Thursday, July 29, 2010

Quick update

Today's Weigh-In: 208

Well, it looks like physicsdiet crapped all over itself and lost my data for the past 2 months. Hopefully they can get it back, but for now I don't have an average, although it was close to 208 yesterday. My weigh-ins have been pretty level all week, which means I need to tighten the belt a bit more and cut a few more calories if I want to continue on the downward slope. Obviously I'm not going to hit my goal of sub 204 in 2 days, which is a bummer, but to be honest I'm just happy I haven't gained weight with all the stress in my life this month.

I'm almost settled into my new place, and I've got all my cooking and kitchen supplies out of their boxes. I've been eating really healthy stuff all week, except for a couple beers each night (and probably too many peanuts). I'll be more careful tonight.

My workout on Tuesday didn't go very well. It was a Crossfit Hero workout, which are always brutal (they're named for fallen military, fire, and law enforcement officers). It was supposed to be 5 rounds, but I stopped myself after 3 due to lack of energy. I don't know what the deal was, but I just wasn't feeling it. I took Wednesday as a rest day, and I'm hoping today's workout goes better.

That's about it for me. I just wanted to update with some news to keep myself accountable.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Achievement Unlocked!

Today's Weigh-In: 207.4
PhysicsDiet.com Average: 208.31

So far everything is going well this week. I've been super busy packing up my apartment and getting ready to move, but I've still done 3 workouts this week. Last night I also achieved one of my long-term goals:




I've been able to do muscle-ups on a pull-up bar for a while now, but the rings add an additional level of difficulty. Getting lighter has definitely helped me to get to this point, and I can only imagine how much easier it'll be when I weigh 15 pounds less than I do now.

Anyhoo, diet has been good. I haven't been watching what I eat as closely as I should, but it's more of a quantity issue over quality. The quality is good, as I really only eat what I make, and I make good stuff, I just haven't been super strict with controlling how much of it I put in my face. And that's the way it's going to be until I get settled in to my new place. Once the move is done and the stress from that is gone I can worry about it, but for now I just need good fuel. And, to be honest, my weight is still going down, so I'm obviously not overeating. If the weight-loss slows or stops then it'll be necessary to tighten the old belt, but for now I'm in a good place.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

200th Post

Today's Weigh-In: 207.6
PhysicsDiet.com Average: 208.59

Yay 200 posts! Anyway, I had a lot of fun this weekend at the Crossfit Games. I ate like crap, though, so I was really surprised when I weighed in at 209 yesterday, and even more surprised at today's weigh-in. I guess all the activity made up for the caloric excess.

Also, it's official: I'm going to be getting my Crossfit Level 1 Certification. My gym is hosting a cert in September, and I'll be able to go for half price, which is awesome. Also, once I get that, I'll be able to actually train people on my own, although I probably won't initially. I've committed to helping out one day a week at the gym, and in return I don't have to pay gym dues any more, so that will save me a nice bit of cash as well as allow me to learn all the aspects of training other people.

In weight-loss land I've got 11 days to lose 3.6 pounds. Oh, and I'm moving this weekend. So, yeah, probably not going to happen, but I'll keep eating clean as much as possible and try to get in at least 3 good workouts this week, and hope for the best.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Crossfit Games 2010

Just one post shy of 200, but that's not important. I just wanted to post a quick update to let everyone know about the 2010 Crossfit Games that are going on this weekend at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. I'll be there live (hell yeah!), but you can check it out in free, streaming HD at live.crossfit.com. Watch the fittest athletes in the world compete for the title of "World's Fittest Man/Woman," along with CF Affiliate teams, and Masters (50+) athletes. Lisa, one of the athletes at our gym, is competing in the Master's division, so I'm super psyched to cheer her on, as well as all the awesome athletes I see every day on crossfit.com.

