk.

Very balanced breakfast. I was pretty full afterwards, and was under 400 calories for a total. I took this meal with a thermogenic supplement called Recreate.

Inbetween Snack: (1030am)

-(1) Granola Bar.
-(1/2) Apple. Small sized.
-(1TBS) Natural Peanut Butter.


Ok, so here is what I prepared for lunch for the week:


(On a side note, it is recommended to pick out a day of the week where you prepare and organize your food for the week. I chose Sunday evenings at about 9-10pm. Why do I choose to prepare my food that late? Because anytime before 7pm, it would be too easy to EAT the food while I am preparing it. At 9-10pm, it is much easier to say no to your impulses because I will be going to bed soon.

Lunch: (130pm)

(1) Sandwich
-35 calorie bread slices.
-"Light" turkey (less sodium) (1 Slice)
-"Light" ham (1 Slice)
-Brown Mustard one one slice of bread (1TBS)
-Chipotle Mayo on the other slice (1TBS)
-"Thin Sliced" Cheddar cheese. About 40 cals per slice. (1 slice)
Each sandwich is about about 250 calories.

-(1)Quaker granola bar. 100 Calories.
-(1) Banana. Medium Sized.  70 calories.
(1) Activia Yogurt. 100 Calories.

Lunch= Approx. 550 calories.
(At about 1,200 Calories so far for the day.

I try to maintain a diet of about 2,400 calories/day.
That is including a workout, burning around 800 calories.

Stay tuned!!!

Introduction

Alright, this is the first blog I have ever created.
It will definitely evolve as I go along, so bare with me please as I learn the ropes.
This blog is intended to track/share my journey as I continue my path down the road to "fit".
But first, let me tell you a little bit about myself.

My name is Daniel. People sometimes call me Biff.
(Back to the Future reference. If you're unfamiliar, crawl out from under your rock and go rent them!).
I am 25 years old with intentions of turning 26 in the best shape of my life. I have battled with obesity my whole life pretty much. I was not dealt an easily playable hand in the gene department. My parents screwed me with bad skin, worse teeth, a slow metabolism, and chronic depression/bi-polar disorder. But it is how you play with the cards you're dealt. And let me say this, I am excellent at bluffing.
So just because I was given a pair of deuces, it does not mean I'm going to lose the hand.
I was however blessed in other areas, so I won't leave those unmentioned. I stand at a towering 6 foot 8 inches. I was given great bone/muscle structure and underneath all of this fat is a very well proportioned and muscular mesomorph. I was given blonde hair, green eyes, and lips that the ladies usually can't deny. So aside from the fact that I have been fat most of my life, I've always been successful in mostly all other areas of my life. I have a great job, two handfuls of good friends, and one handful of extraordinary friends.
Onto why I am creating this page, and where I have come so far.

In September 2012, an incident occurred in my life creating a shift in the tectonics plates that were my life. Pretty much everything I knew fell apart and I lost somone that I loved. It changed my entire outlook on life. I immediately began losing weight from the stress of it all, and by the end of the first week I had dropped about 10lbs. Most of it was water weight and from starvation, but I liked the number on the scale. And at that moment, I felt that if losing a few lbs would put a smile on my face even if just for a second in the middle of all of the pandemonium, then I imagined how much I would smile if I continued to lose on. In this brief moment of joy, I decided to devote myself to losing all the weight I had put on over the years and change my body once and for all. Part of me (ok, most of me) felt that If I lost all of this weight and got into impeccable shape, the person I loved and lost, would come back. It was motivation at least, and geared me for the next 6 months.

Today is April 22nd 2013, and here is what has happened so far:
On October 1st 2012, I joined a gym here in Kenosha. Charter Fitness.
I got my picture taken and weighed in at a whopping 311 lbs. I had a body fat % of 29%. I felt very discouraged by the numbers, but used it as a starting point and seriously devoted myself to lowering them both, drastically.
My goals were as follows:
Lose 120lbs + about 20% body fat.
I wanted to be a lean 199lbs, with a body fat of 10%.
I did not document my progress through blog/vlog/diary of any sort until just now and I will explain why I have started this blog a little later on.
As for right now, I will talk about my success so far.
I am currently 239lbs with a body fat of 19.2%.
I have lost ~72lbs so far with a drop in body fat of 10%.

The plan as of New Years 2013, was to reach 213 lbs by July and get my body fat down to about 8%. I have lived my entire life with a fat belly, fat chest, love handles, chubby thighs and a double chin. I figure that at 8% body fat and after lifting heavily for a year straight, my only woes will be that my medium sized tee-shirt will fit too tightly over my biceps. Oh darn.

I started this blog because I am almost into month 5 of this year and I am behind on my goals. The excitement of losing the weight has passed, and I have put on about 5lbs in the past 3 weeks from unhealthy eating and going to the gym less than I was. Complacency gets to me EASILY, and I won't let it happen. Complacency is what got me here in the first place and I want to beat it.

I figured if people read my posts and saw my progress and gave me words of wisdom and courage/advice, that I would have to answer to them...so then giving up would not be an option.

So, this is my post for the day. I might chime in later with more information, but I am at work and should probably get something work-related done. I am happy I started this though, and I hope I get the positive feedback I am looking for in order to stay on track and complete my goals. Don't worry, pictures/videos and everything of the like will be coming. This is just day 1 of blog. Thanks!