Today's Weigh-In: 207.4 lbs.
The weight is still trending downwards at a nice clip, so that makes me happy. I got another personal record yesterday (I cut over a minute off my Fran time), which is awesome. I still need to work on my pull-ups, but I figure as I get lighter they'll get easier by default. I made buffalo wings at home last night, and they were really good. I heated up Frank's Red-Hot sauce (1/2 cup) with butter (2 tbsp) and chopped garlic (1 clove) in a saucepan until everything melted together, then I brushed the sauce onto chicken wing pieces (and a chicken breast) and baked at 400 degrees for 45 minutes. The wings were delicious, and the breast came out so juicy and flavorful I couldn't believe it. So I'm definitely adding that to my list of easy, delicious recipes.
I'm taking today off from working out so I can be ready for the Crossfit Total tomorrow. The CFT consists of max effort lifts (1 rep max) for back squat, deadlift, and shoulder press, and it can be really draining on the body. You add up the weights for each lift, and add them together for your score. You get 3 attempts to get a max on each lift. Last time I got 750, but tomorrow I'm hoping to get at least 850, since I've added quite a bit of weight to my back squat and deadlift since the last CFT. I'm also hoping to break 400 lbs. for my deadlift. I got 395 a few weeks ago, so it's definitely a possibility. I'm going to have to adjust my strength goals on here to account for my new strength levels. Yay!
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
Weight loss on a weekend? Yep.
Weigh-In: 209.4 lbs.
I had a good weekend. I stayed totally paleo and was rewarded with a 1 pound loss this morning. I'm now down 7 pounds this month. I did heavy squats yesterday for my workout, and I've got a date with Fran tonight. I'm hoping for a new personal record, since I haven't hit one on this workout in well over a year. Overall everything seems to be going according to plan. I did have some major carb cravings this weekend, but they passed and now I feel fine.
I've been trying all kinds of new vegetables lately. Last week I tried yellow squash, and yesterday I made some brussels sprouts. I roasted them in the oven with fresh garlic and onion, drizzled with olive oil, and sprinkled with salt and pepper. They were really good! I ate them with scrambled eggs and some sunflower seeds. I know that sounds like a bizarre meal (it was lunch, too) but it was delicious. It's definitely worth it to take the time to try out new things, you might find something you really like.
I had a good weekend. I stayed totally paleo and was rewarded with a 1 pound loss this morning. I'm now down 7 pounds this month. I did heavy squats yesterday for my workout, and I've got a date with Fran tonight. I'm hoping for a new personal record, since I haven't hit one on this workout in well over a year. Overall everything seems to be going according to plan. I did have some major carb cravings this weekend, but they passed and now I feel fine.
I've been trying all kinds of new vegetables lately. Last week I tried yellow squash, and yesterday I made some brussels sprouts. I roasted them in the oven with fresh garlic and onion, drizzled with olive oil, and sprinkled with salt and pepper. They were really good! I ate them with scrambled eggs and some sunflower seeds. I know that sounds like a bizarre meal (it was lunch, too) but it was delicious. It's definitely worth it to take the time to try out new things, you might find something you really like.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
2 months already?
Weigh-In: 210.2 lbs.
Whoa, has it really been 2 months since my last post? Sorry about that, folks. I haven't been slacking of on the fitness front, but I guess I haven't really felt the desire to write about it lately. But I'll try to recap and bring you all up to speed with where I am.
I did let the diet slip a little bit for a few weeks, and got up to 216 lbs. But some of that weight was muscle, and I've been hitting personal records like crazy. I got my deadlift up to 395, my shoulder press to 165, and my push press to 215. I've been working on my grip strength so that I can start getting better numbers on pull-ups. And I've still been hitting the high intensity workouts hard, so my conditioning is still improving.
As of October 1st I decided to do a 30-day Paleo diet challenge. Many of the Crossfit sites and affiliates have been doing this, with great results, and so I figured I would give it a shot. The diet excludes all grains (including corn) and grain products, all sugar (except for what's found in fruit), all dairy (although I do allow butter), legumes, any artificial ingredients (including sweeteners), and alcohol. So what does that leave? Meat, veggies, fruit, nuts, seeds, and oils. There's actually a lot you can do with that list, and I've been trying to include as many new recipes and foods into my diet as I can. As of today I've lost 6 pounds in 7 days, while still eating enough food to keep me quite full. I expect the loss to slow down considerably soon, as much of it is water weight, but I do feel lighter and less bloated. My hope is that I'll get close to 200 lbs. by the end of the month, and use that momentum to blast through into the 190s.