I know this doesn't have anything to do with my weight loss, but it's awesome and you should check it out and be inspired by these amazing athletes. Because I say so :)

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Slow and steady



Today's Weigh-In: 208.4
PhysicsDiet.com average: 209.43

This weekend was a pretty good one, nutrition-wise. I ate out for lunch on Sunday with my girlfriend and cousin, but I made sure to eat a smaller lunch portion of food, and only about half of the french fries. I had a few beers as well, but only a few. The rest of the weekend was spot-on, although I didn't really get any exercise.

We're almost half-way through the month, and I'm still weighing in at 208, so that's kind of a bummer, but looking at my physicsdiet.com chart I'm weighing in more below the trend-line than above, which is really good. My average loss is slower than I would like, but to be honest that doesn't matter in the long run. I'm still going to shoot for 204 by the end of the month, regardless. It's just nice to see that I am making progress even though sometimes it feels like I'm spinning my wheels. It says my daily deficit is only 315 calories, so it looks like it's time for me to get a little bit stricter with tracking what goes in my mouth. I would like to have a 500-600 calorie daily deficit, so I'll be more watchful about snacks or other things sneaking in that are keeping me from losing fat faster.


Friday, July 9, 2010

Doing better

Today's Weigh-In: 208.4
PhysicsDiet Average: 209.77

Good weigh-in today. My shoulder is also starting to feel better. I've been making sure to take the time to stretch it a few times a day, along with icing it at night. I did a workout with 70+ pull-ups yesterday and, while it didn't feel 100%, it didn't flare up either. Comparing this to last week, I did a workout with 50 pull-ups and had to stop because of the inflammation and pain, so there's definitely some good progress in the right direction.

My diet has been perfect since Tuesday. 98% paleo foods (small amount of cream in my coffee today), 15 hour fasts daily, a small amount of wine, and making sure I eat enough to fuel my workouts but still lose weight. This weekend should be good, since there's nothing really going on and I can make sure to cook my own food.

With 22 days left in the month I feel that my goal of a 204 weigh-in by August is still doable. I'm moving out of my apartment at the end of the month, so that's really the only life event that might get in the way, but it definitely doesn't have to if I don't let it. So I won't let it.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Back on track, again :-)

Today's Weigh-In: 210.6
PhysicsDiet.com Average: 209.89

My weigh-ins have been a bit high for the past few days, but it's totally my fault. Fourth of July weekend will tend to have that effect on all but the most stalwart dieters, and I'm no exception. The good news is that I'm totally back on track as of yesterday, with a day of perfect eating, which I plan to continue throughout this week and weekend. If it takes losing the weight via fits and spurts then so be it. Who knows how this will affect my monthly goal, but it's still early enough in the month to make up any lost ground.

My nagging shoulder injury is still taking it's toll, unfortunately. I worked out yesterday, but that aggravated it pretty bad, so I'll have to stick to exercises that don't rely on any pressing or ballistic motions (which means pull-ups, kettlebells, and push-ups are out). I'm taking good care of it, making sure not to sleep on it, and massaging it a lot, so I'm hoping it will start feeling better soon. Other than that I'm feeling pretty good, so there's no reason I can't improvise some shoulder-less workouts in the meantime.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

July goal

Today's Weigh-In: 209.4
PhysicsDiet.com Average: 209.98

Weight spiked a bit due to having a nice big cheat meal last night, lots of carbs and salt. My body definitely needed the calories, though. Now that we're starting a new month I guess it's time for a new goal. Looking back on my previous successful weight loss I find that on average I lose 5 pounds a month. So I'm going to shoot for 204 pounds by August 1st. That should put me right around 14-15% bodyfat, which is a level of leanness I've never had before, and it's also the point where I should be able to see more drastic changes in my body, which might be nice.

I tweaked my shoulder and upper back a bit in my workouts this week, so I'm taking today off from working out, and I'm also going to hit up the chiropractor. Recovery is definitely reduced on the smaller amount of calories I'm taking in, so I have to be careful not to overtrain or push my body past it's limits. I know my athletic gains will be limited during this weight-loss phase, but that's okay. There will be plenty of time to get fitter after I'm lean.