Thursday, August 28, 2008

In need of inspiration

Today's Weigh-In: 201.2 lbs.
5-Day Average: 199.45 lbs.

My weigh-in is what I get for eating Chinese food last night. I didn't go over on calories for the day, though, so I'm not really sure what the deal is. My eating was fine on Monday and Tuesday, totally clean. I haven't worked out since I've been back, though. My work schedule has been erratic, and to be honest I've just been lazy. I miss the soreness in my muscles, though, and I'm itching to get back into a serious routine.

I've noticed that I've lost a lot of the fire that I used to have with regards to weight loss. I used to obsess over it, I would get in fights with my girlfriend about it, I would read fitness websites constantly. I still read a lot, but I just don't have that burning passion in my belly any more. Which sucks, because I'm not there yet. I'm the guy that Billy described in his last post: satisfied enough, but not happy with where I am. I think my problem is a bit different from most others in that I wasn't ridiculously fat to begin with, so the relatively minor loss of 30+ pounds looks and feels like a lot more than it really is. I now look like a bigger, normal guy. And, at 17% body fat, with normal numbers on all gauges of health, I am a healthy, normal guy. But who wants to be normal? I want to be the stronger, leaner, faster, and more capable than everybody else. I know I have to work for it though, and that's where it gets sticky. I'm not sure what I'm going to do about it, but I know I have to do something. I don't want to burn out and fade away.

Monday, August 25, 2008

I'm back

Today's Weigh-In: 198.0 lbs.

Happy new week, everybody! I'm back from my week at sea. I am ridiculously surprised at my weigh-in, to be honest. I thought it would be *way* higher. I ate like food was going out of style, which was not my plan, but the food was excellent, and I told myself "you can only do so much damage in a week." Which, it would seem, is true. Not a good mindset for an extended time, but fine for my first vacation in over 3 years.

I ate everything in sight on that cruise ship. I kept my protein intake quite high, but when you're eating 4000+ calories a day that's not hard to do. I think my body enjoyed the increased caloric intake, because I noticed that I recovered extremely well from my workouts (i.e. no soreness at all). The only downside was some intestinal distress from eating too much sugary foods and not enough fiber.

I managed 3 workouts in total. The fitness center on the ship left much to be desired, as it was almost completely machine-based, and I don't do machines. They had no barbells, no pull-up bars, and a very limited dumbbell selection. So I did some modified CrossFit workouts with what I had available. Here are the 3 workouts that I came up with.

1) 4 rounds of: run 500m, do 40 air squats (as fast as possible)
2) 30 clean and jerk, 45lb dumbbells, for time (my time: 8:28)
3) 50 burpees (as fast as possible)

We also did a lot of walking in the ports of call, and went snorkeling in Cabo San Lucas, so I didn't do too bad in terms of physical exertion.

Today I'm back to my normal routine (today: eggs and bacon for breakfast, turkey sandwich and home-made carnitas for lunch, and barbecued ahi steak for dinner, along with fruit and veggies). I brought my workout gear so I can hit up the globo-gym after work tonight. I've got 3 weeks to reach my goal of 195 by Sept. 15th, which I know I can do. If I stay on track, I'll be at my goal weight before Christmas. Yay! :)

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Quick update before I go

Today's Weigh-In: 196.6 lbs. (new low)
5-Day Average: 198.08 lbs.

My average is back under 200, and the last 3 days I've weighed in the 196s. I guess I lost some weight from being sick, but it doesn't seem to be muscle weight, as I actually look leaner than before. My lungs are getting better; turns out I had both a lung infection and my back was completely out, which was contributing to the pain around the lung area. The infection didn't actually cause any of the pain. I went to the chiropractor on Thursday and got my back adjusted, and I've been feeling much better ever since. The doctor cleared me to go on vacation, so I'll be leaving tomorrow morning. Hope everyone is doing well.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Vacation time

Today's Weigh-In: 199.6 lbs.
5-Day Average: 200.6 lbs.

Howdy folks, sorry for the long gap in between posts. I've been really busy with work lately. I've been doing pretty well in the eating department, and my weight is coming down steadily. I'm taking a break from working out due to some unforeseen circumstances: I have a lung infection. Every time I exert myself I get dizzy and start wheezing, and it's pretty scary. On Sunday I went running with my brother, and he had me do some 300 meter sprints. I ended up almost passing out due to the heat and the lack of oxygen. I went to the doctor later that day and he said he doesn't know what caused it, but it should go away on its own, and gave me a prescription inhaler that should help keep my airways open. It works okay, but not enough to allow me to exercise with any intensity, so that sucks.

Next week I'll be on a weeklong cruise to Mexico. My goal is just not to get any fatter. I'm not going to attempt to lose weight, because let's be honest, that's just not going to happen. But if I can come back and weigh in at 200 pounds I will be happy. I'm hoping that they have some kind of fitness center on the ship that I can use to get in some exercise, assuming my lungs start feeling better by then. If not, maybe I'll have to take to jogging around the deck. I'm sure I can figure out some way to keep in shape.

I still haven't decided whether I'm going to continue going to the Crossfit gym or not. I'll make that decision after I get back and I see what my work schedule is like. I have decided that if I can't keep going that I am going to use the money I save to buy some home fitness equipment, such as gymnastics rings and kettlebells, so I can do workouts anywhere. This might be my last post for a while, so if you don't hear from me don't worry. I'll be back.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Unsure

Today's Weigh-In: 200.4 lbs.
5-Day Average: 201.6 lbs.

After eating perfectly for the past 2 days, my weight has been coming down steadily, even without exercise. My work schedule has changed yet again so I havent' gotten to work out since Saturday, but I brought my workout gear and will be hitting the gym tonight. I may have to give up going to my Crossfit gym due to the timing of my work schedule and their class schedules conflicting, which sucks a lot. It's very difficult to do Crossfit-style workouts at a conventional gym. I really, really wish I had a garage, or at least a downstairs patio, because I would build a sick gym. As it is now, I live in an upstairs apartment and only have a carport, so I can't do anything at home. If I do have to suck it up and deal with a globo-gym, I might just go on a strength-focused cycle to bring up my numbers in the big lifts (squat, deadlift, press), along with some sprinting and gymnastics work. We'll see.

I found a really good post on the IF Life blog that I thought I would share with you guys. Check it out. I agree with pretty much everything said, and it dispels a lot of the myths that people tend to believe about getting healthy.

Until next time.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Weekend accomplished

Today's Weigh-In: 201.4 lbs.
5-Day Average: 201.7 lbs.

Well, the weekend is finally over. Let's just say it was memorable, in both good and bad ways. I went to a wedding on Saturday, but I didn't go crazy with the food (actually, I probably under-ate). Yesterday I also ate pretty normally, so no worries there. I got a workout in on Saturday, but I couldn't do much yesterday as I woke up with a really bad cramp in my calf. Thankfully its better today, but I didn't get to workout today either since I had to come into work early so I can leave early to do something else that will most likely take all night. It's frustrating. I just want to get back into a solid routine of preparing my meals ahead of time and working out at least 4 times a week. Hopefully I can do that starting tomorrow. I don't foresee any issues arising for the next 2 weeks, but on the 17th I'll be leaving to go on a cruise, so that will disrupt any rhythm I can get myself into. Oh well, I'm in dire need of a vacation (seeing as I haven't taken a real one since I graduated college in 2005).