Crossfit + Paleo = fitness and fat loss. I feel better than I have in months. My sleep is so much better (with vivid dreams), I wake up at 7:30 every morning without issue, I'm getting stronger and leaner, and mentally I'm much more focused. I know that part of that has to do with the "no alcohol" part of the Paleo diet, but I've done alcohol-free months before and haven't felt the same way, so I know it has something to do with eating quality food and staying away from the stuff that would serve to damage my body. I urge anyone who really desires to get lean and fit to check out Crossfit and look into the Paleo diet. You won't be disappointed.
Whoa, has it really been 2 months since my last post? Sorry about that, folks. I haven't been slacking of on the fitness front, but I guess I haven't really felt the desire to write about it lately. But I'll try to recap and bring you all up to speed with where I am.
I did let the diet slip a little bit for a few weeks, and got up to 216 lbs. But some of that weight was muscle, and I've been hitting personal records like crazy. I got my deadlift up to 395, my shoulder press to 165, and my push press to 215. I've been working on my grip strength so that I can start getting better numbers on pull-ups. And I've still been hitting the high intensity workouts hard, so my conditioning is still improving.
As of October 1st I decided to do a 30-day Paleo diet challenge. Many of the Crossfit sites and affiliates have been doing this, with great results, and so I figured I would give it a shot. The diet excludes all grains (including corn) and grain products, all sugar (except for what's found in fruit), all dairy (although I do allow butter), legumes, any artificial ingredients (including sweeteners), and alcohol. So what does that leave? Meat, veggies, fruit, nuts, seeds, and oils. There's actually a lot you can do with that list, and I've been trying to include as many new recipes and foods into my diet as I can. As of today I've lost 6 pounds in 7 days, while still eating enough food to keep me quite full. I expect the loss to slow down considerably soon, as much of it is water weight, but I do feel lighter and less bloated. My hope is that I'll get close to 200 lbs. by the end of the month, and use that momentum to blast through into the 190s.
Crossfit + Paleo = fitness and fat loss. I feel better than I have in months. My sleep is so much better (with vivid dreams), I wake up at 7:30 every morning without issue, I'm getting stronger and leaner, and mentally I'm much more focused. I know that part of that has to do with the "no alcohol" part of the Paleo diet, but I've done alcohol-free months before and haven't felt the same way, so I know it has something to do with eating quality food and staying away from the stuff that would serve to damage my body. I urge anyone who really desires to get lean and fit to check out Crossfit and look into the Paleo diet. You won't be disappointed.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
New personal record
So yesterday in the gym I set another new personal record! One of my goals for last year that I did not reach was to squat 300 pounds. Well, it's 8 months late, but yesterday I squatted 310 pounds for one rep with perfect form! My one-rep max on the squat was stuck at 260 for over a year, but in the past 2 months I've added 50 pounds to it. Not sure what to attribute it to, whether it be the 2 weeks of rest I took after my injury, dialing in my form, or just increasing my strength through neurological adaptation, but it feels great to finally squat 1.5x my body weight. According to my body fat tester I'm at 22% body fat, which means that I've put on about 4 pounds of muscle in the last 2 months while staying at the same body weight. I'm stoked to see where my deadlift numbers are at now, so hopefully a max effort DL workout will show up in the near future. I really want to get an 850 on the Crossfit Total (1 rep max of back squat, deadlift, and shoulder press). I'm at 310 squat and 160 press, so I would need a 380 lb. deadlift to reach that goal. Last time I maxed I got 345, but that was only about a week into my current training regimen. We'll see how it goes. Getting stronger rules :)
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Back to work
Today's Weigh-In: 206.8 lbs.
Yesterday was my first Crossfit workout since being admitted to the hospital. I took it pretty easy, not a whole lot of volume for my first day back. I've definitely lost some cardiovascular endurance, but I know that will come back quickly as long as I stay consistent. I didn't have any trouble completing the workout, and my abs and hip flexors seem to be working just as well as they did before, so I'm glad. I was worried that I would lose a lot of strength or capacity in the damaged muscles. I'll be keeping the volume pretty low this week just to give my body a chance to adapt and to risk reinjuring myself, and then start increasing my intensity as I see fit.
As far as diet goes I've got one good day in the bag so far. I need to build some momentum in this area, so I think I'll forgo any cheat meals this week, and keep my alcohol intake to a minimum. It's just so much easier to stick to a good eating plan when you've got a week or two of good days behind you and you start seeing some real progress. I haven't really felt that momentum for a while so I'm hoping I can get some steam behind this thing and get back under 200 pounds.
I'm going to try to be posting more often now that I'm healthy, so stay tuned for more.
Yesterday was my first Crossfit workout since being admitted to the hospital. I took it pretty easy, not a whole lot of volume for my first day back. I've definitely lost some cardiovascular endurance, but I know that will come back quickly as long as I stay consistent. I didn't have any trouble completing the workout, and my abs and hip flexors seem to be working just as well as they did before, so I'm glad. I was worried that I would lose a lot of strength or capacity in the damaged muscles. I'll be keeping the volume pretty low this week just to give my body a chance to adapt and to risk reinjuring myself, and then start increasing my intensity as I see fit.
As far as diet goes I've got one good day in the bag so far. I need to build some momentum in this area, so I think I'll forgo any cheat meals this week, and keep my alcohol intake to a minimum. It's just so much easier to stick to a good eating plan when you've got a week or two of good days behind you and you start seeing some real progress. I haven't really felt that momentum for a while so I'm hoping I can get some steam behind this thing and get back under 200 pounds.
I'm going to try to be posting more often now that I'm healthy, so stay tuned for more.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Still alive
Hey there, everyone. It's been a while since I last posted, so I'll use this post to bring you up to speed on where I've been and where I'm at.
Since my last post I have been working out consistently 4-5 times a week (except the past week, which I will explain below). My performance in the gym has been great, and I've been setting new personal records on a consistent basis.
That is, until last week. Last Wednesday I did a workout which consisted of 150 situps and 125 back-extensions using a Glute-Ham Developer (see this image if you're not familiar with it). I finished in just under 20 minutes, but I could feel that I would be hurting later. My hips and back were tight, and I had trouble finishing the last couple of sets. I tried to do a few 400m sprints afterward, but my back started to seize up, and I called it a day.
Fast forward to Friday, and I'm hurting. Bad. My abdominal muscles and hip flexors are killing me. I feel run down. I go to pick up my girlfriend for dinner on Friday night, and when we get back to my house I go to the bathroom to go pee. My pee is brown. Maple syrup brown. I know what this means: rhabdomyolysis.
Rhabdomyolysis (or rhabdo, for short) is caused by the breakdown of muscle cells which release their contents into the blood. Potassium and myoglobin build up in the bloodstream, and put a strain on the kidneys, which can then fail, followed by death. It's nasty business, usually seen in crush and burn victims. But it is possible to exercise yourself into such a state, as I did. The test they perform for rhabdo is a blood test which determines the levels of a certain enzyme (creatine phosphokinase). The normal count of this enzyme is around 200. Mine peaked at 125,000.
Long story short, I spent 6 days in the hospital, receiving fluids to flush my kidneys, electrolytes to balance my blood chemistry, and morphine to dull the pain. As of my release from the hospital my CPK levels are down to 1,400, and my pain is almost gone. There is, however, damage to the muscles, so I will now have to spend time regaining strength in some parts of my body. It's not permanent damage, thankfully, and I should be able to rebuild the lost muscle tissue over time.
So that's where I'm at right now. If you ever decide to do a workout with a high level of intensity, make sure to listen to your body, and stay hydrated, especially if it's hot. These are things that can contribute to rhabdo, and trust me, you don't want to go through this experience first hand.
Since my last post I have been working out consistently 4-5 times a week (except the past week, which I will explain below). My performance in the gym has been great, and I've been setting new personal records on a consistent basis.
That is, until last week. Last Wednesday I did a workout which consisted of 150 situps and 125 back-extensions using a Glute-Ham Developer (see this image if you're not familiar with it). I finished in just under 20 minutes, but I could feel that I would be hurting later. My hips and back were tight, and I had trouble finishing the last couple of sets. I tried to do a few 400m sprints afterward, but my back started to seize up, and I called it a day.
Fast forward to Friday, and I'm hurting. Bad. My abdominal muscles and hip flexors are killing me. I feel run down. I go to pick up my girlfriend for dinner on Friday night, and when we get back to my house I go to the bathroom to go pee. My pee is brown. Maple syrup brown. I know what this means: rhabdomyolysis.
Rhabdomyolysis (or rhabdo, for short) is caused by the breakdown of muscle cells which release their contents into the blood. Potassium and myoglobin build up in the bloodstream, and put a strain on the kidneys, which can then fail, followed by death. It's nasty business, usually seen in crush and burn victims. But it is possible to exercise yourself into such a state, as I did. The test they perform for rhabdo is a blood test which determines the levels of a certain enzyme (creatine phosphokinase). The normal count of this enzyme is around 200. Mine peaked at 125,000.
Long story short, I spent 6 days in the hospital, receiving fluids to flush my kidneys, electrolytes to balance my blood chemistry, and morphine to dull the pain. As of my release from the hospital my CPK levels are down to 1,400, and my pain is almost gone. There is, however, damage to the muscles, so I will now have to spend time regaining strength in some parts of my body. It's not permanent damage, thankfully, and I should be able to rebuild the lost muscle tissue over time.
So that's where I'm at right now. If you ever decide to do a workout with a high level of intensity, make sure to listen to your body, and stay hydrated, especially if it's hot. These are things that can contribute to rhabdo, and trust me, you don't want to go through this experience first hand.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
June wrap-up
Today's Weigh-In: 207.6 lbs.
So, I didn't make my weight goal this month. But I did lose fat. If you recall, I took measurements at the beginning of June, and I also took measurements this past weekend. I lost 1 inch off my waist, 3/4 of an inch off each thigh, and 3/4 of an inch off my hips. I maintained my other measurements, which is good, because that means I've kept every ounce of muscle on my body.
So why no drop in weight? Could be a number of things, but it's most likely a combination of increased water retention due to exercise, and increased muscle mass. The same thing happened in the very first month of my journey. I lost zero pounds but got stronger, leaner, and fitter. My body type and previous training make it easy to gain a small amount of muscle very quickly after a long layoff. I doubt I will continue to gain any muscle, but now my weight should start to drop again.
My level of fitness has increased tremendously over the past month. When I began training I wanted to puke or die from every single workout I had to do. Compare that with yesterday, when I did a workout which consisted of 2.5 miles of running, 150 kettlebell swings (with 36 pounds), 30 pull-ups, and 120 jumping pull-ups. And I didn't feel like puking once. It took forever, granted, but I was fully able to accomplish it. I also pulled a personal record in the back squat, and tied my PR for the deadlift.
My new goal is a sub-200 weigh-in by the end of July. I know, I've been chasing 200 for a while now, but I think that now I'm actually in the position to realistically achieve it. As long as I don't get hurt or sick this month I should be able to hit it.
So, I didn't make my weight goal this month. But I did lose fat. If you recall, I took measurements at the beginning of June, and I also took measurements this past weekend. I lost 1 inch off my waist, 3/4 of an inch off each thigh, and 3/4 of an inch off my hips. I maintained my other measurements, which is good, because that means I've kept every ounce of muscle on my body.
So why no drop in weight? Could be a number of things, but it's most likely a combination of increased water retention due to exercise, and increased muscle mass. The same thing happened in the very first month of my journey. I lost zero pounds but got stronger, leaner, and fitter. My body type and previous training make it easy to gain a small amount of muscle very quickly after a long layoff. I doubt I will continue to gain any muscle, but now my weight should start to drop again.
My level of fitness has increased tremendously over the past month. When I began training I wanted to puke or die from every single workout I had to do. Compare that with yesterday, when I did a workout which consisted of 2.5 miles of running, 150 kettlebell swings (with 36 pounds), 30 pull-ups, and 120 jumping pull-ups. And I didn't feel like puking once. It took forever, granted, but I was fully able to accomplish it. I also pulled a personal record in the back squat, and tied my PR for the deadlift.
My new goal is a sub-200 weigh-in by the end of July. I know, I've been chasing 200 for a while now, but I think that now I'm actually in the position to realistically achieve it. As long as I don't get hurt or sick this month I should be able to hit it.
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